PocketPC/Windows Mobile

PocketPC & Windows Mobile Genealogy Software

Deep Discounts on Dell Axims

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From Dell Home & Home Office: “For a limited time, purchase select new Dell Axim Handhelds and get instant savings! Take 35% off Axim X51v 624Mhz Handhelds. Or choose an Axim “Deal of the Week,” a specially configured handheld solution, and save up to 40%! Orders must be placed through Dell Home Electronics & Accessories to qualify.”
This means a Dell Axim 51v starting at $324!

The VGA-Out support is great if you want to do any mini-presentations at a family reunion (there are VGA -> S-Video converters available). I have the previous version, the X50v, and it’s been a solid PDA. It’s very hard to get a Windows Mobile PDA at this price with both VGA resolution (great for the Windows Mobile/Pocket PC genealogy applications and a fast processor.

FileMaker Mobile 8

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FileMaker Mobile 8 is now shipping. If you use FileMaker 8 to store your genealogy information and research notes, this maybe of interest to you. Among the new features – expanded workgroup support. The Starter Solutions has been expanded as well.

Pocket Genealogist Public Beta 3.00A51

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Northern Hills Software has updated the public beta of Pocket Genealogist 3.0 to version 3.00A51. Pocket Genealogist is a PocketPC/Windows Mobile based genealogy application.

Additions/Updates:
* Change to all imports to prevent occasional program termination.
* Removed “Merge All” screen for 2-way Legacy synchronizations.
* Changes to how the Relationship Calculator does translations for non-English languages. (Norwegian and Portuguese has been updated)
* Added a “Swap” button to the Relationship Calculator.

Fixes:
* Fixed “Last Edit Date” for PAF GenBridge imports.
* Fix to the “Search” dialog (during create) to properly show the TMG version for the databases in the list. (Previously was always indicating Version 5)
* Fix to “Delete” spouse so that you can also delete the family record at the same time.

It can be downloaded from this page.

Palm Treo 650 vs 700 Phones

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PC World has a rundown on the differences between the Palm Treo 650 and 700 phones, which are PDA/Phone hybrids from Palm. The 650 runs Palm OS, and the 700 runs Windows Mobile 5.0. I haven’t seen anything to indicate that the 700 is a stripped down Windows Mobile device – i.e. like many of the Smartphones that can’t run all Windows Mobile software (including genealogy software). It definitely looks like the 700 is a full Windows Mobile 5.0 device that looks like it can run genealogy software, but I’m not 100% sure just yet. The 650 can run Palm OS genealogy software (not sure of any limitations).

One important difference, the 650 has a 360×360 screen, whereas the 700 has a 240×240 screen. On the other hand, the 700 has 128MB of built-in memory, while the 650 has 32MB, and the 700 is faster. The 700 also has a 1.3MP digital camera, while the 650 is a much lower resolution.

Treo Mobile has extensive coverage of both of these phones.

The Treos could be a good compromise for genealogists who want a mobile device, but are afraid they won’t use it much, or that it will be “just one more thing” to carry along – using them as both phones and PDAs can be handy.