Observations, comments, and nudges for SoDeog
Though the application certainly does what it promises, I think it occasionally misses the mark. In the following sections, I'll detail some of my observations and comments.

Everyone's got to have it for it to be most useful
The software's first limitation in my opinion is that everyone with whom you want to freely share information needs to install the SyncTalk Professional software. Simply put, in order for the different devices to talk to each other, SoDeog has created a new "language" that they all must be able to speak. Interestingly, this is apparently the subject of the patents SoDeog is seeking. Yes, the free SyncTalk Companion software will be quite useful in enabling at least one-way communication, but its limited usefulness may not justify the storage space on an increasingly full 2MB Palm unit or Handspring device.

My suggestion to SoDeog for a remedy is driven pragmatically by the current dominance of Palm OS in the handheld space: it would seem that if they could write SyncTalk so it spoke the Palm OS protocol natively, then SyncTalk-equipped Psions, Pocket PCs, and mobile phones would be able to speak to the majority of handheld Palm OS users. In other words, why should 80% of the market spend money to communicate with the minority 20% using other branded devices? Put another way, if they used already established protocols, they'd be 80% of the way there by now.

To draw a comparison, in the personal computer space, Apple eventually built in native support for reading PC floppy diskettes due to the dominance of the IBM compatible systems. Though it is entirely unlikely Microsoft will follow this example to build in support for seamless Palm device-compatible IR communication (although it would be a pretty brilliant idea, hint, hint), this would be a more compelling answer from the user perspective.

Of course, if SoDeog is trying to maximize the target market size for their application, making it necessary for all devices to purchase the software does make a better business plan, given the relatively small number of non-Palm OS units sold so far. [It's a tough game either way. We wish SoDeog the best making it come together. --DG]

No Palm category support… yet
Thus far, SyncTalk doesn't support Palm OS categories. This is a bit of a disadvantage, especially when trying to transfer a lot of data. SoDeog promises this will be coming in the next version, but the lack of support makes finding a memo or address you want to send significantly more tiresome. It's still faster than shoving your device across the desk for the other person to slowly copy the information by hand, but the current implementation doesn't really fulfill the promise of the smooth sharing of data. I look forward to this coming improvement.

The application must be running on both devices
This was a bit of an annoyance to Greg and me. Well, actually, more of an annoyance for me, since on the Windows CE devices, the application could stay running in the background. Having to leave the ordinary Palm OS built-in apps and find the SyncTalk icon, then switch to the mode for the data I wanted to transfer, then find the record I wished to send was a lot of tapping and scrolling on a packed Palm device like mine.