How to choose the right Palm software, plus news

[Computing Unplugged]

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March 7, 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Choose the right Palm software This week's news

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SAVVY SHOPPER TIPS
Choose the right software for your Palm
By Dennis Crane

Since Palm OS 5.0 released, the Palm handhelds became the real computers rather than just portable digital assistants. The myriad of new software titles burst into the market featured audio and video players, wireless solutions, high-resolution games, and digital media applications. Just visit http://www.palmgear.com or http://www.handango.com to browse the thousands of similar products.

You'll see that it might be a challenge to make the right software choice among the tons of similar sounding titles. If you use freeware, a mistaken choice can cost you nothing but the time spent and possible some data loss. But when you order an expensive product, you risk your money as well.

Being a manager of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) department of software development company, I chat with dozens of Palm users everyday. They are often worried about which product to choose. The software must solve their problems for a reasonable price, it should be easy-to-use and handy, the developers must provide the responsive support, and the updates must be free.

I always suggest they follow several simple rules to make the right decision. In this article I've summarized all the rules that help you find really essential software for your Palm.

Dennis has some great tips. Tap that mouse here to learn what they are.

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COMPUTING UNPLUGGED NEWS CENTER
This week's news
Want to get the very latest mobile and wireless news? The Computing Unplugged News Center is updated every day with news of product releases, industry info, tips, techniques, and pointers to great mobile and wireless resources on the Web. Here's this week's news:

Wi-Fi security must go beyond encryption
At the Gartner Wireless and Mobile Summit 2004, John Pescatore, a vice president at the research firm, urged businesses to consider security ramifications from the time they begin a wireless project with a site survey, to the way they manage a system once it is deployed.

OnStar helps capture FBI Most Wanted
One of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, Terrence Kasses Washington, was arrested near Cincinnati after being tracked down by the OnStar in a Hummer he had stolen.

Motorola's new handsets
Motorola has announced three new handsets at the M3 digital music conference in Miami. The E680 is Motorola's first Linux-based handset outside the Far Eastern market and includes a VGA digital camera, 320 x 240 color screen, RealPlayer video and 3D stereo sound.

Vulnerability in Outlook 2002
A security vulnerability in Outlook 2002 could allow Internet Explorer to execute script code in the Local Machine zone on an affected system. The parsing of specially crafted mailto URLs by Outlook 2002 causes this vulnerability.

Robot keeps homes safe
South Korea continues to give Japan a run for its high-tech money as SK Telecom introduces the nation's first mechanized sentry. The as-yet-unnamed security pet will compete for market share with Sanyo's dragon-like Banryu and Mitsubishi's Wakamaru, both of which retail for upward of ten times the SK Telecom version's $850 price tag.

Student builds seeing eye robot
An 18 year-old Oxford-bound student has built an £80 robot named "Wilson" to help a young blind boy negotiate the halls of his new school. Despite the high-tech nature of the project, the robot uses a grid of lasers to scan the floor for obstacles, the entire project ends up being much cheaper than training a seeing-eye dog.

ArcSoft Media Card companion software
ArcSoft announced ArcSoft Media Card Companion, a Windows application that automates the tasks associated with downloading files and sharing photos from digital cameras, card readers and other removable media.

Flash Memory Watch
LaCie announced that it has begun shipping its flash memory storage device, the LaCie Data Watch. This watch features a black designer wristband and allows for true portability, so users can safely transport up to 128 MB of information from one location to another.

Soyo multimedia ready motherboard
This board is unlike any other board currently available. Targeted at those interested in building a Media Center PC, the new SY-P4VAL sports an advanced BIOS technology allowing you access to multimedia functions without having to go through the boot up process.

Worm masquerades as Microsoft Patch
A new worm purporting to contain a patch to defend against MyDoom is attacking Windows machines throughout Europe and parts of North America.

Pocket PC helps locate Mecca
In a blend of spirituality and technology, the EMIRATE 1, manufactured in the United Arab Emirates, allows a user to locate their current position via GPS, establish their orientation to Mecca and then get down to their daily prayers. It's nice to see people using technology to connect with their spiritual roots.

Notebook cooling system
Cleverpower.com announced that its notebook computer cooling system is available. The notebook USB cooling pad does not require external power, it draws power directly from your existing USB port.

Virus authors declare war
Antivirus companies are warning that three teams of virus-writers have started a cyberwar, intensifying their release schedule and hiding fighting talk in their code.

Axim X3i with Bluetooth still coming to U.S.
Despite a report that it would not be available in the U.S., Dell still plans to release in this country a version of its Axim X3i with built-in Bluetooth short-range wireless networking.

NavigatorPC Bluetooth Keyboard
NavigatorPC’s wireless Bluetooth Keyboard is meant for “marine” use and that can be submerged in up to 60 feet of water and still work.

Panasonic BMET100 Iris Recognition
Panasonic's BMET100 Iris Recognition system provides an extra layer of sci-fi security on your PC, for those times when passwords and locked doors just aren't enough.

Bluetooth is only needed in Europe
The Bluetooth version of Dell's Axim 3i PDA will only be available in Europe, not in the US. It is not a mistake but a policy, as Bluetooth is "not so broadly needed in the US", the company said.

iBIZ Virtual Keyboard to ship
The Virtual Laser Keyboard is a device that projects the image of a full-size keyboard onto the surface of the desk where a PDA is placed. The Virtual Laser Keyboard is compatible with Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds, as well as laptops and desktop PCs.

Add background noise to your calls
SounderCover gives you the ability to add a background sound to any incoming or outgoing call, giving the impression that you really are in the environment where the background sound is normally heard.

Robo-talk helps pocket translator
Using technology tested in their Papero Partner-Type Personal Robot, NEC has developed an auto-translator called "e-Navi" that can translate spoken English into audible Japanese in around a second.

Hitachi's holographic-like display
Hitachi announced that it has developed a holographic-like display called the Transpost, which allows 360 degree viewing of an object rendered in light without wearing any special glasses.

Proposal punishes for outsourcing
A legislative maneuver to discourage offshore outsourcing is making the rounds on Capitol Hill. This latest proposal, called "The Defending American Jobs Act," punishes firms that ship U.S. jobs overseas by denying them certain federal grants.

New handheld cases coming
Stylus Central, Covertec, and Sena are all offering new cases for a wide variety of handheld models.

Linksys falls off Wi-Fi bridge
Linksys and Netgear products prove incompatible despite their Wi-Fi interoperability certifications.

DVD to your Pocket PC
Pocket-DVD Studio compresses DVDs of your own into memory card. It allows you to break the movie up into multiple files so you can split it across memory cards if desired.

HiTi 730PS printer review
Hi-Touch's new larger format 6 x 8 inch dye sub printer, the 730PS, has a controller with a color LCD and flash memory card slots so it can be used without a computer as easily as with a computer.

Widget updates RTM-8000
Widget UK has combined the power of the AudioVox RTM-8000 tri-band GSM/GPRS compact flash card with the PocketPhone Tools communications suite for Pocket PC from BVRP.

Hitachi brings Wi-Fi, Bluetooth to G1000
Hitachi has released a system patch for its G1000 Pocket PC that adds support for SDIO. This patch will allow this cellular-wireless device to use peripherals that plug into its SD slot.

Agenda Fusion 5.7 Update
An update to Agenda Fusion has been released, 5.7, that includes Contact Company Templates, Special Monthly Business Day Recurring Pattern, Grouped/Ungrouped Category Icon Display Option added to the Month View, Contact ABC Bar now highlights currently active search letter, and Option to display undated tasks in the calendar views.

ROM Updates for Tungsten C, Garmin iQue 3600
ROM updates have been released for the palmOne Tungsten C and the Garmin iQue 360. These updates make permanent changes to both Palm OS devices' flash memory, where you'll find the operating system and other applications.

SplashData releases SplashID 3.0
SplashData has released an upgrade to its personal identification organizer, SplashID. SplashID 3.0, securely maintains personal identification information on a Palm Powered handheld and desktop computer, offers a host of new features aimed at simplifying the security of data and enables users to customize the program to suit their particular preferences.

WinCatalog Standard 1.09 is released
WinCatalog Standard is a simple and straightforward disk cataloging software. This application automatically extracts descriptions from zip, mp3, html and plain text files.

PhotoMix has moved
fCoder Group has announced that PhotoMix has moved to its own domain. PhotoMix is designed to grant amateur photographers a new way of presenting their works.

Handhelds in education
Wichita Unified School District 259 recently added 380 Tungsten E handhelds to the more than 1,200 handheld computers already in use in its classrooms.

ASUS developing Pocket PC with VGA screen
A spokesperson for ASUS has recently said that the company will introduce a new Pocket PC with a 480-by-640-pixel VGA screen.

iPAQs may violate patent
A federal district court has ruled that a patent held by E-Pass Technologies covers more than just credit card-sized handhelds, and therefore HP, maker of the iPAQ line of Pocket PCs, may owe E-Pass millions in licensing fees.

Hermosa Beach wireless project
The Hermosa Beach City Council has voted to allocate $35,000 to fund the first phase of installation of a Wi-Fi system that will constitute the first steps in transforming the entire city into a completely wireless town that will provide Internet access to users anywhere in the city.

Verizon Wireless to offer Airfone plan
Verizon Wireless is activating a service today that will let its 38 million subscribers redirect their incoming cellular calls to seat-back phones on airplanes with Verizon Airfone service, at a deep discount to normal Airfone rates.

Trucking firm warms up to Aether
A trucking firm is using Aether Systems' wireless communications product in nearly 200 big rigs because it provides constant connectivity.

Microsoft Portrait
Microsoft Portrait is a research prototype for mobile video communication. It supports .NET Messenger Service, Session Initiation Protocol and Internet Locator Service on PCs, Pocket PCs, Handheld PCs and Smartphone.

Palm OS Developer Suite preview
PalmSource has released a preview of the new Palm OS Developer Suite. The suite is a new tool from PalmSource that provides software developers a means to develop Palm OS applications for Palm OS 4 and all other versions up to Cobalt.

Sandisk T-Flash
SanDisk introduced the world's smallest removable flash memory storage format. About the size of a fingernail, T-Flash is designed for new mobile phones, digital cameras, video capture, MP3 players, and video games.

Gates predicts death of the password
The password as we know it will fade from use due to its limitations, says Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. Instead, Gates says, Microsoft will promote "smart cards" and "tamper resistant" biometric ID-card software.

Unpatched RPC flaw hangs over Windows
Security experts have argued that the recent vulnerability in the ASN.1 parser library common to several versions of Windows may be the biggest Microsoft flaw ever.

Outsourcing deals will go on a diet
Don't count on seeing many more 10-year, multibillion dollar outsourcing deals in the near future. The future of outsourcing lies in shorter, smaller and more focused projects, according to Gartner.

The virus squad
This article by Nicole Manktelow shows us what happens when a new virus is discovered and the process antivirus companies go through to get us vaccinated.

Visual CE adds mobile forms development
SYWARE has announced that the company's rapid application development environment, Visual CE, now allows creation of fast, flexible forms using data from Microsoft SQL Server CE databases.

Texture Maker v2.7
Reichert Software Engineering (R.S.E.), announced the release of Texture Maker v2.7, a seamless texture generator and designer. The application contains everything needed to create seamless textures for use in 3D rendering packages, game development, web graphics, image and video editing. Texture Maker can be extended with plugins and automates complex operations with its scripting abilities.

Inkjet refill users dissatisfied
A recent survey of U.S. ink jet refill kit users found that respondents were generally unhappy with the life of the cartridge after the refilling process compared with the life of OEM ink jet cartridges. Sixty-five percent of respondents said that refill kits' cartridge life was worse or much worse than that of OEM ink cartridges, while just 8 percent said refill kits were much better or better than OEM cartridges in this respect.

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