Tech Know Palm reading
Many of us geeks find it hard to imagine life without hand-held computers such as Palm Pilots. But not many of us think of them as indispensible holiday items. You might think standing on a foreign corner tapping into a Palm would make you stick out as a visitor, but you'll look more like a tour-ist if you dawdle in the street squinting at a guidebook.
Travel software for Palms is now abundant, and programs range from simple list managers, which help businessmen keep track of expenses and car mileage, to interactive maps, city guides and phrase books. Some of this software can be obtained free, other items range from a few dollars to more than what you would pay for a guidebook.
Lonely Planet now produces CitySync Palm-based guides. The Hong Kong CitySync is far easier to navigate than a paperback and provides effective cross- referencing. However, the software contains only a few bytes of data on a tiny, low-resolution screen. Maps are therefore difficult to read and you won't find any photographs, so it is debatable whether CitySync guides are worth their US$19.95 (HK$155) price tags.
Palm also offers PalmPak Travel Cards for their new machines, which have information on six major cities in Europe, Asia or the US, depending on which card you buy. The ultimate in travel-geek chic, however, is the GPS module. These little gadgets connect to your hand-held and, provided you are in the United States or Europe, can tell you exactly where you are to within a few metres. A GPS package can plan the best route to a given destination and help you navigate painlessly. The one drawback is that some GPS hand-held attachments are less effective when used indoors or inside vehicles.
While a GPS card for your hand-held computer may turn out to be the greatest travel invention since the suitcase, options in Hong Kong are limited. The only unit available here is made by Compaq and attaches to the Windows CE-based iPaq. Several shops in Wan Chai Computer Mall, such as Worldgate Technology (tel: 2356-8709), are selling this package for $3,120. If you are travelling to the US the Magellan GPS Companion for the HandSpring Visor and the Palm V can be bought from J&R Music World in New York for $127 and $147 respectively.