TamsPalm – the Palm OS / web OS Blog

First Thursday of the month is PalmUserGroup Vienna day – and so we went out to the Salzberg pub for one last time(next time is in Pizza Plus again – finally!!!). I made photos for TamsPalm as usual – so here we go!

At first, Martin tried out my Palm TX’s WLAN connection. The Salzberg offered free WLAN – so why not try it out:

After that, the Aceeca Meazura was shown again – it never fails to impress people:

Suddenly, our Mac freak Herwig arrived, carrying a TV module for his MacBook. The antennae were attached to the central heating, and TV watching/recording could begin:

After that, we discussed a variety of topics ranging from the Apple iPhone to the new Palm clamshell rumor(stay tuned for a mockup by yours truly and some more info on what it will be). Generally, the feeling was that the Palm OS economy is dieing slowly but surely – let’s see how the sentiment is at the German PalmUserMeeting, which I will probably attend too!

It’s the second Thursday of the month(hey, we all still were on vacation on the first) – so its Palm User Group time once again! We met at the Salzberg, a pub with decent food and – most important – free wlan. I made a few photos(as usual)..enjoy!

Initially, only Alex(the organizer) and I were there. We looked at a few gadgets we aquired in the last month:

Alex showed me how Bejeweled for Palm OS affects his Zodiac’s screen protector – a new one has already been ordered!

Alex had a Sony Ericsson Walkman mobile phone with him – it has a dedicated Walkman key(!!!):

The player menu looks very similar to an ipod’s – here are a few shots(sorry, but german):

We talked a (tiny) bit about the iPhone – the lack of third party apps was a major party pooper for both of us. So, at least at the moment, we both stick to Palm OS… After that, Alexander joined us. He also is a Mac user, and so it was ‘win vs mac’ bicker/rant time:

Alexander’s dog is our Palm User Group’s mascot – here is a picture of him next to Alexander and one next to me:

Overall, I did enjoy the meeting – in fact, I enjoyed it very much and will attend the next one for sure. Are there Palm User Groups in your area? Why not send us a report?

This is just a quick ping to all local readers – the vienniese PalmUserGroup meets today, at about 19h local time in the Vienniese Salzberg restaurant.

I will attend from about 19h to 21h(approx, better come early). I am ready to demo the following products on request(aka hands-on time):

• Acceca Meazura
• Documents To Go 9
• Icemat Siberia in.ear headphones

More information on the PalmUserGroup can be found here:
Palm User Group Vienna

It has been a long time since I last attended the vienniese PUG. However, I visited them yesterday-and here are my impressions.

Here is a photo of Alex, our organizer:

Since the pub we were in offered WLAN, a WLAN->BT bridge was created with a notebook(a windows box) and an Epox dongle:

The WristPDA was passed around:

We had an army of notebooks there-and most of them were Apple powered. The Acer Aspire is mine, and it’s the only Windows box…

Indeed, KeyNote(apple’s PowerPoint clone) can create very nice slide transition effects. Here is a short 3gp video of a few rather unimpressive effects(Keynote can do FAR more), but even those let PowerPoint look dumb. Thanks go to Herwig for the presentation!

Windows security also was a topic:

Last but not least, Herwig and I created this insane photo. He tried to photograph him while he photographed me…

Overall, this visit was great fun! I’ll definitely attempt to attend the next meeting…

The vienniese PalmUserGroup meets at the first thursday of each month. Ideas are shared and devices are tested-keep on reading for a short report and lots of photos from the event!

This time, we met in a Pub called Bieramt for a last time. It served the PUG well for almost a year, but staff recently got cocky(e.g. calling me Mr.Palm, being slow, giving cheeky answers, ignoring drink orders,…). Thus, a new meeting spot had to be found-the members shall soon be notified about it. Well, I was there late by a few minutes(I had to write the TE2 article), and immediately bumped into Alex, our coordinator. He proudly presented his latest achievements-a Tungsten C purchased for 240€ with a memory card and an old Treo 270. In return, he was treated to my Palm Vii and stowaway keyboard prototypes-reviews with more images are coming soon. These two circulated among the users on the meeting, along with my SX1, the TE2 article and the advertising stuff I showed in my blog a few days ago(card and magazine).
Eventually, other users trickled in, having a total of two TT2s, three TT3′s, a TC, a V, a Treo 270, a Zire 71 and a Vii accompanied by a huge pile of different mobile phones. These little gadgets provided us with lots of ranting opportunities-we spent like half an hour debugging different configurations(SX1 dials as Nokia 3650, but no SMS).
After that, most problems were solved and the rest was given up.
we then proceeded to swapping different kinds of software using memory cards, Bluetooth and infrared as appropriate. We discussed ideas and problems of the platform in a more or less familiar way. It was very interesting and all the members are already looking forward to the next meeting in February.

How are the PUG’s in your area? Is there one? Please comment!

Scroll down for a few pretty bad photos(the SX1 isn’t all that good in dim light)

Me and Alex, the chairman of the PUG

Alex looking at the StowAway prototype

The Palm Vii prototype next to a Palm V-on protective rag(spilt beer…)

A comrade using his T3

Comparing alu and metal hard cases

Oh no-its Christmas carol time. Damnit…

Swapping some programs. This is the best way to keep yourself current and productive-visit your local PUG!

A T3 and a TC exchanging data via IRDA. Bluetooth or WLAN could not be used, because the two handhelds did not have an equal transfer system…

The first victom of the day-Alex’s Tungsten C crashed. Luckily, unlike my T3 a few days before, a softreset fixed it…

Me and my T3, in the background our palm-user couple