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News

1. Google Maps is now available on on Windows Mobile
2. Treo available on a bunch of new networks, notably Alltell. Plus, there�s apparently a cameraless 700p on Verizon?
3. Direct Push from Exchange serves now available for Versamail
4. Access dumps �PalmOS� name, switches to �Garnet OS�
   ...Plus, they now face competition from a consortium of companies, who are developing LiMo, a direct competitor to ALP.

Great accessories

Smartphone Experts UltraSlim Skin Case

Seido holsters now available for both the Treo 680 and the Treo 750

Smartphone Experts SliderCase

TC Guide

In this week's TCGuide, we walk though the steps you need to get your Windows Mobile Treo talking to a GPS unit directly. Why would you want to do this? Well, it means you will be able to get maps and location-based information without having to load up (or pay for!) a full GPS-style application like TomTom or Copilot. TomTom is still best for driving use, but it's pretty cool to use GPS with, say, Google Maps.

So, what do you need to do?

1. Get a bluetooth GPS receiver 'puck'. The TreoCentral Store sells several standalone GPS receivers, though the GPS receives that come with TomTom or Copilot also work. Basically, anything that transmits NMEA data over bluetooth should work.
2. Pair up your GPS receiver with your Treo.
   1. Turn on the GPS receiver and bluetooth on your Treo
   2. Go into Settings, Connections, Bluetooth
   3. Tap Devices, New Partnership. When your GPS unit shows up, choose that. The passcode (if asked) is nearly always '0000'.
   4. Be sure to check the box next to 'Serial Port' on the next screen, then you may tap Finish
3. You'll need to set up a 'Hardware COM port'. To do this, go into Settings, Connections, Bluetooth. Then tap the 'COM Ports' tab and tap 'New Outgoing Port'. Select your GPS receiver on the next screen, then you can usually just stick with whatever COM port WM suggests (COM 8, in my case).
   

   (...At this point, you've gone far enough to get GPS working properly with some WM apps like Virtual Earth Mobile or Wiondows Live Search for mobile beta. In either of these applications, you can go into preferences and just set the COM port to the above hardware port.)

4. Google Maps, however, needs Windows Mobile to tell it where your GPS is. To set that up, there's one last set. Go into Settings, System, GPS. On the 'Programs' tab, choose a random COM Port (I chose COM 5). Then tap the 'Hardware' tab, in this tab you'll need to select the Hardware COM port from Step 3 (COM 8, in my case). You should be able to leave the Baud rate at the default 4800. Finally, in the 'Access' tab make sure that 'Manage GPS automatically (recommended)' is checked.

Finally, as this point, you can check the 'Track Location (GPS)' within Google Maps' Menu and it will work - Google Maps automatically gets the correct COM port from Windows Mobile. If you make it all the way to Step 4, you may want to use that COM port in Virtual Earth and Windows Live Search as well. These steps are a bit of a technical hassle, but they're well worth it. (These instructions were cribbed from the excellent Windows Mobile Team Blog ).

TreoCentral Community

1. 'Copper's no More - Except for Treocentralers!'. Looking for a (may discontinued?) Treo 680 in Copper? Jwarn3rd has your hook-up.
2. 'Custom Rom - The Easy Way!'. Berdinkerdickle posts an excellent summary of how to get a custom ROM loaded on your Treo 650.
3. 'New Cool Things I Learned on the 750'. JPVann starts a list of neat little tricks for your Treo 750.

Credits

Thanks to the TreoCentral Store for sponsoring the TreoCast.

Music comes from ccMixter.org, a great Creative Commons music site. Our specific music is the following:

• "Hot Sax on a platter (jazzalicious mix)" by shagrugge
• "Cell Path, Nerve Path" by adhesion
• "Valsa pra Ela" by trz
• "strings (Flak Beat pt. 2)" by B_Trasht
• "Independence Day" by MC Jack in the Box

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Read Merciful by Casey Adolfsson