Feature: Best After-Hours PDA Software
You know that a PDA is great for reminding you when your next meeting is, what the client's address is, what the client's spouse's name is, and so on. But did you know your PDA can also tell you that tomorrow on The Young and the Restless, Phyllis is going to catch Diane and Jack together?
With the right software, your PDA can be just as useful during playtime as it is during the workday. Here are a few worthy programs that can enhance your goofing-off time.
DoubleBit Software Pocket TV Browser
What's on the idiot box tonight? Instead of endlessly surfing through 5 million channels, you can just use DoubleBit Software's Pocket TV Browser to get the scoop about what's playing now (or days from now), who's in the show, what the plot is about, and more.
I compared the listing reviews in Pocket TV Browser to the on-screen program info supplied by my cable company (Comcast); this PDA program provided more info by far. Plus, you can easily search program descriptions by keywords, add program reminders to your PDA calendar, and filter TV listings by program type such as news or sports. Very cool.
Pocket TV Browser doesn't allow you to remotely control your television or other home entertainment gear. For that, you need a program such as ConnectedTV. However, I've found that remote control programs don't provide as much program detail as applications like Pocket TV Browser.
Though you can try Pocket TV Browser for free, and the program costs only $5 to buy, you must subscribe to the Evolve Communications TV listing service to receive content after the free trial period. A yearly subscription is only $10, however.
Leonard Maltin Movie and Video Guide for Palm OS
- Platform: Palm OS
- Price: $20 downloadable; $25 for CD-ROM or Secure Digital card
- Free trial: Yes
For years I've been a fan of Leonard Maltin's movie/video guide, which is released in a new edition every fall. The paperback's tersely worded, starred reviews are just enough to tell you if a film's worth your time--without giving too much plot details away. There are plenty of competitors on the market, but I tend to agree with the reviews in Maltin's book more often than not.
As it turns out, Maltin's concise summaries are perfectly suited for a PDA screen. And taking a PDA to the video store is much more practical than lugging a thick paperback.
I'd be satisfied if this were nothing more than an electronic edition of Maltin's paperback guide, which contains reviews for about 19,000 films. But the Palm version of Maltin's guide lets you search for films using multiple criteria. You can quickly get a list of four-star-rated crime films of the 1940s, for instance. And a "top lists" function provides roundups of the most popular films by decade and genre.
The PDA program also provides current DVD release dates, which are updated during HotSyncs performed wirelessly or on a PC with an active Internet connection. Reviews are only as current as the published guide, however, so don't expect critiques of films playing at the multiplex at any given moment. For that, there's Vindigo.
Vindigo 2.0
- Platforms: Palm OS and Pocket PC, both available from Vindigo
- Annual subscription: $25
- Free trial: Yes
In one program, Vindigo gives you helpful, updated details on local movie listings, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, museums, the music scene, services such as car rental and ATM locations, bathrooms (yes, you read that correctly), and weather.
For example, restaurant listings include addresses with cross streets, phone numbers, and reviews. You can get directions to a restaurant and see it on a map. Restaurants can be sorted by distance from your location, cost, rating, and name. Vindigo information is updated wirelessly or during a HotSync on your Internet-connected PC.
Vindigo could use a few minor improvements, however. For starters, you can only configure the program to download one content provider's information in a given category for your city. In the Movies category, for example, you can opt to download movie show times and plot synopses. Alternatively, you could download show times and movie reviews from Time Out New York and other publications. But you can't download more than one of those options at a time for the same city. The problem is, the reviews don't provide plot synopses, and the plot synopses don't provide reviews, so you're not getting the full picture either way. I work around this limitation, however, by downloading movie reviews for New York and show times and plot synopses for San Francisco, where I live.
Another weakness: Vindigo provides directions for walking, but not driving. In a few places, such as Manhattan, walking directions are great. If you plan to arrive by car, though, better get your directions elsewhere. Also, I'd love to see hours of operation listed for restaurants, shops, and other establishments, as well as listings for local theater productions.
But these are nits. Hands down, Vindigo is the best, most essential lifestyle/entertainment application for your handheld that I've seen.
What Turns You On?
Is there a lifestyle/entertainment PDA program you can't live without? Share your story with me.
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