Rakesh Agrawal’s Blog

Like others who are current users of the web-based Gmail Mobile, the net-net experience with the new Java-based Gmail client isn’t great. It looks nice and it does a number of things that I’ve always wanted to be able to do with the web-based version (easier lookup of email addresses, mark messages as spam), but this is a case of two steps forward, five steps back. Some of the issues that I’m having are issues with my Windows Mobile 5.0 JVM (I have a Cingular 2125):

* My Java Midlet Manager constantly asks me / prompts me if it’s OK to the access the Internet. How do I get rid of these prompts and just tell it to log me in when it needs to log me in?

* How do I get text entry to default to T9? Right now, I have to change the setting everytime I enter a textarea / textbox to enter an e-mail address or a message. On a related note, getting into a text box requires too many clicks! Click in the Gmail Java Client and then click again in Windows Mobile to edit the textarea. And then two ‘accepts’ when I want to get back to the Gmail Java Client.

* How do I link directly to Gmail from my main menu rather than having to go through the midlet manager?

* And, like Paul mentions in his post (linked to above) the context switch from my mobile web browser is a pain.

* Related to the context switch, the back button on my phone doesn’t behave the way I expect it to. When I hit back, rather than taking me to the previous screen in the Gmail Java client (which is how the web-based version works), it takes me out of the midlet manager. Ack!

I’m looking forward to iterative upgrades to this client. The client gives a glimpse at a superior class of mobile web experiences, but it also reveals the (fixable) shortcomings of today’s mobile phone platforms.

It’s not often that I watch an in-flight movie, but my flight this morning was playing “Little Miss Sunshine” and Apu had recommended this movie to me so I decided to check it out. The movie was great. The characters, the acting, the story — all great. But the cinematography was especially spectacular and it’s what made me love this movie so much. It felt like every shot in the movie was an carefully composed photograph, whether it was a shot of the angst-ridden teenager character reflected in a mirror during the intro or their van (the “bus”) set against a midwestern sky at dusk. Who deserves the credit for this stuff? How much of it is the work of the cameraman? How much the work of the director? I’m curious to know, but ultimately it doesn’t matter because I loved the final product.

(On a side note, Apu, if you are reading this, you’re partially redeemed by this movie recommendation but your last one (Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna) was a real dud so you still have a ways to go)

I’m a fan of mass customization so when I was at FAO Schwartz on 5th Avenue earlier this week, I snapped this photo with my phone (posted to my blog courtesy of Shozu). I grew up with Hot Wheels so it’s neat to see a build to order option from them.