Something you can't stand, but can't live without...

... the Palm Treo 750

Windows Development Uncovered

Darnit Palm. What Happened to You?

• You used to be my favorite gadget maker before iPod came to existence.
• You made sleek, slim, and nice handheld PDA which I loved so much and used over the course of two years.
• You were always there for Mac users when they want a PDA that doesn't crap out on the Mac.
• Your Palm OS was probably the best PDA operating system even now compared to that run on the iPhone.
• Your Treo has been a close competitor of Blackberry even though you don't have backend solution like them.
• You made my current mobile device, although I hate Windows OS to the bone and it's kinda thick, I still like look and feel of your hardware, compared to those thick and old HTC models.

Now...

• You announced the partnership with Microsoft to have Windows Mobile, which your OS is far more superior, on your devices.
  
• You came up with "stuck-in-the-middle"-sized mobile concept Foleo, and then killed it even before it was born.
• Your PDA-only devices have features that are far more superior the iPod Touch for a long time but they no longer sell.
  
• Lastly, You came up with Palm 500v, which run Windows Mobile and does not have touchscreen. This is just your own version of Motorola Q which looks like an ugly T-mobile Dash. Only reasons people bought the Treo over Windows Mobile devices or Blackberries are your OS and the touchscreen.
  

Frankly, what are you thinking?

Gadgets I Currently Want

1) After my beloved Krups XP4000 manual espresso machine prematurely died, I was looking for a new machine that is capable of grinding and effectively frothing milk. This Delonghi's Super-automatic ESAM3300 really stands out. It's equipped with removable boiler, nice grinder, milk frother (although not automatic), decalcifing indicator, and programmable brewer. The price is a little steep-$800 shipped excluding tax. Better be prepared to pitch it to K. Kratai to split the cost (hey... I'm home just only 3 mornings a week!)

2) Have I told you that my new cellphone- Palm treo 750 is a piece of crap? Yes, it still is. (Although Palm has designed the phone itself pretty nicely, I can still go on and on how bad Windows Mobile 5, combined with stupid GoodLink, is but... maybe later). Apart from horrible battery life, the alarm feature sucks! Don't people at Redmond know that there's a feature called "Snooze" in most modern alarm clock at the moment. And, how about that stupid little beep that can't even wake up a cat?! Anyway, I've been fastinated with the "Smart Alarm Clock"-- the alarm clock that studies your sleeping pattern throughout the night, and wake you up when you're during the light sleep cycle within the preset period. As the technology is still at the bottom of the S-curve, the prices are still high. I found one (capable of waking two people up individually) from aXbo at about 200 Euros (yikes... it's just an alarm clock!) and one from US Sleeptracker at about $150. The idea and products are quite neat but I'd probably wait till the price goes down to "normal" level.