We finally did it..outta here

Dear readers,
this is the famous last call! We have now moved over to
http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com
This clog will still stay online, but we will move the content over to its new home in this week! Please visit us there for a scoop on the TE2, a new author and many more TamsPalm articles!!
Best regards
Tam Hanna

TamsPalm will move soon

Dear readers,
this is a message just in case you were wondering. TamsPalm will move to WordPress hosting directly on Tamoggemon.com in order to avoid many of the blogspot-related problems that we currently have!
You can check the current state of the procedures here:

http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com

New articles will no longer appear here, but from now on, at the new site. Please leavwe comments here or on the new site to notify us about comments wishes,....
Best regards and thanks
The TamsPalm team

Vending machines for Ipods and mobile phones are a good idea

When Apple first deployed its ipod vending machines(Gizmondo has the scoop and images), most people beleived that this would not be specially useful because the ipods simply didnt contain any music and also werent charged. Vodafone now follows suite and sells pre-paid cell phones in another vending machine.
Vodafone's idea is a steap forward, as the phones can immediately be used out of the box. There is cash on the card, you have a number, you just need to charge the phone a bit(if it isnt already charged like my T630i was) and go. It dfinitely is a good choice for people who want to stear away from high roaming costs IMHO.

Anyways, there is one company I realy miss here: Palm. Palm-lets ignore their sometimes horrid device quality and customer care for now-has everything it needs to power such a shop. It has cheap, simple-to-use handhelds that can be sold easily-and it has NVFS technology. Due to NVFS, the handhelds could survive longer in the vending machines as they needed less current to stay active. The "shelf life" would be limited by the batteries self discharge rate, which is pretty low. If such a handheld is packed up with DocumentsToGo, VersaMail, Blazer and a few games/apps in thr NVFS area, it can be used right out of the box just like a cellphone can.

This would IMHO appeal to many users and would be a very effectuive way to sell the "low-end" boxen. I dont mean LifeDrives and Tungsten X's here, but rather a Tungsten E2, a Z22, a Z31 and such stuff. As long as the device isnt DOA when you take it out of the machine, it may lead to a satified customer(simplifies impulse buying). Palm would bcome independant of tzhe expensive human-operated stores, and thus could rach even "remote areas" with their handhelds. Usually, people are OS loyal-so if someone once has a PalmOS handheld, there is a high chance that he will stick to it. So, PalmSource could maybe make a buck and some market share here as well-buy a bunch of Palms, and offer it to the manufacturer of the ipod vending machines,.... .

Do you think this is a good idea?

Mini's WiFi patch for Clies

A 1src member named Mini recently posted something very interesting. They put up a WiFi patch that they say enables any Clies with a CF slot to work with any CF WiFi adapter. I have no way to know if it works, but if you have the right handheld, but were never able to find the Sony branded WiFi cards (my local CC still carries them), then this is the patch for you. Here is a link to the 1src post with the info.

TamsPalm.de: New summary online!

It's Sunday again and the new summary is available. Just take a look at TamsPalm.de!

The AquaPac small reviewed

Proporta.com recently provided TamsPalm with a few samples of their products. The first reviewing candidate is the AquaPac. I received a small version. The envelope was pretty stuffed(click all images for bigger versions):

Some of the packages were slightly dented, but the contents all were in good state. This is the AquqPac's shipping package:

The AquaPac itself is blue and ships with a multi-language manual that explains that one should check the pack before using and that one shouldnt use it in hot water or leave it in the sun:

An Aquapac has a transparent and a nontransparent side. The handheld can be used in the pack if the screen points to the transparent side:

The pack is locked with the two yellow handles on the clip. You have to rotate them upwards and click them in at the top in order to open the case . If you dont click them in, the case doesnt open:


The mechanics revealed look unstable, but they work better than one may beleive. I really liked the creative design and the reliability. And, you have two years of warranty anyways!

We tested the case with a Palm Vii:

a Palm V

and a Tungsten T3:

Each of the three units floated on the water and had to be pressed in order to push the pack under the water. The transparent front allows operating the handheld even under the water, the digitizers of all units worked well. However, my T3's softcase didnt fit in:

The carrying band is useful, but gets soaked and thus transfers water/gets wet. A synthetic band would have worked better...

Overall, the AquaPac is useful and sturdily built. It protected the gadgets reliably in the tests, but the problem is if the handheld is in the pack when it meets water. I prefer to keep my handhelds outside of the October/thaaquapac if there is no apparent risk of soaking. Accidents-thats why they are called accidents-usually happen when one is not prepared. So, this thing is not designed to transform a stock PDA into a ruggerdized handheld tank like the Acceca Meazura. However, if you need to temprorarily protect your handheld from water and dust, this is guranteed to satisfy your needs!

Palm OS Virii-the definitve list

We wrote about the uselessness of PalmOS antivirus programs on TamsPalm quite some time ago. Anyways, here is a list from F-Secure that contains all virii known to them. Just click the links for more details about these mostly harmless companions:


PalmOS/Vapor

Palm/MTX_II.A, Palm_MTX, SABiA_II, I-Worm.Sabia Palm component


PalmOS/Phage

PalmOS/Liberty

By the way, to cut a long story short, I have not yet been able to get hold of any of those programs. if someone has them, please inform me!

Avvenu Review

Avvenu is a free service which enables you to access your desktop computer's files from anywhere in the world - you just need a broadband connection (you don't need, but it is recommended as ou need an active internet connection) and your computer with installed Avvenu running. Then you can access every file on your computer from every internet-enabled device in the world. You can download files, view pictures, and upload files.

Getting started

First, you need to download an application that enables your computer to Avvenu. You must browse to http://www.avvenu.com and click on "Sign up". Then you can download it. After the installation assistant has completed, you can sign up. It needs you real name, your mail address, a username and a password:


That's it, you just need to choose a name for that computer (you can use more than one computer with your account, and you must know which computer you mean, so choose a clear name ;-)) and you need to enter your proxy setting (if availible).

Accessing your desktop

Now, Avvenu is active on that computer. So, if your computer is turned on and connected to the internet you can access your files, from anywhere in the world, by browsing to http://share.avvenu.com. There you've to enter your login data, then you see your files:

You can browse your file system, download and upload files. A good feature is downloading a whole folder. Avvenu compresses it to a ZIP file. Images can be directly viewed, without downloading.

You can share files, if you want to, with others. They just need a mail address and a browser. :


There is a mobile version of Avvenu availible for Palm OS and mobile phones. It's small and doesn't take much traffic. I made several screenshots on NetFront, PicselBrowser, Web Browser and Web Pro:


NetFront: folders, login, files, file, download


PicselBrowser: start page, folders


WebPro login, folders; Web Browser login, folders

Picsel Browser seems to be the only browser that displays the "full" page, all others show the "light" page. The light page is, on the one hand, small, but on the other hand it lacks some features: you can't download a whole folder as a ZIP file, and it doesn't support uploading files. On a mobile device perhaps you don't need whole folders every day, but uploading files can be useful. And, as you can see on the pictures, the light version shows only 6 objects a page, so you have to load the next page a lot.

My results: I won't need it as I don't want my computer to run 24 hours a day, but people who have an own server will be glad to download important files that aren't on their handheld or mobile phone. I don't think that the service is bad, although there aren't many features. I miss: file info with size, type, ..., perhaps a reader for MS Word, ... files as there aren't so many mobile phones that can open MS Word files. And I'm missing file operations: no copy, no delete, ... This isn't SO important, but it isn't difficult to make such a feature availible, so, why not? And Avvenu shows that it has good ideas, just look at the feature to download a whole folder. This about the full version (although they could add a reader and file infos to the light version, too). The light version: another good idea because the full version uses a lot of pictures. This costs money on mobile phones or smartphones. The lite version has few pictures and almost only plain text. But, why shows it only six files every page? Perhaps some mobile phones aren't able to load bigger pages (I don't think so), but then the user should be able to define how many files should be shown. So, Avvenu, good work, but I'm still missing some features.

What would you like to see in Avvenu?

Blazer 1.x, 2.x shut down

Palm apperently wants to kill old Treo/PalmOS smartphone installations. About one year after eliminating the Palm.net service(the mobitex network still is up, just as info for you all), Palm secretly posted a message on its knowledge base saying that the proxy server needed for Blazer 1.x and 2.x is going to be turned off. Read the alert here:

http://kb.palmone.com/SRVS/CGI-BIN/WEBCGI.EXE?New,Kb=PalmSupportKB,ts=Palm_External2001,Case=obj(40527)
Palm offers users to upgrade to Novarra's nweb for free until the 31 October of this month. You can either access the portal via your handheld, or just use the form below:

http://web.palm.com/support/blazer/sprint.jhtml
The file actually works on my T3(Treo 300, Sprint), but it didnt work in the Simulator. However, the T3 cannot use its extended screen, the grafitti area always is displayed. Anyone who needs a decent browser can get one for free now...

Last but not least, I wonder why Palm didnt announce this openly?

The return of the DSP

Apperently, ther DSP wasnt such a stupid idea after all. Anyways, it would have been-if Palm would have been able to release the documentation for the Tungsten T series DSP. Anyways, those days are gone-but BroadCom now targets mobile phones with a new multimedia processor(that essentially is a DSP).
The BCM27xx fasmily recently got new members that can do the following:

• H.264 CIF video encoding/decoding at 30 frames per second and TV output
  
• Support 5mpixel cameras
  
• Do VGA MPEG4 video
  
• All members of the family are software compatible
  

Do you beleive that DSP's have a future? Or do you beleive that rising CPU performance and lack of SDK's will kill those cores on the long run?

First 'official' native PDF viewer - for free - update

The nexave member "MetaView", head developer of MetaView Software has published "PalmPDF", an early alpha version of his native PDF viewer today. It's a port of XPDF. I tried it a few days ago and today again, but it crashes on my Tungsten|C, I think that I have not enough RAM. But other people say it would work fine! The program and the installation instructions can be found here:

http://www.metaviewsoft.de/en/Software/PalmOS/Freeware/Other/index.html

Adobe's Reader could never open native PDF files - they had to be converted, and no other company released a PDF reader for a long time. Then Picsel Technologies released Picsel Viewer and later Picsel Browser - but it was only part of Sony CLIÉs and a Chinese smartphone. If I get it working, I'll update this post.

Does it work on your Palm?

UPDATE: Now it isn't in alpha state anymore. The onscreen buttons work, you can scroll and zoom very fast (on a T|C), you can use the stylus for scrolling, and now it seems to work better on low-memory devices. Does it now work properly?

The next version will include landscape mode and better memory management. If you own a Tungsten T or T2, you could also try out Fargo Heap resizer!

Palm Treo 650 advertising in Time Magazine

Apperently, Palm is really serious about combatting the ipod video/using the PR it gets for its own products. According to 1src users, a full-page ad was placed in the whats next issue of the TIME magazine.
See an image of the ad here:
http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?p=863905&posted=1
What do you think about it? Does Palm do enough advertising?