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• Visor Deluxe or Platinum ($250 / $300, 8MB of memory, runs for about 2-6 weeks off a pair of AA batteries) The Prism would let you look at your pictures in color, but has rechargeable batteries, so probably wouldn't work for you. The greyscale Visors seem to be able to store color pictures, though.
• Eyemodule2 ($200 , you can download the picture emailer program from Palmgear.com or freewarepalm.com there's also the greyscale eyemodule1 for cheaper some places)
• cell phone with a modem (~$170 for my little Nokia phone with IRDA. There are Visorphones ($300) and wireless modules for the Visor, but then you'd have to swap modules all the time. For service, I have Voicestream GSM, but that's limited to 9600baud digital service right now... I think TDMA (AT&T, Verizon) networks might let you connect up to 14400baud and have more complete analog roaming).
• if you want to get fancy, you could spend maybe $100 or so on phone-Visor serial cables so you don't have to hold them together to use the lame IRDA link, so you can keep pedalling while you're connected. Then again, it might be cheaper and more convenient to just duct tape both of them to your handlebars so the IRDA links always work... that way you could use the phone's serial port for a handsfree kit so you can talk to people when you aren't dialed in. A pet peeve of mine with the Nokia phone is that the IRDA port is on the wrong side of the phone, so I have to hold it upside down to use my Visor. But you could probably get creative with a mirror.)
• you might want to program a script (or get someone else to program a script :) ) to automate the picture grabbing/uploading tasks with one button. I don't think I've seen anything like that yet...

The mindset of Palm programmers seems to be morbidly similar to that of most Windows programmers - develop an app, release it as Shareware with a nag screen and 30-day trial period, then try to make a few bucks by selling your software on PalmGear, so any project to further open development for the Palm is a big step forward.

On the downside, it appears that it wants a device with at least 4MB of memory (Sorry III, V and 2MB Visor owners...) and it doesn't seem to have the ability to create standalone PRC files (thats a standalone application file).

Some of the other alternatives for developing directly on your Palm (no PC necessary; these read MemoPad or DOC files with your source):

Quartus Forth: A standalone Forth interpreter/compiler that is quite powerful; however, the free version can't compile PRCs, and it costs $70 to register.

LispMe is a Scheme compiler, licensed under the GPL. Yummy. Now we just need a better way to write parentheses in graffiti...

PocketC is an onboard C compiler, distributed as shareware.

And, one musn't forget the ever-helpful Palm OS Programmers FAQ

If you look on PalmGear you can find a variety of rugged Palm PDA cases, including titanium ones from RhinoSkin and neoprene ones from other companies. I've seen hard plastic ones that look like they'd be excellent for canoe trips as well, but they're not listed there.

However, if I might be presumptuous, might I suggest that you leave all that digital junk behind (except the camera) when you're going into the woods? I find losing the distractions of home (computers, telephones, schedules, etc) an essential part of the experience, whether it's a 2 hour mountain bike or a 2 week canoe trip.

http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm? prodID=7863

it is called "Puzzles-in-Motion", and fits on your Palm Pilot - so you can play it anywhere :))

I regularly read long novels on my PDA, and serialized amateur fiction on-line. It's quite easy to download and convert HTML or text files to DOC format and load them into a PDA reader; freeware conversion software for Windows and Linux can be found on Palm Gear HQ. (For Linux, look for dtk).

I like reading on a PDA; for some reason, it's easier on my eyes than staring at a CRT for hours, and it's half the size of paperback and goes everywhere. (Solves the problem of not being able to take your computer into the bathroom to read from). IMHO, PDAs have made e-books a reality.

I discovered the Baen Free Library and their Web Subscription service (they offer a nice selection of their non-free books as downloadable e-books if you buy a subscription.. go there and check it out for the details) just before Christmas. It was really nice reading On Basilisk Station (one of their FREE offerings) again--my paperback copy was ragged and missing somewhere in the den.

1) Digital Voice Recorders do exist for the visor, allowing for quick and easy dictation. I'm too lazy to find an exact link, go to http://www.palmgear.com/hs/ to find at least two of them.

2) Graffiti may indeed be error prone, but it's still going to be more accurate than a doctor's handwriting.

Either way, I'd still prefer the palm over an unsupported product any day.

It's been out for well over a year. Still not as feature-packed as the original but certainly enough to keep yourself interested during that boring meeting.

Just make sure the sound is off. The sound options for this program overrides your system preferences (ie, off). Be warned.

You can check it out here:

http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cf m? prodID=3856

Or for the cut-and-paste impaired, here.

- JoeShmoe

there already are blowfish-enabled password managers and memopads in available for Palm OS. do a search for blowfish on PalmGear HQ
--

I know you're probably looking for an OS solution from Palm rather than add-on software, but I think it's worth checking out Pimlico Software's DateBk4(pdf manual here).

I just installed it myself, so I'm not completely aware of all that it can do, but it does integrate the basic apps together, as well as provide a myriad of other functions. I think it takes up about 400k of memory, and there's a 45 day shareware version. To register, it's $25.

One of the more interesting functions it has is a "floating" appointment. You can have it activate in the future or at the current time, and then it stays on your current day's list until you wipe it out. It's sort of like the ToDo function, only more powerful.

I don't think it takes care of the 4k Memo problem, though.

See the info for Space Trader, a game for PalmOS capable PDA's.

1) Graffitti, while difficult to learn compared to typing, eventually is much more natural than typing on a tiny keyboard which only serves to make the device larger.

2) Simple GUI. The palmos GUI is really really simple. You have one app open at a time, and that seems to work well for a handheld device. If you don't like the palm interface, there is a better one that I use called LauncherIII. It's free and has a few enhancements over the standard palm interface. If you want something different, there are others, such as Silver Screen, that you can get.

Also, concerning free software. There's a ton of it out there. I usually go to www.palmgear.com to get everything I need for the palm pilot. There's a lot of software out there, a good amount of it is free. You can also get a version of C, Basic, Java, etc. for the palm pilot if you wish to do your own programming but don't want to learn a new language to do so.

The palm pilot is not the most advanced piece of equipment out there, but for me it is the most useful of the handheld machines. CE is based on windows 95, and thus works better on machines with keyboard and very small laptop type computers. What will truly advance the handheld computer will be voice recognition but it's so hard to do it correctly, so I'll stick with my palm pilot for now.

You haven't seen the scanner for the handspring only because you haven't looked!

So far, PalmGear's Springboard Module page hasn't listed a module for barcode scanning. Not saying that it doesn't exist yet, but PalmGear is the first place Handspring suggests you look for modules.

I store quite a few of my ideas on and work related information, as well as other minor information like bank account numbers, building codes and passwords on my Visor. I use Cryptopad to encrypt the sensitive notes. It looks and feels the same as MemoPad, to the point where I've remapped the memopad button to launch Cyptopad instead. Plus, I don't worry about someone getting this info if I loose my visor or is someone steals it.

We-ell, I fail to see how this would stop you from placing the application (binary) in ROM... You aren't going to modify your code on the fly, are you? The data, which you obviously need read-write access to, would still reside in RAM.

PalmOS also uses C to program it, if I am not mistaken (and I might be) So the turn around time for this would be huge.

C and C++ are the two big languages, and there's a choice of two compilers: Metrowerks CodeWarrior and GCC. If you just must use BASIC (*shudder*), there are several variants available. Browse the Development category on www.palmgear.com or see Wademan's slightly outdated Palm Programming FAQ.

--Bud

Here are some of the other apps I've installed

Launcher III
Replaces the standard PalmOS 'shell' with a nicer tabbed version. you can drag/drop apps to sort them/delete them/beam them.

HackMaster
very useful little program, that accepts many 1000's of plugin 'hacks' that modify the way the PalmOS works.

Palmamp.
I have an MP3 player in my car (old Pentium). I use PalmAmp to control the music while I'm driving (via serial cable) Controls playing/playlist/equalizer.

Diddlebug.
Lets you scribble notes, and set a reminder.. don't have to use graffiti to jot down quick notes.

Address+
A small addon for the standard Address book. Integrates every Postcode in Australia, for quick lookup.

FreeCell
very nice version of Freecell

Eudora Web/Email
I have a TDK Globalpulse cable, that links to my Nokia 5110. very good email/web access while on the road.

YAUC
Yet another Unit convertor. Handles just about every obscure unit to convert to/from

TealInfo
mini doc-type viewer. there are many TealInfo Folios covering a wide range of topics. Folios are hyperlinked documents. Ones I frequently reference include: detailed info on all Intel CPUs, list of nearly every TCP/IP Port etc..

All these apps can be found on www.palmgear.com

Rohan Beckett

Another useful program is Parens. It's a very nice scientific calculator.

For mucking around with the raw .prc and .pdb files, I like OnBoard RsrcEdit. It's a bit large, but it will let you manipulate databases and resource files at a fairly low level. I also like Z'Catalog for erasing old .pdb files that weren't correctly cleaned up when you removed an application, or for beaming arbitrary files around.

There's an sntp client called (not surprisingly) "SNTP", but I can't find a link for it.

For games, There's always SimCity, and anything else on www.palmgear.com.

Another useful program is Parens. It's a very nice scientific calculator.

For mucking around with the raw .prc and .pdb files, I like OnBoard RsrcEdit. It's a bit large, but it will let you manipulate databases and resource files at a fairly low level. I also like Z'Catalog for erasing old .pdb files that weren't correctly cleaned up when you removed an application, or for beaming arbitrary files around.

There's an sntp client called (not surprisingly) "SNTP", but I can't find a link for it.

For games, There's always SimCity, and anything else on www.palmgear.com.

Another useful program is Parens. It's a very nice scientific calculator.

For mucking around with the raw .prc and .pdb files, I like OnBoard RsrcEdit. It's a bit large, but it will let you manipulate databases and resource files at a fairly low level. I also like Z'Catalog for erasing old .pdb files that weren't correctly cleaned up when you removed an application, or for beaming arbitrary files around.

There's an sntp client called (not surprisingly) "SNTP", but I can't find a link for it.

For games, There's always SimCity, and anything else on www.palmgear.com.

Another useful program is Parens. It's a very nice scientific calculator.

For mucking around with the raw .prc and .pdb files, I like OnBoard RsrcEdit. It's a bit large, but it will let you manipulate databases and resource files at a fairly low level. I also like Z'Catalog for erasing old .pdb files that weren't correctly cleaned up when you removed an application, or for beaming arbitrary files around.

There's an sntp client called (not surprisingly) "SNTP", but I can't find a link for it.

For games, There's always SimCity, and anything else on www.palmgear.com.

Another useful program is Parens. It's a very nice scientific calculator.

For mucking around with the raw .prc and .pdb files, I like OnBoard RsrcEdit. It's a bit large, but it will let you manipulate databases and resource files at a fairly low level. I also like Z'Catalog for erasing old .pdb files that weren't correctly cleaned up when you removed an application, or for beaming arbitrary files around.

There's an sntp client called (not surprisingly) "SNTP", but I can't find a link for it.

For games, There's always SimCity, and anything else on www.palmgear.com.

PocketChess.
--

1. Hackmaster
Irreplaceable. Get it and pay the guy.

2. DateBk3
My Bread & Butter app. It's a Datebook/Todo replacement with lots of very useful stuff. There's also a DateBk4.

3. Commute
Bus schedules

4. QED
Doc reader/editor

5. OnBoard C
If your're into coding for fun, this is a refreshing experience.

6. TextPlus
Frequency-based word and phrase suggestion in any Plam application

7. PopUp Favorites
8. PopUp Calculator
Extremly useful helper apps. One is to switch tasks, the other is a small yet powerful calulator.

9. Font Hack & Alpha-NX
FontHack allows you to choose your own fonts, selectable for each app you have installed.
Alpha-NX is small but very readable.

10. TapPad
Adds some nice features to your Graffiti area.

a. SpadeLover Spades
b. Rally 1000
Games. Don't miss them

Metro - Need to know the subway trains for any subway system in the world - Metro will get you there.
Currency - For when I travel overseas I can use this currency calculator to figure out if lunch will break my bank.
PocketRogue - Just love it.

Metro - Need to know the subway trains for any subway system in the world - Metro will get you there.
Currency - For when I travel overseas I can use this currency calculator to figure out if lunch will break my bank.
PocketRogue - Just love it.

RichReader version 1.61 can convert PDFs to their format for reading on the PalmOS. I believe other readers can do this as well, but this is the first that came to mind.

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

Universal remote springboard $60
Digital Camera springboard, takes colour images. Perhaps not a fully-fledged digital camera, but very cool. $150
Vibrating springboard module to remind you of appointments without disturbing everyone in the room. (really). The price isnt' all too bad either: $50
Springboard modem. If you don't have a laptop while travelling. $120
WIreless modem for those with really deep pockets. This is how to keep up with /. in style. $430
And of course, as mentioned on /. before, an mp3 player springboard module (64Mb of ram. A littel overpriced at $270

One can get a foldable keyboard for one's visor. Highly recommended!

--

The VisorPhone would be a great gift for any Visor owner. The downside is that it costs $299 with activation. Another great gift for the Visor owner would be the SoundsGood audio player module. It also is a little steep at $269 though.

I have a few rebukes to this move. This doesn't shake-up or improve the Palm platform at all. Number one, there are almost no apps available for Palm OS that even use color to begin with.

A quick search at Palmgear turns up 558 color apps for the PalmOS. That may be a small fraction of Palmgear's 6600+ software library but it's nothing to sneeze at.

Second, the Dragonball, even at 30MHz, does not have the computing power to take advantage of 65,000 colors.

Then they can use specialized video circuitry to help it out. Maybe that's why it's so expensive.

Also, considering the standard resolution of the Palm, you cannot even display half that many colors (approximately 26,000 pixels - I forget the exact dimentions).

25,600 to be exact. He shoots, he scores! :-)

Being that most apps would use repeated colors for various window widgets and so forth, this increase in color depth would show no improvement in useablility - and since games typically show a limited number of colors on the display at any one time, why bother?

It could make fonts and maps more readable and allow for sharper undithered images for your Eyemodule pictures.

It's a step in the wrong direction. Why not focus on making them smaller (Handsprings are still bigger than my Palm Vx)

Part of the problem with making the Handspring Visor smaller is that the its Springboard slot takes up a lot of space that cannot be used to cram more electronics. Expandability for size, it's a trade-off not everyone can live with but some of can.

and cheaper (it still costs the same as my PalmVx did nearly 4 months ago)

This would be the first Visor to even come close to the V series in price. The earlier Visors sell for just $149-$249.

instead of adding as of yet unneeded features (because if people want something that 'looks' like their PC desktop, they'll probably buy a WinCE device

But if I bought a WinCE device, I'd have to through away my Flash Module and all my PalmOS apps! With a color Visor I get it all. The apps, the functionality, expandability, and color games, pictures, and maps. I'm not saying I'm going to run out and buy a color Visor as soon as it becomes available -- but it sure is tempting!

The Datebook's new Agenda view combines a view of a day's appointments with the day's ToDo tasks

This has been a feature on DateBk3 for a while, which I highly recommend as a Datebook replacement. (Although it costs $20 alone)

The Alarm dialog now has larger buttons to facilitate finger operation, as well as a "Snooze" button

Another DateBk3 option, along with various snoozes.

The Command bar

Very win, but the same can be accomplished with GoBar ($14)

Tapping the title tab of an application shows the menu bar

Menu Hack ($free)

I started this post as an arguement against the $20 upgrade, but on a little research, I found they're incorporating products (or portions thereof) that together amount to a bit more than $20. I doubt that I'll buy the upgrade anyway.

-----

The Datebook's new Agenda view combines a view of a day's appointments with the day's ToDo tasks

This has been a feature on DateBk3 for a while, which I highly recommend as a Datebook replacement. (Although it costs $20 alone)

The Alarm dialog now has larger buttons to facilitate finger operation, as well as a "Snooze" button

Another DateBk3 option, along with various snoozes.

The Command bar

Very win, but the same can be accomplished with GoBar ($14)

Tapping the title tab of an application shows the menu bar

Menu Hack ($free)

I started this post as an arguement against the $20 upgrade, but on a little research, I found they're incorporating products (or portions thereof) that together amount to a bit more than $20. I doubt that I'll buy the upgrade anyway.

-----

The Datebook's new Agenda view combines a view of a day's appointments with the day's ToDo tasks

This has been a feature on DateBk3 for a while, which I highly recommend as a Datebook replacement. (Although it costs $20 alone)

The Alarm dialog now has larger buttons to facilitate finger operation, as well as a "Snooze" button

Another DateBk3 option, along with various snoozes.

The Command bar

Very win, but the same can be accomplished with GoBar ($14)

Tapping the title tab of an application shows the menu bar

Menu Hack ($free)

I started this post as an arguement against the $20 upgrade, but on a little research, I found they're incorporating products (or portions thereof) that together amount to a bit more than $20. I doubt that I'll buy the upgrade anyway.

-----

The Datebook's new Agenda view combines a view of a day's appointments with the day's ToDo tasks

This has been a feature on DateBk3 for a while, which I highly recommend as a Datebook replacement. (Although it costs $20 alone)

The Alarm dialog now has larger buttons to facilitate finger operation, as well as a "Snooze" button

Another DateBk3 option, along with various snoozes.

The Command bar

Very win, but the same can be accomplished with GoBar ($14)

Tapping the title tab of an application shows the menu bar

Menu Hack ($free)

I started this post as an arguement against the $20 upgrade, but on a little research, I found they're incorporating products (or portions thereof) that together amount to a bit more than $20. I doubt that I'll buy the upgrade anyway.

-----

I heartily recommend pocketsat for all the palm people out there...

That and a compass keyring, and you can find it dead easily. (Roughly once every 1.5 hrs post-sunset...)

I wonder how long it'll take me to get a GPS for my palm so I can get rid of the keyring...

And no, I didn't write it, I just think it's cool.

But then again, I'm sad (Apparently) (Or has that all changed in the era of Geek-Chic?)

As for the downloadable Palm module, IIRC the Jargon File isn't much more than 5 MB total, so it's theoretically possible on a higher-end model. Is there any sort of text reader thingy that does on-the-fly compression/expansion, or is the Palm not powerful enough yet for such a program?

Harrumph. It most certainly is powerful enough; what you are referring to is the DOC format, which is a compressed text format for Palm use. There are tons of readers (CSpotRun is a good free one, and methinks it's open under the GNU GPL), and a few editors.
I don't know what the compression rate is for DOC, so I'm not sure whether you could get the File down to a friendly size (my IIIxe has 8 megs of RAM, but a great deal of that is taken up with a ditionary and various documents, so no room for a 5 meg Jargon File). There are other formats as well (iSilo comes to mind), which might be more appropriate to the File's format.
-J

why can't we have an Open Source project that isn't based around some form of Linux or a POSIX kernel?

This is probably the key to your question, by expecting an imaganary "open source" community to take your project of choice and blast it into the stratosphere, you are creating unreasonable expectations.

You are looking at the headline *NIX Open Source projects, so of course you can't find anything else. Most non *NIX platforms don't have an open source community, they have freeware, and shareware, but not free open source.

Nothing stops you from starting your own open source project. Just don't expect people to support you if you don't toe the party line.

PocketIFS is an open source fractal hacking tool for the PalmOS. It has receaved favorable reviews, one bug report, and not a single line of code from anyone but me. (Perhaps because it Just Works).

Thad

Been using it for about a week, and I'm happy with it. 33.6 modem, flash upgrade to 56k this fall ( or so they say ). Then there's the 8mb Flash module and a backup module, but that's not as interesting as the other stuff. Visit Palm Gear's Module site for currently released module stuff. I chose the Thincom for the on-board browser, terminal and mail apps -- a little disappointed since the terminal and mail apps are shareware...

To be exact, a Wristband Thincom modem is $119.95 and Handspring Modem is $129.95.

GPS unit called Geode is is in beta testing now, it will cost about $250.

To be exact, a Wristband Thincom modem is $119.95 and Handspring Modem is $129.95.

GPS unit called Geode is is in beta testing now, it will cost about $250.

A search on PalmGear returns 260 matches for "calculator." This includes several RPN calculators, MathPad for evaluating many equations simultaneously (GREAT for Physics work) and even a powerful graphing calculator. Some of these tools aren't free, but for a professional they might just be worth the price.

A search on PalmGear returns 260 matches for "calculator." This includes several RPN calculators, MathPad for evaluating many equations simultaneously (GREAT for Physics work) and even a powerful graphing calculator. Some of these tools aren't free, but for a professional they might just be worth the price.

A search on PalmGear returns 260 matches for "calculator." This includes several RPN calculators, MathPad for evaluating many equations simultaneously (GREAT for Physics work) and even a powerful graphing calculator. Some of these tools aren't free, but for a professional they might just be worth the price.

..is they had to do more with less

For some reason PC games have to be grossly over engineered for people to accept them. On the smaller platforms people want games to be fun, and small. Bloat is doubly bad, so people accept "cheap" looking games if they play well.

Games such as SFCave, DopeWars, and piemansimon.

Thad

http://palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?sid= 71221320000707193646&prodID=7928