This issue is focused on things-Treo, Windows Mobile and industry announcements; such as the deaths of the Dell Axim, and most likely of the AppForge toolset.
Please feel free to submit requests or ideas
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Each item in our newsletter is marked with the
icons shown to the right, so that you can focus on your own areas of
interest.
PalmOS
Pocket PC/WinCE
Podcasts
Phone-related
Please note: This newsletter contains tips and tools that can alter your PDA. These items are offered here "as is" and without any warranty or support from FO. Please consider them carefully before using or trying them (and as always ... backup, backup, backup first -- before making any changes).
Thank
you, Bill
Shadish, Principal
User Tips and Tools
Treo 750
Treo 750 released Bringing their broadband entry to the market, to counter the Sprint/Verizon EVDO PDAs, is Cingular with the Treo 750. This antennae-less, Windows Mobile 5 handheld sits on the GSM/GRPS networks for phone service -- and costs $399 with 2 yrs of service. The Palm Treo 750 initially will be enabled for UMTS and upgradeable for free to HSDPA technology.
Just when you thought you knew what MS operating system to expect on your device...Yoink!
Windows Mobile 6 is really more of a WinMob5++. It adds Windows Live Messenger (like the desktop MSN messenger); Live Search (a junky Google clone); Remote Desktop (which might be interesting) and internet sharing over Bluetooth.
It also has Windows Update capabilities, so that now your PDA can undergo unforeseen changes just like your desktop does.
WM5 Task Manager (Freeware) http://www.nikafx.com/downloads.asp
As the name implies -- this is a Task Manager for your Pocket PC/Windows Mobile 5 device. You can kill tasks, etc. In addition to this, there is a screen that shows current memory usage, battery life remaining, cpu info, etc.
WM5 Task Manager
PDA Check 1.5 (freeware) http://www.howardlee.com/palm/
PDA Check, is a small, lightweight Palm PRC that reports back available memory, device, screen, OS and related characteristics of a PDA. This might be a useful little utility in support situations, where if one is provided to every user, remote support personal can then use PDA Check to get a quick overview of the problem PDA.
Office Mobile: You can view/scroll/zoom on Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents without 3rd party apps. You can not make a new Office file on SE (Standard Edition). There is still no native support for PDF files (imagine that) -- but check this tool in our newsletter to handle that issue (PDF docs).
email changes:
Search
Instead of having to scroll through tons of email headers to find what you want (80's-style), you can now begin typing characters and be taken to matching emails (21st century-style).
POP3/IMAP support (...and Windows Live Mail, Exchange 2007)
Flag messages
you can now flag a message. HOLD the 'H' key to display the shortcuts.
The Smartphones Show http://www.smartphones-show.com
Now ... this site is useful. Steve Litchfield reviews new devices and actually demonstrates the features for you to see. Downloadable as MP4 videos, with a "simulcast" on YouTube, each video covers a number of different devices, with just enough sarcasm to be interesting.
Example content from the most recent show:
. News round-up from the smartphone world;
. hands-on review of the i-Mate JAQ4;
. video editing demo on a smartphone
Club i-Mate http://www.clubimate.com/ultimate/default.htm
You will be seeing a lot more about i-Mates, mid year. For early information about these Windows Mobile devices, you can use this site that describes each of them, from the 5150 to the 9150.
. Native PDF
. File Browser
. Opens emailed PDF files or those from the web
. Support for links inside the PDF
. Presentation mode for PDA based overhead presentations
. works with RescoExplorer, ZLauncher and MobiSystems OfficeSuite
PalmPDF
SharkMsg v1.45 (freeware) http://www.ludustech.com/sharkmsg/
SharkMSG is a neat tool that brings a feature from the Windows Mobile Treo 700w to the Treo 650. This tool allows you to (manually or automatically) send a SMS text response to phone messages that you can not take, because of being in a meeting -- or a movie -- or...
Dell Axim discontinued
Citing "a steadily declining market for pen-based PDAs and noted over the past several quarters by analyst firms like IDC and Gartner"; Dell has decided to drop the Axim PDA line -- and will focus on tablets in the future. These sites contain more information about this decision.
Sticky section
Included here will be PalmOS; WinCe/Pocket PC/Windows Mobile; Smartphones and calling plan comparisons. We will keep and update this set of device lists in future newsletters, as a way to help users in comparing hardware before a purchase.
As of "press-time" today, AppForge is closed, not answering calls, and possibly being purchased by Oracle. ...At least, Oracle is the site that you are redirected to when clicking on www.appforge.com. This is not necessarily a surprise, given the draconian licensing imposed by AppForge in recent years.
In anticipation of this, for any of our customers that are developing using AppForge, we are offering free analysis to see if you would prefer to move to foSync, SatelliteForms.net or NSBasic -- with whom we have established a partnership. Please contact us for more information if you are interested.
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