Gshocker's Toys

Sharp Linux PDA

Well this is not a new item but since I am heading to Japan in October I have been looking at all the cool toys that I can check out while I am over there. This one is something that I have read about before but it really looks interesting now. Linux OS based with a 4GB drive in it (lower end model doesn't have the 4GB drive). You can run tons of Linux applications that have been ported over to this. There are a few places that bring this into the US but it is not cheap. Dynamism is one of them and Conics is another. I would go with Conics first myself.

This doesn't come with wi-fi or bluetooth build in but it is not too had to add since it has a CF expansion slot. Office like application are built in and an email and web client are standard. This is certainly one unit that I will be taking a look at while I am in Japan.

Tapware kills off Zodiac

It is not all that shocking that Tapware has decided to not persue making more zodiac models. I personally thought that this was a great device but since the PSP is not out there it just seems like it was not enough of a game machine to entice users.

I have to admit that I almost picked one up when I was looking for a PDA about a year ago. It was very interesting but at the time I was not sure what games would be out for it and the selection that they had was not all that interesting. The unit looked very well made and that analog stick was awesome.

Oh well.. now we all wait to see if the PSP will have firmware updates to make it into more of a PDA.

Cool PDA

While Palm and Pocket PC are adding wi-fi and bluetooth sharp has been working on more storage for their device. While bluetooth and wi-fi are usefull for many I think there is still a segment of the market that will never use them more than the gee this is cool time. For those people the storage may be of more interest so they can carry around tons of info with them. This Sharp Zarus features a 4GB drive built in for all the storage that you could ever need. Of course this gadget is only in Japan so for now you will have to dream or try Dynamism.

New Palm

Not me.. I have not gotten a new one but Palm has announced a new T5 and it looks pretty nice. I am happy that I did not wait as I like the slider feature for the T3 that I got but this one has a big chunk of memory which many people will find to be quite nice.

One thing that did not get in this version was the wi-fi that many people thing that Palm has to get in their units in order to stay competative with the Microsoft versions. I for one am not sure that I would have much use for it other than the first time wow this is pretty cool factor. When I had my Windows CE unit and got it on the net using a CF network card it was cool but not as usefull as I would have thought. I am sure if you are a business person who spends lots of time away from the office and at Starbucks then this would be of more use.

Bluetooth , faster processor and much more memory highlight for me the features of the T5. The same virtual grafiti area t hat the T3 had and the now defunct Sony Clie models (at least here in the US) have had for some time. I have read that his will be in stores as early as next week but who knows. I will keep my eyes open as I am always one to play with them in the stores for fun.

Tungsten T3

Well there it is.. The Tungsten T3. So far it is a very nice unit. I was able to get all the things off my Treo and onto this quickly. I am now updating software with hi-res versions that would not run on the Treo. It is nice to have the higher res back since going from the Sony hi-res screen to the treo with it's 160x160.

The build quality of the Palm units doesn't seem as high quality as the Sony units but it is still good. The slider works well and there are many options that I am still playing with. The new PIM apps seem much nicer as well. Now FINALLY the task manager will let you assign alarms to the different tasks.

Well that is all for now..

Confusion and then...

Well headed to the store after reading about many of the options last night. It looks like the handheld market is getting smaller. Sony was always one to have new handhelds every few months and now since they have pulled out of the market it seems like the other companies do not have too much competition and thus no big reason to be as innovative as Sony always seemed to be.

I thought I had it narrowed down between the Palm Zire 72 and the Palm Tungsten T3. The Zire 72 has some great features for the price. The one downside to it was the fact that the cool blue paint seems to come off. Both stores I was at had models missing paint which seemed a little cheesy for the price that you were paying. With a camera, bluetooth and mp3 playback this unit seems like a real winner.

The Tungsten T3 is a slick looking unit that had once great thing that drew me. The screen gets larger and supports the same resolution that my old Clie used to. This unit also had bluetooth and a faster processor and more memory than the Zire.

When I hit CompUSA I saw yet another option that was quite tempting. The Zodiac from tapwave is a palm based unit that also lets you play games. It has a seperate graphics processor with an amazing 8 megs of memory and a sound processor. This unit has a very quality feel to it and has a nice price for the features which do include bluetooth.

In the end The T3 won out as it was the smallest of the three units. As I get more time with it I will be posting some comments on how my decision is treating me. For now it is time to get my Treo up on Ebay.

PDA or PDA phone

Well now that I am not using ATT I have decided to sell my Treo 600 and get a stand alone unit that has bluetooth. Need to get rid of it soon since there could be a new model on the way and do not want the one I have to loose to much value.

I am looking at the Tungsten T3 at the moment and will most likely pick up one of those. Once I get one I will certainly have some comments on how it works and how well Bluetooth is working with all my accessories.

Here is a good use of technology

This article show an interesting use of ttechnology. These pranksters sure must be having a laugh over this one. If they are smart they will not do it for long as getting caught seems certain if they keep this up.

Cool crash system for palm

This is an interesting app that automatically does a soft reset when your palm crashes. I have not had too much trouble with this but it is free and seems small so may be worth a try.

Java for Palm

Well now we can all have the gray screen of lock my computer up. Actually Java seems to be getting better but I rememver the days when that gray screen of death would lock up any browser it came in contact with.

It looks like it will be released in the Spring sometime for the treo and tungston handhelds. Treocentral had an article on it. PDA Buzz also had something about this.

I am guessing that this will make more applications available for the palm. Would be interesting to see Java for pocketpc and palm so those two can share more applications.