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Over the past two days, my Treo has helped me save dollar upon dollar. I used it to find some of my utility-companies phone numbers on the web, helping me take advantage of deals they had to offer. I used it as a modem for my laptop, letting me avoid buying a broadband card for my laptop. And of course, I used it as a phone to schedule some consulting gigs and earn a few dollars. I sure love having a Treo!
Our new throwaway the Apple iBook is now open 
A quick reminder for those of you who may not have noticed there is a new throwaway online and I'm still waiting for my writers to confirm post numbers and soon as I have that I can draw the winner for the OQO. The new throwaway is to win a iBook as the one in the office is being replaced with a MacBookPro hence why I am giving it away.
The iBook is in perfect order and runs Apple's Tiger OS. I'm not sure how long I am going to keep this one open for it may be a couple of days, a week or a little longer but whatever, get your entries in sooner rather than later. Please, as ever remember that this is a random drawing and providing you have followed the guidelines you are entered.
;p>All you need to do is send me a user thought on how your using your mobile device or a thought that is mobile technology related. No pleas informing why you should be the winner or what will you do with the prizes if you win. Please put APRIL16 in the subject line and IMPORTANTLY give your mobile thought a title, or it will not be entered. Let me know your town/ country too as that's always interesting to post where people are based. 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.
No self sites or software mentions and keep your thoughts positive. If you don't see your user thought posted then please DO NOT resend, we receive so many but all of them are entered. Remember no personal plea's as they will go straight into the trash can and if your user thought has no title then you cannot be enetered. Associate Writers please post directly to the site and I'll let you know when to inform me of your post count. Email me your mobile thought to - sammymcloughlin@gmail.com
Records (AudioManager) 1.0.6 This seems a great program so you can manager your record collections."AudioManager is a user friendly application that lets you manage your collection of records (CD, DVD, LP, UMD...) by using your PDA. Records can be added manually or using online searches. Information as release date, cover, and track list... can be added easily.
Advanced information
Some optional information can be added: binding, genre, price and currency, relationship with another artist, ASIN and UPC/EAN values, tracks (and other information). Default currency is chosen according to your PalmOS preferences: you can tap on the currency to change it into another currency."
JRS Kids Songs 1.0This seems a great program the help young children learn and progress."Encourage your youngster''s interests in reading and music with this fun application. It plays any of 6 songs through the beeper on your handheld device, while at the same time displaying the song lyrics so that your child can read or sing along.
Includes 6 songs:
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Baa, Baa Black Sheep
Hickory Dickory Dock
Skip to my Lou
Each song is easily started, just by tapping a button."
PlayerControlDA 1.1This seems a great progam to control your MP3 Player."Welcome to PlayerControlDA
What is it:
PlayerControlDA is a Desktop Accessory (DA) which lets you control a running AudioPlayer on your PalmOS-powered Handheld or Smartphone.
How does it work:
PlayerControlPrefs is a preference panel and you can access it from the Preferences/Settings program on your device. PlayerControlDA can be called from any DA launcher in every currently active application.
What is a DA:
A Desktop Accessory is a tool which popups in front of the currently active application.
How to call a DA:
On a Treo smartphone you can use the included 2LaunchMe.prc to assign a button to PlayerControlDA. When you longer press this button on the keyboard, PlayerControlDA pops up and you can control your audioplayer which plays in the background. On other PalmOS devices you can use the included DALauncher to add an icon for PlayerControlDA in the command bar and the included ShowBattery to open the command bar from the status bar.
bugfix regarding aeroplayer volume
bugfix regarding pen handling
Developer:MetaViewSoft
Version:1.1
Categories:Music Launcher Applications Enhancements
Submitted:04/23/2007
Last Updated:12/07/2007
Downloads:121
Support:Motricity Inc.Aceeca Meazura
Acer S10
Acer S10 (Simplified Chinese)
Acer S10 (Traditional Chinese)
Acer S50
Acer S60."
StarTrek Voyager - that's what I've been doing with my iPhone. I have been watching more and more movies and TV shows on the phone. The quality of the screen is really excellent and the battery life allows me to watch 2 or 3 movies in a row.
It's easy enough to transcode a movie or TV show to MP4 format and with an 8 Gig iPhone I can keep quite a few episodes with me. I watch them while having lunch at the coffee shop, or while lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. Sometimes I just sit in my recliner and prop up the iPhone on my chest and watch that way. I've finished StarTrek Enterprise and am now into the second season of StarTrek Voyager. The photo above is from my iPhone.
I can't wait for an ebook reader!
[From Eric Mann] Eric Mann just emailed me this code for you to avail 15% discount at the Handango website, just use the promo code SECRETSALE to avail the discount and it's one purchase per person and as far as I can tell there is no minimum purchase sop way to go with your mobile purchases this weekend but the offer is good until May 4th. Handango after the jump.
A sad news came from my relatives who live in the U.S., they've just lost one of their son because of brain cancer. So yesterday I attended a little Catholic ceremony at my uncle's house, here in Indonesia; it's to show our sympathy & to commemorate our lost cousin. Just a small family gathering, with a father from local Catholic church here.
When the ceremony was about to begin, a family member remembered us to turn off any mobile phones until it finish. Many of the family members immediately pulled off their mobile phones from their holsters, pockets & purses. Me, well I just reached out the top of the Treo with my finger, and turned the switch to silence mode. I didn't even have to take it out from my jean's pocket; yup I don’t have a holster for my Treo yet.
One of Treo's uniqueness is its silence switch button positioned on the top. No other, not even those Nokia handsets that most of my families usually use, have that kind of shortcut cut button. Unlike many other mobile phones, which you need to unlock the buttons first and then stroll over the software shortcuts to choose a silence profile (that's what I've done before I own a Treo). There's still even a possibility to chose the wrong profile, then aside from the embarrassment because people will scrutinize you with their stare; you must do those long steps again. Treo's silence switch is easy to use, just like what Palm smartphones are designed for. Don't you think so?
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
I couldn’t believe myself when I read the news from WebWare here, what’s AT&T doing in the tough competitive world of web browser? It’s a cruel competition in there, where you can easily get butchered sooner than well known analysts can predict. But “Pogo”, AT&T’s web browser name will be, seems to be ready competing with the existing big boys in the pool.
The main powerful attraction Pogo has is its 3D features called SpringBoard,;it enables 3D engine rendering for browser’s bookmarks, history & multi-home page. As you can see in the picture left, Pogo will take snapshots images of the websites you’ve visited and display them in cells, so you’ll flipping them like index cards. Those cells can be tagged and categorized; Pogo will remember them all and will be able to search them through its integrated Google search engine. All of those eye-candy features are thanks to the combination of AT&T’s Vizible technology and Mozilla’s browser code, looks like Vizible is still waiting for Firefox 3 code before becoming available for private beta in May.
I believe a new web browser is always welcome, especially as long as it stays free or has reasonable price range. We’ll have to wait till Pogo is ready to be reviewed, until then it’ll be more interesting to see what other web browser developers have in their arsenal to fight back Pogo’s new 3D features.
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
Are you willing to give up your online account's password for just a choco bar? (hint: don’t let the picture left distract you) You'll probably say no, right? But that's not what according to research firm named Infoscure Europe surveyed result, please refer to my previous post here for the short explanation. Maybe it's because the choco bar offered was very tempting, with cherries on top perhaps? ;-p
I bet many of us are easier to be lured to give it up for a grand give away prize, the ease to be included in can in fact make us neglect our precious information like name & mobile numbers. For text message spammers, those two infos are just what they needed to get your attention first to their whole schemes. For instance if you get a text message in your personal mobile phone, with your correct name on it, stated that you've won something from a lucky draw contest or something like that. Where usually the spammers will include an online address or phone numbers you can contact to, if you follow it you'll become the victim of their evil plots. God forbid what they might want to get from you, when you fallen into their traps.
But I must say a miss-leading SMS like that are still often found in Asian countries which the citizens have many mobile phones; such as Philippine, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. Where usually this kind of SMS can find their target to people who have no knowledge of a bad scheme behind it, no active acts from mobile wireless carriers and the governments to educate the mobile users are only worsen this never ending bad spammers. I've continue reading in few local magazines & newspaper here in Indonesia, that there are still some people who got tricked by SMS like this. Lucky enough, many have used to ignore it because of experience or news about it.
Another security concern on phishing emails have emerged again, where this time the spammers are targeting corporate business men & women who are on the list they hacked. They lure their victims with putting a link in the emails to U.S. District Court, it does sound very convincing even for high-level corporate people. Anyone who clicked the link will be taken to surf a hoax website, where in the process the hackers do whatever they can to get personal data & information inside the surfer's computer.
Such phishing scam that targets bigger victims, have a name now it's called "whaling". So no matter how strong and complex is your company's email security, it's best to avoid "whaling" emails and contact directly the mentioned government department (with official phone number or email address, and not the ones written in the "whaling" email) to find out whether the email you received is true or false. Because we tend to do what the "whalers" have thought about; it's easier for us to click the mouse on the link than go through all the troubles with making calls and emails.
Please be careful my fellow Palm Addicts, it's getting more dangerous out there in digital world. But we could prevent worse results if we equipped ourselves with proper information, so spread the knowledge as I'd always say. Read on C|Net News blog here for deeper coverage about "Whaling"-emails. On the next blog I’ll talk about my favorite tech: WiFi. To be continue to part. 3 …
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
Like I said before, I never understand how much “social” are you to broadcast everything that you do to friends and even to strangers (who subscribed to your Twitter account). A Twitter mania usually will find any possible ways to post anywhere and anytime, so Twitting from mobile phone is a must. How much ways have you found out when you’re looking for the right one for you & your mobile phone? If you just found only few of them, then you better take a look at Ross McKillop’s 20 ways to Twitter from mobile phone. It’s pretty complete package, where you can see a list of supported platforms for each of them. McKillop also have reviewed all of them, and add screenshots too. A place that every Twitter newbie must visit, and for you who are still looking for the best way to Twitter away from your mobile phones. Source is via MyTodayScreen here.
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
If you’re an avid mobile users, who love taking your business on the go; or maybe simply because it’s your job to be on the field than behind that comfy desk in the office (sorry ;-p). But not all you enjoy the luxury of expensive smartphones, which the company provided you with. Then you’re definitely can use these three mobile tools, they work even with low-end smartphones:
WebEX PCNow, will help to retrieve those files you left behind (accidentally, I presume) at the office PC. With this app, you also can view Outlook calendar entries, contacts, email, Skype calls and view files in your computer. You may use this web service through any mobile web browser; iPhone & Mac have been added to the supported platforms. Try it for trial first, before you pay for monthly fee for around $10.35. And with WebEX is now a part of Cisco division, is another reassurance for you.
TeleFlip, automatically will forward every emails from your inbox into your mobile phone; but as text message (SMS) only. This mean you’ll get many multiple text messages due to 120 characters limit, so if your company is going to adopt this web service; you’ve got be prepare to tell all your business acquaintances to shorten their email to you. I think this could be a real lifesaver when you have to go to a very remote area, where there’s no data transfer available.
MyGads, will let you create web-based repository data through text messages (SMS). But you can also access MyGads with mobile web browser and a Jabber-compliant instant messaging client such as Google Talk. And the best of all is this web service still for free now. Check how it works at PC World article here.
Unfortunately I’m not going to discuss the other mobile tools like expenses tracker, WiFi finder/connector, etc. Because probably most of you have already those kind of apps inside your Palm devices, which usually mentioned a lot here at PA. Source is from PCW Business Center here.
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
Web services have surely help us a lot to make contacts, or to do businesses; and maybe some other things too (like social networking, don't get too ahead of your mind there ;-p). These web services I'm talking about are such as emails, online docs & spreadsheet, GTD list, online calendars, etc. Where most of them are requires you to use basic security measures like user name & password, to protect your accounts of course.
You probably have encountered yourself a situation where someone has taken over your email account, or any other web services accounts you subscribed to. I experienced it myself too, it shook me good where after then I make a habit to change my email accounts' password periodically. I couldn't imagine what those hackers have sent emails from my account to people in my contact list, hopefully they only spam and not some terrible words in email that discredited me to my friends & business colleagues.
But recent findings from a research firm called Infosecurity Europe, who have conducted a social engineering exercise to raise awareness about information security just outside Liverpool Street Station; revealed a quiet shocking truth. Women are more likely to give up their personal informations, including email passwords, just over a chocolate bar! The survey includes asking for around 576 workers' name & telephone numbers for a draw prize to go to Paris, there are 60% men and 62% women have gave up their contact informations.
Another research firm named Accenture, also has revealed a finding that 88% of people they surveyed are using same passwords for different web services they use or own. I think this is what we sometimes do, because I did that too before I had a Treo in my hand (thanks to Spb Wallet & eWallet). And I'm sure too our fellow Palm Addicts like Eivin Flateland & Marty Mankinds, who have posted their blog here at PA; and all of you who have installed SplashID inside your Treo wouldn't have done such foolish acts. Read on Switched here & C|Net News here for more details on the stories.
But all of those above news are not what concern me most, what really should worry us all is the fact that it's not hackers but it's ourselves who loses our own security informations. Either it's un-intentionally or by accident, perhaps I'll explain these more on the next blog.
To be continue to part. 2 ...
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
[From Don] I went over to Evernote to buy the Palm version of their product, which I have on Windows, and noticed that they no longer listed it. I sent them a note asking about it, but have received no reply. Will a Palm version of Evernote 3 be available?
[From Thomas at USBFever] Hi Sammy, fyi.. that here are our new releases in last week, let us know if you
have any comments:
i-Charger - Power up your iPod / iPhone while driving
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=125
iPhone Auto FM Transmitter with USB Charging Port
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=59
Palm-fit Adjustable Optical USB Mouse
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=671
USB TEMPer 2-in-1 Hygro-thermometer
http://www.usbfever.com/index_eproduct_view.php?products_id=260
[From Eric Mann] If you have never seen KMaps then you should it looks like being a useful program and thanks to Eric for the heads up to remind me of the program. The program is up to version 1.7 and allows users to get maps and directions, find local businesses, post and search user profiles and create their own location aware content to share with the community. In addition, KMaps provides a free web 2.0 API for software developers to create KMaps add-ons. "If you have KMaps pre 1.5 version installed on your device, you will HAVE TO DELETE KMaps first. Delete KMaps the same way you are deleting any other application. In other words you will have to start from the scratch including the registration. You may use the same email and password you used to register with KMaps initially." KMaps after the jump.
This is an unusual Palm program, it's called Clocher and it is freeware too. ""Just in the middle of the small French village 'Saint Bourdasse en Creuse', between the cafe and the miss Labourretire's drapery, the bell tower mark the rythm of the honnest worker ... ding, dong !"
Clocher revive a small village ambience:
Here are some Saturday quickies that grabbed my attention this morning:
Microsoft announced version 6.1 of Windows Mobile this week at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas. mytreo.net's Alli Flowers attended the conference, met with Microsoft and recorded a video of the company demonstrating their new platform version.
Motion Apps' popular mOcean mp3 player for Palm OS devices has quietly become a "free" ad-supported app. Since the release of the latest version last month, the app has now added a small banner containing advertisements across the top of the main screen. Palminfocenter has the full deets on this story but this is a great program.
TAKEphONE 7.55 (060) is available in beta with a number of changes and additions including, kins: when using skins with screen-wide title bars – show title bar in “Details” screens, too. Skin/Clock selection dialogs: improved interface, allow single file selection from card, preview for files on card. FIND screen: fix for BkSp while cursor is down in list. "Last call" plugin: handle pressing SPACE or GREEN buttons while line is selected.
The Smartphone Show 57 was recently uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Creating a work of Position Art with an N82; Faster Google searching on Windows Mobile and S60; Hands-on, full review of the Samsung i550 smartphone.
[From Hans] The Pope uses Sprint. "Sprint is providing 600 phones to the Archdiocese of New York for the Pope's visit. In addition, "the Pope's caravan will be tracked through Actsoft's Comet Tracker GPS solution loaded on Sprint phones, transmitting data over a secured network in near real-time for optimum security and accuracy."" The Gizmodo has the deets on this one.
The lovely people at MobileRead lets us know that Sony is offering a James Patterson Reader Bundle which is quite a cool bundle and includes A Sony Reader "...[e]ncased in a limited edition autographed James Patterson cover", Six downloadable titles from "the incredibly popular; 'Women's Murder Club' series courtesy of Sony's eBook Store.";"A customized 'Women's Murder Club' protective skin from SkinIt to minimize any wear and tear to your Reader"; A pre-loaded excerpt from James Patterson's upcoming romance novel "Sundays at Tiffany's."
Remember that PocketGear have a special on at the moment, spend $25 at PocketGear and you get 25% off your order but just remember to use the promo code APRSALE at checkout to avail your discount my friends.
Speaing of special offers, I caught this from Andrew at Treonauts. "If you’ve been yearning to get a full GPS navigation system in your hands but were until now discouraged by the price then I have some rather good news as the Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition 2+ has now been reduced to only $149.95 – saving you $150 (50%) off Palm’s MSRP (while quantities last)."
AirFrance in flight call and data testing not working so well according to the NYTimes.
[From Hans] New Apple Store coming to NYC to be built at 23 Wall Street? [And Brooklyn]
