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This is part 1 of 3 in our Personal Information Manager Smackdown, check back later for the rest of the series.!

At it’s conception, the Windows Mobile operating system was designed for use as some type of Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). These devices have gone through multiple evolutions as both the hardware and software mature. Many of us (whether we use it as such or not) use the organization features of these devices to justify the somewhat high price tags. While some use these features more than others, Windows Mobile offers some great tools to manage your calendar and contacts. But what should you do when the built in feature set falls short of what you would like to be able to do?

In this corner is Agenda Fusion 8...

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Today’s voicemail is about more than just listening to your voice mail. It’s about voicemail forwarding, reading, and online storage. The year is 2008 and just listening to voicemails is so 2000.

The services we will be discussing take your voicemail to the next level. Their main goal is to change how you use voicemail and turn it into something useful. They give you more control beyond saving and deleting voicemail. They take a voicemail you receive, convert it to text, and then send it to you via sms or email. This can be very helpful weather you’re sitting at a business meeting or traveling in loud environments. It even comes especially handy if you have to keep a voicemail discreet and confidential. A majority of the services out there are free but to get the full features a monthly fee is usually added.

We're going to compare three of the most popular services out there: YouMail, GotVoice, and PhoneTag.

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We'll be posting up a full review of the Motorola Q9h and the Mogul next week (and even a mini-review of the Motorola MC35). There'll be more smackdowns to come too (intra-carrier style), but for now I'm itching to try something new out. I've already said that I prefer the Q9h to the BlackJack II, but as sbono13 pointed out in the comments, the BJII is a full $200 bucks cheaper (with contract) than the Q9h... so I'm thinking I should give that device a full rundown as well. Toss in the fact that I have (unfairly?) poo-poohed the Pantech Duo and the Samsung i760 and suddenly we're looking at a whole smorgasbord of Windows Mobile smartphones. That's a situation I love, but I can't decide.

So, what to do about that itch? Let you decide. Head on over to the thread associated with this post and vote in the poll. We'll leave the poll open through Tuesday, February 5th. We're also making your choices public so we can track 'em, not because we're nefarious, but because we'll choose one lucky voter from the top choice to win a $100 coupon at the WMExperts Store!

After the break - see the smartphones sitting on my desk, waiting on my eternal judgment (and the full rules to the contest). To vote, just click on this here link

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Over at pocketables, Jenn K Lee has posted up a comprehensive comparison of the most popular browsers on Windows Mobile. She obviously wanted to eliminate variables like whether or not a given device's power would get in the way, so she used a beefy HTC Advantage X7501 to compare Opera 8.65, IE Mobile, Minimo 0.2, Picsel 1.0.0, and NetFront 3.4. The results surprised me a bit and actually got me to change my default browser to her winner.

Oh, you thought I was going to ruin the fun and tell you the winner? Nope. Go check out the smackdown yourself.

A sidenote: WMExperts is at the CTIA Entertainment conference this week, so expect tragically desolate spaces of not-posting interspersed with glorious liveblogging and hands-on posts.

My pal Ben Higginbotham of Technology Evangelist has called me out publicly on our debate about email on the iPhone. I say the iPhone sucks at email, he says it the bestest (yes, I'm oversimplifying. A lot.). I've been meaning to comment over at TE (you should consider doing it yourself, it's an interesting post), but instead am just going to do a full WMExperts Smackdown here.

I love you Ben, but you might want to go find some ointment, because I have a strong feeling this is going to sting a little. Click through for the fun.

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In part 1 we restricted ourselves to just comparing the hardware differences between the HTC Touch and the iPhone. Here, in part 2, we go all out.

So much of what needs comparing between these two devices is software experience, so it had to be a video. And it turned into a more general "Windows Mobile vs. iPhone" sort of deal, so we bring you a long (25 minutes, too long for YouTube!) one. So grab a cuppa joe and witness the (low-key) smackdownery. If you don't have time just now, here's the short version:

• iPhone: Absolutely rocks the universe with its media capabilities and its browser.
• Windows Mobile: Still the king of productivity. ...with plenty of "check out this native 3rd party app" cheap shots thrown in at the end.

Basically we're looking at a situation that matches with everybody's expectations surprisingly well - the Apple product is hip, flashy, and surprisingly easy to use. The Windows product actually lets you, you know, work. Now in the desktop world, I find that the Mac lets me do the work I need to as well (if not better) than Windows. But in the mobile space, well, the cloying commercials fit pretty well.

So check out the video (plus a little metaphor I couldn't resist) after the break.

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Here they are on my desk, sitting quietly next to each other. On the inside, though, both are smoldering cauldrons of hate and jealousy. Seriously, there's almost steam rising out of the speaker grills on each phone. We'll get to software in part two (here's a preview, though, it's apples and oranges / featurephone v smartphone), but for today let's just compare the hardware. I'm sure that nobody out there would actually base their purchasing decision between these two on which is thinner (iPhone), but it's still fun to look.

Read on for some pics and thoughts.

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Way back when I first unboxed the HTC S710 (aka the HTC Vox), a reader commented that my voice sounded giddy. Indeed, I was giddy. The s710 was (and is) an exciting form factor for Standard-Edition Windows Mobile phones - a candy-bar slider that includes both a standard 12-key phone pad and a full qwerty keyboard. But innovative form factor does not a usable device make. How does the s710 stand up to actual use? Read on for the full review.

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Now that the T-Mobile Wing is out and available in the stores, there’s probably a healthy amount of MDA users out there wondering if it’s worth the price to upgrade. Now, far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money - 500 bucks before contract discounts is a lot of money. And on paper, the Wing doesn’t exactly blow the MDA out of the water. Take a peek at what hasn’t really been upgraded:

• Processor: the same, though the Wing is clocked a whole 6MHz faster at 201MHz
• Weight: The Wing weighs 1 gram less.
• Memory: The Wing actually has less available memory to the user. MDA has 50mb storage and 47.46Mmb program compared to the Wing’s 41.42mb storage and 43.8mb program. It’s even worse in that the Wing seems to eat up more program memory after a fresh boot with the T-Mobile MyFaves app running (and it wants to always be running.
• Screen: The same
• Data: Both are quad-band EDGE phones with WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. Heck, the MDA has infrared and the Wing does not.
• Battery Life: The Wing’s battery is smaller, at 1130 mAh to the MDA’s 1250mAh.
• Audio Out: The MDA has a 2.5mm audio jack, the Wing makes you use HTC’s funny little mini-usb adapter.

What specs are better? Well the Wing has a 2 megapixel camera, the MDA’s is 1.3. That’s about it, actually, except…

So the main differences come down to two things: Windows Mobile 6 on the Wing and the Wing’s improved form factor. I won’t get into WM6 too much here (it’s better, but in my opinion it won’t knock your socks off); instead let’s look at the form factor differences. Read on for a photo-fortified-form-factor smackdown between the Wing and the MDA.

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