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WiFi on a handheld? Far from being as much use as mammary glands on a bull, a wireless PDA has additional functionality over its USB-teethered brethren. Aside from wireless synching, potential roles may include downloading, controlling, accessing, communicating, informing, entertaining, printing, and updating.

I was unable to establish WiFi connectivity in my first 48 hours with the X50v. It turns out that my router was configured to accept connections on 802.11g only (since I have a Wireless-G card in my laptop). The X50v supports the 802.11b standard only:

Shortly after this realisation and switching the router to "Mixed" mode WiFi was up and running using the Odyssey client (which isn't mentioned in the user guide; I gave up on Dell WLAN Utility). Here, mostly for my record (maybe it'll help you too), is how to set it up:

• Use the Dell WLAN utility to turn on WiFi;
• Close the Dell WLAN utility and open Odyssey Client;
• In the Settings menu tap Configure;
• Tap Add;
• Tap Scan to find your WiFi network;
• Select your network when it is discovered and check Infrastructure mode then OK;
• In the following screen tap Next;
• Set Association mode to Shared;
• Set Encryption method to WEP;
• Uncheck 802.1X then Next;
• Enter your WEP hex key with hexadecimal checked, then Next;
• Tap Finish;
• Tap OK;
• Select your WLAN from the drop-down menu and check Connect to;
• Tap OK.

Your WLAN connection (Odyssey client icon) and signal strength is displayed on the Today screen:

Downloading

You can use Internet Explorer to download software and other files. Files of the type .cab can be downloaded direct to the Pocket PC for installation:

Controlling

With the OSXvnc server running on my Mac I tried the free VNCViewer for Pocket PC. I had already used VNC on my Dell laptop to work on my Mac (described here) so I knew the Mac side of things was working. I was unable to get a connection and experienced a "known issue": when a connection fails, the error dialog box is shown briefly and then it disappears—it should wait for the user to tap (OK). I downloaded a trial of PTvncHiRes ($US 20) but never really got to try it out properly before the trial "exhausted" itself. Needless to say I did briefly see my 1280 x 1024 pixel Mac screen scaled down to 640 x 480 on the PPC, but controlling it was not easy and connection attempts were characterised by a "Server display changed" error messages or often got stuck at "Connecting please wait..." or "Receiving initial screen".

I'm not convinced there's any real utility here. Just not worth the effort or the eye strain.

Accessing

Downstairs and need a file from your desktop computer? You need a network browser. The built-in File Explorer app includes a basic "Network Share" feature. First you need to change the name of your device if it is called "Pocket_PC" to remove the Microsoft network-unfriendly underscore (explained here). Here are some screen captures showing the connection sequence to a Windows XP computer called "inspiron":

You can now cut, copy, rename and delete shared file—but not open them directly from the shared folder.

Things are a bit more sophisticated in Resco's Explorer 2005, and using this app you can open files directly—including large videos (although playback maybe interrupted):

Note that the DVD drive in my laptop is configured as an SMB share (so I can access DVD+RW disks from my Mac). With a DVD in the drive you can access the VIDEO_TS folder and tap and hold to "Open with..." TCPMP (see below). Sadly TCPMP doesn't seem to support the right codecs for direct DVD playback.

Before you can access your Mac you need to enable Windows Sharing in Mac OS X System Preferences. Your Mac should now show up under "Computers Near Me" in Explorer 2005's Share Network Disk pane (as in the image above). Unfortunately this is as far as I can get using Explorer's "Map Drive..." function on the PPC ("Cannot connect shared path. The specified server cannot perform the requested operation.") Under Windows XP when connecting to my Mac I had to manually enter the pathname to my Home folder (\\192.168.1.100\bruce) and click "Connect using a different user name" (entering my Mac OS X user name and password). But how to connect using the user name and password Mac OS X expects? I've tried various lines of syntax without success.

Communicating

Instant messaging or a VoIP phone might be handy if you're not sitting at your computer (e.g. watching a film on TV) and want to hear when you are expecting a call. MSN Messenger is included with the OS. A Skype is available for PPC although on the Axim X50v the speaker is at the bottom and the mic at the top—so you need to hold it at a distance or upside down! You can therefore use you PDA as a wireless VoIP phone, calling other Skype contacts or (if you have SkypeOut) someone on a landline or mobile (more on this here):

If you're into Hotmail then MSN Hotmail also comes as standard on Pocket PCs. If you prefer typing e-mails from under the shade of a sun umbrella as opposed to you desk, then Messaging will allow you to send and receive over your WiFi network. Since sending via SSL is supported, you can use it fully with your Gmail account (more on Palm-related Gmail issues here):

Informing

Internet Explorer makes a poor attempt to correctly display some sites, but others work OK—like Google and BBC News (low graphics edition). It's there, whenever, wherever (in WiFi range) you get the urge to look something up:

An altetnative browser that seems to do a better job of rendering standards-compliant sites is NetFront.

You could also try a news reeder (RSS aggregator), perhaps with enclosure support for receiving podcasts. I like pRSSreader, and you can now add an RSS feed as
an AvantGo channel:

Entertaining

What about streaming music and video from the Mac? I fired up iTunes and shared my music library. On the X50v I launched WiFiTunes and it discovered my library immediately. This took a wee while to load (914 tracks) and then displayed compatible files i.e. MP3s (no iTunes-encoded AACs, no iTMS purchases, no Audible audiobooks):

I then did an hour of cleaning, including vacuuming all around the house (a 2 story Victorian semi-detached building plus attic and cellar). I got reception 2 floors below the router in the cellar, and in every other room. As a matter of fact, I didn't find anywhere on the property where I didn't get a signal, including the far end of the garden. A few times the track skipped ahead; whether this is due to beta software or that fact that my Mac was downloading feeds and burning a DVD at the same time as it streamed from iTunes I can't say. The battery was at 67% after one hour of streaming (Bluetooth was off). I'm impressed.

It didn't work with my iTunes radio favourites. If you're tired of your iPod and can't get to sleep, you can still enjoy Internet radio. Check out Resco's Pocket Radio:

As for video streaming, VLC can be used as a streaming server on the Mac. Look at the "how to" here and decide if you've got time +/- the will to make this work: I haven't! Thing is, once you've got this sorted you need to work out how to use TCPMP on the PPC to receive the stream. Pass. It's so much simpler to encode sort clips and play them from a storage card:

Note: Remember to go to Start > Settings > System > Power > Advanced and uncheck "Turn device off if not used for".

Printing

This is one I hadn't expected. Our Macs and PCs are linked to an HP OfficeJet d135 which in turn is linked to a WiFi-enabled hub via a JetDirect 200m. It turns out that HP make available free software called HP Mobile Printing for Pocket PC. I had it configured and the test page printed in minutes. As HP explain:

HP mobile printing for pocket pc provides printing for email, appointments, contacts, tasks, Pocket Word documents, Pocket Excel documents, and images. Together with Westtek ClearVue(TM) viewing software, the printing capabilities extend to include desktop PC format Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.

Because printing functionality is not built in to the Pocket PC operating system, printing for Inbox e-mail and attachments, as well as, other documents found in File Explorer is accessed through the HP Mobile Printing for Pocket PC application, not the Pocket PC applications themselves. There are 4 exceptions to this rule. For Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Westtek viewers, HP Mobile Printing for Pocket PC adds printing functionality directly into the applications.

Updating

As a Mac user I'm keen on avoiding the use of my Windows PC when possible. This is a potential thorn in the side of synchronisation because many PPC apps don't have Mac desktop companion software and/or plugins for content updating. Luckily, updates can often be pulled off the net wirelessly. Example software where this is possible includes Epocrates, WorldMate, and AvantGo (as above):

Other stuff

So what do you do over WiFi with your Pocket PC that should be added to the list?