The point of this post is to provide a handy list of software for Palm OS devices because many free apps are now hard-to-find. Commercial apps aren't, but I'm a cheap, cheap man. Follow along as I save you a bundle on hardware and software that'll put a powerful gadget in your pocket.

I wound up with a Palm T|X from my little brother who bought himself an iPhone (and the subsequent snobbery that comes with). It's been years since I used a Palm regularly, and the last one I tried was a WristPDA but was so hopelessly out-of-date that I abandoned it for a real watch (you know, that won't short out in the rain). My first PDA was, in fact, a PalmPilot Pro and was branded from 3Com. Those were the days, when Palm and Apple's Newton stood and chuckled at the nascent Windows CE platform. My how times have changed. The Newton is long buried (but not exactly dead), and Palm is largely in freefall. Why they spun out their OS years ago is beyond me, and it certainly hasn't helped their software situation any. Where Palm apps of every stripe once flowed freely there is now but a trickle, and every day that trickle gets slighter while developers move on to more robust platforms.

Still, what amazes me is how great Palm hardware is, and how you can really do quite a bit with it-- if you know where to look. So I've distilled my own adventures in Palm down to one handy little guide, full of useful apps and tips to get you started. You can find a decent deal on ebay for nearly any modern color Palm too. Don't be afraid to buy a unit with dead battery and buy a replacement battery. Do be afraid to buy something monochrome and without Bluetooth. I find the T|X is a sweet spot-- no laggy hard drive like the LifeDrive, an SD slot, Bluetooth and WiFi, and the ability to go fullscreen and landscape. If you crave tiny, check out the smaller Tungstens that slide open. Currently you can get an opened T|X on ebay for less than $150.

When acquiring this little guy I had three primary needs:
1) PDF Reader
2) Image browser
3) Quick note capture with alarms

See what works and doesn't, plus all the cool extra things I found after the jump.

Now that Windows Mobile 6 is shipping, let's take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce about the problems users had upgrading their Windows Mobile 2003SE devices to Windows Mobile 5.0.

Specifically, Dell Axim X50 and HP iPAQ hx4700 users found themselves in a bind. They'd already purchased some of coolest PDAs on the market. They had blazing fast 624MHz processors and high quality VGA screens. But since they didn't use the same type of RAM as newer Windows Mobile 5.0 devices, it turned out that when you tried to "upgrade" either model, you'd wind up with a much slower system.

Late last year, Dell released a fix for the Axim. And while the X50 series still feels more responsive running WM2003SE than WM5.0, the difference is much smaller than it used to be. And you get updated versions of Mobile Office and the ability to run newer third party software.

Unfortunately HP hasn't released an official patch for the hx4700. But it appears some Russian hackers have. Werner Ruotsalainen reports that the unofficial ROM upgrade vastly improves performance on hx4700 PDAs running Windows Mobile 5.0. However, the upgrade does not include support for A2DP Bluetooth audio, so if that's important to you, it might be worth waiting (possibly forever) for an official update from HP.

Microsoft is showcasing a rather goofy series of videos to show the versatility of Windows Mobile. The idea is that you can work with Outlook, Word, Excel, and other programs on the go -- even if you're in an elevator filled with snakes or duct taped to a light post.

Of course, it might make more sense to use your smartphone to call for help if you happen to be in one of these situations, but that wouldn't be as funny, would it? That said, I think these advertisements would be just as effective for selling knives as mobile computing devices.

If you've ever wondered how hard it is to remember 15 seconds of dialog while being hugged by a few hundred snakes, be sure to check out the outtakes.

[Via Jason Langridge's WebLog]

Now that Download Squad is accessible via mobile device, I thought I would start bringing you more downloads for mobile users.

This slick little app will turn your mobile device into an email and RSS powerhouse. You set up an online account with Flurry first with your email accounts and RSS feeds, then you can download mail and RSS feeds from their gateway servers onto your mobile device. They support OPML import for all your news feeds, and POP3 or IMAP for your email accounts. The service is currently available on many carriers including T-Mobile, Cingular, Verizon, U.S. Cellular, Nextel, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, Boost, Edge and others. You need a phone that supports J2ME (Java) and MIDP protocols (most newer devices do support both) and a wap-enabled browser to download the app. Get this download (direct download for your mobile) of Flurry. Then set your Gmail or other POP3/IMAP service to allow access, and you're golden! If you can't download the app via your phone, it is also available to download onto your PC (JAD edition or JAR edition) then transfer using blue-tooth or a cable. Drop me a line below or send me a tip if there are sweet mobile apps you want me to cover in the future. The read link below is a PC-viewable version of the download page. Enjoy!

Sandisk launched a TV recording device called the V-Mate. This new tool enables users to download and record up to three hours of video on SD, MicroSDHC, MiniSDHC, MMC, and Memory Stick Duo and Memory Stick Pro Duo flash cards. The device measures 5.1x2.6x0.8 inches, and changes up the analog to digital by compressing video with MPEG 4, simply by connecting to the audio/video input on a TV. This is certainly the easiest way to trap TV signals, and transfer to computers for storage, editing, or playback.

This is certainly the easiest way to trap TV signals, digitize home videos, and transfer to computers for storage, editing, or playback. Recording for the V-Mate can be done through Cable, Satellite, DVD, VCR, PVR, and Camcorders. The V-Mate also has the functionality to let you schedule recordings based on channels, dates, and stop and start times. Play back on the V-Mate is the best. Since its on a flash cards, users have the ability to check out the shows on mobile phones, handheld devices, PDA's, PC's and of course through the V-Mate connected to any TV.