mip's scan

Back From the Dead?

When I got my Treo 650 more than a few people said "mip - you should have waited...Palm is coming out with something new."  I didn't wait.  I hate playing the wait-&-see game.  If you play that game you are either disappointed or whenever you get something tech you are unhappy with it one month later.  Then Palm announced that it was releasing the Treo 700w powered by Windows mobile.  More emails came to me and friends would say, "You should have waited."  I'll admit I thought it was the death bell for Palm.  I even wrote about it.  Still I held fast and said "Well you won't see it in Canada for a while."  Was I trying to make myself feel better.  Nah.  I knew it would take a long time to get here and by the time it did, the real info on how this new Treo was would be out.  Well, it looks like the Palm OS isn't as dead as we all thought.  I'd heard rumblings and seen the odd post here and there about the Treo 700w disappointing but now I found a detailed review.  This reviewer at first blush thought the Treo 700w to be pretty good.  So much so that he went and got his own.  Now, months later he lists things that are "bad" about the device.  The most glaring issue being:

But the real problem with the Treo 700w is the pitiful stability of the software. Many users (including I) have seen their units lock up and become totally unresponsive until reset. Even when running correctly, the phone can become sluggish and “go away” for a minute or more. Worse, even an incoming phone call won’t wake up the Treo when it’s in this state. I’ve lost quite a few calls because the phone went wonky.

This gets to the nature of the OS.  The Palm OS was built on simplicity.  Thus it was more stable.  I remember when it was rock solid a few generation back - it has become less so in recent years with the addition of more functionality.  It looks likes the Windows implementation on the Treo 700w is even worse. 

You can read the entire review here.  Am I glad I didn't wait?  You bet I am.  I've been enjoying the Treo 650 all this time while the nay-sayers are still waiting to upgrade their phones.  As for me...if the Treo 700w does come to Canada...well...this time I will wait...for the Treo 800p.  ;-)

DVD+UMD=mip was right

What did I say 11 months ago?  Huh?  If you need a refresher you can check out my post from March of 2005 here.  In that post you'll see I had said that Sony needed to sell DVDs at one price, UMDs at a similar price and a DVD plus UMD combo at an alternate price that wasn't double the UMD or DVD price.  It's the only way to get real uptake on the UMD format. 

Now I'm not the usually the kind of guy who says "I told you so", but in this case...well...I told you so.  But I'm happy about it no doubt.  Happy to read

Starting March 28, consumers can buy DVD-UMD combo packs of "The Grudge," "Resident Evil," "Underworld," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and MGM's "The Terminator" for just pennies more than Sony typically charges for a new DVD.

A second batch of DVD-UMD combos--"Ghostbusters," "Mad Max," "The Fifth Element" and "Snatch"--arrives April 25, with a third wave slated to come on the market in May.

Each combo is priced at $28.95. Sony typically charges $24.96 to $26.96 for new DVD releases, while titles new to UMD generally list for $19.95.

You can read the entire article here - the UMD comb stuff begins in the 9th paragraph but the whole article is a good one.  It would seem that the big movie business is starting to finally get it.
Way to go Sony!

Google Local & Talk Coming To A Blackberry Near You

Blackberry just announced that they'll have Google Talk and Local services for their devices.

Google Talk allows users to send and receive instant text messages with other Google Talk members. The service will be available for download onto a Blackberry device this spring.

Immediately available is a software download of Google Local for mobile, which enables Blackberry users to view maps and satellite imagery, find local businesses and get driving directions on their Blackberry handsets.

What I wonder is if the Google Talk only allows for instant messages to be exchanged, in which case, its really no big deal since you can messeger with other products already.   Or does the Google Talk allow you to actually voice over IP?

To read all the info just click here.

Importance of the Third Screen

  What do I mean by the Third Screen and is it really important?  Well let's start with the first screen - your TV.  For decades content producers and advertising companies were vying for your eyeballs on the television.  Then came the second screen - your PC.  With PCs becoming mainstream and being found in most homes, content producers and the companies that want to advertise while you consume that content started to compete for your attention on the PC screen.  So what is the third screen?  I don't think it's decided exactly yet - could be your smartphone, your video iPod, your PSP or whatever else you might be carrying around.  Suffice it to say that the third screen is content on the go.   Now people may scoff (remember when everyone said the internet was a fad and wouldn't last...hmmmm) but I think that just as the PC took people's attention away from TV, the third screen, mobile content, will do the same.  So it wasn't surprising for me to read that a new category had been announced for the Emmy's.

The group behind the daytime Emmys is expected to announce a new category specifically for content made for computers, cell phones and other hand-held devices

I think that is awesome - it'll drive increased high quality content for such devices.  And who knows, perhaps you'll be watching the Emmy's on the train ride into work on your brand new third-screen.

To read the whole article titled Emmys for the iPod just click here.

Which Device is Right for You?

I mentioned in this week's podcast that a collegue of mine (Warren) was waiting for his new Dell PDA to arrive.  He'd been researching devices ranging from the PSP to the video iPod to numerous PDAs trying to decided which device was right for him.  We're going to do a PSP, iPod video and Dell Axim side-by-side comparison.  Its all in fun though because quite frankly, each device is a winner in the sense that it meets users different needs.  So here's my question to all my readers - which device was right for you, and why?

While you're answering that - we'll give Warren some time with his new baby (isn't getting new tech just the best).

Is There a Market for iTunes Video?

Is there a market for the video service that Apple is offering via iTunes for the new iPod video?  I'd say so...and the numbers seem to indicate it as well.  1,000,000 video in less than 20 days!

"Selling one million videos in less than 20 days strongly suggests t here is a market for legal downloads," Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, said in a statement. "Our next challenge is to broaden our content offerings."

What I don't get is why Sony isn't working their corporate assess behinds off to get legal video content available for purchase for their PSP.  It's mind boggling that you'd release such a great device and then not make it easy...and I mean dead simple...to buy and load video content.  Maybe Sony is waiting to see if there's a market for this but I'd think that having sold millions of UMD movies worldwide would already indicate that.  If companies like Sony don't act, Apple will corner the market (again).  Would that bother me?  Well I love my PSP but it wouldn't bother me in the least - I'm always happy when a company successfully delivers me what I want as a complete experience/service.

To read the details on the current set of stats from the past 20 days or so, click here.

Treo 650Music Dock

What can I say....I have got to get one of these!

Specs are:

• Charging and HotSync for your device.
• Stereo speaker system, 2.1 Sub-woofer Speaker System
• 3.5mm stereo line-in for other audio devices like MP3/MD/CD player, etc.
• Blue soft-light illumination.

Since I use Pocket Tunes on my Treo something like this would be great - arrive home or to office, place the Treo into the dock and awa y we go!

For details check out the link.

Avantgo Gets RSS

A long time ago when I was using the Palm IIIc I signed up and used a service called Avantgo.  What Avantgo did was allow me to subscribe to various channels and then those channels would be populated with content.  I haven't used this service in years - with the advent of RSS feeds and wireless internet browsing via my Blackberry and now Treo I didn't see the need.

So today I read that Avantgo has gotten RSS feeds built into it now so I decided, let me see if I still have an active account.  Yup - I do.  I'm going to install Avantgo on my Treo and test it for a week as a portal solution to aggregating my RSS feeds so I can read them on the road.  I'll get back to you as to what I think.

OQO Model 01+

Remember a long while back I wrote about the innovative device from OQO?  Well two great pieces of news.  Firstly, they just announced the next release which they are calling Model 01+.  For full specs from their website click here.  Secondly, I've received confirmation that they will be sending me a review unit in November!  I plan on testing it out by using it exclusively, ditching my computer and my tablet for the trial period to bring you a day-to-day, play-by-play review of the unit in the workplace.  It's been almost a year since I first wrote about the OQO so I'm looking forward to finally having a chance to review it and share that with all my readers.

PDANet for your Treo650

I figured I'd post a seperate post with regard to the questions I was getting about using my Treo650 as a wireless modem for my laptop.  I do indeed do this over Bluetooth which is really sweet. 

I use a program I purchased online called PDAnet.  You can find their web site here.  It works suprisingly well.  Like I said in my preivous posting about the Treo650, I was in a coffee shop working on a Powerpoint presentation.  I simply launched the PDAnet software, tapped Connect and it connected to my tablet via Bluetooth and established an Internet connection.  You should note that any phone calls you may receive while using this program go directly to voicemail.

Hope that helps!