external hard drives

I bought a few months ago, an external hard drive, which is something I had meant to do for ages but was also one of those things that you never really seem to get around to doing. It is one of the best things I have bought for my imac as I can copy stuff across to back it up and it is in my view a better alternative to the rather crummy mac "backup" application which you can only use to copy a limited amount of stuff to a burn disk.
It’s especially useful for backing up sd cards and for swopping stuff across between them. I am always doing this when I change devices.
They are pretty cheap…I got an 80gb one for less than £80.

treo 750v anyone?

Now that I feel reasonably comfortable with the WM5 system and that the treo 750v is on the horizon, admittedly somewhat distantly, I was just wondering whether I should be looking to get the treo750v. At this point in time I would have to say probably not. My current device, Qtek S200, does all that the treo can do and some more with the notable exception of not being 3G enabled.
In most other aspects, the things that are important to me, it is a very capable device. It is also smaller and lighter than the treo and although it doesn’t have a built in keyboard it is very easy to use with excellent dpad support. It really is a breeze to zoom through the menus.
I would say at the moment I am more likely to get a 3G enabled version of what I have now, if it comes out.

Repligo

Repligo is a programme I have been using for a couple of years on my various palms and it falls into the category of truly essential. It has become one of those programmes that you wonder how you managed to get by when you didn’t know about it.
It is very simple. It converts any type of file that you can print on your pc into a repligo file which you can then view on your palm or pocket pc using the repligo viewer. All it does is put a "repligo" printer icon into your printer box and you can then print off webpages, excel, doc, pdf’s etc etc and convert them for viewing on your handheld.
It is good value and stable. It is also a far better pdf viewing option on your pda than anything I have ever tried.
Genuinely, I don’t know how anyone can survive without this app!

GPRS…

GPRS…an always on connection except that for me, it’s never on. That’s not to say it never works, far from it, it very rarely doesn’t work but rather I am a bit paraniod about leaving it active so if I use a programme that needs it – such as email – the first thing I do after downloading email is close off the GPRS connection. I don’t know why, I guess I’m just worried that if I leave GPRS on all the time it will mysteriously download loads of data in the background.
Which of course, it wouldn’t do….would it?

HandySwitcher for WM5

One of the things that has been bugging me about WM is the difficulty in getting running apps closed…you think you have closed them (although most don’t have a close button) but lo and behold they are in fact still running and using up valuable memory.
This little application closes them pronto and is well worth the money to help the system run more smoothly.

It also has the advantage of looking like a very professionally designed application and is is easy to use…it also works.

windows immobile

Jeesoooo…some of these windows mobile apps are real lardy boys…I tried out a couple of mp3 players that weighed in at over 3000kb per app which is about 10% of available storage space on my Qtek. Palm apps are soooo much smaller and neater in comparison.

Sidenote 1.7.2 for mac

"About Sidenote
Tries to catch the "Stickies" spirit but in
the form of a multi-document drawer that will hide in the corner of
your screen (left or right). You can use it to take all your daily
notes, include images and easily modify text color and font.

Sidenote will automatically expand so that you will be able to drag
into it any picture, text clipping or pdf file from the finder or your
favorite application. With notes auto-saving, you’ll never have to save
your notes. Sidenote will handle that for you. You can also print notes
or export them to rtf"

Google Mail

I’ve got a couple of gmail invites if anyone wants one, first three emails get them.

Avant-no-Go

Again from 1src...this used to happen to me all the time and I just ended up getting hacked off with Avantgo and abandoning it!

Task master

Interesting article over at 1src about whether to use the "tasks’ app or calender for looking after your todo’s. Personally, I use TMP and enter all my tasks as sort of floating events on their due dates. I think if I used a seperate app for each I’d end up forgetting about the tasks…this way tasks and meetings etc are in the one app and end up getting done.

windows mac mobile

I’ve been trying to make my WM smartphone less like a windows device and more like a mac and have been scouting around for skins to help. I found a good one for the windows mobile player which I reckon is a huge improvement over the drab WM one.

EasyCrop 2.1 for mac

Spotted this being reviewed in one of the mac mags and it got a very good write up..

"You wish to crop and scale down a photo to send in
    an email, and you want the file size to be under 50 KB.
    With a full-featured graphics application,
    these are the steps you would take:
   

• 
  Launch the app, and watch the app
  icon bounce and bounce and bounce …
     
• 
  Navigate clumsy file dialogs to reach
  the file you wish to open.
     
• 
  Crop the image and scale the result.
     
• 
  Export the result to a temporary JPEG file.
     
• 
  Check file size; if it’s too big, back up
  two steps or try a different JPEG Quality
  setting.
     
• 
  Open the folder containing the temporary
  file in the Finder.
     
• 
  Drag the file into the email you are
  composing.
     
• 
  Finally, delete the temporary file now
  that you no longer need it.

   

   

detailed treo 680 specs

palminsider have details of the supposed specs of the new treo 680 and they look a hell of a lot better than I’ve seen quoted elswhere…it has EDGE but this is probably of little use to people outside London, I’ve never managed an EDGE connection ANYWHERE in Scotland!

• Palm OS 5.4.9
• Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (GSM 850/900/1800/1900)
• Intel XScale 312MHz processor
• 320 x 320 color TFT touchscreen display 16-bit color displays up to 65,536 colors
• 128MB (60MB user accessible) non-volatile
• Bluetooth 1.2 (Support for Bluetooth stereo headsets)
• Speakerphone
• Hands-free headset jack 2.5mm
• Polyphonic MIDI, MP3, WAV & video ringtones (w/ vibrate mode and external ringer on/off switch )
• Microphone mute option
• TTY/TDD compatibility
• 3-way calling
• 0.3 megapixels – VGA Camera
• Standard SD card slot
• Removable 1200 mAH Lithium-ion Battery (Talk time up to 4.5 hours – Standby time 10 days)
• Infrared (IR)
• Size 111mm x 58mm x 22mm
• Weight 154 grams (5.4 ounces)

Those dimensions. 111x58x22, seem very similar to the current treo range… I thought it was meant to be smaller?

windows Zune

I’ve been reading a few reviews and opinions on the forthcoming "brown bomber" and they haven’t been terribly complimentary. It seems the device is a rewarmed Toshiba "Gigabeat" player and although the specs are pretty impressive, the controls, although clearly trying to mimic the ipod scroll wheel, are not nearly as useful.
The reviewer also had concerns about the battery life and with the built in wi-fi being used, it is unlikely the battery will last nearly as long as on the various ipods.

dead treo

By the time I got home tonight the treo battery had dropped from 45% to zero depsite the device being switched off. I’ve been charging it up since 5.30pm but it’s only back about 30% so things ain’t looking to hot on the battery front.
Luckily, I have a spare battery I bought about 3 weeks ago but I’m not that concerned. I used the Qtek again today and it worked very well so I’m going to persevere with that for a while.

It’s a Windows world, or is it…

I was reading this post over at pda 247 today and it got me thinking. I have virtually dismissed windows mobile as a viable o/s for myself now and in the future because of one or two problems I have had with the Qtek. These have mainly revolved around installing new apps to try out and then finding the system has jammed or completely slowed down thus requiring a reset.
And then I thought to myself…why did I buy this device and what did I want it to do for me? The answer is fairly simple
– I wanted a device that was lighter and smaller than my treo, which it is.
– I wanted it to be able to handle email in the same easy way that the treo does. And it does, in fact it handles it better because it also gives me my work outlook email. Not only that but it also handles text messages in the same application which is very convenient. So in fact, it is better than the treo.
– I wanted it to give a first class web browsing experience at least on a par with the treo. It also does this better than the treo.
– I wanted it to be able to play mp3’s and of course it can at least as well as the treo.
– It would also have to be able to handle a few games and as everyone knows, WM5 handles games better and there is also a far wider choice.

So in fact it is a better device in many respects than the treo so has fullfilled all the important criteria I had originally set and more. And yet there was me loading on a whole load of stuff just for the sheer hell of it really and trying to turn it into something that I never originally meant it to be.

Yes, it can do a heck of a lot more and I have already seen that in the way it handles native microsoft  office docs, this is an area that again is better than the treo / palm system. And there are other things it does better too but in reality they don’t matter because my TX will remain my pda workhorse and carry on all the heavy duty number crunching data stuff. For some reason, I was trying to turn the Qtek into a second version of this which which was a long way away from  my original intention.

Splash data

I’m going to have a wee pop here at Splashdata following a previous post in which I praised them for allowing cheap upgrades bewteen different operating systems. I "upgraded" my palm Splashid programme to work on the pocket pc platform but was suspicious when the "new" password emailed to me was in fact exactly the same as my palm one

Ialso have Splashphoto on my palm and downloaded the WM version onto my Qtek. I then entered my palm reg code for Splashphoto into the pocket pc version and it accepts this okay without having to "upgrade". Now, that is good…it is good that Splashdata allow your one Splash password to work whether you are using it on a palm device or a pocket pc.

What is not so good is this…..they know that yet they have a link on their website to "upgrade" from palm to pocket pc for only $9.95. In other words, people who don’t know any better will pay out $9.95 (like I did) to "upgrade" when in reality, there is no cost…your password covers all platforms.

If I am wrong here I will be the first to hold my hands up and apologise to them but this seems to me to be a sneaky way to get some extra money off people who don’t know any better.

Sony W950

Sony’s latest effort is quite unusual for them in that it features a touchscreen. Other benefits include 4GB hard drive, bluetooth and 3G connectivity.

It’s another of their walkman branded phones and they seem to be really going for the mp3 player market here. Having the Sony name is always a good thing for those of a style conscious nature but how easy will it be to get your mp3 collection, whether its stored on itunes or wherever, onto the phone?

I had a Sony W800i….getting songs onto was not easy as it had no built in mac support, no itunes support and the pc application it came with was pretty much unuseable.

is this fate?

There I was, thinking I had managed to escape the clutches of the evil Windows Mobile tyrant…with my sim card out and back in the treo 650 and what happens? I get up this morning and the treo has suffered one of its’ not infrequent mysterious battery drains again. From 100% full last night to 40% full this morning after having been switched off all night.

Sheepishly, and with my tail very firmly between my legs, the sim card was then swopped back into the Qtek and it’s hey ho off we go for another day of WM useage. Perhaps this is a sign from the mobile Gods…."Murray, ye shall persevere with the abomination that is WM5 and ye shall seek and find salvation in the Today screen"

new Nokia N95

Nokia just keep ’em coming and coming and here is their latest spec packed mobile phone. This phone would appear to have everything except…and it’s a big EXCEPT…a decent means of getting data into the phone.

From my own personal experience, it doesn’t matter how fantastic the spec is if useability is lacking. And a device where you have to use the tap tap keyboard to get data in is soon going to end up annoying you to the point where a lesser specced device with better input ability soon becomes very very attractive.

Device info:-

Nokia today introduced the Nokia N95, an all-in-one multimedia computer with a pioneering 2-way slide concept, integrated GPS functionality, a 5 megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks, making it easier to watch and record videos, listen to songs, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, or catch up on email while on the move.

"The Nokia N95 brings a range of multimedia ingredients together, such as a fantastic display, outstanding photo and video capability and high-speed connectivity, making it the ultimate multimedia computer," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia. "This single device – which fits easily in your pocket – can replace stand-alone devices that you no longer need, whether it’s your music player, your digital camera, PDA or navigation device. Most importantly, the Nokia N95 is with you and connected when you want to use it."

The innovative 2-way slide concept makes it easy to switch between different modes, going from reading maps to watching a video with a simple slide. A numeric keypad slides out from one end of the device while dedicated media keys slide out from the opposite direction, converting the display into full screen landscape mode. With powerful 3D graphics, the Nokia N95 has a stunning user interface……"