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This month’s column will cover accessories and software for your PDA.
Once we get a PDA you will most likely want to ad to your PDA to help you
take full advantage and maybe have a little fun with it.
Your PDA’s best friend, its CASE!
A case can be one of the most important accessories that you own for
your PDA. If you drop your PDA it can be a disaster, it needs protection.
I have heard many disaster stories over the years. There is even a Website
devoted to the disasters
with PDA’s; has some very interesting stories. To help prevent a disaster
from happening to your PDA you should really get a case that will fit your
lifestyle. There are many types of PDA cases available. This could be one
of the largest selections of accessories you have to choose from for your
PDA.
Let’s break it down into a few categories:
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The most common cases would be the Portfolio cases; these cases are usually
much bigger than the PDA, so you can carry many other items with your PDA,
than the general zippered PDA cases. There are many sites on the Web that
sell these types of cases. One site that I found that has a wide selection
of many brands was eBags . Click
on the PDA link and you have many manufactures listed.
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Then, you have the cases for strength. These cases are usually made of
metal or very strong plastic. Their main purpose is to keep your PDA from
getting damaged.
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Another type of case is designed for style, either of fine leather or some
other special material. Here is one
site that I found that has a large selection of strong and stylish
cases,
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The last category is those unique cases designed by some creative individual
for a specific situation or need. Here are a few sites that I have found
that are very interesting and you may want to take a look at,
Whatever case you decide on remember you need a good case, it’s important
to the longevity of your PDA.
Make sure your data is secure!
I would bet that some of you have Passwords or PIN numbers in your
PDA. It is a convenient way to carry the information around and a PDA makes
it easy to find. If this information was to get into the wrong hands that
could cause a lot of problems. The fact that your PDA was lost or stolen
is bad enough, but the private information is what hurts the most.
I have read estimates that hundreds of thousands of PDA’s are lost or
stolen every year. I will share some recommendations in future articles
about what to do in case your PDA is lost or stolen. What I want to make
you aware of is a class of software called PDA Wallet Applications. These
applications store your passwords and other important information in a
secure file on your PDA and can also store them on your desktop computers.
This way you only need one password to get to all your passwords and your
information is highly encrypted so no one can get to your information.
Palm OS devices
The Palm Pilot has many of these Wallet Applications, a few that stand
out are:
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Ultrasoft
DataShield
A quote from their Website
| Ultrasoft DataShield lets you organize and store
your important information conveniently and securely on your Palm OS handheld
computer. DataShield doesn't just store and protect your information —
it helps you manage it. |
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InfoSafe
Plus
A quote from their Website
| InfoSafe Plus is your complete secure information
management software for Palm OS handheld PDA’s Keep track and organize
usernames, passwords, Website logins, ID numbers, serial numbers, software
codes, insurance info, bank accounts, credit cards, calling cards and much
more. |
Pocket PC Devices
The Pocket PC has a good selection of these software packages, here
are a few:
e-Wallet
A quote from their Website
| Use this award winning software to store, protect,
and back up your important information, and find it very easily as soon
as you need it. Have your most important personal information backed up
for safekeeping, encrypted and password-protected for security, but right
with you when you want it. Plus, you can enter your information on your
Windows PC and synchronize it with your handheld! |
FlexWallet
A quote from their Website
| FlexWallet enables you to securely store and carry
any type of information on your Pocket PC. Bank accounts, credit card information,
emergency contact numbers, travel documents, software registration codes,
online passwords, calling cards, gift ideas, clothing sizes, ATM Pins,
you name it! |
I personally know of two instances where individuals have lost or had
a PDA stolen. These losses resulted in personal and credit card information
being used. It’s not worth the time a problem like this could cause; you
should consider getting some method for securing your important data.
A different way to get data into your PDA!
One of the main struggles people have is finding the right input method
for their PDA. All PDA’s have multiple methods to enter information. These
may work for you, but if they don’t I want to introduce you to an alternative
that I have been using along with the built-in method. It is a piece of
software that displays a virtual keyboard on the entire screen. This way
you can use your fingers, mainly your thumbs to type in information. I
have been using this virtual keyboard for quite a few months and it has
worked very well for me. The Palm and Pocket PC each have solutions:
Palm
For the Palm you have a product called FatFinger,
this is not the only virtual keyboard you can try for your Palm but it
seems to be highly rated by the reviews.
Pocket PC
For the Pocket PC you have a few products to choose from. I have been
using Typango and
Spb Full Screen Keyboard
and find both useful. I suggest if you are interested in these types of
programs, try a few of them out before you decide on one.
Too many Business Cards to put into your PDA
We all have business card information that we have to put into our
computers. Some of you may have heard of business card readers. These are
small scanners that you feed your business cards into and the information
from the cards goes into whatever program you use to hold you contact information.
This could be Outlook, Act or any number of programs. These readers are
great but they are not perfect. I personally have been using one for about
two years. It has been about 97% accurate, which is not bad because the
reader saves a great deal of time than having to enter all the business
card information. The prices run as low as $140 and up to $299 and that
includes installing and setting them up. A few links to look at are
Would you like some free software?
E-books have been around a long time (many years), but have not seemed
to come on strong until this last year. If you have a current Palm device
you may have reviewed the Palm reader free or the CD that came with your
PDA. If you have a Pocket PC than you have an e-book reader by the name
of MS reader, but Palm also has an e-book reader that you can get free
from their Website. If you have an older Palm without the reader than you
can get it free also from this site
Palm Digital Media . You
will see a small box on the right site of the page, one with the pro version
of the Palm reader and the other with the standard versions (that one is
free). You can also download a few
free books from the site.
How about a little stress relief?
I know you didn’t buy your PDA to play games, but since you have it
anyway you may want to carry a game or two with you for stress relief.
Here are a few games to consider:
Palm Devices
Sea
War by TB Labs —The remake of a popular seawar game played on paper
by two human players. Play it against your handheld. Your goal is to sink
all computers’ ships by shooting to its game field.
CFB
Pong by CFB software — This Palm game is based on the classic 1970's
arcade table tennis game. You can play against the Palm or yourself at
one of three different speeds. 'Spin' the ball to change its deflection
and speed it up if you want to have any chance of winning.
Pocket PC Devices
FreeMine
by cnstarsoft.com — Here is a free version of Mine Sweep that will keep
you busy trying to guess where the bombs have been hidden. Follow the number
clues, they will tell you how many bombs are connected to each tile.
PocketPop
by PocketFun.co.uk — In this game you must successfully pop the bubbles
within the playing area, but the bubbles will only pop when they are next
to bubbles of the same type. As you gradually clear the bubbles for the
playing area, bubbles begin to fall from above filling in the gaps created
by the popped bubbles.
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