How to start clean with a new Palm handheld

[Computing Unplugged]

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November 14, 2003 INSIDE THIS ISSUE How to start clean Help celebrate the First Flight This week's news

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GET YOUR UNIVERSAL CONNECTION TO THE INTERNET FOR YOUR PALM OS DEVICE Never again worry about lack of Internet access-especially for your email-when you travel. All you need is Plug2Net, Corsoft's simple answer to problems you face when traveling outside your carrier's network or use with your non-wireless Palm OS device. Buy it today and get one year of Aileron email for free (a $49.95 value). Find out more at: http://www.corsoft.com/p2n.asp

NEW NAME. SAME GREAT HANDHELDS. The name palmOne was chosen following interviews with a broad spectrum of Palm customers, partners, employees, naming consultants and industry influencers. When people inside and outside the company reflect on Palm's essence, three ideas emerged consistently: the company's heritage as a pioneer in handheld computing, Palm's worldwide leadership, which it has retained despite an influx of competitors; and the conviction that Palm always would place customers first, thereby delivering what matters most to them. Continue to palmOne.com

ESSENTIAL PALM OS
How to start clean with a new Palm handheld
By David Gewirtz

My friend Steve and I have often wondered just how much of our lives we've wasted waiting for Windows to reboot, and just how many days, cumulatively, we've given up to reinstalling Windows. Sometimes, I think that compared to getting a Palm OS handheld to reinstall properly, a basic Windows install is a cakewalk.

Most Palm users will disagree with me. To them, installing the Palm OS software is a one, two, three, you're done process. Not for me.

You see, I review stuff. Lots of stuff. And the dregs, droppings, and drippings of the stuff I review linger on my handheld long after I've uninstalled the program in question. After three or four years, my personal Palm OS device (which, until recently, was a Visor Prism), was more full of gunk than the sewers in Ghostbusters II.

Since the Palm OS has changed pretty measurably since the days of the Visor Prism, I decided it's probably time to upgrade my handheld. After all, we've got Palm OS devices and Pocket PCs (especially Pocket PCs) coming in here by the truckload. It might be nice if I actually used one of those for a change.

But every time I've ever attempted a handheld switch, because of all the gunk in the sytem, it's always been something of a nightmare process. This time was no different. However, this time I had some very specific goals. I wanted to move over the contents of my Date Book (now called Calendar), To Do list (now called Tasks), Address Book (now called Contacts), and Memo Pad (now called Memos) to the new device.

I didn't want to move anything else. I wanted as clean an install as possible, with just my new data.

There are some simple ways to install a new Palm Desktop and handheld. Usually you do a HotSync operation with the old handheld, install the new desktop (often right over the old one) and then do another sync. Unfortunately, this often brings some old carry-overs, ghost files from the old machine to the new machine. I wanted it to be fresh.

Four and a half hours, seven Windows reboots, and five cold resets of the new handheld later, I've gotten my wish. Along the way, I learned a few lessons (and relearned some important things I'd forgotten). The rest of this article will show you how you can accomplish the same thing, but, hopefully, with less pain.

Save yourself some pain. Click here to read the full article.

FIRST FLIGHT CELEBRATION
Help celebrate the First Flight Anniversary with your articles and pictures
By David Gewirtz

December 17, 2003 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic 59-second powered flight. This is an event that truly heralded a change in our society. I'd like to honor that flight (and the accomplishment of the two brothers who stuck to their project through all the ups and downs) by running a series of articles about flight in the December 14th issue of each of the ZATZ magazines.

I'm neither a pilot nor an expert in flight, so I need your help. I'd like to run articles that celebrate flight and I need our readers to write those articles.

Topics are open. You don't have to write about flight and WebSphere or flight and Lotus Notes (although that'd be great). It also doesn't have to be about the first flight or even the Wright Brothers (although, that too would be great). Instead just write about what flight means to you, tell us an interesting story, tell us something we might not know, or even just tell us a personal story. The only criteria for acceptance is that it's got to be an original, unpublished article submitted exclusively to ZATZ and it's got to be well-written.

If you've got photographs that are original or unpublished (and you own the rights to them), send them in. We'll hopefully also run a photo retrospective of flight, if we get enough submissions.

Deadline for this project is December 5th. Send your completed articles directly to me at address@hidden. That way, we should have enough time to get all the edits completed before the December 14 issues. Let's do this together. Let's really show how important that first flight was to us all.

-- David

PS: Don't forget we have great writer guidelines at http://www.authorpower.com.

David Gewirtz is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines and the author of The Flexible Enterprise and Lotus Notes Revealed! He can be reached via email at address@hidden. You can see David's photographic artwork at his personal Web site, http://www.Gewirtz.com.

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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:

New MiMail variant spreading fast
InternetNews.com reports the PayPal phishing scourge is wearing a new mask. There's a new variant of the MiMail email virus is fast spreading through inboxes worldwide, trying to dupe PayPal users into giving up credit card numbers and other sensitive information. The variant that's being used to phish for PayPal account information and loads a .SCR attachment. The email warns users not to sent credit card information via email but, once the attachment is opened, a PayPal-branded dialog box appears and attempts to collect a user's PayPal account information.

Visto makes deal with KPN Mobile
Visto Corporation has signed an agreement with KPN Mobile to bring wireless email services to KPN customers in the Netherlands. KPN's Office Mode is Visto's first wireless email service on the i-mode platform designed to offer mobile email solutions for the enterprise users. OfficeMode uses Visto technology to provide mobile access to existing office email systems, such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange so mobile users can access email, contacts and calendar from any i-mode enabled handheld device.

Noah's Ark for Palm OS handhelds
Astraware has updated its Noah's Ark for Palm Powered handhelds, a new conversion of the PopCap Web game classic, that brings all new graphics, a musical score and a whole new puzzle twist to the Bible story. The Ark's built, and its just started raining, and there are still hundreds of animals to bring in. Tap to match pairs of animals in the confusion, to bring them to the Ark and save them from the rising flood water.

Leonard Maltin Movie and Video Guide released
LandWare announced the immediate availability of the Leonard Maltin Movie & Video Guide for Palm Powered Handhelds. LandWare has teamed with Leonard Maltin to produce a mobile companion for anyone looking to buy, watch, rent or merely brush up on movies. The Leonard Maltin Movie & Video Guide offers tools for tracking the films you watch, rent and own. The Leonard Maltin Movie & Video Guide will help maintain cost and purchase details, loan and rental records, technical information, notes and much more.

DB2 Everyplace adapts for .NET development
PC World reports that IBM is extending its DB2 Everyplace database for handheld devices by adapting it for .Net development and offering a special version for small to midsize businesses. The database commonly is used for embedded applications such as sales force automation and medical and retail systems. It runs on devices such as PalmOS, Pocket PC or Symbian units. Version 8 features enhanced application development support for Java through bundling of IBM's J9 Java Virtual Machine, for improved connectivity to Java databases. A new plug-in for IBM's WebSphere Studio tool helps developers build sophisticated mobile applications for PalmOS and Pocket PC platforms.

New way to store digital information
A combination of a plastic material and a thin film of silicon has been demonstrated by researchers at Princeton University and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) as an inexpensive method of storing digital information. According to InfoWorld, Researchers at Princeton and HP were able to develop a write-once memory cell that can hold gigabytes of information and be produced very inexpensively from a commonly used plastic substance and a small amount of silicon.

AvantGo survey results
In anticipation of this year's holiday shopping season, a recent survey conducted by AvantGo entirely on personal digital assistants (PDAs) reveals the shopping habits, retail preferences and wish lists of today's tech-savvy mobile professionals. The new AvantGo survey shows continued growth in online shopping as well as an emerging trend to bring PDAs when shopping in person, making it easier to review gift lists and online product information. Respondents name flat-screen TVs, digital cameras and smartphones as this year's hot products, and in the spirit of the holidays, 53% list world peace as their number one wish.

Proporta introduces Roll Up Keyboard
Proporta introduced its latest product, the Roll Up Keyboard. The pack includes 3 different connectors making it compatible with leading Palm and iPAQ handhelds. The keyboard measures 230mm x 80mm (9in x 3.14in).

FCC rules on number portability
Starting this month, telephone customers in the United States must be allowed to transfer their landline number to a cell phone when signing up for new services, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled. News.com reports that an order issued Monday and supported by all five FCC commissioners requires landline phone companies to make way for what's called "porting" of phone numbers in the nation's largest 100 markets beginning November 24. Similar rules affecting customers who switch between cell phone providers also are set to take effect at that time.

Kasparov draws with X3D Fritz
In the latest Man vs. Machine series, Garry Kasparov has drawn with X3D Fritz in the first of a four-game chess match. BBC News reports that Kasparov and the programmers agreed on a draw on the 37th move after three hours and 20 minutes of play. In this series, Kasparov has to wear virtual reality glasses, and call out his moves, which are posted on a virtual board.

Hackers crack code of N-Gage games
PC World reports that hackers have cracked the copy protection code of games developed for Nokia's recently launched N-Gage mobile game console. Earlier this week, a gaming Web site revealed successful hacks of N-Gage games, saying the games could be cracked like an egg.

Review of iGo Juice
ZDNet has this review of Mobility Electronic's iGo Juice. Who would want an iGo Juice? Just about anybody who travels with a notebook, PDA, cell phone, or all three, and wants the ability to charge those devices with a single charger that can connect to a wall outlet, a car's cigarette lighter, or an airplane seat outlet.

New version of PocketMirror Professional released
Chapura released PocketMirror 3.1.6 Professional software for synchronization of Palm Powered handhelds and Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager. Users of Microsoft Outlook with Business Contact Manager (BCM) can set PocketMirror Professional to synchronize the Business Contacts folder in BCM with the built-in Palm OS Address Book.

Motorola purchased XtremeSpectrum
Motorola said that it had purchased wireless chipmaker XtremeSpectrum, but did not disclose financial details of the deal. According to News.com, Motorola has for some time supported XtremeSpectrum's ultrawideband (UWB) technology, a rival to Bluetooth that is capable of creating wireless connections that transfer data at rates as high as 100 megabits per second.

Global PDA shipments drop
Worldwide shipments of personal digital assistants (PDAs) continued to decline in the third quarter of this year as mobile phones with similar functions claimed a portion of their market, Gartner Inc. said this week. InfoWorld reports that global PDA shipments slipped 0.2 percent in the third quarter to 2.52 million units, resulting in the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines. Palm Inc. was the leading PDA provider during the quarter, however, taking 34.2 percent of the market with 861,500 units shipped.

McDonald's goes after enterprise customers
News.com reports that McDonald's announced it expects its hot-spot suppliers to support iPass' specification for business-class service, as the fast-food chain looks to target the enterprise market. McDonald's is in trials with hot-spot providers SurfHere, offered by Toshiba; Wayport; and Cometa Networks. As part of that process, the fast-food chain expects suppliers to be certified by iPass' Enterprise Ready service specification.

IBM announces DB2 Everyplace version 8
IBM announced DB2 Everyplace version 8, which IBM says extends the reach of business information to handheld computing devices. New features in DB2 Everyplace version 8 include an improved application synchronization to mobile devices through WebSphere Everyplace Access that provides customers with a real-time view of their email, instant messaging and enterprise applications. It also includes a new plug-in for WebSphere Studio developers that helps them create sophisticated mobile Java applications for Palm OS and PocketPC platforms.

New photo compression tool
American Multiplexer announces product details of e-FotoXpress - a software utility powered by AMC-JPEG2000 technologies. e-FotoXpress is a software utility that will compress images with the highest possible compression. It allows many more pictures to be sent in one email without the loss of quality. The product is designed to compress any high-resolution JPEG images from many different digital cameras and camcorders. While it works with many email utilities, such as Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo and Hotmail, this product allows you to browse your directory for the desired images, generate thumbnails and send thumbnails of JPEG2000 compressed images to any recipient.

Prices drop on SLR digital cameras
Just in time for the holiday season, SLR (single-lens reflex) digital cameras have reached a new low -- in pricing. PC World reports that Canon's EOS Digital Rebel is the first SLR priced below $1000. The 6.3-megapixel unit is $899 (body only); for $100 more you can add Canon's EF-S 18mm-to-55mm lens, which makes the Rebel cost about $600 less than its closest competitors.

Intel acquires Mobilian Corp.
Intel announced it has acquired privately held Mobilian Corp., which develops wireless chips for cellular phones and other devices. TechWeb reports that the terms of the deal, completed Oct. 31, were not disclosed. Mobilian builds chips that combine short-range Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies. The latter is also referred to as 802.11. Founded in 1999, Mobilian had about 70 employees and raised $70 million in funding.

Nokia to buy Psion?
Nokia representatives declined to comment on reports that the company is looking to up its stake in mobile phone software developer Symbian Ltd. by acquiring Psion PLC. InfoWorld reports that press reports out speculated that Nokia would try to takeover Psion for its share of Symbian. Nokia currently has a 32.2 percent stake in the Symbian mobile phone software consortium, while Psion holds 31.1 percent. The rest is divided between Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson with 17.5 percent, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.'s Panasonic brand with 7.9 percent, Siemens AG with 4.8 percent, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. with 5 percent and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB with 1.5 percent, according to Symbian's Web site.

Broadbeam participates in Intel's initiative
Broadbeam Corporation announces that the latest version of its Mobile Solutions System (MSS) is participating in Intel's mobilized software initiatives, a series of industry activities established to accelerate the era of fully-distributed computing and enable the mobilized work/lifestyle.

Smartphone comparison
The Contra Costa Times compares a few of the new mobile phones that feature a thumb-operated keyboard: the Nokia 6800, the Blackberry 7230, the T-Mobile Sidekick and the Hitachi G 1000. The review says that the Nokia 6800 is the best and most affordable email and phone combo. Also, for email, the G1000 uses a pocket version of Microsoft Outlook, which will appeal to users who prefer the desktop version of Outlook.

Agendus for Symbian OS
iambic unveiled Agendus for Symbian OS, UIQ Edition. Now, users of Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 smartphones have access to contact management and scheduling capabilities. Agendus for Symbian OS, UIQ Edition also integrates with iambic's Agendus for Windows, allowing users of Microsoft Windows and handheld devices to experience a contact management, scheduling, and To Do list application that enhances Microsoft Outlook.

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