fredlet

treocentral.com >> Stories >> Hardware >> No Treo WiFi: “‘Following market and development-cost analysis, palmOne wanted to develop a Wi-Fi card that will be applicable to its Zire 72 and Tungsten T3 handhelds.� These solutions require very tight integration between hardware, firmware and custom software, as well as access to propriety technologies for the level of tight integration necessary to give the customer an excellent experience.’

The unofficial explanation is that the Treo 600 is unable to provide enough power to the SD slot to create a useable 802.11b radio, making it physically impossible to create a WiFi card for the Treo 600. “

*cough*bullshit*cough*
I’ll bet you money that the cellular service providers have a lobby to keep wifi away from the phone so that we have to buy network time from them.

Read more about it here.

“Perfect for the person on the go, this foldable USB cradle allows you to synchronize and charge your Treo 600 with any USB-enabled computer. Just connect the USB cradle to any laptop or desktop PC, you are ready to sync and charge.This cradle also provides an easy and convenient desktop access and display. You can place your Treo 600 at a comfortable reading angle. Since it is foldable and lightweight, it is great for traveling. Just fold and go! “

This is nice for the angle. That’s the one thing I do miss about my Treo 600 on my desk. I have to pick it up to see it.

TreoCentral : “Hurricane Charley Alert
Due to our call center’s location right in the path of Hurricane Charley, we have a reduced staff today. “

Hey guys, hope you stay safe!

Call Filter for Treo 600 allows you to set filters for incoming calls with wildcard characters.
For example, here’s a filter I have:

If: Phone Number
Matching: 212 *** **** calls
Between: 12:00 am and 11:59 pm
On: S M T W T F S
Then: Ring as Normal
Use MP3: New York City!?!.mp3

(The MP3 is from an old Pace picante ad… the cowboys sitting around the campfire denigrating salsa made in New York City rather than San Antonio, Tx.)

What I want is a little add in file that automagically does this for all the area codes.
It doesn’t need to play cute little MP3 files (though that would be a bonus) but at least displaying the state with major city and possibly a cute little picture of the state flower/mammal/creepy crawly/what have you…
Then I could just go download an update for the file every month or so when the add new area codes.

Innopocket Aluminum Metal Hard Case for TREO 600 SMARTPHONE

• Anodized aluminum protects your Palm smartphone.
• Precision molded case to fit your handheld perfectly.
• Neoprene lining holds your handheld securely in place and protects it against drops, shocks and collisions.
• Cutouts for all vital functions. With removable belt clip and post system. Includes SD card storage
• Size: 116 x 69 x 32 mm, Weight: approx. 55g

I’m very pleased with this case actually.
I really haven’t had to take the Treo out for any reason for at least a month or so now.

The basics of the case are:
- belt clip with removeable post that looks like a screw, but doesn’t have the annoying quality of unscrewing itself at an inopportune time.
- camera hole for the lens (you do need to have the detachable belt clip part off to take a picture (it interferes just a bit, but if you have the on your belt still, there’s no problem)
- there is a slot for an SD card on the inside of the cover, it faces the contacts out, which doesn’t seem right to me, but it hasn’t affected my spare SD card adversely.
- there is a hole in front to access the ‘answer button’ and you can take a call without having to open the case (if you aren’t curious who is calling)
- there is a clot on the bottom for the sync/charge cable and the headset. well formed and fits without having to jiggle things around.
- an ear ‘outdent’ with a hole so you can hear… fits nicely and I’ve noticed no quality impairment of sound when I’m on a call.
- a side opening for the ringer /sound up and down buttons. Large enough to get your fingers in there to raise or lower the volume, but not big enough to accidentally do it.
- just under the lens hole is a speaker phone vent opening.
- the top is open for the antenna, SD slot, power, IR port and ringer button. It has a slight lip over the latter to make sure you don’t accidentally turn off your phone, but you can still get to it in a pinch without having to open the cover… but I don’t’ ever bother to do this.

I was at IKEA the other day sending an SMS to someone and this guy walked up to me and asked me about the case. The one thing I remember about the conversation was that he asked me specifically about the ringer button and if I had ever lost an SD card. I never really need to switch to silent mode without opening the cover and I’ve never lost an SD card. So I don’t know how helpful this will be for those of you with these problems, all I can say it that I never had those issues. Maybe its the case, maybe I’m just not an animal with my Treo.
I’ve been using a Palm device since they came out in 1997 (I still have my Pilot Personal… with the upgrade and the clear case…. good times, eh?) and so I am mindful of my little device.
I’d really like to hear if any of you have issues with this…

When the case is open, I can pretty easily type (well, as well as I can type on the keyboard considering I am a complete lummox thumb typing anyway) and do anything including play 72 straight games of solitaire.

Frankly, I like the fact that all of these features make it so that I don’t notice the case… and the fact that I don’t have to take the Treo out of it for any function is probably the best advertisement for this case.

5/5 …Go get one now!

Thanks to Kyle for the information…

He sent me a link to this Softkick Card Export II

1. Insert your Palm into cradle or connect to USB cable
2. Run Card Export II application
3. Tap “Connect to Desktop” button
4. And after few seconds desktop drivers automatically mount SD/MMC card as a logical disk!

That’s a pretty cool idea, considering it takes forever to load things on the SD card throught the conduit. I tend to put mine in the card reader when I want to speed things up a bit. I use SplashPhoto right now for pictures and slideshows, and it seems to load pretty quickly (though it converts the photos on the desktop app, so it might be a moot point) but if you are frustrated with the distinct lack of speed on your load, this might do the trick for you.

that I am sometimes taking blog fodder from elsewhere and feeding it into here.

Just for the record,I still am mad about no wi-fi.
But, it seems that I have found no suitable replacement for my Treo 600.

The case I bought earlier is cool, I use the organizer incessantly (but that’s no different than the last 7 years of my being a Palm OS junkie) and my phone works well. I would really like to have wi-fi, but I’ll not think about it too hard for now.

that PalmOne are a bunch of doodieheads as well…

“No, you still can’t get add a WiFi expansion card to pretty much any Palm handheld yet (except for the Zire 71, but we won’t get into the particulars of that mess). Yeah, it’s going to get better eventually…”

Read it…

My question is when is it going to get better?
A happy world is where fredlet isn’t pouting.

A reeeeaaaallllyyyy nice comparison between the two beasties witten by Levi Wallach (who obviously doesn’t have emotional issues with PalmOne like I apparently do).

Read it…

MY Favorite Things
Black Enterprise – USA
… The Handspring Treo 600 is all Donnovan Andrews needs to manage his
“information dependent” lifestyle. The president of New York …
http://www.blackenterprise.com/ExclusivesEKOpen.asp?id=819

You know how they have those audio programs that you rent or are given at museums that tell you all about the displays etc.?
I want one that works on my Treo.
Mp3 format would be cool, but a little app that can be beamed to my Treo (and could expire if they were going to be all paranoid about it) or put onto an SD card (either rented or on mine) for the day.
Then I could also have an interactive app for the show with feedback items (sent somewhat like AvantGo has on their surveys) or order forms for related collateral (books, tshirts, reproductions, etc.)

Or even expanding the whole tourism thing: walking tours (they have some on Audible.com [Soundwalk: Lower East Side, New York]) or digitizing those packs of cards with little focused walking tours in Paris or NYC.

Love those sillies at Gizmodo.
PalmOne, Confident From Profitable Quarter, Launches Treo 666

They credit Chaz for this photoshopping… and I thank you, too.

Next-gen PalmOne Treo details show up on Web | The Register

>Ace is said to be scheduled for an autumn 2004 ship date.
>The next-generation device will provide Treo users with their most-requested feature, Bluetooth. (Bah.)
>Ace will contain 32MB of RAM and is driven by a “312MHz ARM processor”.

I still want wifi…

But Henry M. sent me this clever way to add MIDI ringtones to your Treo without giving money to the man…
(yay Henry!)

I thought you and your readers might like to know that you can indeed add MIDI ringtones from your SD card. It isn’t required to use the Treo internet connection.

Palm_device: Treo 600 (AT&T)

SUCH MORONS.
I can’t even tell them of my extreme displeasure.
So I’ll share it all with you.

To the folks at palmOne,

You should be ashamed of yourselves.
I can’t express the disgust and utter contempt I feel for you without resorting to words that are not what I consider language fit for civilized society.

I used to be a great fan of your hardware, I worked as an evangelist for the palm OS and all things palm related. Your response to this was to treat me like dirt.
And I’m not exaggerating. I’ve never been so rudely dealt with in my life, and I’ve been a Technical Support engineer before… I know from abuse.

So, I told myself that staying in an abusive relationship was futile and I went to the Handspring side of the world.
I could have cared less if the worst things in the world befell Palm, it was just desserts for bad customer service and a complete unwillingness to have even a remotely clear idea of what it means to focus on customer needs rather than playing at being god.
You all were clearly drunk on power…. and I abandoned you.
I had nothing to do with you.
I never recommended your hardware, I told the brutal truth of my experiences with your company and my reasons for the boycott of your services far and wide. Primarily I made it clear that any company who abused those who had been witless enough to be a fan of your distorted sense of customer care deserved all the abuse you so readily dished out.

Handspring had it right.
They appreciated their customers. The looked at market demand and responded with the addition of necessary ideas into the next generation of handhelds. If there was a problem, they didn’t backpeddle furiously or withhold updates to make something work, they did what would serve their customers and make them WANT to buy more product.

I can’t for the life of me fathom what impels you to flat out refuse something that would boost your sales of the Treo 600 like adding wifi capability. (without advertising… which of course you don’t bother to do in anything less than a half-ass sort of way.)
And trying to cram that absolute waste of parts like the Zire 71 down our throats just makes me mourn for the death of Handspring.

At this point, I am seriously regretting my purchase of my unit and am actively seeking a replacement for it.

I highly recommend that you reconsider your decision for your refusal to enable 802.11b for the Treo 600 and other units. I don’t appreciate your condescension, your arrogant and almost constant abuse of your customers and I will not tolerate this treatment AGAIN.

I will await your reply then make my decision.
Suffice it to say that my readers will know each and every part of this decision in great and excrutiating detail.
You can either have me as a fan or an enemy, there will be no in between.

fredlet
www.treogrrl.com
www.fredlet.com/palm/handspring/