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A review of Applian's MediaWallet for Palm-size PCs The Bottom Line!
At a Glance...
If you're a regular business traveler like me, you probably like to carry with you on your trips mementos from home such as a picture of your spouse and kids, to remind yourself just why you are putting yourself through the torture of sitting in economy class and constantly fighting jet lag. Of course, keeping a photo in your wallet is one way of doing this, but very soon the picture gets ragged and blurred from the inevitable finger and thumb prints. So why not store it on your color Palm-size PC instead? And maybe even add an audio file to listen to while you view it? As corny as it may seem, there are few better ways of cheering yourself up than hearing your daughter say that she loves you. Storing image and audio files is one of the interesting new features that you will find on MediaWallet, the new "multimedia" data organizer from Applian Technologies which has recently been launched onto the market. In fact, you can even use it to create digital Talking Photo albums if you are so inclined, as well as for storing more mundane but just as vital business and personal information such as your credit card details and text and audio note files. As a complement to its multimedia capabilities, MediaWallet also comes with powerful encryption features that allow you assign numerical or text PINs to each individual file -- very useful if you are carrying confidential information on your device. Leaving the multimedia and encryption features aside for one moment, MediaWallet has a clean and colorful interface that makes it easy to input and access your personal information. 
If, for example, you want to save all your credit card details, the first thing you have to do is tap File>New Wallet and then write in a name for the wallet, eg credit cards. Then you tap Edit>Enter Design Mode before selecting a button for inputting the information about your card and tapping the Properties Button. When the Dialog Box appears, you are given a number of options. First, you have to select the appropriate data type from the Contents list from a choice of nine different formats, including Text, Image, Audio, and - in my case -Card. After selecting Card, you are given a choice of Card File formats to choose from, such as Visa and American Express, and can also select the appropriate Button Graphic, Card Skin, and Button Text. 
To enter the information about your card, first tap Edit>Exit Design Mode. Then tap the button and the card appears; by tapping Edit Data you can input your name, the card number, its expiration date, and the customer service phone number in a dialog box. Once you have done this, all the information about your card will appear as shown in the image below. If you want to protect this information, tap File>Encrypt and enter a PIN number. A maximum of twelve letters is allowed. 
The process of creating wallets and buttons featuring other data types such as text or audio is very similar, and although this method may seem a little cumbersome at first you very quickly get used to it. In addition to its personal information management and security capabilities, MediaWallet also has a number of other interesting features. These include a speed dialer which allows you to automatically dial most touch-tone phones, and an Application Manager which allows you to open, close and switch between the other applications on your device like Contacts and Tasks. Conclusion If you're looking for a Personal Information Management program for your color Palm-size PC that will let you do more than store and access your basic personal data, you should carefully consider MediaWallet. With its advanced multimedia capabilities, MediaWallet is great for personalizing your color Palm-size PC by allowing you to create and organize graphics and audio files, and its powerful security features keep your data safe even if you lose your device. Hardware & Software Compatibility Requirements MediaWallet requires a desktop or notebook PC running Windows 95/98 or Windows NT for installing the program. It runs on all Windows CE color Palm-size PCs, including the Casio Cassiopeia E-100/105, Compaq Aero 2100 series, and HP Jornada 420. Help and Technical Support Applian has posted an excellent User's Guide on its website at http://www.applian.com/mediawallet/docs/MediaWallet.htm. Pricing and Availability MediaWallet is priced at $39.95, though it can currently be downloaded at a special price of $29.95 from the Applian website at: http://www.applian.com/mediawallet/. A thirty-day evaluation copy is also available for download. Back to the top Home |
