bruceb news

There are now more than a hundred cell phones built on Windows Mobile, capable of syncing with Microsoft Outlook and handling e-mail, calendar and address book chores.

Businesses running Exchange Server 2003 can sync a Windows Mobile device with Outlook over the device’s Internet connection, which allows the mobile device to have real-time access to e-mail, like a Blackberry. Outlook is then the single repository for all mail traffic, regardless of whether mail is sent or received from Outlook, Outlook Web Access, or the handheld device. Theoretically it’s possible to have messages pushed out to the device immediately, but that requires addition of a “feature pack” to Exchange and some tricky configuration. […] continued

It’s a good week to buy a computer at Dell.

Computer prices don’t change very much from week to week – they just keep going down at a pretty steady rate. Dell’s promotions are mostly perfectly nice and the price tends to be consistent regardless of whether the promotion is described as “free memory” or “double your hard drive” or whatever.

But last week the promotion was a “free camera, PDA or printer,” with each one being a device you don’t want and wouldn’t buy. Dell rotates that promotion through every few weeks – just wait until the next Thursday when it changes. […] continued

Microsoft will release Small Business Server 2003 in October. It is a huge release. It will transform computing for small offices.

The reason? It’s simple and it’s cheap.

A new “standard edition” includes Windows Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003, and costs only $599. Hardware manufacturers will sell a server with SBS pre-installed for under a thousand dollars.

SBS is easier to set up than ever. You’ll still need a consultant to set it up, but it’s much less likely to need frequent attention and most work can be done remotely.

Many offices have postponed buying a server because the expense was hard to justify. […] continued