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Saturday, August 25, 2007

Palm: We haven't given up on you yet

I couldn't agree more with engadget when they say it's time for Palm to make some drastic changes.

Indeed, Palm is going down the drain. I still remember Palm as the leading handheld computing company in the world. But it has lost the market share to Window Mobile device. The specification of the latest Treo680 and Palm TX isn't quite impressive as compared to the Window Mobile counterparts. Although I do feel that PDA and smartphones should be kept simple, there is also a need to be cutting edge. Give us some impressive features that will make us all say "Wow".

The folks at Engadget really nailed the problem. They make a detail analysis of things that need be done for palm to be back on track. While I do not agree with all the points made, I do feel that most of them are quite useful.

I agree with all the points made about the hardware. Seriously, Treo is lagging behind. Most smartphones come with WIFI and are thin and stylish looking.

Software wise, I don't think multitasking is important. Yes, it is good to have, but not a killer feature. The existing UI is good, but perhaps need some updating to keep up to date. Instead of a complete overhaul of the OS, I think updating is good enough. Even the iPhone interface is somewhat similar to PalmOS. This shows that the UI is on the right track. Never, I say again, Never go the same way that Windows Mobile is going. The UI is horrible.

On top of that, Palm also need to include more bundled software. A better web-browser, a better email reader and media player. The Doc-To-Go office applications is good so keep bundling them with new Palm devices.

Other stuff like being being open to customers about the development and more support for developers are good suggestions. I truly believe that it is important to win back developers to write applications for Palm. Give them more support and access to source code to help them write more application for Palm platform.

But one thing I disagree has got to be on Foleo. I do feel that Foleo can be a successful product. But the first version will be problematic. Allow this product line to grow. I feel that there is a market for it.

I think everyone is surprised when Ed Colligan replied to the open letter published in Engadget. That is the first step to making a comeback. I'm glad that Palm is listening. Ed said that he forwarded the entire executive staff. Lets us all hope that the list of suggestions is in good hands. We are looking forward to the day when Palm make a come back. To the good old days when Palm release cutting edge products like Palm Pilot, Palm III, Palm IIIc, Palm V, Palm m505, Treo 600, Palm TT, Palm T3 and Palm TX.

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Friday, June 01, 2007

Foleo - Palm's secret weapon

For the past few years, Jeff Hawkins was mentioning that he is working on a "secret weapon". And yesterday, Palm finally released the long awaited secret weapon, Foleo.



In case you didn't already know, I'm a fan of Palm. I started using Palm III in year 2000. It was a second hand set that I bought from my sister's friend. Ever since then, I feel in love with Palm. I bought a Palm T3 when I started working and I upgraded to TX as soon as it hit the market. I'm still using TX now, although abit under-utilized.

Anyway, back to Foleo. Its a whole new product direction by Palm. They feel that the future of mobile computing will be small devices in the pocket which stores all the datas and a large screen device to managed it.



I guess the best thing about Foleo is its instant on/off. When you are on the go, there is no time for you to wait for the laptop to bootup. You want to type an email fast and move off quickly once you are done.

The battery life is great. 5 hours! It runs on Linux. Light weight with a 10 inch screen. I hope there will be lots of applications for it.



Still not exactly sure about the full specs. This is what I manage to get from the web.

Primary Capabilities and Attributes of the Foleo Mobile Companion
-- One-button access to full-screen email
-- Instant on, instant off
-- Rapid access to various applications
-- 10-inch screen and full-size keyboard
-- Web search and browsing via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
-- Editors for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus a PDF viewer
-- Compact, stylish design that fits on an airline tray table
-- Lightweight at 2.5 pounds
-- Fast, simple and intuitive navigation
-- 5-hour battery life
-- Linux OS for easy application development


What is the processor speed? How much disk space does it has? Is it using Non-Volatile File System (NVFS) like other palm devices? There are so many questions unanswered.

It should be out in the market soon. Going to cost USD$499.



I'm not sure if this is going to pull Palm out of the danger zone. I like the idea behind it. In fact, I've been thinking of something similar to this. But I don't think I'll buy it. It has to go together with a Treo to make full use of its capabilities . I love my K800i's camera so much that I won't give it up for any phone with less than 3.2megapix camera. But I believe that this is the way mobile computing should go. Its sad that the folks at SPUG aren't supportive towards it.

Will Foleo be the next PalmPilot or Treo? I hope it will.

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Monday, January 29, 2007

Saguaro beta tester

I've been selected for Saguaro beta tester. YIPPIE!!!

But not free to test it lately. Hopefully can find some time next weekend.

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007

It's a PDA

Went for RT today. My 2nd session. Supposed to be the 4th, but 31 Dec and 2 Jan are public holidays.

Well, as usual, we are suppose to surrender any laptop, PDA, thumbdrive or camera (inclusive of handphone with camera) at the guard room before entering the army camp. The most commonly surrendered item is the camera phone. Nowadays almost everyone got a phone with a camera.

I had my hand phone and PDA with me. So I went over the guard room, fill in a small piece of paper and pass the restricted items to the guard commander.

The guard commander looked at my PDA and pause for awhile. Then he looked at me and ask "What is this huh?"

*Slap forehead* It's a bomb detonator lah.

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Monday, January 08, 2007

Saguaro

Something big in the PalmOS world



Coming in 2007.

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Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Palm TX to meeting

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Was dragged to attend a last minute meeting at another office. The meeting is expected to end at 6pm. As I will not be returning to my office after the meeting, I was abit lazy to bring my writting material along. Instead, I just use my Palm TX to take down all the notes.

I bet I look very funny at the meeting today. Imagine everyone with either a writting materials or a laptop and I'm having a tiny PDA. But hey, my TX can do just about everything.

I jot down notes using note pad.
I check schedule on my calendar.
I note down action item on my to do task.

Sometimes I wonder why did I still bother to bring writting materials to meeting.

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Friday, October 27, 2006

Surf's up


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This is going to change the way palmOS owner surf the net.

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Universe3

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I'm excited......

New of an Open Source PalmOS web browser call Universe 3 is currently under going developement.

Features includes:
A Tabbed interface (supporting up to 3 tabs)
An address bar featuring a url box and navigation buttons
An Integrated RSS reader
Private browsing (mask the history, cache and cookies)
Support for JPEG, GIF, BMP and PNG (with alpha channels) images
Support for HTML/XHTML/WML/RSS 1.0/2.0
Support for WAP 1.0/2.0
Support for Hires and Hires+ screen sizes

Future Features includes:
Advanced 5-Way scrolling (based off of the Nokia S60 Browser)
Removing the 3 tab limit JavaScript support (using Apple's JavaScriptCore)
gzip Compression for a faster browsing experience
Opening and saving files to the local file system

Can't wait to get my hands on it.

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Saturday, October 14, 2006

Thanks Ed

I woke up on 13 Oct 2006 feeling excited. It was 7:30am. I knew that palm had a press conference while I was asleep. We all knew that Palm will be announcing new devices. Everyone was excited. Some people thought you will be releasing a model to replace the now 1 year old palm TX. Or a new Palm E2.

I connect my palm TX to the internet and use Quick News to download the latest RSS feed. Weekday morning is always a rush for me. While Quick News is downloading the latest updates from my RSS feed, I was rushing to get ready for work. I didn't had time to read until I reach the train.

Went to palm addict news feed first. And indeed there is news of a new device by palm. Treo 680. Almost similar to Treo 650, except they come in 4 sporty colours and no antenna. FINALLY.... a smart phone without antenna.

I'm actually not very interested in a smartphone. I still like my Sony Ericsson K800i alot. But its nice to know that Palm finally released a new PalmOS Treo. At least its not a WM.

Actually, I'm looking to see if Palm had released any new PDA. I scroll thru the entire palm addict RSS feeds. Nothing. I guess the PDA market is still not big enough. Which is really sad. After all, Palm made its name by selling PDA. And palm has always been makers of great PDA like Palm III, Palm Vx, Tungsten T3 and Palm TX.

There are still a lot that Palm can improve on the TX. For example faster processor and higher capacity battery. And perhaps a VGA screen and a delicated chip for music playback. I know I would buy the new PDA from Palm if they release 1. But sad to say, there isn't any.

Thanks a lot Ed. For helping me save money.

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Me Computer Geek


Bought a Belkin 4 in 1 PDA stylus pen from someone online. Met him at Yishun MRT after work today.

This is the 2nd time I'm meeting online seller at Yishun MRT this week. Don't know why I like to buy things online lately. And don't know why they all choose to meet at Yishun. Well... Since I'll be passing by Yishun on my way home, why not?

I've always wanted to get a pen with stylus. Although I don't know why exactly I need a pen with a stylus. I guess that is what makes me a computer geek. Somehow, I just find it cool to have a pen with stylus.

Crazy.

Anyway, the pen is kinda cool. Other than a PDA stylus, it also have a black pen, red pen and a mechanical pencil. I got it at $15.

That guy is also selling this Belkin Quadra 4-in-1 Stylus Pen at $20. Its the same as the one I bought from him, but has additional laser pointer and led light. More geeky!!! But I don't like the look of the pen. The base of the pen looks.... errr... weird.

So decide to be slightly less geeky. :P

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Sunday, September 17, 2006

Astraware freebies

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Astraware is giving out some free games for PalmOS.

Ok, from the list, only Bang Bang seems interesting.

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Saturday, September 16, 2006

Noah Pro and Thesaurus

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I don't know if this is a good news or bad news.

The creator of Noah Pro and Thesaurus has closed down its business. For those uninitiated, Noah Pro is a dictionary for Palm OS. This means that there will be no more developement for this great software.

But the creator has decided to give out the software for free. You can download it here if you have a Palm OS device.

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Sunday, June 11, 2006

Stereotyping guys with soccer

Whenever I tell someone that I don't really watch soccer, they gave me a shock expression. Most people will assume that all guys watch soccer, support at least 1 soccer club and can talk about soccer 24/7.

Well, I don't. And I know some guys who doesn't too.
Are guys being sterotyped? I think so.

And the sterotyping is getting from bad to worst. The media is now sterotyping guys by saying that they will dump their wife/gf over world cup. And soccer is the most important thing in life. There is even a new term for gf/wife who were neglected during the world cup. They are call soccer widow.

Come on lah. Got that serious meh?

Anyway, I don't really watch much soccer. But then, its the world cup. Maybe I'll find a few friends to go pub for a drink and watch a match. Its more for the mood and get together rather than soccer.

Oh ya. If you have a PalmOS PDA, you can try downloading this program that helps keep track of matches and scores. Cool huh?

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Sunday, October 23, 2005

Living with Palm TX

Okie, I know I'm going to write alot about my new toy. So I've created a new blog for it.

Living with Palm TX

Enjoy!!!

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Tuesday, October 18, 2005


Hello from TX

Hiyee!!!

I'm fooling around with my TX again. Hey look!! Blogging on TX!

:D Thanks to u*Blog.

**Okie, I cheated abit. I use my PC to upload the pictures and add the hyperlink**

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Sunday, October 16, 2005

2 years late


The salesperson said it is 2 years late. True, I remember wishing for such a specs from palm 2 years ago. And it is finally here.

Been busy playing around with my TX this few days. Will write a more detail report later.

WIFI on PDA is the way to go man..... :)

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Monday, October 03, 2005

Treo on Window Mobile

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It took me quite some time to accept the fact that Palm (Once known as PalmOne) is going to release a Treo running Window Mobile platform. After all, Palm and Window Mobile has always been rival.

But after sitting down, and think about it, you feel that it is actually something inevitable. Treo is a very good product, the only shortcoming is that it is unable to convert Window Mobile die hard fans out there. If Palm don't do anything about it, they might end up losing that pie to other Treo wannabe. Palm understand that it cannot survive on palmOS alone. It has to make device on other OS. Although it is sad to see that they choose Window Mobile, but it is the best choice available. After all, revenues made from Window Mobile devies will ensure that Palm doesn't close down. If palm doesn't close down, it will contuine to make PalmOS device.

Some might argue that it might cause existing Treo user to jump to Windows Mobile. But on the other hand, it might also cause some Window Mobile users to jump over to PalmOS. So what difference does it make?

Another worries from PalmOS die hard fans is that Palm might neglect PalmOS and change its focus on Window Mobile. But I personally feel that so long as there is a market for palmOS device, we will contuine to see palm making them.

Nothing much will change when palm release window mobile treo. But this move is maybe a wake up call for PalmSource.

PalmOS market share has been decreasing rapidly lately. Not because PalmOS is not good enough. But PalmSource failed to get enough quality companies to produce device on PalmOS platform. 2005 see Sony and Tapwave leaving PalmOS. Lesser companies making PalmOS device means lesser palmOS device owner and lesser developer willing to release software on palmOS platform. Although LG will be coming out with a plamOS phone, I don't think it is enough to fight with Dell and HP whom are leaders in Windows Mobile.

I don't want to make this post a PalmOS vs Window Mobile thread. It's a pointless debate. Both have their own pros and cons. They suits different group of people. Just like some people look better in T-shirt while other look better in tubes. It really depends on the person. But seriously, if PalmSource want to gain back the lost market share, they really need to get in some hardware superpower to license their OS.

I personally hope that Lenovo (which bought over IBM's laptop and desktop business) will license PalmOS. IBM has experience in palmOS device. Although nothing special since it is the same as Palm's device. But Lenovo is the only major hardware maker that is not under window mobile. I believe with Lenovo's position, it should be able to bring palmOS device to the china market and the rest of the world.

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