A new day

Last year, I wasn't quite sure in which direction I'd venture forth once my trusty Palm finally gave up the fight. Palm was king, and there are actually still things it did better. However, as "Larry the Liquidator" once said, the last buggy whip company probably made the best buggy whip...but who needs buggy whips in the age of the internal combustion engine? Times change. Long live the king, but the king is dead.

I went with Android (on a Samsung Galaxy Note).

And, I gotta say, it's really fun to be a part of the 21st century with the capability to do stuff while on the move.

HP TouchPad not selling well

Larry Dignan reports for ZDNet that HP's TouchPad sales are underwhelming and ponders who's to blame, HP or Best Buy? While he concludes both, I lay it squarely on HP.

Last I checked, the product has never been called the "Best Buy TouchPad." It's HP's baby, and it was up to them to do a proper launch and give the TouchPad a fighting chance.

Some light on the dark side

Previously, I tried to explain a little of why there are still Palm OS-5 die-hards out there, myself included. Now that I've begun experimenting with an iPod Touch, it's time to share some first-hand reactions to the new standard.

Understanding the Palm OS 5 die-hard

With such a wide variety of smartphones out there, some may be puzzled as to why there remains not a few Palm OS 5 die-hards apparently so unwilling to join the rest of the world in the 21st century, yours truly among them. This article is an attempt to contribute to the discussion and help support understanding.

Is this how it ends?

The Globe and Mail ran a story on Palm Inc. looking for a buyer and, some five days later, there are no comments on it.
 

Not one.

Nobody cares.

Vultures are circling

The headlines are grim:

• Palm teeters

• Palm at a crossroads

• Palm Circles the bowl

Seems like a long time ago when the "newness" of the Pre ushered in a wave of hope that sent Palm's stock rocketing. But sales have been lacklustre, and what went up has surely come right back down.

And so, I mourn.

From one extreme to the other, both bad

Palm has sent a cease and desist order to Tealpoint to stop distributing its nifty launcher TealOS. I'm not the only one absolutely mystified by such a move. This is outrageous on several levels, and here's why.

MyLocation now available on Palm OS GSM devices

Palm inc. continues to frustrate its remaining core users, but one of its strengths is its strong 3rd party developer community. This latest offering is extremely cool, but also telling of issues at Palm that must be more alienating than endearing.

While Palm Inc. says that a Google Maps location-finding feature is only available on "newer Palm phones", the developers at Razix are proud to present MyLocation, for use with Treo 650 and 680, and get this - it's free.

I won't get into a rant on how frustrating it is to be a Palm user these days. Right now I just want to enjoy the benefit of being in a community that will do as much as it can, no matter how little effort Palm Inc. puts into supporting us.

Enjoy!

Palm's Identity Crisis

Handheld electronics include several distinct though related devices: cellular phone, personal digital assitant (PDA) and the hybrid smartphone.

The convergence of a cellular phone and PDA makes sense, since they both share common data - the contacts. It's also easier to carry one device rather than two.

A robust operating system provides a platform to converge additional devices we may want to carry around - mp3 player, gps, etc... why carry a cell phone, a PDA, an mp3 player, a digital camera, and gps receiver in separate devices if we can do it all in one?

Review of IntelligentFind and FindWiz

Like many of us, I do a lot of things on my Treo 680. I listen to MP3s, watch TV shows and movies; I view and edit Microsoft Office documents and spreadsheets; I find my way around with Google Maps; I've got a Bible, a dictionary; I browse the web, send/receive email and text messages; I've got a voice recorder which is great for recording a conversation while I'm driving and can't write down some information. I do all kinds of things on my Treo 680, but the main reason I have a PDA, the single most important thing I do is not as exotic or glamorous: I manage my "life data" - personal ID info, online user IDs and passwords, family dates and obligations, the kids' doctor's appointments, work-related info, notes on speaking engagements (where, when, subject, etc...), travel information, notes to self, contacts information, to-do lists...