Google Listen - Android's Answer to Kinoma Player?

It looks like the PalmOS legacy may be one step closer to being overtaken by the iPhone, WebOS and Android tri-fecta. With the October 11th release of the HTC Hero, it seems like I will finally make the jump into the modern era of smartphones. I really, really wanted to like the Palm Pre, but there is too much Apple influence and it is growing too slowly for my tastes at the moment, I may check back with Palm WebOS in a year or so, but the HTC Hero with the Sense UI have me really intrigued right now. What did Palm do in anticipation of the Hero launch? They served up the Pixi with a fantastic form factor, but dumbed it down by omitting WiFi and an external memory slot.

I have been a hold-out Treo 700P user for over 3 years. I wanted to like the iPhone when it was introduced. I went to the Apple store the day after it was launched and played with the stunning GUI for over 30 minutes before admitting it was definitely not for me. Simple? Yes. Easy to use? Check. Useful? Not Quite.

I am so accustomed to:

Kinoma Player- I listen to podcasts literally every day. NPR hourly news multiple times, TED talks on occasion, Adam Carolla, This Week in Google. I don't have a set listening schedule and I can't be bothered with subscribing to podcasts in iTunes and downloading them to my phone. I want to find and listen to casts instantaneously. Kinoma player allows me to do this on my Treo 700P. The user interface is tired, yet functional after all these years.

-----> Google Listen and DoggCatcher both seem to offer the functionality of Kinoma on a modern platform. I am VERY enouraged by this.

Documents to Go- Creating and editing real MS Office documents and syncing them with my laptop. Rarely does a day go by that I don't jot a business idea or blog post into a word file. I could use a "cloud" version of google docs, but I do find myself on planes enough that I am much more comfortable with native files. For all you sneering about my comments regarding audio streaming above, calm down. When I am preparing for a trip, I may stream & download a few podcasts to the phone in the airport lounge prior to boarding. I like to keep my options open all the time.

----->Available for $29.99 in the Android Market! I paid $30 for Kinoma player and a similar amount for Docs 2 Go several Palm OS devices ago.

SlingPlayer- This is the tricky one. iPhone has a useless version of this that restricts use to WiFi networks only. If I have access to a WiFi network, there is a good chance that:
A. I am at Home and can watch my own TV
B. I am in a public location that does not lend itself to uninterrupted TV viewing.

Sling seems unwilling to develop an app for Android. Orb seems like it may be a convoluted option.

Palm: So Far Ahead of Its Time, It Still Hasn't Caught Up

Is there really anything more annoying than an iPhone owner trying to tell you how the iPhone is the end-all-be-all of handheld technology? I long for the days I only had to deal with clowns with Windows Mobile. Those jackals were always trying to tell me how they could use/modify/create REAL Microsoft Docs on their feeble machines. Today, iPhone still does not have the capability to work with native MS Documents, but iPhone owners are still confident in thier phone's superiority.

Before I go any further, let me make it clear that I REALLY want an iPhone, I just can't make the switch from my Treo 700P until some basics are taken care of:

Sling Player- What good is that beautiful screen if I can't watch my TV on it? I can already tap into my home DVR with the crappy screen on my Palm 700P. Why should I give this up to move to the iPhone?

Lotus Notes- Apparently there is now a web enabled client to sync Lotus Notes. I know, I know, nobody uses Lotus, that is except my fabulous employer.

MS Office- I need native files on my device. Why you might ask when the fantastic Mobileme stores all your stuff in the cloud? Well, while I am flying through actual clouds on an airliner, I tend to have the majority of my great ideas and, at this point, there isn't reliable WiFi coverage in the friendly skies. (This is an easier arugment than telling Windows Mobile clowns how superior Documents to Go is, they never got it)

Turn By Turn GPS- Caught me, my 700P doesn't actually have this, although I am sure it could be retrofitted to do so. I wan Garmin, Tom Tom or Magellen to step up to the App Store and kick Jobs in the nuts and make a great turn by turn nav app.

Slingbox - iPhone: What's the Story?

Back in June at the WWDC encouraging stories about a Slingplayer client for the iPhone popped up all over the net.

Eventually, there was a cryptic post on several of the stories to meet some guy behind a Starbucks for a Slingplayer demo on a jail broken phone. That craziness led to this demo video.



Since this video was posted, the Slingbox - iPhone news has gone quiet. I contacted their support people yesterday and was told there were no plans to develop an iPhone client. I was taking care of a registration issue I had with my Treo 700P and thought I would see if they had any good news.

A quick check of the SlingMedia career section indicates they are indeed looking for a developer for an iPhone client.
Will Apple let them play in the App store? Does it matter? Wouldn't you jailbreak your iPhone for Sling Player?

The Internet at its finest!

Back to basics. Cutting things in half with a sword in super slow motion! I thought the Blendtec (of Will it Blend fame) folks had a good thing going when they "blended" an iPhone. For those who felt destroying an iPhone to drive traffic to a blender retailer was much too commercial, you will enjoy these vids.

iPhone Graffiti

After playing with an iPhone at an Apple store for about 45 min, I would like to see a stylus and Graffiti text input on future revisions of the iPhone. I love the full size screen and LACK of a hard keyboard, but I miss the Graffiti from Palm OS and the Newton.

I know Apple took a lot of guff for handwriting recognition back in the 1990's on the Newton. There was even a Simpsons jab featuring the Newton. Palm came along and improved things with Graffiti (I believe Xerox may have actually invented Graffiti and hence Palm has abandoned it with the current Treos).

As with most tech items, it seems I am in the minority of adopters of Graffiti. I use Mobile Write on my Treo 700P and mostly love it. If Apple took this concept and improved upon it and added a five way nav button in place of the home key, iPhone would be a much nicer device!

iPhone Graffiti

After playing with an iPhone at an Apple store for about 45 min, I would like to see a stylus and Graffiti text input on future revisions of the iPhone. I love the full size screen and LACK of a hard keyboard, but I miss the Graffiti from Palm OS and the Newton.

I know Apple took a lot of guff for handwriting recognition back in the 1990's on the Newton. There was even a Simpsons jab featuring the Newton. Palm came along and improved things with Graffiti (I believe Xerox may have actually invented Graffiti and hence Palm has abandoned it with the current Treos).

As with most tech items, it seems I am in the minority of adopters of Graffiti. I use Mobile Write on my Treo 700P and mostly love it. If Apple took this concept and improved upon it and added a five way nav button in place of the home key, iPhone would be a much nicer device!