Tuesday, December 05, 2006

TECH - the Treo 700P and Kinoma Player 4 EX

Regular readers of this blog know that I own and am rather fond of the Palm Treo 650 smartphone. It's like the love-child of a mobile phone and a pda (sometimes mistakenly, generically referred to as "Palm Pilots").

Many of us use smartphones to make and receive phone calls, take pictures, store contact information, create and maintain Microsoft Office-compatible files, play games, watch movies, listen to music, etc.

The list goes on and on.

In the past several months, newer Treo models have been unveiled. There's the 700P, the 700w, the 700wx, and the 680, among others. Usually, the letter/suffix indicates whether the device runs a Palm or a Windows operating system. (If you're not a tech-head, don't let that stuff scare you. Just like on a computer, the operating system determines which programs will work with the device and how you go about using it for this or that.)

My girlfriend has watched me drool over my 650 (no suffix since they only have Palm operating systems) for two years. Now she's considering getting one of her own and she's got her eye on the Treo 700P.

There are a number of reasons to consider the 700P, like increased storage capacity and the option of higher-speed internet connections. However, the most recent reason that my girlfriend and *I* have gotten excited about the 700P has to do with a new media-friendly software program for the device called Kinoma Player 4 EX.

TreoCentral.com reviews the Kinoma Player 4 EX in two parts:
* Part One
* Part Two

Again, software for smartphones and pda's is a lot like software for personal computers: the machine has the potential to do all sorts of things, but it takes innovative ideas and software for users like you and me to be able to take advantage of and realize that potential.

Treo's can just be phones or, with the right software, they can do all sorts of other things like I mentioned before: play games, balance your checkbook, or, in the case of the 4 EX software, allow you to stream audio and video wirelessly.

If those reviews are accurate (and I believe they are), this software transforms your sweet, innocent, little Treo 700P into a monster of a portable radio and television, able to access thousands of stations/sources.

I really dig my 650, but more memory and faster 'net service was already pulling me toward the 700P. Incredibly diverse (i.e. WORLDWIDE) and affordable (i.e. FREE) media content makes it that much more attractive.

Whodathunkit? A mobile phone that lets you view videos from YouTube and radio programming from California to Kuwait!


SOLD!

2 comments:

princessdominique said...

*sigh*

West said...

It's like that, Princess?

As I said in a later, post, I can't wait. This sounds like a free alternative to satellite radio, to me.