July Meeting called off - see you all in August!

There were many folks who could not make the July meeting for various reasons, so we're putting it off until the third Monday evening in August, which is the 18th! See you all there, with all your shiny new tech toys!

New iPhone OS, New Apps, much to discuss

With last week's release of iPhone 2.0, the second generation hardware, and the iTunes AppStore, much has changed in the handheld universe. Exchange syncing and push email is a shot squarely across RIM's bow. Apple is already outselling Palm and Windows Mobile devices (although in terms of active market share, it is just starting to show up as a niche player).

This month, we'll have to go through many of the things that have changed with the iPhone, and I am purposely inviting the TMUG group to visit our meeting. There was quite a lot of buzz generated during last week's upgrade, and this past Monday's meeting brought a few questions to the surface as well.

I will not be there, due to business travel, so I wonder if there is someone who would pinch hit for the "leader" role? (While I'm not nearly so formal as in the larger meetings, I do try to get everyone involved in the conversation. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!) Let's discuss on the list.

June Meeting

An interesting, if short, meeting at Panera in Brier Creek. We chatted about the new iPhone and whether it would overtake the Blackberry. We pondered getting an iPod touch and keeping a Palm-based cell phone for PDA/phone, with the Touch covering eMail and iPod tasks. (Feel free to continue that discussion on the list.)

Alan brought some new toys for Fred, duly paid for per the terms discussed on the list. Alan also had his new full-bore 300mm lens. Quite a hossy piece of glass - but fun! We discussed point-and-shoot cameras, convergence, and using bluetooth or IR to connect a keyboard to your PDA. We looked at EverNote, and were impressed that you can take a picture of text, email it to your account, and then search on the text pictures, and it will find that picture. Pretty spiffy. The better the picture, and the less "design-y" your type, obviously, the better the OCR is, but it's a fine service for free at this point. Don't trust your bank statement to it, at this point, since we're still not sure how, if ever, this puppy could make money.

So, see what you missed by not coing to the meeting? We'll meet once again on 21 July, and you're more than welcome to bring out your digital toys and impress us all. See you then?

We are still going strong

We have been meeting at Panera in Briar Creek, with up to 7 people each month. We've seen MacBook Air, the One Laptop Per Child machine, various jailbroken iPhone apps, and more than a few web apps that enhance your mobile productivity. As far as the machines used by the group, they still range from various Palms, iPhones, and Windows Mobile, with the occasional Linux machine. If you're into handheld or otherwise portable technology (even if it's just a camera, a mobile phone, and your street bike), it's worth the time to come by or at least post a question to our listserv. We may have good insight into good body armour for motorcycles, or the best pannier system for a commuter to use carrying their laptop to work each day. If nothing else, we'll offer strident opinions.