Guest davef Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 I'm interested in gathering opinions on viewing email attachments on Smartphones. Here are some questions for discussion: 1. Do you regularly get email attachments and want to view them? 2. What type of attachments do you want to view (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.)? 3. There are several ways that attachments could be handled on a Smartphone: - Native: An application for each file type can be created that opens the native file format on the actual device. Advantages: No conversion necessary; Disadvantages: Applications and attachments could get large and attachment rendering may not be accurate. - Conversion: An application resides on a server (somewhere) and converts your email attachments into a format that can be viewed on your Smartphone. Advantages: Applications and attachments could be reduced significantly (saving bandwidth); Disadvantages: There is a conversion step. 4. How important is document fidelity to you? Are you comfortable with just seeing the text and pictures of a document at the expense of seeing the document in its original format? Or, would you need to see the document just like it looks in the native desktop application? 5. Would you feel comfortable forwarding your email attachments to a secure server for conversion and viewing on your Smartphone? Would you be willing to pay for this service? If so, how much per month? Do you use a POP3 account or does your phone somehow tap into a corporate email server? If you have any opinions on this subject, please contribute. I am gathering information for research purposes. Thanks!
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 I am using the Westtek Clearvue viewers to view attachments in native format one the phone - the only way to do it. It rocks ;) P
Guest skimask Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 where can i get that from, and how much?
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 It's due for release v soon... Oh and as for the questions... 1. Do you regularly get email attachments and want to view them?Yes 2. What type of attachments do you want to view (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.)? Mostly Word or PDF. 3. There are several ways that attachments could be handled on a Smartphone: - Native: An application for each file type can be created that opens the native file format on the actual device. Advantages: No conversion necessary; Disadvantages: Applications and attachments could get large and attachment rendering may not be accurate. - Conversion: An application resides on a server (somewhere) and converts your email attachments into a format that can be viewed on your Smartphone. Advantages: Applications and attachments could be reduced significantly (saving bandwidth); Disadvantages: There is a conversion step.Has to be native! 4. How important is document fidelity to you? Are you comfortable with just seeing the text and pictures of a document at the expense of seeing the document in its original format? Or, would you need to see the document just like it looks in the native desktop application? I would prefer the option to either view as native, or reflow. 5. Would you feel comfortable forwarding your email attachments to a secure server for conversion and viewing on your Smartphone? Would you be willing to pay for this service? If so, how much per month? Do you use a POP3 account or does your phone somehow tap into a corporate email server? No, I don't think this would be acceptable. P
Guest davef Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 Paul, I would be interested in hearing your opinion on dealing with large attachments, say 1 MB or greater. Does bandwidth cost become a concern for you at this level? Is speed of viewing large documents a concern? Are you willing to postpone viewing such attachments because of their size?
Guest Posted April 23, 2003 Report Posted April 23, 2003 I don't use email on the SPV that often, though this will increase when I'm working away more (May onwards). When I do, yes I'd like to be able to see attachments, and these would mostly be word docs. Before downloading to the SPV, I'd like to see the what the attachment title is, first. I'd like to be able to see the gist of the attachment, though perfect accuracy wouldn't be needed, I'd be prepared to then download it to a PC/PDA if it needed further work. I wouldn't be happy to send these to another server first. HTH.
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