PalmAddicts

Review: Kalemsoft's NESEM

I come to you, my fellow Palm Addicts, to talk about Palm gaming. There are hundreds, if not thousands of games for the palm out there. Today, I tell you about a program that enables you to increase your current game stock by about maybe 100, 200 or even more! I speak to you today about... NESEM!

NESEM is a Nintendo emulator available from kalemsoft. It's not free ($17.99) but I bought it years ago and since then have downloaded updates to the program and even transferred the program from old, malfunctioning devices to new and different devices over the years. Support is pretty good with my emails almost always answered within 48-72 hours. That could be better, but this guy is not a Sony or a Dell. He's a small but great operation.

It's worth noting that kalemsoft also sells other emulators as well, but being a child of the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), I opted for NESEM. Note: the demo only allows you to play 30 seconds of a game (to insure that the program works correctly) and only of ROMS of a smaller size. The full version works with just about any rom (see their site for a full list) and gameplay time is unlimited.

The program is very easy to use. Once you have the NES Roms loaded onto your Palm, they'll show up in NESEM's main interface. From this screen you can customize the program pretty extensively: screen size, sound level, which buttons you want to use to control the games, it even supports Game Genie codes if you have them! Note: as a kid, I never had the Game Genie. I was terribly jealous of my friends that did, so to have this feature has finally satisfied my childhood desire!

One of NESEM's features is its SAVE feature. Yes, a save feature! It might be considered cheating, but oh well, it's my program and I'll save if I want to. I can now play Super Mario Bros, go to world 3-1, and keep trying the mega-extra lives trick over and over again until I get it right without worrying about ending the game. Just save it right before the trick, try it out, if it works, great, if not, load the saved game and try again. Of course this is also helpful in that you might want to stop playing NESEM at some point so you can do some actual work.. or sleep... or join humanity for a bit.

The graphics and sound are exactly what you'd expect. It's your old Nintendo system in the "Palm" of your hand, literally! I can give NESEM my full recommendation with no qualms at all.

Now, YOU will have to find the NES roms yourself. There are many ways to find ROMS (online or other) and from what I understand, as long as you have the original game cartridge, you're probably ok. Luckily, there is a used bookstore near me that sells old NES games for 2-3 bucks a pop. I haven't found many ROMS that do not work in NESEM, but there have been a few. There is a converter on the kalemsoft website so that you can convert the NES roms to a pdb format. Additionally, NESEM can use a VFS system which will allow you to sync the games to your PDA via hotsync and then store them on your card to save space on your device. Alternatively, you can just copy the pdbs to your cards NESEM folder as well.

Now as I said, the cost is $17.99 which is not free, of course, but you get what you pay for. It's a great looking program that works really well, combined with a developer who has stood behind his products and offers support as needed. My advice: If you love playing games on your handheld, you NEED this program. Buy it.

The Exchange Experiment Follow-up

So, it's been a couple of weeks since I set my Centro and my wife's Centro on a shared Exchange Server account.  You can read my earlier post about that.
So far, the experience has been very positive.  I think that this may very well be the most optimal free solution I've found so far.  I'm using Versamail on each of our phones to automatically sync with the server every few hours.  All of our calendar and contact info sync wirelessly, automatically, and without any notification or interaction with the user.  Any changes either of us make appear on both devices within a handful of hours.  And I haven't lost or damaged any data.  And there haven't been any duplicates.  As far as all that goes, it's working perfectly.
So what's not so great?  It's taking a little getting used to having her calendar alarms beeping on my phone, too.  But that's a pretty minor inconvenience.  I also don't really like having to share contact info (what gets synced isn't really open for debate with Exchange Activesync on Palm).  But that's also minor.  I've noticed that my Centro fairly frequently fails to sync because of insufficient memory.  I think this is related to the cache and all my third-party apps.  My wife's Centro never complains.
Palm Desktop no longer syncs Calendar and Contact data.  I knew this was coming, and I don't think it's a big problem for me.  It mostly served as a backup on the PC.  But I've got daily backups to SD on both devices.  And my wife, equipped with her own Centro, no longer checks my calendar on Palm Desktop.  All of my other conduits remain happy, so I'm happy.
I'm not sure that I'd recommend this particular solution for more than about two people, considering its limitations.  But for us, husband and wife with simple shared calendar needs, it's a very solid FREE solution.

IBM races to make hi-tech memory

Now this is interesting which I just caught over at the BBC technology pages. "Handheld gadgets storing thousands of hours of film footage could soon be a reality thanks to IBM scientists. Researchers for the computer giant are working on a technology known as racetrack memory which uses tiny magnetic boundaries to store data. In a paper in the journal Science, the team at IBM's Almaden lab in California outline ways to make the building blocks of the novel storage medium. The capacity of MP3 players could increase 100 times from present levels." Read in full.

Triforce Stylus

I came across this via Gizmodo last week. The Triforce is a combination wrist strap and stylus. I think this is a great idea as there is many a time when I need to do some precision tapping on my Palm but don’t want to reach for the fiddly stylus that came with it. In these cases, I usually use my grubby finger, which doesn’t help to keep the screen clean and usually results in pressing the wrong button.

Unfortunately, it seems that Joe Public cannot buy these yet; At the moment they are being sold to big companies to be given out as swag at various events. While waiting for these to come to the general public I might try making my own.

More pictures and details: Triforce.se

My Treo helping with my research

HI Everybody, I'm about to graduate from University and i have to present my thesis, a very very complex one and now i can say that i'm getting closer to complete it, it has been a long journey and the next 2 months are going to be hard but i've my Treo 680 to help me.

How is my treo helping? easy: it is my pprtable reading machine you have no idea how much pdfs i have to read and the treo helps me a lot with PalmPDF, Docs to Go or Repligo for the very complex ones. Some book are not in digital format so i check out books from UNAM's central libraty (it is very beatiful by the way) and i keep reading and reading but sudendly i catch the idea and i need to remember it... no problem with the voice notes or even if I'm too inspirated i take out my wireless keyboard and start typing no laptop required :).

Also when i talk with my tutor he often recommends me some articles or book so i take out my treo and type a small note for further reference. Also i've an alarm everyday to remind me that i have a thesis to write and my deadlines to deliver mi advances.

Some people use their devices for multimedia, PIMs, entertainment, work... i just use it for all!!

See you next time Palmaddicts... Good Luck!!

Google Maps for Windows Mobile gets updated

Thanks again to Tariq Bamadhaj (MyTodayScreen) who has posted a blog to remind us, Windows Mobile device owners, there's a new Google Maps update to v2.0.1.28.

Just click here to get the update, or simply pin-point your Pocket IE to this link. But for simpler way, you could just follow up the guidance from Google Maps itself.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Yahoo evasive moves against Microsoft

The news of Microsoft aggressive moves to take over Yahoo must’ve reached your ears; it’s unavoidable to notice even for you who love to live in an exclusive world of your own mobile phone fantasy land. Because like it or not, those both giant companies have affected our mobile world through their products & services. Perhaps like many of you, I’d rather wait for the outcome of the take over than watching every news of it.

But the latest action by Yahoo is rather intriguing and tickles me a little bit, after some talks with AOL and News Corp. as alternative merger options with Microsoft, Yahoo made a surprising announcement that they’ll be teaming up with Google. This new alliance is going to focus on Google’s AdSense, where Yahoo is going to display ads generated by Google in their own search results.

Although Yahoo still limits this ad test in US only for now, Brad Smith –Microsoft’s general counsel- has his own concern and said: “Any definitive agreement between Yahoo! and Google would consolidate over 90% of the search advertising market in Google's hands”. Of course Microsoft is furious and calling this Yahoo – Google ad deal as anti-competitive for the market; as in contrast to what Microsoft’s own intention to acquire Yahoo.

Bottom line of this ad trial with Google is to prove that Yahoo is capable to generate revenue more than Microsoft’s $42 million bid, so this way Yahoo can finally able to shout it out loud at Steve Balmer’s face: “Do not undervalue us, we worth more than your offers!”

Source is from PC Mag here, PC World here, and the picture is courtesy of Gnal.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

AdressXT is coming back

AdressXT has been resurected -development is back on track Check it out here: http://www.handydev.com/en/phpBB3/index.php Enjoy

Bathroom break boredom

Hey Sammy and all, I was just browsing through the Palm Addict RSS feed and thought I'd write in and let you all know how I'm using my TX today. First, I'm a music teacher in a public school. Thus, I am called upon to be a proctor when AIMS testing begins. That means the regular classroom teachers read the test directions & monitor while I: escort kids to restroom, pass out pencils, take them on water breaks, etc. If it were not for my Palm TX & its multitude of games, as well as Resco Neews and my eReader, I'd be bored beyond belief! My Palms have gotten me through more of these sessions than I can count (been teaching 11 years)! Thanks for the chance to share, Sammy. Love the site! It's been a "couple of times a day" stop since finding out about it.

Scary Google

There’s no doubt Google is look like a scary villain corporate now for some small software developers, well in this case is for 37Signals. If you’re one of the lucky web crawlers, who got to taste of Google’s latest App Engine product called Huddle Chat, then you’ll perhaps see its resemblance with 37Signal’s Campfire.

Many who have seen & tried it themselves have said the similarity is strikingly very much alike, even on how Huddle Chat works are basically the same as how Campfire works. This kind of copy-cat act from Google App Engine Team has raised many reactions from bloggers, as what Jason Fried -37Signals founder- has said: “We just said a few words; the rest of the Web said a few thousand.”

These concern expressions from bloggers around the world have forced Google App Engine Team to shut down Huddle Chat on last Tuesday, just take a look at their brief explanation on Huddle Chat web page here. But not all of those bloggers’ posts are pressing on Google, some of them take side to what Google is trying to achieve behind the release of that hosted web applications service.

Here’s another look at why I called Google can be seen as scary software corporate; the Huddle Chat web application service was built in the spare time by only some of the Google App Engine Team! Simply just few of the team members have made such thing, and even done it within their lunch & coffee break! Amazing!!

Sources are from PC World article & All Things Digital blog.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Business Standard on the Centro

[From Hans] Business Standard talks about the design of some of the mobile phones on the market today and certainly gives plenty of mention to the Centro. "On the other hand, Palm Centro users would certainly need tiny fingers. The new Centro has been shrunk down from the Treo's original size. It retains all of the QWERTY keys on the Treo, as well as the function keys, but everything is much smaller. Resulting in difficulty to type complete sentences without error. As always, the Palm Operating System runs a smooth, stable layout that couldn't be more intuitive. Power users can find third party applications (both free and for a fee) that will allow them to do just about anything with their device. As we have seen on the Treo, the SMS application on the Centro allows threaded messaging. This is a wonderful feature, and allows text messages to basically become instant message conversations . We are not sure why more phones don't incorporate this feature given the popularity of text messaging." Read in full.

Getting Things Done using your Palm to Collect

Previously on Palm Addicts, I tantalized you with a teaser on Getting Things Done using your Palm handheld or Treo/Centro. Well, I won't keep you in suspense; let's get Collecting!

In his books, David Allen talks about having a Ubiquitous capture device; something that can capture all the "stuff" that comes flying your way during the day. It can be reminders to get something, someone asking you to do something, thoughts you have about projects or things to do, and so on. Chances are, if you don't get it down somewhere, it'll get lost in the storm of other things vying for your attention. The thing is, a mobile device like a Treo makes for the perfect Ubiquitous capture device when it's your constant companion.

First of all, you have to capture in a means that works for your lifestyle. Look at what you're doing now to capture "stuff". If you use sticky notes all the time, is it because they're convenient, or because they're in your face? Do you like making lists? Or are you someone who uses the phone and voicemail a lot? Where does most of your "stuff" come from, and on what medium (paper, e-mail, phone/voicemail, or in-person)? Your capture and collection techniques will need to reflect where your inputs come from, and the pace you need to capture them at.

Phone-oriented individuals and those with the need to capture things quickly will want to use a voice recorder. Many Treo models and the Centros come with one built-in, as do some handhelds. In the case of my Treo 650, it didn't, so I bought (and would highly recommend) mVoice from Motion Apps. It's handy for getting things down quickly, and for times when my hands are otherwise occupied (like when I'm crawling around the back of an equipment rack) . Voice recordings are also handy for reinforcing your credibility and reliability to others; if you get stopped a lot with "in-person" input, they'll have a lot of faith in your ability to deliver when they see you whip out your mobile and leave yourself a voice note about their request.

"Scribblers" who use sticky notes all the time may want to use the built-in notepad application (if your Palm has one). It's like an endless supply of stickies, that are always with you. Since it's always with you, when you need something you wrote down earlier, it'll be with you, and not stuck to your monitor at work. If those stickies have to be "in your face", you might want to consider Diddlebug (free) or BugMe! ($), which allow you to set alarms on notes, giving you that "in-your-face feeling".

Listmakers who have the time to input things can use Memos. It allows you to make free form lists of "stuff". It's best to use one memo for each idea or input. The point is to capture or collect at this stage; you'll deal with it later. There are other "front ends" to the memos database, so if you find that the stock one doesn't work for you, you can look at something like psMemo (free) or MemoLeaf ($). They add additional features while still using the Memos database; something that's important if you sync with a laptop or desktop computer to work with your "stuff" there.

Finally, for quick "one-offs", you can capture them right to the Tasks (or ToDo) application when time permits. Those could be an errand, a call to make, or something else similarly straight-forward and actionable.

Now, with all these capture techniques, you want to make sure you capture to the "unfiled" category of the application. Categories are a powerful organizational tool, as you'll see later in this series. Palm OS allows for 15 categories plus unfiled, so we'll create a few next time, make use of them later.

The best approach is to try each of these capture techniques, and see which feels the most natural to you. Definitely try the methods that seem closest to what you may be doing already. If it's not quick and easy, you won't do it. There's also no reason why you can't use several different methods for capturing "stuff", depending on your situation at the time. For example, you could use memos for when you have time to input stuff, and the voice recorder for when you're on the go.

Now it's time for the audience participation part of the program; yup, homework! Try each of the methods for capturing "stuff" that you have on your plate right now. Try and get as much out of your head and the various other sources of input you have, and get it into your Palm device. If you sync to a laptop or desktop, you can copy and paste from e-mails into memos or tasks, to save yourself some typing. Here's a tip for Outlook users: you can drag an e-mail and drop it on the tasks or notes folders to create a new item.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to collect all your "stuff" into the unfiled categories in whichever applications suit your lifestyle. Stay tuned to Palm Addicts for our next installment, when we'll cover "processing". This is Michael Brown, signing off for now.

Windows Live is now downloadable

If you’re so hooked up with Windows Live but unfortunately you have a Windows Mobile device without it, then you’re so lucky! Because Microsoft has made Windows Live available to be downloaded directly into your WinMob device, just click here to acquire it right away & install it immediately.

You’ll get the usual Live Hotmail, Contacts & Space services; but Messenger is not included (booho!) yet. Thanks to MyTodayScreen here for the heads up.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

SlyDial to the rescue

There's a new service out there that can connect you directly into someone's mobile voice mail, called SlyDial. I couldn't get more into this SlyDial service, because it's for US & Canada phone only. So if you're in one of those particular lucky country, you could just call 267-SLY-DIAL (it's 759-3425) to use it. Josh Lowensohn (WebWare) have reported that the SlyDial service works with AT&T, Sprint & Verizon mobile wireless carriers.

This is what Josh describe on how you can use SlyDial to save the day: "One rung down from having a friend call you to get out of a bad date is SlyDial, a new service that lets you send people voice mail messages without actually having to call them. Yes such a feature exists if someone legitimately leaves you a voice mail (giving you the option to leave a voice mail reply), but SlyDial lets you skip that first step by simply sending them the message as you would an SMS message. It's tricky, it's evil--I love it." Josh also mentioned that SlyDial is planning service plans for software application that can connect to your mobile phone's contact list, read his full review here.

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

MedicMate, Windows Mobile Application For Healthcare Professionals

[From Michael Kausefer] MEDICMATE Ltd announces the release of MedicMate, a new Windows Mobile application designed specifically to help healthcare professionals deliver effective and efficient care in increasingly challenging and demanding times.

Modern mobile technology is powerful. Whilst many healthcare professionals have access to PDA and Smartphone devices, few use them for more than quick medical reference. Comprehensive electronic medical record solutions and US style "track and bill" systems are neither appropriate in all settings nor viable for busy clinicians. They often necessitate an extensive high capacity hospital intranet infrastructure. MedicMate, designed by doctors on the shop floor, instead focuses on bringing accessible and genuinely useful functionality directly to all grades of healthcare professionals free from infrastructure obstacles or inadequacies.
http://www.medicmate.com/

Phone-Crazed celebrity pictures

Ever wondered what are those famous celebrities holding in their hands, when they make calls or text messaging their publicist to talk about the new handbag they saw at Hermes store, or that wild Playboy party they just attended at Hughes’ mansion? *cough* Well, maybe that last one is a bit too much for gadget geeks like us. But hey, perhaps you’re interested in what is that phone Paula Abdul –one of the famous American Idols jury- uses to call Simon for a date (just kidding Paula)? It’s a Treo! Glad to know that Palm’s Treo is still making celebrity appearance these days; hopefully Centro will follow as well.

Check out what other celebrities are using at Switched here, for your information; Switched is a new weblog from Engadget who have just redesign their weblog too (as what Sammy has posted before here). It’s a new additional breeze of wind in our little life of digital addiction… Welcome guys, & good luck!

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

iPhone gets contact search feature

Do you think you can have a calm week without any more iPhone news? I don’t think so. This one isn’t exactly new news, but I guess worth mentioning since it’s a sure bet. Apple has included a contact search feature in the iPhone firmware 2.0 update, build 5A240d. According to iPhone Atlas here, this search feature is included in the revised iPhone Simulator that comes with the iPhone SDK build 9M2158a Beta 3.

When this glass-magnifying icon appears in your iPhone at last (after you get the firmware upgrade in June, of course), you won’t have another excuse to your girlfriends/boyfriends such as “Oh, I couldn’t find your name among those 100-200 names in my contact list. So sorry I didn’t call you.” Uh huh, you animal you!

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

THROWAWAY: 2nd hand LifeDrive [working fine] and I also have a spare stylus and leather case

It's Thursday and we will have a throwaway today and tomorrow, so, for today's throwaway, we have a 2nd hand LifeDrive [working fine] and I also have a spare stylus and leather case to throw in with this one, plus I'll throw in the book How to do everything with your Palm powered device which is the 6th edition of this popular book. I'll do this throwaway slightly different and I'll give it to someone at random providing you give me a couple of lines on how they use their mobile devices. Remember no self software or website promotions, and do not send anything you have sent in before. As I have mentioned in the past I really appreciate the people who add kind words to their me in their email, a small percentage of people just send their thought in without even saying hi or how are you, so your messages are always welcome. Please email me your thought and put THURSDAY in the subject line, or we cannot enter you and email - sammymcloughlin@gmail.com

I'll end this TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT US PT, writers post as normal and just let me know by email, [don't forget to put THURSDAY in the subject line] that you are interested.

TreoCentral comes in with a review of the Palm 1850 mAh Extended Battery w/ Door for Centro

TreoCentral comes in with a review of the Palm 1850 mAh Extended Battery w/ Door for Centro. "Having recently purchased my Centro and really putting in some playing and talking time, I quickly realized that buying a spare battery would be a good idea *smile*. The stock Centro battery is pretty standard as far as mobile device batteries go (well, if you don't compare it to the Treo 650 battery) for stand-by and actually talking when you make or receive a phone call. BUT, I'm the type who likes to dive in and really give my Centro a thorough workout! It's not unusual for me to sit down and play games on my Centro for an hour or two at a time, which is a big drain on my battery. After a few sessions of such game playing were cut short by a drained battery, I set out to buy a new, robust secondary/replacement battery" Read in full.

Sony Mylo 2 Accessories

[From Hannah at Proporta] From the guys at Proporta. "The Sony Mylo 2 is kind of a "User Friendly PDA" with which you can surf the internet, send/receive e-mails, use Skype, listen to music, social network, take and view pictures, watch videos... that sort of thing. It’s a pretty funky looking device that should appeal to the masses and Proporta’s protection is imperative if you want to keep your device looking all shiny and new.

The Alu-Leather Case (Sony Mylo 2 Series), like many of Proporta’s cases, is hand crafted to meet the exact specifications of your device and features their ‘Screen Saver System’ using a sheet of rigid, lightweight aircraft grade aluminium to protect your Mylo 2 against crushing and impact shocks.

It’s such a convenient little product that there’s no reason to even remove your device from the case as all the necessary cut outs are provided to give access to all ports and controls.

A Proporta Advanced Screen Protector is also a must-have if you want the precious screen of your Sony Mylo 2 to stay in mint condition. Proporta have been able to improve the thickness of the high-clarity plastic that they’re manufactured from, without impairing screen brightness or clarity.

P.S. Why not share your music with a Proporta Stereo Y Splitter? Now two people can listen to the same music on almost any portable audio device :o)"

Green Cell Battery for Your Mobile Device

Hey Everyone, it's your eco-friendly associate writer here, trying to help you to get you aware of eco-friendly devices. Green Cell is company that supports eco-friendly devices that have no danger towards the environment and yourself. Lately, Green Cell has come up with eco-friendly batteries that help the environment by helping the consumers to throw out less of their batteries with toxic chemicals in the environment, instead you get chargeable batteries such as Green Cell batteries that would be made without any toxic chemicals and sold in vending machines that can also be used as recycling areas. The only negative drawback so far, is configuring devices to work with this type of battery of it's size and voltage for regular rechargeable cells. This battery type works well with the standard AA battery and USB, so it can be assumed that more specification and adjustments would be made, to make it easy, available, and applicable for everyone with a mobile device that is concerned about the environment.

Palm Quick Tip

For all new Palm TX Owners check out Palm's homebrew of the launcher.

The launcher is a term that relates to a quick way to initiate programs. Palm has come up with a nifty item called Favorites that makes accessing programs really easy.

Across the bottom of your Palm TX device are four buttom. The button on the far left that looks like a house is the Home button. Push this button once and it takes you to your Palm loaded programs. You know when you are here because you will see the category with a drop down item in the upper right hand corner. (You can click on this drop down item go to edit categories and set up different categories to put your programs in for easy program location. I will go into that more on another Palm Quick tip later)

Click the Home button again and you arrive at Favorites. To formulate this area click on the clock area in the upper left hand corner of your Palm Desktop. Several options appear; Options ( this allows you to change your screen background more on that in another Palm Quick tip), Edit favorites, and Rearrange Favorites.

For today let's hit the Rearrange Favorites tab. You will note on this page in the bottom right hand corner there are four pages. This is really cool because you can drag items to different pages as long as there is room. Go ahead and try it. Just hold on an item and drag it to a page number. Pretty cool huh?

Ok also on this page you can move programs up or down the page you are on if you want to change the order. Try it, just grab an item and move it up the page. But the thing I really want to show you is how to bring a program to this Favorites page.

Simply tap on a listing section, and Edit Favorite dialog box should come up. The type category has a drop down arrow, two choices- App or Web Link, for now let's choose APP. Below this section there is a category called Original with a drop down arrow next to it. Hit the drown down arrow and you will see all of the programs on your Palm. Simply click on the one you want and the name will fill in on the Name box, then click OK. Continue this process for every page and you will have quick acess to your programs.

Have a wonderful day!

FastLaunch works with the Centro

[From Eric Mann] Thanks to Eric for another heads up. FastLaunch works great with the Centro and is another of the excellent programs from Alex Pruss. "Quickly launch applications and desk accessories, including popping up one application over another, while keeping the old one loaded.

Features:
Fast and simple launcher for Treo/Centro phones.
Quickly launch an application (or Desk Accessory) just by holding down the first letter, which gives you a list of all the applications starting with that letter.
Pop up an application on top of another application by pressing Option and then holding down the first letter.
After the popped up application is finished, you can return to exactly where you were in the original.
Normally PalmOS only allows one application to run at once. (Not compatible with all application pairs.)
Tap on-screen buttons in some applications just by pressing the first letter of the button.
No need for a complicated configuration--just install and turn on to use.
Free updates for the life of the product.
Includes four free Desk Accessories that you can use with FastLaunch and other Desk Accessory launchers:
PrintIt (print screen to compatible tcp/ip network printer), ScreenDumpDA (save screenshot to SD card), NightMode and Reset." Make the jump.

Pool Deluxe, one of my favourite Palm games

[From Eric Mann] This is actually one of my favourite games, Pool Deluxe and has recently been updated. "Pool Deluxe features great 3D graphics, realistic physics, intuitive controls and smooth gameplay guaranteeing many hours of fun and pleasure. Master the game with practice mode or jump straight in and play 8-ball , 9-ball and other pool variants against your friends or variety of computer opponents, plus challenge modes. Complete with a choice of different table designs and a game modes there's plenty to keep you occupied and addicted! " Make the jump.

FontSmoother

[From Eric Mann] Take a look at FontSmoother which is up to version 2.25. "Is the default font on your PDA not smooth or readable enough? Or maybe you would like fonts that are bigger... or smaller but still very legible? Perhaps using italics would look cool? Or do you have a favorite Windows font you want to use on your PDA? Make your ebook reader, browser and other applications look better than ever! Smoothed fonts (antialiased fonts) decrease font "jagginess". FontSmoother lets you use smooth fonts in almost all applications on your hi-res OS 5 PDA (but not lo-res devices like Treo 600 or some Zires). FontSmoother includes a number of free smooth fonts and you can convert Windows TrueType fonts with the free EasyConvert utility. There is a free 8 day trial, after which all smooth fonts default to their non-smooth versions until registration is completed. However, after the 8 days, font smoothing should remain in effect for free in the following applications PalmBible+, BibleThumper, Bible Explorer with You, Bible with You, OliveTree Bible Reader, Concordance with You, myBible, BibleReadme, Universalis Liturgy of the Hours, and Virtual Rosary. And of course you get free upgrades for the life of the product! "

The GearDiary gets a new look

Speaking of new look's take a look at the neat freh look to the GearDiary website which is looking awesome and as always Judie and her technology friends keep you up to date with what's going on in the world of mobile technology. Way to go Judie. Make the jump and have a look.

Engadget has a new look

[From Hans] Thanks Hans, I never noticed this because I have not made the jump there today but it's apparent that Engadget has a new look and I just took a peep and it looks good so take a look.

Just some Thursday thoughts from my Centro and winner of yesterday's throwaway

Quick Centro update, it has been taking me close to an hour to drive a 3/4 mile route from home into the office because of daft roadworks here in the centre of Manchester and so this morning, obviously I had enough and I checked Google Maps from my Centro to check out a short cut that I had in mind and by taking a minute or two to check out the shortcut I was in the office within 15 minutes so thanks Google Maps and of course thanks to the Centro and yes I guess I could have walked but I had baggage that needed to take to the office so the car was needed :-)

Additionally this morning I spent some time in my local coffee bar to catch up on my email using the wonderful Snappermail which is such a terrific program and in my opinion the best email client for Palm OS and I hear people complain that it's a shame that development has not continued but in all fairness and in my opinion I'm not too sure how one can make this program any better. Anyway I hope that your Thursday is going well and the winner by the way for the HTC S620 is Jonathan Miles who was the first person to email me yesterday following the correct guidelines. Lindsey is sending out any prizes from this week on Monday of next week as she has unexpectedly had to take a couple of days away from PA Towers due to how busy we are so all your goodies are being dispatched early next week when you will get tracking numbers for your goodies. By the way I just mentioned Snappermail and you can find this excellent email program here.

Sprint Palm Centro Pink

Sprint Palm Centro Pink on offer $399.99. "The Palm Centro for Sprint is now available in pink, allowing you to add a touch of your personal style to a flexible smartphone. Like all Palm devices, the Centro lets you take your office with you by synchronizing to your corporate and personal email, calendar and contacts, and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go... but this super-slim Palm also gives you broadband Web access, Google Maps, a media player and a 1.3 Megapixel camera/camcorder. Highlights One of The Slimmest, Lightest Palm Devices Ever Tethered To Computer Or Over-the-air Synchronization For Your Email, Calendar and Contacts Bluetooth Wireless Technology View and Edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Read PDFs Full Featured Email Supports Corporate And Personal Accounts 1.3 Megapixel Camera/Camcorder Takes Printable Photos and Long Video Clips Built-in Music Player With Expandable Memory To Store More Music, Pictures and Videos."

iTreo

Nice title he he he. That's because I use my Treo like an mp3 player. Not just because the 2 GB Minicard full of music. My signal provider give's me free internet connection, so I got a internet radio station, tune it in Blazer and by Kinoma I hear it in great quality. Also my car has an auxiliar input. Just plug an adaptor for the microplug connector in the Treo and ready!! I have internet radio in the car. No CDs, no headphones, just great quality in internet radio. I don't remember if the iPhone has Bluetooth, but my Treo does, so I can got Bluetooth headphones and be zero cables!!!

Getting Things Done using your Palm

Getting Things Done, or GTD as it's known to it's practitioners, is a methodology for accomplishing things in your daily life.  It's not a "time management system", it's a process or methodology which enables you to be productive.  It can be implemented using paper or digital means, or a hybrid combination of the two.  In the next five posts in this series, I'll be giving you tips and techniques to implement the five  stages of the GTD methodology using a Palm handheld or smartphone.  Many of the techniques I'll be demonstrating will work equally well for other types of Mobile devices, like Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian, when adapted to those platforms.

The five posts in this series will cover the core aspects of the GTD process, which are Collect, Process, Organize, Review and Do.  Each post will focus on one aspect of the process, and how to accomplish it using a Palm OS based approach using the built-in applications and some freeware applications as a starting point.   Since no two people are alike, and what works for one person may not work for another, I'll also suggest alternatives that may cater to people's different approaches to organization and productivity.

To get the full benefit of the GTD methodology you'd have to read David Allen's books, but this series of posts are intended to give you a crash course in using a Palm handheld or smartphone to implement GTD.  Next time we'll cover the Collection phase, so make sure you stay tuned to Palm Addicts.  Until next time, this is Michael Brown signing off.

Pocket RAR

Since space is still an important factor for me, whenever I store files on the external SD Card of my O2 Xda IIi PDA Phone, as long as I do not have to open the files frequently (like .ogg or .mp3 song files for example), I usually store them in compressed format. The problem was to choose the right compressed file format. Outside my mobile device, I use Linux and Windows, and so I had to pick one format that will work cross-platforms. The .7z format is actually my preferred format, but sadly as far as I know there is yet a Pocket PC version for .7z software (correct me if I am wrong, please). The .tar.gz format is more native to Linux, and so I look for something else. The .zip format is the most common; it is supported in Linux and Windows, and Windows Mobile 2003SE comes with a .zip software. But from my experience the compression is not the best among all compressed file formats. So my choice finally fell on .rar format. The .rar format compresses better than .zip, although not as good as .7z (in general). Linux handles .rar no problem; Windows supports it too, and it is just so convenient that RARLab provides Pocket RAR, the Pocket PC version of RAR, for free. Although it is not open source, it is still free anyway. So now I can move my files around: Linux box, Windows box, PDA. No problem. I still however hope that a Pocket PC version of .7z will be developed in the future.

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with the software maker.

Dale Carnegie Training-Indonesia

Every morning I drive into my office. While I am driving, if I do not listen to songs on my O2 Xda IIi PDA Phone, I usually listen to the radio. At approximately 07:05 or 07:10, there is a short broadcast program by Dale Carnegie Training-Indonesia. It is usually a story, or an illustration, or tips and motivation. I either learn some good points from this program, feel indifferent or even disagree with some others, and often find lots of contradictions as well. But in general this program is interesting nevertheless. For what it's worth, at least it keeps me company during my long drive to the office (normally it takes an hour or so to drive). Anyway, the programs during the last several days have been quite nice, and so in my curiosity I google for the website this morning. It turns out that they offer free weekly e-mail tips there. That's good, I thought. So I decided to sign up for it. With a weekly e-mail I think my inbox will not get crowded, and I can check it on my mobile device at leisure time anywhere. I also chose text instead of .html format so that I can download the e-mail faster.

My Tungsten TX for reading

[From Alan, From sunny Cedar Rapids, IA ] Hey Sammy and gang, Happy Wednesday to everyone. Hope things are well at PA HQ. One thing I use my TX for is reading. I love books, but I have some advice for you out there. My wife had her sister buy me 2 books for our Christmas exchange. All was well until I tried to read them and they required her sisters CC# to unlock. We got it and can now read my books but if something goes awry, which never happens with handhelds right, then I am out of luck unless she will give us the number once again. So do not let people buy you ebooks unless you are willing to put up with the consequences.

Do people really use their phone as a media player?

[From Dave] Sammy, thanks for all of your hard work to keep the site fresh all of the time. One thing I have noticed here that really surprised me is how many people use their phones as media players. I wish their was a way to take a poll to see how many people do that. I can't imagine using my Dash as a media player just on the fact that the battery life would be a lot worse than it already is (I have to charge at least once a day, make twice!). I used my mp3 player a good bit since I have a long commute, and even that I have to charge every couple of days. How many of you guys use your phone as a music/video player?

Treo 650 helps me to keep track with my expenses

[From Anton] One important thing is, that My Treo 650 helps me to keep track with my expenses. I use SplashMoney which is a handy tool to know anytime about my expenses structure and about the loans left to pay. Keep up with the great work

Multitasking

[From Richard in Missouri (Maryville, MO)] At the moment, while the work laptop is being worked on for a software issue, I'm, Checking my work e-mail and meeting schedule with Versasoft. Updating my checking account using My Checkbook. Checking the list of gardening tasks left to do this weekend on HandyShopper. Searching eBay for a Freedom GPS keychain, to forward the info to my wife. And looking at a PDF of a work document for editing. Not bad for downtime, I must say ....

The Next Mobile Step

[From Robyn Wright East Liverpool, Ohio] I've been a mobile techno-geek for a very, very long time. My first device was a Visor. The poor thing didn't have color, and compared to devices from even two years ago, it was agonizingly s-l-o-w. But I LOVED it. I carried it with me everywhere! Through the years, I've used many different devices with various platforms. I use some facet of mobile technology everyday: games, applications ... my mobile crush right now is ebooks. What an amazing time to be involved with mobile technology! A few years ago, most mobile technology didn't exist, was extremely limited in functionality, or was so expensive that only a select few could afford it. A few years from now, what will today's technology evolve into? What will the devices look like? What will be considered a luxury as compared to a necessity? Remember when cell phones were a luxury? I am looking forward to the next step.

Banishing Boredom (But Causing My Wife a Small Bit of Distress In the Process)

[From Richard in Missouri (Maryville, MO)] When I was looking at iPods earlier this year, I'd considered laying down the money for a video iPod, thinking of all of the shows I could download from the iTunes store. Alas, the price for one was out of my price range.

Just recently, the full version of FairUse Wizard was recently made available for a limited time, and I jumped on the chance to make backups of DVDs, if only to make spares to keep my collections intact.

But then it hit me; I had a copy of Kinoma 4 EX, which I'd purchased to view the video clips that came with The Weather Channel for Treo app, and I also had a copy of the freeware TCPMP video player ... and then the light bulb clicked on: why not rip video copies so I could watch my favorite shows while on lunch at work or when sitting in the waiting room at the car dealer during oil changes?

The experiment has been a success: TCPMP, coupled with cheap SD cards, have enabled me to store at least half a season of high-quality renders of episodes from my favorite shows. Throw in a spare pair of iPod headphones and a Treo headphone adapter, and I've been able to keep myself very entertained over the last few weeks ... now if I could just convince my wife that it's okay to stay up late to rip new copies of episodes.

I'm always on the run with my Treo

[From Marjorie Witt] As a grandma raising a 5 year old grandson I'm always on the run. I track all his events and keep them on my Treo calendar so I don't miss anything. Everybodies appointments are there. I entertain the grandson with a few palm games. But, sometimes we must carry the big old portable dvd player. I sure could use the nano to keep him busy when I have appointments. I also use my Treo for email, reading books, making notes, keeping to do lists, listening to music, and browsing the web. Oh, once in a while I make a phone call.

Golf and the TX

[From Mark S Nebraska] Brrr.....the calendar says April but the air temperature still says early March in Nebraska. When will it be warm enough to golf each week? I look forward to my favorite summer recreational activity, not because I always score well but because my playing partners are also terrific friends. Let's just say I play golf for the friendship more than the score (unless it's a good score). :) This year I am going to keep track of the rounds I play on my TX. I plan to record each score and use the monthly average to check on my progress. If a few lessons are needed, the TX calendar will keep the date for me. I look forward to great year; lower scores and stronger friendships! Thanks again for a great site Sammy.

Ease of use, critical to success

It seems to me technology companies are seeing that ease of use or an easy to use GUI is essentential to sell their product. Computers have been notorious for having long learning curves with endless ‘Dummies guides’ to Windows and so on.

Apple Newton and later Palm products taught that easy to use is King. However as more features were added to OS’s ease of use declined. Windows Mobile being a prime offender, where you can do so much but are still not easy to use. As having Newtons, Palms and Windows Mobile devices, it has been a frustrating fact that if you need power apps, you can’t have an easy to use GUI.

The iPhone seems to have started the revolution back powerful but to easy to use, which all other manufactures are scrambling to emulate. One day we will see Laptop/desktop computers as easy to use and that can’t come quick enough.

Neat Devices!

[From transformer] Hello while searching for information on these neat little devices of which I have most recently found out about I have come across this site. So I thought I'd enter this contest as well. I work in retail & have been wanting to get a lap top I could take to work with me & then I found out about the n810 which is smaller and more handy than a laptop & most recently I've been looking into PDAS I think they are great little devices one can use to take to work or out side or just around the house in general which is what I would use them for my self! I also think its pretty amazing that we have got to the point where we are having more or less star trek type tricorder devices in real life! give it another 10 years & we will be able to scan the area for lifeforms with these things! & that is my thought on pda/pocket pc type devices as short and sweet & simple & run of the mill it may be!

Mobile devices need to go the way of Flash support!

[From Nels Chantarotwong] Hi Sammual, I am from Berkeley, CA (United States). My thought on mobile devices currently is that flash support needs to be better supported. It would open a lot of doors if videos were playable from within browser windows without having to launch external media players (which the iPhone, Palm OS and WM all do). Also the possibility of playing flash games on a mobile device would be very nice indeed. This topic is also a bit disheartening as a Treo 755p user, because I see 3rd party developers working on browsers for WM this year that say they will include in-browser flash support. None of these are being developed for Palm... So unless Palm has a great built-in browser for it's next iteration I feel I may have to move back to WM with the 800w when the time comes, even though I like the Palm OS and apps.

Palm WITH Linux

[From Joe Baughman] A first for me, I have switched to Linux as my main OS at work. So I thought I would experiment with some of the programs in Linux designed to interface with Palm Pilots. I am using CentOS which installed some of the needed software in it's base install. The one package I added is J-Pilot which is sort of like Palm Desktop. After a little fussing and several attempts I got it to sync the basics, Calendar, Addresses, Memos, etc. On my first attempt it worked except for some reason it deleted my Categories in the Contact database. Other than that, the rest of my data come through intact. Only time will tell if I can get used to the interface. The other Linux software I have tried is iSilo which works very well. It does help that I already had an IXL file from my Windows days. There are still things I like better in Windows, mainly Palm Desktop. ListPro, SplashID, HanDbase, are a few applications I use that don't have Linux counterparts. I guess for now I will try a Linux/Windows combo and see which I like better...

Par 72 Golf II for Palm 2.01

Par 72 Golf II for Palm 2.01 This seems a great 3d games with 3 ,18 hole courses."Par 72 Golf is a 3D golf game with the following features: Three unique courses, set in mountain, desert, and seaside environments. Each course has 18 holes, rated par 3, 4, and 5. Three dimensional hills, water, undulating fairways, sand traps, and tiered greens. Top scores leaderboard. Realistic wind, aerodynamics, gravity, and friction. Perspective view. Zoomable overhead view. Automatic club selection from 11 clubs. Wind and distance indicators. On screen menus. Resume play. Sound effects. Trial version with unlocked first hole. Trial version can be unlocked with a registration key."

*** SIMPLY CHESS *** 1.0

*** SIMPLY CHESS *** 1.0 This seems a great and fun game for all to enjoy."Whether you are an absolute beginner or a proud contender for the world chess crown, look no further! Simply Chess is geared to players of all ages and abilities. Rookies will benefit from superb chess coaching while pros will find an extremely challenging AI opponent with impressive winning history.Features: Powerful chess engine featuring 10 levels of game play from Novice to Grandmaster Large opening book of chess moves Variable board textures An effectively immersive 2.5D-isometric perspective. Immerse yourself in the world of endless chess challenges in 2.5D-isometric perspective! Adjustable time control settings: time per move, time per game Move history Transparent computer analysis Chess coaching: last move, legal moves, in-game hints Tutor mode with an option to take back weak moves Support for special chess moves and rules: castling, pawn promotion, ������en passant������, draw by repetition and 50-move rule Unlimited takeback/forward Quick save to resume from where you left off Walkthrough tutorial to get started Localized to French, Italian, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian."

Stolen In 60 Seconds 1.0

Stolen In 60 Seconds 1.0 This seems a great puzzling game program,give it a try."We don’t call anyone to break the law, we don’t teach you how to take away money and we don’t give advice on how to grow rich fast… but we present $tolen In $ixty $econds — you’ve never played a game like it! The variation of tasks, ease of gameplay and the stunning brain twisting quests are the components of a cocktail which will suit even the most carping gamer’s tastes. This unique project, with combined genres of strategy and puzzle, reveals all of thevdark corners of the criminal world. Just taste the illegal freedom and take a walk in the reality without any bans. You will seek out executors for the intended robbery, supply them with the appropriate equipment, plan their activities, pay intelligencers and take care of many aspects of your quest."

Weather 0.54

Weather 0.54 This seems a great program to maintain updates on weather and keeping always upto date."Make your own weather station at Palm now! Current condition for the entire world (and for specific regions) updated every 15 minutes. Before making travel plans for a hotel or flight it can be useful to check the current conditions for where you want to go. Auto update mode helps to keep the weather data timely. "Weather-guard" will improve Palm's standard KeyGuard and get access to the current weather condition in easy way."