Feb 01, 2004, 12:05am

A while back, I participated in the beta test for a popular Palm software application that has made it's way over to the Symbian platform, specifically the P800 and P900 smartphones, and other Symbian UIQ devices. That software was QuickOffice Premium, from a company that has several different operating names, but their website says iGo.

I was initially excited to be part of the test, mainly because of some complimentary software my own company was developing for Symbian UIQ (hint: text input software). I was a "good" beta tester, or at least I thought I was. I dunno how many testers they had, but basically there were only three or four guys who were regularly submitting usability and bug reports via their Yahoo Groups enviro, and I was on of them.

Soon, I got kind of upset at the company behind this product. Suggestions that the serious beta testers made were acknowledged, but not incorporated. Conventions I expected from a "word processing app" were not included in the program, and when I made those suggestions, they were again acknowledged, but not incorporated.

I'm not being catty about this - they were genuine things that one would expect from a PDA word processing app... Like a "select all" option on the pull down edit menu (right up to the current build, QuickWord for UIQ still doesn't have this option). I don't know of any word processing app that doesn’t have an option for selecting all text, but now I do know one.

There were many usability problems. I test usability issues in software and websites all the time, so I pointed out some glaring errors in the usability of their program during the beta test. Again, these usability quirks were sometimes acknowledged, then ignored in the rush to release the product.

Here's another minor irk I had with the folks behind QuickOffice Premium. Once the beta test was over, they didn't offer anything to the beta testers. No free copy of the software, no discount on the software, no nothing. That lacks a bit of class, especially since several testers really put in several hours fully testing the product and posting multiple test reports. To drop these users a $40 program for what was probably five or more hours of work would have been a decent thing to do, but they didn't do it.

All of that pales in comparison to the biggest problem with the app. iGo claims that QuickOffice is a Microsoft Word compatible word processor and Excel compatible spreadsheet program. I don’t use Excel, so I can’t speak on that, but QuickOffice Premium for the Symbian UIQ and Sony Ericsson P800 is NOT MS Word compatible in any real sense. It may read MS Word documents, but it saves documents as html files which are NOT compatible with the .doc format, and when you go back to your desktop to open them, don't even bother - the formatting is all in html, and all your normal MS word features, like bullets and styles are munged.

The program will also munge up any eBooks you might have on your P800 phone if you open them. It "recognizes' the palm .pdb format (eBooks saved as pdb format are typically plain html that's been compressed inside a database file), and if you edit an eBook, it automatically resaves it. That would be fine, except the next time you try to open the eBook in Mobipocket or similar, it is broken - the file will not open.

I was hoping that, some five months after the product was released, they would have either addressed this issue by releasing a new version that saved in the native .doc format or at the very least in a .rtf format, but they haven’t. I even hoped that by now they would have fixed some of the usability issues and added conventions, like the "select all" option, or putting "save" and "save as" on the file menu (they ain't there), but no joy on those things either.

So why do I bring this up? Because I feel the company is misleading people with this piece of $40 software (which our company paid, because iGo didn't offer their beta testers any freebies). And on their website, they claim, "QuickOffice Premier for UIQ provides the only available Microsoft Office file editing solution for the Symbian UIQ platform smartphones."

Disregarding the fact that QuickOffice is not a true MS Office compatible program, I've also got this to say to that quote above:

Not for long... :)

Soon, a native .rtf editor (much closer to MS Word's .doc format, and the native format used on the Mac) for the Symbian platform. Full .rtf support, not some kinda mikeymouse html file saved as a .doc file. Features you'd expect, like a spelling checker (not found on QuickOffice) and conventions you'd expect from a word processing app. If you’ve ever used the excellent Pocket Artist from Conduits and thought, "wow, this program is very similar to PhotoShop in its menus and functions", this new word processing app will be like that, but mimicking MS Word. Maybe even some alternative text input applets included as well. It will rock.

Watch out QuickOffice - it's gonna come soon.

2 comments | reply

Mixelania

Photos from Algonquin Park
Photos from my trip to Algonquin Park this fall with my Mom and two brothers.

War Stories

Making Snow for the Fortress
One of the worst jobs I ever had... till I got out.

Webiffied

Tools I Use
The tools I use to build websites and lead a tech life.

iPod and iTunes Offline

iMark's iTunes and iPod isn't iPlaying anything right iNow.

Most Recent Songs

Fiddlers Green by The Tragically Hip

Around The Bend by Pearl Jam

Here With Me (Rollo's Chillin' With the Family Mix) by Dido

With arms open wide by Creed

truffle pigs by Matthew Good Band

In the News

Burundi and Beyond - NY Times
Great article by Peter Meehan - provided some background.

St. Petersburg Times
Side mention in an article about good machines

AP Story on Espresso
Background and information provided

NY Times - Grinders Article
Especially proud of this one - got the reporter to focus on grinders

Globe and Mail
LOL - showing bad reporting, dude says I'm an American-based site!

The Olympian, WA
Talks about my love for the El Sal Siberia Pacamara

Seattle Times - Clover
Interviewed for comments on the Clover brewer

NY Times - How it Works
Background and information for various espresso machines

Time Mag Article
Just a brief mention, article about roasting beans.

NY Times
Front page article about consumers getting into specialty coffee.

Washington Monthly
Quoted reference to what I wrote in an article at CoffeeGeek.

USA Today - Barista Jam
Intereviewed for my thoughts on what the epitome of espresso is.

WSJ Article
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed me 3 times. This is the first time my name got in a story.

Reuters Interview
Interview with Reuters, Jan 2 - this is the USA Today version.

My Other Stuff

CoffeeGeek
Launched Dec 22, 2001, this is THE online community for espresso and coffee fanatics.

CoffeeKid Website
It's all new, as of March, 2002. My personal coffee obsession site.

WebMotif Services
My company's site - needs an update!

Amazon WishList
Hey, if you feel the need to buy me something, check here!

Daily Visits

enGadget
Great gadget site run by the guy who used to do Gizmodo.

Google News
This is how I get my daily news fix.

DPReview Forums`
The most active forums for digital photography online today.

Daily Zen
Need my Daily Zen fix!

Jalopnik
A blog about car stuff. Vroom Vroom.

MoCo Loco
An industrial design blog. Very cool stuff.

Friends and Family Plan

Beata Blog
Beata's got her own blog! She updates it most days.

Riddla on Flickr
Matt Riddle's flickr account, updated regularly

Irdy Photos
Irdy, my friend from Jakharta, on Flickr

Recent Acquisitions

Canon EF 24-105 f4 L Lens
The best lens I've ever owned. Super sharp and quick.

Canon 5D
A full frame dSLR, with luscious colour reproduction.

Alzo Digital Lights
Some amazing florescent cold lights for product photography

Canon Xsi dSLR
Amazing technology and image quality in a tiny package.

Canon 40D
Latest prosumer camera from Canon - a much better upgrade than the 30D

Fujitsu P1610
Great 2.2lb computer that does most of my travel / writing needs

28mm f1.8 Lens
A great lens for closeup work and full picture photography

Foodsaver Advanced
Finally got the right tools for freezing green coffee.

Canon 50mm 1.4
Most amazing lens I've ever owned. Produces stellar photos.

Canon 10-22mm
Super wide angle (full frame fisheye) zoom for my Canon 20D