This weekend, I’m attending my second Dallas WordCamp, a local event that showcases not just the amazing WordPress blogging system, but things you can do to make you a better blogger, designer, and community builder.

I attended my first WordCamp last year and I had an absolute blast.  I felt very at home in an auditorium full of mostly techy geeks–many of them even geekier than me in some ways!  I sat in a sea of mostly MacBooks and MacBook Pros.  I on the other hand was rocking my portable yet underpowered Eee PC, tethered to a precious spot on the power strip.  Though I didn’t want to admit it at the time, the Eee PC was more of a conversation piece than a true mobile workhorse.  I was working with a less that satisfactory Windows Mobile phone that was far outstripped by the iPhones I could see other people using.  Hell, the thing didn’t even want to make calls properly, let alone do anything fancy.  I felt almost lost–I was usually the most “techy” person in a group, but I had clearly met my matches at WordCamp.

WordCamp is a place that showcases technology, not just for what it can do for blogging, but what it can do for attendees.  That was my first chance to see mobile technology in widespread action, not just how I applied it to my day to day or specialized needs.

This year I am rocking much better technology with my Dell Mini 9 Hackintosh and my iPhone 3G.  Unlike last year, I don’t have to stay tethered to a power strip to stay connected (although I did, mostly because it was there).  I have better processing power, better battery power–and that translates into better communication power in a setting like WordCamp.

Because I have mobile technology that actually works as advertised in a mobile setting, I am able to connect that much more with the presenters and my fellow attendees.  I’m able to see a running conversation about the event, and contribute to that conversation as it happens.  I have choices in how the information being given out gets to me, and I have avenues to even more information as it is shared in the group.  Would I be able to do that with my Eee PC and my sadly dumb smartphone?  Yes, I would–but would I be able to do it as easily, or as elegantly?  Probably not.

I think there is something very important in having a setup that works for you; having the perfect gear is not necessarily about having the newest and fastest laptop, or an HD camera in your bag at all times.  It’s about having the kind of equipment that can get you through the day at a place like WordCamp, that can allow you to communicate and create and evolve on the go.

I find it fascinating to watch technology become a part of our lives and the way we work, play, learn and communicate with each other.  WordCamp is an excellent study in that, not just from a macro level but from a microscopic level, watching each individual participate in their own way with their own gear.  I love watching mobile technology in action, used the way it was intended to be used.

Thank you, three hour nap! I am so happy that I was awake.  I have been waiting for this app since I got my iPhone 3G at the end of August. Needless to say, I promptly purchased it using the App Store on my iPhone and got it all set up with my Google Calendar information (for calendar sync) and my Toodledo account (for to-do sync).

I had already set up my GCal to sync with my Outlook and gotten Toodledo populated with my tasks earlier this week so that I would be prepared for Pocket Informant once it was released. I’m so glad I did, and I’m glad that PI chose the services it did to use with sync out of the box.

Syncing both my tasks and calendars went flawlessly and I am really impressed so far. A full review is forthcoming, but I just had to express my joy. I have missed having a good calendar application at my fingertips! I suppose now I have absolutely no excuse for being disorganized…

Here are my daily drivers:
- iPhone 3G
- iBook G4
- Seagate FreeAgent 500GB
- iPod nano 3G 8GB
- Canon SD750
- Eee PC 701
- Western Digital Passport 250GB

iPhone 3G: I absolutely love my 16GB white iPhone 3G.  My iPhone is my lifeline, my entertainment, and my productivity wrapped up into a sleek, small package.  It’s my most recent tech purchase and is already one of my absolute favorite pieces of gear.  I use my iPhone for email, light web surfing, reading my RSS feeds, jotting a quick idea into Evernote, keeping up with my busy calendar, communicating on Twitter, reading eBooks, listening to music, and of course making phone calls.  The 2.1 firmware upgrade has given me a great boost in battery life and I have never had a problem with 3G coverage and call clarity.  It’s the best phone I’ve ever owned.  I’ll talk about my favorite apps and iPhone features in another upcoming post.

iBook G4: I am still rocking my trusty and beloved iBook G4, which I purchased in March of 2006.  I’ve maxed out the RAM and it runs Leopard quite happily.  Right now, the iBook has a hinge issue which makes opening and closing the laptop very precarious, so it’s being utilized as a desktop rather than a laptop.  I have a 19″ HP LCD monitor and a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse hooked up to it, while it is stowed out of sight on the small set of drawers that slide under my desk.  I also have my all-in-one HP Printer, external DVD burner, and external hard drive hooked up to the iBook via a USB hub.  I am looking to eventually replace it on the desktop with an iMac, and I plan on getting a MacBook Pro hopefully sometime this winter, but the iBook is still a solid machine for my needs at home.  I use it for work (Microsoft Office and email), converting videos to watch on my iPhone, web surfing, writing, and some web design.

Seagate FreeAgent 500GB: This is a recent purchase that replaced a 250GB external drive that went out on me.  Because the iBook only has a 40GB hard drive, having an external drive is essential for me.  My husband and I have a large music collection that lives solely on the external drive, as does our iPhoto library.  I have the Seagate partitioned in half–one partition for Time Machine backups, and one partition for music, photos, movies and other things.  I am setting everything to back up to my Amazon S3 account so that if the external ever goes out again, it will not be an emergency!  One of the things I like about the Seagate is its power-saving function–when the laptop goes to sleep, so does the external drive.  That will really help lower wear and tear and increase the longevity of the drive.  It has excellent read/write speeds and looks kind of like a menacing orange Cylon.  Who doesn’t love having a Cylon on their desk?

iPod nano 3G 8GB: My “nano fatty” is one of my all-time favorite iPods.  After seeing the leaked specs, I was prepared not to like it when it was introduced last fall, but after seeing it in person, I fell in love.  It’s so small and sleek that sometimes I lose it in my bigger bags!  It has an incredibly long battery life, and the solid-state hard drive makes it perfect for working out with.  I’ve been using my iPhone a lot lately, but my iPod will not be tossed into some dusty drawer and not used any longer.  I keep it in my purse loaded up with music and audiobooks for my workout and my commute.  I like to keep different music on my iPhone and my nano so that I’m getting more leverage out of both devices.  It’s working great so far, I just need to build my music collection back up after a major hard drive crash!

Canon SD750: I really enjoy using this camera–it has a large, crisp LCD screen, uses SD cards, has a rechargable battery, and takes great photos!  My old camera, the Canon A510, was bulkier and difficult to fit in a smaller purse or a pocket.  The SD750 fits easily in my pocket or purse, which makes it handy for capturing moments on the go.  I’m still playing with the custom CHDK firmware that I loaded on it a while back, so watch the blog for an SD750 update!

Eee PC 701: “Netbooks” are becoming increasingly popular, with new ones popping up on the horizon every day or two.  I am happily rocking the one that started the craze, the Asus Eee PC 701.  I’ve got the 4GB version in Blush Pink, which makes it not only the smallest laptop I’ve ever owned, but also the cutest.  I have upgraded the RAM to 2GB, supplemented the 4GB SSD drive with an 8GB SD card, and added a Kensington USB Micro Bluetooth Adapter.  I am able to carry it almost anywhere in almost any bag I own because it’s so light and small.  I bought it with the intention of using it as a lightweight writing and blogging tool, but it’s so much more than that.  I have gone for days without using the iBook because I just don’t need to–I can do almost any computer task that I need to do on my little pink powerhouse.  I’m running Ubuntu Hardy Heron and it works fantastically well on the Eee PC.  I’ve become a big Linux fan because of this little laptop.

Western Digital Passport 250GB: Since the Eee PC only has 4GB (12GB if you count the SD card!) of storage on board, I thought it’d be nice to get a small external drive for bigger files and backup storage.  So, I picked up a 250GB Western Digital Passport drive (also in pink) that is not much bigger than a deck of cards.  It runs completely off USB power, eliminating the need for a separate power source, and it’s so quiet you can hardly hear it run.  My entire mobile computing setup weighs less than 3 pounds and fits in my purse–how cool is that?

A lot of people have a tech bag or two that they use to cart all their stuff around in, but I stick mainly to purses.  Just because I like electronics doesn’t mean I can’t carry them fashionably!  I favor Coach leather bags for my every day and professional use, but I do have a great Manhattan Portage bag that I use for travel, the gym, or places I just don’t want to carry a nice, expensive leather bag.  I have the Mini Map Bag in pink, which is essentially a vertical messenger.  It’s great for weekend jaunts to the lake or a trip to the coffee shop to write–it easily fits my Eee PC and accessories, plus my wallet, iPhone and other essentials.  It is also big enough to stash my current knitting project, a book, and my DS Lite.

What are your daily drivers and how do you carry them?  If you’re interested in being featured in My Daily Tech, send me an email at jessicafritsche at gmail dot com.

I’ve considered the T-Mobile Wing (aka the HTC Herald) quite a few times since it was introduced into the T-Mobile lineup, but never bit the bullet despite the temptation.  When I found out that’s what I was getting on loan, I was pretty excited to be able to try it out.  I love HTC devices, and so far this one has NOT disappointed me!

Let’s look at what the Wing is packing under the hood:

• TI OMAP 850 201 Mhz processor
• 128 MB ROM
• 64 MB RAM
• Talk time of up to 4 hours
• Standby time of up to 6 days
• 2.0 megapixel camera
• MicroSD slot
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Windows Mobile 6 Professional

My JAQ3 was running virtually the same processor, but it never felt as fast and responsive as the Wing does.  Programs that took up to 20 seconds to open on the JAQ3 open in just a few seconds on the Wing, and since I’ve had it, I haven’t had to soft reset the device once.  I was resetting the JAQ3 4 or more times a day at the end.

I can also see a huge difference on battery life using the Wing as well.  My typical usage during the day has the device checking my GMail and work IMAP accounts every 10 minutes, syncing my calendar via GooSync a few times, syncing my tasks via Milksync once every 4 hours, and talking for anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.  I also fire up uBook to read an eBook quite a bit.  I’ve only seen the battery drop down below 50% when I’ve done all those tasks PLUS read an entire eBook.  That’s pretty impressive, considering I have grown used to constantly having a charger or mini-USB cable on me at all times, just in case the JAQ3 runs out of juice!

I grew quite used to the QWERTY thumbboard on the JAQ3, and while it had a really beautiful, clear screen, I often wished that it was bigger.  The slide-out QWERTY keyboard on the Wing seems like the perfect answer to that wish–the screen is large, clear and bright, and when I need the keyboard I can just slide it out.  The screen auto-rotates when the keyboard mechanism is engaged, which is a nice touch.

The JAQ3 was a slightly buggy device that I hoped would be fixed by a Windows Mobile 6 upgrade that was promised but never delivered.  I can only imagine the things it might have fixed…the Wing runs flawlessly on the newer OS.  Programs that never quite worked right on the JAQ3, like SPB Phone Shell, are working in ways I never thought they could on the Wing.  For instance, I have a black list set up in SPB Phone Shell to block random 1-800 numbers that call me from time to time.  On the JAQ3 it would work sometimes, but not all the time.  Numbers on the blacklist would still ring through or shoot to my voicemail.  On the Wing, I never get a single blacklisted call.  Video also works perfectly on the Wing, whereas on the JAQ3 it was laggy, would only play in portrait mode (read: sideways) on the JAQ3’s landscape-oriented screen, and you could only play video in Windows Media Player, which has never been my choice for mobile video.

The call quality on the Wing is on a whole other level from the quality of the JAQ3.  My poor friends and family have put up with a buzzing noise over the line for the last year and a half, and I know they must be happy to be free at last!  I actually have to turn the volume down on the Wing–on the JAQ3 I had to keep it cranked up to the highest level to hear my calls clearly.

Data on the Wing works without a hitch–the JAQ3 worked great at first, but the longer I had it, the spottier the data connections seemed to get.  I rarely connected on EDGE, even though I was in the middle of the T-Mobile EDGE network, and the data connection would drop intermittently, as would my signal.  I would have to reset the phone to get it to pick the signal or the data back up again.  It was so frustrating, but I dealt with it because it was just too convenient to have my PDA and my phone all in one device.

I’m looking forward to moving on to the iPhone a great deal, especially now that the App Store is open, but in the meantime I’m really enjoying one last month with a great Windows Mobile device.  If you’re on T-Mobile and looking to pick up a solid PDA phone, I highly recommend the T-Mobile Wing. I give it 4 out of 4 DTD stars!

The best parts about having a WM phone are the always-on email and web connectivity and having my full calendar and contacts lists available to me no matter where I am. I am constantly going to client meetings and working off-site, so the ability to access my email and calendar on the go is huge to me. Since things always change, I needed the calendar and tasks to be in constant sync with my other computers. Thanks to the great mobile software community, I was able to figure out a quick and easy way to get my Windows Mobile phone to sync with Google Calendar over my T-Mobile GPRS connection:

1) Pocket Informant – The built-in Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts apps are good, but they’re just not quite as robust or as sleek as I want them to be. That’s why I’ve been a user of Pocket Informant almost as long as I’ve had a PDA. The latest version, Pocket Informant 8, has added a lot of features that make it great for a touchscreen PDA phone. It allows me to manage my calendar, tasks, and contacts any way that I want–it’s very customizable and I love that! I have my personal views set up for easy access to all my important information at a glance.

2) GooSync – GooSync is the best free solution available for syncing your Windows Mobile calendar with GCal. The free version of GooSync allows bi-directional sync of one calendar, which is all I’m rocking at the moment. In the future, I might like to separate my calendars into business vs. personal, or even break down my work calendars by client or project. If I end up doing that, GooSync offers a yearly plan that allows you to sync multiple calendars, as well as contacts and tasks. I may upgrade just to get the auto-sync feature enabled on my GooSync account–my only complaint is that you have to manually sync instead of just counting on it to sync in the background. GooSync is also available for many other devices, including any mobile phone that can run Java programs.

3) MilkSync – Since I’m such a big fan of using Remember the Milk for managing my tasks, I upgraded my RTM account to RTM Pro.  It’s only $25 a year, which I consider to be a web service sweet spot. RTM Pro adds a great advanced feature set, including MilkSync for Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices. It allows for bi-directional sync of tasks between the task application on the WM device and the web-based RTM account. I have it set to do a background sync every two hours so that I always know what I have on my plate.

These programs work seamlessly to keep my calendar and tasks updated on my Windows Mobile phone. I could not be happier with the solution–now I can walk into any meeting with confidence, and work off-site without worrying that I’m forgetting an appointment or deadline. Syncing my information without having to use a go-between (i.e. ActiveSync or Missing Sync) means that I’m never tied down.

How do you keep your devices and your calendar in sync? Talk back in the comments.

However, in my work life, I can’t help but be as organized as I can. I rely heavily on email, because often times it drives my daily tasks as well as provides a clear documented line of communication between me and my clients. I think it’s that way at almost every company in the modern age–live and die by email. I also use the Outlook Calendar a lot for scheduling client meetings, internal kickoffs, and more.

We have a documented project process that we follow for every client project, and I have the elements in place on my computer at work to get those things set up and completed. However, I am forever writing new to-do lists in the margins of my Levenger Circa notebook (my best analog tool at the office!) and I really hate trying to keep a paper datebook because my timelines for projects tend to be very fluid when there are delays, hiccups, or changes in scope.  I also hate having to change all my Outlook calendar entries when a project’s timeline changes, because somehow it never seems to sync up right to my PDA phone or iCal on my Mac at home.

I know I’m not the only one who has sat down with their various daily driver gadgets and thought, “Surely there has to be a way to make it all talk to each other!” There doesn’t seem to be one outstanding solution that will handle all needs for all platforms–yet. I think it’s coming, I HOPE it’s coming soon, but I can’t wait for it to arrive. I need a solution NOW.

I use the following devices every day:

• Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone running WM 5.0
• PC at work running Windows XP
• Power PC Mac at home running Leopard
• eeePC running Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04

I think I am slowly but surely figuring out the way that I can get everything to connect and sync together without trying to sync the PDA phone with any computer (a nightmare on Mac and Linux, annoying even on Windows) and across the multiple software platforms.

I have the first three “phases” of my calendaring setup completed and working, which I’ll document in more depth tomorrow.  So far, I have the eeePC, the work PC, and the Windows Mobile phone all communicating to the same central hub that I have set up in Google Calendars.

Up next, part one–tweaking out Thunderbird on the eeePC to be a robust calendar and task solution!

I am the proud owner of an eeePC 700 4G (my in-depth review soon to come!) and while I see the obvious improvements (bigger screen, bigger SSD), I really feel no need to upgrade. The first thing I did upon receipt of my eeePC was upgrade the RAM from the 512 MB stock to 2 GB. Then I loaded up Ubuntu and added an 8 GB SDHC card to complement the installed 4 GB SSD. It’s so light and small that I can carry it with me everywhere, and I do! I use my eeePC as a portable writing, surfing and media machine, and it does the job impeccably.

I appreciate that Asus is trying to improve on an already great product, but when the eeePC starts getting bigger, heavier, and more expensive, it starts to lose the point for me. When it starts creeping up towards the size and heft of my 12″ iBook, it’s no longer really a sub-portable that I can squeeze into pretty much any purse I own. $549 is only $150 more than I spent on my own eeePC, but it’s enough of a significant difference that it would have been a dealbreaker for me. Now, if the eeePC 900 had included a touchscreen and tablet capabilities, I’d have probably put mine up on eBay and plunked down the extra money. Maybe future releases will include that functionality, which would be a welcome purchase for people like me who are interested in the functionality of a really small tablet PC but are put off by the high prices.

In the meantime, I am still incredibly happy with my eeePC 700. It is an incredible value at $399 (for the 4 GB version) and I have no regrets in purchasing it. My fingers are still crossed for the success of the eeePC 900, because I want to see what else Asus can do with future releases for the affordable sub-notebook category!

One of the things I’ve been waiting for was the DIRECTV On Demand Beta on our receiver, which finally happened after a recent service call. But even better than that, the DIRECTV DVR Scheduler was moved into Beta and is now available for use on our DVRs.

I’ll be the first to admit that I can be forgetful sometimes. I will look forward to a show and think to myself, “Self, you should really set the DVR to record that!” Of course, then I forget and everyone at work is talking about it the next day, so I slink off to download it and try to avoid spoilers in the meantime. My husband is occasionally more on the ball than I am, and remembers to set a recording for something he knows I’m wanting to watch. But usually I either end up trying frantically to get home before a show starts, or just giving up altogether and downloading it after the fact.

Thankfully, the DIRECTV DVR Scheduler was made for people just like me. Similar to the TiVO online scheduling feature, it allows you to log in to your account on DIRECTV.com and set recordings right from their TV schedule grid. Since we have two DVRs in the house, it even allows me to select which DVR I want it to record on, as well as the recording’s priority. It can be set to record if there are no conflicting recordings, or it can be set to record before any other set recordings.

The BEST part is the mobile DVR scheduler, which can be accessed via any mobile phone with a browser and a data connection.  This has been great for me, because I always have my Windows Mobile phone with me and I have a full data plan.  When I discovered that TCM was running a Joan Crawford marathon, I was able to use my phone to schedule the office DVR to record Grand Hotel and Mildred Pierce.

If you have  DIRECTV and a DVR, be sure to log in to your DIRECTV account and try it for yourself!  It’s a lifesaver.

Say you’re in the local bookstore, and you think that the art book you’re paging through would look fabulous in the middle of your new IKEA coffee table. But, it’s fifty bucks, and you really don’t want to pay that much just to impress your mom, your hipster friends, and prospective girlfriends. Just whip out your trusty cell phone and text the title of said art book to AMAZON (262966) and Amazon will send you back the first two results from the search. If you decide to purchase one of the items in your results, text back with 1 or 2 and Amazon will call you back to confirm your purchase via their automated voice ordering system.

I don’t know about you, but for me this could be a problem. My phone sends accidental text messages all the time. I can see looking up a book via SMS and having my phone call me back a while later to confirm my purchase.  Thank goodness for me that you have to confirm your zip code and email before the purchase goes through to the automated system.

Either way, this is the next wave in the SMS takeover of our lives. We can control eBay, search Google, and even hold entire conversations with a friend without picking up the phone. I receive Borders coupons via SMS instead of having to print out the discounts I get in Borders Rewards emails. Before too long, companies are going to use cell phone tower triangulation to pinpoint our locations and send us text message advertisements based on our surroundings.

And don’t forget about the new products and services Amazon has been steadily rolling out over the past couple of years. Amazon MP3, Unbox, Amazon Grocery, the Kindle, and now TextBuyIt. Sure, I don’t actually know anyone who uses any of the above, and the Kindle is ugly and overpriced, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping Amazon from trying to weasel their way into every corner of our lives. They’re just like Google, only not free.

What do you think about the TextBuyIt? Is it a service you can see yourself using? Do you currently use your mobile phone to shop? Talk back in the comments.