Palm introduces the Foleo Mobile Companion

Drum roll please.... introducing the Palm Foleo

The early announcements peg this nifty device to be a companion to the Treo smartphone. Think of it as an expansion of the Treo's screen and keyboard running Linux as the primary OS. Supposedly it can do everything the Treo can do - with wireless access to boot.

Early reports claim it uses bluetooth to make the wireless connection to the Treo. It has instant on/off capability, runs the Opera web browser (which I'm a fan of), and runs a mobile version of Documents to Go.

The demo in the link above says it all.

I'm not quite sure what to think of it yet. I have run into instances when I could of used a larger screen and keyboard on my Treo when doing some heavy work on it. Instant access to the web with either wireless or bluetooth-to-phone connectivity is also appealing.

But then again, what about my current IBM laptop? It's small, light, and does everything a Treo can do and more. I primarily use it to browse the web, and get access to my company network. Come to think of it, my Treo 755P also has access to my company network in emergencies, and a big screen would be a big help. If the Foleo can do both of these without the hassle of running Windows, it's a winner for me.

Perhaps some sort of laptop accessory could of accomplished what the Foleo can do? Then again, you can't get a laptop for the Foleo's retail price of $499. And it can do web, email, and document editing - all anyone needs, correct?

It'll be exciting to see what sort of chatter this will generate in the Treo community in the coming days.

I've collected a few feeds from today's announcement in my Shared Feeds box along the right...

My new babies

My new babies
Originally uploaded by automatic_man2.

IBM HS21 Bladecenter. Four dual core monsters supporting our new Citrix environment. These things are simply awesome.

New Treo 755P in my hands- first impressions

Update: PdaNet just emailed me the beta for the 755P version of this great app. And it's a free upgrade :) It works!



On a whim, I walked into the Gurnee, IL Sprint store on 5/11/07 originally to look for a 2nd Treo dock, and lo-and-behold there it was- a Treo 755P was already souped up on their display rack. As I inquired a little further, apparently they received their first shipment earlier in the day. This was a surprise since the original sale date was 5/14.

I'm not kidding when I say this thing looks and feels great- miles above the 700P. The midnight blue finish is rubberized and doesn't feel like it's going to slip out of your hands. It feels lighter and I don't miss the antenna at all. It's been out of the box for a few hours now, and have had only one disappointment so far:











Junefabric's PdaNet, which enables you to use the Treo as a modem, does NOT work on this phone. After loading and starting up the app, a window pops up that simply states, "PdaNet Closing: This version of PdaNet only works on Handspring Treo 700p." This is one of my more important applications and I need it to work. A support ticket to Junefabric's is already on its way....

One other note: As the Sprint tech was moving my service over to this phone, he mentioned that he was upgrading my "data access service." After I prodded him for more information, he explained that my 700P did not support the faster mobile bandwidth speeds Sprint had recently rolled out. "Is it similar to a maintenance release for the Sprint Power Vision?," I said, "Yes." he explained.

I took this to mean I should expect even faster data speeds than I have been experiencing with my 700P, and after using it now for a few hours, things are loading noticeably faster in Blazer. I'm not sure if this is simply because it's a fresh new phone, or the data speeds ARE actually faster- only time will tell!

First impressions:

• Great feel and look.
• Don't miss the antenna at all.
• Everything on it is faster including data speeds.
  
• Not too sure about giving up my SD cards for mini-SD.
• Bluetooth is much more stable now, and better.
• Speaker is louder.
  
• Infrared port is along the right side, and I'm not sure if my Palm wireless keyboard will support it now.
  
• My Palm pen-stylus is way too small for the 755P's pen silo. I had to use a sharp object to pull it out after I shoved it in too far. Blah.
• Treo 700P batteries will not fit.
• All of my accessories (dock, car charger, etc.) still work on this phone.
  
• PdaNet application is not working (i.e. no data access using my phone as a modem to my laptop).
  

More soon...

White shades are cool!

Originally uploaded by automatic_man2.

Lidia being silly on a Saturday night.

Treo 755P official - no real 'wow' here

I've been pouring over all of my feeds this morning to read the news on the official announcement of the Sprint Treo 755P. Although I wasn't expecting anything major in this new device other than the form factor, I'm still disappointed that there really isn't anything new that my 700P doesn't already have.

Same processor, same memory, no upgrade to bluetooth 2.0, no wi-fi (which I don't really care about), same Palm OS version, same applications with new additions including Voice control, and an IM client.

I am digging the new form factor though, and the mini-SD slot... not so much.

Nothing in the specs of this new device really 'wowed' me per say, but being a shameless early-adopter of the latest and greatest gadgets, I may take this one for a spin when it comes out in about a week. I'll take it in midnight blue please....

Then again, I may wait to see what the upcoming 700P maintenance release has to offer. Decisions, decisions....

I've collected a bunch of 755P posts and added them to my shared feeds page.

Xbox 360 Spring Update coming in June

I'm pretty excited to see all of the new updates Microsoft is pushing down to my Xbox 360 for free this coming June. Of special interest to me are the multimedia updates and Microsoft Live Messenger integration.

I'm an admitted game console newbie, and the 360 is my first ever game console. I've always been a die hard PC gamer, but always had to stress over the increasing hardware requirements of the latest games for PC's.

I'm a very happy Xbox360 owner now, but am still years (not many!) behind my nephew Danny in game console playing hours - this kid is damn good!














Read more about the Xbox360 Spring Update here.

Twitter goes mobile

I've recently gotten hooked on Twitter - a 'micro-blogging' tool that keeps you touch with your friends via SMS or IM. Type a quick 140 character message on "what you're doing" and your message gets delivered to your friends list via a text message or AOL Instant Messenger.

The service recently released a mobile version of the website for use on mobile browsers. It looks very much like your original Twitter homepage without all of the fluff that slows mobile browsers down. The only thing that is missing is the handy countdown that lets you know how many characters you have left to type out of the available 140. Still, it's fast and useful.

Other handy mobile Twitter tools:

-TreoTwit for Palm devices.

Mobile Twitter
JesseJstreet on Twitter

Resco Backup = Life saver

I wanted to give props to one of the more important Treo 700p applications I own- Resco Backup. If you're into trying out the latest Palm applications when they're released like I am, you're going to want a good backup solution to get you out of a jam when things go wrong.

I recently ran into a major problem with my Treo. For whatever reason, almost every icon on my Palm launcher would reset my 700p. Only a select few apps would actually launch when I clicked on them. I did load a couple of apps earlier in the week, but didn't really notice a problem until later on.

After uninstalling the suspected apps, I was still running into the same problem. I was leaving on a trip out of town and really needed my Treo to work properly before getting started. After a reset or two to no avail, I fired up Resco Backup hoping that the scheduled backup it made at 1 a.m. earlier that morning worked. It did.

I did a full restore off of the SD card and reset the phone. Everything came up without any errors, the resets were gone, and I suffered no data loss.

Resco Backup came through again and saved the day.

Check out all of the great Resco apps at Resco.net or try Resco Backup here.