Monday, December 31, 2007

More ranting on Palm's most famous device: FOLEO


The news of the failed to be released Palm Foleo are everywhere in every gadgets & computers reviews of 2007, it has been dubbed as the most worst and joked around gadgets that is not even hit the store shelves yet. People who actually get their hands-on Foleo have loved the small –laptop like- device (those lucky creatures!), but the bloggers who never had the slightiest chance to see it in real life have throwed critics and bad oppinions that might be one of many reasons why Palm cancelled Foleo after so much advertisement. Why Palm cancelled it has become a big secret for all of us, the only corporate announcement was they’re hoping to make Foleo 2 more perfect. This is a clear indication that Palm will surely release the next generation of Linux based Palm OS specially made for Foleo 2, although it would be another big joke to call it Foleo “2” because the first one never made it to be released; hope they’ll come up with a better name.
The first bad thought.
But let’s go back first to the basic; if this is the first time you ever see Palm Foleo
pictures, you’ll definetely going to say that it is just another 10” laptop with less capabilities. That’s what I’ve thought first too, why would I need a laptop that can only send/receive emails and browse the web? I can already do that with my Treo 750v, and it’s smaller in size plus fits inside my jeans pocket; I feels mobile with it. Funny on how I read that Jeff Hawkins was really excited about it, and how Palm was making a new category for it. These probably are the thoughts that filled bloggers mind who critized Foleo all over the web, and suprisingly add more spice to already over-cooked news on it.
The second good thought.
After some websites and blogger (including PalmAddict) were saying of this misfortune Palm Foleo again for the past few weeks, I pushed myself to looked at it once more. I’m beginning to understand the enthusiasm that Jeff had when he introduced Foleo for the first time at D Conference, the “first bad thought” I had once is beginning to fade away. If you read the
Gizmodo review of Palm Foleo, you’ll probably drool over this device and wish it for Christmas/New Year’s eve gift like me. Weighting only at 2.5lbs, plus the picture of Jeff Hawkins holding it with only one hand, it’s very light to be carried everywhere you go. Palm also have announced the partnership with several 3rd-party software developers for making applications that were compatible with Foleo, must’ve felt like a whip when Palm cancelled it. Supposedly those applications are ready when Foleo released, who know perhaps we’ll like them the way we all like current applications that’re running on Palm OS (Treo 680). I can imagine how convenient it is to open up the Foleo (said it didn’t need to boot since it has instant-on & instant-off feature) and quickly access messages/emails or the applications, I’m definetely going to always use such device because the fast and easy to use can’t compete with the long boot of other laptops. A pioneer always mocked first at first, and we should give credits to those who’re bold enough to become one and give us a new shiny gadgets for New Year’s eve gift. ;-)
Happy New Year 2008 everybody, hope all of your good wishes come true!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Super file explorer for your Treo 750


I've been keep saying on how plain and simple the accessories from Windows Mobile 6 ever since I'm using Treo 750v. Like before I've reviewed application that can enhance Pocket IE, and application that can do more than standard Windows Media Player 10; which both of those are the standard apps that came with WinMob 6. So now to complete the whole package, I'm going to review the application to enhance your file browsing experience: Resco File Explorer 2007 (v6.17).
If you're never bothered to know what files in your Treo 750, or don't care how messy are your folders & files inside the Storage Card; then you should stop reading and keep on using the standard File Explorer that came originally with WinMob 6. It's not bad at all, infact I still use it because of it's clear & easy to use UI (user interface).
But I realized that I needed something more than it's standard features when there was this once I wanted to search a particular file, and I surprised I couldn't find it manually nor with WinMob 6 search feature.
The RFE 2007 also has the encryption-decrypt feature if you wish to keep a file secure from unwanted hands, and packing a big file into compact ZIP file is a breeze with a touch of button & settings. The available short cut buttons are really helpful, making new folders or looking a file properties; or if you're going to beam it into another device is very easy & also quick.
There also additonal apps from RFE 2007: Resco Registry & FTP Network add-in. Although I won't recommend you to modify the WinMob registries without knowing them, but it's good you have a powerful tool ready. And the FTP Network add-in feature is very rare to use since there's no integrated WiFi in Treo 750 yet, when you plugged it at your computer; you'll tend to use the computer instead to explore network's files.
One of the last REF 2007 feature I've not thought when I started using Treo 750v is the Recycle Bin, you can quickly see what are inside of it and restore them if you have to; just like usual Windows old Recycle Bin. Seems trivial at first, but you'll sleeps better when you accidentally deleted files you still need.
Overall REF 2007 is a great & complete file explorer application that every advanced users must have ready inside their Treo(s), and with it’s downloadable icons you can have a great look at your WinMob Today Plugin. With the new year's eve
special discount, this might be a good chance to enhance your Treo 750 file exploring capability...

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Better web surfing with Opera Mobile

Some of you might never like IE in the first place, now when you held your Treo 750 and get to know Pocket IE (PIE); you might not like it either. I must agree to some points people are making, that PIE is just too plain for experienced web surfers. Microsoft surely too slow to pick up what's new and in for the sake of their own users, either they're affraid to make mistakes or they just have became a big corporate company to slow to move. That's when Opera browser has become increasingly popular with those who're looking for alternative, Opera took the opportunity from Microsoft's slow response; and they've launched a new Opera Mobile browser v8.65 for WinMob. Long awaited features such as support for Flash Player 7 & FlashLite 2.1, tap and scroll, etc. have been available, and of course the most popular tab browsing is already a standard feature for Opera browser that even PIE hasn't have this one in WinMob 6. I've witnessed myself Opera Mobile browser is faster to open any websites, specially the ones with Flash Player & FlashLite in them. It also has the capability to open pop-up window if you click on the hyperlink or email link whenever a website provide them, where usually PIE will block these because of it's limited script strength. Another good thing is I installed Opera Mobile into the Storage Card instead of the main memory, and yet it works fine without any trouble at all. Alternatives are good for healthier competition, and in the end we can have better products to use in our palm. (blogged with my Treo 750v)

Surprising Christmas 2007

Christmas is surely full of surprises, this year I received several text messages on my Treo 750v from people that I never expected before. First of all I got a news from my ex-girlfriend that she's getting married next year (suddenly I felt like in Ben Stiller's newest movie: Heartbreak Kid), afterward there are 4 others that I've never knew the phone numbers before; but later on I found out they actually someone I know long time ago. This got me thinking for a little while, there's always someone out there with Christmas spirit and spread it to everybody they can. Such a heart warming, to know that good spirited people are still around you even at the least person you never expect to do so. So I typed several replies to them all (also to families, friends, colleagues, etc.), lucky I have Treo 'cause if not my thumb will get sore writing long text messages. I never wanted to use a mass sending SMS application, it feels more personal if I add the recepient's name & family. That's how I start my day of Christmas with my Treo 750v, and I downloaded Christmas themes & ringtones to it too. Merry Christmas everyone!
(blogged with my Treo 750v & picture is courtesy of Rylee Rider)

Monday, December 24, 2007

Mobile english dictionary

I just make a good use for the Lexisgoo English Dictionary v3.0 yesterday evening when I had dinner with family (see previous post), sometimes there are some words that you encountered and can't shake them off your head; wanting to know what they really mean. Having a digital dictionary inside your Treo 750 is very handy & useful, because you can look it up anywhere and anytime you wish to before you forgotten the words. Other use perhaps (if not considered cheating) is to have it while playing scrabble, more cool to hold a Treo than an old bulky dictionary book you keep in your bookshelf. Like this PPCLink product I try, have already support WinMob 6 and square screen of Treo 750; I installed it into the Storage Card and it works fine & quite fast too. There are web browser smart text selection support if you'd like to know fast without the hassle to launch the application, it's compatible with IE Mobile & Opera browser. Besides the extended and vast library it has that I like about, it's plain and simple user interface also makes it very easy to use. Although it'll be more cheerful if PPCLink could throw in more colorful themes...
(blogged with my Treo 750v)

A great evening and Treo just add more fun to it

Today I had a shabu-shabu food with my sister, her husband & my niece. After our stomach is full and we just sat down chatting, I pulled out my Treo 750v and opened a note that's filled with 'strange' words (still in English) that we're hardly hear everyday.
So I kinda do a little trivia quiz with them, and I looked into Lexisgoo English Dictionary v3.0 I've just installed (I'll do a quick review after the weekend) for their real meaning. Kinda fun, because all of our first guess are wrong and we do the "aaah" after knowing it.
Then our conversation went into Korean restaurants names, we did guess which name that sounds familiar but also popular. I quickly launched IE Mobile to search any of them online, and found this one "bibimbab" which means "mixed rice". Pretty good one I'll say, and this sparked another conversations among us. But we had to end our talk and start walking to let loose our tighten full stomach.
That's a great family gathering for me, and Treo just add more fun whenever I needed it to.
(blogged with my Treo 750v)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Make your Treo 750 to be your personal translator & tutor mobile


For you who travel to many countries that their languages you don’t understand, or maybe for you who like to learn new languages and wish to do so while you’re on the go, not behind a desk of a class; then a dictionary & phrasebook inside your Treo 750 is suitable for you. Utilize your Treo 750 to be your translator and the source of words, so there’ll be less miscommunication whenever you need to talk with foreign people.
I’ve tried
LingvoSoft’s products called Talking Dictionary & Phrasebook 2007, which the language I taken are both English<->Chinese Simplified. I need to learn as fast as I can, because me and couple of friends are planning to take a holiday trip to China. Just for few days, but it’ll be such troublesome since there’s only one guy who can talk Chinese; so I can’t always rely on him to translate everything I need.
First, I must say that I’m quite impressed by LingvoSoft’s vast library of languages they have to offer; most impressive is they made talking phrases and dictionaries too. These mean a lot to me, specially for the Talking Phrasebook application I tried is simply will come to handy when I’m actually in China. All I’ve got to do is choose the important phrase I need and then push the talk button, so I don’t have to show the translation on my Treo 750v small screen.
The overall of both applications I try are pretty much easy to use, in Talking Dictionary all you need is write down the word you know in English and then the application will automatically search it’s database. If you have installed the China keyboard (included in the installation) as well, then you can write on Chinese words and look up for the English translation instead. While the Talking Phrasebook require you to choose first what category you wish to talk about, like traveling or eating etc. Then you must browse on the already available phrases in it’s database, they usually are the most commonly used in everyday conversation. After you’ve found one, you can push the talk button to hear the phrase sounds like.
There aren’t much to say about the user interface from both products, they’re clean and only contain necessary icons you’ll ever use. Only few different colours are available to change the user interface though. And the most drawback using LingvoSoft’s vast language database is the slow response if you installed them into Storage Card instead of Main Memory of Treo,which I guess can’t be help since many users have reported slow response from Windows Mobile if you try to access applications installed in the Strage Card. I found a small error occured if you installed the 2007 edition (LingvoSoft has released the 2008 edition) into Treo 750; it has something to do with the compability with IE Mobile. There’s a new option available in IE Mobile after the installation of LingvoSoft’s products: “Show Word Translation”, which basically translate the words in the website into particular applications. The error occured everytime I push the back button to go back to the previous website, IE Mobile will always closes itself and sometimes freeze. After making contact with Paul Feo as LingvoSoft’s Customer Support Manager, he recommend me to install a CAB file to patch this issue. The CAB file works like magic by installing a new patch called “LingvoSoft IE integrator” into my Treo 750v; you can grab the file
here, it works fine with Windows Mobile 6.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Secure your important infos with Spb Wallets


It's very common now to forget passwords, user name, important numbers, etc. Because there are so many of them that we're using for our digital life, which can't be seperated anymore as our life style. For quick and simple proof of what I said, try to open your wallet and see how many credit cards & bank cards you have inside? Or how about turn on your computers to see how many email address,web login and favourite websites you keep at your web browser? So many that sometimes you forgotten few of them, and have to hit your head with a hammer just to bring back the lost ones.
If you like to avoid the headache everytime you want to remember them, you could use one of many applications in the market that can keep those important informations for you in your Treo device. So you can look them up whenever you need them. One great application that's up for this job is from Spb Software House called Spb Wallets v1.50, I tried one with my Treo 750v and I must say that I'm very impressed by it.
It's a little bit tricky at first, but after getting used to it; I can't stop jamming my personal infos. The card view feature is very eye-catcher, although with long texts will look crowded in Treo 750's small screen resolution. I had to adjust it so the card looks better with my Treo. You can easily write the informations you needed because of the templates within Spb Wallets are abundant, these templates will remind you of the necessary ones and mostly forgotten to written down. Besides the freedom to edit & create your own templates, Spb Software House has made plenty additional templates for download at their website. The icon card also looks interesting, makes you want to keep making them and browse to match with the infos you're making. And this Spb Wallets v1.50 have already uses 256-bit encryption automatically every time you make a new wallet with it, which pretty much is the latest standard for security wallet.
I like Spb Wallets even more because of the desktop sync is automatically transfer every thing I wrote at my Treo into my laptop, this way I can look them up when I'm using my laptop instead of Treo. The sync uses Window's mobile sync, so all you've got to do is plug it in and wait till it's finished. Fast & handy!
If just they could squeeze in one more feature; I has difficulty to always keep going back and forth to Spb Wallets because of long username or password. I wish there’s a copy and paste feature to do this, so I can easily inserted the needed infos right away.
(blogged with my Treo 750v)

Face of the year found! Right before Christmas and the end of this year!

A hilarious news about the new English coach: Fabio Capello, it's not about the news of his assigment that is all over the sports media; but the news is about an Irish man called Michael McElhinney (45) who look alike the new English coach.
He already been hired to show up on several shows, which each appearance could at least earn him £350 more or less. Heck, even a Sky News reporter was fooled enough to asked for interview! ;-p
Here's the full store to dig in if you're interested more.
Who thought you can be famous out of no where? Life surely sometimes feels like a whole big circus full of prank jokes... And we are the clowns in the center of the show.

(blogged from my Treo 750v)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Digital Life Style


I’ve read Sammy’s blog about the necessity of email, internet & mobile phone for him nowadays. And after reading it, I get the same question popped in my head: “Do I need those too?”. I can’t say that I don’t need them, but the exact answer will be I can live without them; not really in the exreme way like what if all of a sudden there’s a ‘Fire Sale Day” (like in the Die Hard 4 movie) and we all have to live without our gadgets anymore. What I meant is that if I has to disconnected from internet and mobile phones completely, of course I can; but I won’t have the pleasure of experiencing global and mobile life any longer. For instance, internet for me is the source for entertainment and informations; these have been pretty much what have been filling my days now. How dull it is to wait until some news and everything that are connected with entertainment have become expired until they finally reach to you? That’s what happened when internet hasn’t become a part of our lives.
How about mobile phones then? I’ve been remembering the days without one, there was at least once awful experience we all must had. Like when you made a date or scheduled a meeting with someone important at a quite distant place you live, after hours of waiting; you decided to go home to found out that the date / meeting had been called off because of something. Many other examples we had, most of them must be a real funny stories to tell our children and grand-children who now surely have one in their hands. And with more convergence use of mobile phones and PDA, such as Palm Treo, we’ll be using a single device for doing multitask jobs. Like email, now you can do send and receive it from your mobile phone; basically you won’t miss a thing unless you lost your mobile phone (it’s a nightmare for every gadget users). But today while I’m sitting at a local coffee shop, I bring along my laptop and Treo 750v with me. I paused for while when I’m about to pull one of them and think, which one should I use? My Treo 750v pretty much can do what the laptop can, although the screen is pretty small and crowded; or should I turn on the laptop? Finally I use the laptop, cause ever since I bought Treo I haven’t use again outside the desk...
To sum up all of the talks above; email, internet, mobile phones, computers, etc. are digital life style that can’t be seperated from the life of modern people who have tasted and use them every day. A life style is something that we do every day, and has become of what we are. Do I want to leave these all behind? I don’t think so... Do you?

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Not so boring traffic jam because of my Treo 750v

I was dead bored yesterday as I was sitting in my car, stucked in a very long traffic jam on a highway. It's the last work day for office workers, as it's going to be quite long weekend holidays before Christmas & New Year.
Didn't realize my Treo 750v presence until it vibrated inside my pocket to tell me there's a new email came in. After read few new emails with it, I picked the new tunes I've downloaded before and played them on.
Just after half an hour later, still inside the traffic jam, I decided to play ChessGenius & Astraware's Plantastic. The traffic jam was so terrible, even I managed to play with my Treo 750v while driving.
The games only managed to kept me accompanied for few minutes, that's when I started to wrote this post. But as I wrote it, the cars began to accelerate as sign of the traffic jam cleared.
Thanks to Treo for keeping me busy from a boring traffic jam!
(posted with my Treo)

My 3 wishlist for the next Palm Treo

Everybody are making their wishlists because Santa is coming soon in just a few more weeks, I came up with an idea of my own wishlist for the next upcoming Palm's smartphone; a.k.a. Treo 800w.
After reading all of those analysts and users reviews (and complaints too), I decided to put 3 most wanted wishes and here they are:
1.) Slimmer body, no one is denying that Palm's Treo is so bulky and heavy specially if it's inside your tight small pocket. Come on Palm you can do it, we know Motorolla has done this along ago and amazed us all with their Razr lineups.
2.) WiFi 802.11n, wouldn't it be amazing if Palm can put the newest 11n (still in Draft 2.0) and become the company that sets standard of PDA / smartphone again like they used to?
3.) Best hardwares out there to offer. This includes faster processor, bigger internal memory, and larger touch screen. Because those hardwares are already used in iPhone & HTCs, and have become new standard for best device in the market.
I'm about to inserted new Palm OS for the fourth wish, but considering Palm has decided to slowly develop it until it's ready for release in 2009; I believe it is for the best to keep this one as next Christmas wishlists. Palm fans are eagerly waiting for this new OS, and we hate it when it doesn't make a breakthrough features that can make Palm OS stand out in already competitive mobile phones industry; right guys?
What about you, what are your wishlists for the next Palm Treo?
(blogging with my Treo)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Bundle your musics into PocketMusic 5

Many of you must have felt the same as me when you played music on your Treo 750 the first time, WinMob automatically open WinMediaPlayer 10 for Pocket PC which came as one of standard applications. Although I'm not complaining much on the sound quality of WMP 10, for me the most drawback of using it is Treo's battery will be drained quickly as you enjoy your favourite tunes. My Treo 750v screen will be dimmed after awhile, depending on how long you set it's screen to be turned off. But it's actually still on, that's why you must be careful if you forgotten to turn off the WMP 10. Another trick maybe is to turn off the Treo 750 screen, but the WMP 10 will stop playing the songs too until you turn the screen on back again.
So I tried this PocketMind's product called PocketMusic 5 Bundle, which can solve the problem I mentioned up there. You could make settings in it to turn off Treo 750 screen at any given time you wish to, while PocketMusic 5 still playing your musics. This will greatly save up Treo's battery, just in case you need to make those emergency calls.
Another extended feature PocketMusic 5 has is the capability to make as many playlists as you need, and then play them in order you set. You could set buttons short cut as well while you're at it, so you can jump from one playlist to another. So easy and handy, specially when I'm behind the wheel.
If a call is coming in, PocketMusic 5 can stop the current music you play and then resume back after you finish the call.
PocketMind has made adjustments for Treo 750 small screen resolution, that's why the screenshots you see here & at their website won't be quite the same. PocketMusic 5 works great on WinMob 6, although I feels a little bit of sluggish whenever I activate it for the first time; there's actually a crash once when I tried to do multitasking while PocketMusic was on.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

My "n" button doesn't work properly

I've just read the Macbook keyboard problems pool at Engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/15/poll-macbook-keyboard-problems-anyone/) yesterday, seemed the all famous & likeable Apple's product has it's own bad side -for some unfortunate people.. And this reminds me again that my Treo 750v has one of it's type-pad button doesn't work properly, it is the "n" button. Sometimes when pushed, the word "n" don't appear although I've pushed it rapidly; it won't appear until I pause for a second before push it again. I wonder if this only happen to me, or are there somebody else experience this too?

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Be a mobile artist with Pocket Artist 3

I hadn't imagine that I'm going to need an application to edit pictures in my Treo 750v, because I thought I'll do it after I transfer the pictures from Treo to my laptop. Besides the applications that are available out there won't be sufficient to do that with Treo, that's the first impression I have in mind.
But after I have installed an add-on for IE Mobile (PIEPlus, I've posted before), I keep on downloading pictures I need from any websites I visited. I realized those pictures are either too big in pixels & size, that's why I needed to edit and slim them down before I could use them. That's when I decided to try this application from Conduits, called PocketArtist 3. After few times using this application, I'm amazed on how good PocketArtist 3 handle the pictures formats and it's features to edit pictures are just almost like the one we use in desktop/laptop computers. It's capabilities surprised me, now I can edit my pictures with my Treo aywhere I needed it to. (posted and the picture's edited with my Treo 750v)

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Tired of WinMob 6 news

The newest hype official released from Palm that has been the talk amongst Treo fans is the AT&T Treo 750 WinMob 6 upgrade. But I've been following almost every news about it from many sources, such as fans & analysts blogs from all over the internet. Their reviews are mostly express disappointments and simply no more surprises, because half of Treo users that are not AT&T already had their upgrade long time ago since the first release of WinMob 6.
All of the analysts have said that there aren't much improvement of WinMob 5 to 6 version, infact the changes are too minor that it should be more appropriate to be called as "Service Pack" instead. I must say that I agree with them, but so far I've been enjoying the HSDPA network availability in WinMob 6. That is one of the most significant improvement I can feel, specially when you're opening a huge website that doesn't come in mobile version. It will become AT&T Treo 750 users choice, whether they think this upgrade worth it or not. Although as long as it is free, I guess everyone will definitely get it.
Some of you maybe never thought of this upgrade as just another unnecessary burden for AT&T, because they need to put their resources together to get it working in tune for their already existing services. This means more expenses for them without any additional income, the upgrade of WinMob 6 is free after all. This perhaps the main reason why AT&T postponed the upgrade for so long.
But then again here's another rumored upgrade just popping around the news lately; WinMob 6.1, yes it sounds like a patch just like Office Mobile 6.1 released not so long ago too. The rumors say that this one will give the WinMob GUI looks like in Palm Centro 500w; the "Carousel" touch. This one has been anticipated more than the "too-late" WinMob 6 upgrade, because if this Carousel GUI is true then it will significantly change the way we'll use our Treo 750. (more details are on WMExperts article here: http://wmexperts.com/articles/rumors/windows_mobile_61_coming_with.html) Which makes sense, Microsoft needs to fill in a gap before they're going to release WinMob 7 at the end of next year (still a prediction though).
But I put my money on the bet that AT&T is going to postpone any new upgrades, based on that previous experience with WinMob 6. And what would you choose if the WinMob 6.1 upgrade is not free, will you pay for it for just a GUI change? A big homework for those sales boys in Redmont, Microsoft headquarter, no more messing around for trial & error since iPhone has set such a high standard for a smartphone design.
Let's hope the best they all will deliver nicer & better Palm Treo next time, Palm needs a breakthrough product to get through their dire financial situation.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Super battery is soon coming!

I'm sure you guys of gadget lovers have already read this article from Engadget:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/toshiba-launching-scib-batteries-in-march-5-min-charge-10-year/, like everybody else I can't believe it before the product is actually released to manufacturers and when we can try it out ourselves. Hopefully those big boys at Toshiba pace up the release date, they have been promoting the battery (called SCiB) for it's heat resistance strenght, check out the link for latest news.
But to imagine that kind of battery as the power source of your smartphone is so unbelievable, must be very handy for those who have no time to be glued to their desks and must run to the field every now and then. Just plug once for 5 minutes to your smatphone's power plug, then you'll set to go mobile again.
Imagine what things you can do with your Treo if it could stay on for so long? Hope Palm engineers pick this one up for the next Treo's standard accessories (fingers crossed).

My Treo 750v saves days without cable internet connection!


It has been three days now since the cable internet at my place not performing well, sometimes it goes flat and loss any connection at all. So lucky I has Treo 750v, looks like I bought it right on time. Now I use it for almost everything my laptop do like check emails, RSS news, blogging, find informations on the net, play musics, etc. Best of all is I can do all of them every time I want, and entertain me while I'm on the line waiting for a queue or an appoinment. I wanted to use my Treo 750v to download BitTorrent, but that will drain the battery faster then I'll have to charge it and leave it on the desk. Later I feels that opening a mobile websites are more faster and take less data bytes than Now I felt like don't have much need to use my laptop & iPod anymore, everything can be done by Treo. Hope y'all have a great mid-week (it's Wednesday here, one of most boring day of a week)!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Take your IE Mobile to the next level!

It's undeniable the IE Mobile that comes with WinMob 6 is not the best web browser out there in the market, critics & analysts have rated IE Mobile and their verdict is to put it at the bottom from the web browser power list (well, not all of them put it at the most bottom). Of course as a modern gadget lover, it's very healthy to question the truth of those reviews and found out by yourself.
After spending almost more than a week with my Treo 750v, and surfed the web with standard IE Mobile; I must say it isn't that bad. Sure, if you used to Palm Blazer or Opera Mobile; IE Mobile is actually slower compared to them. The one I really like is it feels just like it's brethren IE desktop, you can fill in the field without opening a new window and you can explore the drop down menu at current web site you're visiting.
Still, we all are amazed how those smart guys at Redmond, Microsoft's headquarter, don't make IE Mobile as lethal as it's many competitors out there. So here we are trying to find add-ons & plugins for IE Mobile... that if you wish to keep on using it for web surfing.
I found ReenSoft product just for that, called PIEPlus. Overall PIEPlus is a complete add-ons for your standard IE Mobile, there are so many features that it feels almost like the MS newest IE 7 we use in desktop.
The multi tab is pretty fast and simple to use, and I finally find the 'Save picture as' & 'Save as' features; felt like my hands are tied without those features in standard IE Mobile. Another feature that I really like and I believe will be very useful is the point & drag screen, very handy when you wish to quickly scroll up and down the IE screen. There are so many other features that I can't mention them all one by one, but you can find out about them at their site.
Again Treo 750 small screen resolution has become another obstacle to experience maximum internet mobility, the 240x240 pixels screen feels too small and crowded to display multi tab IE.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Google delayed their IMAP service for WinMob


Looks like Gmail's IMAP service still has a very long way to go along with WinMob 6, the error of HTML email not being displayed or downloaded correctly is still the main issue that haunts many WinMob users to go back to POP3 service again. I've tried this myself and the result is like many other WinMob users have reported.
Like you can see at this
Google forum, they all have posted many tests on what are the possible issues in Gmail latest service offering.
But on my personal oppinion, the issue that really had to be underlined is how come Google didn't test through this Gmail IMAP service on WinMob platform before they released the service for everyone to use? Seems like Google has concentrated more of their resources for making this service available for iPhone first, is this got something to do with Windows Live email service versus Gmail email service? It's been awhile now since the Gmail IMAP service rolled out, many WinMob device users are waiting for the service available as soon as possible; the same questions have been posted over and over at every Gmail & Google forums: "When will the service fixed and available for Windows Mobile?"...
Although Google has been offering free without any fees/charges for their services, still many users keep on complaining for faster and better services. Are we entitled to do so?
Of course we can use
Gmail application in our phone, but you'll need to install a JAVA VM first. Even this app is free from Google, and I must say they've done a great job too. You can use almost every basic Gmail's services with that application, feels like when you access Gmail via mobile web browser itself.
Both of those I've just mentioned,
Gmail app & Gmail mobile site, give you another additional ways to access your emails. But it's not the same as Gmail POP3 & IMAP services, because with those services your Treo 750 can get them automatically at interval time frames you had set before in Outlook Mobile. Which way will you choose then?

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Accident with Word Mobile!

I had a terrible accident today with Word Mobile, I lost the whole writing in a document after spending some time to wrote it with my Treo 750v. This happened after I mistakenly pushed the 'ok' button because I thought I've saved the document before, when I don't see the document on the Word Mobile list; I realized it's gone for good. Y'all must know how it feels to write again from the beginning, it's like forcing yourself to experience a dejavu while you're not in the mood.
I really hope Microsoft to improve Office Mobile apps to be able to ask if you want to save or discard the document when you accidentally pushed the 'ok' or exit button, just like in it's brethren desktop brother. And it would even better if they add autosave feature in every few minutes, this will really helpful specially when there's something bad happen (like the if Treo's battery went flat or an incoming phone call). So becareful you guys whenever you wish to use Office Mobile in the hurry...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Treo 750 smallish screen resolution...

Yesterday I've just tried two Spb Software House products: Pocket Plus & Mobile Shell, Spb has been known for making huge array of products for mobile phones which you must have heard of or even try one by yourself. After reading some reviews about those two apps, I decided to try them on my Treo 750v. I will not tell another reviews about those two Spb products, cuz there are already plenty of reviews about them; plus you can see & read the whole features at their website here. But I must say that I'm dissapointed to know that both of them don't work well on Treo 750, the apps worked well; it's the display of the user interface that's bad. I believe this happens because of Treo 750 small screen 240x240 pixels resolution, so some of the Today screen plugins are not displayed correctly. And because of the small resolution too, that the Today screen of WinMob 6 looks very crowded. Can't really blame Spb Software House for this, most of today Pocket PC device manufacturers are already making 320x320 pixels resolution as their standard screen. When I saw my friend using the HTC Touch with Spb Mobile Shell, I'm quite envy him for it's large display that looks so spacious; seems you can add so many additional items/icons you want into Today screen. Come on Palm, please make bigger screen for the next Treo!

Friday, December 7, 2007

A stylish companion for my Treo

I found a very interesting wallet today at a store that spesialize in selling unique items, the manufacturer is Troika from Germany.
This wallet is quite magical (even the clerk told me this is it's nickname), because it can be fliped to both side at a time and each side will show different stripe rubber inside the wallet. The one I'm holding there at the picture is called "red pepper", referring to it's combination colour. At one side of it's front, there are two slots available for your credit & business card. This 'magic-wallet' came with a steel clip for keeping your precious money intact to it, although I'll say it only serves as decoration.
Now you can show off to your friends and buddies, or simply put it on the coffee table besides your Treo while sipping a cappuccino; you'll look cool & stylish. Hey, there are two girls looking at me when they saw the Troika wallet (and the Treo of course), gotta finish my post now...

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

NewsBreak feeds your news appetite!

Yesterday I've tried a freeware application for getting RSS News feeds which unfortunately besides the great user interface & it's advanced today plugin options; the pRSSreader doesn't run well on WinMob 6 (details are on previous post).
So I kept on looking for another good application to retrieve RSS news feeds, I found out that Ilium Software's NewsBreak v2.1 is really-really good. NewsBreak have the user-friendly interface and easy to use options so even a novice user won't have trouble at all, plus it can show every news page perfectly on Treo 750's 240x240 pixels screen resolution. After few days of using NewsBreak, I don't experience any errors with WinMobile 6 OS; it's stable and quite fast. I enjoyed my news at local coffee shop today, as the place is not crowded & quiet so I sunked myelf with my Treo.
If just Ilium Software can add more options for NewsBreaks' today plugin, because sometimes I wish to know what are new RSS news available without opening the app.
(posted via my Treo 750v)

Monday, December 3, 2007

pRSSreader errors

Reading RSS feed news can be more addicting than we could ever thought, that include me for instance; at first I just wanted to know news from a certain website I often visited. But after I experienced on how fast and easy it is to get the latest news from many websites at once with a RSS feed news application, I often check my Treo 750v for news. It's almost like every 30-45 minutes, I turned on the screen to check them.
A good freeware application to get RSS feed news is pRSSreader from David Andrs, the latest version already support QVGA screen; it's a real pitty that Treo 750v doesn't have it.
I must say that pRSSreader has a very clean interface and easy to use with many options available for you to choose, specially the Today Plugin options are really something cool to try if you're bored with the same display of RSS feed news. But it seemed there is still big error problem lurking inside pRSSreader, I experienced blank Site Manager after a while of use; even if I re-entered the RSS feeds this blank error will still happened. Maybe this got to do with the Windows Mobile 6 upgrade? Because probably the pRSSreader only support WinMob 5, that's why I also have problem when I uninstall it from the Remove Programs menu. WinMob 6 said that the pRSSreader can't be removed and asked me if I want to remove it from the list, even if I pressed the Yes button; pRSSreader was still exist and can be ran normally.
I tried to emailed David Andrs, but seemed the email address is not valid; always bounced back to my email inbox.
It's a real pitty, pRSSreader would be one of the most rated and everyone favourite if there are no errors like I mentioned above...

Saturday, December 1, 2007

My very first Treo!

When my smartphones (Nokia & Sony Ericsson) got broken a month ago, I started to think about having a PDA based phone instead. While finding some informations on the web, when I saw Palm Treo(s) I know I had to try to use one of those. The only problem at that time was that I don't know which one should I choose: Palm OS or Windows Mobile (WinMob)? I'm quite surprised to know that there are many reviews for Palm OS applications, compared to reviews for WinMob apps. It's easier to find informations for Palm OS apps, it's almost like there is no ending new apps for it every day. There are two product from Palm: Treo 680 (Palm OS) and Treo 750 (WinMob), so how do I decide? I kept thinking about this for two days until I stumble upon a blog that tell a story on how the user had to hard-reset his Treo(s). He re-installed 22 apps into his Treo 680, while he only needed 9 apps for Treo 750. This little tale means that Treo 750 with WinMob has all the necessary things I'll need to start using it right away.
So three days ago I purchased a Treo 750v with WinMob 5 in it, I had to upgrade the WinMob into version 6 by downloading the updater at Palm Indonesia Support page. This WinMob 6 is at v2.18-VFE, although Palm at this time has already issued an official v2.23 of WinMob 6. After the installation, I rush to the nearest Starbucks coffee shop to get to know my Treo 750v. I managed to try out the camera to capture the coffee cup I drank there ;-) The picture quality is not bad at 1.3 Megapixels, but I'm sure it suffice me for now.
After I got a 3G network settings right, I immediately fire up the IE Mobile to surf the net and start blogging. But seemed that IE Mobile can't open quite right every blog website I visited, for instance I can't edit the message post and do things like in normal IE laptop/computer.
I'm a little disappointed, because I would really like to have a great mobile experience once I got my first Treo. But I guess I'll look around to do this later...
My first impression on Treo 750v is very good, it has an elegant looks with it's silver lining along the screen; in contrast colour with it's dark-blue body colour. And it's soft paint body finish feels very good in my palm, it doesn't feel like going to slip out but instead stays firm.
The QWERTY keyboard's buttons are too smal at first use, I'll have to get accustomed to them since I love the way Treo 750v retrieve my emails (Hotmail & Gmail) and I can write long SMS with it too. Sound quality is alright, the speaker is loud although not in good quality if you play it at maximum level.
That's it for now, 'cause I'm still going to play a little bit more with my new Treo 750v.
Have a good day y'all.