Home | Stories | Reviews | TreoCast | Treo Store | Accessories | Software | Discussion at PreCentral.net | Mobile | About | Search
 
treocentral.com >> Stories >> Commentary
The Future is Treo

Fri Mar 29, 2002 - 12:38 AM EST - By James Hromadka

It's the hardware, stupid!

After using the Treo 180 for several weeks, I have found it invaluable. I now have hundreds of phone numbers that can be dialed with the press of a few buttons, can download my AvantGo channels while I wait somewhat patiently for the company to release a Mac OS X conduit, and am in love with the surprising compactness of the unit.

The Treo is the realization of a paradigm shift in handheld computers. It is the first smartphone that is intelligently designed. As I use the Treo, I think about ways that all Palm OS applications can be made to benefit the Treo. What follows are some of my ideas on how Palm OS applications can better utilize the Treo. Hopefully we'll see some of these ideas come to fruition at some point...

The jog rocker, almost standard on Pocket PCs, is a welcome addition to Palm-based devices. However, it needs to do more in applications than just replace the scroll buttons. I want an application launcher that lets me select and run an application using only the jog rocker. Dialog boxes need to be designed so that I can select and activate on-screen buttons without using the stylus.

Keyboard shortcuts should also be made available that utilize the Treo's keyboard when possible. Applications that don't require textual input can be quickly navigated with the Treo. For example, in MyBible, type the letter F to bring up the Find screen. Type a number to jump to that chapter.

Since the Graffiti command stroke is almost impossible to use on the Treo, using letter shortcuts could really make a difference. Every time I use AvantGo, I want to press the backspace button to go back a page. Handspring has wisely makde this possible in Blazer, but I want to take this a step further. Let me press R to refresh the screen, F to find on the page, O to open a URL, and best of all, let me highlight a selection of text and press C to copy, select a text box and press V to paste the text. We have a keyboard, now let us use it!

Next Page: SMS - It's not just for text anymore >>



Treo accessory store
 
References
Actions
> Print this page
> Digg!





Cases

Chargers

Bluetooth

Headsets

Keyboards

Memory
Protectors Cradles
Styli


More Treo Accessories

Spare Clip
Smartphone Experts Spare Clip
Lost or broke your belt clip?
Just $4.95 BUY

More Spare Clips
1800mAh Battery
Palm 1800mAh Battery for Treo 700p, 700w|wx, 650
Always stay powered
Just $24.95 BUY

More Batteries
 Charger Kit
Palm Charger Kit for Centro, Treo
The charger kit for the jet set crowd
Just $9.95 BUY

More Wall Chargers
 2600mAh Extended Life Battery
Seidio 2600mAh Extended Life Battery for Treo 700p, 700w|wx, 650
More power for your Treo!
Just $42.95 BUY

More Batteries
Leather Hardcase
SPE Leather Hardcase for Treo 755p, 750, 680
Sturdy and reliable
Just $12.95 BUY

More Hard Cases
kuel H10 Stylus Pen
SGP kuel H10 Stylus Pen

Just $12.99 BUY

More Styli
EHS60 3.5mm Stereo Headset
Samsung EHS60 3.5mm Stereo Headset

Just $22.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port
Mobi Micro-USB Car Charger w/USB Port

Just $9.95 BUY

More Car Chargers
EHS63 3.5mm Stereo Headset
Samsung EHS63 3.5mm Stereo Headset

Just $42.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
ProDock Alumina
iBOLT ProDock Alumina

Just $34.95 BUY

More Car Mounts
Performance Mobile Earphones
Qmadix Performance Mobile Earphones

Just $34.95 BUY

More Stereo Headsets
Waterproof Pro-Sport Arm Pack
OverBoard Waterproof Pro-Sport Arm Pack

Just $31.95 BUY

More Weather Resistant Cases
Waterproof Smart Phone Case
OverBoard Waterproof Smart Phone Case

Just $31.95 BUY

More Weather Resistant Cases
 
 

Copyright 1999-2012 TreoCentral. All rights reserved : Terms of Use : Privacy Policy

TREO and TreoCentral are trademarks or registered trademarks of palm, Inc. in the United States and other countries;
the TreoCentral mark and domain name are used under license from palm, Inc.
The views expressed on this website are solely those of the proprietor, or
contributors to the site, and do not necessarily reflect the views of palm, Inc.
Read Merciful by Casey Adolfsson