Alan G

This week we cover Palm's analyst day, the 1SRC editorial Palm, Inc 2.0, and more! [details]

Jimmie Geddes

Great podcast as usual. You can't beam the Backup program because it's copy protected, I tried beaming it form my 700p to my 680. I posted a review of the Palm Backup Beta on my site:
http://gadgetsonthego.net/2007/04/r...ackup-beta.html

It works very well for what it does. I can see this being a standard app on future Treos. It gets your critical information back pretty fast. I'm surprised that Palm is releasing beta apps, it's a good move.

I agree with you on the Opera deal being for the Palm OS. It seems Palm is cutting ties to ACCESS.

I'm looking forward to the 755p, I love my 680, but I need EV-DO Hopefully Palm will release the long awaited 700p ROM update soon. I already know I'll be selling my 700p for the 755p

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Jimmie Geddes, Editor
http://www.gadgetsonthego.net

Alan G

You can't beam or BT send the Palm Backup app using the standard Palm OS Beam and Send commands, but you should be able to use something like Resco Explorer or FileZ as they don't care about the copy protect bit. I suspect that my problem was that I was trying to copy it from my 700p to my LifeDrive. I'll try it again later.

I'm really happy that Palm has released this as beta software. I've started compling a list of things that I would like to see added or enhanced such as the ability to select the time a scheduled back up runs. Or just knowing when a backup will run if I pick morning, evening, or over night. Also, I turned my cell radio off last night because I wanted to see what kind of error handling there was for missed backup jobs. There was no alert as far as I can tell that the job even ran at some point last night.

At this point, Palm and ACCESS have little need for each other.



The word on the 700p ROM update over on PIC and TC is that the upgrade will now be available after the 755p ships and after the 700p is EOL'ed. I think someone was talking about June for the update. This is really getting out of hand now. Are Palm and Apple really trying to be the next Microsoft?

Alan G

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Host, 1SRC Palm-Powered Podcast
Editor, SmartphoneFanatics.com
Moderator, Brighthand.com
Moderator, Palm Help Forums
Staff Writer, GadgetsOnTheGo.net

Jimmie Geddes

Alan you're right, using Filez I was able to beam it. It'd be nice to be able to set the time, because who really knows what time Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Overnight fall into. I expect Palm will allow you to have more control like setting a specific time to backup in a future version, at least I hope.

I just read about the 700p ROM delay, that's not a good sign. I noticed this on the Palm blog:
"Several people have also brought up the Treo 700p maintenance release

* Look for an update on the Palm blog next week."

These delays are starting to get annoying, I was expecting Leopard by June. If Microsoft delayed Vista again Apple would have been making fun of them, it's kinda strange to see Apple fanboys saying things like "better baked, than undercooked". A delay is a delay, Palm seriously needs to put out a 700p update ASAP. Most people aren't going to buy a 755p as the ROM upgrade (I will) but that's a whole other story.

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Jimmie Geddes, Editor
http://www.gadgetsonthego.net

Alan G

I'm really not happy about the delays with Mac OS X 10.5 and the 700p ROM update. I'm seriously considering not getting a new Mac now until March/April 2008. (Ok I don't even believe that I will be able to hold out for another 12 months on my current PowerBook.)

The 700p's BT stack needs to get fixed. My new Sierra keyboard won't stay connected. ick.

Alan G

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rcartwr

Alan, Alan, Alan...your know there are programs for people like yourself...trapped in abusive relationships with their operating systems. Its not like Bill Gates gets up on stage all the time to tout how wonderful everything Microsoft does is. No one can accuse Microsoft of having an army of mindless zombies....err fanboys that drool over something that won't be out for months. With Microsoft, you know you are getting scr@#$# from the start and they don't pretend otherwise. Of course, so is everyone else, so that is ok.<G>

Rick C

lajandy

You made a good point about the Palm-Opera deal yielding a browser that works on Palm OS/Linux. I think a deal with Opera makes a lot of since for Palm for several reasons. Opera is widely seen as the most capable mobile browser, has a large installed base, and already runs on Linux-based OSes. Another good reason that I haven't seen anyone mention yet is ACCESS's positioning of future versions of NetFront. According to several documents ACCESS has released, they see NetFront becoming a pervasive component of ALP, to the point you can design the appearance of on-device apps using XHTML and JavaScript. Cool tech, but if Palm has decided not to use ALP, trying to extricate the new NetFront browser engine from the rest of ALP may be more difficult than in the past. Bringing Opera to Palm OS/Linux is much less risky and will should yield a highly capable browser w/o the browser taking over interface duties for the entire OS.

g-funkster

Opera was also trying to sell a browser based phone interface too, but obviously ACCESS has bigger goals for what its OS should do.

As for the browser, a large part of Access's income is that browser, it's very modular and moderately capable. For example, the Sony PSP uses Netfront. Palm's Blazer is based on netfront. Netfront is not 'becoming' ALP, Access is merely leveraging its technologies.

__________________
My Palm Java Widgets:
HourlyXCast - New - Hourly & 7 Day Forecasts On Your Treo! Now with Graphics!
- RottenTomatoMeter - Fast Movie Ratings, Reviews, Showtimes for New Movies & DVDs
- TV2Nite - Calendar Events for your Favorite TV Shows!
All Free, So Enjoy!

JAmerican

What I find funny is how many Palm OS users said why is multitasking necessary on a small screen. I continuously preached that we need multitasking to just get shot down. Now we seem to be embracing it. LMAO!

Here's the big multitasking debate I had with Kirvin in July, 2005 (Almost 2 yrs ago wow!!)

http://www.1src.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91663

BTW, Thank god Palm licensed WM. This place was so extremist. You were either with Palm or with the terror... I mean trolls. Just reading the thread above. I was so surprised.

JAmerican

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JAmerican

Handspring Treo 90 --> Royal RG135nx --> T-Mobile Sidekick --> T-Mobile Sidekick Color --> PEG-UX40 -- > PEG-UX50--> Samsung T629 (Returned) -- > Palm TX (SOLD)/T-Mobile Sony Ericsson T610(Defective) --> T-Mobile Dash(Broken Screen) --> ASUS EEE 1000H Black/Treo 800w/PEG-VZ90

Accesories: Transcend 16GB SDHC | 8GB Transcend microSD

holvoetn

Great podcast Alan, as usual

On the backup application, I personally think it is a big miss.
Allow me to explain why.

You mentioned this application does not cost you anything extra. Just install and run. But ... it does require a dataplan, preferably unlimited (something you briefly touched). Outside US however these dataplans are not that much available and if they are, quite expensive. You need to pay for that, right ?

Second argument, if it is true that the application itself can not be copied to SD card for backup purposes (that's a pun, right ?), I see a huge issue. Whenever your device goes belly-up and all data is erased, you are completely stuck. No way to restore without going through some extra effort involving redownloading, hopefully you remembered your account details, etc. etc.
Unless you get 3th party backup solution which copies this Palm Backup app to a backup set so you can restore the application from there but then you negate the need to have Palm's application to start with.

Next argument: I don't know about you but I am pretty sensitive about having MY data being stored on OTHER servers that I do not control or where I do not know who is controlling them and what is being done to prevent unauthorized entry. Not that my data is that mission critical, but it is just how I think ...

Last argument: for now this application is in beta and seems to be free. What will it cost when it goes commercial ? I never believe Palm is going to store all that data for free (see what Dataviz did ...).

I personally think having a SD card backup solution is ALWAYS better then what Palm is offering here, whatever way you look at it.
I do think it is nice to see they are trying to provide additional value to their customers, but I can not help thinking in the back of my mind this has something to do about generating additional revenue for the carriers (since it will be their dataplans that need to be used).

__________________
Digital since 1980, handheld since 2001
M105 (retired but still working), T|E (sold)
T3.5 + ADAPT BT GPS + Viamichelin 3.2 + Palm WiFi card
Treo 680 ánd Treo 500v
Happy DateBook6 user

Alan G

OK, I'll give you this round. However I still think that mutlitasking applications on a small screen is questionable. The only place that I see the need for multitasking right now, is to enable the ability to have a data connection open while on a voice call.



Oh, don't get me wrong. I still dislike Windows Mobile.

Alan G

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Alan G

Yes, you are correct. While the Palm Backup Beta is free, for now, it is strongly suggested that you should have an unlimited a data plan. Unless you are using Sprint, that can be an expensive proposition. In your neck of the woods, it is even more expensive. Palm did touch on cutting the cost of wireless service overseas. Obviously their is still a lot of work that still needs to be done.



The application is "locked" however FileZ and Resco Backup can beam or BT send the application. I was reading the FAQs yesterday at lunch and Palm's answer to not being able to copy the app to the card is to go to the download page and redownload the app, reinstall, and then restore. I would agree that it would be easier to simply load the app off the card and restore. Since Backup is still in beta it is hard to know what the intent really is. I plan on submitting an email with several suggestions in it.





I was too and I understand your concern. I lost the concept of my personal data ever being "private" once the US government when crazy with the anti-terror laws that were enacted after the September 11, 2001 attacks. It is a sad state of affairs to be sure. So now if I believe my personal information really isn't personal anymore at least I can make my life a little bit easier by parking my data on a "secure" server on the Internet.



Agreed. If you read the FAQs, it is clear that this software is free because it is in beta and that there will be some charge for it's use in the future when it goes 1.0. I don't know what it will cost. I can see them charging $30/year for this service. That is why I mentioned that NVBackup can do this right now for free if you have access to your own FTP server. I am thinking about contacting Jan over at Resco and requesting the same FTP server access that Alex Pruss has included in NVBackup. At least if the data is on my (hosted) FTP server I can at least control the *nix security. (Until Big Brother comes knocking anyway.)



True. This can be a way for Palm to generate extra revenue for the carriers and off set the cost for server storage space (which should be smaller than a full Treo back up since it is only pulling personal data, not applications) and maybe an incentive to lower the cost the customer has to pay for the initial purchase price of the Treo.

I still like the idea of parking data on an Internet accessable server for the simple fact of recovering from the loss of the Treo and the SD card. Yes, I know that you can HotSync and restore, but what if you are on the road? It is a slim possibility for us, but I'm thinking about what if an exec is using a Treo (no SD card) and needs to restore while away from the office. This idea has some merit, and will depend on each company to figure out how data will be restored.

Alan G

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JAmerican

I do agree that Windows multitasking could use a little fine tuning. I think they should allow users to enter a control panel option for multitasking or just closing applications after you open then. Things like the camera being open in the background is stupid. WM6 is said to be way faster so I am waiting for that.

JAmerican

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JAmerican

Handspring Treo 90 --> Royal RG135nx --> T-Mobile Sidekick --> T-Mobile Sidekick Color --> PEG-UX40 -- > PEG-UX50--> Samsung T629 (Returned) -- > Palm TX (SOLD)/T-Mobile Sony Ericsson T610(Defective) --> T-Mobile Dash(Broken Screen) --> ASUS EEE 1000H Black/Treo 800w/PEG-VZ90

Accesories: Transcend 16GB SDHC | 8GB Transcend microSD

ewah

I'd like to see what you guys think about this idea.

Palm is going to linux - yea! They have to provide a layer for all of the old palm programs similiar to what they did a number of years back when they changed processors. So why not create a palm platform emulation for any device that runs linux period. This way I could use my n800 and all of my old palm apps. Palm would extend their reach, get people like me who don't want a smart phone and in reality what would be really cool is if I could install this software on say my linux home machine, then put my palm programs and data on an SD card, now I could run my palm apps on my desktop computer directly! Put the SD card back in the n800 and again run them there.

....and then I woke up from the dream.

tim