BackFlip

Get email absolutely anywhere there's a phone

by Kermit Woodall

The PocketMail BackFlip is a small hardware device that snaps on to the back of any Palm organizer with the exception of the Palm V series. It allows users to send and receive e-mail or fax messages from any landline or wireless phone in the world without the need for a phone jack, cradle, or cable.

Using tried and true technology from the earliest days of computers, acoustic modems, you merely have to hold the BackFlip-enabled Palm up to a telephone handset and dial a toll-free number to transmit and receive your email.

If you don't remember acoustic modems, here is the basic idea. Instead of directly hooking into the telephone line via a dataport, the modem signals are transmitted as sounds through the handset that you normally talk through.

The BackFlip is ergonomically designed to fit neatly with any of the Palm series and clips onto the bottom and along the back. A small microphone flips out from the back and can easily be adjusted to fit any telephone handset. The overall color matches that of the Palm with a silver door in the front over the batteries. One Touch Mail is the software provided in a special edition for BackFlip. It is an excellent choice for this package. Furthermore, setup has been simplified since you'll only be using this with the PocketMail servers and you only have to answer a few questions to activate it.

PocketMail BackFlip is an excellent and useful device. Combined with the special adapter, it can also work with a Palm V or Vx, as seen at left. With its flat rate email pricing it becomes far more affordable than the Palm VII's measured rate service. Certainly it's not quite as convenient as the Palm VII, but communication is only a handset away. The small size and generous battery life also mean that the BackFlip is easy to pack in your briefcase or even a pocket!

www.pocketmail.com US$99. Unlimited service: US$9.95 per month. A real bargain. -Kermit Woodall