The BoxWave FlexiSkin Case is a skin case that is made of a soft rubber polymer. Skin cases are popular since they provide an always there protection while keeping the Treo usable while the case is one. The added bulk of the skin case does make it a bit more difficult to use with most cradles and even cases when you want to give the Treo even added protection. There are options for holsters and pouch cases that can accommodate a Treo with a skin case on.
The iStyles Treo Privacy Screen Protector is different from your typical screen protector. The claim is that besides protecting the screen, it also obscures the view of the screen when viewed at an angle from the side. It is definitely a feature I know some would be interested in, especially those that have to commute on a train, subway, or bus. You don't always have the space to keep prying eyes a good distance away. People tend to be nosy or just plain curious about what you're doing when it seems to be interesting.
The Nite Ize Tooth Ferry Headset Carrier is something I've been seeing as a accessory that really needed to be created. I'm surprised that a carrier like this has taken so long to come out, since the problem it addresses has existed ever since the first Bluetooth headset was released to the consumer market. Now, trying to address this problem for just about every Bluetooth headset that exists on the market doesn't lend itself to a simple solution. Can a headset carrier that advertises itself truly be universal? The packaging is quite simple but does convey the purpose and intention of the product to be universal.
"A huge leap in performance and mobile experience." *Blush*
"Shrewdly updated?" Awww, you shouldn't have...
But we're glad you did. Here's a sampling of some of the rave reviews of the Palm Treo Pro smartphone:
"The Treo Pro, the first product designed since former Apple hardware guru Jon Rubenstein took charge as Palm's executive chairman, is the most attractive phone Palm has offered in several years." – BusinessWeek
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — If anyone knows how best to survive a corporate near-death experience, it is Jon Rubinstein.
In 1997 the former Hewlett-Packard engineer was asked by Apple’s founder, Steven P. Jobs, to lead the hardware engineering division at the company, which was then struggling. Apple was wallowing in financial losses and the Mac’s appeal was waning. Mr. Rubinstein agreed, and over the next nine years he and his team of engineers breathed new life into the company by helping develop the iMac and the iPod.
Those experiences should serve him well as he seeks to resuscitate Palm, whose roots in Silicon Valley go back to the PalmPilot, the revolutionary handheld computer, and the Treo, which turned heads as one of the first smartphones.
Treo Pro Empowers Mobile Work Force With Windows Mobile 6.1 and
Palm Shortcuts
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug 20, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today introduced Treo(TM) Pro, an effortlessly usable smartphone for businesses that want to simplify their IT infrastructures and lower costs, and for users who want to stay on top of their professional and personal lives. With its streamlined design and Palm(R) shortcuts layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is a unique combination of sleek simplicity and robust productivity -- including email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities(1) -- that meets the needs of businesses and end users alike. Treo Pro, which will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Europe(2) and from Telstra in Australia, also will be available in an unlocked version in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.
"Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That's where Palm comes in," said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. "Everything about Treo Pro -- from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories -- embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm."
The Treo Pro smartphone lets IT managers support an increasingly mobile work force with the ease of use and robust feature set business professionals demand. Besides the benefits of lower costs and increased productivity, Treo Pro can deliver the increased security, easier device management and access to information on the corporate network that Windows Mobile 6.1 provides.
Would you look at this. A very official looking page -- at a Palm.com domain, no less -- has unveiled the previously rumored Treo 850 as the Treo Pro. We're still digging the new look, though the keyboard does look suspiciously small in these shots. At a cursory glance we've got WiFi, a camera and a 3.5mm stereo jack. A couple more pics after the break.
I spotted a fellow blogger and colleague, Spinosum’s post in PA about a Beaming Session In Clinic. I must say most of the stuff I have “beamed” over to colleagues at work are really non-medical applications e.g. utilities like NVBackup and other great freeware which many users are simply not aware of. One big advantage Palm PDAs have over other platforms is the simple ability to beam applications and not just data across to other users. In the Windows mobile world, it’s a lot harder as many programs require you to run a setup file on the PC and then install it on your device (unless you have an installation cab file which may be beamed over).
It used to be men that typically sought the latest technology gear. But women are now using smartphones more and more to help keep their busy lives in check. According to Nielsen Mobile, the number of women using smartphones has doubled in the past year, growing to more than 10 million. Smartphones have finally hit the mainstream after many years of being reserved for the mostly male gadget geeks and upper echelon executives.
That’s not too surprising given the wide range of features that are available. Women are using their smartphones for everything from checking their work and personal email, to tracking their calendars and reading restaurant reviews when planning a night out. There are a slew of third-party applications available that cater primarily to women, such as “Baby Insights” by Babblesoft, which helps track a baby’s eating, sleeping and medication cycle. This article in the Wichita Eagle discusses a few more cool ways women are taking advantage of their smartphones to keep their lives on track.
It also helps that smartphones like the Palm Centro are sleeker and sexier than ever before – coming in smaller form factors and a wide range of cool colors. And for some of us ladies, that’s important stuff.
Overall the BlueAnt M1 Stereo Speakers System is one of the most attractive and well designed solutions that I have come across to date. Not only does it deliver clear and powerful sound but it also happens to be extremly versatile thanks to its two wireless (Bluetooth) or wired (3.5mm) audio connectivity options as well as its two power options (wall charger or internal battery) that allow you to conveniently and simply use this unit both indoors or outdoors.
Lastly, please note that only Windows Mobile Treo smartphones (excluding the Treo 700w) offer built-in A2DP wireless audio streaming capabilities. Having said this, you can enable your Palm OS Treo or Centro with A2DP by getting the excellent Softick Audio Gateway (see my review and Bluetooth Stereo Roundup for more detailed information).
Once paired, it was a breeze to use. So even though I am an avid WM user, I have to admit that Blackberry has really scored with their Remote Bluetooth Stereo Gateway. It reconnects on its own to any paired device. The sound quality is phenomenal. It is easy to connect to any stereo with an input option. I really enjoy my Blackberry Remote Bluetooth Stereo Gateway . As I mentioned above, my only suggestion is to add a rechargeable battery for easier use in the car. Other than that, it is truly a very easy way to add stereo Bluetooth compatibility to nearly any stereo at home or on the road.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- "I hope you're talking to me on a speakerphone," Devra Davis barks at me when I call her on my cell phone. "You'd better not be holding that phone up to your head."
Cell phones do emit radiation. No one knows definitively whether it's enough to worry about.
Indeed, I'm not. This is a good thing, because you don't want to get into an argument with Davis on this subject. She's the director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Environmental Oncology, and her group recently put out recommendations that we should be using a speakerphone or ear piece. The report says children, who have thinner skulls and developing brains, should use cell phones only in case of emergency.
And heaven forbid anyone should carry a cell phone in a pocket or clipped to a belt. "You're just roasting your bone marrow," Davis said.
Oh, boy. Another thing to worry about. Or maybe Davis is an alarmist. It's so hard to tell. Although there are many large studies showing no connection between mobile phones and cancer, there are a few that do. As Davis puts it, do you really want to play Russian roulette with your head?
In the annals of "smartphonedom" there's iPhone, BlackBerry, the latest from Nokia, and everyone else.
Palm aims to change all that. A tall order to be sure, but consider--as Palm CEO Ed Colligan does--that well over a billion handsets will sell globally this year, but only a small percentage of them are web-enabled, media devices called smartphones, that "tall order" is certainly worth some effort.
Palm is no stranger to tall orders. A year or so ago, Palm was on the ropes, Colligan's job was in jeopardy, there was talk of a tie-up with Motorola before that company's own implosion, and Palm's future looked bleak.
It seems like just yesterday that someone purchased the one-millionth Centro, and now we've sold two million of them.
Guess we shouldn't be too surprised. PC Magazine recently named Centro one of the top 20 gadgets under $100, and eWeek just posted a piece showcasing the Centro's ease of use. It's also the only touch screen smartphone with a full keyboard that's available on the top three U.S. carriers (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless) as well as in an unlocked version.
As we mentioned earlier, Palm (in a a nice turnabout) put a support page up noting an update to enable voice over Bluetooth, a feature which was expected but absent on the new flagship Palm device.
Lo and behold, the update is out now and ready for the download. Reports from our forums report it working well over a variety of headsets, though YMMV.
Let us know in the comments how it's working for you and which headset.
Over at TreoCentral, some users have discovered a very simple way to double your battery life on the Palm Treo 800w.
It turns out, the GPS stays on at all times and this is one of the reasons GPS programs like Live Search can get a fix on your location almost instantly. Shutting off this feature when not in use, will increase your battery life.
What is Qik, you ask? From the FAQ on their website, “Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments.” Qik is currently in beta on a handful of mobile phone platforms including Symbian and Windows Mobile Smartphone, and the company is planning to release it for more devices including the iPhone 3G and the HTC Touch Diamond.
I’ve been pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the private beta testing for Qik on the Windows Mobile platform, and now that it has entered public beta, I’d like to highlight a few of the key features it offers.
[From malachi] Another great tool I have started using with my centro is Attention Grabber. I really hate disturbing other people, so I usually have my phone set to vibrate or silent when I am around other people. The downside of this is that I might miss a call or a message, but Attention Grabber will light up the LED, beep, and/or vibrate every few minutes if I have a pending alert. It's free and very useful.
[From Lauren Leach-Steffens Maryville, MO] For those of you interested there is now a version of CellSpin recently launched for Palm OS. Send Audio, Video, Pictures and Text from your mobile phone to popular sites for FREE! Works with the likes of Twitter, Pownce and Facebook
Two steps forward, one step back is today's theme on the 800w.
Awhile ago some crafty people were lurking around their device and found out that going to "Dial Pad" and typing in ##EVDO# (aka ##3836#) brought them to one of those secret programming menus.
The first thing you see is a big ol' checkbox that says "Rev A" unchecked. Of course people flew into a tither but in reality, a lot of did not see any increase in our download speeds (via Mobile BBR)--in fact, a few people have experienced some odd behavior with it checked (mostly because they didn't choose "Automatic").
The concept of ICE, short for In Case of Emergency, is a brilliant one considering the number of people who carry a cell phone. It is nice to know there is a way to speed dial an emergency contact should the need arise. Many carriers have made this a standard feature within the Contacts area of the phone.
This week, the U.N. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) took this concept a step further by proposing a standard way to indicate the emergency contact that would be understood globally and universally.
Well, chalk this one up to fast turn around...in fact one of the fastest we've ever seen from Palm.
First some background: when the Sprint Treo 800w was in it's final stages of release, one of the more anticipated features was the ability to use Microsoft's Voice Command 1.6 over Bluetooth (after all, that brilliant apps comes built into the device's ROM). This would allow you to hear the program's responses and reminders over your headset and just as importantly, bark your commands via the headset.
In our forums there has been lots of discussion over this because once the phone was released it turns out this feature was missing--leaving lots of people quite upset (the phrase "deal breaker" is mentioned a lot).
It’s great to be able to access Facebook on the go, and it’s even better when you can use an application that tailors Facebook to your smartphone. You might have caught our earlier post about Facebook for Palm, which is available on Palm OS smartphones. In the interest of giving equal airtime to both of the operating systems we support, here are some free Facebook clients for Windows Mobile devices:
* Snap2Face has an interface designed to make it easy to do common Facebook activities like checking your friends’ status updates and reviewing and responding to friend requests.
* The FriendMobilizer application highlights all of your Facebook notifications directly on its home screen, as well as giving you convenient ways to view and write wall posts, send messages, update your status, etc.
Just imagine what you have on your mobile phone right now. Besides the contact listm which would be a huge pain to reproduce, there’s probably a good chance that you also have some photos, videosm and even music. That being said, it’s a nightmare when you realize that your mobile phone has been lost or stolen. That’s why there are services available like Yougetitback.com.
Yougetitback.com is a service which works toward the recovery of your mobile phones or portable devices including PDAs, cameras, iPods and laptops. If for some reason your device can’t be recovered the company even offers a premium service which will replace the device. The company’s CEO Frank Hannigan states that Yougetitback.com has an impressive estimated recovery rate of 75% when devices are registered and tagged with the company’s labels. Tags are available for US$10 which will offer 3-years of protection.
So is the Motorola H12 Bluetooth Headset ($89.95) with CrystalTalk technology leading the pack of Bluetooth Headsets on the market today? The H12 is a solid performer that is comfortable to wear, has good microphone performance, a good feature set, and decent battery life. But with the volume muffled by the ear bud design and limited charging options, if it’s leading the pack it’s not by much.
I have to recognize the dedicated power button one more time. This feature of the H12 is something that other headset engineers should strongly consider. I’ve tested several Bluetooth headsets that power on through the call/main button and it is difficult at times to tell if the headset is on or off. I’ve caught myself staring at headsets waiting for the blinking blue light and turned the headset off when I thought I was turning it on too many times. It’s refreshing to look at the headset and know for certain the thing is on or off. It may be a minor feature to some but I think Motorola hit the nail on the head by having a dedicated power button.
"Best Treo yet." Oh, go on.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — If anyone knows how best to survive a corporate near-death experience, it is Jon Rubinstein.
Overall the BlueAnt M1 Stereo Speakers System is one of the most attractive and well designed solutions that I have come across to date. Not only does it deliver clear and powerful sound but it also happens to be extremly versatile thanks to its two wireless (Bluetooth) or wired (3.5mm) audio connectivity options as well as its two power options (wall charger or internal battery) that allow you to conveniently and simply use this unit both indoors or outdoors.
Lastly, please note that only Windows Mobile Treo smartphones (excluding the Treo 700w) offer built-in A2DP wireless audio streaming capabilities. Having said this, you can enable your Palm OS Treo or Centro with A2DP by getting the excellent Softick Audio Gateway (see my review and Bluetooth Stereo Roundup for more detailed information).
Once paired, it was a breeze to use. So even though I am an avid WM user, I have to admit that Blackberry has really scored with their Remote Bluetooth Stereo Gateway. It reconnects on its own to any paired device. The sound quality is phenomenal. It is easy to connect to any stereo with an input option. I really enjoy my Blackberry Remote Bluetooth Stereo Gateway . As I mentioned above, my only suggestion is to add a rechargeable battery for easier use in the car. Other than that, it is truly a very easy way to add stereo Bluetooth compatibility to nearly any stereo at home or on the road.
In the annals of "smartphonedom" there's iPhone, BlackBerry, the latest from Nokia, and everyone else.
It seems like just yesterday that someone purchased the one-millionth Centro, and now we've sold two million of them.
As we mentioned earlier, Palm (in a a nice turnabout) put a support page up noting an update to enable voice over Bluetooth, a feature which was expected but absent on the new flagship Palm device.
Over at TreoCentral, some users have discovered a very simple way to double your battery life on the Palm Treo 800w.
What is 
[From malachi] Another great tool I have started using with my centro is 
[From Lauren Leach-Steffens Maryville, MO] For those of you interested there is now a version of 
Two steps forward, one step back is today's theme on the 800w.
The concept of ICE, short for In Case of Emergency, is a brilliant one considering the number of people who carry a cell phone. It is nice to know there is a way to speed dial an emergency contact should the need arise. Many carriers have made this a standard feature within the Contacts area of the phone.
Well, chalk this one up to fast turn around...in fact one of the fastest we've ever seen from Palm.
Just imagine what you have on your mobile phone right now. Besides the contact listm which would be a huge pain to reproduce, there’s probably a good chance that you also have some photos, videosm and even music. That being said, it’s a nightmare when you realize that your mobile phone has been lost or stolen. That’s why there are services available like Yougetitback.com.
So is the Motorola H12 Bluetooth Headset ($89.95) with CrystalTalk technology leading the pack of Bluetooth Headsets on the market today? The H12 is a solid performer that is comfortable to wear, has good microphone performance, a good feature set, and decent battery life. But with the volume muffled by the ear bud design and limited charging options, if it’s leading the pack it’s not by much.