TealAgent Brings Web Data To Non-Wireless Handhelds

TealPoint Software announced today the release of TealAgent version 2 for Palm OS handhelds. TealAgent fetches and formats and assortment of web-based content for offline viewing on your handheld.

A conduit for news, movie times, stock quotes, driving directions, restaurant listings, web pages, file downloads, and more, TealAgent fetches and formats web-based content for offline viewing on your handheld. When installed on an Internet-capable PC, TealAgent and the TealAgent Desktop makes any PalmOS handheld web-aware without the cost or hassles of wireless.

The TealAgent Desktop runs under Windows and supports connection to the internet through automatic modem dialing or direct connection with or without proxy. TealAgent comes with built-in support for unzipping and installing PalmOS-format files, downloading restaurant listings, browsing news, weather, movie times, driving directions and clipping text from any specified web page. The new release gives users the choice of controlling tasks from the Desktop or handheld. TealAgent retails for $19.95 [ class=news>BUY].

"TealAgent is a web solution for the rest of us," said Vince Lee, President of TealPoint Software. "Few handheld owners want to invest in the costly hardware or monthly subscriptions to access real-time web content on their devices. TealAgent lets us download news, movie times, and data from other sites and view them in programs we already have."

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Or... get Plucker for $19.95 less

Patrick @ 5/5/2004 9:41:11 PM #
Duh.


Or... Avantgo
lak @ 5/5/2004 11:01:09 PM #
For people who want easy and minimal setup, Avantgo is very good, and free as well. Avantgo also allows you to surf online.

RE: Or... get Plucker for $19.95 less
palmhiker @ 5/6/2004 10:28:26 AM #
I have been using JPluck for fetching, and Plucker for viewing an assortment of daily news and information for many months now.

These are both free and are very well written and supported applications.

I use JPluck instead of Plucker's fetcher due to our firewall blocking Plucker for some reason, but JPluck works just fine.

Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?

;-(( @ 5/5/2004 11:11:07 PM #
And to the poster above, is AvantGo still in business? I thought they had burned through what was left of their capital last Fall.

Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
ozz @ 5/6/2004 1:02:31 AM #
AvantGo still works fine. I use it everyday.

_________________________
Lord, help me become the person my dog thinks I am!
RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
PDA Guy @ 5/6/2004 4:03:47 AM #
iSilo does do this same thing, and provides a Mac desktop solution as well. For about the same price. If you're a windows user, definitely check out all competitors (and Plucker, which also provides a mac and linux desktops!).

If you're a Mac user, though...check out Plucker first (its free), then iSilo. Don't bother with TealAgent, they don't support the platform.

RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
;-(( @ 5/6/2004 11:25:59 PM #
I believe iSilo is the best of the lot - despite the fact that it's not free. Document reader/offline web reader, great compression (with embedded graphics) and well-supported. iSilo is one of the top 10 Palm apps ever released:

DateBk3/4/5
HandyShopper
DiddleBug
Ultrasoft Money
APCalc
YAUC
Vindigo
Vexed
UninstallHack
Directory Assistant





Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
Winter_ @ 5/7/2004 7:44:02 AM #
First of all, Facey, thanks for sharing with us that spontaneous display of wisdom.

Then, let me inform you that, in an exercise of futility, I've tracked the 11 apps in your list of the "10 best of all times" : together they take 3022 Kb of RAM.
Let's put apart 10 Mb for their extra data.

So in my T3 I could carry Facey's 11 best apps of all times with 10 Mb of extra data and still have about 50 Mb free.

Hey, I have an idea: I'll use that free RAM to carry MP3.

Ooops, no, I forgot I just can't. Pity.

RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
Altema @ 5/8/2004 10:22:55 PM #
"Hey, I have an idea: I'll use that free RAM to carry MP3.

Ooops, no, I forgot I just can't. Pity."

RamDisk. Of course, with cards being so cheap now...

RE: Doesn't iSilo do most of this? And better?
;-(( @ 5/9/2004 1:31:38 AM #
First of all, Facey, thanks for sharing with us that spontaneous display of wisdom.

Then, let me inform you that, in an exercise of futility, I've tracked the 11 apps in your list of the "10 best of all times" : together they take 3022 Kb of RAM.
Let's put apart 10 Mb for their extra data.

So in my T3 I could carry Facey's 11 best apps of all times with 10 Mb of extra data and still have about 50 Mb free.

Hey, I have an idea: I'll use that free RAM to carry MP3.

Ooops, no, I forgot I just can't. Pity.


Frosty, you just helped me win $20! Thank you. I bet someone $20 that you (and only you) would comment that there are 11 programs listed. I suppose I owe you part of the money, but... tough.

So you went and added up the sizes of those apps? Wow. That suggests a level of pathology that would do even Mr. Cane proud. Congratulations.

By the way, those 11 programs (actually 10 + 1 hack) would typically need a lot more than 10 MB for data for a powerhouse power user like you. DateBk 5 entries of your appointments with your psychiatrist and the HandyShopper list of your current psychotropics alone would probably consume 5 MB.

The more you tout the (incredibly weak) argument that you need the RAM to store MP3, the more you're going to marginalize those suggesting Palm needs a different file system. If Palms came with 256 MB RAM or if SD/CF cards were hideously expensive, you would have a valid argument. As it stands, your position is simply preposterous. Have a seat, Frosty.


Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

This makes perfect sense... if you're on crack.
;-(( @ 5/9/2004 1:51:39 AM #
RamDisk. Of course, with cards being so cheap now...

How dare you disagree with Frosty! Why store MP3 on a cheap memory card when you should be able to use RAM? Then you can buy a memory card to store your apps on. Does that make sense now?

If Michael Mace is reading this, I hope he hires Frosty to work at Palm. Frosty is obviously just the kind of guy PalmSource like to have working for them. A true rocket surgeon.

Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

Alterna: Ram Card
Winter_ @ 5/9/2004 8:14:54 AM #
Yes, as was discussed on other thread, I'm using already Ram Card. But,

1) you must pay for it

2) you must decide how much memory you'll need for the virtual card and how much free RAM you want. That was supposedly a problem PPCs suffered!
Presumably, a native file system could avoid that.

3) the app doesn't feel like the most solid thing in the world (not updated since 2002, (re)activated on resets...)

4) the results aren't exactly user-friendly (virtual cards? and hotsync gets somewhat confused, for example)

...and, lastly,...

5) it feels like a gross oversight from Palm OS. Why hinder such an evident functionality?

Ram, Card, Ram Card... FFFF strikes again
Winter_ @ 5/9/2004 8:24:30 AM #
Frosty, you just helped me win $20! Thank you. I bet someone $20 that you (and only you) would comment that there are 11 programs listed.

Funny, 'cause I bet that you bet... oh never mind. Last time I played this I was, like, 8 years old?.

I now prefer FPS games, and ... with you, that would be a whole new level of fun. Even on the computer XD

However, did you also bet that the subject would bring on your denial of anything wrong with Palm OS? I would have.

I suppose I owe you part of the money, but... tough.

Keep it, surely you'll have some use for it. Like all the things you keep buying to plug Palm's holes.
Or to keep drinking :D.

That suggests a level of pathology that would do even Mr. Cane proud.

Man, you sure seem fixated with Mr. Cane.
Almost as much as with Sony and Palm*'s CEO. XD

......
The more you tout the (incredibly weak) argument that you need the RAM to store MP3, the more you're going to marginalize those suggesting Palm needs a different file system

In fact I see both things under the same light: I don't want a crippling OS, like Palm OS is right now. If I want to put A SINGLE 50 KB FILE anywhere on the device (be it internal RAM or the external card), why do I HAVE to jump thru loops?

The MP3 case is just the extreme result of that OS kludginess.

However, being the argument so incredibly weak, why don't you point out exactly why?

If Palms came with 256 MB RAM or if SD/CF cards were hideously expensive, you would have a valid argument.

No. If Palms came with 256 MB, then you would argue that 1GB SD cards are already on the market and that they're so convenient. Heh.

(and if they were not available, you'd surely say that Palm should have used CF cards...)

As it stands, your position is simply preposterous. Have a seat, Frosty.
Would you please just point out WHY, instead of simply repeating trash like some vegetoid with a keyboard? :D (I liked that, you know)


Alterna: Ram Card (II)
Winter_ @ 5/9/2004 8:53:54 AM #
I forgot another important one.

The fact is, I would be OK 95% of the time with the T3 internal RAM. If I have, let's say, 10 megs of internal RAM free (in fact I have much more right now), WHY ON EARTH am I FORCED to BUY an SD card (or a software substitute) to be able to carry, let's say, a single JPG file or .doc document or whatever I feel like?

Can someone explain HOW can that be considered a feature of the OS?

(c'mon, FFFF, have a shoot :D )

AvantGo is free... And it doesn't tether you to a desktop!

Strider_mt2k @ 5/6/2004 6:27:18 AM #
AvantGo is totally free, and it's info can be updated when you are away from your PC through a wireless connection.

This is a feature that it's competition seems to universally lack.



RE: AvantGo is free... And it doesn't tether you to a desktop!
chilimost @ 5/6/2004 9:34:46 AM #
Handstory offers this also, without the limits of AvantGo, with better card support as well. It is not free though.

Horrible software

Foo Fighter @ 5/6/2004 10:28:06 AM #
Eeh gads, what a poorly designed piece of..um, software, this is. The desktop component is primitive and clunky. TealAgent is awkward and clumsy at best. HUGE thumbs down to this. TealPoint is charging $20 for this crap? No thank you.

As others have wisely observed, you would be much better served with iSilo, Plucker, or AvantGo. I use iSilo myself, and it's worth every penny.

-------------------------------
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com

Not as stupid as they look

viqsi @ 5/6/2004 10:57:15 AM #
Naturally, looking at this, the thought comes to mind - is TealPoint really so dense as to think they can leap into this market segment with a $20 only-with-our-software-and-Windows product against one well known free and multiplatform title (Plucker), one Extremely well-known multiplatform free multiplatform title with a long reputation (AvantGo), and one rather highly respected shareware title (iSilo)?

No. They're not. But they *are* willing to sell more to those folks who've already invested in their software. If you're already a TealWhatever junkie, then this thing could be construed as actually helpful because it interoperates with those programs.

For the rest of us, though, this is of course insanity.

RE: Not as stupid as they look
Patrick @ 5/7/2004 6:33:43 PM #
I just followed the link in the story to the TealAgent home page. I see nothing there advertizing special interoperability with other Teal products. Care to elucidate?

I don't think Teal is stupid for putting out this product. Just look at 9.95 Software titles, all of which appear to be thinly veiled repackaging of free/GPL licenced software ubiquitously available. Some of their titles appear in "Best Seller" lists. There seem to be a lot of ignorant buyers out there.

Tealpoint makes excellent programs
;-(( @ 5/9/2004 2:12:22 AM #
... even if TealAgent might not be one of them - yet.

TealLock, TealMaster, TealAuto, TealPaint, TealDoc, TealScript and several other of their titles are very solid apps (many representing the best choice available for PalmOS).

If TealAgent is developed the way many of Tealpoint's other apps have been over the years, it will soon be a welcome addition to the PalmOS software library. This company is one of the very few (probably less than 50) companies that has been making several quality apps for over five years.


Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

Patrick: GPL programs sold??
Winter_ @ 5/9/2004 7:29:24 AM #
If that's the case, you should mail the program's authors so they can protest (or even sue the hell out of the software company that sells it).
RE: Not as stupid as they look
Patrick @ 5/9/2004 1:58:28 PM #
Well, I think it is the case. In particular, look at the second post in this thread: http://www.palmonecity.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2879

And I highly suspect that the authors know about it. It is not clear that 9.95 is actually violating GPL, although I could hope that they were.

Anyhow... this is off-topic, Mr. Winter. My point was that since 9.95 titles are popular, it shows that people will often buy software when there are free and excellent alternatives. I have no beef with Teal bringing TealAgent to market. Not at all. What does get under my fingernails is the press-release hogwash about Teal bringing the web to wireless palms, as if there was this huge gaping hole that we should be so grateful to Teal for filling in. They are an also-ran at the moment, not the great herioc saviour of us pitiful wireless palm users.


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