Leslie Franke

It was almost eight months ago that Flock released the developer version of their Mozilla Firefox based web browser. Just recently they have released the first public beta version of their browser. Flock is a browser that is based on the Firefox code base. Like Firefox, Flock has tabs, a web search box in the upper right-hand corner and bookmarks, but it also has additional features built in to “enhance” the browsing experience. Some of these tools include photo integration with photo services, bookmarking integration, a RSS reader, enhanced searching, and a blogging tool.

Flock’s integrated blogging tool works with most major blogging platforms such as Blogger and WordPress. The blog interface has a spell-check capabilities and allows for the easy addition of tags. The RSS reader makes saving posts easy and gives all sorts of options for reading what is new, allowing you to bookmark and blog with one easy click. While the RSS reader works well it suffers from the same problem has many other RSS readers, the inability to synchronize feeds across different computers and platforms. Flock’s bookmarking works with both Del.icio.us and Shadows allowing bookmarks and tags to be easily added. Photo integration works with both Flickr and Photobucket. For those that are heavy Flickr users this is where the browser really shines. Photos can be uploaded by dragging them into the browser and photos can be added to any web page (that accepts html) by dragging the photo directly unto the web page.

Flock still has a way to go before convincing me of the need to switch from Mozilla Firefox. While the look and feel of Flock is nicer than Firefox itself, Flock still feels to me like Firefox with a few extensions added on and a couple of bookmarks on the Bookmarks Toolbar. Nevertheless, this release goes a long way to fulfilling Flock’s original promise.

BinaryClock is a clock and alarm program from Tamoggemon Software that is a little different than your average Palm clock. At first glance, the software is confusing since the time does not appear like a normal digital clock, but in a series of shifting patterns of black squares and rectangles on a white background. Read through the manual, though, and you will find it is not hard to learn how to tell the time with a little bit of practice (there is a method to the madness).

If this type of time telling is not up your alley, BinaryClock will also display a text string with the time in a user configurable look. Colors and shapes in the binary display are also customizable. There are options to decrease or increase the border of the blocks and to change the background and foreground colors. Besides the clock, Binary Clock also includes an alarm feature. The program allows you to configure a different alarm for each day of the week and also supports Palm devices with vibrate and LED.

(Added: 06.19.06) Another nice feature of BinaryClock 2.0 is that it lets you view truetype fonts using Font Bucket, a free program which is included in the download. Using Font Bucket you can import any Windows fonts you would like into Binary Clock. In addition, BinaryClock provides full-screen capabilities allowing it to look nice on any handheld. (End Addition)

BinaryClock is an inexpensive time-telling application that takes a unique approach to telling time. It would be nice if you could schedule multiple alarms and there is a learning curve to tell the time. If you would like to have a novel time telling application on your Palm, take a look at BinaryClock.

For another review of BinaryClock check out Palm Discovery’s review.

eBible.com has undergone some significant updates recently adding several nice features.

1. Additional translations have been added. This makes it nice as you can set your default translation and/or view two translations side by side.

2. Tags have been added to eBible. You can now tag a verse(s) in the Bible with certain keywords. This looks like it could be useful in the future as more and more people start using eBible.

Note: See my orginial post on eBible here.

I have updated the Facer Nuvola theme to work with Facer 3. This theme is free and can be downloaded from here. I believe that this is a complete theme. All elements have been skinned. The background image is just a gray screen, it is up to you to choose the jpeg you want for the background. If you would like to use the image seen in the screenshot you can get it from the Crystal ZLauncher theme. Note that this theme will only work with Facer 3.1 and higher.

Information on the Nuvola theme for earlier versions of Facer can be found in this post.

Opera Watch has a informative post about whether we will ever see the Opera Mobile browser for the Palm OS. Basically it boils down to the fact that there is insufficient interest from Palm itself. While the newer Palm browsers are workable alternatives and Opera Mini is full of issues when running on the Palm OS, it would be nice too see Opera develop a browser for the Palm OS, breathing much needed innovation into the marketplace.

Update: 5.31.06. There has been some confusion about Opera Mini and Opera Mobile. They are different products. To see a good example of the difference look at Opera for Windows Mobile Pocket PC.

In a my previous post on the best smaller Palm blogs with original content I mentioned Palm Addicts and MobileRead as two great bigger Palm resources. While I have mentioned Palm Addicts recently, a quick word about MobileRead is in order.

MobileRead is a news site and forum primarily dedicated to reading on handheld devices. MoblieRead’s front page features news dedicated to reading on your handheld as well as general handheld news. They also have specific forums on ebook devices, ebook software (such as for eReader and Plucker) and forums dedicated to using software like Sunrise and iSilo to transfer data on the web to your Palm device, as well as several general handheld forums. I especially like the forums dedicated to transferring web content to your handheld. The great thing about MobileRead is if something reading related can be done with your Palm, someone here has already done it or can show you how.

The web is full of Palm based sites. Some large and some small. What is hard to find, though, is sites offering original content. Too many sites often are just repeating items posted elsewhere. While most people know about the good larger sites, such as PalmAddicts and MobileRead, there are also numerous smaller or individual Palm based sites on the web that offer a good selection of original content. Some of these sites are listed below.

Maceyr’s Palm Discovery
maceyr.blogspot.com
Maceyr’s Palm Discovery is full of excellent tutorials and reviews for the new or advanced Palm user. Tutorials include Flash simulations and screenshots of an application to better explain features of each piece of software.

Mobile Ministry Magazine
mobileministrymagazine.com
A PDA and mobile focused website designed to show how the use of technology can further advance the Scriptures.

Smart Box Design
smartboxdesign.blogspot.com
Todd Sherman’s, lead developer for Smart Box Design, PDA focused website.

Software Everywhere
pikesoft.com/blog
Thoughts on mobile and Palm technology from Palm developer David Beers.

TamsPalm-the Palm OS Blog
tamspalm.tamoggemon.com
Palm news & opinion from a well known Palm enthusiast.

The Palmdoc Chronicles
palmdoc.blogspot.com
Site focusing on Palm medical news and software.

The PDA Place
thepdaplace.com
A site featuring alot of Palm OS software reviews from a TH55 owner.

If you know of another site that I have missed please leave it in the comments section of this post.