encounter sound

Here’s my old Treo post…  Now I just have to figure out what’s new! Praise God for Google cache!

So this has nothing to do with music, social justice, 24, or dirty diapers. This little ditty is in honor of my new favorite device: my Treo. Katie got me the 600 for Christmas (and oh, how I now long for the 650, or dare I even dream of the upcoming 700p?) and it’s quickly become the thing I can’t believe I lived without for so long. I recently talked Dan Ballinger (of Crosspollen fame) into buying one, and have promised him a list of my “must-have” applications for about a month now. I figured I might as well make it public, since there’s bound to be some other new Treoholic looking for the latest and greatest in Palm OS software. OK here goes…

Replacement Applications:

Launcher: Launcher-X + Hi-Launcher.

Launcher X (link) is a great replacement for the cumbersome default that ships with PalmOS. You can tab out your categories, give them icons, hide the ones you don’t intend to use and can’t delete because they’re in ROM, and do all other awesome things like renaming the shortcuts without having to mess with the innards of the OS. It’s prety on the eyes, too, and I’m sure has more features that I haven’t even discovered yet.

I use Hi-Launcher (link) to make my most commonly used programs a couple button presses away. I have it mapped to my Phone button, and organize the menus by numbers (with hotkeys according to the number). For a couple of examples, I can hit Phone-1-1 to pull up my call log, Phone-2-3 to get my @Car To-Do list to show me what I’ve got to do that’s categorized as a mobile task, or Phone-K to call my wife (Katie). Having a Treo in the car can prove to be dangerous if you don’t give yourself a one-handed solution to the things you need to do, since whipping out the stylus isn’t exactly the most condusive thing to keeping hands on the steering wheel. Hi-Launcher does just that.

Contacts: PhoneMagic

PhoneMagic (link) puts the built-in contact manager to shame. It lets you quickly search for names by smartly deciding if you are searching by the default first-letter-of-first-name, then last name (rmey should pop me right up) or by full first name or last name, and as soon as it’s narrowed it down to one brings up the entry. It also remembers the last ones you’ve accessed and keeps them on the front page of the application. It’s a simple program that’s great at what it does: finding contacts. I have over 1700 phone numbers in my list, and it’s never any trouble at all for me to find the one I need. That’s huge.

Calendar/ToDo: Datebk5 + GTD Custom View pack

Datebk5 (link) is like a shot in the arm for the device. It does more than I think I’ll ever discover, but elegantly and user-friendly. The most important feature is the Custom Views, which I’ve used to only show tasks in certain categories when I’m in a situation that makes them actionable. For instance, I have a view that has the errands I need to run when I get in my car attached to a view called @Car, a view for phone calls called @Phone, etc. It syncs great with Outlook, organizes my calendar brilliantly, and keeps me on track. Some people really like Agendus, but I tried them both and felt great about Datekbk5.

The GTD Views pack, which I found hidden in the GTD_Palm Yahoo Group (link) is indepsensable. It is what allows me quick one-hand access to my lists by category (by assigning them to hotkeys in Hi-Launcher), and pretty much kicks butt. I also drew a cool Mini Cooper icon for my @Car list in honor of Mike Ofca.

Camera: CameraTest + Qset + Pickem

CameraTest (link) can be used to change some settings, most importantly the ones that determine the light adjustment on the Treo’s camera. This fixed the often bluish hue on my pictures, which was worth the Googling for settings.

Qset (link) lets you change the quality setting for the jpegs that are saved. I set mine to 90 to maximize the quality. I can bring them down in photoshop later, but it’s nice to capture as high as possible.

Pickem (link) adds a 2x digital zoom to the camera, which is very cool. I know that digital zoom just doubles pixel size, but it’s worth having it larger in the viewfinder, I feel. It’s also better for e-mailing pictures to your flickr account rather than the SprintPCS deal, or whatever you happen to have.

Memo Pad: Slap

Slap (link) is a memo pad on steroids. You take your notes on it, hilight them, and send them to whatever application they belong. If it’s a phone number, you click the phone icon and it adds it to your contacts, if it’s a to-do or appointment, you can add it to Datebk5, if it’s an e-mail, fire away. This little sucker is awesome.

E-mail: Chatter (Gmail + Fastmail)

Chatter (link) provides Blackberry-esque push e-mail (via IMAP) for the Treo. I have Gmail forwarding to a free Fastmail.fm account, which I can check with Chatter in real time. It’s a bit of a hack, but Gmail does such an excellent job of filtering spam, and the fastmail webmail utility allows filtering out mailing lists and the like. I get the important stuff delivered straight to my Treo right when it’s sent. I like…

Preferences: FieldPlus + ShortCut5 + KeyCaps + OnCradle + Radio Control + HeadCold + MarknDial + NoAlarms

FieldPlus (link) adds functionality that’s so fundamental I can’t believe it’s not built-in. Basically allows you to select text with the 5-way navigator to copy/cut/paste, as well as giving access to the command bar (missing without grafitti) by holding the menu button.

ShortCut5 (link) is another great app. Basically, you set up shortcuts for big chunks of text you use regularly. For instance, I have .em to my e-mail address, .pw to the password I use for many non-sensitive websites, .mys to a link to our myspace page, and a bunch of others as well. This is to keep from having Treonitus of the Thumb when conversing via IM, SMS, or e-mail on the Treo.

KeyCaps (link) is another “can’t believe it wasn’t included” app. Lets you use capital letters and symbols by holding or double-clicking the keys, rather than using the shift or symbol buttons. Makes a HUGE difference in how long it takes to type simple things like can’t or 2thru7!

OnCradleOn (link) makes the display stay on when connected to a power cord. This is great since I use my treo as a to-do list while driving, so I open up to my @Car list and it’s there as long as it’s plugged into the lighter adapter.

Radio Control (link) is another duh application. For whatever reason, the Treo doesn’t start up in Wireless mode. This is annoying, and Radio Control fixes it. It also lets you schedule off-network times to save battery life/get some uninterupted sleep. My wife is very thankful for this feature…

HeadCold (link) lets you output system sounds to your hands-free headset. I use this to watch movies and listen to shoutcast radio streams with my headset. Make sure you switch it back to “speaker” when you unplug, though, because it your ringer won’t go to the speaker until you do.

MarknDial (link) gives you the option of dialing a number when you hilight it. Another simple solution that ought to be part of the OS.

NoAlarms (link) couples up with Radio Control and turns off alarms (SMS, Calendar, IM, etc) during a specified time period. Sleep…

Cool Apps

Directory Assistant (link) is probably the coolest freeware ever. Gives you white/yellow pages functionality super simply, and you can dial straight from it. I’ve used this like twice a day, and it’s really gotten me out of quite a few pinches when I’ve been lost in other cities.

VeriChat (link) adds IM from all the major networks and is pretty stinking cool. I wish there was a free alternative that was just as good, but I haven’t been able to find one.

TreoAlarm (< a xhref="http://www.treoalarm.com" mce_href="http://www.treoalarm.com">link) is a nice alarm clock that lets you set way more than you’ll ever need with a ton of options, even including a weather update when you wake up.

2CallLog (included as a free prc in the 2phone shareware (link)) adds an icon to get to your Call Log. I use this with Hi-Launcher to make it easy to access.

FileZ (link) is a full-featured file explorer that helps you delete files you don’t want (if you perhaps want to get rid of some shareware and reinstall a new trial period…)

Hours (link) is a nice and simple time-clock application that helps me keep track of time I spend on web development projects that are charged by the hour.

1TouchTimer (link) is a cool little timer application that keeps my frozen pizzas from turning to charcoal. The interface takes a little getting used to, but becomes super easy to use when you get the hang of it.

PocketTunes (link) is a hip MP3 player that can play Shoutcast internet radio streams via the Treo’s wireless connection, as well as Janus-DRMed WMA files. Pretty much worth it for the Shoutcast streams. Very cool.

TCPMP (link) plays video on the Treo. AWESOME! I use a cheap ($5) program called Lathe (link) to convert to small xvid avis that fit easily on my 1G SD card. I have a couple of movies on every plane ride now, which is very very cool, in my opinion. It will also play Mp3s and the like, but I use Pocket Tunes for that.

Card Export 2 (link) lets you access your SD card from Windows. Cool, cool, cool.

IconMgr (link) is cool for those Datebk5 icons. The ability to change colors easily was nice for me, so that I could use different colors of the same icon (thumbtacks for tentative, checked boxes for confirmed) to represent different bands that I’m booking gigs for.

NesEm (link) is a Nintendo Entertainment System emulator for Palm. Wow. The 600 lags a little, but Mario Bros is Mario Bros. I hear that this thing smokes on the 650, which I can’t wait to see in action.

I also play a lot of Bejeweled, TetAttack (a Tetris Attack clone), and Coodies (a Dr. Mario clone).

So ends the gigantic discourse on my Treo application list. I’m constantly trying new stuff out, but these guys have made the cut for the long haul. Some of the full versions I paid for because they’re so worth it, others I make a regular process of uninstalling, deleting the databases with FileZ, and starting over. Eventually I’ll register, they’re just not as high on the list as the power bill right now.

Fin.