So, what makes Apple think this is okay? To be honest, I’m not sure. Mail.app is a special application which treats multiple email account with the respect they deserve, granting the user the ability work with all email as if it were one giant account. It does this because it applies simple smarts which any one of the hundreds of email clients which have ever come out could have applied at any time and chose not to. Every email account has an Inbox, a Sent folder, a Drafts folder, and a Trash folder. Does it not make sense to combine the contents of all accounts into one folder called Inbox? Of course it does.

Does anyone else do it? No.

I hear all of your Windows folk out there screaming your heads off about how Outlook does this, but I’m here to tell you it doesn’t. Not the same way. I’m no Apple-only nerd who touched a Windows 95 in DOS mode back in 1996 and consider myself in the know. I’ve been actively working with Windows and Microsoft technology based servers for years. I’m very, VERY familiar with this kind of stuff, and Apple walks through it like a hot coals walker handles temperate pavement. What Apple doesn’t do, however, is reliability.

I’ve had my issues, but I’m not the only one. Right now I can’t send mail. I even went through the trouble of setting up a single outgoing account for all messages since late last year Mail.app couldn’t remember how to login to several different accounts at the same time (if you tell me that having more than one account is breaking it, I’ll freak… comprende vous?). Its so bad that I’m actually using Entourage, which is a horrible kludge of an application. One of the issues that amazes me, though, is that when Mail.app is thinking hard to cause the spinning beachball to appear, all you need to do is click a half dozen times in the window to crash it.

Like I said, though. I’m not the only one. I have reports from people very close to me as well as dozens of strangers and semi-acquaintances that they are also having issues with Mail.app. They have lost mail, watched Mail.app practically eat itself, crash over and over again, and many other unpleasant behaviors. Why Apple continues to allow this is beyond me, especially when Steve Jobs and Co. are so rabid about user experience. If Apple could just make it work, make it more responsive, stop it from crashing and eating email, fix up the SMTP (postfix or sendmail, anyone?), and make the filters easier to create a manage (TIP TO APPLE: Don’t put it in the freaking Preferences panel and add a Create Filter From Message button!!!).

I’m just saying!

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The HBM-770 is just like every other Bluetooth headset, as I’ve said before. It has a power button, a charging port, volume controls, and you can plug it in the charge. It sits on your ear using a large loop (See image left). which starts behind the microphone and causes it to gently rest on your ear. Its the in-ear piece which defines how it sits on the side of your head, which really seems to work for me.

The speaker horn (that’s what I’m calling it… deal) sticks out a ways and rests very lightly in your ear canal. Its so light overall that there are times when I forget I’m wearing it and put my hand to my head to check. To switch the side of your head you want to headset on, you just flip the ear hoop. You don’t have to pull it out or swap it with another one. Its also nice that this one doesn’t need to invade your ear canal in order to work. I don’t think it has significant noise cancellation, but a good, loud handset makes up for that. 

I’m actually rather amazed its so light. They actually crammed the standard LG handset charger port onto this thing, which is real overkill to me, and had they not, it could have been a few grams lighter. It might have even floated. That’s fantastic since I have managed to alienate every headset I’ve ever received. It hurts the back of my ear. It hurts the front of my ear. It has too many pieces. It goes in too far. It doesn’t go in far enough. Mostly, though, they’ve never been loud enough. 

This is loud and clear, which means I can actually hear conversations instead of guessing what someone is saying to me. Even the operational tones the headset makes are useful. I can easily identify each noise that its making without the need to consult a manual or query the phone. Its simple, clean, and without drama of any kind. I like it. Hell, it even turns on and off smartly. When its off, touch the power button for a second and it comes on. When its on, hold it for 3 seconds and it turns off. There are no incantations, certifications, or teams of professionals required to operate it. 

I can’t help it, but if you need a simple, plain Bluetooth headset, there is no other choice but the LG HBM-770. It beats the pants off of anything else out there for me. Even the Jawbone. Sure, the Jawbone looks fantastic and has that wicked noise cancellation technology which can delete lawnmowers from a conversation, but it doesn’t work for me. So, for US$80 list, I cannot and will not beat this thing with a stick of any kind. I’ve found my headset soul mate. Feel free to pry it from my cold, dead hands.

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The key to the functionality of the Pulse is manifold, but it can be counted down to the infrared camera perched under the nib (I’m old, so look it up), the voice recording capabilities, and the special paper the pens use in order to work their magic. Now don’t go groaning over the fact that you have to buy special paper. Have you seen what a simple notepad costs at Barnes & Noble these days? Shocking to the point where you’ll think that paying $20 for a 200 sheet notebook which enables the power of the Pulse is a steal and a half. Combine that with the fact that the most recent Windows version of the software can print blank pages, and you’re on easy street.

So, how do the camera, recorder, and paper work to together to make this powerful combo I speak of? That’s a more complicated question, but there are answers. I am, however, going to quickly describe the Pulse and what the package comes with. First, there’s the pen, of course. Its a large pen, but not much larger than the big, thick, expensive pens which you can buy that don’t do anything the Pulse does. In the box there is a 200 page starter notebook (8.5″ x 11″, college ruled), a nicely small and portable USB magnetic dock, a pair of stereo headphones with a microphone in each earpiece, a lanyard for the headphones, a set of replacement ink cartridges and a stylus tip (nice touch!), and a crappy faux leather case (What happened!?). Take a gander at the image below:

The pen has a display embedded in the side of it. Nicely, there are several options for how you can use the pen, and one of them is to change the orientation of the screen depending on what hand you use (I’m a lefty… deal). That grill you can see under the screen is a speaker and on the top end of the pen is the headphone/microphone jack. I’ll get to the headphones later. They’re super neat. 

Now, whenever the pen is on and you write on the special paper (check out the image), the pen stores everything you write in its memory. I have the 1GB version, though there’s also a 2GB model. So, as long as the pen is on it records what you write. Now for the voice recording. If you tap on the Record button which are conveniently located on the bottom edge of every page then the Pulse starts to record, just like a standard voice recorder. Here’s where the neat trick comes into play though: as you write, the Pulse keeps track of what you are writing and tags the audio recorded to that writing. 

When you’re done taking notes, you click the Stop button. Here’s the next neato trick: While the Pulse is not recording, you can tap on any of your notes and it will play back the audio recorded for that segment. Pretty slick, eh! The trick I’ve learned already is to just write a keyword as I’m recording instead of trying to keep up and missing stuff. If I have a question, I’ll write down a snippet to remind me of the question and then carry on with my conversation. Fraking brilliant! The other controls on the pages allow you to control volume, speed, jumping forward and backward to tracks, and making bookmarks. 

Using the headphones also sports a neat trick. The jack right into the end of the Pulse so you can listen to the recorded audio in stereo. Why? Sure, the built-in mic only records in mono, but when you jack in those wicked headphones, the Pulse records in stereo. That’s why there is a microphone in each earbud. Trust me when I tell you that this is remarkably helpful. Say, for instance, you’re sitting at a table talking with 4 or 5 people. Wearing the headphones (or wearing them down on your neck using the lanyard) lets the Pulse record your environment the same way you hear. When you play this stereo sound back later, you hear the direction people are speaking from. I find it a fantastic way to recall how the conversation was going since I can visualize the meeting. 

Once you’ve collected stuff on your new pen, its time to get that data onto your desktop. LiveScribe nicely offers both Windows and Mac OS X versions of the desktop client, though the Mac version has some catching up to do. For one thing, with the Windows version you can print your own paper. Not so on the Mac. Shame! Interestingly, the box doesn’t come with a CD in it, but when you do download the client for your operating system at least you’re getting the latest version. Once its installed, all you need to do is plug in the dock and place the pen into it. It connects and moves everything from the pen to the desktop client. Once there, everything which has a voice recording attached to it is highlighted in green. 

Now, if that wasn’t enough, there’s more. Say, for example, that you’ve been taking notes for a few months now and you’ve been asked by a colleague or classmate for a note you made back in some project meeting or lecture. All you need to do is load up LiveScribeDesktop and search for the keywords. The software is so smart that it can actually parse your handwriting and show you which pages any hits are on. No kidding! This thing is so smart that it can tell which notebook you are in and which page you’re turned to. Very, very cool indeed. 

There are some other gee willikers things the Pulse can do, but they really don’t add to the functionality except for the calculator. The nice thing that the developers have allowed for is adding new features through software updates. In fact, for the first month I had this thing I received no less that 10 updates to the pen software. Its pretty amazing that the Pulse sports a 150MHz ARM9 processor and a 300mAh LiIon rechargeable battery and crams ups to 2GB of storage space into such a cool pen. 

Simply put, if you pair the Pulse up with an iPhone, BlackBerry, or one of the new Palm Pre devices, you are set to go laptop free. I’m not kidding. The only thing that LiveScribe is missing is some more options in paper products. They have the big college-ruled notebooks and some largish bound notebooks with lines or no lines, but there are no notebooks or calendar books. I’d love to see a notebook which is as long as the Pulse, 3-4″ wide, unlined, with a barrel on the spine into which you can slide the Pulse while you’re not working with it. That and I’d really like to see an integrated calendar management tool. Maybe even synching it up to Windows or Mac OS X. Now that would rock. 

Now that I’ve turned you all on to the Pulse, I would like to inform you that you can have your own right now. You can head on over to LiveScribe’s web site and order one there or you can swing over to your local Target and get it there. The 1GB model runs for US$150 while the 2GB model runs for US$200. The reality is that this is just one of the single coolest gadgets available on the planet and I can only see it getting better and better.

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Speaking of the Blackberry, I’ve been digging up some software. For upcoming review will be PocketDay, a very powerful data integrator, and Agendus, a new addition to the Blackberry fold. I’m also going to run down a range of freeware applications which are, frankly, good and bad. On the Mac side, I’ll be reviewing Missing Sync for Blackberry, which so far is brilliant. Later on I’ll be diving head first into Plazmic, RIM’s theme development environment, and try to cobble together some not-so-crappy themes for a few Blackberrys. 

To round things up, I’ve got some new lappy bags from Sumdex which are quite nice and not too expensive (hint: they make bags for other companies who then mark them up). I’ve then got a pair of reviews coming up for a duo of new products from our old pals over at FileMaker. Finally, I’m starting up a new project! I’m teaching myself how to program, and I’m going to start with “C”, a language I tried to learn back in High School. Go Wildcats!

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The ethic behind the Defender Series is to provide the best possible protection without limiting access to or diminishing the value of the device which the case protects. After ensconcing my black Centro in the case, it becomes protected from the elements (aside from full emersion) and yet is remarkably easy to use. It is certainly chunkier, and somewhat heavier, but if you are prepared to protect your phone against almost all damage, then you’re ready to use this case.

The case is very smartly designed. It comes in three components which work very closely together to provide several layers of protection to your Centro. In the box, the case comes mostly assembled in that the hard shell and the soft cover are already joined. Taking apart the case involves removing the rubber soft cover, then splitting the seams to split the hard shell into front and rear shells. Inside the case was a thin, rubbery sheet which had the impression of the frontside of a Centro on one leaf. I soon figured out that this is the internal protection. The internal sheet also acts as a screen protector, using static to neatly attach to the display. The cover is perfectly clear, as well, making it very easy to see through. You can see the parts in the image below.

Once you’ve neatly placed the internal cover where it goes, you slip the front of the Centro into the front hard shell which has the added benefit of stopping the internal cover from moving around any more. Then you pull down the back cover, position it, then slip on the back shell. The two halves snap together easily enough to hold them firmly, but when I took it apart again to take the image you see to the left it wasn’t difficult to get them separated again. Once the whole kit ‘n kaboodle is together, you pull the rubber cover on and fit it to the cutouts and pins which hold it to the shell. Now its all one unit and ready to rock. 

The Defender case isn’t water proof, but it is somewhat resistant to dust and moisture. The case is very nicely designed to offer access to all of the ports and controls on the Centro. There is a clear port on the back for the camera and a grill for the speaker which has a dust cover preventing dust from getting into the case. There is another filter protecting the earpiece on the top front of the handset, as well. To the left of that there is a passthrough which lets you see the power/alert light. There are rubber actuator buttons on the left side which let you control the buttons for volume, ringer, and the option button right through the case. At the bottom of the front of the case there is an internal horn which directs speech into the microphone which is located at the bottom of the phone.

To get to the stylus and the Silent switch there is a peel-out rubber cover. Its very easy to open, and once you’ve practiced with it a bit, a snap to close again. There is another such cover on the bottom of the case which allows access to the sync/power port and 1/8th inch headphone jack. That one is a tad more difficult to close, but it shouldn’t be very often that you have to open it. Overall, the fit of the case is nearly perfect and doens’t creak a lot or limit your access to anything. Sound quality even seems to be improved, especially through the microphone which the case smartly redirects to the front, therefore pointing right at your mouth. 

The feel of the case is wonderful. It sits well in the hand and greatly increases the grip without making it too much heavier than the handset itself. Pushing controls and using the touchscreen through the protective cover is easy. Even using the Centro’s dinky QWERTY keyboard works just fine. In fact, the case may be improving my big-fingered accuracy, which is a feat but can’t be confirmed. The case itself comes with a belt pack which the case firmly snaps into. It takes a good tug to pull the handset out, but if you want this case, then you’re likely looking for protection, which includes not dropping it from your belt. 

I’m quite pleased with the case and the design, fully knowing what the case was designed for. Otterbox has created yet another unquestionably capable, mission-specific case, adding another notch to its already notched up case belt. The Otterbox Defender Series case for Palm Centro is available now and can be had for US$49.95.

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Now, some would argue that I rail against such an act in order to protect my right to be a pervert and take up-skirt images on trains and buses. This is the content of arguements for such laws as it is with anti-virus software makers whose marketing policy is to engender fear in order to sell. (I may be a hardcore Machead, but I do use Windows, and when I do, I don’t use A/V software, but I also don’t use Microsoft software or do things I shouldn’t. Because of that, I’ve not been infected in 10+ years.) The real argument, and the one Republicans and the Religious Right don’t want you to make, is that its about freedom of speech. Yes, taking pictures is a right we have because its a form of personal expression.

What I’m more concerned about is Republicans fighting as hard as they are to not support our President, Barack Obama. We are in a serious recession, we have a dangerously high jebless rate, we have a large, National population of homeless people, we have banks and other financial institutions ripping us off, the credit market is in shambles, and money fund managers are giving themselves multi-million dollar bonuses with TARP funds. We’re in trouble. Deep trouble, and Republicans are up to their same, tired, ridiculous old games claiming that Democrats are all about spending and spending and spending. Its shameful.

Think about it, kids (and I’m no mathematician). If you spend X number of Billions of dollars on a bridge refitting project, where does that money go? Republicans would have you believe that simply making the money available is waste and will produce nothing. Democrats, on the other hand (and who never seem to say anything about this), know that what will really happen is the money will go to planning which will create staff positions for design and implementation which will pay architectural firms to design the refits which will guide the project leaders to determining a contractor who will need to hire people to actually perform the work. I don’t know how many bridges there are in the US, but I know there’s a lot so I imagine that’s several hundreds of thousands of jobs right there.

I have a feeling that some of you will ask yourselves what you can do about it. Don’t. Know that you can call, write, fax, or email your representatives in Congress and tell them what you want them to work on. Tell them that pushing a bill (HR414, in case you were curious) to make mobile phone cameras click by law is less important than reinvigorating our economy. Let them know that you’re not happy about this. I’m certainly going to tell my reps what they should be working on.

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