Mobile Computing: Best Programs for Your Palm

Feature: Favorite Palm Programs

Most Palm users I know don't venture much beyond the basic applications--Date Book and such--that come loaded on their PDAs. But with more than 10,000 applications written for Palm OS devices, confining yourself to the basics is like living in Manhattan and never going anywhere but work and home.

Okay, so that metaphor strains credibility a tad. My point is, there are some worthy but overlooked Palm apps out there. The vast majority are inexpensive (say, $10 to $20), easy to use, and don't take up much memory.

With so many Palm OS programs from which to choose, the only problem is finding the most cool, useful ones. But relax. I've scoured the Web and reviewed the ones that, in my opinion, are particularly helpful for mobile professionals. All the programs reviewed here offer free trials.

By the way, I haven't reviewed my all-time favorite Palm app, Vindigo, in this newsletter because I've mentioned it several times before. Check out my most recent Vindigo rave at "Mobile Computing: Rent Movies for Your Notebook."

Next week I'll report on my favorite Pocket PC add-ons. In the meantime, Pocket PC users take note: Many of the Palm apps reviewed here are also available for your handheld.

Logging Travel Expenses

ExpenseLog Pro 1.0 from TrajectoryLabs.com makes it easy to track your travel expenses like bar bills, airport shoe shines, pay-per-view movies, and so on. (Then again, maybe you shouldn't track those expenses.) You can create expense categories, then enter, view, and calculate expenses in each category, or all expenses combined.

ExpenseLog Pro lets you record automobile mileage and per-mile reimbursement rates. There's also a currency converter, but you have to enter the exchange rates manually; other programs (such as WorldMate, reviewed below) do that work for you. ExpenseLog Pro data is backed up to your PC when you HotSync and can be converted into text files for viewing in Microsoft Word, Excel, and the like, but the conversion requires a separate, free utility.

ExpenseLog Pro 1.0, for Palm only, can be found for $30 at Handango.

Hunting Down Area Codes

Seems like new area codes pop up more frequently these days than Michael Jackson exposés on TV. For instance, where the heck does area code 337 come from, anyway? (Answer: Lafayette, Louisiana)

Pocket Codes 2.0 is a handy utility from Neohand that lets you enter U.S. and Canadian area codes to determine their geographical location and time zone. Conversely, you can enter a location to find its area code. You can also look up country codes, as well as international Internet domain extensions. Pocket Codes 2.0 is easy to use, does well what it purports to do, and has color icons, too.

Pocket Codes 2.0 costs $8 and is available in Palm and Pocket PC versions.

Converting When Abroad

One of my all-time favorite Palm apps, WorldMate takes some of the confusion out of a trip abroad--which is good news for those of you still traveling abroad nowadays. The program includes seven highly useful, integrated utilities.

WorldMap displays your location on a color map, with light and dark areas to indicate day and night. It shows the time and day for any selected location as well as a five-day weather forecast that's as up-to-date as your last HotSync. (You must have an Internet connection active when you HotSync for this to work.) Weather data is supplied by The Weather Channel.

The Clocks screen allows you to view the date and time of five different locations at once, as well as get easy access to weather forecasts for those cities.

WorldMate automatically retrieves the latest exchange rates when you HotSync and updates the program's currency converter. You can convert one currency (such as the euro) into two different currencies at once, too. There's also a converter for lengths, distances, temperatures, and other measurements; a list of country dialing codes; and a utility that converts men's, women's, and baby's clothing sizes. The most recent WorldMate version includes a packing list feature that lets you add categories and descriptions to packed items (you can also check a box to indicate if an item has been packed).

WorldMate 9.1.2 for the Palm OS costs $25 (and is worth every cent). WorldMate 3.0.2 for Pocket PCs is $20.

Tracking Your Time

Because I'm self-employed, I track all of my working hours--even the time spent on projects for which I receive a flat, rather than an hourly, rate. In fact, I strongly recommend that all professionals track their time whenever possible. If for no other reason, knowing how many hours you spent on that last PowerPoint presentation can help you more accurately estimate the time required to put together your the next one.

Several years ago I researched time tracking programs, and the one that best suited my needs then--and now--is Iambic Software's TimeReporter, which runs on Windows and Palm OS. You can easily track time spent away from the office on your handheld using the Palm utility. Then, when you HotSync, the Palm entries are added to the master TimeReporter database on your Windows machine.

Time entries are easy to create and sort, and you can use them to build reports. TimeReporter could stand some improvement; I wish you could create reports directly in the program rather than having to export the data to Excel, for instance. And the program is a bit pricey. But in my experience, this time tracker is the best I've tested.

The Standard Edition of TimeReporter 4.0.2 includes the Palm and Windows apps and costs $150; the Professional Edition, which adds support for Microsoft SQL Servers, is $200. No Pocket PC version is currently available. Go to the Iambic TimeReporter site to purchase the software or download a free trial version.