Hal O'Brien

So, while we're on the subject of Palm...

A few weeks ago, I bought an unlocked Treo 680 from eBay. I just love the thing. I've been a Palm user since the Palm III, and my long-running unit was a Palm Vx. The Treo is such a jump from the Vx that I'm pleased as an alliterative cliché.

At Potlatch, I was talking to davidlevine (he has a 700p), and we both agreed Google Maps for Palm is a killer app.

Well, I think I have an improvement on that: Directory Assistant. What DA does is, it automates lookups against a phone directory web site, YP.com. Why is that particularly cool? Here's an example:

I was with the guys from work, at a Thai restaurant up the street from us, Phuket on Queen Anne. Jasper, a co-worker, said he liked Phuket OK, but it's nowhere near as good as this place he knows in Bellevue. "Oh?" sez I, "What place would that be?" ...as I get out my Treo. "Chanta-{mumble}," is what I heard.

That was enough.

I put "chanta" and Bellevue, WA into DA, and out pops CHANTANEE FAMILY THAI RESTAURANT, on 105th. Having fetched the entry from YP.com, DA then gives you a Copy button, which allows a number of options -- not just copy to the clipboard, but copy to a new Contact in your Treo's database. Which I did. It then has a Map button which can be set to either Mapquest or, you guessed it, Google Maps.

Did I mention it's freeware? Or that it does reverse lookups (that is, you give it a phone number, and it replies with a party)? Or that it handles residential listings as easily as business?

If you have a Treo, you never have to make expensive 411 calls to your carrier again. Highly recommended.