Sammy's Review of the Week 
>Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) and Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad this week launched the Palm(R) Treo(TM) 500v smartphone on the Celcom network in Malaysia. The new smartphone combines multiple forms of communication and multimedia capabilities with high-speed 3G mobile Internet access.(1)
>Palm Australasia this week announced the Palm® Treo™ 500v smartphone on the Vodafone network in New Zealand. The new smartphone combines multiple forms of communication and multimedia capabilities with high-speed 3G mobile Internet access, allowing users to access popular websites, such as YouTube, whilst on the move.(1) The new Treo 500v smartphone will be available exclusively through Vodafone for several months.
>Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today announced that Palm's Chief Financial Officer Andrew J. Brown is scheduled to present at the UBS Global Technology & Services Conference in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007 at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time. The company invites investors to listen to the live webcast at http://investor.palm.com/events.cfm.
>Peter Arts reviews the Palm Centro. "Why do I keep reiterating that Palm is aiming this device at younger people, and keep testing it on older people? Simple: if you look at the marketing campaigns that Palm and Sprint have launched, the majority of people shown with the Centro ain't spring chickens. Palm Marketing says the device is for the young and hip...the people in the commercials and ads are closing in on hip surgery. Consider Sprint's snappy Centro slogan: "Multitask like there are more of you." Wow! We're back to the Mini-me analogy, so I'm right on track. However, look at the graphic right above...I cribbed it from the Sprint Centro website. Does it say young and hip to you...or cloning? It reminds me of another image, but, I can't quite put my finger on it :-) Rather then waste space re-writing a rant I've already published, just click here to look at my editorial on how mis-targeted the advertising for the Centro really is. If Palm wants to get the word out on the Centro, they should be in every major shopping mall around America between now and Christmas...having raffles for Centros, doing endless demos of Centros and putting them into the hands of weary shoppers. Suffice to say that Blackberry, Danger, Motorola and others know their clients. Just look at the laser-sharp relevance of their ads. Compare that to the delta between Palm's stated target market; and the ads they have produced. Oh, well...I guess It's A Palm Thing."
>Paul Biba talks about the Turbo Charge TC2 which looks great. "When I checked my mail today I found that the PR firm for Voxred International had sent me a sample of their new TC2. Normally I wouldn't report on a charger like this, because they are a dime a dozen. However, this one has some features that make it worth looking at. First, it uses two batteries, while most use one. This gets you a lot more charge time. Second, it has a built in battery indicator to tell you the state of it's AA batteries. I've seen plenty of chargers that don't have this feature, and what is the good of a charger if you don't know if the charger's battery is good? And finally, it has a neat LED flashlight built in."
>Paul Biba reviewed the Proporta Alu-Leather Cases for iPhone. "roporta has sent me two of their Alu-leather cases for the iPhone. The one on the left is the new Sheepskin case and can be found here for $34.95. It comes in pink and brown. The one on the right is their standard Alu-leather case and can be found here for for $34.95. The major difference between the cases seems to be the leather. The sheepskin case is softer to the touch and feels better in the hand."
> Peter Arts reviews some Centro Accessories from SEIDIO including the The Ultimate Screen Guard for Centro & Rubberized Spring Clip Swivel Holster for (unskinned) Centro which you can read here.
>Paul Biba reviewed the v-moda Vibe Duo iPhone Earphones which made for an interesting read for me. "A long time ago, when the iPhone first came out, I reported on how by v-moda Vibe earphones would fit the iPhone with just a little filing of the plug with an emery board. Well, that is no longer necessary, because the new Vibe Duo earphones not only fit the iPhone they can control it too. v-moda was good enough to provide me with a set for this review. Unlike my previous v-modas (which I did buy myself) the Duo has three major improvements: first, the cord has been changed from a rubber exterior to a cloth exterior. This makes a definite difference, as one of the things I didn't like about the earlier version was the microphonics that the cord could create. Second, the plug fits the iPhone without any filing. And third, and most important, the Duo contains a microphone so you can talk as well as listen. The microphone housing, just like the earphones that come with the iPhone, contains a switch which will either answer the phone or pause and re-start the iPhone's mp3 player. I ended up putting aside my earlier Duos, and using the far inferior phones that came with the phone, because it was so much more convenient to have the microphone and start/stop button on the earphones, even if the sound was markedly inferior on the standard iPhone unit. The new button works perfectly and the microphone seems fine, at least people I've talked to had no complaints about hearing me or the sound quality."
>Peter Arts wrote a great editorial about moving from Treo to Blackberry and you can read it in full here. "Yesterday, I activated a Blackberry 8830 "World Edition" device onto my Sprint account. Although I have been threatening to move away from Palm for over a year, it was finally time to face the inevitable. Treo, Au Revoir - Why move to RIM, after owning every Palm OS Treo made? A lot of it is my new requirement for a world-phone. I will now be making periodic business trips to Europe; and, that eliminates Palm OS Treos. Although WinMo v6 appears to be a much-improved platform, my experience with WinMo over the years makes me reluctant to trust my business communications to it. Finally, I want to stay with Sprint. I have had terrific luck with their coverage, call reliability, data speed and service over the past several years. All of those factors (and some cracking reviews) seemed to focus right down to the 8830. This RIM device will run on Sprint's fast EvDO in the US and Canada; and, when overseas, its unlocked SIM card will automatically provide me with GSM/EDGE service (the Verizon version has a locked SIM card...but, whaddaya expect from them?)."
> The Official Palm Addict Podcast edited by Tyler Faux - PA93 was made available at the end of the week and as always Tyler does a terrific job in editing this.
-PA Reviews the Centro
-ALP First Thoughts from Brighthand
-1src Editorial Media Made Sample
-Google announces OHA, Android
>James tells us why he loves his Tungsten TX. "When I first got my hands on the TX, it was clearly a pda - it kept a diary, contacts and all that jazz. The beauty of it as a device is that it can do so so much more and it seems that, every week, we can squeeze a little bit more out of it. As I sat looking at my apps list yesterday, I realised that I'm carrying around lots of things that I simply don't use either because I don't get on with them or they have been surpassed by better things. So it's time to clean up the TX and throw some stuff out! Now, I like to think of myself as someone who has his finger on the social heartbeat of the nation, someone who understands the collective psyche, an expert on the human condition, if you will. I also know a lot of journalists and I know that, in order to feed our lust for information, they are not averse to going through people's bins. So, here are the contents of my digital bin and an insight into what has survived."
>Of course we like to how about what mobile devices you use and why you love them, Pam emailed in and told us about why she loves using her iPhone. "I love my iPhone for the same reasons I loved my Treo 680 (when I used it), because it is both a great business device and entertainment device in one. It is an entertainment device during my commute; I listen to my music when not listening to public radio. Once I step into the office, it keeps me on track with my appointments by reminding me 15 minutes ahead of time where I need to be."
>A number of you told us how you have been using your Palm, devices recently which made for an interesting read.
>The Centro Ruby red was made available.
>Murray at PalmMac talks about how his Treo 750 Windows Mobile 6 upgrade experience has been. "Okay, I've been using this trouble free for for nearly a week and I seem to have convinced myself of the following: reception has improved to the extent where I can get a HSDPA signal in the house or 3g at worst. I'm convinced that the screen looks sharper and clearer I'm also pretty darn certain that the battery life has improved too as I can now get 2 full days on a single charge with the Seiod extended 1600amh battery."
>"Palm's Rob Katcher, senior product manager for smart phones, said Palm has benefited from the excitement around the iPhone. "Palm's Rob Katcher, senior product manager for smart phones, said Palm has benefited from the excitement around the iPhone and the way it's cued people in to touch screens, something Palm's Treos have sported for years. He said Palm is actually emphasizing the Centro's touch screen even more than originally planned because of the buzz around the iPhone's screen. While the Centro and iPhone may both be targeting first-time smart phone users, he said, the Palm device offers a more friendly combination of messaging applications, a tactile keyboard - and a $99 price tag."
>Greg Leffler wrote a great editorial entitled the problem with change. "We live in a society where "latest and greatest" is an ever-moving target, where manufacturers (perhaps with the exception of Palm ;-) ) release devices ridiculously often, and where every iteration of hardware or software is promised to have new features that will solve every problem you've had with the old features and the old device, and if you'd just buy it today you'd realize that you've just been made into a fool. That's right. Hopping on the technology treadmill is foolish, and despite the fact that people that read websites about technology are going to vehemently disagree with me, I'll stand by my assertion. The reason why is that companies have realized that they no longer need a paid QA department any more. Why bother? They have people that will pay them for the privilege of beta testing their buggy hardware, and if you make them angry, who cares? The suckers on the technology treadmill will keep coming back and buying your new product anyway, because that mindset has been ingrained into the culture of being a "technology buff." I recently discarded (well, I didn't discard it so much as I exchanged) an HTC Mogul on the Sprint network. The Mogul is, according to its spec sheet, a beast of a phone - Windows Mobile 6 Pro, some ridiculously fast processor, 64 MB of RAM, Wi-Fi, EV-DO, and all sorts of other features. It probably has a convenient toaster oven, if you can find the right file to invoke it. This would be great if half the features of the product actually worked. The biggest, most glaring example is that there is a bug where alarms won't fire on the device if it is plugged in. (I swear I'm not making this up.) There is also a bug with the flip-out hardware keyboard in that in certain applications, all you can input with it are symbols. This phone has been out since July, and yet these bugs still exist. Sprint knows about these bugs, HTC knows about these bugs, yet they haven't been fixed yet. Each of those parties blames the other when something goes wrong, but nobody has ownership of the entire device experience."
> Meanwhile, please remember to cast your vote for the best in the Palm community in the Palm Addict Reader Awards 2007 Survey which you can find at this link. The survey is open for the remainder of the year and in December we will publish the results as we do every year.
>For those of you with iPhones then you may wish to check out iPhone Crystal case (Sunflower) which PalmDiscovery made a point of mentioning.
>Just caught this from the Palminfocenter "A new version of Palm’s Mobile Portal for Palm devices utilizing the Blazer web browser quietly went live over the past weekend. Logging on to the mobile.palm.com default home page in the evening of Sunday the 4th, revealed a face lifted Palm mobile portal. I was using on a Verizon 700p with Blazer 4.5." - Palminfocenter
> We received this from Palmgear this week. "Great news - PalmGear.com is joining PocketGear.com!
In the coming weeks, PocketGear.com will become the new home for all the great Palm OS® applications you've come to expect from PalmGear.com. What does this mean for you? At PocketGear.com, you will find an improved design, improved navigation and an improved shopping experience! In addition to Palm OS® applications, you will also find software for Windows Mobile® devices. How will you know when to start shopping at PocketGear.com? Once we have finished migration of all the Palm OS® content to PocketGear.com, we will set up a redirect for PalmGear.com. So, when you go to PalmGear.com, you will automatically be redirected to PocketGear.com. Will you be able to use your existing PalmGear.com user account on PocketGear.com? Yes! Once PalmGear.com is redirected to PocketGear.com, you will be able to log into PocketGear.com with your current PalmGear.com login credentials."
This week Google announced the Android. "Google have announced Android. "Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing -- the Open Handset Alliance and Android -- is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today."
Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities."
The Official Google Blog
>Edition 46 of the Smartphone Show was made available for your viewing pleasure. What's in this edition? News and a bumper head-to-head review - Nokia E90 versus AT&T Tilt (a.k.a. HTC Kaiser, TyTN II, etc.)
http://www.smartphones-show.com/
>Aziz at TreoToday offers some free wallpapers for your Treo. "How would you like some free wallpapers for your Treo smartphone? I generally use photos of my kids, but you might want something unique. Say thanks to Pablo, since he has some great wallpapers for the 320×320 resolution of the Treo. I have to say the wallpapers are really well-designed and will definitely serve as a conversation starter for your Treo."
>We also found out that the Sandisk 8Gb MicroSD works with Treo 750v. "I’ve just managed to get my grubby little hands on a Sandisk 8GB MicroSD card. Now back when I first got my Treo 750v I decided to use MicroSD rather than MiniSD.cards. This was so that I was already a jump ahead and whatever phone I get next should have either a MicroSD or a newer storage type. But at the same time MicroSD can be adapted to fit both MiniSD and SD devices. So upon receiving my 750v I went out and brought a cheap 2Gb MicroSD which had an adapter to convert from MicroSD to Mini SD and another to transform from MiniSD to SD. This works great with the 750 but then I was offered a 8Gb Sandisk MicroSD. An offer I could not turn down. So once I got the 8Gb card I desided to fit it into the 750 and copy all my old data and TomTom data over to the new card. So far everything is working great and I have not had a single problem with it. Now I have a Treo with the same amount of space as my LifeDrive and its 4Gb SD card."
> Roger Parsons lets PA readers know how his LifeDrive stopped him from going mad. "I’ve been a Palm device user for many years, starting with the Palm IIIe. I’ve always enjoyed Palms devices and the feel of the OS. When the LifeDrive was first mentioned I knew that I had to get one. So as soon as I could after launch I picked one up. It was perfect for me. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, multimedia player, mobile office the list goes on and on. I use it all the time and it even made the perfect companion surviving multiple phone changes from the Nokia 6600 to the Samsung D500 (For the one month it lasted before I stopped using it and went back to the 660). Then to the Nokia N70, N80 and N95. I’ve even used it along side a Treo 750 and a Sony Vaio UX 50. So as you can see my LifeDrive has been one of the constants in my life that has helped keep me going. Well to get to the point. Back in November of 2006 I meet a guy who starting making offers of me working for him building websites etc. I agreed to do it but would not leave my full time job until we were up and running."
>Sheldon from Morning Paper has written some thoughts on improved Treo applications. "I have been playing around with my Treo 755p for the last few days. I think my experience with the Centro nerved me a bit. The Centro is really a shrunken version of my 755p for hundreds less, and it comes equipped with Docs 10. (I know, I should let it go)."
>Anil Hormis wrote a great editorial this week, Treo 680 vs iPhone. "Good morning - i thought that I would write a couple of quick thoughts on the upcoming release of the iphone in the UK. In PATV 125 , Sammy and Simon talked about the hype surrounding the iPhone in the UK. I am not sure that there is quite the mass hysteria that there was in the USA. I have not heard any of my firends say that they are going to get an iPhone anytime soon. But we can see what happens at the O2 stores on friday. I am sure O2 and Car Phone warehouse will sell out of iPhones - but i dont think we will see people linig the streets - well not in Sheffield anyway ! I do think that the price is a little prohibitve - we are not used to paying too much money for our phones here in the UK - especially when they come with a contracts."
>Palm confirms it'll be skipping the Android party is the official word on whether Palm will join forces with Android, the new Google open mobile OS according to Engadget.
>PATV125 was made available for your viewing pleasure this week. PATV125 lasts for 20 minutes and sees me talking to Simon about how he is getting on with his Treo 680 in his second week and Google's new proposed mobile operating system. I am joined by my guest, Associate Writer, Simon Higginson.
>Timothy reviewed Causerie and he had a few quarrels about it. "First off let me say that I am not thrilled by any software that you have to subscribe to every year. A one time fee is a lot more appealing. There is other IM software that does what Causerie does, much in the same way that Causerie does it, but for a one time purchase fee. Having said that I'll have to admit, also, that I was not overwhelmingly thrilled by this software. It does do what it's supposed to - you can chat/instant message with friends of multiple IM clients. In addition you can send files, get email notifications, and other miscellaneous add ins. However, the "Always On" feature keeps your network on. That, of course can drain your battery, which is very important if you are an owner of a Treo 680 like myself. There are other IM software programs that allow an always on connection through sms. The one thing that caught my attention is the advertised feature of being able to connect to more than one IMs of the same kind at the same time. For example you can connect to 2 different AIM accounts at the same time. Cool right? Yep, only if you get the Causerie Premier .... and yes, that costs even more per year."
> Nick let us know how he using his Treo. "at the moment im using my treo to stream music wirelessly to my bluetooth speakers. I love it because we can go to the beach, park, or my balcony and all i need is my treo and my bluetooth speakers to have a mini party. Double A batteries or a an outlet keep my music tunes pumping throughout the day. Wish they had these around when we would have senior ditch school days :) ."
>Ed at Brighthand gives first thoughts to ALP. "Like its rival being developed by Palm, Inc., ALP (Access Linux Platform) is a Linux-based operating system for smartphones capable of running Palm OS applications. Access Systems (formerly PalmSource) is in the process of trying to drum up interest among potential ALP licensees, and couple of people from the company -- Albert Chu and Brian Purdy -- gave me a demonstration. To me, the most important feature in this operating system is its compatibility with legacy Palm OS applications. Access has built a compatibility engine called GHost into ALP that handles this task."
>Opera, the only company that puts the Web on any device, today released Opera Mini™ 4, the newest version of Opera's worldwide mobile browsing sensation. Opera Mini 4 inspires the senses with its stunning desktop overview mode, so users see the page exactly as it appears on their computers. People can then use the intuitive Opera Zoom™ to fly into the page and access the content you want. Or they can select Opera's Small Screen Rendering™ to eliminate horizontal scrolling. Opera Mini 4 is a free download, over the air, to your phone from www.operamini.com
>Pocket Tunes was this week updated. "We've just released Pocket Tunes 4.0.5. This bug-fix update is available for free to anyone who purchased Pocket Tunes 4.0.X. It is also a free update for users of the Palm Centro. If your device came with Pocket Tunes installed in the ROM, this is also a free update on that device; you will get a 15-day trial of Deluxe when you update, which you can cancel at any time. You can download the update from http://www.pocket-tunes.com/?page=download"
>"MotionApps products for the Palm Centro now available MotionApps is delighted to announce that our applications are available for this superior device. Palm Centro supported applications include our bestsellers: mRing, mVoice, mOcean, mTools, mVoiceMail, mSafe and mRSS. More details about MotionApps products availability for Centro you can find at http://www.motionapps.com/sphone/centro"
>PalmDiscovery has done a review of the USB Fever’s USB AAA Battery Charger. "The idea of a mobile charger isn't new. The idea of a rechargeable battery powered charger isn't new either, so why am I doing a review of something that isn't a new concept? Well, first of all, Thomas of USB Fever has requested my help in reviewing their USB AAA Battery Charger with Torch and second, it does offer something a bit different than other battery powered chargers." Read in full.
>PalmDoc Chronicles has an interview with Andrew “The Meister” Schechtman from Meistermed and the iSilo Depot fame. "This is the second in our series of interviews with prominent personalities in the world of Medical PDA computing. I am sure many of you will be familiar with Meistermed and the iSilo Depot which is a great collection of medical references in iSilo format. If you are wondering who the Meister is, wonder no more as we bring you the Palmdoc Chronicles interview with Andrew “The Meister” Schechtman"
>Boston Globe says that the new Android operating system by Google may be damaging to the likes of ACCESS/Palmsource and other developers
> Live Search for Windows Mobile now has voice recognition, now that is pretty cool. "Live Search for Windows Mobile with voice input. The updated Live Search for Windows Mobile® 5.0 and 6.0 will be available for download for free on Tuesday, Oct. 16, and now includes voice input (beta version), gas prices, and hours of operation for businesses. The service can also use Global Positioning System (GPS) data on GPS-enabled phones to provide location-aware local search for customers." Go watch the video it's pretty cool.
> Rick lets us know why and how he uses his Tungsten TX. "I've had my TX for about two years now, and I've been loving every moment with it. Given that my prior PDA was a Tungsten E, having both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi has expanded my PDA computing experience to new realms. I thought that I had reached the limits of connectivity, but thanks to a recent newspaper ad I discovered that I could go even further with my Palm. As usual, when the advertisements come with the newspaper for Best Buy and other electronics retailers, I leaf through it noting all the gadgets I'd think about buying at some point. I came across the cell phone section, and was about to breeze through it, when I noticed some text indicating that the phone can connect to the Internet. I thought to myself, " That's the norm now for phones. The browsing experience on them is awful, nothing at all like my TX." It then occurred to me: Have I ever tried to connect my TX to the Internet without Wi-Fi? I remembered seeing some kind of option to connect through Bluetooth...could it really be true?"
>Nick lets us know that he thinks its time for a clean start on his Treo 650. "I love my Treo 650, but lately it has been periodically reseting itself. Now don't get me wrong, it has always done this, but lately it has been more and more often. The way I see it, I have 2 choices, 1. buy a new phone, or 2. completely reset my phone and start off clean. I'm going to choose that latter option since currently the only other option on GSM networks is the 680, and it is just not enough of an upgrade to award its purchase. I'd consider an upgrade tot he Centro if it was available as an Unlocked GSM, but since it is not... My hope is to reclaim space from numerous removed applications and hopefully end what ever action is almost regularly causing my phone to reset. Hopefully at the end all will go well. "
>Great editorial from Dov, entitled, Lessons Learned, a new job for my treo earned. "I've recently suffered through a complete loss of my hard drive (clicking, scraping) and, not having $900 to spare at this time for a professional data recovery, I've put the old hard drive aside for now. Luckily I have all my photos stored away and I've lost only about 7 months of materials, the most important of which are, TG, stored on google documents or in my GMAIL account. So far, not much of a PA story, right? There is a connection, however, in addition to the fact that I haven't been posting recently in part because I've had to do serious catch up on a huge number of projects and articles that had to be recreated. I remember the last time I had a data loss on my laptop. It wasn't as catastrophic as this one, but I also had most of my projects backed up – to my T5! One of the things I miss about moving to my Treo – ok, the only thing I miss, really -- is that the smaller screen discourages me from writing or even editing papers/articles/presentations on the treo. It's funny, though, because having unlimited data access should encourage me to work on the treo, but it doesn't. The T5 also worked as a USB drive without any software installed on the host computer. That fact alone save me a number of times – including once when I had to present in front of 500 people."
>Over at MobilityToday they have a freeware list of Windows Mobile software that could be worth checking out. "Some of you may already know all about this awesome resource, but for those that don’t, here you go. LocutusBorgMan has spent a lot of time keeping this wonderful list up to date. In our forums, he’s put together a massive list of freeware complete with links, description, and even his rating. This list is too big to post here, so you’ll have to click through to check it out!"
>PDAMill's GameBox Asia II is available for Windows Mobile and the GearDiary has done a review of the game. Personally it looks very good. "GameBox Asia is our excellent quality, authentic collection of three famous tile games of the Orient. Incredible graphics, authentic Chinese tile sets and boards, and incredible playability combine to make this the best possible tile game for your Pocket PC.
>WMExperts did a very good editorial and there are a number of points that makes good sense. "Recently in the TC forums and on WMExperts, there has been a lot of discussion of what the upcoming Palm Treo 800w will have for hardware and what features it will contain. No doubt that many will judge the device just on pure numbers e.g. how much memory, how fast a processor and, if like the recent AT&T Tilt, it has all the technological bells and whistles that could be crammed in. While the hardware specs are certainly important, I’d also argue how that hardware is implemented and integrated in the OS is just as significant, if not more so."
>TamsPalm writes about trying to get the Sony Clie organiser on a Palm device such as the Tungsten TX. "Sony wrote this PIM management app for one of his latest Palm PDAs: the TH55. The program has singularly features, for example you can write handwritten notes or put photos into the calendar. You can find some good screenshots here. Of course, a lot of people tried to get it working on other PDAs. There are some discussions on 1src where you can find manuals how to get it working on older Sony Clie PDAs, but nobody managed it to get it completely working on Palm PDAs (only very small parts of it - unusable). Some days ago Dmitry Grinberg, “software engineer and hacker”, found a way to use the application on his T|X. According to him, he had to patch some files and write new libraries."
>In my office the internet went down this week and my Treo came in very handy. Internet went down yesterday and I was able to get a lot of my work done yesterday on my Treo 680. Apparently our service provider BT had cut through cabling so as a consequence our work connection went down so I went home and used my home provider Zen. But in the time I was without the internet I was able to use my Treo to keep on top of email check in on my sites, do the odd post and keep in touch on instant messenger. All of course from my 680. Its times like this that I truly appreciate mobile devices.
>Is mobile instant messaging something you do? It's something that I do, I used to use Verichat on my Treo and now use Toccer, anyway I spotted this on Jason Landridge's site. "Instant messaging on the PC has become a very popular form of communication over the last few years with some analysts predicting that it will overtake email as the most used form of communication, especially by the younger generation. Mobile Instant Messaging on smart mobile devices offers the same ability to stay connected to colleagues, friends and family even when traveling and is now also starting to take off. However, very little research has been done into the use of this form of communication over others from an end user perspective. A good friend of mine is currently doing research into this topic as part of his Masters Degree at Henley Management College and has created a short survey that will help establish some of the usage patterns and drivers for adoption of Mobile IM. He is looking for people who use Instant Messaging on the PC and Mobile device during work (independent of the type of hardware, software or IM service being used) "
>I received this from Adriano mid week this week. "Hi Sammy, Wednesday, November 7, 2007: we are happy to announce the release of Agendus Mail for Palm OS version 5.4. - Short Summary Agendus Mail is our intuitive, streamlined and snappy email client featuring ease of use, full attachment support, unlimited POP / IMAP / SMTP email accounts, desktop synchronization, SMS capability and much more on Palm OS powered handhelds and Treo smartphones. And, it's the ideal companion of the Agendus for Palm OS line of solutions. Version 5.4 embeds improvements reflecting the feedback received through our user community, and brings in various functionality and stability refinements. In particular, this update streamlines the creation of new IMAP based Gmail accounts, supports uploading of sent items to the appropriate folder on the server, and features a considerably faster scrolling of messages stored on memory card. http://www.iambic.com/emailssl/palmos/"
>TAKEphONE 7.50 was made available this week. "TAKEphONE 7.50 is available to download. There are 2 changes including:
- Redial: fixed reset when “typing starts filter” option is on.
- Display: minor fixes & improvements.
TAKEphONE 7.50 allows:
- No stylus operation and one-handed dialing.
- Advanced search - search all fields, multiple methods, field combinations.
- Extra digits & pauses - from any phone field in any contact.
- Call cards mechanism - define scripts for using calling cards automatically.
- Capture - dial, sms, email, browse & search the internet for numbers & text from other apps.
- Skinnable - get TAKEphONE skins here..."
>Caught this over at the Palminfocenter. "Palm OS fans on Verizon Wireless are, as of this writing, still having to make do with the aging Treo 700p. Both the Treo 755p and Centro remain no-shows on the Verizon network, despite persistent rumors to the contrary regarding the former. However, several hints have recently appeared to indicate that a Verizon 755p release is imminent."
> 2day 1.51 beta has been released and here are the changes and additions.
- Display: fixes for text color & shadow.
- Treo: added transparent Treo gadgets library, so all Treo status gadgets (radio, battery, Bluetooth) are now drawn by system (more accurate) and are transparent to background.
- “Typing starts Initiate”: filter out non-characters.
- “Typing starts new meeting”: start in CAPS.
>I enjoyed reading Julie's Gear Diary post from this week, I finally removed the SIM from my iPhone and put it in the... so where did she put her sim card? Which phone is Julie going to be using?
>David Ross's post this week made me smile titled dangers of ebook and chocolate. "This is true and happened to me this morning. I thought I would share this as a warning to all those who love Palms, Ebooks and Chocolate. Last night I was reading on my Zire 71. I like using it for reading at night for the usual reasons, no disturbing light for Debbie, less weight and not losing the place. I also like to eat a bit of chocolate then as well. This morning my alarm on MaClock woke me and I struggled to figure out where my Zire was to stop the alarm. Well I had found it lying on the floor and realised I had fallen a sleep reading. I checked out the Zire and no damage was done. I got up and went to the bathroom to get sorted for the day. So imagine my concern whilst sitting on the toilet to discover a brown substance all over my hands. Getting up I looked in the mirror and it was there on my face all down my right cheek. I washed up in the sink before showering and realised it was chocolate. Not only had I fallen a sleep Palm in hand but also half bar. Yes folks the Palm landed on the floor and my face in a part bar of chocolate that then melted. Debbie was already up and since we were to be quite tight on time this morning I said I would make the bed and get the chance to survey the damage. It was not to bad but between getting home and bedtime I will either have try to change the bed coverings without it being noticed or come clean and face the music. So be warned all you avid ebook readers watch you don't drop you device and put your chocolate somewhere safe."
>Rui sent in this quick post regarding ALP. " If ALP is ready why don't Palm give it to us???? The Morning Paper has blog about ALP that talks about how its ready to be used and why Palm doesn't swallow their pride and use it. With this I was think, maybe they have to think their strategy another way. Why not make a lite version free or for a small price, that anyone for example in the Palm community could install easily and use it. This way ALP could come in from another angle and maybe PALM Inc (and others) well see lots of people using it, and they may become obligated to adapt it. If it isn't adapted, ALP could always keep sticking with the installable version and get money from the users directly. Why not???"
>JK On The Run also posted their thoughts on ALP.
>Also 1src's latest Podcast was made available for your listening pleasure. "The 1src Podcast 154 is available for your listening pleasure. "This week we cover the week's Palm news, Palm's CFO, Andy Brown speaks in Boston, Mac OS X, BackOff!, and this week's 1SRC Editorial. And hold on to your socks, there is even a Foleo rant thrown in for good measure!""
>Sweet sites for the mobile web made for interesting readng and could be a good reference. "I have a Treo 680 for personal use and love it! I just recently found two very cool mobile websites. The first site I found was the mobile access to Outlook web mail, as my Treo is for personal use I don't have any fancy email settings to receive my work email on my treo. However now with webmail.yoursitesdomain.com/oma I can access my email via the webmail server, so if want to check the mail quickly on the way to work or on the weekend when I am away from the house I can do so and I don't have ask the tech department to set anything up or give me special permissions, it just works! All you need to do is add /oma after your top level domain (.com,.net, etc.). Give it a shot it totally cool. The second site I have found is another that has been around for while Google Product Search for mobile www.google.com/products/wml, you enter a query and it gives you the cheapest price for the product using Google product search as a search index. I find myself checking the prices on everything these days. One of those things that is very simple and works amazingly well!"
>Palm still leads handhelds shipments - Handheld Device Shipments Decline 43.5% Year Over Year As Vendors Exit or Transition Product Lines, According to IDC. "The worldwide handheld device market posted its fifteenth consecutive quarter of decline in shipments, signaling either vendor intent to scale back production or exit from market entirely, or both. According to IDC's Worldwide Handheld QView, vendors shipped 728,894 handheld devices in 3Q07, approximately 1.5% more than the previous quarter but 39.3% less from the same quarter a year ago. "The handheld device market has been under constant pressure, with mobile phones and converged mobile devices appropriating many of the handheld's salient attributes," says Ramon T. Llamas, research analyst with IDC's Mobile Device Technology and Trends team. "Handheld product portfolios have suffered as vendors have reallocated their production resources." "However, the handheld device market may be down, but is not necessarily out. The handheld still has a loyal, if shrinking, following in developed economies, especially among enterprise users. In emerging markets, the appeal of the handheld devices seems anchored in the fact that, in the absence of a monthly service plan, it has a lower total cost of ownership compared to mobile phones and/or the converged mobile device." Top Five Handheld Device Vendors includes Palm which remained the clear leader in the handheld market even though it has not launched a new model for over two years. However, over the same period, the company has released nearly a dozen new Treo converged mobile devices. After having retired the Life Drive, Palm is relying on its Z22, TX, and Tungsten E2 handheld devices to represent the company."
> There you go my PA friends, you cannot say that this week was a boring week in the world of Palm. Remember if you have Facebook and you want to be added to my friends list then you are more than welcome. My Facebook link is here or by clicking the badge below, additionally if you wish to see what I am up to in the week, subscribe to my Twitter Micro Blog, again by clicking on the badge below. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I will be back next weekend with my review of the week. Take care everyone.
