Doing the Treo thing -- for TV and news

My cell phone contracts always run out around Christmas time, so every other year or so, one of the gifts I get myself is a new phone. This year's selection, the Palm Treo 650. All the mobile-tech buzz this month is on the new Palm Treo 700w, which is the first Palm product to run a Microsoft operating system, Windows Mobile 5. I almost waited to get the new 700w, but in the end, I think the months-old 650 is still the better device, and that's why I got it. The biggest dealbreaker for the 700w was the 240x240 resolution screen, a required Microsoft standard, that is completely overshadowed by the 320x320 Palm 650 screen. Higher resolution equals a much better, crisper screen. I also think the Palm software is far simpler to use, and much better suited for one-handed use (think making calls or checking e-mail in the car). The only thing the Palm 700w has that I wished my Treo 650 would have is access to Verizon Wireless' high-speed data network aka Broadband Access.

My newsroom hasn't splurged yet for mobile data devices (Treos or Blackberries) for its reporters, much less managers like me, but several of us in the newsroom has bought our own. And we've found a couple of great tools for keeping in touch. My favorites are:

• Chattermail -- a terrific e-mail program that, combined with an IMAP e-mail account, allows for a true push e-mail experience that equals a Blackberry (and costs much less)
  
• MobiTV -- OK, this is cool. For $10/month, you get a few dozen TV channels directly to your Treo. Watch MSNBC, ESPN, FOX Sports (no FOX News? hope soon), Weather Channel and several others. Even with the slower dialup-speed connection, picture and signal quality are terrific.
  
• FreeNews -- Elsewhere on this blog is a post about the great usefulness of RSS, which lets you download and quickly scan headlines from all sorts of sites. It helps me survey a broad range of local, national and world news sites, which I often do quietly during our morning editorial meetings. FreeNews, while ironically not free ($20/year), is the best of the bunch at delivering RSS material directly to the Palm. Not only is it quick, but also it's well-designed for one-handed operation, which even while not driving, is a big big plus.
  

The coolest thing so far with the Treo? Besides hours of gadget fun getting it all tricked out, the coolest experience so far was trading e-mails with my assistant news director, who used his own new Treo to e-mail me rapid-fire posts from jury duty.