Club Astraware offers for May 2008

The Club Astraware Member-only discount offer for May 2008 is Golden Skull for just $9.95, that's a huge saving of $10 off the regular price!

Golden Skull is a puzzle adventure game that will take you on an unforgettable journey through undiscovered Mayan pyramids and long forgotten ruins.

Featuring amazing graphics, and an entertaining story mode, Golden Skull delivers challenging gameplay with unbelievable production value. It's a puzzle adventure game the whole family will enjoy.

There are 3 double points offers in Club Astraware this month, so members can build up their points even quicker and get even bigger discounts on games in the future! The games offering double points this month are Text Twist, Platypus, and Astraware Boardgames. Simply buy any of these games at full price and get twice the regular number of points! For example: buy a game for $19.95 and you'll get almost $4 worth of points to use against your next purchase!

These offers are only available in Club Astraware until the end of May 2008. To get your hands on them simply join or login to Club Astraware at http://www.astraware.com/club. It's quick to join and completely free too!


Readers of Foleo Fanatics and listeners of my weekly 1SRC.com podcast know that I'm a huge fan of Astraware's games. Joining Club Astraware is a great way to pick up some outstanding games for your favorite Palm OS or Windows Mobile smartphone or PDA handheld.

Office Mobile 2007 Upgrade

I just ran across a link on the Microsoft Windows Mobile website for the Office Mobile 2007 upgrade.

Depending on the build of Windows Mobile 5.0 installed on your smart devices the upgrade will be free for some users while others will have to pay $49.95 for the upgrade kit. (Yikes!) Before purchasing the upgrade, I strongly suggest that you check with your smart device vendor to see if they have any Windows Mobile upgrades available. You might be able to upgrade your install of Windows Mobile and then qualify for the free Office Mobile upgrade.

On the Microsoft Office Mobile Upgrade or Purchase page, there is a simple series of questions that helps you determine if your device qualifies for a free upgrade or not. Microsoft was nice enough to publish a Office Mobile 6.1 FAQ so you can learn about what is included in the latest version of Office for Windows Mobile devices before pluncking down the cash for the upgrade. Upgrades can be purchased from Handango, and volume licenses are available if you have a fleet of Windows Mobile 5 devices to upgrade.

I see this upgrade being important for users who find themselves with a Windows Mobile 5 device with no vendor provided upgrade to Windows Mobile 6, and who need support for Microsoft Office 2007 files. If you are a non-corporate user who doesn't need the latest and the greatest, I would skip the upgrade until you need to purchase it. $50 is a lot of money to gain support for Office 2007. DataViz Documents To Go 10, which added support for Office 2007 on the Palm OS platform, only ran customers $29.95.

Palm to Present at Merrill Lynch Conference

Palm has sent out a notice earlier today that Senior Vice President & CFO Andy Brown will be presenting at the Merrill Lynch Technology Conference this Thursday in New York City.

The presentation will be held at 9:45am (Eastern time) and a live audio feed will be available. Interested parties can listen in on the event by logging into the Merrill Lynch website.

Palm regularly makes presentations throughout the year at conferences similar to the technology conference being hosted this week by Merrill Lynch. I do not expect any new product announcements at this event.

MissingSync 6 for Palm OS Updated

The following is from Mark/Space Newsletter 45:

"The Missing Sync for Palm OS 6.0.3 update provides several enhancements, including better synchronization with Bare Bones Yojimbo 1.5, improved handling of recurring tasks, and enhanced support for custom field synchronization with Entourage. Also, the Call Log application now allows for deletion of individual or selected calls from the call log archive on your Mac. Similarly, the SMS Log application lets you delete all incoming and outgoing text messages for a single contact.

This update is free for all owners of The Missing Sync for Palm OS 6.0. Qualified owners of older versions of The Missing Sync for Palm OS can upgrade to version 6.0.3 for $24.95. Version 6.0 introduced many new features, including: the ability to encode video for viewing on a Treo smartphone, access to Treo Call Log and SMS Log on the Mac, Notes synchronization, and more."

I have reviewed the Missing Sync for Palm OS for my weekly 1SRC.com podcast, and I have to say that if you are a Mac OS X user, you need to be using this software. The Missing Sync is light-years ahead of Palm Dekstop 4.2 on the Mac platform.

For more details, visit the Mark/Space website.

Mac OS X Editions of SplashMoney, SplashID

Los Gatos, CA (MobilityNewswire) April 22, 2008 -- SplashData, Inc., the leading provider of productivity software for smartphones, today announced Mac OS X versions of its popular SplashMoney personal finance application and SplashID 4 secure password manager. Both applications synchronize with their respective mobile applications. The company also announced a standalone version of SplashMoney for Mac OS X for users that do not have a compatible mobile device.










With SplashMoney, Mac users now have access to a complete personal financial manager that enables them to securely record transactions, track account balances, generate reports and budgets, and manage finances while on the go. SplashMoney features wireless access to online bank accounts - an ideal feature for laptops and smartphones, a streamlined user interface, charting of financial data, the ability to assign icons to transactions, transaction filtering, and bank account reconciliation.

SplashMoney supports most account types, including checking, savings, credit card, cash, asset, liability, and money market accounts.

Mac users of SplashID have been anxiously waiting for the release of SplashID 4, which includes substantial updates such as Web Auto-Fill, a feature that simplifies entering user names and passwords by using a web browser to go directly to a site and then retrieving the username and password directly from SplashID to auto-fill in the record. Other key features in SplashID 4 include improved ways to view and find information, such as the new Panel and Tree views, and an Auto Search feature that retrieves records simply by entering a few letters in the Find box.

Advanced users of SplashID 4 can use the new Database Sync feature to select multiple databases to synchronize with on the Mac desktop and easily share data with other users, even across a network.

The security of personal financial data on mobile devices is of chief concern to many, and SplashData has incorporated secure password protection in both SplashMoney and SplashID using 256-bit Blowfish encryption to protect against malicious hacking or other threats.

The SplashMoney and SplashID versions that include both handheld and desktop applications are available now for $29.95 each at www.splashdata.com. They are also available as part of the SplashWallet Suite, which includes SplashID, SplashPhoto, SplashShopper, and SplashMoney, at a 50% discount. The desktop-only versions of SplashMoney and SplashID, available for both Windows and Mac, are available for $19.95. Full functioning 30-day trial versions are also available for download.

Engadget: Verizon Centro Photos

I'm not sure how they do it, but Engadget has gotten their hands on what appears to be promo photos of the much rumored, might as well just announce it now, Centro that will be appearing on Verizon Wireless soon.

Read the full Engadget article...

Palm, Sprint Beta Test Project

A Foleo Fanatics reader has tipped me off to a beta test opportunity from Palm and Sprint to test a new device/service of some kind. A TreoCentral form member posted the email they received. The email, in part, reads:

Palm is seeking people to test an innovative new product. This product is focused on seasoned business professionals. People who commute and spend a ton of time working on email and on the phone. This test is for people looking for cutting edge technology and demand constant communication.

Qualified candidates should work in an enterprise level business and have a lot of experience with varied technologies. These people should invest a significant amount of money in their technology and use it daily.


Required Qualifications
Sprint Subscriber
Bluetooth headphones or car kits
WiFi Router access

Optional Qualifications
Existing Smartphone Users
Heavy to Medium e-mail users
Heavy phone users
Travel for work with their phone

This appears to be an invitation only beta test. I do not know what the selection criteria is for the test, nor is there a link the Sprint website for signing up to participate in the test.

What is interesting to me is what could be under development. We know that Palm and Sprint are working on delivering the much rumored Treo 800w to enterprise customers later this year. We also know that Palm is still working on Palm OS II/Nova. We also know that Sprint is working to implement a Wi-Max solution. And lastly, some of these requirments sound very similar to the beta tester requirements from the Foleo private beta test. Now I'm not saying that Palm is secretly working on a Foleo-like device, so it is important to not read too much into that one.

[Thanks to the anonymous tipster who sent this in.]