Smartphones and Cell Phones

I have mentioned my love of the Evernote client and service for a couple of years and was caught way off guard when I went into the Palm WebOS App Catalog just a few moments ago and saw they already launched a client for the Pre. I LOVE this application and have to say that having this on the Pre just moved my "keeper meter" a bit farther to the right and applications such as this may drive me to permanently add the Pre to my mobile device collection.

June 11, 2009 by Matthew Miller

4 Comments Vote

Applications are rolling out slowly, but surely on the Palm Pre and part of the fun aspect with devices like this and the G1 are discovering the new apps in the handset store as they are released. Those of you who have Outlook and other PIM desktop clients will be happy to know there are now applications to sync with your PC and Mac in case you do not have Exchange or want to sync in the cloud.

June 10, 2009 by Matthew Miller

6 Comments Vote

I love talking about mobile technology with fellow mobile enthusiasts and was honored to be asked to appear with Mickey and Joey on the The Cell Phone Junkie Unlocked #23 to talk about my last several days with the Palm Pre. The Pre was just launched Saturday and you probably read about my Hawaiin line waiting to get the Pre. Overall, I am quite happy with the Pre and think Palm did a great job with WebOS for the most part. I would like to see Palm improve their PIM apps, primarily the Calendar, and take the lead once again for managing your calendar, contacts, and tasks. It was great to chat with Mickey and Joey about the device and I hope I was able to answer all their questions and help out listeners to get a feel for the device. You really should get down to your Sprint store to try one out.

June 9, 2009 by Matthew Miller

Comments Vote

Today is a happy day for me and tomorrow should be even better, thanks to Nokia. I read a Tweet by Chris Ziegler, Engadget Mobile editor, where he stated, "I am literally beside myself that I’ll have an N97 NAM tomorrow. what an unexpected surprise!" I asked if this was a preorder or a review unit and he told me that the N97 NAM was going to be in the Nokia Flagships stores (in Chicago and New York) today! I then contacted Nokia and found out that pre-orders made through the Nokia USA store will also ship out today and since I paid for overnight shipping with my order I should receive it tomorrow, 10 June.

June 9, 2009 by Matthew Miller

2 Comments Vote

I took a look at laying out what we knew about the Palm Pre in my first Clash of the Touch Titans article and found the Pre to be an exciting device. After getting a bit of hands-on time with the Pre at CTIA in April, I asked if the keyboard was the Achilles heel and it turns out the keyboard isn't that great, but something else is much worse and is the Achilles heel for the device. Much like the T-Mobile G1 (also running a new Linux-based OS) the Palm Pre has very limited battery capacity and I can't go a full day with either of these devices.

June 8, 2009 by Matthew Miller

12 Comments Vote

Palm was the leader for managing your PIM data (calendar, contacts, tasks) and many people today still use Palm devices that are not phone-enabled just for these functions. Given that PIM was a strong suit of the Palm branding, I am quite surprised with some of the limiting functionality in the integrated PIM apps found on the Pre in WebOS. Palm has had quite some time to optimize their own integrated PIM suite and left out several parts that current Palm OS owners have come to rely on.

June 8, 2009 by Matthew Miller

18 Comments Vote

Back in March I had the chance to check out Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA running on a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1. Today, Opera announced that Opera Mobile 9.7 beta for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices is available for everyone to download and try out. I have been using it on an HTC Touch Pro2 and Pharos Traveler 137 for a couple of days and plan to post a video a bit later tonight of the new browser in action.

June 7, 2009 by Matthew Miller

4 Comments Vote

I really didn't think I would have a Palm Pre myself to answer the 11 questions I posted a couple days ago, but now that I have one I can provide you with the answers. I also won't post a full review of the Pre here yet since there are several out there that will get you through a first impressions perspective. I plan to test it out some more and offer you with some real-life examples of experiences. Please post any questions you want answered on the Pre and I'll assemble them into future posts to help you out.

June 6, 2009 by Matthew Miller

10 Comments Vote

If you listened to the last couple of MobileTechRoundup podcasts you heard me say I was not planning on picking up a Palm Pre. However, a few things occurred that made me rethink my strategy regarding the Pre. With the small number of available review units available (and no timeline of when I may actually get one to check out), my mobile device history that began with the use of Palm devices back in 1997 with the Pilot 1000 and fact that I still have a special place in my heart for Palm, and the fateful timeliness of having a business trip complete the day before the Pre launch I just could not hold back. I was out in Hawaii crawling around a ship for the last week and was scheduled to fly home on Saturday at noon. With no family or other obligations on Saturday morning, what else was a mobile enthusiast to do other than get to the largest Sprint store in Honolulu and get in line early.

June 6, 2009 by Matthew Miller

2 Comments Vote

The Palm Pre launches tomorrow and I have been reading a ton of reviews of the device posted by mobile technology sites. I played with the Pre at CTIA, but do not yet have a review device and have been thinking about whether or not I should try to find one here in Hawaii (I am on a business trip) in the morning to at least try out during the Sprint trial period. Even though there are some extensive reviews, I haven't yet found answers to a few of my questions and imagine I can get them from readers who buy the Pre or maybe some other reviewers who have the device.

June 5, 2009 by Matthew Miller

13 Comments Vote