Engadget’s new Engadget Mobile site is giving away free phones for the first 30 days. For the first week, they are giving away your choice of a Treo 650 or 700w. Today is your last chance to win a Treo, so get your but over to Engadget Mobile and add a comment!

Engadget Mobile | Day 7 of Engadget Mobile’s 30 days of cellphone giveaways

A few weeks ago when I was preparing to return to treo Addicts, I decided that I should get a 700w. Not that I really needed to get one for my own personal or business reasons. But for treo Addicts, I felt I needed to know more about the new Treo and Windows Mobile. So now I have both…

My initial reaction to the 700w has been mixed. On one hand I think the hardware is great (for the most part). The included software is nice also. On the other hand, the available software out there isn’t quite as impressive as I thought it would be. Also the lack of Mac support is disappointing.

Now after a few weeks with the 700w, I have enjoyed using it. I have found a few ways to get around the lack of Mac support (which I’ll share in a later article). But I still am disappointed in the available software. I figured that when going with Windows Mobile, that I would have more new apps available to me. For example, blogging is a really big thing right now and the Treo is perfect for mobile blogging. Internet connection, camera, keyboard - its just a great device for blogging. On the 650, I have a great selection of blog clients. Apps like mo:blog, u*blog, hblogger, or vegablog to name a few that work with the blogs that I use. For the 700w - it took me forever to find just one that worked. One! The app is called Pocket SharpMT 2 and its not even really built for using it with the blogs that I use. The good - it does work. The bad - it requires the user to install the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework and it doesn’t have nearly the features of what my Palm bloggers have. Maybe I will have to go into more details on what I think the WM world needs. I also really really miss all those great little customizing utility apps that make the 650 almost perfect for me. Apps like Butler, Skinner, PalmRevolt, and one of my favorite simple apps - KBLightsOff. That’s just naming just a few! But I have to admit there are a few apps that I would really really like on the Palm side - namely Skype and Minimo (mobile Firefox) [doesn’t work that well on the 700w anyway].

Maybe I will have to point out some of what I like and don’t like later on…

treo Addicts Store | Treo Smartphones
treo Addicts Software Store | Windows Mobile Software
treo Addicts Software Store | Palm Software

treo, treo 650, treo 700w, windows mobile, palm

Jeff Kirvin from 1src posted an editorial detailing how he has “tricked” out his new Treo 650 so far.

“Nothing’s perfect. I knew going in that I would have to add stuff to my Treo 650 to get it just the way I wanted it. What surprised me was that I didn’t have to change nearly as much as I thought I would. The Treo 650 is as close to “right” out of the box as any PDA I’ve seen. I was also surprised at the stuff I thought I’d use that I’m not using after all. So if you’re interested in getting the most out of your Treo, here’s what works for me.”

Great article about some great apps for the Treo - commercial, shareware, and freeware. A couple apps that I’m surprised that didn’t make the cut are Butler and Chatteremail. Butler is just plain indispensable for me and I am starting to really love Chatteremail - the latest betas are awesome.

1src | Tricking Out Your Treo

Technorati Tags: Palm Software, Treo

On a trip to L.A. for the past four days, my Treo proved indispensable. My wife and I used it to meet up, to find a tire repair shop and then directions to it after a flat, taking some photos and immediately uploading them to Flickr, and for sending an email or two.

I know there are a ton of people out there who would love to have Opera as their browser on their Treos (there’s even been a petition for it). Unfortunately, the mobile browser has been limited to Series 60 and Windows Mobile smartphones. Well, today Opera announced that they have launched Opera Mini, a browser that can be used on virtually all mobile phones as long as the phone supports Java.

A remote server handles the “pre-processing” of the web pages and sends the results to the phone, relieving the phone of most of the work. Because of this pre-processing, phones that don’t have a large amount of memory or that have low-bandwidth connections will be able to run Opera Mini without any problems.

Currently, Opera Mini is only available in Norway and is offered for free through TV-2, but Opera plans wider availability. If you happen to find a download link and are not from Norway, good luck. I wasn’t able to make it past the download page!

Technorati Tags: Opera Mini, Treo, Opera, Internet

If you’re like me, you tend to have an obsessive compulsion for keeping things on your Treo organized. Along with that, you most likely have a launcher of some sort. I’ve used about every one, and most have wonderful features to add to your handheld experience.

HiLauncher is just one of those types of applications. HiLaucher from Ranosoft allows you to create a customizable “menu” styled launcher in which applications, folders, desk accesories and other handy items can be put. Just think of a Windows Start menu or a Macintosh Apple menu. Items can be added, color-coded and icons can be shown so that, with the press of a button (or stroke of the stylus), you can have all your much needed items available for launch.

You owe it to yourself to at least try it out. If you decide to buy, it can be purchased for $19.95USD.

RaNo Software | HiLauncher

Technorati Tags: HiLauncher, launcher, Treo, Ranosoft

Engadget posted an article listing various mobile search engines including Google Mobile (My favorite) and Yahoo! Mobile. There is a few listed that I haven’t tried and I will definitely have to try out on my Treo.

“With all of the buzz surrounding mobile search, and Nokia’s release of their offering today, we thought it would be a good time to bring you a roundup of what’s out there in the mobile search space.”

Engadget | Mobile search is the new black: a roundup

Technorati Tags: Google, mobile web, SMS, Treo, Yahoo

If you haven’t stumbled across it yet, you must read Suw’s Diary on her adventures with her Treo 600. Her 10th entry was posted July 28th at All About Palm. It’s about how Suw’s Treo saved her from being lost and late when she took the wrong bus one morning. Suw Charman is a fine blogger (see her personal blog: Chocolate and Vodka) and journalist living near London. These day in the life sorts of entries are a lot of fun, especially for the Treo-inclined!

Technorati Tags: cellphone, handhelds, mobilephone, mobility, smartphone, treo

Well, it has been about a week since my Treo underwent the major personality reprogramming, and I must say, it has been an experience. To make a long story short, the volume issue is the problem that still persists more than anything. As I said in my previous tale, I HAVE to use Volume Care to keep the earpiece/back speaker volume where I can even hear it.

For some reason, the other issues have stopped. I can’t explain it, but it might be related to soft resetting or something like that; for whatever reason, the Treo hasn’t seemed to turn on by itself, the beeps and clicks seemed to have gone away for good (as they should per my prefs) and as long as I keep the keyguard active, the call log doesn’t come up anymore when I press the phone key.

If I were a prudent person just itching to get the 1.15 ROM onto my Treo, I’d seriously weigh the pros and cons here. If it were a different problem now plaguing my Treo other than the volume issue, then I might be more apt to endorse the upgrade. However, volume is one thing I can’t compromise on. Palm broke the volume with this ROM. Plain and simple. Luckily I have a small-footprint application to help me out with that. I wish they would test these things more emphatically before unleashing them upon the world…

**Late Note: The random turning on is back. I guess I spoke too soon. Also, random resets persist; I had forgotten about those, but they were present before the ROM upgrade and are still present. I cannot pinpoint the exact cause as of yet.

Technorati Tags: Treo 650, Cingular, ROM 1.15

Today at PalmAddicts, another pointer to Engadget regarding more photos of the supposed Windows Mobile Treo. I figured it would just be a matter of time before all the hooplah started flooding us.

PalmAddicts | Another Engadget Picture of the WM Running Treo

Engadget | More Treo 670 Pics