Rohdesign Weblog: Palm

Here you'll find all posts file under the Palm category.

April 5, 2008

SOLD: Piel Frama Red Leather Tungsten E / E2 Case

Spring cleaning has begun at the Rohde house. Today I found a very nice, blazing red leather case for a Tungsten E or E2, in need of a good, loving home.

The case is very high quality, as expected from Piel Frama. It's warm red w/ tan interior and has a snap closure. I'm sure it's perfect for someone out there. :-)

Package includes the case and a matching red belt clip, shipped in the original box.

SOLD!

Photo: Flap Detail
Photo: Open View

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November 30, 2007

Square Sketchtoon Coffee Wallpapers for Palm & iPod

It seems the vertical 320 x 480px coffee sketchtoon wallpapers for the iPhone, iPod touch and Palm OS devices with vertical screens are quite popular!

Since square-formatted screens on Palms and iPods can also make use of wallpapers, I've created a new set of twelve 320 x 320px wallpapers.

Each coffee wallpaper is a 320 x 320px color JPG file, available as a free download from Flickr, for personal use.

Coffee Calendar
If you like the wallpapers, please consider picking up a Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar for yourself or a coffee-loving friend as a unique gift as a way to say thanks.

Donations
Not a calendar person? consider a PayPal donation, and I will be happy to send you a complete set of 12 JPGs as a ZIP file:

Thanks, and have a great weekend! :-)

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October 5, 2007

iPod touch: My New PDA

I've been Palm PDA-less for about a year and a half now, successfully switching to a hacked Moleskine Planner system for my personal calendar, tasks and notes.

In fact, the Moleskine has worked well in combination with my iPod nano, which provided access to my contacts in nearly unreadable 4pt text.

When the iPhone launched, I was quite interested, even though an iPhone doesn't suit my needs or budget. I was more interested in the iPhone as a mobile data device, with Safari, Mail and other features it offers.

Enter iPod touch
When Steve Jobs announced the iPod touch, my ears perked up. Now here was a device I could make use of, without a 2 year contract. It had the features I'd actually use: music and podcasts, contact info in a font I could actually read, WiFi and a mobile version of Safari, video play, and access to iCal calendars on the go.

So, this week, for my birthday I got an iPod touch, and so far I'm very impressed.

First Observations
Here are my first observations after having the touch a bit over 24 hours:

• The size and thinness are amazing, compared to the Palm devices I used to carry round. it's a little disconcerting carrying a $400 iPod with a full glass screen in my pocket, so I'm working on a case and clear screen/body protectors.
• Mobile Safari and WiFi are quite nice. I'm investigating mobile-specific sites for the iPhone and iPod touch, like PocketTweets and Mobile NY Times, picked up from Janet Tokerud's update on her iPhone. If you have sites to share, please share the links.
• I've already been able to play audio at IT Conversations, and video from Google Video, so the browser is pretty handy and flexible for my needs.
• I love the Contacts app, with super-readable text. I like that it syncs from my Address Book on the Mac. I like that I can add new contacts on the go. This was one of the most-missed feature of my Palm PDA.
• It's handy to have my work and family calendars synced from the Mac as well. We've just setup a common family calendar with iCal on our Macs, Google Calendar on the web and SpanningSync to connect everything together. Having a mobile view of our shared calendars adds a nice access point. I wish I could add events, and hope this feature is added in a future software update.
• Widescreen video is wonderful. I've moved a few videos over with iSquint and have been pleased with the results. Since my nano had no video capabilities, this is an interesting new option to explore. Now I can watch The IT Crowd wherever I want! :-)
• Audio is great, though I'm having to re-orient myself a little to to the touch way of navigating through my music and podcasts. I think it's more a matter of me adapting to the new features the touch offers.
• One thing I miss from the nano is the scroll wheel. I listen to podcasts and music when I drive, so having a physical wheel there for jumping tracks or adjusting or pausing the sound has been useful. Now I need to eyeball the iPod touch to make these changes. I've heard from friends there may be headphones or docks with this feature, so I need to do some research. If you have tips on this, let me know.
• I'm trying to secure some things to review for the iPod touch in coming months. As I get hold of those and try them, look for reviews, to help out other touch owners.
• Battery life seems OK, not extensive as my nano though. But hey, this device has a huge screen and WiFi, so I have to be realistic about my expectations coming from an iPod nano.
• It's nowhere near as featured as a Palm PDA, and doesn't have near the tools that are available on the Palm OS, However, it has the items I need it to have. Over the years I've found that the right features in a tool or device are better for me than every possible feature, especially if I never use 80% of the features offered.

After 24 hours I'm impressed. We'll see what quirks arise after a few weeks. I'l be sure to post again after a month or so and let you all know how things are going in iPod touch land. :-)

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September 4, 2007

Palm Foleo is Dead

My buddy Michael Ashby shared the news with me that the Foleo is dead:

In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts.

To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering out next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market.

Maybe the iPhone launch and success had an impact? Maybe the adrenaline rush from an impending death has imparted a wonderful focus?

I was worried about Palm and the Foleo when it launched, so I'm happy to hear this news. But apparently not everyone is happy about the decision:

I know there will be disappointed folks who were looking forward to carrying a Foleo for all their mobile computing needs. I am certainly one of them.

Dissapointment for the few people who would actually purchase an oddball sorta-kinda-laptop-handheld-thingamabob, running an odd operating system, that is.

But never fear faithful few! The Foleo is not completely dead, just sleeping! There are already dreams to revive the Foleo, running the new platform from Palm:

Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category.

I'm glad to see Palm has regained some much needed focus on their rapidly shrinking smartphone business. I hope they can shed excess distractions and come up with something new to delight their customers.

I really hope they can do it before Apple releases iPhone v2, v3, v4, v5...

Related Links
Foleo, we hardly knew ye (Michael Mace)

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June 30, 2007

iPhone Thoughts & Observations

The iPhone has landed.

Looks like a winner so far, even with its limitations and flaws. Let's be real, it's a v1.0 product so there will be limitations and flaws.

Overall, I think the iPhone is well balanced for a smartphone aimed at the mass market — I and that's important because I believe Apple isn't targeting only geeks with this device.

Personally I'm not getting an iPhone just yet, mostly because it's impractical for my lifestyle. I'm not mobile enough to make effective use of the thing, no matter how cool it is. :-)

I saw a CNet story about the iPhone's effect on Palm already:

Palm reports profit drop, expects iPhone effect

In that story (which doesn't bode well for Palm or the Treo) I had to chuckle at this quote from Palm Chief Executive Ed Colligan:

"They will have 30 days to return (iPhone) so we hope we'll benefit from that, if that happens" — Ed Colligan, Palm CEO

Riiiiiight! We'll benefit IF they return their iPhones?

That's all you've got Ed?

In the words of Jayne Cobb of Firefly, "I'm smelling a lot of IF coming off this plan!"

I think Palm is in trouble. Not that the Treo isn't good for what it is — but they were caught flat-footed. What do they have in response? Another Treo, this time in other pretty colors?

Or maybe a crippled pseudo-laptop thingamabob?

Yeah, I think Palm better get cracking quick on something revolutionary that customers will actually buy in this new iPhone influenced market, and not another re-hash of an the same-old solution from 1999.

The iPhone is not perfect, but it is re-shaping the entire wireless phone world, even if it's pushing competitors to respond to it.

iPhone Web Apps
I have a gut feeling that web-based iPhone apps are going to be huge. On par with the Palm app eco-system. Sure, the iPhone doesn't have a native API and may never have, but I think the next progression of Web 2.0 applications are bwoser apps for mobile devices (e.g. Safari).

Already we're seeing apps for the iPhone appear, like OneTrip and Quip and more are going to come. There's even iPhoney, an OS X-based app to test your iPhone apps.

Web developers and designers — this is your opportunity!

Related Links
Daring Fireball: Jon Gruber's Fist Impressions of the iPhone
iPhone User Guide (via Daring Fireball)
iPhone Dissasembled (via Daring Fireball)
The Talk Show Podcast: Dan Bejamin & Jon Gruber Talk iPhone (34 min)
Fake Steve Jobs Blog: Crack you up humor from a pseudo Steve. (Rated R language)
The Morning After - Scobelizer
Tech Ronin: First Person Report on my new iPhone
Derek Punsalan: A look at the iPhone, after all the ritz and glamor
37signals: Ta-Da List for iPhone
Geek With Laptop: Palm Pushes OS-II to 2008 (via Phil)

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May 30, 2007

Palm Foleo: Hit or Doomed Thingamabob?

Just saw today that Palm has released the Foleo, apparently that "other device category" Jeff Hawkins has been talking about for a few years now.

The Foleo (which is at this point an unreleased prototype) is a kind of pseudo sub-notebook thingamabob that enhances a Palm Treo.

Based on what scant technical info offered on the Palm site, the $499 Foleo has a 10" color screen and full-sized keyboard, which syncs via Bluetooth with a Treo for data (email, photos, files, etc.) and piggybacks off of the Treo's wireless connection for web surfing, or can do 802.11b WiFi. It's a full sized "companion" to a Treo and not much more — something like a prosthetic screen and keyboard. :-)

Some of my first questions about this device are:

• Does it operate without the Treo or other handheld? Can I do anything useful on this device without a Treo to get my net connection or to sync mail or photos?

• Who will buy this for $499? Notebooks and the iPhone are available or soon to be available for the same price. As far as I can tell, the Foleo can't stand alone — you must also have a Treo or other handheld device to make it fully useful.

My friend Hal reminded me that 3com produced a short-lived, co-dependent device called the Audrey. This stunted, home-focused thin client lasted all of 8 months before 3com pulled the plug. Is the Foleo the Audrey rehashed for a tiny niche of mobile device users?

If you already have a notebook computer, why would you need this pseudo-subnote-thingamabob? Are there really that many people who would do business travel with only a Treo and a Foleo?

I think the Foleo is going to be another short-lived niche of a niche product.

What do you think?

Michael Mace, a friend and a guy I highly respect, has weighed in on the Palm Foleo, and suggests it is a stealth mobile PC:

But I don't think the Foleo really is a "mobile companion." Back when I started to work at Palm (before the turn of the century) one of the old veterans of the company pulled me aside and passed along a little wisdom. "Michael," he told me, "Ya gotta think in terms of real estate. If you're in another device's real estate, you're competing with that device. Palm lives in your pocket; it competes with other things that go in your pocket. If you get bigger than the pocket, you're living in the briefcase, and you're competing with the notebook computer."

Foleo lives in the briefcase. It's displacing the notebook computer from your bag. I don't care what they call it, I don't care if Palm fully realizes it yet, but the fact is that Foleo's a notebook computer.

More to the point, Foleo is the most significant new consumer PC platform introduced in the US since the Macintosh. All you Linux heads who have been asking for a true consumer Linux PC, you finally got your wish.

I think if Foleo is truly a lightweight notebook that's open to developers, it has a chance. A chance. I'm still not sure if there is a place for a new device between a notebook and smartphone that feels like a stunted, limited, overpriced notebook. Feels like a 3rd wheel to me. But we'll see.

I wish Palm had spent all the time, money and effort refining the Treo or working on the next generation Treo, right now it seems to me they've squandered resources to release a device that's very 1999.

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April 6, 2007

SOLD! AlphaSmart Dana Wireless Laptop Alternative

UPDATE 2006-03-06: Well that was quick! Thanks go to Paul T., who emailed at 11:30 CST and bought the Dana Wireless package! Hard to believe it was only posted around 7 this morning. :-)

If you are interested in a Dana or Dana Wireless device, feel free to email me here, as I know a few friends who might have one or two available for sale. I can't guarantee anything, but I can certainly see what my connections have in the way of gently used Dana and Dana Wireless devices.

It's spring cleaning at Rohdesign! Since my readership includes many tech people, I wanted to offer my extra gadgets here first.

Today I'm offering my AlphaSmart Dana Wireless package for $300:

(click the image to see the detailed Flickr notes)

This versatile and unique device is a great writing tool. Even better, it has super-long battery life. I've had about 16 hours use from the Dana when WiFi is deactivated (for writing). I did an IRC chat test, with the WiFi fully active, and got about 7 hours.

The Dana Wireless can send pages to printers with a dedicated USB port for this purpose (1 of 2 USB ports), act as a keyboard on a PC or Mac and sync as any good Palm OS device can. It even has dual SD card slots, so you can have more than one SD card in use at a time.

Features include:
• Palm OS 4.1.2
• Very nice full keyboard with special action function keys
• 560x160 pixel grayscale LCD widescreen with backlight
• Long-lasting rechargeable battery (can be replaced by 3 AAs in a jam)
• WiFi 802.11b wireless
• Dual USB ports
• Dual SD card slots
• IR port

Useful, Flexible and Mobile
I've found the Dana useful for mobile email, IRC, IM chat, and especially for writing. It comes with AlphaWord, a variant of Wordsmith, that takes advantage of the wide screen and has a special "Send" function that can fire your written text via USB cable to any text editor window on your PC or Mac.

Condition & Added Items
The Dana Wireless is in great shape, as I've sparingly and lovingly used it for writing, email, chat and even a little web browsing. It comes with original CDs, power supply, USB cable, and manuals. I'm throwing in a 64MB SD card and a Wetsuit 2.0 case for easy carrying to the cafe.

Reviews of the Dana Wireless
Greg Gaub (The Gadgeteer)
Shawn Barnett (Pen Computing Magazine)
Vern Seward (Mac Observer)
Catherine Roseberry (About.com Mobile Office Technology)
Vikki Lipset (WiFiPlanet)
IT Reviews

I'm asking $300 for the Dana Wireless and all of the extra gear; retail for the Dana Wireless is $429. If you're interested, drop me a line with "Dana Wireless" in the subject line to work out the details.

I'd love to see the Dana go where it can find many years of productive use. :-)

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February 13, 2007

My long-lost PDA was Found: do I really want it back?

Well, will wonders never cease.

Today I found my lost Zire 72 in an obscure place — under the cushion of our living room chair! I was looking for my dad's lost mobile phone, which I found behind the back cushion. So, naturally, I lifted the seat cushion, and lo and behold, there was my Zire 72 in its pretty Vaja case.

I lost my Zire almost one year ago, which eventually led me to ditch electronic PDAs altogether in favor of a custom Moleskine planner I created myself.

I laughed hard when I saw the Zire sitting there dead after 11 months under a seat cushion. I don't know why we never checked there, since it's a popular place to rest things when leaving through the front door.

I charged and restored from the SD card backup within minutes and there were all of my apps, files and documents captured in early 2006. Question is: what to do with my Zire, now that my life centers around the Moleskine planner?

Care & Feeding Kicking In Quick
I was amazed how quickly I was sucked into fiddling with and and tweaking the Zire. I started considering how I might use my new-found PDA for reading blogs, e-books, the Bible, managing passwords and maybe handling my contacts.

This evening, I spent 30 minutes trying to get the Zire Syncing, then trying to sort out a Bluetooth sync connection with the PowerMac with no luck on either attempt.

Then it hit me — the discovery of my long-lost gadget carried with it a subtle demand on my time and energy to care for and feed it. I remembered the reasons why my PDA had become a burden last March — the demands of my time to charge, tune, sync, backup and generally care for it every day.

I began to recall the complexities of the applications I'd setup, and how some required manual tweaking, how if I wanted to integrate the Zire into my life again, I'd need to work out just what I'd want to use it for.

Would I need the WiFi drivers again? Syncing iSilo or AvantGo, or would I sync my contacts too? What state was the Mac sync package Missing Sync in? Where was my sync cable? On and on it goes — the list of requirements and things to think about seemed to compound and expand the more I thought about them!

ARRRGGGG! I don't need this right now.

I'm Enjoying Simplicity, Why Complicate Things?
Now I'm fully reminded of why I so appreciate the simplicity of a customized Moleskine planner and a small gel pen in my pocket. It has minimal requirements: spend a little time setting up the dates and task pages to cover 6 months, which oddly enough is relaxing and enjoyable to do, even though it is tedious work.

Each day I add a little more with my pen, throw in notes or tasks as I think of them. No worries about charging or syncing, what apps I need or how to solve the lack of sync, since it's not required. In fact, syncing is not even an option.

What to do with the Zire?
I'm not sure exactly what I will do. I should probably sell the Zire to someone who would love and enjoy this nice little PDA. I may use it for e-books and some blogs away from the Mac after all, to keep it as a focused reading device that frees me from the computer for a while in the evenings.

I think I need to leave it sit on my desk and brew on what to do with it for a while. I want to make sure I'm not so easily sucked back into the care and feeding trap without contemplation on the ultimate purposes of a PDA in my life.

It's funny how much my mind and heart has changed about a PDA. Just one year ago I was distressed by the loss of my device. Now I'm almost feeling this PDA, which was so important to me in 2006, has invaded my tranquility.

Funny how things change.

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January 9, 2007

iPhone Rockin' the World

I'm right now spending my lunch break watching the live Macworld Keynote blogging at Engadget, chatting with my good pal Michael Ashby about the iPhone. We are both in shock (in a good way).

The iPhone is a smartphone running some version of Mac OS X, complete with a full web browser (Safari) what look like Widgets, and apps on the device far beyond any mobile phone apps out there.

Watching the Steve Jobs keynote unfold, we both agree that this announcement of the iPhone is big — really big. So big that it could impact nearly every aspect the tech world — mobile phones, smartphones, phone service carriers, PDAs, MP3 players, computers, Mac software developers, and web-based software developers... and probably others I haven't thought of.

From the Engadget live blog:

We've been pushing the state of the art in every facet of this design. We've got the multi-touch screen, miniaturization, OS X in a mobile device, precision enclosures, three advanced sensors, desktop class applications, and the widescreen video iPod. We filed for over 200 patents for all the inventions in iPhone and we intend to protect them."

This is the kind of device I would be compelled to carry, and I've more or less stepped off the PDA bandwagon last year. It's looking that cool and useful.

This is going to be very, very big.

Amazing! Conan O'Brien gives us a sneak peek of everything the iPhone can do! :-)

Related Links:
The Ultimate iPhone FAQ (David Pogue, NYT)
Cingular's iPhone Signup Page
Apple Unveils iPhone (Macworld)
iPhone a 'wake-up call' for the industry (Macworld)
Does the iPhone hit the spot? (CNET)
Investors dump RIM as Apple launches iPhone (Washington Post)
First iPhone Pics (engadget)
Raw commentary on the iPhone announcement (Michael Mace)
Apple's iPhone: That isn't a phone, it's a PDA done right (Michael Mace)
Impact of the Apple iPhone (Michael Mace)
Apple aims to shake up cell phone industry (San Jose Mercury News)
Top 5 Worst Things About The iPhone (Wired Gadget Lab)
iPhone: The Newton's Revenge (Wired Cult of Mac)
The Apple iPhone (Kottke.org)
Apple's New Calling: The iPhone (Time)
iPhone: The Most Revolutionary Device Since 1984 (JeffCroft.com)
iPhone Not Touchy Feely (37signals)
iPhone and the End of PC Era (Om Malik)
The iWipe
You could call iPhone perfect (Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times)

Image via Apple.

Permalink | Comments (12) | Macintosh | add to del.icio.us

October 6, 2006

PDA 24/7's Shaun McGill Goes Back to Paper

It was nearly 5 months ago I gave up my Palm PDA for a custom Moleskine planner, and shared the experience and my approach on this blog.

So, it was a nice surprise to hear from my friend Davy McDonald, that PDA 24/7 founder Shaun McGill just traded his PDA for a paper planner. Shaun embarked on a week-long experiment using only a paper calendar and a mobile phone, while intentionally avoiding his PDA.

It all began with he post The pen is mightier than the stylus, where Shaun shared his move from a Nokia E61 to a Moleskine planner for his calendar:

Over the past two years I have at times suffered from stress which is not due to work or family and it is still something I have not worked out but I am 100% convinced that my obsessive reliance on PDAs is a part of the problem. It is not the devices issue, it is mine but a longing to carry so much data and have every appointment and task noted and alarmed has not been healthy for me.

Shaun extended his experiment and began to see how things changed when using paper in The experiment (part one):

All bills continue to be paid on time, all tasks completed as needed and strangely no stresses with regard to remembering things. What has really surprised me is how much more time I have without using a PDA.

It has become apparent that I spend ages tweaking it and checking records when I don't need to, I play games on it if I am sat at home rather than just relaxing in front of the TV to watch a good film and I keep referring to it for no real reason.

The amount of time I have spent in the past freeing up memory and recovering from resets is just silly and took away any efficiencies the PDA gives. For a man who lives and dies by his PDA this is a truly strange experience but a good one.

In The experiment (part two), Shaun writes:

The experiment is going well and avoiding my PDA has become surprisingly easy. As the days have passed I am starting to realise just how much my life seems to revolve around my PDA rather than how it should be- my PDA should be helping me manage my life.

So well said! I always like to say you should choose the right tool for your needs, and this falls into place in Shaun's situation. He's found that the PDA had become his "hammer" and that every situation began to look like a nail.

In his third post, The experiment (part three) Shaun writes:

I was going to make this a series of five articles looking at life without a PDA but this will be the final part. I will revisit this subject at a later date but safe to say that at this time I am going to try living without the majority of PDA functions for a while to come.

Wow. I think it's safe to say Shaun has gone analog.

Shaun's conclusions after a week without his PDA:

• I do not miss it at all

• I have a lot more free time (due to not recovering from errors and tweaking it constantly)

• I appear to have more control- writing things down makes the information stay in my head and I remember what needs to be done. After so long just typing away and forgetting the entry until the alarm pops up I had lost that ability

• I am surprisingly a lot more relaxed about things. I do not try to do too much and just refer to my notebook on occasion to check some details

• Paper does as good a job for personal information management as a PDA

Excellent observations — I agree! After almost 5 months of using a paper planner for my personal schedule, I'm much more relaxed. I capture more of my ideas. Now my schedule lays on the desk before me, always on and ready for viewing or additions.

I don't feel compelled to "keep up" with the latest mobile technology. Emails for the "latest and greatest" software for the Palm doesn't entice me. In moving to paper I no longer need to maintain my PDA knowledge edge.

When my wife's Zire 72 battery konked out and I had to try and restore from backups, I was reminded just how much I DO NOT MISS fixing, restoring, tweaking, caring for and feeding a PDA.

I want to end on this final insightful comment by Shaun, which has had me thinking ever since:

The PDA made sure I forgot nothing and subsequently turned me into an organic version of itself. That may sound ridiculous but it is how I feel and for the moment at least I will do my best to avoid mine.

Oh how often we allow our tools, toys and gadgets to rule us. it's often subtle, but quite real. I felt the same way about the "care and feeding" needed to maintain a my PDA. When I was in the PDA "care and feeding" mode I didn't realize how much mental energy I expended just keeping up. But when I stepped away from maintaining a PDA, I immediately saw how much energy I was saving.

I hope that if anything is passed on from our switches from PDAs to analog tools, it would be to now and then, step away from your treasured tools and see what life is like without them.

You may switch away — or you may find that your treasured tool is treasured for good reason — because it really suits your needs better than anything else.

Related Links:
Another Analog Convert (satorimedia)
PDA 24/7's Shaun McGill Goes Back to Paper (Moleskinerie)

Permalink | Comments (15) | Moleskine | add to del.icio.us

September 12, 2006

iGo Pitch Duo Review

by Steve Rohde

I'm a pastor and a Treo evangelist and user, who makes good use of my Treo for basic tasks: voice calls, SMS to-do lists, managing my calendar, taking pictures for my blog and editing Word and Excel spreadsheets.

Very often I use PowerPoint in my presentations, so the idea of using my Treo to operate PowerPoint, without the need for a laptop is quite attractive. When I saw the iGo Pitch Duo advertised on the Palm website, I was very interested in finding out if it might work for my presentation needs.

I have several Pastor Friends who are always are asking what's up with my Treo 650... I have a reputation to live up to! But beyond being a cutting edge Treo guy, I really wanted to use my Treo and the iGo Pitch Duo at church — for presentations, playing videos or showing pictures.

What's the iGo Pitch Duo?
The iGo Pitch Duo is a presentation device for use with the Treo 650, built to replace a laptop for presenting PowerPoint slideshows. The iGo Pitch Duo can be connected via Bluetooth or Sync cable, depending upon your needs. My main requirement for the Pitch Duo was presentation of PowerPoint slides, video and screen shots of the Treo. I also wanted to connect it directly to RCA or SVideo inputs, which it does quite well.

Package: It comes in a cool nylon and mesh bag, nice and neat with a place for everything. It Easily fits in a bag and is much lighter than a laptop. The Items included with the package are: The iGo Pitch Duo machine, a Power cord with adapter (for some reason there's a little connector that attaches to the power plug for foreign power sources), a Belkin Bluetooth adapter, and an instruction booklet.

Software: Through a download on the Mobility Electronics website, you get the latest software package. There is no disk, so you must get it online.

The software package includes: iPresent Desktop software, a PowerPoint converter which makes files that iPresent can read. You can't just drop a PowerPoint on an SD card and go — presentations must be converted and compressed. iPresent, the Palm OS application that reads the converted files. iDisplay, another Palm OS program that sends screenshots to the Pitch Duo and Quick Display, and a Quick Connect program for Palm OS that sends screen shots to projector via the Pitch Duo.

Hardware: Pitch Duo is the heart of the package, with a power input port, two USB inputs a mouse and Keyboard input used for controlling the handheld, but only the mouse pointer worked for my Treo.

Ease of connection: It was Pretty easy to connect. The manual gave information, but it took me a few minutes to figure out that you had to connect the Treo to the Duo Pitch either through a sync cable or Bluetooth connection. The Bluetooth setup is only done through the iPresent, iDisplay or Quick Display programs. If you do the connection through the Bluetooth setup you have to enter a password.

How the Pitch Duo Lined up to my hopes and expectations
The PowerPoint feature worked great! The Bluetooth connection was fabulous using PowerPoint! You can really move around the room and still be connected. You have to make sure your Treo is set to stay on all the time or it will disconnect.

The cool part was that iPresent has several different views that you can use on the Treo, very similar to what you see on the Microsoft PowerPoint. You can see the slide, view the notes or view the list of slides. During the program you can switch between any of those views.

My favorite was the note view. This allows you to see your notes so you can read your notes while you give your presentation. If you wanted to skip to a different slide you can just change the view to list and use your stylus and click on the slide you want. You can also move slides around if need be, but you cannot edit the slides.

Now you may be able to edit it through QuickOffice's QuickPoint, but I did not test this, since I don't have a copy of QuickPoint on my Treo. One last word to note is that this will not do any transitions, embedded video or music. It is just a basic “click the next slide” kind of functionality.

iGo and Other Pitch Duo users say the product works with QuickOffice's QuickPoint, including editing of slides but doesn't work with Documents to Go. I only have Docs to Go on the Treo, so I'd really like to see support added for this other popular application.

I'd also like to see a few changes made to the desktop converter program. There isn't any option to select a destination for converted files — the application automatically sends converted files to the Palm Quick Install program. From there you can choose to send the file via HotSync to the Palm device itself or an SD card. I would prefer to send the file directly to the SD card without using the Palm HotSync program.

iDisplay and Quick Display program on Palm
The Bluetooth connection did not work well — It was slow and quite delayed — though the connection through the HotSync USB cable was excellent. When I used the sync cable the response was fast. Don’t even try to view video or even pictures from the Treo directly. Video is too slow and massively delayed. The serial connection cannot keep up with the data required to send video.

Picture display is also slow. For the first few times that I attempted to view a picture, my Treo Crashed. When I did get it to work the display took 10-15 seconds to display.

One of the most disappointing parts of the iDisplay was that the Display is not full screen. It shows a generic Palm device and the Pitch logo is displayed on the screen the whole time. I'd prefer to see the Palm screen only displayed, like a laptop screen is displayed on a projector.

The keyboard and mouse connections only seem to run through the iDisplay or QuickDisplay. You cannot run the converted PowerPoint via a mouse or keyboard. In iDisplay you can only use the mouse as a pointing device to run your Palm handheld — the keyboard was not supported on the Treo.

Since the screen shows a generic Palm you cannot click on the home button with your mouse and get to the home screen. I would have lived with the generic screen if the home button and drop down menu buttons worked properly.

Things I'd like to see work with the Treo 650:
1. Powerpoint slides
2. Transitions on PP
3. Screenshots
4. Video to the projector

Other Issues The Case is pretty nice to carry, but the power cable has to be tied every time you pack up because the wire does not fit into the mesh bag.

The design of the Pitch Duo is cool looking, but there are some problems. Without cables connected to it, the device will not stand upright like it's designed to. The projector VGA cable is the prop to stand it up, kind of goofy, but it does work.

The power cord and one of USB connectors are too close and may cause problems connecting a USB device to it. For me I had to turn the power cable sideways to make my USB cord fit. It just seems that there is plenty of space on the box to place the power cord farther away.

There is a IR connection option, but as with all IR connections it is slow and you must be in the line of sight and pretty close to the device's IR receiver port. I'd stick with the Bluetooth.

You may not have the laptop but cords and cables — those you can't so easily eliminate. There is of course the AC power cord, the HotSync cable and or a mouse cable. Best case scenario for traveling light would be using the power cable with a Bluetooth connection, to limit cords and cables to haul along.

Conclusion
Overall, the product works pretty well. The PowerPoint is a basic presenter and does not work with transitions, video or music. The Bluetooth connection with the presenter program was cool and worked very well. The views on iPresent worked well too, I liked the note view so you can read notes and use your handheld as a clicker.

The Palm OS view program (iDisplay) worked okay. The connection was too slow to show video, picture viewing and camera use. It is limited to the standard serial cable connection, this isn't actually the Pitch Duo’s problem, but is is limiting nonetheless.

If you want a good presentation device that works with your Palm or Pocket PC handheld — this is it. If you need to edit PowerPoint on the fly you will need QuickPoint or your laptop to edit the original PowerPoint slideshows. If you want to project video or pictures from your Treo 650, this is probably not the device for you.

The price for the iGo Pitch Duo is $279 directly from the company, though I found it for $252 at Amazon, with free shipping. Both prices are a little high for my limited budget, though I think this is a decently priced tool for road warriors who make a living using PowerPoint presentations and want to eliminate their laptop as much as possible.

Thanks to Mobility Electronics for allowing me to review their product, and to my brother Mike for hosting this review of the iGo Pitch Duo on his weblog!

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August 22, 2006

Innersafe for Palm Desktop

It's funny how old articles can have an impact on people many years later.

About month or so ago I received a very nice email from Richard Amacker, CEO of Innersafe Corporation, a data security company. Richard emailed that he had been inspired to create Innersafe for Palm Desktop partly because of an article from The Palm Tipsheet issue 5, February 2000, called Palm Security.

Here was the paragraph that inspired Richard:

Another problem with the standard Palm security feature is that your user files — while marked private — can be accessed and read if copied from your Mac or PC. While the files marked 'private' are not visible in your desktop application, they can be accessed via your user data files. This data can be viewed with any text editor.

Richard says this flaw I'd mentioned about the stock Palm Desktop, encouraged him to develop Innersafe for Palm Desktop an add-on module that secures Palm Desktop data files (Datebook, Address Book, To-Dos, Memos) on Windows PCs.

I was amazed that an old article from an obscure e-zine could have such an impact 6 years later. I'm very pleased to have helped encourage the development of this critical Windows security tool.

To learn more about Innersafe for Palm Desktop, be sure to check out the videos Richard has created, showing just how insecure the standard Palm Desktop is, and how much more secure Innersafe can make Palm Desktop files for Windows PC users.

If you're a Palm user who syncs to a Windows machine, this $40 add-on could save your bacon, especially if you use Windows and Palm Desktop on a notebook PC.

Now I need to convince Richard to create Innersafe for Mac Palm Desktop! :-)

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June 25, 2006

Boston Globe: PDA buffs go back to basics

This Sunday, the Rohdesign Weblog was featured in the business section of the Boston Globe, in the story PDA buffs go back to basics. The Globe piece discusses back to paper movement Douglas Johnston wrote about in 2005.

Last week I was able to talk at length with Kim-Mai Cutler about my Custom Moleskine Hack, using a Palm, the Palm Tipsheet, the analog movement, and more. It seems I've made the first several paragraphs of the piece:

Web designer Mike Rohde was a certifiable Palm fanatic. He had the original PalmPilot 1000, then a Sony Clié, then a Tungsten E, and several more all the way up to the Zire 72. His monthly newsletter vetting the newest models went out to 10,000 subscribers. But when his PDA turned up missing two months ago, Rohde's quick fix wasn't the latest Treo.

He picked up a notebook and drew a calendar.

"The Palm started to become a creature. It demanded things from me. It demanded me to recharge it every couple days or I'd have to make back ups," he said. "I wanted to see what it would be like if I went to paper."

That sums up my thoughts pretty well. It's compressed from what Kim and I discussed over the phone, as reporters are very limited in the space they have. However, it's quite nice to be featured in the opening with that much copy.

The story also features analog fans Chad Adams of PocketMod, Armand Frasco of Moleskinerie, Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, Douglas Johnston of DIYPlanner. I'm honored to be in such great company.

The only unfortunate detail was the lack of link to my weblog , which I'm working on having added. We'll see how many readers Google and find me from the article.

I'd like to mention for the record that I'm not anti-technology. I use technology every day as a designer with MakaluMedia, who works remotely with international colleagues and clients and I see its value and power.

Neither am I anti-Palm or anti-PDA. I've used a Palm handheld for almost 10 years, and believe these devices are excellent tools. However, In my own life I've found paper made more sense for my personal schedule (work stuff is handled on the Mac).

I hope article challenges readers to consider their tools, whether digital or analog. For me it's less about which tool you choose and much more about making sure that tool suits your needs.

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May 15, 2006

Back to Paper: Should I Ditch My PDA?

Last week my old Clié ran out of battery power, resulting in a blank Clié. I didn't lose any data, as I'd been syncing regularly. However, it became a bit of a hassle restoring the PDA this weekend, because one of my restored preferences seemed to hang the Clié at startup. I wiped out the Saved Preferences file, solved the hang and then spent time finding and re-entering many of my software serial numbers.

I like my Clié, yet it suffers from one problem — the need for constant care and feeding. In this case, keeping the battery charged and after failing this requirement, steps necessary to bring it back from the dead.

Analog Option
On Saturday night, I came across a very slick example of a paper based task management system on Dave Gray's Flickr collection. It was a paper-based system created by Bill Westerman, a consultant and former Palm fanatic. Bill uses a large Miquelrius squared notebook, and has developed a unique symbolic system for managing his tasks. I love the compact and simple symbols he's developed, and his use of a chart to plan out his day (see the image above).

I began a discussion with Bill and other readers in the comments, asking about details of Bill's system. I was struck by something Bill said in his reply, about using a Palm vs. his current system:

I was an absolute Palm fanatic for about five years (even wrote the original "Palm Mirror" application ... see utilware.com/mirror.html for details), but got tired of scratching away with the stylus all the time. Pen + paper is so much more gratifying.

Wow. I was amazed to see a Palm fanatic like Bill moving back to paper. Part of my hesitance has been my nearly 9 years as a Palm user, Palm advocate and fanatic. Last month, I came very close to ditching the Palm for schedule management, in favor of a Moleskine, but stopped short and have been using a Clié ever since.

The Back To Paper Movement
Today I came across another related piece called Why techies are leading the back-to-paper movement on Dave Gray's Communication Nation blog. The piece was written last November by Douglas Johnston, the creator of the DIY Planner. Doug talks about his addiction to technical systems and how he's found paper more effective for his needs. He talked specifically about this "Care and feeding" issue I've been reminded of with my wiped and restored Clié:

While I would carefully set up my list of 50-odd next actions, prioritising them, categorising them, setting alarms, and syncing between all the technology tools I had at my fingertips, Bettina would just glance at her book and get things done. This is not to say I was a slacker — on the contrary, I did manage to plough through an extraordinary amount of work and training — but a certain needless percentage of my time was spent tweaking my productivity system and trying to make it all work smoothly as a whole, mostly after-hours.

Amen brother! I know I have fiddled away countless hours tweaking my Palm or restoring it, or whatever the issue of the moment was. Now I start to wonder... was all of the tweaking and fiddling worth it? Even if that invested time was warranted, do I really want to continue caring for and feeding my PDA?

Doug continues:

Not only does using paper planners, storyboards, index cards, whiteboards and flip charts allow us to see and experience things from entirely new vantage points, they force us to re-examine the execution and importance of the task at hand. It's the break from the worn-out tech-centred paradigm, with no restrictions to hinder you, not even battery life.

While we're on the topic of focus, paper does help slow down the world, if only for a mere moment, and collect your thoughts. Free from the white noise of websites, the endless pinging of the email inbox, the 120 menu items per mouse click, and the average of one thousand significant chunks of information per hour, we can devote the entirety of one instance to one topic. Clarity of thought, anyone?

This sounds so attractive. Taking the time to separate myself from tech solutions and getting back to a more tactile approach — maybe this is something to consider. Already I'm very analog with my logo, icon and web design sketches, why not try it for scheduling my personal life?

Then I wonder, what would life on paper look like? I tried paper for a few weeks, after losing the Zire 72. I truly enjoyed using paper. I appreciated seeing an entire week at a glance. I found myself writing thoughts in the Moleskine, something I'd never have bothered doing on the Palm.

I'm very close to trying a paper Moleskine Weekly planner for 6 months to see how I like it. While the flexible cover of the new 18 Month Moleskine is attractive, the 1 week per page format seems too cramped for my needs. I much prefer 1 week across 2 pages, like the traditional Moleskine Weekly Pocket planner. Since 2006 Weekly planners are hard to get or costly, I'd make my own Weekly planner out of a ruled Pocket Moleskine.

What About the Palm?
What about my large collection of contacts on the Palm? Well, my iPod nano could work reasonably well as an address book, as it syncs via iSync to the address book on the Mac. 90% of the time I'm reading contact information, so the loss of data entry isn't a huge deal. Besides, I can capture contact information on the Moleskine and enter it on the Mac when I get home.

I would still make good use of the Clié for reading blogs and emails away from the Mac, since this lets me read blogs and email, and respond to an occasional email. I'd probably still use My Bible, and Noah Pro, though maybe not. I'd need to think through what role the Clié might play in everyday life a little bit more.

Should I do It?
This week I'm going to think about a move back to paper. I want to make sure it's reasonable, practical and that the system will work the way I need it to. I'm 95% sure it will work well, but I want to brew on the idea a few more days.

What do you think? Please leave your comments, suggestions or ideas. I know others must have made the move to paper themselves, so I'm very keen to hear about your experiences and tips.

Related Links:
The back story by Bill Westerman
The Notebook by Bill Westerman
The GSD system by Bill Westerman
Bill Westerman's Miquelrius Planner
Why techies are leading the back-to-paper movement by Doug Johnston

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April 19, 2006

Notes on Going Retro with a Clié N610C

I've successfully made the move from a "Modern" Zire 72s back to a "Retro" Clié N610CS this week, and through this process have observed some interesting things I wanted to record and share.

Good Memories
Wow, I wasn't prepared for the pleasant memories of the "good old days" of using a Clié for almost 1.5 years (June 2002 through October 2003). It's been quite fun setting up the same old reliable system I loved back then: looking through my old archives and on the net for software and hacks, and scrounging old cables and cradles from old boxes of stuff, digging into the recesses of my brain for setup steps and tricks.

Font Issues
One of my pet peeves about with the Sony Clié are the thin, cheesy-looking hi-res fonts, built into the system. The first thing I installed after syncing my data and apps was X-Master and FontHack 123. I was happy to improve the fonts at low-res, but at high res the bad Arial-clone fonts wouldn't go away.

I tried locating a high-res OS5 font clone created by developer Lubomir 'lubak' Veselovsky that I'd loved so much called "OS5 Fonts" which included HrStandard, HrBold, HrLarge, and HrLargeBold in a file named OS5.pdb. I found references and links to the file, but all of the links to Lubak's old site were dead. So, I emailed Lubak directly to request these 4 hi-res fonts, which he graciously emailed back to me, and has given me permission to host them on my site:

Download Lubak's OS5 Hi-Res fonts (16k Zip file)

In the process of font-replacement searches, I came across a nice little $8 app Lubak has created for Sony Cliés that eliminates the need for FontHack123 and his OS5 font set, called Fonts4OS4. This nifty utility lets you select 1 of 7 fonts, which are replaced (after soft reset) to the entire system. Lubak also offers a more extensive $12.90 tool called Fonts4OS5, which applies up to 26 different font sets to most Palm OS 5 devices. Thanks Lubak!

Datebook Tweaks
I also wanted to try and retrieve the week view I've lost from the Moleskine. First I installed an old copy of Agendus v5, but found it a little too large and slow for my liking on the Clié. I considered Datebk 3 or 4, but felt those too would be overkill for my agenda needs and the 8MB of RAM I have available.

So I started checking out FreewarePalm.com, and found a pretty amazing, free Datebook replacement called KsDatebook. It can do much more than just show a week view, including displaying of datebook and to-do items and access to categories. I like that the application is small, yet reasonably powerful for my needs.

VFS Issues
I'd forgotten how much of a hassle using external Memory Sticks was just 4 years ago. When I fired up the Clié I couldn't access my Memory Stick at all, which was important for storing MyBible and Noah Pro databases on the stick. I dug up a copy of the free MSMount utility at PalmGear, set it up, and was good to go. MSMount adds a drop-down item for setup and activation in the built-in Prefs tool and can even restart itself on reset and shut itself off during HotSync.

Great Graffiti
Wow! After fighting to get Graffiti "Classic" installed on my Tungsten E and then Zire 72, coming back to a native Graffiti 1 device is like heaven. I make very few mistakes now, and often when I half-expect an error on a correctly drawn letter (the Zire and TE did that all the time) I find the Clié has interpreted my strokes perfectly. For someone like me, who has invested serious time learning Graffiti 1, the Clié is wonderful. This feature alone makes me want to use the Clié.

Lots of Dead Links
One thing I've discovered in my searching this week has been the number of dead links and discontinued applications on the web. I was able to find references to all of the apps I was looking for, yet in several cases the referring websites were either completely gone, and none of the Palm software sites seemed to have old copies of those files.

This is to be expected, I suppose, yet it reminded me that with the web we so often assume sites and the files they offer will be out there for ever, when the reality is, they may not. Word to the wise: keep copies of the apps, files and information you use locally, because there is no guarantee that the web will offer them forever.

Final Observations
Overall, my experience moving back to a retro Clié has been very positive. I've successfully setup a nice little system which suits my needs quite well. I'm very pleased to learn that in a world of PDAs with 200MHz processors, blindingly-bright screens and 30 minute battery lives, retro PDAs are still a very usable and reasonably-priced alternative.

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April 17, 2006

Back to the Future: from Zire to Clié

I'm apparently on a "losing" streak the past 2 months: first I lost my Moleskine sketchbook back in February and about a week and a half ago, I lost my Zire 72s. Like the Moleskine, I thought it was secure in my jacket pocket — I knew I had it before I'd left church on Wednesday, but somewhere between church and the van and home, it went missing, and it has been ever since. Needless to say, I've been extra-careful with everything I own since last week!

The odd thing about losing something like a Palm is, you hope it will turn up before deciding to move either to a new device or something else, such as paper. So for the first week I simply lived in limbo, relying on iCal on the Mac for my appointments. I realized that eventually I'd have to choose how to handle mobile appointment management.

Enter the Moleskine Weekly Planner
First, I looked into a 2006 Pocket Moleskine Weekly Planner, but they're very scarce. The few I could locate were running in the $30 range. So, I decided to try creating a weekly format structure in my ruled pocket Moleskine for a week. I found reference photos at the Ninth Wave Designs Weblog for the weekly (1 week across 2 pages), and recreated it on a spread of my Moleskine.

Last week I used this modified Moleskine exclusively for mobile appointments and some tasks, and actually, I found it worked quite well. I really do like seeing my entire week at a glance, which is possible on a Palm, but not with the detail I could achieve with the Moleskine. I found myself writing a bit more in the Moleskine as well, capturing tasks on the week view and other thoughts on the back pages.

However, the Moleskine has some limitations, such as the width. While I love how thin the Pocket sized Moleskine is, the width is just a tad too wide to fit comfortably in my front jeans pocket, compared to the Zire 72. Carrying it in in my back pocket would mean bending it out of shape over time. As summer comes around, I need something less bulky in a pair of shorts.

Secondly, I have concerns about losing the Moleskine and my information, with no easy way for backup. I would of course be using iCal for storing some of the same information, using the Moleskine for capture and review. Still, with my current losing streak, this was something to consider.

Finally, the Moleskine has no alarms, so I can't easily be reminded of an appointment or task while mobile. I could certainly live with all these limitations, but after considering them, my mind started leaning back toward a simple Palm PDA that's small and easy to use, but has sync, backup and alarms.

Which Palm?
So, I began considering Palm devices. In the last several months I've realized the Zire 72 was not being used as much as it, or prior PDAs had been. Mainly it was my source for contacts, a few appointments, a few to-dos, managing my secured Splash ID data, reading weblogs in iSilo, studying the Bible in MyBible and taking an occasional picture with the built-in camera. Beyond these tasks, I realized the Zire 72 was being under-utilized.

I didn't want to invest too much in a PDA, since I still had a faint hope the Zire would turn up, and my usage doesn't justify a $100-200 PDA. As I checked what was available on eBay, I remembered that my father still had an old Sony Clié PDA around, so I gave him a ring. Sure enough, dad had my wife's old N610C, and wasn't using it much anymore, so he dropped it off at the house today.

Back to the Clié N610C
I'd always loved my old Clié, because it, like my other PDAs was so well-balanced. It had a color screen, was small, light and pocketable, ran a long time on a charge and had excellent Classic Graffiti implementation. Compared to newer Palm PDAs, I've noticed that the Clié has a much dimmer screen and slower processor, though I'll gain days or even weeks of battery life in exchange.

Tonight I was able to get my much-loved brown Vaja case for the Clie from the friend I'd sold it to, and bought a Pocket Squared Moleskine Cahier notebook for mobile note-taking. The Cahiers are the same width and height as regular Pocket Moleskines, but have only 64 pages wrapped in thick, black cover stock, for easier storage in my shorts or jeans pockets.

The Clié immediately recognized by The Missing Sync on the Mac, and was very shortly filled with all of my contacts, calendars, to-dos and notes, along with a few critical applications. Now I have a system in place like the one I used before the Tungsten E and Zire 72s. I'm back in business!

Conclusions
I find it fascinating that on the 10th anniversary of the original Pilot, and after several years spent in the modern Palm world, I'm stepping back to an older Clié. In fact, I very nearly abandoned the Palm for a Moleskine, which is amazing, considering how much of a PDA advocate I've been over the past 10 years!

Yet, in many ways this decision process syncs with my beliefs on technology: that each person's solution should be based on what really works for their needs, rather than how cool the solution is, how "advanced" it might appear, or how one might rationalize the decision.

Fancy features and glitzy possibilities will fade over time, but practical, usable solutions will always stand the test of time.

UPDATE 2006-04-18: Jim Barr at Jim's Tips has done something similar to my Zire72 to Clié simplification by reverting from a Palm T3 to a Zire 22, and finds he too likes the simplicity. The Zire 22 was in fact one of the models I'd considered before moving back to the Clié N610, and is still IMO a very nice little PDA for the money.

Technorati Tags: moleskine, technology, pda, palm

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February 26, 2006

Vaja PA91 Zire 72 Case Review

I've been living with a new Vaja case for my Zire 72s for a few months now, and felt it was a good time to do a review. While I've had a wide variety of cases for my Palm handheld devices over the years, from leather to metal to plastic — I'm pretty firmly in the leather case camp for my PDA.

The case itself was a custom build from Vaja, given as a gift from a friend. I chose the PA91 Sync-able Flip-Top for Zire 72, featuring embossed Vitelino arangio leather inside and out. I omitted padding on the flip cover for a slimmer profile, added 2 SD slots, and no clip, as I tend to carry my Zire in a pocket or my Cafe Bag.

I've been a Vaja case fan ever since my wife and I owned them for our Handspring Visors in the late 1990s and Cliés in the early 2000s. We loved the heavy, well-crafted leather back then, and I can still see the same high quality workmanship and design approach in place on our new cases. In general, Vaja cases are one of the best available for a PDA.

Workmanship, Fit & Finish
The quality of construction is top-notch, as was expected of a Vaja case. Good fit, even stitching, and glossy embossed leather finish were right on the money. The color, Vitelino arangio, was at first a bit of a surprise to me (I'd forgotten I'd ordered such an orangey-tan color) but as I've lived with the color, I've actually grown quite fond of the unique, warm orange hue.

I've noticed that embossed leather is a bit toucher about scratches than the normal style of leather on previous Vaja cases. I've already accumulated a few scuffs on the front flap, I think from dropping the Zire and case into my Cafe Bag and other bags, and maybe even from change in my pants pocket. I can't blame Vaja for this, though in the future I'd probably order standard, rather than embossed leather.

Design
I love the design of this case! The flip-top is hinged far down the backside, allowing shots from the built-in camera, and all of the important ports and buttons are well-accomodated for. Even the headphone jack hole is large enough to deal with the right-angle 1/8" jack of my Koss Porta-Pros. I appreciate the magnetic closure. It keeps the design clean, is easy to open, yet secures the flap in transit.

My one beef with the case design: the direction of the SD card slots. They face inward, toward the top of the Zire. For a normal SD card, it's no problem — but the Palm WiFi SD card's freakishly long length when placed in either slot, prevents the case from closing. Now, the Palm WiFi SD card is quite long, but the Covertec TE case, works perfectly, because it has SD slots facing away from the Zire. My solution: carry the WiFi card in the business card pouch.

Having access to the sync and power ports works well for my usage, as I often plug in for charging or syncing at my workstation. The Covertec has a flap and magnetic clasp which had to be un-hinged to charge or sync, so being able to leave the flap on the Vaja closed is quite convenient in comparison.

Overall Impression
In the few months I've been using the Vaja Zire 72 case, I've been very happy with nearly every aspect of the quality and design. Other than a few minor issues: the SD slot orientation when used with the WiFi SD card and the scuff-prone embossed leather surface, this Vaja PA91 is a winner. The design is top notch and quality are consistent with what I expect from Vaja products.

I've felt confident recommending Vaja to anyone looking for high quality PDA case. My experiences with this latest Zire 72 case have only strengthened that confidence.

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January 26, 2006

Brando Treo 650 Music Dock Review

by Steve Rohde

For what it's worth, I consider myself an average Treo 650 user. I really like the idea of a device that combines two things I use on a regular basis: my cell phone and my Palm handheld. It took me a while to make the shift to a Treo only due in part because I felt WiFi should be a regular feature on a Palm handheld.

In July 2005, I made the switch to an all-in-one device, and am now a true “Treo lover.” The lack of on-board or even SD card WiFi options are disappointing, but the Treo's other features make up for this limitation. That said, I now use my Treo for nearly everything: from using the phone, SMS, calendar and to-do list, to listening to MP3s and watching video.

The one thing missing from my system is a dock. Not just a standard "stick-it-in -n-sync" dock, but a dock that would enhance the Treo. I use a Treo to simplify, so a dock should do the same — offering a sync features, a charger, an amplified speaker for music and for speaker phone use.

Palm, Inc. offers no such creature, though Brando Workshop does in their $32 Brando Treo 650 Music Dock. For the most part it does exactly what a Treo dock should do, and more.

Styling
I like the sleek design and color, which fits well with the design of the Treo. It's quite small, with a good angle and position for seeing and using screen. The power indicator light is as intense as a blue light on a police car, which is no big thing for me, but it may be distracting.

Sound
The sound quality of the speakers is sufficient, and the sound range is pretty good. I think that the Dock, like the Treo, is not really meant to replace a stereo system. The Sound is good, but by no means are they comparable to that of a high priced speaker system. There is little distortion at louder levels. This is after all a small dock to amplify sound from a Treo, not a Bang + Olufsen sound system! :-)

Usability
The Treo fits well in the dock and is easy to remove. Just drop it in the cradle, then pick it up and go when you need to hit the road. The Charging and Sync features work pretty seamlessly. One missing feature is a quick sync hardware button commonly found on older Palm docks. It would have been nice to hit a sync button rather than navigating to the HotSync application on the Treo.

My Dock came with Euro power plug that connects to a usb connection. I used the powered usb on my laptop and it worked well until I had a “too much power draw” on my USB port. I solved this by plugging my laptop into the wall socket.

I love the external input; it gives options of listening to other devices without having to squeeze another item on your desk. I've now used the Brando Treo Dock to replace the cheap speakers on my computer.

Another missing feature: a battery option to power the speakers. I drive a bus, and it would have been nice to bring this dock along to listen to tunes or watch a movie while on layover.

As far as the speakerphone option, it worked well, for what I use of it. I don't much use my Treo at work, but the sound is decent and of course, the Treo still has an excellent built-in microphone which more or less makes the dock's speakerphone option a bit redundant.

Conclusion
Just like my Treo the Brando Treo Music Dock has changed my life by making things a little bit easier and simpler. It gave me a dedicated dock to charge my Treo, a speaker system to listen to music and a speaker phone to make calls with.

My vote: thumbs up to Brando for doing what Palm, Inc. hasn't had the time or desire to do for the Treo. The only features I really wish it offered are: a dedicated hardware sync button, and the option to power the unit with batteries for the road.

Editor's Note: This review was written by my little brother Steve, who received a nice shiny Treo Music Dock from Brando for his efforts. Thanks Steve for reviewing this interesting device and thanks to Brando for the review unit. — Mike Rohde

UPDATE 2006-01-27: Peter from Palm Addict wrote to mention he'd done a review of the Music Dock as well, over at PalmAddict, so be sure to see Peter's review too.

Technorati Tags: steverohde, rohdesign, palm, treo, mp3, brando+workshop, reviews

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October 19, 2005

Palm Low-End Email Solution for Mac OS X

I love using my Zire 72 for reading and writing email on the go, using two great freeware tools. First is e*Mail, a wonderful Palm Mail client replacement from Ikeda Shigeru that offers up to 32k HotSync message truncation size versus Palm Mail's minimal 8k, and much more! This increase in message size really makes HotSynced email practical.

While PC users get a Mail conduit by default, Mac users do not. However, QueueSoft offers Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X Mail conduits that can sync with Outlook Express, Entourage or Apple Mail. All but the Entourage conduit ($9) are freeware and work great.

Technorati Tags: email, palm, osx, puppy

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September 24, 2005

For Sale: Stowaway Universal Bluetooth Keyboard (Sold!)

I have a Stowaway Universal Bluetooth Keyboard in great condition (barely used) that I wanted to use with my Zire 72. It works well, but having access to Mac Powerbook, the Dana and good old move toward pen and paper, I'm finding I hardly use nor need this very nice keyboard.

I'd like to sell it to someone who would make better use of this small, light and well-engineered device. If you're interested, drop me a line with 'Keyboard' used in the subject line, and let's talk.

Update 2005-10-08: The keyboard was sold to Bill Brandon, Editor of Learning Solutions e-Magazine and a blogger, came across my post via Moleskinerie. I'm very happy the keyboard is going to someone who will enjoy and use it fully. Thanks Bill! :-)

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September 15, 2005

Analog vs. Digital PDA Thoughts

Ever since coming across the original HipsterPDA idea several months ago, I've been experimenting with integration of analog and digital methods of idea capture, task management and information storage. While I've not quite settled all of the details of the system, I thought it might be interesting to record my thoughts and share details — in case it might be helpful to others.

Moleskines
I still use and love my Moleskines, mainly for capturing sketches and more permanent, thought-through ideas. I use a pocket sketchbook for sketches, pocket grid book for recording fleshed out ideas, and a pocket lined book for book notes.

For a few weeks I even played with a pocket 2005 daily diary, but the combination of size (it's 3/4“ thick) and worries about data loss of personal and work info leaned me back toward my Palm Zire. However, I am again pondering a pocket 2006 weekly diary just for managing my personal appointments, which are really quite simple.

HispterPDA
As for 3x5 cards and the HipsterPDA, I've been slowly using this method for personal use and am enjoying the experience immensely. I find myself capturing more ideas and tasks with pen and cards than ever with the Palm — maybe this is due to my long history with pen and paper before integrating a PalmPilot into my life.

I happened across an old Day-Timer pocket leather case that fits 3x5 cards perfectly, and have taken to carrying 2 3x5 stacks and a G2 pen inside of it (see the detailed pics below). I keep a stack of blank cards on the right, for capturing ideas and my ordered stack of cards on the left (to-dos, notes, etc.). The tiny pen holder fits the clip of a G2 perfectly!

While this setup works for personal info, I do occasionally capture ideas for work — those are integrated into the Mac-based system I have going which uses OmniOutliner Pro for tasks and iCal for tracking my billable time.

Palm Zire 72
What about the Palm? Well, I still use and like my Zire 72 — but it has become much less of a critical tool lately. The main uses of my Zire are as an contact list, mobile secured info manager (SplashID) e-book, iSilo-ed website and Bible reading, a little WiFi surfing and email, MP3 music playing, recipe storage and occasional photo and movie captures. For these tasks it works well, but as these are not critical, it's sometimes left at home in favor of the HipsterPDA or even just my pre-pay phone.

I've found that I rarely managed work data with the Palm, because I can do so directly on the Mac (which I am at 98% of the time). I've even reduced my personal PIM use of the Zire to the address book and keeping a few recipes handy. Most of my other Palm uses are reading, listening, reference or photo/movie capture activities.

Obviously paper and pen can't replace many of these features, so I do intend to keep using the Palm — just not as fully as I once had. I'm just finding the maintenance of the sync and backup more of a burden than they are worth for personal use... hence my thought to move to a Moleskine weekly journal for my basic activity management.

General Thoughts
I've not fully adapted the system just yet — it's still in flux as I figure it out. I'm not giving up digital tools — just being realistic about the places where analog and digital options fit best. If I come to a more settled point I may post about that and share additional ideas that I've noted along the way.

What I am finding is a craving for simplicity, and the Palm has lost a little of this for me. I can write pretty quickly in Graffiti classic, but it's still no match for pen on paper. There is just the slightest mental drag involved in Palm data entry, which I don't feel with pen and paper. Maybe that's the reason for my decreased use of the Palm for data entry.

Whatever it is, I can look back and see a definite reduction in my use and interest in digital PDAs. I do still like these devices, and use them, but am coming to the point where their required care and feeding seems more a burden than ever before.

If you have suggestions, ideas, thoughts or want to share your own experiences blending analog and digital tools into your own life, please leave a comment. It's always great to learn from the readers and visitors to this blog. :-)

Technorati Tags: hipsterpda, moleskine, palm, simplicity

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August 12, 2005

Palm Like Mercury

This week as I've discussed the recent events in the Palm and mobile device world (Treo 670, Tapwave going bye-bye, etc.) I kept coming back to an interesting theme — that Palm, Inc. seems to be very much like a ball of mercury. Let me explain.

In the old days you had Palm, Inc. who brought the Pilot PDAs to the masses. It was headed by visionary Jeff Hawkins, with support from guys like Ed Colligan (Business/Marketing) and Rob Haitani (User Interface). They built very hot mobile devices that everyone wanted.

But then things started to splinter. Hawkins broke off to do Handspring and Palm spun out PalmSource so the Palm OS would have a neutral space to operate and gather licensees. Pretty soon, the unified Palm we once knew was separated into many smaller pieces, like little balls of mercury.

Fast forward to 2004/2005. Handspring is scooped up by palmOne, Hawkins is back. Colligan comes back and so do many key people from the original Palm Pilot days, including guys like Rob Haitani. Palm is riding the very hot Treo wave, and enjoys the popularity of several other mobile devices. Meanwhile, Palm OS licensees seem to be falling off the wagon left and right. It seems palmOne is the only one left standing.

Next thing you know, palmOne buys the Palm name back from PalmSource, making the unification of the mercury balls nearly complete. The only ball missing is ownership of the Palm OS (or more correctly, Palm OS 5) which Palm has modified heavily to suit their needs. It's almost a big ball of mercury again.

I don't know what the significance of this observation holds, other than there seems to be a cycle happening with Palm, of separation and reconnection. Judging by how successful the original Palm was with Pilots, this seems a good omen for today's version of Palm, with a very popular Treo, LifeDrive, TE2, Zire.

Technorati Tags: palm

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August 8, 2005

I Love the ZireCam

I can still remember the discussions about cameras being added to Palm devices and how many complained about quality. Well, I've been very pleased with the Zire cam this year, even though the picture quality is pretty lousy.

I love it because it lets me capture moments that I'd never capture, as I don't bring a separate camera along with me. For instance the great photo above of my son Nathan and his buddy Ryan in Pennsylvania:

I saw them running, laughing and holding hands — out came the Zire 72 Cam and zoop, I captured the moment.

Cool, eh? :-)

Technorati Tags: kids, palm, simplicity

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August 6, 2005

Treo 670 and Palm OS Observations

Yesterday, my good buddy and fellow Palm OS fan Michael Ashby broke the news of a pretty real-looking sighting of a Treo 670 running... Windows Mobile. Uh oh.

This has been a rumor on the net for months now, after several unsubstantiated leaks from various sources, but these latest photos and movie clips seem to indicate this is probably the real deal. Obviously, until it's announced or a product is released, nothing is a sure thing — but this surely seems like a done deal to me.

The larger question is, what does it mean? Well, it's not a great sign for Palm OS in my opinion, when Palm Inc., the largest, most visible (and some might argue most significant) licensee of the Palm OS appears to be on the verge of licensing Windows Mobile.

Yes, Palm, Inc. has also agreed to license Palm OS, and if a Treo 670 really appears, it would only expand the market share of Palm, Inc. However on a deeper level, for Palm, the pioneer of Palm OS to add its arch-rival's OS as an option, it's got to be perceived as a big psychological and PR hit against Palm OS.

Factor in the lack of any Palm OS 6 (Cobalt) device from Palm, Inc. or anyone else for that matter, and Palm Inc's insistence on sticking with a heavily modified Palm OS 5 (Garnet), this is a disturbing trend for Palm OS. Until some kind of device appears running Palm OS 6 on Linux, I sense a fading of Palm OS.

With the fading of Palm OS, I sense an ascendency of Windows Mobile. Palm OS may still have followers, but at what point to buyers choose the package that most resembles their Windows box? Do most consumers even know or care what OS a Treo runs, besides hard-core geeks?

As a Palm OS fan, it seems there has been a stream of negative news following PalmSource DevCon. First, Tapwave announces the end of the Zodiac, followed by The Great Purge of PalmSource, a quiet end to Euro DevCon this fall, Tapwave seeming to totally collapse and now a pretty convincing sighting of a Windows Mobile Treo 670.

The Palm OS of old is changing fast. PDAs are stagnant and the mobile phone, both smartphone and semi-smartphone are rising. Unconnected PDAs are a niche item, getting even nicheier, wireless phones are replacing them.

I'm going to guess that Palm OS's future lies in smartphones and semi-smart phones and the shrinking niche of the old-style PDA, but that it will not look anything like it has 'til now. Times are changing...

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July 20, 2005

IYHY.com: Website De-Gunkifier for Mobiles

Got a great tip today from Matt Henderson about the conversion tool IYHY.com that I just had to share here. The site, by B. Adam Howell is pretty simple — it strips extraneous images and gunk from websites so they work better in small-screen and low-bandwidth situations (like on a mobile device).

The tool can also create a bookmarked list of your favorite converted sites, if you choose to create a username and password, though this is an added bonus. Here's Howell's description of the tool:

IYHY is an attempt to fix the mobile web today instead of one or five years from now. If you sign-up IYHY will keep a running, editable list of your “mobile bookmarks”. If you don't sign-up, that's cool too, IYHY will just strip all the crap from a web page and give you the good stuff when you're on the go -- the content.

So, if you use a Treo, or another wireless mobile device with minimal bandwidth, or you just want the content, check out IYHY.com or the founder's blog.

Update 2005-08-22
Dennis Hettema wote in recently to tell me about PHONifier — a tool similar to IYHY.com, but is open source. The advantage being, you could install this tool on your own server and never worry if IYHY.com or other services will be around in the future to serve you.

PHONifier was initially developed to optimize webpages automatically. You set PHONifier.com to be your mobile homepage and then surf the web through the PHONifier proxy. Alternatively, you could install the PHONifier script on your server to have it automatically update your webpages when a mobile device tries to access them. Other uses we're working on are: as an RSS/Atom reader (Already implemented! Give it a try with your favorite RSS feed) and as a proofing/testing tool.

Looks useful, especially for DIY folks that have access to servers and don't mind doing a little installation. Dennis, thanks for the tip! :-)

Technorati Tags: mobiles, palm

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June 4, 2005

PalmSource DevCon: Day Four

Thursday was the last full day of DevCon and I was amazed how quickly time had passed. It seemed as though I'd only arrived the day before, each event blurring into the next. It was for this very reason I'd made the effort to keep notes and (eventually) blog my experiences — so wouldn't lose my memories of DevCon.

Natara Boyz, Part II
On the ballroom level I'd staked out a table and coffee to catch up on email, and was literally replying to Bryan Nystrom's note from the evening before, when he and George walked up. I closed my Powerbook, and took advantage of some undivided time with the Natara crew.

I had a chance to ask a few more Bonsai questions and chat about other items with them, until a few fellow User Council members wandered to our table. We all had a good discussion of our DevCon impressions, up until the first talk of the day.

Dave Fedor on Smartphones
David Fedor (PalmSource) spoke on development for smartphones, which differ in many ways from traditional PDA devices. David spent time explaining PalmSource's view of the smartphone experience: more focused applications, use of d-pads and keys, constant wired access and the distinct nature of a mobile user interface.

I crept out of the next talk on selling software online, to try and get caught up on my blogging. I'd felt the urge to write, but never seemed to have any free windows in which to get writing done. So often this is the case when traveling, so I finally decided to keep detailed outlines and catch up with posts after the fact. I didn't want to m