Zen Apps
THOUGHT: Panasonic e-Wear SV-AV20
Last Saturday, I got myself a new toy. Its not anything new or high tech (but still looks cool over the years). If I'm not mistaken, the first of its kind were introduced three years ago. I didn't jump ahead since it costs an arm and a leg (around P19K at that time).
Why did I buy it? Actually, it never passed my mind until that Saturday afternoon (while passing Electroworld Greenbelt). I planned to buy an inexpensive slim camera (below P10K) that does the job of anywhere point-and-shoot, since my Nikon CP-4300 is quite cumbersome to lug around (during customer visits). The clincher was its price of P9,900 (but I was able to avail it with a lower price, due to the nature of my job). -.^ I don't expect to get eye-popping photos and videos with it (so far the footage I took was generally ok). My only gripe was the lack of Mac support (Quicktime to be specific). The darn thing produces MPEG-4 videos in ASF (Windows Media) format! The neat thing to it is being able to record clips, eject the card and view it on my Tungsten C (or LifeDrive) and boom - TCPMP plays the videos amazingly (with sound).
I'll bring this new toy around and hope to post some of the clips here later. -.^
W
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APPS: u*Blog
For you mobile bloggers out there, there's an interesting app for the Palm called u*Blog. u*Blog enables you to post entries to your blog. You can also post entries with photos taken by a built-in camera if your blog system support metaWeblog API. Aside from that it has features like: post, edit and delete entries; multiple blog accounts; upload files (if your blog supports metaWeblog API) and more. You get all those features for FREE!
W
P.S. Download a copy here.
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REVIEW: Village Sim
Playing God or Playing Trump? You may already played the game Civilization (or alike), but you ain't played anything like this yet. LDW (short for Last Day of Work), the makers of great simulation games for the handheld with the likes of Fish Tycoon and Plant Tycoon, recently launched the first ever human survival simulation game for handhelds called Village Sim. Its about the adventure of a castaway tribe learning how to survive and start a whole new civilization in a strange island.
This is perhaps the best thing that ever happened in handheld gaming. This game is a combination of a simulation tribe game with a Tamagotchi feel. Its very realtime (virtually continuous even the handheld is turned off) and quite addicting (not to mention that it will improve your people management skills).
Speaking of people management, this game manages to get as close to any actual interaction with real human behavior could ever get. I don't know how LDW did that, but its quite amazing! If you're a big fan of Donald Trump (like myself), you could become his apprentice by playing this game. The challenge is for you to appoint, train and instruct every member to do their individual task (for the betterment and success of the tribe), then you'll be measured by how much food and tech points you acquire. Ofcourse, you should pass the legacy to your offspring (on whether how would you procreate, I'll leave that up to you). Upon failure, somebody will gonna be fired! In reality, each and every member will suffer death from either sickness or starvation.
Every angle is covered. Even in procreation, genetics are also considered. Try cross-breeding if you like. Each offspring will easily acquire the talents and skills of their parents.
For starters, you must turn on the tutorial mode. This will help guide you through the entire game. It will be hard to play at first, but you'll get to master and acquire the needed management skills later on (as the game progress). For a quick tip, research and food are very very important early on the game. Try to do farming and research first, before you do the rest. You'll treat the research table and the berry tree as your valuable resources.
To tell you the truth, I'm not yet finished playing my first game. This makes Village Sim one of the best games with a very long playing life ever. It sure is worth every dollar that you'll be paying for.
W
**Written and sent wirelessly using a palmOne Tungsten|C**
P.S. You can download the free trial copy here.
UPDATE: LDW won the PalmSource Powered Up Awards for Best Games / Entertainment Solution for 2005.
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THOUGHT: Podcasts Are Not For iPods
The name "podcast" obviously was derived from iPods. Adam Curry (the curly blonde VJ of MTV) was first to market the name by which RSS (really simple syndicate) may have audio contents as well. Riding from the popularity of iPod, I don't give doubts on why they used the term "podcast", but is it really made for iPods? The godfather of podcasts may think so, but I don't necessarily agree.
iPods are for music (using it for audiobooks and podcasts doesn't appeal to me at all). I mean, who would like to listen to a person talking? The mere fact that you got yourself an iPod is for you to eliminate the talkies (when you listen to a radio station). Podcasts and audiobooks are talkies. If I have an iPod, can I just want to listen to my music?
If podcasts were not appropriate to occupy your iPod space, then where should it belong? I ask you this: Where do you put those RSS feeds, e-books, and other info related materials? Did I hear "your Palm"? Ofcourse it should be inside your Palm! Now hear this, if you're using a Treo or a WiFi enabled handheld (like a Tungsten C, perhaps) that would be better! So how can podcast be the killer content for the Palm and what should be the killer app? I've got two words - Quick News.
Quick News for Palm OS allows you to download RSS news feeds, either via a HotSync or using a direct internet connection on your Palm Power Handheld, and then read them later. Use it to keep updated with the latest news, sports and financial updates as well as read your favorite websites. Aside from that it supports downloading your favorite podcasts!
Quick News is actually an iteration of Hand/RSS (which I have reviewed late last year). Some of the major enhancements include:
- Support for embedded images
- Flexible UI
- Attachment support
- Large feed (> 64k) support
- Podcast support
- Auto-updates
- Customizable shortcuts
- Proxy support
- Advanced search capabilities
- Ability to find new feeds by keyword
- Improved OPML import support
So what made this to be the killer app? If you happen to know, podcasts are merely RSS feeds with audio content. When using Quick News, you'll be getting the whole bunch of news feeds from your particular podcast channel (then you could freely choose which podcast content to download). You can now treat podcasts like any other news feeds that you download and read (or should I say listen) anytime. Isn't that sweet?
Aside from that, Quick News has every flexibility you could think of (from user interface to the freedom of classifying your news feeds). One thing I really love about Quick News is the ability to collapse and expand feed content and the capability to send the content link/article through e-mail (provided that an e-mail app is installed on your handheld).
So the next time you hear about podcasts, the killer app should be Quick News and the killer device is your very own Palm.
W
P.S. You should have an mp3 player app installed on your device to take advantage of podcasting. Quick News supports AeroPlayer, Pocket Tunes, and MMPlayer.
UPDATE: StandAlone won the PalmSource Powered Up Awards for Best Wireless / Over-The-Air Solution for 2005.
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THOUGHT: iPod shuffle
This seems like another boring music player that doubles as a thumbdrive (like the Creative MuVo), but its not! First of all, its rechargeable. You can also use a battery pack to extend its playing hours. And it also syncs effortlessly with the latest iTunes Autofill feature (no more "what song should I put in to fill it up" moments).
If you look closely, the design resembles that familiar "mint with the hole". I bet Jonathan Ive is busy munching a box full of mints before deciding to use it as the inspiration. Yum! ^_^
W
UPDATE: Check out the initial review of Elbert Cuenca here.
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REVIEW: Truly Mobile with Hand/RSS
Welcome to the world where you could access every single up-to-the-minute information without actually browsing every site (where the content originated). Its called RSS (may stand for Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, or RDF Site Summary). There are many choices of RSS (online feed) reader to choose from in every platform (may it be Windows, Mac, Linux... even PocketPC a.k.a. Windows Mobile). Meanwhile, there's only one made for the Palm platform (so far) - meet Hand/RSS by StandAlone Inc.
The user interface of Hand/RSS is pretty simple and straight forward. If you're used to any other Doc reader app for Palm, you'll not have any problem configuring your way through it. Hand/RSS doesn't only limit you to update RSS feeds (while being mobile), it also comes with a desktop conduit (available for Mac and Windows users) to receive feeds from program's default RSS sites or sites you've added on your RSS subscription page. By default, Hand/RSS includes news feeds from the ff. site:
- BBC News
- Boing Boing
- CNet News
- Fark.com
- MSNBC
- Salon.com
- SlashDot
- The Register
- Wired
- and many more!
There are a couple of features though that I wish to be included on the next release, like having pictures included on the retrieval of the feed (nice to have when browsing some news from Gizmodo or Engadget). The other one is to have a choice to disable the size retrieval limit when the feed is a bit heavy (had this experience with the Engadget feed). The downside for the Mac conduit (haven't tested the Windows conduit yet) is that it has conflicts with the Docs To Go 6 conduit. It doesn't finish the sync process when both Hand/RSS and Docs To Go conduits are both enabled. So I removed the Hand/RSS conduit, since I need the Office files more than RSS (and since I could update the content without being dependent to a computer).
When a web browser is already an overkill for a low bandwidth device/connection, having an RSS reader like Hand/RSS is a must have!
W
You can download a trial copy here.
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REVIEW: Bedazzled With Bejeweled
It was not so long ago since I got hold of a Palm and was drawn into the platform's most loved game - Bejeweled. The game defined the standard in mobile handheld gaming - no frills! (Take note that back then we're tapping gems in mono screens with low speed processors.) Its a perfect puzzle-like gameplay designed to kill off time (while waiting for an appointment or waiting for the plane to arrive).
Classic How-To
For those who have no clues on what this is all about, the game instruction is as simple as matching the colored jewels in lines of three horizontally or vertically to clear them from the board. (Then go work on an endless imagination that made this iteration very playable)
Backtracking To The Future
Fast forwarding the time when Palm announced OS 5. I, being a Palm Addict and a mobile game junkie, was blown away with the astounding graphics and sound effects of the Bejeweled hi-res version. For some time, I got bored of playing Bejeweled (as well as mobile gaming in general). Playing 3-D games on a small 3" handheld screen was no longer my cup of tea (if you ask me). That's until Astraware announced Bejeweled 2 (early this month) that made my curiosity hit the ceiling. What's there to improve on a classic game that has already been launched with a hi-res version a couple of years ago?
Upon installing my copy of Bejeweled 2 in my Tungsten C, I was blown away three times! Stunning graphics, superb sound effects, improved and expanded gameplay. What's there not to like?
Aside from incorporating new gems and enormous visual effects, there are also lots of new variations on how our classic gem dropping game can be played. There's the Classic, Action, Puzzle and Endless mode. What I love the most from the new offerings is the Puzzle mode. It's stimulation for your brain as well as feast for the eyes (and ears).
Gorgeous Gemstone
In a nutshell, Bejeweled 2 is like the best game that just got better (actually "better" is still an understatement). Think of it as the Bejeweled meant for the future (only made available today). For the upcoming holidays, Bejeweled 2 will be a great treat (while on vacation) and the best gift for hard core and loyal Palm owners.
W
Download your free trial copy here.
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