Quickies: Blue Zire, Powered Up Awards & More

Posted By: PIC Thursday, May 8, 2003 4:47:25 PM

Palm is now selling a Blue Zire and a UC battery sled. PalmSource has announced this years powered up awards, PalmGear and CellMania are partnering to bring over the air downloads, there is a new audio player that also does MPEG movies and more.

Blue ZireBlue Zire
The Palm Online store is offering a limited edition Blue Zire. It is only available from Palm.com and other than the blue casing; it shares the same specs as the standard Zire. Thanks Alfredo & Carguy

PalmGear & Cellmania Partner
PalmGear has announced a partnership with Cellmania to bring Palm OS software to Palm Powered Cellphone owners through wireless carriers. The agreement authorizes Cellmania to choose from thousands of possible cellphone-ready applications in PalmGear’s catalog for distribution through wireless carriers, online retailers and the Cellmania website. Over-the-air download of Palm OS titles through wireless carriers will be a first.

The Powered Up Awards
PalmSource CEO, David Nagel honored four Palm OS developers with Powered Up Awards at the recent developer conference. The awards were created by PalmSource to honor innovative and original applications, 2003 winners included:

Best Productivity and Best of the Best Solution: SnapperMail, by Snapperfish, Ltd., which puts the power of a desktop e-mail client onto any Palm Powered device. The application includes groundbreaking support for native desktop format attachments and comes bundled with Zip, Jpeg, and Handwritten note taking software.

Best Enterprise Solution: Mobilefile (iGo), by Cutting Edge Software, Inc., offers anywhere, anytime access to desktop Excel, PowerPoint, Word and other files on any Palm Powered device.

Best Leisure and Entertainment Solution: NoviiRemote, by NoviiMedia, a universal learning remote for any Palm Powered device. NoviiRemote controls all home entertainment equipment with a superior interface, vibrant colors, easy installation and powerful infrared drivers.

Best Student Developer Solution: Wind Warrior, by Andrew Stout, Aerowyn Software, a fast-paced martial arts adventure game on your Palm Powered device. It features superb animation and an impressive array of environments and backgrounds.

MMPlayer
MMPlayer is a new media player for Palm OS 5. It is listed as a very early experimental release and is bit buggy, but shows good promise. Currently the app plays mp3, wav files and MPEG movie files.

TableTennis3D
TableTennis3D is an interesting new virtual ping pong game from Xavier Martin. It sells for $10, but you can get it for only $6 until may 16th by using coupon code "STARTPRICE" when purchasing from the developers site.

Palm Power to GoPalm Power to Go
Palm has released a new extended battery recharging sled, for handhelds with the Palm Universal connector. It can fully recharge a handheld once, and even twice with some models. It also includes a pass through hotsync port. It is $99.95 and is available from the Palm Store.

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Palm Power to Go

Fammy @ 5/8/2003 5:46:21 PM #
Wait, I have to charge my charger? =)

Still a cool idea, for the person on the go with the PDA that doens't have a replacable battery. $99? Ouch.

_____
Fammy

RE: Palm Power to Go
Ben S @ 5/8/2003 6:19:03 PM #
That's roughly in-line for spare batteries for units with replaceable ones. A heck of a lot more expensive than my $9.95 AA-powered emergency charger from eBay, but hey... different strokes.

RE: Palm Power to Go
skennedy1217 @ 5/8/2003 6:39:59 PM #
I suppose this would be a good product for models with built in (non-user replaceable batteries) in which you're looking for extended battery life.

I can think of a couple practical examples such as extended listening to MP3's, using a Wi-Fi SD Card (which will be heavy on the battery), etc.

I'm not thrilled at the $99...seems like that's the default price for all Palm peripherals. At least if Palm sticks with the Universal Connector for a while it would be something you could still use after an upgrade (not like Sony who kept changing the connector with each model for a while).

Scott

_____________________
m100 ==> m500 ==> T|T

RE: Palm Power to Go
ecard @ 5/8/2003 8:44:16 PM #
Wow!! 99$ for that!! I don't think the price is OK. And it only doubles the life of your battery.

RE: Palm Power to Go
LiveFaith @ 5/8/2003 8:58:44 PM #
I can see the niche and the need. But, whoa ... for the same $$ as a Palm Zire it oughta charge the battery for life!

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: Palm Power to Go
statik @ 5/8/2003 9:29:56 PM #
I'm really excited about this. My company uses palm pilots for doing home inventories. One of the problems that we run in to is that if an inventory takes 4-5 hours, the batteries may die. This external battery provides an excellent solution.

RE: Palm Power to Go
Rolando @ 5/9/2003 9:01:16 AM #
"At least if Palm sticks with the Universal Connector for a while it would be something you could still use after an upgrade (not like Sony who kept changing the connector with each model for a while)."

Actually, Sony has had two connectors. The original, which started on the S300 and ran through the N760 and now, the current T-Series connector (which is the same on the T, SJ, SJ, NR, NX, etc.).

Palm has had three, if you count the Zire's mini-usb connection (since it doesn't have any other connector). The Palm Pilot 1000/5000 started it, the Universal Connector came later, then the original Zire's USB.

I think the name, Universal Connector, makes people think that it is more stable and long-lasting than other connectors. If only Sony had had the foresite to name theirs...

Rolando


RE: Palm Power to Go
rsc1000 @ 5/9/2003 9:41:08 AM #
Actually - hasn't Palm had more than 3? Is the original Pilot the same as the V/Vx for example (neither of which had UC yet)?

Don't bash Sony if you don't know...
PalmDoc @ 5/9/2003 10:00:06 AM #
Sony started with one connector on their earlier models (through the N series) then updated the connector ONCE (starting with the T series). The current connector has not changed for the last FOURTEEN models (T415, T615C, T665, NR70V, NR70, SL10, SJ20, SJ22, SJ30, SJ33, TG50, NX70V, NX60, NZ90).

Palm has had at least 4 connector types that I can remember (the original that persisted through the early m100 series, Paln V type, UC, and the first Zire model's connector)...and several different 'bottom shapes' in handhelds that used the original connector, that made the use of some peripherals not fit quite right. For example, the change from the original square bottom with the 'sine wave' type contour to the III series tapered bottom to the non-UC m100 curved bottom with mid-mounted connector.

So please, don't bash Sony for one of the things they have actually done well, namely sticking to a standard connector more faithfully than most other PDA manufacturers, including Palm.

RE: Palm Power to Go
hkklife @ 5/9/2003 10:56:02 AM #
People, Palm's been selling PDAs about 4x as long as Sony has. I got my original Pilot back in summer of 1996. I don't recall seeing the first Clie until mid 2001 or so and Sony was practically dead in the water before the release of the Clie 710. In all honesty, yes, Palm did bungle things more than a few times-I think the introduction of the UC really ruffled everyone's featers, but I have to admit that it IS nice now to know that I can go from a M5xx-->T|T-->T|C and retain almost all of my accessories. I think most people have a problem with Sony's endless parade of models and the resulting confusing nomenclature. On a Palm it's easy to say "Ok, all M500s and all Tungstens share the same peripherals". Of course, it does get tricky trying to separate the m125/130 and Zire 71 from the original M10x and the original Zire but this _is_ Palm we're talking about. If nothing else, Palm's branding, marketing, and retail packaging make it quite a bit easier than Sony does to distinguish what accessory goes with which handheld. Also, Palm has a far better presence at retail than does Sony, so that also might lead people to think Sony's got so many different styles of connectors that no retailer can keep them all in stock.

To be perfectly honest, all of the major players in the Palm camp (the dearly departed Handera excepted, of course) can be accused of having dropped the ball numerous times in this regard ever since the launch of the Palm V. We need standards, standards, standards (not just for peripherals but for flash memory cards etc)!

RE: Palm Power to Go
skennedy1217 @ 5/9/2003 12:48:41 PM #
"I think most people have a problem with Sony's endless parade of models and the resulting confusing nomenclature......Palm's branding, marketing, and retail packaging make it quite a bit easier than Sony does to distinguish what accessory goes with which handheld. "

Thanks hkklife for saying it better than I could. That's exactly where I was coming from.

On a related subject...I've been visiting this site for several months now and have made a handfull of posts. I have come to the conclusion that this is not a very friendly forum. Instead of giving anyone the benefit of the doubt, or trying to see things a different way, people just jump on each other. It's never enough for one person to disagree, but instead everyone wants to get in the ring.

I think the Ska vs. mikecane/abosco/etc. war has rubbed off on people. It's bad enough that you have PPC vs. POS bashing going on, but then you've got other camps within the POS (Sony vs. Palm, Memory stick vs SD Card, 'Soft Graffiti' vs Thumboard.' Everyone wants to beat their chests and proclaim that their handheld is the best.

I'm personally sick of it and am going to look for a site that offers a more balanced perspective. And I don't care about the folks who are going to reply to this post and say good riddance, because I know it's coming.

_____________________
m100 ==> m500 ==> T|T

RE: Palm Power to Go
mentalsrule @ 5/11/2003 8:23:51 PM #
actually, i am going to reply to this post and say, i 100% agree with you. I use both platforms at different times. Its what suits me best, not what suits someone else best because of their opinion. The whole ska thing is getting out of hand, and all its doing is raising post counts for those people. It gets annoying, and im sure it scares more people off than it does give them the information they come looking for.

Thats all i have to say about that. hehe

____________________
With everything i learn each day... i have a talent to compress it all into one word..... huh? [:)]

www.HandHeldHQ.com

RE: Palm Power to Go
kev @ 5/12/2003 11:58:50 AM #
i'll agree too! the replies i read on here are just plain nasty. the odd one is occasionally funny, but for the most part, i'd say the tone on these discussions contribute (in a small but noticeable way) to the continuting downturn in the popularity of the palmos driven handheld. go to some of the ppc discussions and you get an open-source type community BUZZ there. not squabbles and bitter people on their high horses.

this has been an issue in the past (which is why we register now) and still remains one.

i'm off to audition contenders for my "palm news" bookmark

MMPlayer

rsc1000 @ 5/8/2003 7:40:11 PM #
I like this player. The audio support has been out for a while now and it is the only player to support mp3 without paying except for RealPlayer (pocketTunes and Aeorplayer only offer trial period use of mp3 without paying). The video is choppy at this point - but according to their message board Mpeg 4 AND divX support is coming this weekend!!! They say it will be easier to fix the synchronization issues (the choppiness) in a more robust way once they add the new codecs. dang - can't wait!

RE: MMPlayer
alanh @ 5/9/2003 4:36:55 PM #
It's not going to be free forever....

http://www.mmplayer.com/buy.php

-alan

Blue Zire?

LiveFaith @ 5/8/2003 9:00:33 PM #
Looks nice. I was pleasantly suprised by the attractiveness of the Zire when I first saw it in a store. Easy to see why it's a hit PDA.

I wonder if it is only available on the site in blue because it may steal a litte "thunder" from the 71 if setting side-side @ Best Buy ... at least for appearance sakes.

Of course the "guts" are no comparison between the two.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

RE: Blue Zire?
RhinoSteve @ 5/8/2003 9:29:11 PM #
I was wondering when colored Zire's would happen. What I'd love to see is a ruby red Zire.
RE: Blue Zire?
hoodoo @ 5/12/2003 9:52:23 AM #
The Blue Zire has a backlight, according to the Palm newletter I received. woohoo.

Weekend Special!
Exclusive Palm Store Offer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Limited Time Offer! May 9-11th

Buy a Special Edition BLUE Palm(tm) Zire(tm)
handheld, and get Documents To Go(R) for
$4.95 after rebate.

Save $25*!
Only on the Palm Store!
-> http://palm.m0.net/m/S.asp?HB8893278625X2438555X189544X
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Palm Zire handheld
- Special Edition blue color
- Great price
- Classic PIM functionality
- Backlight
- 2 MB Memory

Documents To Go 4.0 for Zire
Office for your Palm handheld!
- View and edit your
  important WORD and EXCEL files
- Make shopping lists, track
  personal expenses, and stay
  organized.
- Easy to use, simple to set up.

Hurry!

Offer starts Friday,
May 9th, 6 a.m. EST

Offer ends Sunday,
May 11th, 11:59 p.m. EST

Order Online,
-> http://palm.m0.net/m/S.asp?HB8893278625X2438555X189544X


but what about...

mj6798 @ 5/8/2003 11:38:25 PM #
a Zire with Bluetooth?

RE: but what about...
ganoe @ 5/8/2003 11:53:19 PM #
Yes, Bluetooth would've been the perfect extra feature for a low-end Blue Zire.
RE: but what about...
M3wThr33 @ 5/9/2003 5:12:59 AM #
Ganoe, you forgot to close with a tag.

I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're in space.
RE: but what about...
mentalsrule @ 5/11/2003 8:25:27 PM #
WTF?

are you on drugs?

actually the BT idea for the bluetooth doesnt sound to bad. Actually i love the idea, and wonder why Palm wont get into the game to play along.

____________________
With everything i learn each day... i have a talent to compress it all into one word..... huh? [:)]

www.HandHeldHQ.com

Uh.....wait a second.....

Lucky Bob @ 5/9/2003 12:49:27 PM #
The Zire and this recharger are both $99. Both include a Lithium Ion battery, except one is a PDA, and the other is a piece of plastic???

...wow...

(Why do some people say you can kill two birds with one stone when it's hard enough killing one bird with two stones?)

RE: Uh.....wait a second.....
hkklife @ 5/9/2003 4:21:10 PM #
Yup, this sled is about $50 too expensive. When you can buy the "official" Palm charger for approx. $35 at any number of retail outlets and/or pick up an off-brand USB charge/sync cable off E-Bay for $8, it becomes very difficult to justify the purchase of this little gadget for anything other than a seriously hardcore user or certain niche markets (someone doing inventory in a warehouse etc with the screen brightness on full etc).

I don't know if fragility would be an issue, but I've long thought that an m500-style hardcase with a solar panel integrated into the housing (going to the UC on the inside) would make a nifty (for lack of a better term) gift for a Palm fanatic who just so happens to be an avid outdoorsman as well.

Back to the charging sled: I've gotta give Palm credit for at least attempting a pretty decent work-around (price aside) for the lack of a user-replacable battery in any Palm unit. I personally have no great desire to see a handheld with a removable battery anytime soon but I can understand that people have gotten used to the cellphone/laptop mentality of being able to swap 'em on and off. In fact, the only device I own where I am constantly swapping batteries is my digicam.



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