FIGURE A

Select Set Time Zone from the Options menu.

In the next screen, you simply select your time zone from the list provided, as shown in Figure B. North and South American users can select from the named time zones (e.g., Eastern Time Zone), while the rest of you have to know your zone relative to standard Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

FIGURE B

Select your time zone from the list provided.

It turns out that this is a handy feature. Setting the device's native time zone makes sure appointments beamed between devices will have the correct times even if the two devices are at different time settings. This should be well understood if you have ever beamed appointment information to another Palm OS user while on a business trip.

I learned this the hard way. The last time I flew to Chicago for a meeting, I forgot to change my time in the Palm Preferences application. Naturally, when I beamed some appointment information to my coworker, appointments were set for exactly one hour later than I intended.

Here's a helpful tip: A great little application called CityTime, which is actually shipped pre-installed on Handspring devices, is invaluable for keeping track of where you are on the planet. You can find the URL for this program in the Product Availability and Resources section at the end of this article.

Let's return to our test run. If you want to beam someone an appointment, you have to change from the Addresses list to Appointments. You just pull down the Application menu again and select View Appointments from the Options menu. Once at the Appointments screen, as seen in Figure C, you can see today's date, an indication of your native time zone, and the list of appointments for that day, including full-day events.

FIGURE C

The Appointments screen shows the date, the time zone, and the list of appointments.

You simply tap the date field to access the month calendar view, shown in Figure D, and select the correct date. Then you select the appointment for that day that you want to beam and tap the onscreen Send button.

FIGURE D

Select the correct date from the calendar view.

The software activates the IR port on your device and sends the selected appointment, including all attached notes, to your colleague's device. Figure E displays the screen you'll see as the transfer takes place.

FIGURE E

Now you're SyncTalking.

When I performed the test with Greg, a dialogue box appeared asking if he wished to receive the appointment. This may vary depending on the device. He tapped the onscreen Receive button to enter the appointment into the device and voila! We'd crossed the operating system chasm and undermined "closed standards" in one bold 30-second act. Of course, we also had the option to cancel the transfer if we wished--if the wrong item was sent, for example.

Sending memos and addresses works in much the same manner. Select an item from a long list of memos or contacts and tap the Send button to send the record. The complete record is sent, including notes attached to addresses. Great stuff. Just make sure that if you're sending an address with notes, that you don't have anything confidential (opinions, home phones, etc.) in the note area. Otherwise, it can get a bit embarrassing.