Windows Mobile Journal: Word Mobile 6.1

I just discovered a really annoying trait of Word Mobile 6.1: You can't save documents in the Microsoft Office 2003/XP (2002) file format. Huh?! The screen shot below is from the File > Save As... screen.














As you can clearly see, Microsoft has eliminated the ability to save files in the previous two versions of Microsoft Office. This is the kind of stuff that really annoys me about using Microsoft's software. Is is really that hard to include another file format in Word Mobile that will allow it to work with Word 2000 and later? This is clearly a tactic to get people to upgrade their copy of Microsoft Office on their desktop computers.

At home I use Office 2003 and at work we have Office XP (2002) deployed. There are no differences in the file formats. There is for Office 2007. Microsoft will claim that they do have support for the older versions of Word by providing the ability to save files in the Rich Text Format and Plain Text format. But we all know that is only a partial solution as not all of Word's formating is saved in a .RTF file and virtually no formatting is saved in a .TXT file.

So what is the answer? If you need to use the latest and greatest Microsoft software, you probably have already upgraded to Windows Vista and Office 2007, or Office 2008 for Mac OS X. For what I do, I have no desire to shell out $250 for an Office upgrade, of which I only use Word, and occasionally use Excel and Outlook on my personal computer. The better solution for me would be to find a Windows Mobile 6.0 application that still supports the Office 2003/XP file formats. Once again, I will turn to my old mobile productivity software standby: DataViz Documents To Go.

Documents To Go is the defacto Office suite on the Palm OS platform, and DataViz has been aggressively working to make sure that their outstanding software is available for all of the popular mobile computing platforms, including Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition. Documents To Go is also coming to RIM's BlackBerry platform. (Which should make BlackBerry users very happy. The current BlackBerry Office suite software is expensive and hard to use when I last tested it out about a year ago.)

Now Documents To Go for Windows Mobile Smartphone is designed only for non-touch screen devices. That means devices like my Treo 750, which run Windows Mobile Professional, aren't technically supported. We'll just see about that. A $30 upgrade gets the software installed on my device.

For more information about DataViz Documents To Go for Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition, visit the DataViz website.

Documents To Go for Mobile Linux Devices

DataViz has just issued the following press release regarding their mobile Office productivity suite, Documents To Go.

MILFORD, Conn. and SANTA CLARA, Calif. — February 11, 2008 — MontaVista® Software, Inc., the leader in embedded Linux® commercialization, and DataViz®, Inc., the leading provider of mobile Office compatibility solutions, today announced the availability of Documents To Go® for the MontaVista Mobilinux™ 5.0 mobile operating system. As a result of the integration of the mobile office suite Documents To Go by DataViz with Mobilinux, mobile device users will be able to open and view Microsoft® Office Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® email attachments directly on their Linux-based mobile devices.

MontaVista will resell Documents To Go to mobile device developers and manufacturers, so the manufacturers and mobile operators can deliver document viewing capabilities to their customers on any device using the Mobilinux 5.0 mobile operating system. MontaVista and DataViz have agreed to collaborate to tailor Documents To Go to include additional features such as its critically acclaimed file editing, creation and more, based upon customer requests.

“DataViz and MontaVista are currently working with a major hardware manufacturer to enable its mobile customers to work with the types of documents they most commonly use,” said Jim Ready, CTO and founder of MontaVista Software. “Documents To Go expands the power of the device. We expect many more mobile developers to be eager to provide Documents To Go functionality to their device users. It’s like taking your office in your pocket wherever you take a Mobilinux-powered device.”

“MontaVista is the most widely-used provider of commercialized Linux software to the mobile telecom industry, so we are very pleased to join forces with MontaVista to integrate Documents To Go with MontaVista Linux,” said Dick Fontana, president and CEO of DataViz, Inc. “With MontaVista’s track record in the mobile industry, and Documents To Go’s proven ability to provide access to Microsoft Office documents, tens of millions of mobile consumers should benefit from our new integration.”

MontaVista Mobilinux 5.0 with Documents To Go integration is available immediately from MontaVista.

Documents To Go is now currently available on the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian mobile operating systems. There was also a version of Documents To Go that was developed for Palm's Foleo mobile companion (which also ran on a variant version of Linux.) DataViz is also working to bring Documents To Go to the RIM BlackBerry. I have to wonder how long it will be before Documents To Go makes an appearance on Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. Apple's software developer's kit, or SDK, won't be released until the end of the month at the earliest.

In my opinion, DataViz is the dominant application for working with Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat files on mobile devices. The addition of MontaVista Mobilinux is a sign that DataViz is recognized as and industry leader for mobile office document access.

For more details on the new edition of Documents To Go for Mobilinux 5.0, visit the DataViz and MontaVista websites.

Passwords Plus Gets Leopard Compatibility

One of the Palm OS software packages that I use every day is Passwords Plus from DataViz. Earlier this month, DataViz released a Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard update for Passwords Plus 1.006 customers.

The latest update to Passwords Plus is compatible with both Palm Desktop 4.2.1 and Mark/Space The Missing Sync (you'll need version 6.0.2).

The Passwords Plus patch download link and full installation directions can be found on the DataViz website.

I'm happy to see that DataViz is still actively supporting their software on both the Palm OS and Macintosh platforms. It shows that DataViz is still committed to their customers who are part of the Palm and Apple user communities. By making this upgrade available, DataViz has helped make my transition back to the Macintosh (from Windows XP) a little bit easier.

Full Office 2007 Support Comes to Documents To Go

Earlier today DataViz, the leading provider of mobile Office compatibility solutions, announced the availability of Documents To Go Premium Edition version 10.002 for Palm OS. The latest version of Documents To Go is the first and only Palm OS office suite to provide complete support for the new Microsoft Office 2007 file formats.

Palm OS users will now be able to create and edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 files directly on their smartphones and handheld devices. Customers who purchased Documents To Go 10.001 which added support to view Word and Excel 2007 files will be able to upgrade to version 10.002 at no additional cost. Customers who are using pervious versions of Documents To Go can upgrade to the latest version for $29.99.

“For active smartphone and handheld users, there is nothing more frustrating than receiving a file, such as an Office 2007 document, they can’t open,” said Danny Tu product manager, DataViz, Inc. “The latest Documents To Go release enables our customers to effortlessly work with their important Word, Excel and PowerPoint Office 2007 files such as sales forecasts, business contracts and more without the worry of having an incompatible solution.”

I have been a long time user of Documents To Go for Palm OS and I use it daily on my Treo 700p smartphone for both business and personal tasks. It is my professional opinion that anyone who needs to work with Microsoft Office documents on the go needs to have this software. Documents To Go has become an invaluable tool in my computer consulting business.

For more information about Documents To Go 10, visit the DataViz website.

DataViz Speaks About Foleo Cancellation

DataViz has posted a statement regarding the cancellation of the Foleo.

“Palm has been a valued partner of ours for over ten years and we have been involved with Foleo for over three of them. As such, we have put a great deal of effort into building a Linux-based Documents To Go for the Foleo project.

We see this Linux project as a necessary step in our journey and partnership with Palm. The decision to cancel the launch of Foleo is something that comes with the territory. It is a necessary bump in an otherwise great journey, and bodes well for Palm as it indicates they have tighter focus and better opportunities calling.”

- Dick Fontana, President & CEO, DataViz Inc.

Documents To Go was the first application that I purchased for my Palm IIIx device. I'm encouraged to hear that the relationship between Palm and DataViz is still intact. I'm looking forward to being able to use my Foleo with Documents To Go in the future since I already believe that Documents To Go is the best office suite for the Palm OS platform.

Read the full DataViz blog post...

[Via PalmInfoCenter]

Documents To Go v3.0010 for Windows Mobile Smartphone

DataViz has released Documents To Go Premium Edition 3.0010 for Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone and Windows Mobile 6 Standard Editions.

This new version of Documents To Go adds support for Microsoft Office 2007 XML files allowing customers to open, edit, and create Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and email attachments on their smartphones. The "Zip and Send" feature, added with this release, will allow customers to compress and email the open document.

“This version addresses our top customer request for full Office 2007 file support for Word, Excel and PowerPoint,” said Danny Tu, Documents To Go Product Manager, DataViz, Inc. “After many months of hard work and effort we are proud to produce a solution that stays true to the new XML-based Office 2007 file structure by retaining all file formatting through the use of our very own InTact Technology.”

Documents To Go v3.0010 retails for $29.99 and is available for purchase directly from DataViz.com, other online mobile software retailers, and DataViz retail sales outlets.

Full Documents To Go details...
Read the full press release...

Documents To Go v10 Now Supports Vista

Earlier today, DataViz announced Documents To Go v10.001, which adds support for Microsoft Windows Vista and Palm Desktop v6.2 Beta 1.

Registered users of Documents To Go v10.000 and download the 10.001 update for free. Customers running previous versions of Documents To Go can upgrade to the latest version for $29.99. For more details, please refer to the DataViz Documents To Go and Windows Vista technical support article.

Documents To Go v10 adds support to view Microsoft Office 2007 Word and Excel files on your Palm OS device. The following Palm OS devices are compatible with Documents To Go v10:

• Treo 755p, Treo 700p
• Treo 680, Treo 650, Treo 600
• LifeDrive Mobile Manager
• T|X, Tungsten C, Tungsten T5, Tungsten T3, Tungsten E2, Tungsten E
• Zire 72, Z22
• Zodiac 2

For more information about Documents To Go, please visit the DataViz website.