TamsPalm - the Palm OS Blog

Verizon, the more conservative of the two major US CDMA carrier, has just made a few announcements/moves that potentially are interesting for most of us - here’s a short summary of what’s upcoming:

Palm Treo 755p hits Verizon
Verizon’s B2B site now lists the Treo 755p as coming soon - a teaser page allowing users to register for updates has been posted here. Apparently, the company will get a custom, lighter-blue finish - at least that’s what the promotional image shows:

CDMA network will be opened for other devices
Up to now, the only way to get a device onto the Verizon network was to purchase one from them - Verizon’s CDMA devices are identified by the modem’s serial number rather than a SIM card(like a GSM box has). Verizon has recently announced that they will now allow “unsupported” devices onto their network after “some testing” - involving basic network compatibility tests being performed for a “reasonable fee”.

IMHO; this still does not grant users the kind of freedom known in GSM networks; but should increase the list of handsets available do Verizon customers as manufacturers get their devices passed through Verizon’s basic testing even if they are not officially listed/rebranded/distributed as Verizon phones.

Longterm-Palm-employee Mike Mace has posted an interesting article about this onto his blog - definitely worth a read if you wish to know more about what/why Verizon does what it does, and more importantly which important questions remain open!

What do you think?

PDA performance has just sent out an email to all the folks who had signed up to be notified for new news (if that’s correct grammar) on Saguaro, the multitasking widget interface for PalmOS.

The Email was “lacking” (it was simply a giant image saying ‘2 days’) but I guess that’s enough.

So, in two days we will finally see Saguaro, and expect full coverage on TamsPalm!

Currently, the developers of the Linux distribution Kubuntu are asking their users which additional applications could be integrated into the next version of the distribution. People which have created an account on the Wiki page can write new propositions or add checkmarks to existing ones.

As I am looking for a solution which enables me to sync my Palm (and Pocket PC) with my Linux computer, I added “a good and reliable solution to synchronize data with Palm PDAs and Pocket PCs“. There are a few programs (KPilot, for instance, or SynCE for Pocket PCs), but none of them really worked here. One didn’t find my PDA, another one cleared all databases (!). Syncing my Pocket PC was even more difficult, I had to do much on a console (which I hate) and it never worked stable. And after a reboot, I could do the whole procedure again.

What I want is a synchronization solution which needs one little and easy configuration. After that, it should work stable and reliable. The next version of Kubuntu will be released next year. If there will be a better PDA support then, I will probably install it on my computer.

Do you want this, too? Or how do you sync your Palm with Linux? If you are also interested in this feature, you can write that onto the Wiki page, or, if you don’t want to register there, you can write a comment here.

A while back Dmitry Grinberg released a small application that would hard reset your device for you, without using the hard buttons. This was released because quite a few devices have/had faulty power buttons that prevent a user from hard resetting their device.

Well, while fooling with my third bricked T|X (Yep, it bricked already) I found that by holding all four power buttons in the right way, you can actually preform a hard reset without using the power button!

The steps are more-or-less as follows:

1. hold all four hard buttons (home, calendar, tasks and web)
2. When the black progress bar on the first screen reaches 100% it should stay until you let go of the buttons.
3. Let go of the buttons and the split second the device switches to the grey palm powered screen reapply the buttons.
4. wait a few seconds and release the buttons. With any luck you will be shown the “Are you sure you wish to erase all data screen.”
5. Press up to complete the hard reset.

Watch a video showing the procedure.

Did this work for you?

Just to clear things up folks, the steps are to be done as it is resetting! ~Ryan

Previous rumors have claimed that a 10-inch eeePC called 10xx will be launched a few weeks after the current 7xx lineup; causing many people(like me) to not buy an eee with a 7″ screen. BrightHand has managed to speak with an Asus spokesperson who denied that a 10″ version is upcoming.

This announcement comes as a bit of a surprise for me; given that all previous rumors mentioned the eee coming in two different screen sizes. Asus has little reason to push demand for the 7″ version(at least in Europe and the USA); as the company isn’t even capable to supply the press(forget retailers and amazon.com) with enough devices for evaluation. So, this could mean that the 10″ version has finally been axed - or that it is postponed until the next version of the eeePC planar becomes available with overall updated system specs..

Get the full scoop here:
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13508

P.s. TamsPalm is currently trying to get an official statement off an Asus Austria spokesperson - stay tuned!

Previous versions of DocumentsToGo 10 supported reading/displaying received Office 2007 files. DocsToGo 10.002 is a free upgrade for all owners of any 10.x version…and it can now SAVE files in the format of Microsoft’s new office suite….

The file manager makes no difference between classic and new files - the selected file in the image below is a “new” one, all others are classic:

Unfortunately, the most important switch is well-hidden in a Prefs menu. It controls the ‘working mode’ of DocsToGo:

If the program is in Office 2007 mode, all newly created files can be saved ONLY in the new format. If the program is in ‘compatibility mode’, no Office 2007 files can be created. As an example, the images below show SheetToGo’s Save File dialog - once in Office 2007 mode, once in ‘compatibility’ mode:

Last but not least, here are a few short sample files created on the go and saved as Office 2007 documents:
Excel 2007
SheetToGo managed my test sheet consisting of a sine and a cosine plot and an XY chart excellently - here’s the xlsx file for your viewing pleasure:

PowerPoint 2007
SlideshowToGo has always been a tool for “text editing” rather than tackling images and styles - my small test presentation was managed well(pptx file here):

Word 2007
Word 2007 has disappointed me a bit, as the add table function was “disabled” while in Office 2007 mode. I kept tapping the menu - but nothing happened. However, the rest has worked well as usual(docx file here):

Cutting a long story short: Palm users can now create Office 2007 files on the go. However, I don’t see myself using this much - all major Office suites(including Ribbon Office…ah, sorry, 2007) can read Microsoft’s classic file formats…so why isolate the millions and millions of people who chose not to update to Office 2007…

PalmOne Files is an application that debuted on the Tungsten T5 and has been included since then on the Lifedrive and newer Treos. One of the most useful features was the Open File menu option it created in Blazer seen here.

Selecting “Open File” will allow you to browse to the local file you want to open.

Now when we delete PalmOne Files 2.0 from the Lifedrive, and install version 2.1 from the newest Palm smartphone - the Centro - this menu option mysteriously disappears on my TX.

Palm, what happened to it?

Dmitry Grinberg of PalmPowerUps.com has just issued a challenge on the 1src forums: Guess the birthady of his girlfriend and win a z22!

The contest goes on for the next week, and in the event of a tie, it goes to the earliest poster, so hurry up!

http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1021090#post1021090

This ROM update is NOT suitable for bluetooth-enabled Meazuras - please contact your Aceeca representative for further information!
Aceeca has just informed us that a new ROM update is available for the Meazura. This free update adds/fixes the following:

Improvements

• Improved low battery handling.
• Improved wrong battery handling.
• Inhibiting charger if battery is removed whilst charger is plugged in.
• Improved keypad status polling, (pwr button sometimes required 2 presses).
• Fixed a bug that resulted in some apps, (FileZ), not working correctly.

The update can be downloaded from Aceeca’s firmware update thread(scroll to the bottom of the page):
http://www.aceeca.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33

If you are like me, then you are spelling impaired, but are there any solutions for this problem on a Palm device? Most of you probably know Documents To Go Premium Edition has a spell checker, but how about something else that is easily accessible in all applications? I use a little-known, not in active development spell checker called Spell5. It is totally Free, and works great. But no, it does not automatically underline every misspelled word like on your desktop, but it does work with the Clipboard in kind of a cool way. It automatically Copies/Pastes to and from the Clipboard (and the Cutpaste5 Clipboard if you have that installed) when you start Spell5, and when you exit it. So to check the spelling of of a word or block of text you would have to do something like this:

Copy to the Clipboard whatever you want to spell check.

Exit your currently running application and launch Spell5. Spell5 will then automatically paste the text from the Clipboard into its text field.

Where you can then hit the “Check” button to check the spelling. It will then check the spelling by showing the misspelled word with a list of correct choices (much like when you right-click a misspelled word in Windows).

Where you can either Replace/Skip/Learn/Cancel the current operation. Once you exit Spell5, it will copy the contents of its text field (the one that you just corrected the spelling of) back to the Clipboard, where you can then paste the correctly spelled text to wherever you need. You may be asking, that I stated a spell checker that was “easily accessible from all applications”, and this didn’t fit those guidelines. Well I myself use a great Shareware Application from Alex Pruss called OnTop that will allow you to launch Applications on top of others, instead of having to exit the currently running program. This works beautifully in conjunction with Spell5 to make spell checking text very easy, but this does not mean you have to have OnTop to use Spell5, it just makes it more convenient.

What do you think?

TamsPalm reader John has sent in further information on the GSPDA XPlore M70s which we covered yesterday:

I ordered my M70 “S” from Hong Kong today (I live in Taiwan, so it is very close). You can check it out on the GSPDA website:
http://www.xplore.com.hk/prod.php?lang=en

I originally phoned the company in Hong Kong to get details. They said that the model is brand new (about a month), and if I wanted one I had to come to their offices in Hong Kong to buy it. Then I looked on Ebay. I only found one, so I bought it.

The specs are EXACTLY the same as the M70. The only difference I can find is a new chapter in the owner’s manual on “Security”. I think that the security update is simply a software update, but they made a new box for the phone (the black one). The lady I spoke with in Hong Kong swore that the phone is new - but could not tell me what was new. Her English was not great, and my Mandarin is not that good either.

It is only a little more expensive, so I went for this model. You can also check out the Ebay listing where I purchased mine.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280175937596

Essentially, John’s experiences with GSPDA are similar to mine - communicating with the company is very difficult; and getting a loaner sample from them is impossible. Their press team was completely useless when I communicated with them a few months ago - I can only hope that their customer care is better.

A little sidenote: Expansys has just informed me that they estimate my M70 to ship around the 15th of December…

After the dropout of Kyocera and Samsung, Palm’s Treo/Centro lines are the only Palm OS powered smartphones widely available. A small manufacturer called Group Sense(GSPDA for short) has offered Palm OS phones with moderate success(partly due to their extremely poor press support) for quite some time; and their top-of-the-line model M70 has just received a small update called M70s:

Specs

• Tri band: GSM 900/ 1800/ 1900MHz
• Palm OS® 5.4 Garnet
• Display: 260K Color, 2.2” TFT 176 x 220 pixels, touch screen
• Push Email
• One touch Email function
• Bluetooth communication and synchronization
• SMS Alarm
• Video Caller Display
• Full screen Chinese and English handwriting input
• 1.3 mega pixels CMOS camera, with digital zoom function
• Video recording and playback (support MPEG 4 and 3GPP format)
• MP3 ringtone and playback
• 40 poly ringtone, support MIDI and MP3 format
• Email support (POP3, SMTP) with viewing and editing attachment function (in conjunction with application software)
• Support GPRS Class 10/ xHTML/ WAP 2.0/ MMS/ SMS
• External SD card expansion slot
• Bluetooth, Infrared and USB connectivity
• Exciting Palm games
  
  * Network dependent features may require relevant subscription service

When comparing the M70S’s stats to the classic M70, the only difference is the black case(M70’s have a silver case) and the included security software. Indeed, TamsPalm commenter John managed to confirm that the phones are indeed the same(except for added security software that seems to do little according to the user manual):

have you seen the new M70 “S” - I phoned the GSPDA folks in Hong Kong and they insist it is a new phone - although all I can see from the new manual posted on their site is a new chapter on the “Security” system. Looks like the same phone body with additional (and rather cool) security software. The lady I spoke with in HK kept insisting that the “phone” was new - but when I asked if it was the same as the M70, she said yes. But then I asked what the difference was and she couldn’t tell me.

Hmmmmmmm

There is one for sale on Ebay for about USD216

This delay could of course explain the delay experienced in getting a hold of our sample…

Asus eeePC has been covered on TamsPalm multiple times in the past - Asus’s press agency just informed us that the eeePC is dominating amazon.com and CNET bestseller/most wanted lists:

Amazon lists the device as #1, followed by a HP notebook. The eeePC currently is out of stock; no delivery date is given.

At CNET’s, the device no longer is #1 but rather has fallen to #7; CNET’s merchants also don’t have any eee’s in stock.

For me, the main issue with the eee is not interest but rather stock. The eee is said to launch in Austria in December, but HOW should this be accomplished if the company can’t satisfy the US market. Getting on top of the best-seller list is easy…because the boxen aren’t sold yet. Many customers will cancel their orders if the boxen don’t ship soon…making this a phyrrus victory for Asus.

P.s. Asus’s austrian press department Flutlicht has some eee’s; but has not yet felt like sending us a sample. A Flutlicht employee disclosed to me that their test pool is ‘extremely limited’…if they can’t even supply the press….

Apparently, Apple’s latest iPhone ad(featuring a pilot who claims that the weather information provided by his iPhone is more accurate than the tower’s) has already begun to annoy pilots.

A plane’s takeoff was slightly delayed due to rain. An iPhone user checked the weather online and went on to ask the crew what really was the reason for the delay(as his iPhone indicated that there was no rain). The captain’s response was priceless:

“If the passenger with the IPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave.”

While the authenticity of the story can never be proven; I still got a good laugh out of it…enjoy!

via PlaneBuzz