Pulling your hair out trying to get your Outlook information into Mac OS X? I got the solution for you!

Read my professional blog for more info.

I am addicted.

I love Mac OS X!

Yesterday I picked up my new toy to add to my MacBook Pro.

Yeah its SICK backing up wirelessly to a 500GB hard drive...

Yeah, with a sexy Macbook Pro, I should be blogging more...

Yeah, yeah, yeah....

Its called making money folks. The reason you dont hear from me too often these days is because I am usually jetting off to some exotic country to build a new call center. Wish I had more time for this...

Hell, even my Mugus are getting antsy...

More on my business blog

I am loving the hell out of my new Macbook Pro!

A couple of weeks ago, my high end Dell notebook crashed, resulting in a complete format. It was my fault. I am not going to go into the ugly details, but I will say that it was the sad conclusion of months of struggling with Windows Vista. I liked much about Vista, and in fact this piece is being written on my HP Tablet PC, but the driver issues, constant security warnings, etc, just made working a chore.

Colleagues on Linkedin have been telling me for months that I should switch to a Macbook Pro, but I hesitated due to the high cost of the configuration I wanted.

Well, thanks to a client, I am making the switch guiltlessly.
By the end of this week. I should be up and running on a brand new Macbook Pro! And I am going to spring for this amazing piece of tech

Thanks to all my friends on Linkedin... By the way, are you on Linked in yet?!

More on my business blog

But damn his my "brutha from anotha mutha," when it it comes to his love for and enthusiasm for tech! JK on the Run has become a daily read for me!

Cross Posted to my Business Blog

is here and it is called Xobni!

Read the blog:

So a cool Google alert came across my inbox today. Xobni has been featured in a Newsweek story titled “Reinventing the Inbox.” We did an interview with Chris Flavelle a few weeks back on the innovation that is beginning to take place in the ancient internet communication application - email. Chris did an awesome job describing the recent innovation led by companies like Yahoo and us here at Xobni.

And beg, borrow or steal an invite. This is going to be a very power full addition to my communications arsenal.... More on my business blog.

I don't remember where, but I read an article the other day on how to use a workaround with Gmail to get Hotmail on my iPhone. I played around with it, but it seems that you need a paid Hotmail email account to utilize this method.

While I dont use Hotmail that much, I do every now and then get an important email from that account. So I set about finding a way to do it...

More on my Business Blog

This is radical... No question... But it is too far out to use as a business phone...

More thoughts here.

See what happens when yours truly experiences his worst nightmare...
My iphone gets corrupted!

I dont think I will be buying one...

You might want to reconsider, or not...

I use Gmail as my backup email archive, and as my "Junk" email box. I found the some great tips, via a post on Palm Addicts today.

More on my business Blog.

The person who thought this up should be in Hollywood....

As soon as they end that pesky strike.

This guy's job!

Buy one of these things?

I have been into the social networking thing almost since it started, but have never gotten much benefit from it. The weakness of social network sites is that despite the fact that there are a few biggies like facebook, friendster, etc. You can never be sure where the contacts YOU want to network will be. And if you are like me, you hate getting invitations from people inviting you to yet ANOTHER social network. For these reasons and others, I have more or less avoided investing too much time in Social Networking sites. After all, my personal blog, brings me at least one of two clients a year, and until recently, the Social Networking sites really did not show me any benefit.

I recently noticed that almost everyone I know in business uses Linkedin. While I have been on Linkedin for a couple of years,

I really have seen very little return from it. Well, I have discovered the secret.

You have got to tend your network like a garden. I have spent the last couple of weeks exploring linked in, and getting to know the different features. One of the coolest features for me is the ability to ask a question of your network or the extended network. I have gotten some excellent advice using this feature.

Another great feature is the ability to recommend people, or to ask others to recommend you. Its kind of like having a living reference page for you life and career. I have been spending some time the last couple of days writing recommendations for all those in my network whom I respect and have cause to give an attaboy! It has been a fun experience for me, and bought back some lovely memories.

Anyway, if you are interested in finding out more about David Anderson, please join me on Linked in.

Crossposted to my Business Blog

Microsoft is at it again...

"Windows Mobile 7 will dramatically change the way we use mobile devices. It will emphasize the use of touch on the device, as well as motion gestures created by using the device. It is, absolutely, Microsoft’s effort to beat back the iPhone, and the iPhone is referenced several times in the document."

Though I have serious doubts that they will overcome the iPhone. What Redmond never seems to figure out is that it is not the functionality that sells. Cause lets face it, out of the box, the iPhone is the prettiest crippled smart phone I have ever seen... OUT of the BOX.... But then most of us don't use it like.... OUT OF THE BOX!

Most people who buy an apple device do so as much for the COOL factor, as they do for functionality. Oh sure, the Mac's usability is Legendary, and the iPod was ahead of its time, but the bottom line is, its about style. I own a Blackberry Curve, a Treo 680 and a Motorola z Series. All good phones. The Treo 680 is my sentimental favorite. I have been part of the Palm world for a long, long time, and my investment in Palm Software is more than the value of the phone. When I am traveling, the Blackberry, (Where it is supported), is the MONSTER. I left my Treo at home when in Nicaragua for example, and the Blackberry MORE than filled the gap.

Nevertheless, I got an iPhone. WHY? Because it was just too damned cool to NOT have. When I returned to Costa Rica for Christmas break, I started using the iPhone, and a few weeks ago I hacked it. Its still not a Treo, but it is now infinitely more usable.Its a portable OSX Mac in the palm of my hand. Yeah it still lacks a lot. No document editing is probably my biggest complaint. And it does not make sending attachments, even those you manage to shoehorn onto the phone, easy. But I trade all that for the looks of envy I get from people when I whip it out.

Now if Microsoft can manage to shrink VISTA down (Without the bugs and headaches), and put it on a smart phone that looks as good as the iPhone, they may have a shot, otherwise, Apple will continue to lead, especially if the rumors about 16gb versions with full support for OSX prove to be true.

Originally posted to Business Blog

I have been excited about OLPC from the first day I heard about it.

It is just the type of project that I, as a technologist, have always advocated and wanted to see come to reality. OLPC is the type of project that could make a huge difference in a developing country like Costa Rica, or any of the other developing countries around the world.

I have said for years that if I could just manage to feed my family and take care of my own personal responsibilities in the process, that I would run away and just work to help the children of the developing world to make it a better place. It seems like OLPC is trying to do just that. I heard about Intel bowing out about a week ago, and today I read this...

In mid-December, in the hip, Frank Gehry-designed IAC (IACI) building in New York, Intel (INTC) held a small gathering for a dozen or so journalists to preview the corporation's planned showcase at this week's 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Curiously missing: any mention of a much-anticipated, low-cost laptop, called the XO, for children in developing countries, featuring an Intel microprocessor, with hardware designed by the Santa Clara (Calif.)-based nonprofit, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). The company had been planning to launch it at CES.

In hindsight, the omission seems prophetic. (Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy tells BusinessWeek that the company was still working on the prototype for the Intel-OLPC laptop and wasn't ready to show it to the press in advance.) But leading up to CES, a furious public spat between OLPC's founder, Nicholas Negroponte, a professor on leave from MIT and co-founder of the famed MIT Media Lab, and the chipmaker erupted when Intel first notified Negroponte via e-mail on Jan. 3 that Intel was bowing out of the project. The feud highlights the tumultuous history of OLPC, just as the nonprofit issued the official results of its recent "Give One, Get One" sales promotion, and as Negroponte prepares to give a high-profile speech at CES on Jan. 9 as the closing talk of CES's program, "Technology and Emerging Countries: Advancing Development Through Technology Investments."

Its a shame that corportate and personal egos have come into play, damaging this project. It would seem to me that Intel, Microsoft and others could give away these things and still make a huge profit. PERHAPS this is an opportunity for AMD to step in?

Crossposted to my Business Blog

You know, when I first got my iphone, I thought, okay, this is pure "i"candy, and to be honest, I was not all that impressed and even a bit miffed that Apple had shipped a phone this expensive, with a locked down interface... I have to admit now, Apple's move may have been brilliant as it has forced some of the coolest innovation I have ever seen. MV demo (Go to this link via your iphone), is simply HOT!

And these guys have the scoop. The only thing that gets me excited about this firmware release is the whole Bookmarks on your home screen thing... That is kind of cool, the rest of the stuff, I already have it with my Jailbroke phone.

If you own an iPHone, and have an internet connection, point your iPhone's Safari browser to this location. Believe me, you will NOT regret it.

What does it do?

1. Jailbreaks iPhone/iPod Touch on 1.1.1

2. Patches Springboard to load third party apps

3. Activates non-AT&T iPhones automatically, while leaving already activated phones alone.

4. Fixes YouTube on non-AT&T iPhones automatically, while leaving already activated phones alone.

5. Installs Installer.app v3.0b5 on the iPhone/iPod Touch with Community Sources preinstalled.

6. Fixes Apple's TIFF bug, making your device MORE secure than it was without AppSnapp!

7. Enables afc2 protocol and adds special commands to allow killing springboard, lockdownd, etc from iphuc.

The best part? No hacking required!

This is a standard iPhone Screen

Now take a look at what a Jailbroke iPhone looks like...

But lets forget about the sexy look. It is the functionality.for the first time, I dont even carry my Treo Anymore. My iPhone has an advanced web browser, IMAP email support, threaded SMS, voice note recording, a ToDo list (Surprisingly, the iPhone did not come with one out of the box), and a wealth of OSX utilities, including a wifi stumbler application, which my Treo does not have, since it does not have wifi.

It even has a web based skype application.

Now as my buddy Eric would say.... "That's Hot!"

The coolest thing about the jailbroke iPhone is that the phone finally achieves some critical functionality to go with the flash.... It is unbelievable that this phone does not ship with an MMS program, or a video or voice recorder... The application Installer application has programs for most of the missing functionality... I still find it disappointing that there is no Native Yahoo Messenger Application, or Word Processing and Spreadsheet Application on the phone... There are a variety of web based applications that attempt to fill this void. For example, Mundu... The same people who power my always on IM application on my Palm Treo, have an excellent Web Based application for the iPhone...

Zoho, also has a great web based interface for their online spreadsheet, word processor and Presentation program.

One of the coolest way to discover the world of web apps for the iPhone is to check out AppMarks...

A virtual desktop application that has links to a wealth of iPhone Web Applications.. My iPhone has went from being a pretty toy, to being a pretty effective tool, just by doing a little tweaking.

There is one thing which still makes me nervous. There is no way to backup and restore the iphone, with all of the customizations. I have spent hours getting my phone JUST right, and dread the day that a crash could force me to have to restore it.

When are we going to get Video Chat in Costa Rica?

For a good, innexpensive PC to give to my wife for email and browsing. This looks like it could be just the ticket.

Intel Mobile CPU / 512MB / 2GB flash drive / 802.11b/g / 10/100 LAN / Memory Card Reader / Intel UMA graphics / Linux operating system / 2lbs

# Play, relax, and entertain on the go with shock-proof design. At 7" and weighing only 2lbs, you can take the Eee PC anywhere. Bumps and shocks are no longer issues. With a dependable solid-state disk, you get unparalleled shock-protection and reliability. Power-efficient design provides longer operating time when on the go. With a rapid start-up time that takes only 15secs to boot, the Eee PC is always ready to get into action. No technical manual required with the specially designed, User-friendly and intuitive graphic interface. You're always connected with built-in WiFi 802.11 b/g that automatically detects and connects to the Internet at any hotspot. The Eee PC includes the documents and the e-mails software, and a suite of other Productivity software to help keep you on track. Upload photos and videos and share them instantly on Flickr or YouTube without waiting till you get home. Enjoy Music and videos with extensive support for a wide range of Digital multimedia. Log on to Skype or other network, and you can connect with friends anywhere, anytime. Clear up wire clutter with the built-in speakers, and microphone. Since it's so easy to use and durable this makes a perfect gift for children, elderly or as a second lightweight notebook. 7" WVGA (800x480) TFT Display
# One-click intuitive interface
# WiFi 802.11b/g
# 10/100 LAN
# Intel Mobile CPU
# Intel UMA graphics
# 512MB memory
# 2GB Flash hard drive
# Memory Card Reader: MMC/SD (SDHC)
# Over 40 built-in applications for learn, work and play
# Linux based operating system
# 3 USB 2.0, 1 VGA, 1 Audio jack out, 1 Audio jack in, 1 RJ-45
# Approximate Unit Dimensions: 8.86" (W) x 6.3" (D) x 0.79"~1.26" (H)
# Approximate Unit Weight: 2lbs
# 1 Year Limited Warranty (6 months for battery)
# Windows XP compatibility but comes with Linux OS only

I am going to be SOOOOOOO into this!

No, I have not opened the XBox 3609 yet...

Every since I got my iPhone, I have been grousing about its obvious limitations. I still carry my Palm Treo 680 as my primary communication and life organizations tool. I read about how people had Jail Broke their phones and installed applications on the phone.

Having invested $500 in the thing, I was not about to risk, "bricking," the phone, or relocking it, by playing a bunch of Unix tricks...

Well today I discovered these folks... Visit the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch Safari Browser, follow the instructions and BAM, you have a whole new platform. and a REAL Smartphone, instead of a fancy iPod with a phone strapped to it.

I now have the power of BSD Unix at my finger tips, and a suite of applications comparable to my Treo 680, though not "quite," there yet.

I now have a real ToDo application. A voice Recorder, an editable calendar, and a bunch of other cool little applications. The thing is just about ready to replace my Treo 680 as my primary organizer. I still wont be able to sync ToDo's, and the calendar is limited compared to Palm and Agendus, but I will play with it for a few days and see what happens.

know this was coming, especially after this... and this.

As many of you are aware, we are in the process of building our next generation software platform. We are very excited about how this is coming together. It has a modern flexible UI, instant performance, and an incredibly simple and elegant development environment. We are working hard on this platform and on the first smartphone that will take advantage of it.

In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts. To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering our next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market. We will, of course, continue to develop products in partnership with Microsoft on the Windows Mobile platform, but from our internal platform development perspective, we will focus on only one.

Because we were nearly at the point for shipping Foleo, this was a very tough decision. Yet I am convinced this is the right thing to do. Foleo is based on second platform and a separate development environment, and we need to focus our efforts on one platform. Our own evaluation and early market feedback were telling us that we still have a number of improvements to make Foleo a world-class product, and we can not afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus. That would not be right for our customers or for our developer community.

Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We're not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.

Can you say.... Reality Check?

I think Jeff Hawkins was the only one who ever REALLY believed in the Foleo. It is true, that many of us wanted one, if for nothing else, just to have the latest and greatest Palm put out there... But make no mistake, the Palm community considered the Foleo to be a joke, and this announcement is surprising only in the fact that it took so long to make it.

No doubt that the "Fooleo" was destined to be the biggest bomb in Palm History, and yet Palm seemed to be sticking behind it, even confirming as late as a week or so ago that the Foleo was still on schedule to ship for "summer." It certainly makes one wonder if the recent investment of venture capital had something to do with this decision. Palm has been notoriously hard headed and arrogant about listening to their customers, perhaps the new venture capitalist saw the writing on the wall... who knows. Now one is forced to ponder if Palm is really turning over a new leaf, or simply acknowledging another disastrous product decision?

I was in Honduras last week when the great Skype outtage happened....

In the hotel I was staying at I got some weird error messages every time I tried to use skype, which I often do while traveling. I just figured that it was a case of the Hotel blocking Skype, to force clients to use the more expensive long distance services provided by the hotel...

BOY was I wrong!

"Say you have a crucial conference call in an hour and your phone goes dead. What do you do? A generation ago, this wasn't much of an issue, at least in the U.S. Phones in the days of the Bell monopoly were engineered to be "mission critical." You picked up one of those heavy receivers back then, and the dial tone was as prompt and reliable as water from the tap. It worked. Yet these days, even as we pack global multimedia in our pockets, phone service sometimes seems to march backward. Andy Beal was one of 220 million subscribers to Skype, the cut-rate Internet telephony service owned by eBay (EBAY ), who saw the service go dark on Aug. 16. A software glitch kept it down for the next two days. Founder of the Raleigh (N.C.) Internet marketing consultancy Marketing Pilgrim, Beal learned that Skype was out an hour before clients were to call him from Holland. He had to message them in a hurry, telling them to call his tenuous backup: the cell phone. "It was embarrassing," he says. But at least the cell phone worked--which isn't always the case. Are communications getting worse? Not by a long shot. We're surrounded by miraculous machines and services, most of them calibrated to a level software engineers have long called "good enough." In the right circumstances, good enough is great for the entire economy. A marketplace that's not hung up on fail-safe standards is open to risk and innovation, and drives down prices. Ever since the dawn of the PC--the archetype for a good-enough machine--inventors have been freer than ever to piece together and launch their visions. Some are brilliant, some are half-baked, many are a blend of the two. A precious few are up and running 99.999% of the time--Bell's old standard. But they cost far less to build. The rise of good-enough technology raises different questions for do-it-yourselfers and major corporations alike. It's no longer whether we can afford a technology, but more often whether we can afford the disruption if and when it fails. Is it critical? Do we have backup in place? Many of us face this question every time we venture from our office with a cell phone. We don't have "one machine that works all the time," says Dave Morgan, chairman of Tacoda Inc., a New York advertising company."

In an age where many call centers are going to hosted VOIP Systems in the United States, I frequently warn my clients that all it takes is one major outtage at their service provider, or on the internet in general, to put them out of business. I have prepaid cell phone lines in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras, as those are all places I travel to frequently. While I used Skype daily, and have a pretty sophisticated plug in system, the Skype outtage was more of an irritant than a show stopper for me. I simply moved back to my cell phone as my primary method of communicating internationally.

Skype and other online messaging systems, Yahoo is my second favorite, can be wonderful tools for business and pleasure, but no one should base their business on a tool that is Free or near Free.

I danced for a while with Google's hosting services, loved the intergration... hated the integration.... Those of you who have tried it will know what I mean... I ended up switching back to my old hosting plan. Well, I have a conference call in the morning with a client in Canada and a provider in Nicaragua, (you guessed it... on Skype) so it is good night for now...

Crossposted to Business Blog

The Other day, super tech blog Engadget wrote an open letter to Palm about the direction the company has taken. The Editorial hit like a NUCLEAR bomb in the Palm Community, leading many Palm Bloggers and their readers to speak out aggressively. Apparently the Editorial hit home, as Palm's CEO posted this response. The response has in turn led to a virtual torrent of responses from Palm Community Bloggers. One of the best of those editorial responses can be found here.

 

"It's no secret that a company can claim the love of its customers and succeed in the market once it is able to meet the needs of these customers - a tenet which may help explain Palm's fall from grace this past year. I'll be the first to admit that we can be a rather demanding lot and inevitably Palm will not be able to meet every need all the time. Having said this however there are some pretty basic things that we not only desire but have also now come to demand given the increasingly more attractive competitive offerings from the likes of RIM, Apple, Motorola, HTC and even Nokia. Palm has unfortunately provided us with a rather unimpressive lineup (think Foleo and Palm Centro) and Treonauts everywhere have grown increasingly restless and frustrated with the company's inability to deliver the future Treo smartphone that they really want - one with meaningful new hardware, software, content and service innovations. Overall we have tried to be polite and diplomatic about this but it obviously has not had the desired effect. It may thus now be time for this community to take a considerably harsher, critical and increasingly more active role to push Palm in the right direction."

The Engadget article was not the first to address the failings of Palm. In fact many articles and editorials have been written over the last couple of years. Each release of the Palm version of the Treo has been greeted with outrage for Palm's failing to include Wifi, sufficient memory and a stable OS. Many of the Palm sites have done a poor job of pushing or challenging Palm, instead serving as Palm Cheerleaders. While this has bought them access and free Palm Goodies, it has not served the needs of the community at large. One of my favorite Palm blogs is Palm Discovery, who had a great wrap up this morning.

Looks like Ed Colligan, the CEO of Palm has provided a short reply on the official Palm blog here to Engadget's Open Letter editorial. Interesting how quick of a response you get from Palm when you're the "big guys" like Engadget. Considering I'm such a small fry blogger, it's not surprising that I didn't get any response PERIOD even now and I doubt I ever will. Sigh.

It is a good step that Palm is addressing the open letters. But unlike many of the positive responses from the PDA community including Engadget, Mobilitysite, etc, I am very skeptical that anything will change. Palm may be "listening" but are they going to "act" on it? This is not the first time that Palm has officially addressed an "open letter".

Back in November 2006 when Treocentral forum member, Bob-C wrote an open letter to Ed Colligan. And Ed Colligan provided a response back on Dec 13. More info can be found here.

So, have we seen much changes since then? Hardly. The Palm Treo 700p users are STILL dealing with the Treo 700p MR update issues. Actually, Palm recently had to pull all the updates from its website. Certainly gives you a lot of confidence about their ability and transparency, doesn't it?

Again, this isn't the first time I've read, heard and seen Ed give the usual PR talk, to make us all hopeful that things are going well and there's Wi-Fi coming for the Treos, exciting times ahead, etc. Basically, as far as I'm concerned, this is just the usual "talk" to shut us up and buy some more time for a while. I am getting quite tired of hearing the talk. Talk is cheap. You can say all the things we want to hear but it means nothing if there's nothing to show for. And we've been hearing it for years. Now it's time for action. I'll believe it when I see it. Let's keep our fingers crossed. I am hoping but my gut tells me it's the same old thing. I hope I'm wrong.

Thank goodness that I'm *NOT* the only one who's skeptical about Ed's response. Woke up and found at least two bloggers who share the same skepticism about Palm that I had. Previously, the night before, all I read from various bloggers were positive response to Ed's reply. It was like suddenly, because Ed says it's okay that everything *will* be fine. The ship's not sinking. (I believe they said that when the Titanic sank too). Well, if Ed's the captain and he says it's okay, then it *must* be okay. Er, I think we may need another captain.

For the other few different reactions, please check out jkontherun and #comments. Thanks for linking to us, #comments!

I am glad to see one of the best of the Palm Sites actually challenging the Palm Dogma. Some of the others who have depended on Palm for "Bling," and special treatment over the last couple of years, are losing credibility in their silence. The Palm Centro, pictured above, is supposed to be the next release by Palm, like the Foleo before it, it is decidedly "underwhelming." Its time for Palm to start doing more than talk... Their relevance is slipping away.

Crossposted to Business Blog

I picked up the tx1232la, which ended up a finalist for best ultralight notebook in Latin America, from PC World.

The tx1000, which is the parent model for the 1232, recieved a pretty good review from CNET

HP is one of the first vendors to announce a laptop specifically built to run Windows Vista, and somewhat surprisingly, its initial offering is a convertible tablet. Unlike other tablets, such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X60, which are aimed primarily at business users, the HP Pavilion tx1000us targets the more average consumer. HP refers to it as an entertainment notebook, and the system includes media control buttons, dual headphone jacks, a touch screen that works with any stylus or your fingertip, and a new, high-gloss finish--all of which add to its consumer-friendly vibe. The $1,299 base price Pavilion tx1000us (our review unit cost $1,720) isn't set to ship until February 28, which is disappointing, and the AMD Turion 64 X2 processor wouldn't be our first choice, but in terms of performance and features, our first experience with a Windows Vista laptop has been a positive one.

The HP Pavilion tx1000us measures 12 inches wide, 8.75 inches deep, and 1.5 inches high, slightly narrower and deeper than the Fujitsu LifeBook T4215 tablet. It's large enough to work on for long stretches, but the small 12.1-inch screen can strain the eyes a bit over time. The tx1000us weighs 5 pounds (5.8 pounds with the AC adapter), which makes it easy to tote around in a laptop bag or carry around as a tablet, but it's a little on the thick side for easy handling.

As a convertible tablet, the tx1000us uses a center hinge to swivel the screen around, allowing it to fold down over the keyboard. The hinge feels sturdy, and the lid locks down cleanly when in tablet mode. Using the system in tablet mode may take a little getting used to. Unlike most other tablets, the HP Pavilion tx1000us uses a touch screen, not an active stylus. That means that you can use any stylus or any stylus-like object--even your finger. That can be very handy and certainly adds a little bit of that Minority Report-feel as you whip windows around with your fingertip.

You may need to adjust your writing style, however, because the touch screen isn't as responsive as traditional tablet screens--if it were, resting your palm on it would drive the system crazy--so a firm hand and deliberate pen strokes are needed. Whether you prefer this or an active stylus system is largely a matter of personal preference. We like the idea that if you lose your stylus, you're not out of luck.

The Pavilion tx1000us uses the Home Premium version of Windows Vista, which includes all the features home users want, including Aero effects, while forgoing some of the business-oriented security and networking features found on the Business and Ultimate editions. While Vista doesn't offer too many new features aimed squarely at laptop users, tablets get a few new programs including Pen Flicks, which enables basic navigation (forward, back, scroll) and commands (copy, paste, and so on) via simple stylus movements. We found the response a little tricky, but with more practice, we could see it being a useful way to work quickly.

I have not found any real lack of features in the version of Vista that ships with the unit. In all honesty, my biggest challenge is in using Vista in Spanish. Something I am not accusstomed to doing. While I speak and read Spanish fine, it is a bit challenging to use a computer with everything in Spanish. I only started playing with it last night, so I still dont have the complete hang for it. But I can tell you that it has great battery life, and comes with a trunkload of goodies.

hp-pavilion-tx1232la-entertainment-pc.pdf

While I absolutely adore my Dell Precision M65 for its raw processing power and well, "precision," Carrying it through airports is no fun. I am looking forward to spending the next couple of months working a project in Nicaragua, with a computer that is small, light and powerful.

Crossposted to my business blog

is just NAUGHTY beyond belief. I dont think I could run through airports carrying 18 pounds, and I think this thing would be hell on an overhead bin or impossible to fit on a tray table, but DAYUM!

This is the beauty I will be picking up tomorrow. Should make my life on the road a lot easier....

Originally posted to Business Blog

This article from Palm Addicts is invaluable in helping those of us with Lifedrives to sync our units.

Despite Palms recommendation I downloaded the new beta version of Palm Desktop, I Tried to sync but.... I Got a nasty Soft Reset (I'm use to it, I own a Life Drive), tried again and the same... well i tweak a little and discover that Addit Sync causes the soft reset so I turned off (configure applications in Palm Desktop) then the Syncing process continued but it freezes doing backup... so I turned off too.

How to do it?

Once all is installed (Palm Desktop) go to the taskbar right corner, you'll find a new hi res icon for palm desktop, right click on it, right click settings, the palm desktop apps will appear, go to applications and uncheck Addit, Backup and Media (this worked for my LifeDrive).

Give it a try at your own risk.

Now you can sync.

Conclusion: Well is not perfect but at least you can install now new apps, sync your calendar and stuff, you can't backup all your files but there are other solutions (resco backup, etc.), you can't sync add it but you can try plucker or others. After disable Addit and Backup from syncing the sync process continues and finishes without reset, it can install apps sync docs to go perfectly (Version released today 10.001).

Read my commentary on my Business Blog

Palm quietly released an update to their Java Virtual Machine today. I downloaded the upgrade and then reinstalled the Gmail client and latest version of Opera Mini. After a few minutes of weaking the Java settings, I was able to get Opera Mini running just fine. (Something I have had problems with before.)

The other major accomplishment today was installing the new Vista compliant version of the Palm Desktop software.

This was a major step for me...

1. I used a Palm Lifedrive in addition to my Treo 680, and the Lifedrive is not on the new Desktop Software's compatibility List. Nevertheless, after following the upgrade thread on Palm InfoCenter for the last few days, I decided that thebenefits outweighed the risk, and I went for it.

After uninstalling the old version of the desktop, I installed the new version, and other than the fact that I had to manually change the default synchronization from Palm Desktop to Outlook, the system worked flawlessly. I tried to sync my Lifedrive as well, but about halfway through the process, the Lifedrive did a reset, I can not be sure as to whether this reset was caused by the Palm or the New Desktop.

I will be experimenting with it over the next couple of days to see if we can get the Lifedrive to work. It is a beta and you need to keep that in mind on installing. Obviously I am pretty cutting edge when it comes to my applications.

If you don't mind risking your data and sanity, I recommend taking the step.

The update is well worth the effort in speed and additional flexibility for those of us running Vista. Then again, anyone crazy enough to make the move to Vista under version 1,should have no problem risking this move as well.

Crossposted to my Business Blog

Dell is one of those companies that can change a market... Tablet PC's have been niche products for a long time, this announcement could potentially change that...

Palm has finally released a beta version of the Palm Desktop software for Windows Vista users.

Bearing Microsoft's "Works With Windows Vista" certification branding, Palm Desktop v6.2 is essentially just a Vista-compliant version of the previous version of Palm Desktop for Windows.

Aside from the "Works with Windows Vista" compatibility guarantee, this new version 6.2 beta comes with:

* Palm Desktop 6.2 and HotSync Manager 7

* Install Tool to sync .prc and .pdb files. Do note that Palm's Quick Install tool is NOT present in this beta release.

* Outlook 2007 synchronization for Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes.

* Windows Vista compatible: Has earned Microsoft's "Works with Windows Vista" designation.

Aside from the handy Quick Install feature, this version also omits tethered VersaMail synchronization. With the rise in popularity of Treos with wireless conectivity, most users nowadays download VersaMail e-mails directly to their devices and bypass desktop VersaMail synchronization entirely.

As expected, Palm has guaranteed only a small handful of Garnet OS devices to run under this new 6.2 version of the Palm Desktop. Palm's handful of remaining PDA models (Z22, E2, TX) are on the compatibile device list, along with the Treo 650, 680, 700p, and 755p.

Most alarming in the list of unsupported devices is the LifeDrive Mobile Manager. The LifeDrive was released in May 2005 (after the release dates of the Treo 650 and the Tungsten E2 which are supported) and the Tungsten T5, released alongside the Treo 650 in October 2004.

Emphasis mine.... How Palm could have even allowed themselves to fall behind enough that their desktop was not ready in time for Vistas launch. is staggering.... The fact that they would now launch a version that does not support their most expensive PDA product, is ridiculous....

When you have a 4GB Treo 680.

A real Smartphone with all the same features of the iPhone. Not to mention tens of thousands of programs, a REAL Qwerty keyboard, and full compatibility with Microsoft Office Applications...

Not to mention the fact that you can actually use this phone anywhere in the world.... Well except for Japan. I am still having a few problems with getting the Treo to consistently use the SDHC 4GB card. But it recognizes the card and will read and write to it.

I have only used a fraction of the capacity of my 2GB card, so the 4GB card is more of a test subject at the moment. I am sure that I will discover the secret to getting more consistent performance from the HDSC Card.

I have recently cleaned my Treo of a bunch of older programs that I was not using. I have had offers to use other smartphone classs products, but stay with my Treo despite some quirks in the platform.

The ability to utilize the high capacity SD cards adds a whole new dimension to a powerful product. I find myself leaving my Palm Lifedrive at home more and more, as the additional capacity allows me to carry more files and entertainment on the Treo.

Once I am able to use 4GB card with more consistency, I will likely utilize the Treo as a mobile version of my Desktop Documents folder. That is... Unless Palm releases

The Foleo

Before I can get this thing to work right... Hehe

Crossposted to Business Blog

I upgraded my Notebook's hard disk to 120GB yesterday and decided to take the opportunity to do some housecleaning and an upgrade of the OS as well.

I did the in place upgrade of Windows XP to Windows Vista Business, using a Dell upgrade Disk. The process was long, but flawless. In about two and a half hours I had upgraded the system, refreshed drivers and was off and running. There were a few scary moments, like when it did not seem to recognize the capabilities of my Dell Precision M65's Graphics Card. The M65 is a workstation class machine, desighned to show off the capabilities of a robust OS like Vista.

One of my clients, who recently aquired a new notebook with Vista Pre-installed, warned me against the upgrade. He told me his notebook was slow using the new OS. I have found nothing but the contrary. The M65 seems MUCH faster than my old XP install, so much so that I am impressed. This probably has to do with the fast Nvidia Quadro FX 350 Graphics card while at the Entry level of the QFX Line, is robust enough to run Vista's graphics engine at a healthy clip. The two gigabytes of system memory is probably the most significan factor of my systems performance.

The other concern I had was about syncronizing my Palm under Vista. Since Palm still does not have a Vista Certified desktop, this was a big concern. I was not able to sync using USB, but using Bluetooth, my sync went fine. And I have to admit, I am pretty content at this point.

Did I mention the fact that I recently upgraded my Treo 680 to use 4GB of SD Memory?

Crossposted to my Business Blog

There was a great article on Palm Addicts yesterday about the great Psion series of handheld computers.;

The Psion Series 7 brings back many fond memories for me. Ten years ago I chose to purchase a Psion Sienna instead of a Palm Pilot. The Sienna was a clamshell device with powerful software (PIM, Spreadsheet, and word processor) and a tiny, difficult to use keyboard. I didn't pick the Palm Pilot because I was reluctant to learn Grafitti and the included software was not as sophisticated as what was offered in the Sienna. Later, after the Sienna broke, I again chose Psion over Palm, this time a Psion Series 5. This little computer was a marvel. Its operating system, EPOC, was the most stable I ever used. I could actually touch type on its keyboard. The included office software was even more sophisticated than what was on my Sienna. I still miss Agenda, Psion's daily planner program. The Series 5 was too big to fit in my pants pocket, so I carried it everywhere in a waist pack. (Yes, this proves I have no sense of style). During this time I would see people pull out their Palms and talk about how wonderful these gadgets were. I couldn't fathom why so many people were enamored over Palms. I thought the software was primitive and the beeping, chirping alarms were tacky. Psion's EPOC operating system was so much more powerful and sophisticated than Palm's. I still felt this way when I broke my Series 5, so I purchased a Series 5mx, an improved version of the Series 5.

Later, when my Series 5mx broke, I finally bought a Palm, mainly because I thought Palm's slate form factor would be more durable than the clamshell design of Psion computers. As hard as I am on organizers, I should probably have acquired a device designed for the battlefield. I have to say I was disappointed with Palm's software. The applications were more primitive than Psion's and the operating system was not as stable. In all the years I used Psions, I don't ever remember having them crash or having to hit the reset button. But it was nice being able to carry my organizer in my pants pocket rather than in a dorky waist pack.

I was fortunate enough to find a classic Psion Series 3a, on eBay a couple of weeks ago. Now with my obvious hoard of technology and especially mobile computer devices, I hardly needed another one...

This was one I c ould not pass up though, as the mint condition 3a cost me all of $20. The thing comes with a whopping 512K of memory, yea thats K, not Megabytes... Hehe, and a serial cable. Despite the fact that it has a built in voice recorder, I dont even have enough memory in the thing to record a 2 second voice memo.

To be honest, I did not buy the Psion to replace my Palm devices, rather as a nice conversation piece to place on my desk and show my Tech Cred!

I actually had several Psion devices during the day when they were the executives choice for handheld agenda's, and I am still amazed at how well the technology holds up. Use any of the built in application, and you will be amazed at their robustness AND ease of use, a full 14 years after the 3a was introduced. The 3a is a bit large compared to the tech I carry today, and I cant imagine carrying one around in my pants pocket, but 15 minutes of using one of these will make you wonder... WHY arent these still being made?

Crossposted to my Business Blog