Mobile Tech

CallShield Saga Is Over

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I finally got the Pro version of CallShield working on my Treo 600. Mantragroup makes this cool software call CallShield. I have mentioned it before. I can have distinctive rings on my Treo based off of groups in my address book. I can filter by number, area code, etc. I can also tell the software to go right to voice mail or hang up on someone based off of criteria like #, group, area code, etc. it is really cool.

My problem was that the lite version had a bug that would prevent me from using the distinctive ringer on my Treo 600. It kept rebooting when the ringer would go off. I went through 2 trials of their pro version of the software that worked before I was stuck. The support group was cool. they sent me a key to use the software for an extra week. Then a week goes by and the fix wasn’t in for the lite version. So I email them. Several days go by and they say, hey you have been cool send us your information and proof of purchase and we will upgrade you. I figure great, that was nice of them. I send them the information they require and another week goes by before I hear back from them. In total I bought the product on April 30, and I am finally getting it working without any demo’s today June 2. Not so good.

I do give them high marks for the software being really good. Also they didn’t give me a hard time about the upgrade. it just took a while to get responses back from them.

My bad experiences asside, Call Shield is my new killer app for the Treo 600 along side my Snappermail, & Verichat. This is why I have a smart phone.

Missing Sync Is Out

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OK, I am not going to bash Mark / Space or their product the Missing Sync. I actually like the product. I bought it for the Palm and Pocket PC. I am just having issues with limitations the mac has on PIM software. What I mean is that I like outlook. I really do. I use the catigories in the address book, tasks, and calender allot. The problem with that is the Mac equivelant software Address book, and ical does not do cagitories or does not do them in a way they are compatible with what I do in Outlook.

I use outlook at work. I go home to my mac and would like the work to carry over. Instead I get all my categories I do at work getting erased when I go home and sync with my mac. I had to spend 2 hours redoing all the categories on all my address book contacts on Saturday because of this.

For this reason I am on hold with using my mac as a PIM again. I still use the Missing Sync to update Avantogo on my iPaq, but that is it for now. Hopefully Markspace and apple inprove their products to allow me to do this. I don’t think it is a limitation on Mark Space’s side, but on the Apple PIM side. Either way I am not able to do what I want.

To me this is one of the last hurdles for me to get rid of my PC at home for all day to day tasks. The other things I need the PC for are all work related. Come on Apple, make a better PIM, that is compatible with it’s PC cousin’s!!!

Allot Of Treo’s

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For a device that has only sold a few hundred thousand units, I have seen many Treo 600’s today. I saw 3 different people besides myself on the subway with them today. They are popular but not ubiquitous yet. It is funny to see so many people with them.

One lady saw mine and was asking me if I liked it. it was funny to be approached about tech like that on the NYC subway.

Maybe one day they will be as common as the iPod is today? Well, maybe not.

Lifeline

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I talk allot about communication gadgets, etc. I won’t lie, I like them. I think they are cool. I also find them invaluable. Yesterday reaffirmed that for me. I was lost without my cell phone when the confiscated it yesterday. In order to check in with work I had to call our 800# to our call center and get some one to patch me through to Kai. I missed the call about a site being down at noon, not that I would have been able to do anything. I at least could have given out vital info if someone needed it.

It is good to a point that I can stay connected with one communication device like that. It is bad that when it is taken away it is like I don’t know what to do. I can tell you I was bored for a while. I did other things, but you almost get addicted to being able to stay so connected.

Note to self for next jury duty, get a non camera phone and use that. Gus has my old T-68i and he is in India, so I didn’t have a phone I could pop my SIM in that the court officers wouldn’t take.

Palm Apps

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I may have mentioned this before but the only software I am buying recently is software for my Treo 600. I am finding so many useful things to get, I going out and buying the full versions when the trials are over.

I just bought Verichat. it allows you to chat over GPRS. You can use AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and ICQ. If you are not actively in the program, but logged onto their proxy server and someone sends you an IM, you get a SMS message with the IM. You then can sms back or enter the program and chat. Regular chatting does not use up SMS messages. it rocks.

I also got Call Shield Lite for the Treo 600. It allows me to identify anyone or any group with distinctive rings. It also allows me to hang-up, send to voice mail or answer any call by a number of parameters. you do this by group, person, or phone number. I have someone who keeps calling with a wrong number. I programed the software automatically hang up on them before the phone rings. It is so crazy, how cool this software is.

I am going to buy jabber software so I can use work’s jabber system on the Treo. I haven’t tried that out yet, but it looks good.

iPod And Storage Space

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Jury Duty makes me remember I want another iPod. I am waiting to see if something new is coming out from Apple. Macrumors say that the iPod is in mid product cycle and won’t have a new one coming out for a few months. I am still holding out. I think the 20gig units are too small for what I want to do, and the 40 gig ones are too expensive. I am hoping that the middle of the road unit has 25-30 gigs when the refresh their product cycle in a few months.

For now I am going to wait. I may invest in a 512 meg SD card. I have been thinking about it, and the prices are coming down. It is that or a USB flash drive.

Apple Has New Laptops

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Whenever apple comes out with an updated version of hardware that I have, I need to stop and look at it. When they went from the original 12″ Powerbook to the one that I have, I noticed differences that I wanted to take advantage of. The third generation 12″ doesn’t look like it is much different at all from the 2nd generation one that I have.

It has a 33% faster process, and that is great. What else does it have? Built in airport extreme and a faster video card. So what. I don’t play games on this thing and I have airport extreme on mine. The only thing of interest was the bigger standard hard drive, but that is not enough to want to get a new one. their is no other differences. That is good news to me, since I won’t feel compelled to upgrade anytime soon.

My current PB does good by me so far.

Ring Tones And More

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When I got my Sony Ericsson T610 I realized I had a ring tone or two on my old T68i. What to do? I paid for those tones, and I sure wanted to keep them. Turns out it was a snap to move them. I tried IR to beam the tones to my new phone. That didn’t really work. I figured it out via Bluetooth. I paired both phones with each other and just sent the tones. Took like 3 minutes total. The tones work fine on my new phone because it is also a Sony Ericsson.

I also got the new phone to pair with my Powerbook (talked about that in detail before) and now my HP iPaq 1945. The iPaq took some time. I had to figure out the dial up networking settings on it, but now I got it. I can browse the internet on my iPaq using the GPRS of the phone anywhere I have a signal. I was trying it out from my desk at work when the phone was in my bag. I also was able to connect to the phone when it was charging in my bedroom and I was on my couch. Nice!

My next mission is to get this setup to work with my Win XP PC. I think my problems are related to the Xircom card I am using. Their are no new drivers for it, since Xircom got bought up by intel. I am looking for another PCMCIA bluetooth card or maybe a USB one.

Blackberry Pagers

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My company uses several blackberry 950 pagers for our on call staff. People carry them and get automated emails when a server is having an issue. We get allot of them sometimes. Originally when we got pagers we used Skytel. They were good. Then we switched to Motient. They are good also. The coverage is great, but they just changed their pricing.

It used to be that you got unlimited email’s for $49.99 a month. Now that gives you 1 meg of downloads. You pay for everything over that. We have been going way over our quota. Our bills are upwards of $250 per pager. I have been looking for a solution for a few weeks, but my CEO asked about the bill yesterday. he was like how many pagers do I have? I explained the situation, and he agreed that a new solution should be out there.

So far all I can think of is buying Cingular or T-Mobile Blackberry phones and using their unlimited data plans for our paging. I am going to replace 1 pager with a bigger blackberry and see how it works out. It is just going to take a little time to get that setup.

This blog entry was written while listening to Mandolin Rain from the album “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby

Bluetooth, Powerbook, And A T610 = Awesome

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I have had a new Sony Ericsson T610 for a little over a week now. Actually I am on my second one. The first one’s camera stopped working on day 2, so T-Mobile gave me a new one. So far this one seems fine.

This phone is nice, but the best feature is the bluetooth. I can sync with my Powerbook while the phone is in my bag. No more entering contact information into the phone. I know I could have (and have) done this on other phones, but the sync software on the pc and the usb or ir methods sucked. This is a breeze. Setup on the powerbook was easy too. I also got GPRS dial up to work. Now I can use my T610 as a modem anywhere I get good signal while using my Powerbook. I was just checking my mail on the rail road. The phone was still in my bag. Now that is technology that works.

The only kink is that the GPRS is slow, and on the train the signal is sometimes spotty. When I get good signal the connection rocks.