B Martin

May 06, 2008

Palm Treo 800w set to launch July 22, 2008

Treo800w According to WMExperts, Sprint will be releasing the long-rumored Treo 800w on July 22 of this year.  This announcement comes after many months of speculation and a plethora of rumors around the web.

If the specs turn out to be accurate, this will definitely be a sweet device, and by far the best Treo yet.  This new device will replace the aging 700wx.  Once again,  Verizon has missed the boat on a new launch of a smartphone....sigh.

Here are highlighted the specs:

  • Threaded SMS (looks to be the Palm type, not Microsoft's)
  • WM 6.1
  • Autonomous GPS
  • KB is larger than the Centro, slightly smaller than the 750/755
  • KB keys still light up
  • It's very fast with no lag
  • 320x320 resolution
  • EvDO Rev A (though some tester units are not Rev A active as of now)
  • Wifi
  • 256/128 Memory
  • Official color: Charcoal Black

WMExperts

April 30, 2008

Product Updates: iambic updates Propel Launcher for Palm

Propel_iambic iambic has released a maintenance update to their Propel launcher. I've been using this for a long time and it is (IMO) the best launcher for a Palm device with a Qwerty keyboard, but still sweet for those without.  This update adds support for the freaking stupid new dialer that Palm added in the GSM Centros.

Propel brings ease of use, instant retrieval and speedy launches of applications, music, pictures, contacts, and more to your Palm OS-based smartphone or handheld.

As a replacement for the native Palm OS launcher, Propel makes using your mobile companion a truly enjoyable experience. Not only is it fast, but it also provides many opportunities to personalize your Views and functionality through extensive support of User Interface Skins, custom backgrounds, and button assignments. Plus Voice Launching capability is available in the Professional Edition. Once you start using Propel, you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

Improvements and Functionality Refinements

    * Added support for the phone dialer on GSM (AT&T) Palm Centro phones
    * Improved layout of text & icons in List View to better take advantage of the available space
    * Updated Voice Launching capabilities to extend its use when in other applications
    * Resolved a stability issue occurring when more plugins that will fit on the screen are selected
    * Resolved a stability issue occurring if the user pressed the Voice Command key multiple times simultaneously
    * Corrected Voice Commands continuing to work when the Treo Butler keyguard is in use and active

iampowered

April 28, 2008

When it's OK to say "OH SH*T"...

Jet Ever wonder when it's ok to say Oh Sh*t?  BestOfTheWeb some great examples...

Some of these will make you laugh, so gasp and some will truly make you say OH SH*T!




Product Updates: Butler 4.85 for Palm

Butler The Swiss Army Knife for Palm OS devices has been updated to 4.85.

"The keyguard has been re-written since the last release, so although it looks the same it is working differently and should fix a few strange bugs.
      

  • Apr/08 keyguard completely rebuilt
  • 15/Apr/08 fixed bug where block hard keys works even when keyguard disabled.
  • 16/Apr/08 added asserts to pin down issue with BitmapGetDensity
  • 17/Apr/08 fixed issue with attn grabber not working for incoming calls
  • 17/Apr/08 fixed issue with keyguard slider not working over modal windows.
  • 17/Apr/08 fixed issue with keyguard drawing over low bit applications (like Filez)
  • 18/Apr/08 fixed issue with status icons from form beneath keyguard getting drawn
  • 21/Apr/08 added additional checking for calls while keyguard is showing
  • 21/Apr/08 tweak to code for redrawing/restoring keyguard.
  • 28/Apr/08 tweak to keyguard to re-draw over the top of DateBk alarms."

Hobbyist

April 25, 2008

Get nutritional information on common foods via SMS

Dietdotcom3_2 Diet.com has a cool SMS service which enables you to quickly get nutritional values of  foods from popular restaurants. It provides the basic calories, fat, carbs, and protein. In addition to sending the SMS from your phone, you can also get the info on the website in their phone image, like shown here.  They claim to provide info for over 36,000 foods from 1700 restaurants in North America. Pretty cool!

"Using the new Diet.com Nutrition on the Go service really is as easy as…
1 You put your phone in text message mode, type in the menu item you need help with, then send that info to DIET1 (34381).

2 In a flash you receive a text with the information you requested

3 Make an informed decision! Feast on tasty, guilt-free, diet-friendly food!"

Lifehacker

Comp USA is Back!

Compusa Comp USA used to be one of my favorite "brick and mortar" computer stores.  I spent so much money in those places.  I was very sad to learn a few months back that they were all closing. Then a little glimmer of hope arose when I read that Systemax, the company that owns TigerDirect was buying them.  This turned out to become a resurrection for the Comp USA stores and they are reopening 15 of their previous stores and also a new one.

Granted, it must be difficult for computer retail outlets to survive, since you can buy everything they offer online, usually for much less $$$, but it's nice to be able to walk in to a store and see/touch/feel the merchandise.  Plus, with stores like Fry's, (which is my all-time favorite...I would live there) that have both online and retail outlets.

Oddly, 13 of the new stores are being opened in Florida, including the new one. Two Texas stores and one in Puerto Rico are reopening.

I'm happy to see this familiar name back in business.

Engadget

April 24, 2008

Verizon also queued to launch 800w?

Treo800w All the speculation over the last few weeks about the 800w launch has indicated that Sprint will be the first carrier to launch the rumored 800w WM Smartphone from Palm.  However, nyc_rock has posted at TreoCentral that he visited with an employee of Verizon, who claimed to be holding a VZW demo model of the phone.

Gosh, I hope this is accurate, because I'm with Verizon, and the last several new smartphone releases have always hit ATT or Sprint months before VZW releases them, if ever.  This drives me nuts; and I don't understand why it's this way.  I really like my service with Verizon, but they seem to be so consumed with feature phones that they leave little attention to the smartphone market.  I was always under the impression that the phone manufactures alternated between all of the carriers. The last couple of years, however it's been only between ATT and Sprint.

I'm eligible for my "New Every Two" upgrade and am strongly considering the XV6800, but would like to see the 800w first.

Fingers crossed.

TreoCentral

April 15, 2008

Health Tips: 11 Odd/Simple Ways to Improve Your Health

Nettipot Dumb Little Man has a list of 11 simple, but possibly perceived as odd ways you may not have heard of to improve your health.  Most of these sound very reasonable. In fact, I use a Netti Pot everyday for sinus issues. It works!

1. Try using Neti pots. This age old nasal rinse technique removes mucus and build up of pollution in the nasal passages. It also helps prevent respiratory tract infections, relieves allergies, colds, sinusitis and is beneficial in the treatment of headaches and migraines.

2. Brushing your skin? We all know that the skin is the largest organ in the body. It is responsible for one-fourth of the body's daily detoxification. When you do skin brushing, you help your lymph system to clean itself of the toxins that collect in the lymph glands.

3. Make fasting a regular habit. Short and long term fasts can improve health through detoxification and rejuvenation of the body. When the body is not using the majority of its energy for digestion, it is able to use its energy on healing and restoration. The digestive system is given a much needed rest while the body is able to detoxify. As always, you should consult a medical practitioner before attempting a fast.

4. Use colon hydrotherapy. Cleansing the colon has many health benefits. It reduces the pressure in the abdominal area, reduces weight, expels parasites and helps promote regular elimination. Colonics helps restore normal muscle tone and removal of constipation. Water is absorbed through the colon which increases the volume of blood. The circulation of blood increases, resulting in greater bathing of the cells. This dilutes the toxins and helps flush them out.

5. Breathe, you're alive. Breath is life. We can live a long time without food or water, but without breath, we die in minutes. Proper breathing is one of the most important functions of good health. Yet we often breathe shallowly, due to improper posture, stress and other negative influences. In order to breathe properly, our breath should reach the bottom of our lungs. Practice 6 second breathing, 3 seconds on inhale, 3 seconds on exhale. More oxygen will start flowing through your body and you will begin to feel energized. Just by becoming conscious of our breathing, we can have a great impact on our well-being.

6. Tai Chi walking. Recent research has shown that walking may be better for us than the more popular running. That's because physiologically we've adapted as hunter-gatherers (more like gatherer-hunters) to walk long distances. We spent the majority of our time walking, not running. Tai Chi walking can help us to take our walking a step further by learning how to adapt to a new way of walking whereby we gain energy with each step.

7. Consider getting a new mattress. New memory foam mattresses can help you get a better nights rest which improves your overall feeling of well being. Some of the benefits include, less soreness and stiffness in the morning, no irritating pressure points and a long lasting mattress.

8. Buy Masai balance shoes. Designed around the way you naturally walk on sand, these new shoes are designed to put less of a shock on the skeletal system. They are designed with a unique spring level action which helps to make your core strengthening muscles more active, which in turn helps to improve your posture.

9. Improve your posture. Poor posture results in shallow breathing, pain in the neck and back, and results in poor circulation of energy throughout the body. Here are a few tips to improve your posture:

  • Sit towards the front of the chair. This will naturally cause you to sit up straight.
  • Try using an exercise ball. Dare to be different, try using an exercise ball as a chair. You'll force yourself to sit up straight. =)
  • Take breaks away from the desk. Prolonged sitting in front of the computer will cause your back to become tired more easily. It's also easier to keep your back straight standing, rather than sitting.

10. Bring more plants into your home and workplace. We all know that plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. But did you know plants can also purify the air, removing harmful pollutants? Not only will the air you breathe be fresher, plants also naturally humidify the air reducing allergies and sinusitis. Plants have psychological benefits as well. We are happier, less stressed and more productive in a greener, more natural environment. If you don't have a little plant at your workstation, get one or two!

11. Laugh every day! Whoever said life has to be serious? Studies have shown that laughter decreases stress hormones and can act as a powerful muscle relaxer. Laughter can help you breathe deeper, strengthen your immune system, forget about pain and lower blood pressure. As they say, laughter is the best medicine.

Dumb Little Man

Image: Himalayan Institute

Product Updates: TripTracker for Windows and Windows Mobile Updated

Ttrackerlogo This past Friday, iambic released a major update to TripTracker for Windows and Windows Mobile PPC.  TripTracker is a great application to manage your travels. It syncs up with Outlook and handles time zone changes beautifully.  The desktop companion makes mass entry and viewing a breeze.

If you travel often or make the occasional trip, this could prove to be an indispensable tool. Currently it is only available for Pocket PC devices (Windows Mobile Pro), but rumor has it they will later have a Smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) version.

"TripTracker is the convenient way to carry along trip essentials (such as flight, hotel and rental car information) and track all the trip-related activities (frequent flyer miles, expenses & more) at the desktop as well as on the go. Our new travel management solution is designed to allow easy and straightforward organization of every important trip related detail, including itineraries, flight and related connections, hotels, rental cars, and more.

Whether for business or pleasure, TripTracker provides peace of mind and a handy way to store details of all frequent flyer programs, such as account numbers, PIN numbers, balances, elite status, and recent activity.Ttrackerlogo2

The application allows to record expenses and to create expense reports. International currencies are fully supported, and also embedded are a currency converter, customizable world time clocks, and travel phone book.

The Windows Desktop and the Windows Mobile Pocket PC applications are available standalone, as well as part of a bundle, for users wishing to take advantage of the integrated two-way desktop to mobile synchronization, made possible by the included Active Sync Provider."

iampowered







March 27, 2008

5 Ways To Train Your Body To Sleep

Sleepy_lion I am one who often has difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep.  I like staying up late, but I also like getting up early. Those two don't work too well together.  My work day absolutely flies by, and then when I get home, I want to kick back and watch the tube or catch up on news, or enjoy some activity with the family.  Before I know it, it's already bed time....SIGH! The when the alarm clock goes off, I'm like..."Are you kidding me?!"

Reader's Digest has listed 5 ways to train your body and its biological clock to sleep better. 

  1. Wake at the Same Time Every Day. A good night's sleep actually starts in the morning.
  2. Hit the Sheets Only When Sleepy.  No, not just tired. Sleepy, as in your eyes are droopy and you keep losing track of what people are saying to you.
  3. Get Up. If you wake at 2:00 A.M., get up and go read a book in the living room.
  4. Give Yourself an Hour. The one right before bed.
  5. Beware Sunday Night Insomnia. Staying up late on Friday and Saturday nights and sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings is frequently the gift we give ourselves on weekends after a hard week at work. Yet that little gift -- small as it is -- is enough to screw up our biological clocks.

Reader's Digest

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