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PRODUCT REVIEW
Using AvantGo.com 3.0
By Jason Perlow
The original promise of the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) was of a ubiquitous miniature computer that would fulfill all of our personal information and organizational needs. But while PDA technology has greatly improved over the years, and units like the Palm organizer are used by just about everyone, PDAs in general have fallen short of their original promise. That's because, although they can do much more, they're often used as no more than glorified electronic Rolodexes.
Much of the reason why PDAs haven't unleashed their true potential is because, back in the early 90's, nobody really could predict the rise of client/server technology and the Internet. Yes, PDAs are great for storing our email, personal notes, and contacts, but do they actually deliver desirable information on demand to us? The answer unfortunately, is a resounding no. That's where AvantGo.com comes in.
Web technology in the Palm of your hand
AvantGo has been one of the true pioneers in bringing Web technology to the PDA. In the January 1999 issue of PalmPower, we awarded AvantGo Web to Go Client 1.1 Software Product of the Year honors. What did we think was so cool about it? In short, the AvantGo client allows you to store and browse Web pages on the Palm organizer (which arguably isn't an ideal platform for viewing Web pages). The way you do this is to subscribe to AvantGo Channels. Content providers (i.e., Web site operators) create these channels. These, then, you can view optimized within the AvantGo browser.
Early in May, AvantGo phased out their $99.00 Web-to-Go client in favor of AvantGo.com (which is now free of charge). AvantGo.com, shown in Figure A, is a hybrid application that combines their AvantGo browser with a Web-based content-syncing service and their enterprise Mobile Application Link technology, a desktop conduit that resides on the PC that syncs content from the AvantGo.com web site when your Palm unit HotSyncs from cradle. You can also sync channel content directly from the AvantGo browser, if you have a Palm modem attached, or via wireless modem such the Novatel Minstrel or the CDMA modem built into Qualcomm's PDQ.
FIGURE A
 
Once you log in, this is AvantGo's main page. Roll over picture for a larger image.
AvantGo channels differ greatly from PQF applications on the Palm VII, which are forms written in a proprietary format which "scrape" data from actual Web pages. This "scraping" methodology is used to optimize the Palm VII's limited wireless bandwidth and improve application performance. AvantGo channels are regular Web pages which have been trimmed down to fit the HTML 3.2 specification and are optimized to display well on a Palm organizer's screen. You can, however, sync any page you want to an AvantGo channel, provided it conforms to HTML 3.2.
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