2005 December » TamsPalm - the Palm OS / web OS Blog

LifeDrive camera connector is here

Dec 162005

When the Lifedrive first shipped, PDAmexico carried a photo of a so-called LifeDrive camera companion. This device was a little addon that is said to add USB host support to a stock LifeDrive.

Anyways, I just saw this on the german Palm site:
LifeDrive camera connector is here

Translated, the text says as much as:

Unlimited photographing with a digital camera. … Copy files off a digital camera or any other USB file storage device that has the FAT file system straight over to your LifeDrive.Cales are not included

If I interpret this correctly, it looks as if the LifeDrive now can access USB sticks like the latest Fujitsu Loox handhelds are said to be able to do. Accessing an IPOD is now very possible.

However, Palm does not give any information on what the accessoire actually can do(I didnt even find it mentioned on the US site). Can one choose the files to access individually? Is the external media mounted as a VFS volume? Will the device work with a Tungsten T5, E2,… as well? Questions over Questions….

Linux almost runs on TT3 and LifeDrive

Dec 152005

Linux for Palm Inc:s Tungsten T3 and LifeDrive PDA’s is almost done!

According to hack&Dev, Familiar already boots on both handhelds. While there are no prc files for end users yet, it really looks as if we may be rolling very soon!

More news here:
http://www.hackndev.com/news.php

PalmAddict Podcast 26 – The Future of TCPMP

Audio, Multimedia, Palm News, Software, Software News No Responses »

Dec 152005

This week Tyler is interviewing Dan Marlin, the CEO of Corecodec, the makers of TCPMP. I havent finished listening yet, but I have the interview question list, and I know its going to be a great podcast. I won’t try to elaborate on it. Im not going to link to PalmAddict today, because there is nothing in the shownotes. I might as well give you the question list…

1. How did TCPMP and CoreCodec start? Where did you get the names?

2. TCPMP has been an amazing success for every platform you’ve released on so far. It’s literally been mentioned wherever anyone talks about handheld media. Was this something you expected or did the explosive popularity of your application come as a bit of a surprise to you?

3. Version 1.0 has been widely anticipated for the past year or so… how big a milestone is this for CoreCodec, and how would you describe this release?

4. The title of the post you made on the TCPMP forums concerning v1.0 is “TCPMP, set to change the way others think….” Want to elaborate a bit on that?

5. One of your main goals for v1 seems to be to create a software player that’s on par with hardware devices in terms of usability and media management. How are you planning on taking on this big task?

6. You mention briefly in your post that TCPMP will become a dual license software platform, consisting of a GPL piece (open-source) and a closed source piece for licensees. How will this affect the end-user?

7. Any hints on licensees? Is TCPMP something that will be shipping on smartphones and handhelds, or are you going to take a different approach?

8. What about operating systems? In addition to Symbian development, which obviously fits in well with the goal of making TCPMP a universal mobile media player, you also plan to support Linux and Windows. Will this be part of TCPMP, or TCP, your desktop program?

9. You describe CoreTheque in the post as a large backend database… what functions does it serve in the overall life of TCPMP?

10. Media streaming is a very important component of v1. Why do you consider it to be such a big differentiating point, putting you in a group of world-class media players? Would you say it’s the most important advancement of v1.0?

11. With all these improvements in the works and the amazing progression of TCPMP in only two years, it would see like you must have an amazing coding team! Does picard handle it by himself?

12. With all that we’ve heard, I can hardly wait for the official first version release! Do you have an estimated release date?

13. Would you like to add anything about what’s been going on with TCPMP or in general at CoreCodec?

14. Finally, and I try to ask this of everyone I talk to, what Palm device do you use and why did you choose it?

I cant guarantee all of those are answered, but most are, so listen in. (Direct link)

Theme Switcher offline for now

TamsPalm internal 3 Responses »

Dec 152005

Dear Readers,
due to a small bug, we disabled the theme switcher. It will go back online in the next few days, when the white page issue that some readers were experiencing has been fixed!
Best regards and Siorry
Tam Hanna

The HP 1GB SecureDigital card

Memory 4 Responses »

Dec 142005

The HP 1GB SecureDigital card
SD cards are produced by various manufacturers and are relabled by a lot of VAR’s. Today, we will look at a HP 1 GB SD card which is produced by SimpleTech.
My card shipped with FedEx, it took less than 24h for it to arrive in a huge box:

The memory card is packed up in a triangular blister card:

A blue storage box accompanies the SD card. The box can protect a single SD card and seems to be similar to AccuPower’s Accusafe(Review here):

HP’s card ships preformatted. Both a Tungsten T3 and a Tungsten E2 had no problems formatting and using it.

Kopsis VFSmark returned the following values for 3 executions on a freshly formatted card:

Tungsten E2
VFSMark Results

File Create: 460%
File Delete: 313%
File Write: 47%
File Read: 170%
File Seek: 337%
DB Export: 108%
DB Import: 187%
Record Access: 304%
Resource Access: 284%

VFSMark: 245

VFSMark Results

File Create: 192%
File Delete: 159%
File Write: 47%
File Read: 171%
File Seek: 337%
DB Export: 111%
DB Import: 187%
Record Access: 301%
Resource Access: 284%

VFSMark: 198

VFSMark Results

File Create: 194%
File Delete: 160%
File Write: 47%
File Read: 171%
File Seek: 327%
DB Export: 109%
DB Import: 189%
Record Access: 301%
Resource Access: 280%

VFSMark: 197

Tungsten T3
VFSMark Results

File Create: 1050%
File Delete: 894%
File Write: 52%
File Read: 773%
File Seek: 983%
DB Export: 151%
DB Import: 786%
Record Access: 770%
Resource Access: 783%

VFSMark: 693

VFSMark Results

File Create: 259%
File Delete: 246%
File Write: 53%
File Read: 760%
File Seek: 983%
DB Export: 153%
DB Import: 786%
Record Access: 770%
Resource Access: 768%

VFSMark: 530

VFSMark Results

File Create: 260%
File Delete: 243%
File Write: 37%
File Read: 760%
File Seek: 983%
DB Export: 153%
DB Import: 786%
Record Access: 770%
Resource Access: 768%

VFSMark: 528

CardSpeed was also used for benchmarking. The card was formatted right before running the test three times. This led to the following results:

Tungsten E2				Tungsten T3
Time	Wrt32bit	Wrt8KB	Read8KB	Time	Wrt32bit	Wrt8KB	Read8KB
1.64	400	364088	609637	0.7	1236	624152	2912711
5.71	69	92958	609637	5.75	59	97451	2912711
5.88	68	88263	609637	5.16	73	104439	2912711

Overall, the benchmark values are decent. Not really stunning, but not bad either.

However, neither the E2 or the T3 were slowed down in my tests. MP3′s play without lags or jerking, there is no significant delay in opening applications. Plucker has no problems accessing 5MB files from the card, it all works “fast enoguh” for me not to feel it(and I feel speed stuff fast). This card may not be the fastest, but it seems to be very reliable. If a reliable, decently fast card is what you need, this is the way to go. Speed junkies should look elsewhere…

Choose YOUR theme!

TamsPalm internal 3 Responses »

Dec 132005

If you scroll down, you see in the right column a theme switcher. There you can choose the theme which is your favorite. If you choose a theme I haven’t updated yet, you probably can’t choose another one because the theme switcher isn’t built-in yet. But I’m working on it. I would say, it’s BETA at the moment. What do you think?

Another new theme..it will get turbulent here

TamsPalm internal 1 Response »

Dec 132005

Dear readers,
our friend Alexander Gratz is currently experimenting with various settings of WordPress in order to optimize your TamsPalm experience. Please forgive us for any issues you may have while we do the switch!

Feel free to comment what you would like to see!
Best regards
Tam Hanna

Security Panel Update 1.0

Software News 3 Responses »

Dec 132005

A week ago Palm has released Security Panel Update 1.0 for TX, LifeDrive, Tungsten E2, Tungsten T5 and Zire 72. The description of Palm is "This update addresses an issue with the Intrusion Protection feature on your device". I downloaded and installed it on my Tungsten C, and it worked. It seems to work with the most Palm handhelds with OS 5.2 or greater. Palm OS 5.0 hasn’t been tested, Palm OS 4.1 isn’t supported. Does it run on your Palm?

Download: www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/securitypanel.html

–Alexander Gratz

PocketDivXEncoder

Palm News, Software News 3 Responses »

Dec 112005

There’s a project that has been underway for awhile called PocketDivXEncoder. It’s purpose is to provide a quick and easy way to convert video files to a shrunk down version that will fit the parameters of your handheld.

The two output formats are .ogm and .avi which makes it easy to play the files on your handheld using programs like TCPMP. It allows you to crop the video, scale down the video and audio, and see the total output file size. The output quality is excellent and you’ll be surprised how great the quality can still be when you shrink the movie to 180MB or less! The best part is its free! However, please support the author of the program.

More recently, the program was turned over into a different project called Lathe which has more features and a nicer GUI. You can watch a demo video of Lathe here.
Enjoy!

-Brock

Why I am getting a TX

Uncategorized 1 Response »

Dec 112005

Ok, some may have heard, but for those who haven’t, I am getting one for Christmas this year. There are a couple good reasons why I am retiring my trusty TH to get this new device. Ill give the top two here.

Firstly, my TH is dying. It is old, and is falling apart. Besides the numerous scratches on the screen cover, the paint rubbed off of the scroll buttons, and the battery that doesnt work quite like it used to, the plastic around the hinge for the screen cover is cracking. I can’t bear to see it go like this, and I know it isn’t going to last another year. For that reason, I know I am going to have to get a new PDA. This was the easy part. Choosing the new PDA was a little harder.

Well, already knowing I was going to have to find a replacement, I just have to decide which. I could get a Treo, though I am not really into smartphones. I love the large screen on my TH, and so I pretty much resolved myself to getting a PDA with a HiRes+ screen. In the past, I had considered that a future Tapwave device could be my new device, but Tapwave closed that avenue when they closed. With Sony currently also out of the market, I would either have to get a Palm, or cross to the dark side. Even though WM devices are more powerful, I just prefer the simplicity of the Palm. So, this means I have to choose a Palm device. The Palm devices that fall into my specs are the LifeDrive and the TX. They are the only devices with both HiRes+ screens, as well as dual wireless. In the end, I made the decision for the TX because I like that is smaller, and doesn”t have any lag issues. The speed doesnt bother me.

Now you know, feel free to ask questions. Expect a full review when I get it!

-Brad Green

Icemat 2nd Edition Black review

Hardware Reviews 2 Responses »

Dec 102005

Professional gamers discuss mouse pads for a few years. Many developers wonder if they could gain advantages by using one of those-and the Icemat’s manufacturers were ready to cooperate. I ordered a blue mouse pad for evaluation reasons with express shipping-and got a black one with a few days of excessive delay. So, delivery seems to be a problem-please forgive me because of the image quality, but my SX1 has problems with dark surfaces.

The icemat ships in a nice big box that can be used over and over again for travelling with the mousepad:

The mousepad is very big compared to regular ones. Its glass surface feels neither really smooth or rough. Rubber balls at the bottom keep the pad on the table! The pad ships with a few sticky pads called padsurfers-more about them later:

Anyways, a Microsoft ball mouse screeched pretty loud when used without a padsurfer. However, the mouse reacts very well to all kinds of movement. This video demonstrates what I mean.

The padsurfers eliminate the mouse screeching immediately. However, you need to remove the sticky pads from the mouse’s bottom in order to make sure that the ball still touches the surface. Also, you need to push the mouse from the top. People who don’t have their hand on the top of the mouse will have problems because the ball may not touch the pad. Mouse movement becomes extremely smooth. Here is yet another demonstration video. This time, the mouse has two padsurfers on!

The glass surface can be washed under water-so, if it ever gets dirty, just wash it with soap and water:

Lets finish this review with a little hint from our local CS-Progamer: Always turn off the mouse acceleration in the Windows Mouse settings, and use the sensitivity to tune movement. With mouse acceleration turned on, mouse cursor movement no longer is a linear function of hand movement. Beleive it or not, but this helps…

Overall, the icemat is funky! While shipping is a bit problematic, the glass mouse pad does a lovely job on my development box. It now takes less force to move the mouse-this eliminated the pain I have in my mouse hand. The smoothness of the mouse movement is insane. The big size of the icemat makes you have a big area for movement that also will be pretty clean due to the height of the pad. The pad may not be too cheap-but my hand’s painfreeness is worth it!

Insane USB drives

Funny Stuff No Responses »

Dec 102005

Everyone nowadays knows and loves USB drives(or Palm OS handhelds runing Drive Mode, Card reader or sth similar)!

However, did you ever beleive that USB drives exist in the shape of Sushi? Or in the shape of a Sake bottle?

If not, visit this web site and have a good laugh:

http://www.jengajam.com/r/20211

Vibration alarm for the Tungsten TX

Hardware News, Palm News 7 Responses »

Dec 092005

Dmitry Grinberg still doesn’t leave his poor TX alone .

According to an email sent out earlier today, he has just managed to add vibration alerts to his Palm T|X. But lets quote him:

hello,

subj.

yes, is is possible

yes, i did it

yes, it works

no, there is no case modifications needed at all

the cost of all materials is $12

demo video: coming soon

How-to: http://www.palmpowerups.com/priv/diytxvib

the drivers are now avilable here

Another great hack! Congratulations from the TamsPalm team!

Fuel cell powered mobile phone

Hardware News, Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Dec 082005

Fuel cells apperently start to go mobile.
OhGizmo has a first picture of a device that it claims to be a Toshiba mobile phone-powered by a fuel cell. While I am not yet sure about if the device really is made by Toshiba(do they even produce handsets??), the picture clearly shows the tank for the fuel cell:

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2005/12/07/toshibas-methanol-powered-cellphone/

Anyways, the device is pretty thick and probably willnever be released for one simple reason: supply infrastructure. Please keep in mind that you cannot easily recharge a fuel cell at an AC outlet AFAIK, but that you much rather need to get a new “tankful” of gas. And with no gas dispenser networks available so far, I am not sure how they would want to manage that…

What do you think? Is this the way to go?

Older Entries Newer Entries

TamsPalm – the Palm OS / web OS Blog

LifeDrive camera connector is here

Linux almost runs on TT3 and LifeDrive

PalmAddict Podcast 26 – The Future of TCPMP

Theme Switcher offline for now

The HP 1GB SecureDigital card

Choose YOUR theme!

Another new theme..it will get turbulent here

Security Panel Update 1.0

PocketDivXEncoder

Why I am getting a TX

Icemat 2nd Edition Black review

Insane USB drives

Vibration alarm for the Tungsten TX

Fuel cell powered mobile phone

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