by Ofer Shmueli
January 18, 1999
Let's face it, most of us didn't become Palm Pilot junkies just because we can synchronize all of our documents with most PIM applications, the same goes for our computers or laptops, it's not just Excel or Word stuff, it is the third party applications and games that makes all platforms, from servers to Palm computers, valuable.
When I bought my first Palm Pilot, I didn't look for the expense applications, I wanted to doodle on the screen, play boxing, or surf the net from deep down within the comfort of my couch.
Pilot Mania
No one can really tell how a small and low resource operating system has become
a favorite for developers. My guess is that it is the challenge. Just like everything else
in our lives, when we look through challenges something that we don't really think we can
accomplish, we end up by doing the best, and we find that we can do just about anything.
The same goes for the Palm operating system (OS) platform. It seems low in resources but
when you get inside it and hack the shell of the OS, we find out we can get gray tones out
of a 1-bit operating system (at least for the first Palms, the new Palm III supports
partially 2-bit) or playing QuickTime movies.
The Palm machines don't come equipped like the Palm-ze PCs with 8 MB or with a 32-bit operating system which allow at least more possibilities for developers, they come with only 2 MB of memory and a 16-bit operating system. But with a set of more then 3000 third party applications, that takes the best out of it. I didn't intend to be that philosophical, but after having some conversations with Palm developers and even with some of Avigo 10 developers, I did find out that it is the challenge that really does drives them.
What Are We Talking About
I have looked into four applications which seem to be the best examples to what can be
done with a stand-alone Pilot. These programs are not only fun and informative,
they're also innovative:
- Movplayer: QuickTime player for your Palm
- Teal Info: Information browser that gathers it all
- Dragon Bane: The first real 3D game for the Pilot
- Home: A new launcher that sets new standards for your own creativity
There are lots of other applications but it seems that these guys really have stretched the limitations of the Pilot.
MTI Movplayer
When the guys from MTI-Mimir came up first with Wav Player for the Palm Pilot I thought it
was cool but when they came out with a Movplayer, I thought it was too much. What came
next was a video recorder. It is much more then eye candy. Just imagine taking video
movies of your kids! Not just still images, but true moving QuickTime movies and then
carrying them in your shirt pocket.
Movplayer comes with a Windows utility that converts and compresses QuickTime movies. You can set the contrast and lightness of the gray tones and when the whole process is finished you get a ".pdb" (Pilot database) file of your movie which you install just like any other application. In the Movplayer application you can decide which movie to roll or maybe to beam to another Palm III, along with the ability to delete it. In the next versions of Movplayer we will have the ability to attach WAV sound files to the movies. You can get the details of this program
here.Teal Info
The
Teal Point company have come out with an idea to gather along all of our Pilot resources,
tables, images, and document files into one information browser file called a
"folio." You could be using a map of the stars that is drawn in teal paint along
with databases of our solar system, all of that with a description for each star, and
gather all of that information into one folio, never needing to jump from application to
application. All of the databases are hyperlinked and in "Teal Info." All folios
are handy and use scrollable arrows to navigate through the information
Teal Info comes with a development kit that helps to create folios easily on DOS or Windows machines. It uses HTML style tags and codes to deliver all information in an easy and hyperlinked format. You can get more information
here.Dragon Bane
When Dragon Bane came out in the middle of 1998, it set the whole gaming standard for the
Pilot to a new level. For the first time we had a truly 3D game that lets us move through
a ghost city in four directions in full grayscale.
At first you are asked by the king to help him cure his city from the evil. You pick your staff and walk through the towns to find the healing temple. Then you arrive in the king's court to get advice and training, and from there you go into the shop to stock up on supplies. The game has many levels and puzzles to solve.
Dragon Bane drew many fans and become sort of a cult between Pilot users. It even has it own mailing list. You can try out Dragon Bane here.
Home
Home, by Shuji, is a new and innovative launcher which allows the user to set the
background image image of your Palm's screen along with assigning your own icon, and
hyperlink them to your favorite application or database.
You can chose each background (backgrounds are called "scenes") and you can set an icon you choose and its associated applications. Each icon can be edited with the "dot editor," an associated utility that is used to edit four grayscale toned images and even form 2-bit images and icons. You can get more information on this program by emailing: unlimited@ma7.seikyou.ne.jp
Conclusion
I believe that as long as we will see Palm Pilot developers doing great stuff for the joy
of the users, we will great hope to see more and more out of that tiny shell. I hope
you'll download and install these fun and innovative programs I've set forth for you here.
You won't be sorry. You'll feel the real thrill and power of the Palm Pilot
if you do.
All four of these programs are outstanding. I give all four of the applications mentioned in this review four out of five Go Inside Review Lights.
Copyright © 1999