Have you ever dropped your Treo and thought “…crud, if only I had this thing encased in armor”? Well, you might not be able to find any real armor for your Treo (boy, THAT would be heavy!), but the next best thing is an aluminum hard case by Innopocket. This review was made possible by the folks at Stylus Central, and can be purchased from their store currently for $24.99.

I have had the pleasure of using this case which, like the Rhinoskin aluminum case I had previously, offers wonderful protection for your Treo 650. Innopocket uses 100% aircraft grade aluminum to make this case, and not only does it stand up to bumps, tumbles and drops, but it also resists scratching well. This case also includes a belt clip and a “post” which screws into the back of the case with a coin or screwdriver to assure tightness.

Worried about scratching your screen? Well, there is hope! The Innopocket case also features a clear, plastic “window” to completely cover your screen. The only issue you might have with this is that you have to open the case if you need to use your stylus to tap the screen.

There is a wide array of cutouts for the buttons on your Treo, as well as openings for the stylus, camera, charging/hotsync receptacle, mic, speaker, volume and function buttons and headphone jack. The only issue I had with the arrangement of the openings is that the bottom portion that surrounds the mic hole overlaps a little…now, I haven’t had anybody tell me that they can’t hear me during a call, so I would assume it doesn’t affect sound; also, the cutout on the front of the case which gives access to the phone and power buttons is a little restrictive. I have “average” sized hands, and it is difficult to press either of these buttons because they lie so close to the case edges and it is a little difficult to accurately press “up” or “down” on the 5 way navigator.

One thing that is a definite plus with this case is the fact that when I’m on a call, I don’t get any facial oils on the screen or top edge of my Treo. Instead, any oils stay on the outside of the case, which is then easily wiped off. A downside, however, to blocking goo from your Treo is the fact that you don’t have access to the keypad…another reason you have to open the case.

Overall, the case was designed to fit well and gives the impression that it was poured around a Treo. It is a little difficult to slide the Treo into and out of the case, though. The neoprene lining is a tad bit tacky (for good reason), so you have to be careful when pulling and tugging on your Treo; I noticed while taking mine out of the case (by pulling the antenna) that the antenna seemed to separate a little from the body of the phone. Not a big deal, but I can see how that might create wear on that particular component. There are also small, rubber “grips” on the sides of the case (two on the right side, one on the left) which help when just carrying the phone in your hand.

The case can be carried with the supplied belt clip mechanism, but you can also remove the back post and put it in a pocket, although it is a little thick: it has dimensions of 116 x 69 x 32mm. Weight may also be another issue if you are looking for a “stealthy” approach to carrying your Treo: it weighs in at 47g.

So, in conclusion, if you’re looking for a nice, solid container for your Treo (especially if you are a rough and tumble type of person), then the Innopocket may be for you. Take into consideration the size, weight, and whether you will always need access to the front of the Treo.

PROS:
Very protective
Keeps goo from the outside of your Treo
Screen protection
Belt Clip

CONS:
Heavy
Thick
No access to keypad
Limited access to “phone” and “power” buttons
Limited access to “up” and “down” on the 5 way navigator

I give the Innopocket Aluminum Hard Case four out of five treos:

cyberhomie’s two cents :

I have a proporta Aluminum Case just like this one, and I really like it. Both the aluminum and its texture matches my PowerBook so they look good together. For my boney fingers the buttons are still easy for me to access. I personally don’t think the lack of access to the keypad is a con. This case gives you access to the phone buttons easily enough but if you are going to do some typing, your going to be opening up the lid anyway to use the stylus also. If you want one that has access to the keyboard - other aluminum ones are available. Like the Pacific Rim Open Hard Case for Treo 600/650. I do have to agree however that it is bulky, but that is a side affect of it being soo protective.

Stylus Central Store: Stylus Central-Innopocket Hard Case for Treo 650

treo Addicts Store : Innopocket Hard Case for Treo 650

Technorati Tags: Treo

PalmGal sent this in :

“The search for the perfect case has become my life’s goal. My Treo 650 has rapidly become the most important device in my life. But how to best protect it and keep it useable? There are so many options out there. As a female, I used to carry my Treo in my handbag. But I had problems hearing the alerts. After trying about 15 cases, here is my current set-up.

I love to use my treo “naked”. But it is so slippery! Even though I have Sprint’s insurance I always worry about dropping it. A day or two without my “precious” is too long. I’ve decided that egrips work perfectly for keeping a grip on my treo. Plus there is the added bonus of scratch protection on the back side. They are the same color, gun metal blue, as the Treo, so they don’t distract from the good looks of the phone.

I really like carrying my Treo on my pants. I don’t wear a belt, so I just clip it onto my jeans pocket. The VP6 Pouch case from Smartphone Experts works great. It has a metal clip covered in leather, which I prefer. But it can be angled to wear horizontally or vertically. The treo slides in & out of the case with the egrips with very little effort. But the magnet clip is very secure. I can hold the case upside down & shake…the treo stays put.

The downside of this particular set up? For us ladies, makeup tends to accumulate on the treo unless using a headset. I have not had great luck with any Bluetooth headsets. I honestly rarely use the Treo as a “phone”. So, I carry a small lens cleaning cloth to wipe it off as needed. And of course, the Treo must be removed to use, so there is no protection if I were to drop it while out of the case.

All in, I’m happy with this set up for now….So, until I see another new case, my “precious Treo” will remain covered in egrips and swathed in the VP6 case….”

I was chatting with PalmGal yesterday, and she has over a dozen cases for her Treo!

My own VP6 from Smartphone Experts will be arriving tomorrow, I can’t wait to get it. I also like my Treo “naked” but until the VP6 came out - my perfect case was hard to find. I’ll be sure to post a full review. As far as bluetooth headsets, I recommend the Cardo Scala 500. I have tried others and so far I have found this one to work the best with my Treo. It’s cheap and works great - what more could you ask for? I am also going to be getting the palmOne Wireless Headset tomorrow, so who knows - maybe I will have a new favorite headset.

The Treo Addicts Store:

• VP6 from Smartphone Experts
• egrips
• Cardo Scala 500
• palmOne Wireless Headset

Technorati Tags: Treo

Alison from Astraware sent me a heads-up yesterday about a special promotion they are doing for the 4th of July. Until July 5th you can pick up Fireworks! - Independence Day Edition for FREE and Rocket Mania for only $4.95 ($10 off its normal price). Go check it out at http://www.astraware.com/site/promo/july4/

I have already picked them both up and am going to be trying them out. Since I’m going to be in the middle of nowhere this holiday weekend - this is probably going to be the only way I’m going to get to see fireworks. So go get them and have enjoy!

Read on to view the press release -
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Vodafone and palmOne just announced the availability of the Treo 650 in Vodafone’s GSM network in Australia and New Zealand. While Vodafone joins Optus and Telstra in Australia, Vodafone is the first carrier to bring the Treo 650 to New Zealanders. The phone will be available for $1,199AUD in Australia and $1,299NZD in New Zealand.

“The smartphone market holds a significant opportunity for future growth for palmOne, whose technology is at the forefront of innovation in mobile computing,” said Paul Blinkhorn, vice president for Asia Pacific for palmOne. “We welcome the opportunity to work with leading network providers such as Vodafone Australia and Vodafone New Zealand in making the Treo 650 available to customers. Smartphone technology like this is changing the way business professionals go about their working lives, making them more connected and productive than ever before.”

Vodafone / New Zealand : palmOne Treo 650
palmOne Press Releases : palmOne’s Treo 650 Now Available to Vodafone Australia and New Zealand Customers

Technorati Tags: GSM, palmOne, Treo

Got my Cingular Wireless bill today and it was a shocker - $179.80. Yikes! I was expecting some roaming charges from our Europe trip, but this…ouch!

It breaks down something like this:

• We have a $39.99 plan + $19.99 for an additional line + $25 for unlimited Internet on my Treo and then there’s all the stupid service charges, taxes, and fees that they always layer on top - right there, that accounts for $95. Damn, that’s a lot right there. My wife is trying to talk me out of the unlimited Internet on my Treo - which sounds pretty rational, except for the fact that I’m a geek and what’s the fun of a Treo without Internet?
• About $38 of roaming charges from 29 minutes in Italy and Spain at $1.29/minute - the worst was a 7 minute call that cost us $9 (bringing us to a total so far of around $133). We could’ve saved on these roaming charges by purchasing and using an Italian SIM card, but we honestly didn’t expect to use enough minutes for it to make much of a difference.
• $46 of roaming charges for 2,334 KB of data access (my unlimited Internet is free in the U.S. but costs $0.02/KB abroad). There was one particular day where I used a lot of data trying to look up rental cars and credit card companies on the Internet for a friend who had a bit of an emergency(lost a credit card) - in retrospect, we should’ve made the drive into town and found an Internet cafe. There was also a point in the trip where I remember discovering, to my dismay, that XpressMail and/or VersaMail were auto-checking for mail at I-don’t-know-what-interval, which means that they could’ve been pulling lots of data while the phone was sitting in my pocket. Next time I travel, I’m going to make very sure that those auto-checks are all turned off.
• And that brings us to a grand total of around $180. Sigh…

I received an email from palmOne a little bit ago, one of the items it mentions is the Technorati Live 8 event

“On July 2, 2005 musicians and fans across the world will come together to help draw attention to the problems of world poverty. You too can be part of this historic event, even if you can’t hop a plane to London, Rome, Tokyo, or one of the other seven concert venues. That’s because every aspect of this event will be attended, followed, and … blogged.

With your Treo smartphone you can read along from a special Treo smartphone – optimized mobile version of the Technorati Live8 blog site. So you won’t have to wonder what Madonna is wearing on stage, or how Bono’s voice sounds across a crowded amphitheater.

To follow the Technorati Live 8 blog on your Treo smartphone, just visit the following URL from your smartphones browser and enjoy!”

http://live8.technorati.com/treo

palmOne is sponsering this mobile version of Live 8 - be sure to check it out this weekend. While we are at it, we will name this our Mobile Site of the Day.

Technorati Tags: mobile web, palmOne, Live8, Treo

For the last hour or so the internet has been toast at my office. So I pulled out my recently updated Sprint PCS Treo 650 - now with Bluetooth Dial-Up Networking. As I’m shaking, going through internet withdrawal, I go into the Bluetooth preferences on my phone and enable Dial-Up Networking. Now I hit connect on my trusty PowerBook - and bam! - I’m back online. Whew that was close!

Now I’m back to surfing, chatting, checking my email, getting my news and so on.

If you have a Sprint PCS Treo 650 and have a bluetooth enabled computer, be sure to update your Treo with the latest firmware and check out page 75 of the new Sprint PCS Treo 650 User Guide:
palmOne : User Guide-Sprint Model

Technorati Tags: Sprint, Treo

treo Addicts regular, Davy McDonald sent in this humorous and informative email:

How about?

…For eveningwear, a handsome Covertec black leather holster with flattering cool cutaways and discreet belt clip - and remember black is the new black once again this season.
…For daywear, mine will be decked out in a fetching blue and transparent polymer figure-hugging suit, capable of withstanding suncream, sandstorms and dunking in pool/seawater/beer up to 5 metres, whilst allowing access to almost all the usual functions.
The daywear is completed with a black nylon sash or a contrasting chrome carabiner clip for the more macho holidaymaker…

Seriously though, a couple of years ago I had my (then) Tungsten T on holidays and encountered a fairly persistent sandstorm on the beach one day. Even though the Tungsten was within a strong nylon rucksack some sand managed to get into it and lodge in the sliding mechanism. The sand eventually made its way out again after a couple of weeks and the Tungsten appeared none the worse for it, but I was relieved that the grating noise had finally stopped.

So this year, with my spanking new Treo 650, I’m taking no chances and for most of the day it will be safely cocooned in a tough new case from Aquapac (www.aquapac.net). These cases are indeed guaranteed to protect the contents for up to 5m in static water pressure and to be impervious to sand, suncream etc. - and they float if dropped into water.
Aquapac may be familiar to the boating fraternity as they make cases for mobile phones, radios and GPS units. I found that the ‘mini’ size fitted my Treo best, a little bit snug but better than the oversize bag effect.
And for the really paranoid there’s an extra strong sports version waterproof to 10m and with velcro armbands.

The mini case I bought cost £17.00 in my local outdoors store and they may be purchased directly from the website.

Not that I intend to put all this to the test but it will be a relief to know that my Treo is proofed against almost any environmental hazard that I inadvertently throw at it.

Cheers, and happy holidays.

Yours, Virtually…
Davy.

He he he - “eveningwear”, too funny. Cheers and happy holidays to you too, Davy!

Be sure to check out our selection of “eveningwear” and “daywear” in the case section of the treo Addicts Smartphone and Accessories Store.

Technorati Tags: Treo

Virginia from PDATopSoft.com was nice enough to give us a head up on a sale that they are running on the great game Sky Force:

Famous PocketPC shooter now available for Palm!!!

Ultimate classic arcade shooter, with 3d interactive objects, outstanding graphics, special effects, soundtrack and 100% of pure gameplay. See how to push the limits of your Palm to the maximum. 8 amazingly pixeled environments, tons of enemies to shoot and good old Earth to save. Try it, you won’t be dissapointed.

To find out if the game is working with your Palm please try the demo first.

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I’ve had a bit of an adventure the past few days getting Cingular XpressMail Personal Edition working again after it mysteriously stopped working (but today I emerged victorious!). Particularly interesting to you if you have been getting the strange errors that I was getting…

Marc’s XpressMail Saga