what’s on your treo?

If the title hasn’t already given it away, I thought you might like to know what’s on my palm Treo 650 SmartPhone. Being a Treo user for some time now, I get asked quite frequently what such a large phone is good for, other than the obvious (making calls), the Treo is useful for a plethora of things. So, let me tell you, what’s on my Treo:

Always-on Internet In my opinion, the Treo’s greatest strength is it’s ability to provide the user with an always-on internet connection. By harnessing this ability, I have instant “push” email, access to thousands of web sites, a directory assistant in my pocket, streaming radio, and even online poker. For me however, the most utilized of these tools is instant “push” email provided by a great email client called ChatterEmail or “Chatter” for short.

Chatter (pictured below) keeps me connected to my friends and colleagues while I’m on the go. I have setup two IMAP email boxes (provided by DreamHost.com) one for “Work” and one for “Personal”. In Chatter’s Summary view I can see both mailboxes combined, color-coded and separated by days. The really great thing about Chatter is that it alerts me as soon as I receive a new email. People often wonder how I can respond to emails so quickly; Chatter is why.

Chatter Summary View	Chatter Composition View

Another great application I use on a regular basis is Directory Assistant. This true “411” replacement application allows me to lookup Residential and Business phone numbers and addresses, get driving directions, and perform advanced functions like reverse queries. It’s been especially handy when I’ve needed to find the nearest pizza joint on a Friday night. Sufficed to say, it’s an all-around great application, and one that I consider to be a “must have” on any Treo. Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

Directory Assistant Query Types	Directory Assistant Results Screen

One feature I could not do without is the Treo’s native web access application called Blazer. This included application provides a great, but arguably slow, web browsing experience. With a little bit of know-how and a pinch of patience all things web can be viewed through Blazer, my bookmarks include (all optimized for mobile viewing):

Sites I Frequent

• Google Mobile Site optimizer
• Google Search
• Google Local
• TreoCentral
• TUAW
• Engadget
• Fandango
• Salt Lake Weather

News

• Google News
• MACWORLD
• Treonauts
• CNET News
• PalmAddict
• SciFi Wire
• Wired

Reference & Tools

• Wikipedia
• Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Translater
• Flight Schedules
• Movie Information
• Music Information
• WebMD
• Ping Tool
• Traceroute Tool
• WHOIS Lookup

Shopping & Other

• Froogle
• Amazon.com
• FedEx
• UPS
• DHL

Multimedia For many the Treo has become an iPod-replacement or mp3 player, however since I have a 3rd Generation iPod, I’ve found alternate multimedia uses for my Treo such as video viewing. TCMP is another free application that enables mp4 video playback. Unfortunately there is a bit of a learning curve to “rip” DVD’s and videos suitable for Treo playback, however there are number of good resources on how to accomplish this. For Mac users check out this thread on TreoCentral; this is the method I use so I know it works. For PC users you may want to check out this thread.

Like I said before, I don’t use my Treo as an mp3 player all that much, but I do use it to listen to internet radio when on the go. This is provided by an arguably “must have” application called Pocket Tunes Deluxe.

Pocket Tunes “Home” Screen	Pocket Tunes Internet Radio Selection

The stations that I currently have in my Internet Radio “playlist” are:

• NPR - New York Public Radio
• NPR - Boston Public Radio
• Talk - Republican Broadcasting Network
• Talk - Air America
• News - MSNBC
• Music - Classical
• Music - Jazz
• Music - Smooth Jazz
• Sky.fm - Mostly Classical
• Sky.fm - New Age
• Sky.fm - Classical Guitar
• Sky.fm - Smooth Jazz
• Sky.fm - Top Hits
• Sky.fm - Hit ’70s
• Sky.fm - Modern Jazz

Productivity The one thing that my Treo helps me do best is stay productive and organized while on the go. I’m not going to delve into this topic now, because I believe it deserves a post of it’s own. Not to mention, my system has recently undergone a major revamped, and I’m still trying to get a firm grasp on it.

A final word… So that about wraps up my took-me-way-too-long-to-write Treo post, but don’t be surprised if I come back and update this from time to time as my Treo continually evolves as new applications and uses are discovered.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 22nd, 2006 at 9:59 am and is filed under Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.