iPod Touch used for taking orders in a seafood restaurant

Like Sammy who's currently in the big city of New York, I am also in the big city of my own country: Jakarta. Just arrived yesterday for running a small errand and having a(nother) week off before a crazy month full of works ahead, for the next week I'll be having the busiest month of the whole year at work. A very good reason to have a week off for myself, don't you think? *wink*

So here's what happened: Me, my big sister and her husband went to this new seafood restaurant near their home. It's a new establishment, everything is new and shiny including the tables and the chairs, along with the awkard new trainees who were serving us. But what really attracked me right away was not how yellow the color of the waitress' teeth (yes, I took notice of the small thing like that), it was the shiny iPod Touch hanging on her neck.

Soon enough after we sat down on the un-comfortable chairs, the waitress immediately held the iPod Touch and began playing with it as if she was browsing the music in it. Apparently, the waitress was preparing a list of order for our dinner, she kept flicking the iPod Touch while she asked on who's name the order should be. I couldn't hold on my curiosity no more, so I deliberately stood up so I can have a clear look on the iPod's screen.

And what do you know? The restaurant has installed a special app inside each and every iPod Touch carried by the waitresses, for taking orders of the customers with it. Neat. The app is very simple,seemed to work and look like the mobile Safari. It shows many lists of menu available in small fonts, making the waitress to zoom in/out using the pinching finger gesture feature. After we finished ordering, the waitress pressed a print button and our order is quickly printed out with a small printer nearby the counter. Again, pretty neat and impressive. WiFi plays a great deal in transferring data across the crowded room, both for mobility and ease of use.

I tried to take a picture with my Trēo™ 750v, but unfortunately the manager politely asked me not to. Perhaps they are affraid competitors will try to steal the ideas, or the designs...

When I was paying for the dinner at the cashier, I asked the owner on why he uses a cutting edge device like iPod Touch for his restaurant, and he told me that way he managed to cut off half of the hassle of having to write down the orders again to the kitchen. That does make sense, and if I may say that method is working. Customers were pouring into the restaurant like rain, there were no long waiting to order the food, except of course waiting for the food to be served; it's a proof that the diners are pleased with the quick service.

But here's the thing that still bothers me even until now after we left the restaurant: is it profitable enough to use iPod Touch for a restaurant that offers foods priced below average like that one? You see, that seafood restaurant is offering foods priced below the average price of other restaurants in order to attract customers. It's not a fancy restaurant that charged high price, heck there's even no service fee included in the bill (it's supposed to be a mandatory in big cities). The price of the food is indeed quite cheap, comparing to the other restaurants in the capital city.

While the iPod Touch itself is roughly priced around US$315 in here, and if I'm right on the head count of the waitresses in the restaurant; there were about 10-12 of them who carried iPod Touch around their neck. It can be considered a big investment for a start up business which hasn't yet have a constant customers flow... Have in mind though, using traditional method: paper & pen is by far cheaper than a cutting edge device like the iPod Touch. And you have to think about a unit replacement whenever one gets broken, or worst get stolen. Because in real life, business is all about profit: more income and less spending.

Does the use of iPod Touch more favorable (if not, more profitable) than the price to afford it?
Have you ever see similar use of iPod Touch, or even iPhone, for business use? If yes, then please don't be shy to share the story with us.
Have a great weekend y'all!

Days of relieve with help from my Trēo

Hey PalmAddicts, how's it hangin'?
It's only been a while since my last post, and it already feels like for a very long time.
I've been given more responsibilities at work, thus I now have less time for my own personal leisure time; blogging for PalmAddict. It has been a crazy weekend, with a close relative's wedding to piling works, I've caught a cold in between of the time. Thank goodness they all worked out by themselves...

But during those hectic moments, I found how valuable my trusty Trēo™ is. Sure, my Trēo™ 750v is an aged product compared to iPhone or BlackBerry Bold, but that aging smartphone still work fine for me and it does what I know it's capable of. Ohkay, I admit there's this one time where I must do a soft reset, but other than that the Trēo™ never dissappoint me.

The temptation to replace my old Trēo™ has crossed so many times in my mind, but at the end of the day I hold it in my hand and while I'm trying to remember what I've done with it the whole day, I always question back to myself on why I should replace a fine working device I love so much with something else.

Listening back to the old songs of Michael Jackson with my Trēo™ when the King of Pop died...
Took precious and important pictures with my Trēo™, sent them with email & MMS...
Make calls, reject calls, make missed calls, make prank calls and other usual phone stuffs...
Wrote funny, sarcastic and few love SMS with my Trēo™...

It's inevitable to replace my aging Trēo™, it's only a matter of time I guess... But until that time comes, I'll keep on making the most of it while it lasts. Sometimes I wonder, and I'm pretty sure most of you have too, how we are if we don't have a smartphone in our life today..?

PalmAddict marks a decade of dedication & friendship

Oh, woops... here I go again. While everyone has congratulate PalmAddict on its 10 years birthday, here I am late as usual to pen down my own congratulation for PalmAddict. I intended to do this since two days ago, but I was so busy and the workloads prevented me to post even a tiny-bitsy thought.

But before I get to that, I just want to say exactly the same of what Sammy has also come to realized when on May 25th, 2009 our beloved PalmAddict weblog turns 10 years old: "...wow cannot believe I am using the word 'decade' to mark my site."

I know I was not there when PalmAddict first established, nor when PalmAddict grew for the past years after its birth, because I only joined PalmAddict last year. But even without witnessing it, to mark a website or a weblog for a decade long is remarkably awesome! For any kind of establishments, a decade means you'll have to have a large amount of dedication to make it this far. To think of PalmAddict has been always fueled by users' thoughts and contributions, it is so awe-inspiring to know you're not alone out there, and there are a lot of fellow Palm and mobile users who feel the same way we do about the brand which has pioneered the PDA road into our digital life.

Because of that, there's no site or blog like PalmAddict. And to tops it all, in my personal humble oppinion, it is the great atmoshepere at PalmAddict that makes it to become such a heart-warming community for me to call as 'home'. Where everyday, every hours and every minutes, I'll come here whenever I can to check what's new and to see familiar faces (I mean names... ~LOL~). In this vast world of internet, I've marked PalmAddict as my 'virtual home' and I'm sure many of you do the same whether you've realized it or not.

In this very special moment, I believe it's the most appropriate time to thank you all of you: readers, associate writers & editors, who have made PalmAddict what it is now. It's because of you, PalmAddict exist and stay strong even in these harshest times. And of course, we all can't thank you enough to Sammy for all he has done to PalmAddict. He is the rarest kind of fellow you can find in this short life of ours, and I've learned a ton from him ever since I joined this one-of-a-kind community.

But the biggest treasure I found in PalmAddict is not those lavish gifts that Sammy love to throw so often, like the PalmAddict 10 year birthday throwaway, it's not that really. But it's a chance of a lifetime to let yourself be heard in a big community like PalmAddict, to be a part of it, and to learn lots of new things from others whom you can call as 'friends'. For me, it's really an honor to be allowed to contribute for PalmAddict. But the real shiny jewel I've received from you and which I'll always keep close to my bosom; is what I'm proud to call as: 'friendship'. Life is short, and to have crossed path with you, and to be allowed to call Sammy and most of you as 'good friends' is every man's riches to die for.

Happy birthday PalmAddict!!! All of the best wishes for another decade to come, where hopefully we're all can say this together out loud: "Whoops... here we go again!" ;-)

Counting down (13 days left) to Palm Prē launch: Palm & Kris Allen, the American Idol 2009 winner

A little off topic; last night I just got the chance to watch the final episodes of American Idol season 2009. The final match between the two last contestants: Adam Lambert & Kris Allen, and the crowning of the winner. I know I'm late to watch the shows and I already knew who the winner is from the internet, but that's because I was so busy for the last weeks.

But wait, what this got to do with Palm? Why do I start blabbering about a singing competition in here? So if you could just bear with me for awhile...

First of all, I usually don't give much of attention about American Idol (AI). I don't even know who wins and at what season after Ruben Studdard, the winner of AI season two. Yes I know, you must be sayin' how lame I am. I used to only watch the auditions to see the funny people so desperately trying to sing a song, and think they're THAT good. And I also used to stop watching it when the contest starts moving to the big stage.

But this year's season, it caught my attention especially when the 'underdog' contestant Kris Allen sung Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine" with such amazing and fresh composition that no one have ever heard, or in this case; no one have expected that from him. Kris continued to surprise everyone when he changed Kanye West's "Heartless" song into an energetic coffee house jam with his guitar, all of a sudden he turned from an 'underdog' into a 'dark horse' in the competition. Kris' uncanny ability to made every chosen songs into his own version, has helped his modest yet charming personality to win more votes than the favorable contestant Adam.

No one remembered or recognized Kris from the start of the show, the AI producers didn't even bothered to show Kris until he reached the semi-finals. In contrast to the other contestant, Adam who received plenty of attention both from the judges and fans, including from the producers. Adam often overly publicized and given better stage effects like special lighting, stage smoke, etc. than Kris. And on the finale the judges literally handed the crown to Adam, while they tried to comfort Kris by saying he should be proud to make it this far. Everybody, including Kris himself was so sure that Adam will become the winner of this year's AI.

When the results announced, everyone's jaw drops and eyes were wide open. Kris was speechless and said this when Ryan Seacrest the show host asked him how he feels: "It feels good, man, but Adam deserves this." Too bad they didn't show Adam's reaction at that moment...*

This is where I feel the resemblance of Palm's situation right now with what happened to Kris Allen, Palm had been ridiculed so many times before the Prē introduced. And with new features of the Prē spilled out in almost monthly to weekly basis, everyone are beginning to see how good actually is the Prē. The once 'underdog' company now turns into a 'dark horse' to be reckon with by every other competitors in the market right now.

As Kris has been crowned as the winner and is now doing his victory laps at his home town (and presumably at his room too ~LOL~), Palm is yet to receive the same situation, not at least after the Prē released on June 6 next month. That is, if the fabled webOS™ is as good as we've seen it so far.

And even though Palm will do its own victory dance after the Prē becomes a success, Palm will still face a tough time ahead when Apple is also rumored to introduce a new iPhone just two days after the Prē launched...

* If you still want to read more about Kris Allen and American Idol 2009, then visit Alan Sepinwall's excellent article at NJ.com. And whilst you're there, perhaps you'll want to pen down your own oppinion at the article's comment section which has reached 281 comments as I write this blog. ;-p

They can’t have it all, but we can…

This isn’t an ‘idiot’ guide to the universe of mobile phones / smartphones, this isn’t even a deliberate discussion in an attempt to categorized myself or any of you who love shiny new gadgets. Because being a geek who crave for new technologies each day, I found myself scraping the latest news on the net every minutes looking for the ultimate mobile device that I believe will suit the best of my needs. So do I get what I’m seeking for? Err… not at all, in fact I haven’t made the purchase even as I write this blog.

Is it because I haven’t found one? Nope. Is it because there isn’t such a mobile device for me? Nope. The problem is, because I have too much information on the latest technologies to come so I decided to postpone the purchase. Is it bad? In my own terms, it’s not such a bad idea. But not according to some people I know, who don’t care much of what new models or technologies to come out soon, but rather make a purchase because they need it right now.

For the last three months, I’ve been asked several times by relatives and friends about mobile technologies, particularly technologies in smartphones. Ever since the iPhone 3G is officially launched here not so long ago, it has captivated many mobile users and challenge the growing popularity of BlackBerry. The BlackBerry has become very popular here and can be seen being used by almost everyone, not just business men but also housewives and teens as well. There are many times where people are mistakenly recognized my Treo as a BlackBerry, and I always gladly enlighten them about Palm brand.

Basically mobile users here are torn into four choices of mobile platforms: Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry & iPhone. It’s plain to see the degrading dominance of Nokia smartphones with its Symbian operating system, lots of Communicator (E90) users are migrating to either BlackBerry Bold or Javelin. Windows Mobile is still keeping its presence known through HTC, LG and Samsung products. While the latest and newest comer; the iPhone is quickly becoming a niche mobile device to own by a certain level of consumers*.

Before the latter mobile platforms entered here, Nokia was the most favorable choice and followed by Sony Ericsson. Things were easier back then with fewer options, consumers were not burden with too much diversity across multiple platforms, which now bewildered those who don’t have enough knowledge of the differences between each mobile platform. Simple and basic questions are often thrown at me by close friends and relatives when they’re asking which smartphone is the right one for them, and upon giving them the answers I always opt for the more fundamental reasons on why this or that smartphone is the preferable choice for them, rather than trying to explain every technical details on each device.

Smart vs. dumb

This is the foremost question I asked first time whenever someone asked me to help them pick a smartphone; do you really need a smartphone and make use of its features or you just need a phone to do the usual stuffs (calls & SMS)? Because the reason is quite simple really, no matter how smart and powerful a smartphone is; there’ll be a time where it crashes or freezes after a heavy use. This is where a ‘just-a-phone’ (aka. a ‘dumb-phone’) will triumph over smartphone, it’ll do what it does best without fail when you needed it the most.

Touch vs. press

It’s an emerging old technology which is now becoming a common feature in smartphone, Palm already uses touchscreen in its Trēo line-ups since the first iteration. But users sometime must choose between a device with just the touchscreen or just the QWERTY keyboard, like in the case of choosing between BlackBerry Bold and Apple iPhone. For some people, they like better the feeling of tactile feedback from physical buttons than touchscreen but then people are beginning to adapt with the on-screen keyboard nowadays, so it boils down to personal liking and preference.

Although users do have a choice of having the best of both worlds with Windows Mobile smartphones which mostly feature both touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard in one package, but then comes the next question: do you really need them both? Because to have both means you’ll be paying more, so unless you’re going to use them then you’re just wasting money. If money is not your concern, then you might consider the extra weight of having both technologies in one device.

Simple fun vs. extra fun

I was going to say “simple to use” instead of “simple fun”, but we’re talking about smartphone here, meaning there’s nothing simple to use anymore, smartphones are designed to be capable of doing multitasks so no matter how easy one platform is made there’s always someone out there who can’t use it perfectly. Smartphone itself naturally is prepared for business use, the manufacturers only add a bit of apps inside to make it more fun to use.

There’s Media Player in Windows Mobile, BlackBerry also has its own media player, but Nokia 5800 Xpress Music and iPhone are more entertainment oriented device than the first two mentioned mobile platforms. Sure, users can install 3rd party apps into each of those mobile platforms but that somehow shows what the device can really do and not capable of. So it’s important to set your mind on what is the purpose of buying a smartphone for.

Ease of mind vs. headache

Now this one is very important, especially for them who don’t want to trouble themselves with technical details on how to migrate from one mobile platform to another. It’s one of the most frequent questions asked: how do I transfer my old phonebook to my new smartphone?

Each smartphone with its unique platform is equipped with computer software to manage files and phonebook from your desktop computer or laptop, because of each platform’s distinctiveness, contributes a small problem which can cause a painful headache for average users: contact sync. The contacts in phonebook is essentially the most important information in a smartphone, and by migrating from different mobile platforms means one will have to find a solution to transfer the contacts into different format.

There are some outstanding 3rd party softwares out there which allow users to transfer contacts without much trouble between mobile platforms and desktop/laptop operating systems, but you’ll have to fork out extra cash to migrate into new mobile platform of your choice. This usually discourage the not-so-well informed users to get a better smartphone, which in the end these kinda users will pick an easier path by upgrading to the same mobile platform but with better hardware, this way there’ll be no hassle on transferring the contacts.

No smartphone have it all… (yet)

Every mobile manufacturers try to put more and more features into their products, the competition have brought a positive outcome for consumers and end users, but at the same time left us with lesser options to’ jump-ship’ by presenting new features that the competitors don’t have.

They say you can’t have it all, but can’t we? Can’t we wait until they finished making the perfect smartphone? Like RIM finally fix the problems in its first fully touchscreen smartphone with Storm 2, or Apple at last puts in the missing ingredients into iPhone OS 3.0, or how about if Palm really nail it all down with its most awaited smartphone: the Prē? Can we have it all then?

Last thought

Many wise consultants say the key to decide when is the right time to buy, is not by waiting for the latest technologies to arrive, but by asking do you need it right now or not. That’s one logical thinking to rationalize our urge to have the latest technologies which only God (and the manufacturers) know when they’ll come out, but what if you know? Or better yet how about if you have the information on when is the exact date those new technologies will come out, will you make a purchase now or wait?

Like for an instance; I know the iPhone OS 3.0 software is coming later in June, and there’s a high possibility that Apple will also introduce a refreshed iPhone hardware along with the software update in WWDC ’09. So I much prefer wait for the new iPhone, if it does come out, rather than buy it now and own a device that’s no matter how cool it is but will become obsolete in just less than a month…

But hey, that’s just me speaking. I’m pretty sure you have a different perspective on deciding the best time to have a smartphone with the best and most complete features, good luck! ;-)

* Editor’s note: these facts are not a survey or study, only my personal watch on the current trend market of smartphone use in general at my home country; Indonesia.

Put on a little shy smile today...

Where's the moment we needed the most?
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost,
they tell me your blue skies fade to grey,
they tell me your passion's gone away,
and I don't need to carryin' on...

'Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down.
You sing a sad song just to turn it around,
you say you don't know, you tell me don't lie.
You work on a smile and you go for a ride.

The clock is showing 09:03AM in the morning as I write this post, it is a brilliant morning full of warm bright light that shines through the window. Accompanied with a hot cup of coffee placed on the left side of my old computer, played random songs with my Trēo on the right, I was trying my usual ritual to get myself out of this cramped office of mine with helps of internet and a bit of imagination...

Suddenly the magic came, the Trēo is playing the 'Bad day' song by Daniel Powter, and the 17" ol' CRT monitor is showing this amazing picture with a gorgeous girl smiling shyly. It feels like I was taken into an autumn garden, and there's a beautiful girl shyly smiles like she's telling me everything is going to be okay. I paused for a second, and a shy smile cracked out on my lips out of the blue. I knew right away, I'll have a wonderful morning today.

So my fellow PalmAddicts, try on playing some songs on your Trēo or Cēntro, because who knows it'll picked the right song for you this morning and brighten up the day for you. If there's something I learned from my current misfortunes not long ago, is that we should think of possitive and bright thoughts no matter what to get through each day... Oh, and of course one small detail but the utmost importance: put on a smile no matter how shy it is. ;-)

Have a great and wonderful day y'all!

* above picture features Marta Bułka, courtesy of Krzysiek Nowakowski (Flickr link).

The unexpected road

You know what people used to say: “Men can make plans and even try to execute them in any way possible, but the outcome is not theirs to decide…”

I for one, have experienced just that. I went to the capital city to take care some errands and personal things, but unfortunately took longer than I anticipated. During my stay here I barely have access to the internet since I don’t have a laptop anymore, but thank goodness my Trēo™ 750v once again proves to be more useful than I can think of.

I don’t have to worry to be left behind on keeping up with the latest news from the tech world with the help of 3rd party app installed in the Trēo™, although it’s pretty hard to get all of the usual news and read them altogether on the Trēo’s™ squarish small screen. And even though Pocket IE is an awful mobile web browser (compared to the iPhone’s or any other mobile web browsers), I still managed to open up a friendly blog for mobile web browser with it and read the whole article I wanted.

The use of text messaging and calls are increasing a lot because I’m out of town, the Trēo’s™ excellent physical QWERTY keyboard makes composing text message a pleasure to do. And the built-in chat view of Trēo’s™ text message feature very helpful when receiving up to 3-5 messages at around the same time, I can easily traces back the conversation without trying too hard to look for the matching one; I never had troubles of replying like sent it to the wrong recipient.

It may took me awhile, but through those unexpected bumpy road I had to walk on, I found out and realized the nicest little things in life which I should have appreciate before. Never say never, or like a wise saying that goes something like this: “Better late than never…” For me, it takes a tough break to see everything more clearly.

Yes, life can be full of surprises we fail to predict. But one thing for sure: my Trēo™ is still dependable as I expected it should be. ;-)

[blogged with my Treo 750v]

Trēo is my entertainer on the journey

I'm going on the road again tomorrow, meaning I'll be spending hours of long and most of all a boring journey to the capital city. Can't really complain since running errands is one of many things we must do every now and then in our life, besides I think I can use a change of scenery for once in awhile.

This time I'll be riding a train instead of car, so I believe it'll be a pleasant trip without so much distractions from bad road. There's no better way to spend all of those dreadful lonely hours on the train than with my Trēo™, I've loaded its memory card with some movies to keep me occupied. Not to be forgotten are the latest tv series that I haven't been able to catch up yet lately because of work.

Of course, I hand-picked as many songs as I can get from my old collections and put them also into the Trēo™. I'll get acquainted with them again whenever I feel going to be bored to death while on the train. ;-p

Overall, my Trēo™ 750v will be my entertainer on the journey. An all in one device, my Swiss-army knife strapped on my belt. My palm-sized netbook on the go, a perfect replacement for the absent of a personal laptop that I never able to fill in. Can't leave home without my Trēo™, absolutely never.

So my friends, I'll see you again next weekend, hopefully. Until then, have a great weekend y'all! ;-D

My Trēo is my palm-sized netbook

It’s been a rough week for me, no scratch that, weeks. I need to handle few personal things, but obviously took a lot of my time and energy than I’ve anticipated. I’m stuck somewhere in the middle right now, and don’t know exactly where I should be heading to…

Anyway, since I don’t have a laptop or a netbook, I’ve always rely on my Trēo™ 750v to access the internet and get the latest news (RSS feeds) whenever I’m out of town. One of the good things to carry smartphone like Palm Trēo™ is its ability to search the internet anytime anywhere, open a website of the company which I’m looking for, and easily get the phone numbers.

There’s one time where I wanted to go to a certain store when I was in the capital city but not sure if the items I was looking for are already available or not, I was already on route in my car and going back to get the business card was only a waste of time. So I pulled my Trēo™, launched the Pocket IE and searched for the store’s website, just in few minutes I got the phone numbers. Thank goodness I’ve called first, because the items were indeed have not arrived yet. This may seems trivial, but thanks to my Trēo™ I was saved from hours of terrible traffic jam that’s often happen in the capital city.

Unlike a laptop or a netbook, I can use my Trēo™ however I want. I can use it while I'm standing, while walking, while behind the wheel, while stroll the mall, while sipping a cup of coffee at Starbucks, or even while running... maybe I won't be able to do the latter, but you got the idea. ;-)

And when I finally got back to my small and remote hometown, my old computer’s HDD suddenly refused to run as usual, or in another word: broken. It shows something worse than the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death, …yes I’m a PC ;-p), it shows: Disk Error message which is worse because it’s a hardware problem. So for few days while waiting for a new HDD, I was cut off from the wonderland called internet, and for a geek like me those days felt like I was stranded on an island in the middle of an ocean.

Once again my Trēo™ proves itself to be a life saver, it keeps me updated with the help of RSS aggregator app and allows me to send/receive emails with the built-in feature. Doing all of that are a breeze with my Trēo™, the only drawback is I have to stare at its small screen. Such a contrast compared to the 19” CRT monitor (yes, I still own a CRT! ~LOL~) of my old computer.

Lots of friends and relatives are mocking my aging and bulky Trēo™, but no matter what they say about it, I find it to be very reliable and sturdy. And like what May C. have said before in her post at PalmAddict; “perhaps the old age is getting to me”, and that’s perhaps why I’m used to what is working for me and I’m loving it. ;-D

Speaking of May C., I was lucky enough to be given a skin case for my Trēo™ from a contest she held at her weblog. I’m doing a quick review of it, it’s not a new product and I’m sure others have knew about it too, but if you’re interested you can check it out at this post.

Heart break Trēo

Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry

You don't know how lovely you are

I had to find you

Tell you I need you

Tell you I've set you apart

Tell me your secrets

And ask me your questions

Oh, let's go back to the start

Running in circles

Coming up tails

Heads on the science apart

Somehow that Coldplay's the Scientiest song lyric always remind me of someone, the power of words written deep into heart, and so I wrote them with my Trēo. Oh so easy to say, but so hard to live with after.

Explaining, pleading, persuading, pushing... Shout them out loud from my heart.

Seven to ten text messages composed and sent at once for a go, I never thought of using my Trēo for such task. Oh so easy to made my thumbs dance on the keyboard, but so hard to make them stop afterward.

I know nobody said it was easy, now I'm guessing if I've asked questions of science. Days pass by, still no progress, but haunt me still. Oh just tell me, so these all stop...

The Copper/Orange color allure

I always believe in the so called "destiny"...

When I first saw Palm Trēo (the 680 & 750), I knew immediately I've fallen in love. I couldn't take my eyes out of it, I got to have it; that's what I said to myself.

Because I have not know Palm OS the whole of my life, and because there's only the grey-colored Trēo 680 available here in my little country, I chose the Trēo 750v because I'm more familiar with Windows OS.

But just as Palm has announced that there will be no more new Palm OS from now on, I'm still in out of town and I was contacted by the local mobile phone store I used to visit at the capital city that there's a rare Trēo 680 Copper available, it is second-hand but still in good shape and comes with tempting price. At first I didn't give much thought about it, but last weekend I was meeting with friends near the store location and without realizing it my feet took me there. So I said to myself, what the heck I'll just take a quick look at the orange-colored Trēo 680, go home and forget about it in no time.

Boy, I was so wrong. I simply fascinated by it, maybe it because of the spotlight or the lighting of the store, but that second-hand Trēo looks amazing. I'm drawn to it, and can't stop thinking about it...

Too bad the store won't allow me to take a picture of the second-hand Trēo 680 Copper, but I suppose the great picture above from 'nicktcu' (Flickr link) describes everything I'm trying to say. ;-)

Ever since I was a kid, I rarely get the nicest things in life. I rarely get a brand-new gadget or device, I usually received and bought second-hands, it's very rare for me to buy new gadgets. I always sticks to what I own or given, and especially to what I'm familiar with. Like my current one-year-old fixed Treo 750v, I adore it and love to use it everyday. What can I say? My Treo just works.

And now here's my biggest dilemma; the sharp-tounged Newsweek tech writer Dan Lyons calls Palm OS as "a go-kart build with a lawn mower engine", and with the sad announcement of no more new Palm OS in the future from Palm, should I get the Trēo 680 Copper when Palm OS has just became "obselete"...?

I need your help, I need your input. Please help me to make up my mind by posting up your comment at this thread at PalmAddict Forum, thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

Treo always keep me in touch

Like the usual routine, I have to go to the capital city for some errands and for that I had to endure long hours of travel to get there. Leaving my old desktop computer has became an easy thing to do ever since I had my Treo 750v on my side (strapped on my waist to be precise), because my Treo always keep me in touch with almost everyone and every news I need to know.

No matter where I am, either it's on the road or at the stores/offices, my Treo brings in the latest RSS news without fail. The places I've been through don't have WiFi connection at all, so I'm glad the Treo doesn't depend on WiFi for data transfer.

Treo's keyboard is very comfortable for writing long text messages (SMS) and replying emails, while I'm out of town I've been using it a lot to keep in contact with business partners & families. Everyone keep on asking me, why I can reply so quick and with long or often full spelled words, and I always tried to tell them about Treo. But after I abuse the keyboard till it was broken with so many beating of usages last year and then got it repaired, now I try to refrain as much as I can. One thing I miss most is blogging with it, I don't want to get it broken again so I stopped doing it. Perhaps I should get another one just in case...? ;-)

I'm staying at my cousin's place as usual, and since my sister's children have grown and they're now know more than ever how to use the computer, they've been dominating it for almost all the time I'm staying here. I have to battle with them first before I can use the old computer, in fact I'm sneaking in the middle of the night as I speak in order to start blogging again. ~LOL~

So please forgive me for unable to update you with the latest news about mobile world & technologies for the past weeks, I'll do my best to catch up with the limited resources I have at hand right now... Namasté y'all!

Namasté to Sammy (PalmAddict)

* Namasté is said to mean "The light in me honors the light in you." (Wikipedia)

I just want to say a quick thank you to Sammy, who allowed me to join into a great community: PalmAddict. It's been a pleasure to contribute for such a place, who everyone in here shares the same passion for mobile addiction. And it's an honor to write for PalmAddict, there has never been a 'home' like this for Palm fans.

And just in case you haven't heard of Sammy's latest presentation: the Sammy's Podcast, then hit the link to hear him out.

For you who have missed PalmAddict Official Podcast #145 by Tyler Faux, then don't forget to get it here. Or if you prefer, you can download the podcast directly to your Palm devices as MP3 and hear it right away, then get it through this link.

There's also another great review from May C. at PalmDiscovery for you who are looking for Bluetooth headset, because this one from Nokia is very unique. Find out why May started the review by saying: "At first glance, the Nokia BH-701 bluetooth headset seemed quite odd."

Namasté too to y'all! ;-D

* Picture above is courtesy of Talkingsun (Flikr).

Colourful sidewalks to cheer up your day

It's been awhile since I seen a nice picture to cheer me up for today, and when I stumbled upon this picture, I can't help to share it with you guys. Hope it'll cheer your day as well. ;-)

The photo is taken at sidewalks in New York city by Brooklyn Hilary, check out the real photo here. This photo made the cover of the June issue of LMagazine, which is available for free at most street corners in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Happy Chinese Lunar "Niu" Year 2009

Just want to say a quickie here: Happy Chinese "Niu" Year 2009 to all of you who celebrate it.

May the Ox year brings you health, prosperity, happiness, and many success in 2009! And hopefully to PalmAddict too. ;-)

* Note: "Niu" is a Chinese word (pinyin) which means an ox in English, this year the Chinese are writing it this way because it almost sound the same when pronounced.

Bye 2008... Hello 2009!

I've just got home from a big family gathering with my cousins, lots of 'em. What matters most is not the foods, the drinks, and the parties; but being together with someone familiar to share the smile, hope, and simply saying "happy new year" to someone close to you can give you a warm blanket to get through the new dawn of new year.

I was heading to my bed to lay my heavy head on a comfy pillow, but I then realized I haven't say it to my dear friends at PalmAddict, which I've already considered y'all as my big family in virtual world.

So I pushed myself to turn on the computer to write this, here goes: "Happy New Year 2009!" To all of you who have entered the year 2009, and for you who are about to count down the last tick of the 2008 clock.

Many thanks to Mony Love for the cute picture above, and for the great wishes on the new year (read them at the Flickr page).

The busiest Santa this year

Santa Claus has always been busy throughout the whole year because of so many letters of wishes from children around the world, yes that's mean you too, you big gadget addicts! ~LOL~

And it's obviously not easy becoming a full time Santa Claus at Himmelpfort's post office, a small village just 100 kilometers north of Berlin, Germany. Because this year there are about 256.000 letters with wishes from children of 80 countries arrived in the small village known as the home of Santa Claus because of it's name Himmelpfort (Heaven's Gate).

The picture on the left shows Santa Claus is picking up a bag full of letters, and on the right shows he's resting on bed after a busy night managing those letters.

So, kids and adults; please bear in your mind next time you sent your letter to Santa, that you should only send one short list of wish. Poor Santa... Let's give him a break next year, shall we? ;-D

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This is the time of the year where the wind feels so grippingly chilling, you're start sneezing like you're about to catch a cold. When you walk out from your house while reading email on your smartphone, you bumped lightly into a man, but he didn't give you a fast-rapping scold or stare in the eye like usual, instead he smile and give a small nod as if he's saying it's ok without a word.

You're puzzled, of course, thinking maybe you look radiantly more appealing this morning so people feel like to treat you nicer today. You walk into your regular coffee shop, still while reading tons of emails and RSS news on your smartphone, ignoring the new decorations inside the coffee shop. As you're busy composing an email, you order a coffee latte with mapple syrup on top. You draw the cash you've prepared in the pouch of your coat and quickly give it to the cashier, and wait for the receipt plus the thank you word while you scroll over a bulk of boring news faster than George Bush can duck from the shoe throwing incident. But you noticed the cute chasier stay still & silent, waiting for you to finish whatever you're doing for awhile and look her in her face. When you do, she said with a dazzling smile: "Thank you sir, and Merry Christmas!"

Then you realized, it is Christmas, today it is. After you grabbed your hot coffee and walk out the coffee shop, you finally see and feel the Christmas spirit is everywhere, the snow looks whiter and more sparkling than before, it begins to fill you up with joy and you start to smile without no apparent reason. You tuck in your smartphone back inside your coat's pocket to enjoy the wonderful white Christmas morning without any distractions of daily tech addiction, and start humming a song that starts like this: "It's beginning to look like Christmas, everywhere you go..."

That's when a woman busy text messaging with her phone bump into you lightly. She look at you like she's waiting to be mad at, and before she can speak, you smile politely and said the magic word: "Merry Christmas!" The woman gives a funny dumbfound face at first, but she quickly smile back (darn, she looks so cute when she did) and say the same magic word to you.

You both pause for few seconds while you look at each other's eyes, but as she put aside her mobile phone, she starts to walk away. You too start to turn around and put a smile knowing you've just remind someone today's Christmas morning is too bright to be missed for text messaging, but after two steps you get curious and turn your head to see. Seems like she's also walking slow and hasn't got too far away, you start to wonder if you should catch up to her pace and call her. Well, you do noticed there's no ring on her sleek fingers when she held up the phone. So...

What's next? I think I ought to let you finish the story yourself, giving the opportunity for your imaginations to run wild and free. ;-p

That's just a story I came up with this morning, where I woke up with so many joyous feelings knowing today is Christmas and start playing Christmas songs out loud with my Treo, like the wonderful cappella song "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Straight No Chaser. I've finished all of my works & errands yesterday, so I feel fairy light without no homeworks to ruin today's holiday.

I hate to keep on repeating to say this; it's a strange world we're living in. Because for this Christmas I received the most unexpected gifts right from the people I never expected before: a valuable lesson, empathy and friendship.

So that's why I wish to share what I'm feeling today with all of you my dear readers, with the lame story above. ~LOL~ I couldn't find a better word to simply say it, so I'll use my version of dull & tech-self-centric wishes to Santa below:

• May you who have Storm will receive a new software update to fix those annoying bugs,
• a white colored G1 for you who have been craving for an Android phone,
• a super cheap unlocked Android phones from China for those who don't live in T-Mobile wireless coverage area,
• a new netbook design from Sony VAIO for you who want to stand out in the netbook crowds,
• a cheap ultra-portable Dell's Adamo netbook for you who can't afford the expensive MacBook Air,
• a dual screen laptop for those who believes one screen is no longer sufficient,
• an iPhone Nano come true at Macworld 2009 for those who want smaller & more affordable iPhone 3G,
• and of course a great and wonderful "new-ness" of Nova OS for all of us: Palm loyal fans. ;-)

Merry Christmas everyone!!

1,000 posts and still going...

I didn't realize until today, when I opened my weblog dashboard and it shows that I've reached 1,000 posts till now.

That means I've been talking and ranting about mobile technology, life, and other things I've came across so far. And I wouldn't have continue doing this, if I never got any responds from you, my dear readers. ;-D

So in this little special occasion, allow me to say thank you for all of your attentions and for reading/hear what I've got to say all these time. This 1,000 post is not just for me; but also for all of you.

In the mean time, I've checked my previous posts' labels and found out that Apple and celebrities topics are dominating most of my posts. BlackBerry comes in third place, and then followed by Palm, where as Google becomes the fifth most discussed topic by me.

I've put the list of labels on the right panel for you to choose, so you can now quickly jump to see the topics that interest you most. Or for a quicker shortcut, you can easily click on the label(s) under each post you're reading.

And lastly, if you got the time, please register yourself as a follower to my weblog by clicking on the 'Follow this blog' option at the right panel, it's not that far above the list of labels. So then I can have your cute little pictures posted there. ~LOL~

Oh, and don't be shy to comment on every blog I've posted. I'll try my best to reply your comment whenever I have the chance.

Thanks guys!

Happy 1st anniversary to my Treo, me & PalmAddict!

I couldn't believe that it has been a year, since the first time I bought my Treo and began writing for PalmAddict. Time sure is fly fast... At exactly today one year ago, I wrote my first post at PalmAddict.

It all started with love at the first sight, where I saw Palm Treo picture at one of PalmAddict's posts, it was just a small-tiny picture but enough to captured my attention... and of course my heart also. Then my curiosity kicked in and the next thing I remember; I was searching for more informations about Palm Treo as much as I can.

Like many love stories that come near to the ending, where the soon to be the husband is having a last minute doubt, I was too having my doubt when I was about to purchase the Palm Treo. But thank goodness, I listened to my heart which said something like this back then: "try a Palm who knows I'll like it...", and you know what? I'm glad I did follow my heart. ;-D

And I also remember how I asked Sammy to become an Associate Writer (AW) at PalmAddict, I wrote an email to him which say something like this:

"Hi Sammy,
Allow me to introduce myself first; my name is Andy J. S. & I live in Indonesia (it's at the Asia Pacific region).
For more than a month I've been reading PalmAddict when I tried to look up for informations before I decided to purchase a Treo for the first time.
Now, there hasn't been a day for me without reading PalmAddict. I've been addicted...Just yesterday I decided to purchase Treo 750v (finally!) and rush to write this email with it.
I really wish to share my thoughts and opinions about my Treo 750v, like why I choose it instead of the 680, etc. And how I'm gonna use it for everyday use..."

And what do you know? I received one of the warmest welcomes I ever had in the blog communities that I've been to, Sammy took me under the wing of PalmAddict's big umbrella and months later he made me an Editor at this vast community. I'm addicted more than ever now... ;-p

But even though I'm an Editor now, I'm often see for myself how good and better the posts that are made by my own fellow AWs. There has never been a single day, or a week passes by without me learning a new skill or two on how to make a better post from my fellow AWs' writings.

So while we're still in the spirit of Thanks Giving, please allow me to express my gratitude first to Sammy for giving me an opportunity to write for PalmAddict, secondly to the great readers and AWs of PalmAddict; it's been an amazing one year journey together in which I can't wait to join in again for more years to come.

And lastly, many thanks to Palm for the remarkable Treo smartphone. Oh, and of course thank you to my Treo for becoming such a trusty companion when I needed it the most, and for being there to cheer me up when I'm feeling down and lonely. I can't imagine my life for the past one year without you. ;-D

I know I sound like a senile melancholy old man, heck I even kept record of my first email to Sammy. ~LOL~ But I always have a soft spot in my heart for things like this... And I'd love to hear the same stories from you guys too.

I hope y'all have a great and lovely weekend!

[blogged with my 1 year old Treo 750v]