From the crew here at Canuck PDA, we hope you have a great and blessed holiday season!
Best wishes and happy new year!
Happy Holidays!
100th Anniversary of Broadcast Radio
This Christmas Eve is the 100th Anniversary of Broadcast Radio, and it was achieved by a Canadian, eh!
Personally, I can’t imagine what our world would be like today if it hadn’t all started with AM radio. With no AM radio, there’d be no FM radio, no television, possibly no moving pictures (movies), and certainly no Podcasts!
I've pulled a little information from Wikipedia to help fill you in.
Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (6 October 1866 – 22 July 1932) was a Canadian inventor, and rival of Italian Guglielmo Marconi. Fessenden is best known for his work in early radio. Three of his most notable achievements include: the first audio transmission by radio (1900), the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission (1906), and the first radio broadcast of entertainment and music (1906).
On the evening of 24 December 1906 (Christmas Eve), Fessenden used the alternator-transmitter to send out a short program from Brant Rock, which included his playing the song O Holy Night on the violin and reading a passage from the Bible. On 31 December, New Year's Eve, a second short program was broadcast. The main audience for both these transmissions was an unknown number of shipboard radio operators along the Atlantic Coast. Although now seen as a landmark, these two broadcasts were barely noticed at the time and soon forgotten — the only first-hand account appears to be a letter Fessenden wrote on 29 January 1932 to his former associate, Samuel M. Kinter. There are no known accounts in any ships radio logs, nor any contemporary literature, of the reported holiday demonstrations. In addition, Fessenden does not appear to have made any additional broadcasts intended for a general audience, and was actually promoting the alternator-transmitter as ideal for point-to-point wireless telephone service. Still, in retrospect, it was an important glimpse of the future of radio. (Although primarily designed for transmissions spanning a few kilometers, on a couple of occasions the test Brant Rock audio transmissions were apparently overheard by NESCO employee James C. Armor across the Atlantic at the Machrihanish site).
Here is the full background information from Wikipedia, and a link to the SlashDot posting where I first learned of this significant (Canadian) milestone.
The Treo 680 - Even More Surprises, of the SDHC Kind!
Palm, why oh why won't you promote the hidden features of your new Treo?
Seriously, seems like everyday now we're finding that our humble little Treo 680s can do a lot more than we thought, like take an 8Gb SDHC card into it and USE IT. That's right! SDHC cards work in the Treo 680. What's the bigger news? Take the slot driver from the 680, plunk it into the 700p, and woo hoo! a Treo 700p with SDHC support. There have been at least two confirmed cases of 8Gb SDHC cards working in the 700p so far, and who knows, other devices might work too!
Oh, 32Gb SDHC cards are coming out later this year. For next Christmas I want to turn my LifeDrive into a 36Gb monster!
TreoCentral
PalmInfocenter
Panasonic Develops Battery That Won't Overheat
"New battery a welcome addition to the market after recall costs laptop manufacturers millions" says a PC-World article by: Martyn Williams.
This is great news to those of us with a healthy fear of experiencing a "Dell Bomb" exploding laptop first hand (see photo from Japan).
Panasonic said it has developed a lithium-ion battery that won't overheat even if a short circuit occurs.
The new battery includes a heat-resistive insulator inside the battery cell, next to an existing separator that insulates the anode and cathode. If that separator is punctured a short circuit occurs that typically causes the battery to overheat and in some circumstances catch fire. Panasonic said its insulation layer ensures that the battery won't overheat even in the event of a short circuit.
Panasonic's announcement responds to consumers' concern about the safety of lithium-ion batteries following a number of incidents involving them.
You can read the full PC-World article here, and there is a similar article with different background information on arstechnica.com entitled Safer laptop battery developed by Matsushita
Hopefully this technological advance will lead to safer batteries for our PDAs too!
Fake Treo spotted for sale in Brazil
From PalmInfoCenter:
Engadget are reporting that a Brazilian retailer has been what looks to be a Treo-branded iPod Nano knockoff in a sickly hue of lime green. No word on specs or features other than it looks like a cheap Nano clone without the touch-sensitive scroll wheel.
The Treo logo on the unit and its packaging is identical to the one used by Palm. This highly illicit device has a sales price for $270. The Chinese knockoff factories have manage to do something Palm has yet to pull off on a Treo; this unit appears to be sporting a full-size stereo headphone jack. (also via MobilityBeat)
Also on Engadget and MobilityBeat
Palm in Canada to Grow by 25%...Uh...Right?
A story in IT Business magazine has Michael Moskowitz, vice-president of Americas International with Palm Inc. saying that he expects 25% growth over the next 5 years in the converged mobile device market up here in the jolly North. Uh...over the next 5 years? Hmm, is that a big or small number then? I'm not too sure myself, but it's interesting nonetheless, as Palm recognizes that Canada is actually a very ripe market, one that could see a lot of growth in the next few years. Could well be an exciting time for Palm addicts and Treo-heads such as ourselves. Now if only Rogers lowers their darned data rates...
What do you think? Let us know in the forums!
IT Business
WiFi on the Treo 680: Surprise, Surprise!
Who says that the Treo 680 doesn't have WiFi? Well, OK, it doesn't, but you can add it! I just got my Copper 680 this morning (shortly thereafter I unceremoniously dropped and dented it, but that's another issue), popped the latest beta of the Enfora WiFi Manager on to it, attached my Enfora WiFi Sled, and ALAKAZAM!
WiFi!
As the sled was designed for the 650, there are a few gaps, plus it doesn't lock on to the 680 as it does with the replacement battery cover for the 650. When I tried the sled with the 700p earlier this year, I had to take off the battery cover before putting it in the sled. With the 680's slightly slimmer profile, this is not necessary at all. Handy!
Sure, it's not perfect, but hey, I might just be holding the only Treo 680 in Canada with WiFi right now, and THAT'S cool.
ALP Delayed to 2007
It seems that Access' next generation handheld platform, known as Access Linux Platform, hasn't quite made timing as promised earlier this year. Access announced in February of this year that they would have the ALP operating system ready for developers by the end of 2006. Then earlier today they stated that they are pushing back this time to sometime in the first half of 2007.
What does this mean, Access? What are you trying to tells us? Is your operating system not working? Have you even begun making it? Are you out of coffee and donuts?
Questions are beginning to fly around as people learn of this news. But I like to think of it as a good sign: that Access is taking their time to make a platform worthy of succeeding the original PalmOS operating system.
The PalmOS' Destiny back with Palm
 | Breaking news from the handheld world! Palm just bought licensed forever the Palm OS 5.4 (Garnet) source code from ACCESS, the company which until today, had proprietary control over it. What does this mean? Palm can fiddle with what some Palm peeps have affectionately (or infamously) christened "FrankenGarnet". Yes it's been around for years, and despite what many have said, this Palm addict thinks it's got some life to it yet. Edit: Looks like the news got changed on me, it's "licensed" not "purchased" the source code now. |
Body of James Kim found in Oregon Wilderness
From KGW.COM:
MERLIN, Ore. -- The body of James Kim was found Wednesday, after a massive search effort for the missing San Francisco man in the Southern Oregon wilderness.
Josephine County Undersheriff Brian Anderson said the body was found in the Big Windy Creek drainage at 12:03 p.m.
Kim's wife and two children were found safe Monday near their stranded station wagon. The Kims had been missing since Nov. 25, when they left Portland headed home after a holiday trip to the Pacific Northwest to stay at a resort in Gold Beach. The family told their rescuers that James Kim left his family about 7:45 a.m. Saturday in search of help and went the way they had come, saying he would return by 1 p.m. if he found none.
...
On Monday, searchers in a helicopter hired by the family spotted Kati Kim, 30, and daughters Penelope, 4, and Sabine, 7 months. They were airlifted to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass where Sabine was admitted. She was released on Tuesday. All three were described in good condition.
...
Earlier, searchers found several items of clothing they believe were left by Kim as clues for rescuers.
According to Hastings, searchers found two gray long-sleeved shirts, a red short-sleeved shirt, a wool sock, a blue skirt, and an Oregon state map cut up in pieces. Hastings said authorities believe these were signs placed by James Kim.
Meanwhile, dense fog Wednesday morning delayed the start of the day's search until 10 a.m. Authorities were dropping supply kits into an area where they believe the San Francisco man was stranded in the snowy Oregon Coast range, hoping the food, supplies, and a heartfelt letter from his family will keep Kim alive until searchers find him.
Rogers Launches the Treo 680
 | Without much fanfare, Rogers Wireless has officially launched the Palm Treo 680 smartphone in Canada. A "PDA" as they call it, it can be had for $299.99 CAD when purchased with a three-year voice and data service agreement. Without a contract, the price jumps to $499.99. On Palm's site, the Unlocked GSM version in Copper, Arctic, Crimson, as well as the defeault Rogers colour of Graphite can be had for the same price, however the Bonus Music Pack (headphones, SD card, additional software and Yahoo! Music Unlimited) is not available for Canadian consumers. Neither is free shipping (available in the US), which is another slap in the face for Canadian consumers I think! The Treo 650 has not been discontinued in Canada, but rather its price has been slashed to as low as $199.99 on Rogers, and $49.99 on Telus. The Treo 750 has been rumoured to arrive on Canadian shores soon along with Rogers' nationwide rollout of HSDPA, but that has yet to be confirmed. |
Treo 680 News
I dropped by my local neighbourhood Rogers store (Pacific Cellular) at Metrotown here in Vancouver, and when I asked about a "new Treo" (again) the guy whipped out a demo unit of a Graphite 680! "Any day now," he says. The guy said it will most likely come in a few colours to Rogers, and cost around $399 without a data plan. After playing with it for a couple of minutes, I wasn't actually too impressed with the form factor. It doesn't feel all that slim despite what some reviews have said, and the new button designs (not the keyboard) look and feel cheap compared to the 650 and the 700s. The SD card slot cover was halfway between good and flimsy. However, it was a lot easier to hold, and although it was a little bit on the wide side, I had a good grip on it and it wasn't doing any sort of flight (like my old Cingular 650). I also noticed that on the fake screen, pTunes has been renamed to "MP3".
Good news regardless!
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