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.

New folks on the scene?

Last Monday night at the TMUG holiday party/meeting, the Q&A discussion centered around the iPhone. After about 10 questions, I finally stood and mentioned to the group that this group now had a broader charter, and iPhones were perfectly acceptable topics of conversation here. Matter of fact, there is a greater chance for sitting around a table and actually using one, watching it sync, and hearing firsthand whether or not it lives up to the hype.

Since then, I've had a few folks join our mailing list, and a few others request info on this site, so we may have some visitors to our meeting tonight. (This is not to scare away those not interested in iPhones - just to let you folks know what to expect. (Given the change in the weather and the proximity to Festivus and other holidays, attendance may not show a sudden surge, but you never know.

Change of Focus

This post is long overdue. For many months, we have slid by with just one or two folks attending. Some have suggested privately that I disband the group. I started this out of a love for community and for mobile technology. It was a heady time, back in 2000. The Palm platform was taking off, nurtured with the ashes of the Newton community. Air travel was relatively painless. There was venture capital flowing like water through Silicon Valley, which brought vendors bearing swag to our doors with astonishing regularity.

Those days are long since passed, but we have kept meeting, milking the ether for scraps of topical interest. On June 29th, I bought an iPhone, and I see my need for the Palm waning more by the day. I still carry it, still have sentimental attachment to it, but, functionally it is dead to me.

TAPIT is effecting a change today to the Triangle Advocates of Portable Information Technology. We've been moving this way for some time, but with a formal change in our focus, I think we can capitalize on the excitement in the air resulting from Apple's re-entry into this market. There is much going on around portable technology, and for whatever reason, Palm is now more of a bit player than ever before. Yes, it's sad, but it's been their market to lose and they have done an excellent job of it. Apple has long been a leader in portable computing, but there is some stuff of interest from across the aisle.

No meeting Monday, 19 June 2006

Due to scheduling conflicts, there will be no meeting tonight. We will pick back up in July with our meeting on the third Monday, the 17th. That meeting will be at the Panera in Brier Creek (odd month). One of the things I'll be showing may be this nice new blogging software I'm testing. Blogging software doesn't exactly have anything to do with handhelds, but something cross-platform that lets you work from anywhere definitely fits into the "mobile" interest area. Give it a shot and see what you think.