For email, OmniSky licensed a special copy of One-Touch Mail from JP Systems, and customized it specifically for use with their service. It's a fully functional POP3 email client, which is supported by virtually every ISP and corporate messaging system in existence. One of the nice features of this software is that it downloads only the headers and first few kilobytes of each email message, tells you how big each message is, and prompts you as to whether you want to download the rest of it. This easily allows you to determine whether or not a large message is the latest 500K digital photo of your sister-in-law's rugrat, spam garbage from a listserv, or a genuinely important message from a client, as shown in Figure E. The OmniSky mail client is also fully integrated with the Palm V's address list, so you can do email address lookups and send messages to people on your contact list quickly and easily.

FIGURE E

OmniSky's mail client fully supports the POP3 messaging protocol.

In addition to the bundled Internet access software, OmniSky includes Synergy Solutions (at http://www.synsolutions.com) Launch Em 2.1, a third-party application manager for Palm OS. While it's got a ton of features, I feel that it tends to clutter the screen area. Thankfully, you can turn it off, but it also eats 123K of your flash memory.

I wasn't able to try the OmniSky installation process firsthand, since OmniSky supplied me with a Palm V pre-configured for the duration of my tests. My understanding is that it installs all the applications to the built-in flash memory of the Palm V, in order to conserve the Palm V's limited 2MB of user RAM. The Palm Vx, which was released in late 1999 (and also works with the Minstrel V modem and the OmniSky service), has 8MB of RAM.

Various OmniSky testers have reported problems with the installation process, some of which have resulted in a failed installation or unusable units. It took a long time for PalmPower's Editor-in-Chief, David Gewirtz, to get his modem up and running because of the beta nature of the product and because service availability is still somewhat spotty in his home area. Expect David's comments in a future issue. In April, when OmiSky launches their service nationally, they will be supplying a software upgrade to beta users, which apparently fixes many of these problems and addresses other usability issues in the product. When we do get it, we'll have a review here.

[A new version of the software was just posted to the OmniSky site, but we haven't yet had the opportunity to test it. -- DG]

Performance and usability
We tested the unit in both the NY/NJ Metropolitan area as well as the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, where it did very well -- provided we were outdoors, in a car, or were near a window. At Newark Airport and Miami International Airport, we had no problems using the device indoors, but the arrival/departure areas of these airports have huge windows, which make it easy for radio signals to penetrate. In buildings made of reinforced concrete, heavy insulation, or with thick beams, you might have problems getting a decent signal.