PALM PLACE - News and Views

HARDWARE:REVIEW: LARRY GARFIELD LOOKS AT SPRINT'S TREO 600
While most of us were getting that last minute XMAS shopping in yesterday, it seems Larry Garfield was getting his last review up and posted on InfoSynch. One of my favorite news sources, both InfoSynch and Larry Garfield do an excellent job. So if you got a TREO 600 today, take a look at what Larry thinks about it, or if you need to spend some of that Christmas Cash, maybe a TREO 600 is in your future?


While manyReview: Handspring Treo 600 by Sprint
By: Larry Garfield, Wednesday 24th December 2003, 22:45 GMT companies are heading towards hybrid handheld/phones, Handspring is already there. Larry Garfield oogles at the Handspring Treo 600.
Handspring has long had a reputation for paying attention to the "little details" that make or break a handheld. It's latest, and last independent, device is the Treo 600, which like its predecessor shows an attention to detail and polish that is second to none in the industry today. The Treo 600 replaces the Treo 300 as the standard-setting hybrid device on the market, and the wireless handheld to beat.
Design
The Treo 600 is a tiny candybar unit, which crucially feels more like a phone than a PDA in the hand. Although it is relatively thick it is ergonomically shaped and sits very comfortably in the palm. This is the first reason why the 600 is so good: it is a full PDA with a touchscreen and a thumbboard, and yet its phone features don't feel out of place: one never feels like they're holding a computer to their head. Perhaps most importantly, it's small enough to carry everywhere like a phone.
COMPLETE STORY

NEWS: WAP Energiser Breathes New Life Into Old Content
MobileAware, specialists in delivering Internet content to wireless PDA's. wireless handsets and other portable DATA devices, today announces the availability of its WAP Energiser.
MobileAware’s WAP Energiser is a plug-and-play, ‘device-aware’ real-time engine that, in a mobile environment increasingly characterised by colour screens and greater memory, overcomes the limitations of existing WAP content by inserting colour icons and images, tailoring delivery according to handset capabilities, and providing additional campaign and marketing management tools.
Today there are thousands of WAP content sites accessible by mobile devices. The problem is that most WAP site content is presented in a “one-size fits all” format targeting first generation WAP browsers, resulting in small greyscale text and limited navigation. Recognising this, MobileAware developed WAP Energiser to take bland content and, without changing the code, optimise it in real- time to transform the existing portal into an easily accessible, colourful experience. Automatic generation of access keys for one-touch navigation, softkey labelling and click-through navigation links transform the user experience and create new service and marketing opportunities.
WAP Energiser provides simple web-based site management, and allows marketing teams to become involved in the look and feel of content to deliver consistent branding, campaign management, banner advertising or the running of real-time competitions. More than just a face-lift, WAP Energiser totally revamps the WAP environment for users and creates new market and revenue generating opportunities for operators and content providers.
According to Paul Strzelecki, Executive Chairman, MobileAware: “Presentation is one of the key barriers to even greater uptake of mobile data content – and current WAP presentation is generally dull. Despite this, WAP usage is on the rise with some 29 million page impressions every day in the UK alone.”
“MobileAware’s WAP Energiser represents a huge step forwards in terms of presentation and campaign management that will excite operators and content owners, help to create new services and transform the WAP experience,”
Strzelecki believes the mobile data content market will reach mass consumer levels when the issues surrounding availability and accessibility of content from wireless handsets and its on-screen presentation have been solved.
“With WAP Energiser, MobileAware adds greater value and appeal to already existing content, and solves crucial problems that have dogged WAP from the beginning with a real solution that is available today.”
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Remember there is 6 Days left to WIN in PROPORTA's 12 Days Of CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY and it is not to late to REGISTER to WIN!! Remember, the whole contest culminates on Decmber 24th with one lucky person winning a brand spanking new PDA. (Your Choice of a palmOne Tungsten T3 or COMPAQ IPAQ 4150 !! Not Too Shabby, Eh? ) So get off of your "Sled Seat Polisher" and get REGISTERED!!
REMEMBER THIS: When shopping for that last minute gift for your favorite PDA User do NOT forget our friends at PROPORTA!! They carry a fine line of quality accessories for most all PDA makes and models, and of course the full palmOne line, past and present. Also, PROPORTA now charges only $3.50 to ship your order to the United States, ONLY $3.50 for your entire order!!.


$50 Price drop on the Zire 71 handheld. Now only $249! Plus FREE MP3 Audio Kit and FREE Overnight Shipping!

HARDWARE: palmOne SETS UP SPECIAL HOLIDAY WARRANTY
I thought this little tidbit may be of interest to anyone considering a purchase from palmOne this holiday season. I have to admit, was fairly considerate of palmOne in todays world of the disgruntled consumer. So, here it is for your reading and informational pleasure:

Special Holiday Return Policy
During the busy holiday shopping season, we're making things a little easier on you. Our normal 30-day return policy has been extended for all holiday purchases made between November 1 and December 31, 2003. If you are not satisfied with your gift purchase made during this time, simply return it by January 31, 2004, according to our Return Instructions.

The item must be returned in good condition, in original boxes (whenever possible), and with all paperwork, parts and accessories to ensure full credit. All items properly returned under this policy are eligible for a full refund of the purchase price, minus the shipping, handling, gift wrap, or other charges.

Software and SD Expansion Cards

All software purchases and MultiMedia / SD expansion cards may be returned for exchange or online credit only (no refunds). A MultiMedia / SD expansion card may only be returned if it is damaged or defective. To return Software or SD Expansion Cards, contact a Customer Sales & Service Specialist at 1-800-881-7256 to obtain a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) code and return instructions.

If you should be interested in any other palmOne warranty exchanged info, here is a link to the palmOne Warranty Site
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

Guaranteed delivery by December 25th at the Official Palm Store. NEW Special Offers everyday! Specials start on 12/15 7:30AM EST and ends 12/21 11:59PM EST:
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NEWS: Wireless2Web Founder Receives Patent for LinkPush Technology
Dec. 12, 2003 12:31 PM EST

LOS ANGELES—Richard Helferich, Wireless2Web founder, has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office for its LinkPush technology included in Wireless2Web’s multi-modal TalkBack feature that enables wireless phone users to verbally respond to text messages.
With LinkPush, cell-phone users receive short text messages indicating they have a message waiting and an option of acting on the message, by retrieving, deleting or forwarding it. The solution minimizes clutter on the handset and conserves bandwidth, according to Wireless2Web. “It is as if we sent the user an Internet hyperlink, wirelessly, directly to their wireless device, Smartphone or cell phone,” said Helferich.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

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HARDWARE: palmOne Drops Price On ZIRE 71 DOWN $50
palmOne announced today they are dropping the price of the palmOne ZIRE 71 down to $249, a savings of $50 from the old $299 price tag. In a move to grab last minute Holiday Sales, they have also incorporated their FREE MP3 PLAYER Kit Promotion ($99 Savings) with the price reduction. Not bad, not bad at all. So for those looking for a last, minute gift idea for Post Man or Newspaper Boy, this could be it!!! (And if you do buy one for them, I would like to deliver your newspaper!) So for further details or to order that last minute gift, click on link below.
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


$50 Price drop on the Zire 71 handheld. Now only $249! Plus FREE MP3 Audio Kit and FREE Shipping!
$50 Price drop on the Zire 71 handheld. Now only $249! Plus FREE MP3 Audio Kit and FREE Shipping!

REVIEW: Zodiac Not Quite Star in Handheld Market
I found this review rather enlightening and objective. Picks up on some interesting quirks about the Zodiac. Sounds like SONY is got the "ZODIAC KILLER" in the wings, or so the author believes. And then there is those guys at NOKIA....... Sounds like it's gonna be an interesting future in mobile gaming with integrated devices. Or is it integrated devices with built in mobile gaming? Or is it......

Video Gaming Never Looked So Good On A Handheld Computer.
By ERIK STETSON Associated Press writer
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -

The Zodiac from Tapwave Inc. is a first: a portable digital assistant based on the Palm operating system that's built mainly for playing games.
With a sleek oval design, a snazzy gray-and-silver finish and a thumb joystick, the Zodiac makes Nintendo's Game Boy Advance look like a blocky, budget-level Toyota. Yet while its vivid, 16,000-color display is gorgeous, the Zodiac does have its shortcomings.
Tapwave got plenty right: the six-ounce Zodiac boasts a screen about 50 percent bigger than Palm's top models and on par with Sony's best multimedia handhelds.
Game Boy Advances have twice as many colors, but only a quarter of the screen resolution.
Nokia's new N-Gage, a combination cell phone/gaming device, places dead last here, with only about 4,000 colors, a screen resolution roughly equal to the Game Boy's and contact-lens sized games that are difficult to install.
With a built-in eight-megabyte graphics accelerator, the Zodiac has almost unheard-of muscle among handhelds. And it has stereo speakers and support for headphones and external speakers that enhance music- and video-playing.
The Zodiac offers more input options to game makers and players, with two shoulder buttons and a set of four-way buttons - in addition to the joystick and stylus.
A Zodiac with 32 megabytes of built-in storage costs $300. For $400 you get 128 megabytes. Other high-end handhelds can cost $600 or more. This one even vibrates, and its screen display rotates horizontally or vertically with the tap of a stylus.
But the Zodiac's beefy specs alone won't win it converts.
For one thing, the Game Boy Advance has an overwhelming edge with its titanic library of more than 550 game titles.
Both the Zodiac and N-Gage are scheduled to get less than 25 titles each so far, with the Zodiac getting a few top titles the N-Gage won't, including the role-player Neverwinter Nights and shoot-em-ups Doom II and Duke Nukem.
Also, the Zodiac can't do two things at once. For example, it can't play music while showing stored pictures. This is common in handhelds, but walking and chewing gum at the same time ought to be easy for a comprehensive new entertainment device like this.
Zodiacs also lack certain features increasingly common in high-end handhelds, such as voice recording and a thumb keyboard - or the ability to attach one. The software doesn't link with Microsoft Outlook's e-mail program as a standard feature.
The Zodiac also comes up a little short on multiplayer gaming, offering it only via a Bluetooth wireless connection, which has a range of just 30 feet.
Bluetooth-networked games tended to take at least a minute on average to start when I tested them with two Zodiacs.
A few games didn't connect at all and others, including top offerings like Spy Hunter, were rather sluggish and difficult to control.
Tapwave aimed to beat Sony to the punch with the Zodiac. Sony's PlayStation Portable, promised for late 2004, is being touted as the ``Walkman of the 21st Century.''
Tapwave has partly succeeded. But Zodiacs are only evolutionary, not revolutionary.
I think I'll wait for Sony's attempt
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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HARDWARE: CNET REVIEWS THE TAPWAVE ZODIAC 2 w/128 MEG
The Zodiac is a slick multimedia Palm and portable gaming device, but its success will depend on its game library
The Good: Palm OS 5.2; sleek design; impressive screen; ATI graphics accelerator; Bluetooth; MP3 support; dual SD expansion slots; healthy battery life.
The Bad: Limited number of launch titles; no included conduit for Outlook synchronization; no built-in Wi-Fi.
If you're in the market for a new Palm and you have a bit of gamer in you, Tapwave is hoping you'll consider its Zodiac entertainment console, a groundbreaking PDA that doubles as a portable gaming device. The Zodiac2, which has four times the memory (128MB) of its less expensive little brother, the 32MB Zodiac1, costs $400. That's a lot of scratch for the Game Boy Advance audience but not an outrageous sum to pay for a Palm featuring an impressively sharp, high-resolution screen with landscape and portrait orientation; dual expansion slots; ATI's new handheld graphics accelerator; and a built-in analog game controller.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World


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NEWS : Can Microwave Ovens Effect Your WiFi? You Bet Ya!! With the ever growing popularity of the Wireless PALM, Wireless PDA and of course the Wireless Home LAN it is quite often you see or hear "I wonder if my doodlybugger will interfere with my Palm when I go online" (or Vice Versa) This is a tutorial I came across today that addresses this issue, as well as several different devices, and gives some good answers as well as suggestions on how to deal with potential interference. And remember, just because you don't have a wireless Palm today, doesn't mean you won't have one around, say, December 25th. So everyone needs to CHECK IT OUT!!

Dueling with Microwave Ovens
By Jim Geier
Radio frequency (RF) interference causes wireless clients and access points to hold off transmitting, which causes delay and lower throughput. This resulting decrease in performance can make browsing websites and downloading files sluggish. In cases where interfering signals are strong enough, the wireless clients may not be able to access the LAN at all for an indefinite period of time. This is rare, but possible.

As a result, you need to be aware of potential sources of RF interference, such as cordless phones, other WLANs -- and microwave ovens. In this tutorial, we'll focus on interference that microwave ovens create. Most microwaves emit signals that fall within the same 2.4GHz frequency band that 802.11b WLANs utilize. It's something to think about when deploying.
COMPLETE TUTORIAL HERE

-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, Palm Place and Wireless World

FREE Palm MP3 Audio Kit w/ Palm Tungsten T3 Open Box Handheld!
Special starts on 12/9 7:30AM EST and ends 12/11 11:59PM EST:

PalmOne has agreed to settle a class action brought against it earlier this year by Palm m500-series owners who alleged that the PDA maker had knowingly sold them defective devices.

The case centred on the difficulties some Palm m500 and m505 handhelds experienced when attempting to synchronise with a host PC. A variety of explanations were touted at the time, but the most commonly expressed theory was that the devices were subject to static electricity discharges when placed in the synchronisation/recharge cradle. The discharges were believed to disrupt the synchronisation process.

The problem appeared in July 2001, shortly after the m500 and m505 were launched by Palm, as the company was called back then. By November, PalmOne had acknowledged the fault and offered replacement cradles and handhelds free of charge. It said the issue was not sufficiently widespread to warrant a product recall.

The class action suit was initiated by one Cliff Eley over a year later, in January this year. He claims that PalmOne knew about the problem all along, but shipped the m500 and m505 anyway, hoping that relatively few buyers would be troubled by it.

PalmOne denies the charge, and stresses that the agreed settlement implies no acknowledgement of the veracity of Eley's claim. The deal will provide class action members with a new sync cradle. If that doesn't help, they'll get an SD card containing software to reset the device. If that fails to satisfy, PalmOne will send them a replacement handheld. All of which, is pretty much what PalmOne had offered anyway.

For his part, Eley gets $1000, and the right to apply for PalmOne to pay his legal costs up to $500,000.

The settlement has first to win the approval of the San Francisco Superior Court of California, Judge Richard A Kramer presiding. The settlement will be put before the Court at a hearing to be held on 22 December. The Judge will hear the terms of the deal and any objections from class action members

FREE Palm MP3 Audio Kit w/ Palm Tungsten T3 Open Box Handheld!
Special starts on 12/9 7:30AM EST and ends 12/11 11:59PM EST:

In a holiday season in which the demand for other categories of consumer gadgets is projected to pick up, sales of the personal digital assistant, those pocket-sized gadgets for keeping ad{grv}{grv}dresses and appointments, are down for a second year in a row -- off 15 percent from the peak handheld sales year of 2001.
Many analysts say the future of the handheld market may depend on how well the industry crafts products for the wireless (news - web sites) market, be they souped-up versions of the cell phone or streamlined computers.
For now, while a new and growing audience is lining up for digital cameras, new game devices and digital music players, most handhelds sold are replacements for people who bought handhelds a few years ago, said Stephen Baker, an analyst at research firm NPD Group. "The sad thing is, Palm has better products now than they've had in about five years," he said.
The changing marketplace is one reason the company has embarked on some radical restructuring lately. Palm last month split itself into two corporate entities -- PalmSource Inc., which develops the software used in Palm-compatible handhelds, and PalmOne Inc., one of many handheld-making licensees of that software.
At the same time it split, Palm acquired Handspring Inc., a competitor that was started by some of Palm's founders in 1998. Handspring never made a profit, but some analysts say that's largely because it jumped into an expensive-to-develop product class that the world wasn't ready for. Handspring's Treo line of "smartphones" -- cell phones that incorporate the functionality of a PDA -- are regarded by some as the best in their class, though they haven't been brisk sellers up to now.
"The big issue in the handheld space is whether [PalmOne] can hold onto their identity while getting ready for the next big thing," said Paul Saffo, a research director for the Institute for the Future, a Silicon Valley think tank. "Their salvation is one word: wireless."
So far, handhelds with chips to help users connect wirelessly to the Internet or to their other gadgets are in the minority of handhelds sold. This year, only about 15 percent of PDAs sold include wireless capabilities; Todd Kort, an analyst at research firm Gartner Inc., predicts that the number will double next year because of the cheaper, more battery-efficient wireless chips on the horizon.
Kort predicts that corporate customers wanting to keep their workers wirelessly plugged into the office will help prop up handheld sales for the foreseeable future, though he still doesn't forecast growth for handhelds as a market in general.
Sales of smartphones, on the other hand, are on the rise and are projected to surpass handheld sales for the first time this year. About 13 million smartphones are expected to be sold this year, compared with 11 million handhelds, and the research firm IDC thinks that number will double next year. There is still plenty of room for growth for handheld companies targeting cell-phone buyers for years to come: About 500 million cell phones are bought every year.
If PalmOne is able to figure out how to persuade mainstream consumers to buy a Palm-running smart phone for their next cell phone, it could mean good business for the struggling company. But PalmOne isn't the only company interested in smart phones; Microsoft's Pocket PC software has a growing number of smart phones in its lineup, and cell phone manufacturing giants such as Nokia (news - web sites) are trying to develop their own software for such phones.
While PalmOne's purchase of Handspring gives it a toehold in the nascent smart-phone market, some argue that it's not a major head start. "Palm created a device that was category-defining," said Seamus McAteer, senior analyst for market research and advisory firm Zelos Group Inc. By contrast, the Treo smart phone is "not a category-defining device," he said, because its look does not stand out and some prefer other designs.
Though Palm or PalmOne-branded handhelds are still the most popular in the market, recent years of gadget history suggest that deeper-pocketed competitors can quickly make up lost ground by borrowing good product ideas and implementing them in their own lines of gadgets. PalmOne competitors such as Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites). and Dell Inc., larger players on opposite ends of the handheld market, over the years have moved aggressively to develop products with flashy new features or tempt new customers with low prices.
Citing competitive reasons, PalmOne itself is staying mum about what's next. In a recent analyst meeting in New York, Palm founder Jeff Hawkins, now the chief technology officer of PalmOne, had to walk a fine line of trying to build investor excitement about the company's prospects while not revealing any details whatsoever about what is coming down the line.
Guessing that there are about 1 billion phones in use worldwide today, Hawkins said that PalmOne's future customer base will come from the next billion or so people who buy cell phones -- and then he proceeded to steer the conversation away from cell phones.
"You've got to think about what are the types of things people want to do with mobile devices," he said. "Don't just think about phones. . . . We're not a cell phone company, we're a mobile computing company. And that's the best hint I can give you."
So until PalmOne rolls out its first wave of new products, it's a guessing game for those who follow this industry; in any case, the company has many gadget-loving fans who hope it will succeed, if only to preserve consumer choice in the marketplace.
"Even if, as a consumer, you don't care about Palm, you should," said Saffo, the futurist. "Without [PalmOne], we're all marching lockstep with AT&T and Microsoft. As consumers, I think we should all buy a Palm even if we don't use it -- just to keep the diversity out there."
-Ron Pendleton Associate Writer, PalmPlace and Wireless World

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