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Past Meetings: February 14, 2002

This was our largest crowd ever--62 people, and on Valentine's Day! And to think that Scott and I almost canceled this meeting because we thought turnout might be low...

We discussed some general topics first:

• Our next meeting is March 14, 2002. A representatives from Handspring will be our guest speaker. As far as we know, we will still meet at Kensington Church unless Handspring prefers a larger venue. As soon as we get more information as to what they plan to discuss (and give away!) we'll post it on our web site.
• Several new models have been released since our last meeting:
  • Palm mi705 with "always on" e-mail like the RIM Blackberry's.
  • Sony T615 which will be discussed tonight by our Guest Speaker, Matt Voorhees, Sony Rep.
  • Handspring Treo 180, a phone and PDA in one, with a thumb keyboard attached. We're sure Handspring will be discussing the Treo line next month when they come out next month.
• PalmSource, a large conference and exposition for Palm OS Developers, was held in San Jose February 5-8. Some of the big news coming out of PalmSource:
  
  • Palm OS 5.0 was announced. This operating system is scheduled for release this summer. OS 5.0 will be based on ARM-compliant processors (previous Palms have been based on Motorola-based processors). Some of the key features:
    • Enhanced security -- To keep sensitive data private, Palm OS 5 offers strong 128-bit systemwide data-encryption services based on the de facto standard RC4 encryption algorithm from RSA Security. In addition, end-to-end security is provided through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) services for email, web browsing and online transactions.
    • Multimedia -- The ability to record sound and play CD-quality digital audio brings higher fidelity sound to mobile devices. Support for high-density screens (up to 320 x 320 pixels) doubles screen resolution, and new selectable color themes will let users customize devices.
    • Wireless -- In addition to current support for WAN and Bluetooth, Palm OS 5 supports 802.11b for connections to wireless Local Area Networks.
  • Palm has created a new company called "PalmSource" that will be responsible for Palm OS Software.
• Our DPUG web site has been redesigned. Look for a new feature coming soon "How to find the perfect PDA". You'll check off your requirements (for example, color screen, 16MB onboard memory) and we'll list all all PDA's that match your search requirements.
• DPUG Co-Founder Tracy Dreslinski recently received a contract with Quicken Loans in Livonia to provide Palm Training for their entire company of approximately 800 people. Tracy is really excited about this opportunity to "spread the word" and help people use their Palm's more effectively.

Meeting Minutes:

- QuickLink scanner pen review - DPUG Founder Tracy Dreslinski

The QuickLink Pen is made by Wizcomtech. They were unable to attend this meeting as originally scheduled, and requested that I do the review in their place. They may regret asking this....

The QuickLink scanner pen is an electronic highlighter. You scan over any printed text (business cards, printed documents, newspapers, etc) and the information is transferred electronically to a 2MB onboard buffer. You can then beam the data to your Palm via the QuickLink pen's infrared port, or connect to your PC via a serial cable. The QuickLink scanner pen retails for $169.

Sounds great, right? In my opinion, it's one of those ideas that sounds great in theory but it's application doesn't live up to expectations--at least not mine. Now a couple of notes: I am an inpatient Type-A person who also happens to be really good at Graffiti (about 32 words per minute). So it is almost always quicker for me to just enter text myself into my handheld than to scan, line by line, a printed document. Now perhaps if you weren't very skilled at Graffiti, and/or you had a huge rolodex you wanted to digitize, then maybe this would be a good solution for you. But for me, it just wasn't worth the time it took to use.

- Portable PDA Mounts review by DPUG Founder Tracy Dreslinski

Portable PDA Mounts attach to your dashboard, air conditioning vents, or windshield and allow you to mount your handheld for easy access while driving. Once again, this is another prodcut that just doesn't do it for me. Now perhaps if I had a GPS module, or was on the road a lot and used Mapopolis to find my destination, then this would be of use to me. PDA mounts range retail for abotu $50. Our were donated by Arkon Resources, Inc.

- WordSmith presented by DPUG Founder Scott Dreslinski

WordSmith is a software application that allows you to read and edit Microsoft Word documents on your Palm OS handheld. It integrates with Microsoft Word on your PC, providing a very easy way to convert selected .DOC files for conversion and transfer to your Palm. Word documents on your Palm do lose a bit of formatting, and it was noted by other DPUG attendees that bulleted lists, multi-column documents and tables weren't supported on the handheld. These enhancements are listed on the Blue Nomad web site as "coming soon".

WordSmith is also an enhanced Memo Pad and Doc Reader for the Palm. Have you ever noticed that almost everywhere else on your Palm when you are presented a long list of items (like Applications Launcher Menu, Address Book, To Do List) you can just enter the first letter of what you're looking for in the Graffiti area and you are immediately taken to that part of the list? Well, regular Memo Pad doesn't support that--it will create a new Memo for you and take your Graffiti input as the first character of that Memo. WordSmith, however, lets you do this--it takes the first letter as a filter to find an existing Memo. It also provides for formatting controls in Memos like bolding, italics, etc. There is also enhanced beaming and deleting of Memos.

The enhanced Memo Pad/Doc Reader part of WordSmith is free, and we encourage everyone to get this as a replacement for the standard Memo Pad. You can download it from /www.bluenomad.com/ws/prod_wordsmith_download.html

- Matt Voorhees, Sony IT Rep for Michigan and Northern Ohio discussed the Sony Product Line

Matt is the Sony representative for Vaio and CLIE products. Matt discussed the current CLIE model line. CLIE stands for "Communication. Link. Information. Entertainment." The Sony philosophy is to stress the "Entertainment" portion of a handheld, and that's why they offer features such as:

• Improved screen resolution for enhanced photo and vidoe viewing
• Enhanced sound, including MP3 players on some models
• Remote control capabillity on some models

The current product line is:

- S360: 160x160 screen resolution; black & white screen; 16 MB onboard memory; rechargable batteries. Lists for $200
- T415: 320x32 screen resolution, black & white screen; 8 MB onboard memory; thinnest PDA available improved sound; remote control capability. Lists for $299
- T615c 320x32 screen resolution, color screen, 16 MB onboard memory; thinnest color PDA available, improved sound; remote control capability, vibrating alarms. Lists for $399
-N760c 320x32 screen resolution, color screen, 8 MB onboard memory; comes with 8 MB memory stick; improved sound; remote control capability, vibrating alarms; built-in MP3 player. Comes with headphones. Lists for $499

All of the above models come with a Memory Stick slot. According to Matt, the memory stick flash media is the best selling flash media available in the world, even over Compact Flash. Sony's goal is to be the industry standard. Memory sticks from other Sony devices such as Digital Cameras and Video Cameras work in the CLIE handhelds. You can get Memory Stick adapters for your PC's:

• PCMCIA card adapters
• Floppy disk adapters
• Mouse adapters
• USB adapters

Some add-ons are available via the Memory Stick slot:

• Digital camera available for T-series. Rotates for self-portraits. No batteries requires. Lists for $149
• GPS module to come out soon for T-series later this year

Give Aways:

Once again we were able to give everyone in attendance some kind of give away. Not bad considering the large crowd!

• 1 Sony CLIE, compliments of Sony
• Several Sony pens, compliments of Sony
• Several Sony keychains, compliments of Sony
• 2 QuickLink scanner pens, compliments of Wizcomtech
• 2 Mobile PDA Mounts compliments of Arkon Electronics
• 3 copies of Wordsmith compliments of Blue Nomad
• Several T-shirts

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