Today, Earthcomber announced the launch of their new Windows Mobile version of their software. Earthcomber, along with free maps for any city and county in the US, offers travel and shopping guides that point you to nearby locations. Your Earthcomber map (free) shows you where you are at and combs the surrounding area to find stores, restaurants, hotels, natural and historical landmarks, ATMs, etc. You tell it what you want and how far to look and it will find it for you. We call it the ultimate “favorite things finder.” There are also “spot guides” from such publishers as Where to Wear, Damron, Exxon Mobil, and Avalon, that offers layers of excellent pointers to make your trip complete. If you’re hungry for BBQ, it can not only tell you where to find it, but can tell you if the pulled pork is better than the brisket. If you’re shopping for evening wear, it can offer you complete reviews of nearby retailers who carry the best lines.

I have played with this app on my Treo 650 previously and its a pretty slick program. I also tried it out on my Treo 700w today and it works well. Once I get a chance, I will try to do a full review on it. Did I mention its FREE?

Thanks Kevin for the heads-up on this.

Earthcomber

You can check out the full press release below - Read the rest of this entry »

If you are like me, you have been drooling over these bluetooth stereo headphones that have begun to pop up. Especially the Plantronics Pulsar 590A - bluetooth stereo headphones and bluetooth headset - all in one. Unfortunately the Treos don’t have support for A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) which is required for bluetooth stereo headphones. A2DP is a bluetooth profile that gives the devices that use it the ability to send or receive stereo audio. There are not a whole lot of devices that support it, and most of the headphones rely on some type of adapter to use it with a MP3 player or computer. But now the Treo 650 joins a very short list of devices that can take advantage of these stereo headsets - without an adapter. All with the help of a new app called Softick Audio Gateway.

Softick Audio Gateway is the first Bluetooth audio streaming solution for Palm OS handhelds which allows to connect Palm OS handheld to the Bluetooth stereo headphones and listen to digital audio played by Palm OS applications: MP3 players, audio book readers, games.

Softick Audio Gateway can operate with any Bluetooth audio device which supports Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) designed to transfer a high-quality stereo audio stream wirelessly.

Softick Audio Gateway captures digital audio from Palm OS audio subsystem and redirects it to the Bluetooth A2DP device: stereo headphones, desktop PC, car audio or A2DP speakers.

Currently we have tested our Bluetooth Audio Gateway with the Bluetake i-Phone BT420EX Bluetooth Hi-Fi Sports Headphone, iPAQ Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (made by Logitech), and Bluetake A2DP enable PC dongle . (I have got it to work well with the Plantronics Pulsar 590A)

Features:
* Advanced Audio Distribution Profile support (A2DP)
* High quality stereo streaming, up to 304Kbps audio bitrate
* Wide-range players and audio software compatibility
* Easy setup and usage
* Support for Mono and Stereo sound stream
* Automatic upsampling/downsampling depending on blueooth headset capabilities
* Built-in audio post filter to improve low bitrate audio quality

So yesterday when I noticed it was released, I quickly purchased the software and looked for the nearest store the sold the Plantronics Pulsar. Drove an hour down to Madison and picked one up at CompUSA for $179 (Ouch! - you can pick it up from Amazon for only $119). Let it charge overnight on the awesome charging stand thats included.

This morning I installed the Audio Gateway software and was pleasantly surprised that it only takes up 158 Kb of internal memory. I fired up the app and it quickly walked me through pairing it with the Pulsar. After that I set the software to “Stream to Remote”, this connects connects the Treo to the headphones. Time to play! Fired up PocketTunes and enjoyed some Linkin Park/Jay-Z. The quality is great - absolutely fantastic. Fired up Audible - works well. TCPMP - yup! Some odd reason MobiTV doesnt work the greatest - audio quits after a few minutes. You will also find that if you are listening to “background” audio like listening to PocketTunes while working in Agendus, the audio will hiccup - possibly quite often. But this is understandable - the Treo is getting the piss beat out of it. A downside that I have found is that if you are listening to something and you make a call or receive a call, you wont be able to use a Pulsar as a headset. You have to switch the Audio Gateway to stream to “Internal” if you want to use a Pulsar as a BT headset. If you are using Audio Gateway with a set of bluetooth stereo headphones like the i-Phono Bluetooth Headphone, this doesn’t really matter.

Couple tips ->

1. If you are looking to use this software to send mono audio to a regular bluetooth headset, it doesn’t seem to work. Tried with the Wireless Treo Headset. You need to use this software with a headset/headphone that supports A2DP. Hopefully in the future it can support both.
2. Every now and then I noticed the bluetooth on the Treo gets mucked up, usually fixed by a soft reset.

Overall I think Softick’s Audio Gateway is a fantastic program. Simple to use and for the most part does it’s job well. Hopefully we can see this on the Treo 700w sometime soon.

treo Addicts Software Store | Softick Audio Gateway
Amazon | Plantronics Pulsar 590A
Amazon | i-Phono Bluetooth Headphone

Technorati Tags: bluetooth, Palm, Treo

Today, VoiceIt Technologies is releasing a new voice command and control application for the Palm Treo 600, 650 and Lifedrive. VoiceNavIt has macro recording and playback to allow users to initiate common tasks on your Palm device. “Just a simple voice command can retrieve your emails, create new tasks, open your calendar and switch between views, take - save – send a picture, launch your favorite PalmOS application and much, much more. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination.”

VoiceNavIt will be available exclusively on their site and Motricity powered sites like Palm and Palmgear software stores.

Thanks Kerry for the heads up on this one!

Technorati Tags: Palm, Palm Software, voice command, Treo

Kate from LingvoSoft was kind enough to point out new Japenese Dictionaries and a 20% off sale at LingvoSoft -

Now LingvoSoft greatly expands the first-generation suite of its Japanese language dictionary software for Palm OS. The new English <-> Japanese (Kanji - Kana) and English <-> Japanese (Kanji-Romanization) translating dictionaries are sure to be a hit with anyone in need of powerful language tools. And they are available in both talking and non-talking versions to suit every taste.

These all-new dictionaries for the Japanese language operate using our innovative application for Palm OS. They feature extended device compatibility supporting Tungsten T5 and Treo models, and a new Katakana/Hiragana keyboard. This allows input by radical (Kanji) to facilitate easier typing. We have also included useful information on transliterating Japanese into the Latin alphabet in the user’s manual. And it is now possible to maintain the direction of translation between sessions.

Known for making innovative Translating Dictionaries, Phrasebooks for Travelers and FlashCards language learning games for over 45 languages, LingvoSoft is the leader in the field of portable language tools for all major platforms.

Today we are pleased to announce 20% off on any PDA software!

Click here to find out more:

http://www.lingvosoft.com/news/2922/

http://www.lingvosoft.com/info/software/autumn_sale/?atid=1717

Technorati Tags: Palm Software, Japenese, Treo

The folks at Smart Box Design have done it again with another great game for the Palm! Today they announced a second in a series of word games - Word Watch. In this game you race against the clock to unscamble all of the letters provided to make a word. The game is available for $14.95 and a trial is available. If you head over to PalmAddict, you can get a code coupon for $3.00 off the game at PalmGear until August 31.

We were fortunate to get a couple copies of this game to try out before the release - its a great game! Be sure to read our full review here:

treo Addicts | Word Watch by Smart Box Design

You can get more information, including screenshots and download a trial version at Smart Box Design’s site:

Smart Box Design | Word Watch

Read on for the full press release :
Read the rest of this entry »

From Blue Nomad Software

July 26, 2005
Blue Nomad announces a new Mac OS X beta version of BackupBuddy available now! Please note it is only compatible with MissingSync users at this time. If you use Palm Desktop Software to hotsync, you won’t be able test the beta just yet.

Today Palm has announced a new software that will help users with their daily commutes. Traffic for Treo Smartphones will help users quickly navigate through traffic jams with interactive maps and incident information located on their Treo 600 or Treo 650.

“With commute congestion on the rise, more than ever drivers need quick traffic updates on routes that matter to them, so they can spend less time in their cars and get home to family and friends faster,” said Andrew Breen, director for the Data Solutions Group at Palm, Inc. “Now, Treo users can receive traffic updates as they’re walking out the door, stopping for gas or at any time that is most convenient. Traffic for Treo Smartphones is one more way customers can take advantage of the wireless capabilities and versatility of Treo smartphones.”

You can download the software from Palm’s website at http://www.palm.com/traffic. A 14-day trial is available after which there is a monthly fee dependent on how many cities you subscribe to. Currently the software caters to the following cities: Atlanta, Baltimore/DC, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle (the 10 top traffic-congested cities in the U.S.)

Palm, Inc. Press Release | Palm Helps Commuters with New Traffic Application for Treo Smartphones

Technorati Tags: Treo, Treo 650, Treo software, Palm

It’s been a while since I did the last Freeware of the Day, and this one is a great one to come back with. Inner Backup, is a great and free backup utility for the Palm OS. It seems comparative to other backup software that I have tried in the past (haven’t tried too many though). You can backup, restore, and manage multiple backups on your SD card. I tried it out last night and the backup works nicely - haven’t tried to use the restore yet. The interface is also impressive. You can download and even help keep Inner Backup free by donating at their website:

Inner Solutions | Inner Backup

Technorati Tags: Palm Software, Treo

DataViz, makers of Documents to Go and other great Palm software, announced the availability of RoadSync for Palm OS. RoadSync is the first commercially available solution to provide direct and wireless synchronization with Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2003. Based on the Exchange ActiveSync protocol from Microsoft, RoadSync will allow non-PocketPC devices to retrieve Outlook email - even attachments. Free trials are available and pricing will range from $49.99 to $99.99 USD per user.

Thanks Jason (from DataViz) for giving us the heads up on this!

DataViz Enterprise | RoadSync
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Yesterday Google Labs released a few new extensions for the Firefox browser. If your not familiar with Firefox, it is a great free alternative web browser that has been gaining a lot of momentum against Internet Explorer. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The new extensions include Google Toolbar, a Firefox version of the popular IE toolbar; Google Suggest, an auto-complete for search terms in the search box; and Google Send to Phone, a quick way to send highlighted text to your phone.

Google Send to Phone allows you to send selected text on your browser window straight to you phone via SMS. I find this really useful to quickly send a mobile website address to my Treo so I don’t have to type it all out on it. Or sending a phone number or email address. Maybe even a tidbit of information from a website that you don’t want to forget - say like the 3 month birthday promotional discount code for our treo Addicts Software Store. So if you are a Firefox user and a Treo owner, I would definitely install this extension. If your not a Firefox user, go get it!

Google | Google Extensions for Firefox
Mozilla | Firefox

Technorati Tags: Google, Firefox, SMS, Treo