PocketPCs: Small, smart, and coming on strong

The insurance industry needs a technology upgrade. Hanging around waiting for the adjuster to roll off the couch and waddle over to take a gander at the physical and emotional turmoil that was once your pride and joy is completely for the birds! I’ve got a camera phone with Web connectivity. My insurance carrier has a Web site and, presumably, someone with enough IQ points to manage it. I should be able to send these clowns pictures of the accident, the car, and the schmuck who hit me and get my check processed in hours, not weeks.

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The insurance industry needs to embrace the ultimate mantra of all this wireless and ultra-mobile computing technology, namely instant gratification. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. A little band of fantastically wealthy gnomes in the Northwestern United States are of the same opinion, and it’s looking like we’ll see some real traction in that department in 2004. Why do we care? Because PocketPCs are coming to a network near you -- whether you like it or not.

But before you grouse, this may not be a bad thing. PocketPC has evolved quite a bit since its inception as an also-ran in the PDA department. We’ve had several iterations culminating in a shiny new 2003 at the end of the name, but more importantly, we’ve got enhanced functionality, a smart phone version, and a host of new tools and applications.

Redmond recently released a slew of new PocketPC innovations and add-ons, several of which have me looking at the OS in a new light. Voice Command for Windows Mobile 2003 devices is a real nice one. I’ve had a chance to play with it on a friend’s PocketPC, and my reaction was much the same as my first play date with XP Tablet Edition’s hand writing recognition: skeptical at first, but that quickly changed to a surprised grin. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely usable.

And much more closely related to my insurance nightmare, check out Microsoft Portrait Version 2.2. You may actually have some trouble checking it out as it’s still a research prototype, but if you know some real Redmond-oriented development geeks, you’ve got a shot. The software is a SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) and ILS (Internet Locator Service)-based mobile video product. You can get this for any PC or PocketPC running .Net Messenger Service, but it’s best with Microsoft’s Live Communications Server 2003 SIP on the back-end. The PocketPC version supports full-duplex voice on Pocket PC 2003 and Smartphone 2003. With Portrait, some folks, such as, let’s randomly say, the tragic victim of a traffic accident, can use his or her PocketPC phone to deliver portrait-style video even in bandwidth pipes as narrow as 9.6 Kbps. This would have made showing a car wreck and yelling at an insurance agent right away much, much easier.

And for those too wrapped up in work to appreciate Portrait or voice command capability, check out Pocket MOM (Microsoft Operations Manager). This is yet another Pocket PC–based application that can talk to a central MOM server, allowing something in your vest pocket to display alerts and performance data for all servers managed by a central MOM server. Even cooler, the whole app was built using the MOM SDK and the .Net Compact framework, meaning you can get the full source code at http://www.microsoft.com/mom/downloads/sdk/default.asp. And that means you can not only use it, you can also modify it.

I’m still only scratching the surface of PocketPC’s potential, but the marketing charge is undeniable and unavoidable. They’re small, they’re smart and they’re coming. I know I’m deliberately avoiding the inevitable security issues, but once we get a handle on these, PocketPC has quite a bit to recommend it.