Treo 600

Must Have Software

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I have said good things about CallShield before. I will say more good things. It filters calls to my Treo 600. So if XYZ person calls and I don’t want them to call, I can send them to voice mail, or refuse the call or hang up on them right away.

The hang up function is great. I have some old lady who keeps calling me. She is so old and or retarded she keeps dialing my number instead of whoever it is she really wants to get. So I programed my phone to hang up on her. I see in the phone log that she calls like 8 times trying to get through. People are stupid.

The reason I am praising the software again is that she tried to call last night at like 1:30AM. I didn’t know this until this morning since the software worked as advertised. My only problem is that I wont want to switch to another phone since I won’t be able to do this kind of filtering on a normal cell phone.

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.

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.

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.

Mobile Technology

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I tell everyone I used to hate traveling for work. That is partially true. In the end I dreaded the trips, the waits in the airport, getting lost in po-dunk towns in rental cars, etc. In the beginning I loved traveling. I think I did too much too quick. Also I did this during a period of the worst air traffic delays in the history of US air travel. I also flew out of the most delayed airport in the US. An airport that the FAA said accounted for 25-30% of all delays at the time, Laguardia airport (LGA).

This entry is not about my love or dislike of travel, that I can save for many entries later. What I am thinking about is the cool technology you can use or rely on when traveling.

Studies are coming out now saying more and more people are “cutting the cord” or becoming wireless phone only households. I have been using my cell as my primary (or only) home phone since 1998. Earlier than that I lived at home with my parents and they did have an extra line, even though I never used it.

When traveling you can use the coolest tools that keep you in touch or working. The stuff out now is even better than what I was able to use when I traveled regularly 3 years ago. Wow, it has been 3 years since I did that.

When I was on the road I relied on a laptop (Compaq Presario 1875 or something with an AMD K6-2 180mhz processor, then a number of Micron 15″ TFT laptops, and eventually a Dell latitude CPx). The laptops I have now kick the ass of the ones I had then. My thinkpad T-40 I use for work is literally half the thickness of the micron’s I used and 3-4 times more powerful. The battery lasts like 4 hours. If I got 90 minutes on the micron or 60+ on the Compaq I was happy. Even my tiny Powerbook gets better battery life than the old desktop replacements.

My cell phone back then was several flavors of the Nokia 6160, Motorola Timeport, or later on a Nokia 8890. The service actually was as good as it is now. T-Mobile’s coverage has gotten better, but I used to go everywhere with my AT&T Tri-mode TDMA Nokia’s. The phone was big but worked all over. From Canada, to Portland Oregon, to Portland Maine. The difference is I am paying about half the price I paid back in 1999 for about the same amount of minutes or even more minutes now.

The other difference with cell phones are that my Treo 600 is a handheld and a phone. I also get wireless internet access on it. For me between 1998 and 2001 that was impossible for me. now I can get email on my phone or use another phone with bluetooth to get mail on my laptop. I didn’t even have a blackberry then. I would have killed for a blackberry when I traveled. I take it for granted now.

The WiFi hotspots would be awesome to have had when I traveled. I used to use Laptop Lane at some airports back then, but they weren’t everywhere.

VPN software and Exchange 2003 with RDP over HTTPS would have been awesome. Either would have been awesome. At Datastream we had to use outlook from outside the firewall using AT&T Global net dial up. It was so slow. Now it would be trivial and fast to use, especially with high speed internet in some hotels now. When I went to vegas last winter I plugged my Powerbook (then a 15″ TiPowerbook) into the network jack in the hotel and I was able to VPN back to work. It came in handy when Keith needed something when I was out. That is the coolness I am talking about. Technology that just works when you are on the road.

If I was still traveling I would probably look at the bluetooth GPS receivers they have out now. Connect it to my iPack 1945 and know where I am. It would be killer.

What is also funny is that more and more people are using gadgets on the road. Besides the pain in the ass people on cell phones everywhere (writing this as someone’s phone goes off on the train). I mean laptops PDA’s, and other neat stuff. Around me right now on the train is 4 ladies with huge laptops doing work. One has to be my mom’s age. 4 years ago that wouldn’t be going on. When I am on the train to kingston I always see several people with blackberry’s or Pocket PC’s & Palms of several varieties. Then there are the iPods. They are everywhere. Note to self need new iPod for train trips like this. must replace sold one ASAP.

I just find these observations amusing. Why, because all this stuff that I see I have been doing for years. That is no big deal, but I always used to get made fun of by some of my friends about doing it. Then like clock work 6 months later they would be doing the same thing. I don’t consider myself a trendsetter but some technology stuff I get right away because I think it will work for me. I was that way with the first bluetooth phones. I got it and used it to connect to my PC and use a bluetooth headset. Turns out that it didn’t work very well, but it worked and I used it for months.

Enough of my observations. I am off to stretch my legs on the train for a while and maybe take some pictures with my Treo and post them to my MoBlog!!!

This blog entry was written while listening to Higher from the album “Human Clay” by Creed And Superman from the album “America Town” by Five for Fighting

I Got Rid Of Verizon Wireless

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Finally after months of waiting and/or plain old laziness I have gotten rid of my Verizon Wireless account. I have had 2 wireless accounts for years. I have had T-Mobile (Voicestream) and Verizon Wireless since September 2001. I have been using my T-Mobile phone exclusively since December 1. I am always concerned about good reception and didn’t want to get rid of my Verizon account without being comfortable that T-Mobile worked everywhere I needed it to. I haven’t needed to use my Verizon phone since December so it is a good sign that I can get rid of the extra expense. Since by now it was almost the same price to leave the account active and let the contract run out vs. canceling it and paying the termination fee, I just canceled the account so I don’t have the recurring payment.

What I did was port my old verizon number over to T-Mobile. I setup a family share plan so I can have my 2 numbers. I am truly a tech geek because of my reasoning for this. I want my PalmOne Treo 600 for my primary phone. I love that phone. But I want a bluetooth phone that I can use as a wireless modem for my laptop, and I also want some other bluetooth accessories such as the wireless headset. With a family plan I can share minutes between two phones. The price between this new plan and the plan I had was only like $10. To me it was worth the charge to have the flexibility to play around with the second phone.

Today is a good test of the new phone also. I am off to Kingston. it is north of NYC and phone signal isn’t always that good everywhere.

eBooks And Other Apps

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I bought an eBook yesterday. To most that would sound like a confession of a first time eBook buyer. I can safely say that I have been buying eBooks since 2000. When I traveled with Datastream I would put ebooks on my then Pocket PC (an HP Jordana) and use it to read when I was out to dinner or something. I used to travel by myself. It was boring at a hotel or restaurant eating by yourself. Instead of bringing a book with me to dinner, I would just have my Pocket PC that I was carrying anyway. It made things easy. I have read a few books on it.

I haven’t read any books, let alone eBooks in a while. A few people have recommended me to read the Da Vincii Code. Instead of buying the book I got the eBook at Palm’s ebook store. it was only $9.99. I put it on my iPack and am reading it using the Palm eBook reader. Palm was smart and made a reader for the Pocket PC, Palm, Mac, and the PC. I can read the book on my Treo 600 or my iPack. The iPack is better since it has a much nicer screen. I am on chapter 4. I will let you know how it is.

I also downloaded a few other free programs and utilities for my Treo 600 off of palm’s new software site, Palmgear.com. I found it when I was buying my eBook. It looks like it is competing with Handango. I like the way they setup the site. They have a my favorite software list so you can keep track of the latest versions of software you like or own. It also tells you how long you have left on trial software you have downloaded.

I didn’t buy anything, but I got a few freeware utilities that look cool. The latest filez program, a drink mixing program and a few others.

More Treo 600 Updates

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I am using the camera more for my MoBlog. It is really cool. The Moblog not the camera. The camera sucks, but for a camera on a phone it works ok. It is not a replacement to a real digital camera.

The internet connection still works most of the time. Snapper mail is a killer app. I cannot wait for IMAP enabled version later this year. I am checking out a few DB sync programs for the Palm that will sync access db’s to my palm. that would be cool too, but so far no opinion on them yet.

I had to reinstall all my apps this weekend. I had some new piece of software kill my Treo. it kept rebooting in a loop. The backup on my PC didn’t seem to help, so I had to do a hard reset and start from scratch. Not happy about that, but I got everything back online in a few hours.

Photo Blog

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Sunday, almost a year to the day from when I started my blog I put up a Moblog or photo blog. Not sure what to call it. It is photo’s taken from my Treo 600 camera when I am out and about. The timing of the start of the new blog is coincidental. I have been thinking about doing one ever since I got my Treo 600.

I am still skeptical about the whole camera phone phenomenon, but for now I am going along and seeing if it is a cool new invention or a waste of time.

The Moblog is located at textamerica. They seem to be the best at hosting them.

It is really cool that I can take a photo and email it off my phone to them and it is posted instantly. Well almost instantly. T-Mobile data service is still spotty some places. It is really cool anyway.

The Cell Phone

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I have mentioned that I began using T-Mobile exclusively as my Mobile Phone service back in the end of November. Since then I canceled my old AT&T account. I still have a phone and account with Verizon sitting in a drawer. I used verizon before I went back to T-Mobile and I still have several months left on my contract. I have lowered the price plan I have but I have been slow to cancel the account. I wanted to be sure T-Mobile worked everywhere I went. It seems like it does, but now that I waited 2-3 months to cancel the Verizon account I am not sure if canceling is worth it.

In December I added up how much it would cost to keep the phone until the contract ran out, vs paying the $175 early cancelation fee. Back then it was cheaper to cancel the account, but I wasn’t ready to get rid of it at the time. I am known for changing cell phones allot, but I have never ever paid the cancelation fee. I don’t want to start now. Now it is March, I think it is cost effective to just keep the phone until the contract is up and then cancel it.

I bring all this up because I am trying to figure out what service I can use to solve a problem I have. I love my Treo 600, but it doesn’t have bluetooth. I want a bluetooth phone with internet access so I can use it to connect my laptop to check email and browse the web when out of the office or home. Right now I am on amtrak and am able to get my mail off the Treo, but it would be much better to download it right into my mail app (outlook 2003 for the PC, or Mail on the Mac). That way I could write real response to messages and not just the 1 line comments I can eak out on the Treo.

My options are to get another phone and service, or get another phone with bluetooth and swap the SIM card when I want to use it. I do not want to spend money on a new service. I can’t wait to get rid of my Verizon account as it is. FYI, verizon does not offer bluetooth phones and they have a really expensive data plan. The other option of swapping the SIM card can work, but it can get messy with all those small parts of the phone lying around while I am making the change.

The dilemma continues…