ProxiMail
The next step up from the built-in Mail application is ProxiMail. Remember, the built-in Mail application can only send and receive mail by performing a HotSync operation with a PC. ProxiMail, pictured in Figure B, extends that limited capability.

FIGURE B

ProxiMail allows you to send and receive email directly over the Internet.

It allows you to send and receive email directly over the Internet and then access this email by using the built-in Mail application. ProxiMail works great with the PalmModem, a wireless modem, or a cell phone.

ProxiMail is elegantly simple and straightforward to use, but it doesn't support attachments. Since I rarely need to receive attachments on my Palm device, this program works just fine for my use.

In addition to enabling the direct sending and receiving of Mail messages via a modem or cell phone, ProxiMail also increases the maximum email message size that can be viewed by the built-in Mail program up to 32K. The ProxiMail application itself only takes up 41K of memory on your Palm device.

ProxiMail supports the POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) email protocols used by most email servers. Maximum message size is configurable between 512 bytes and 32K in size. Any message received will be truncated if the message size setting is exceeded. It allows you to retrieve just the very beginning of your email messages for review and then decide whether you want to download the entire message to your Palm device or not. Finally, ProxiMail supports up to five different email accounts.

Alas, shortly after this article was written, Pumatech (at http://www.pumatech.com) removed ProxiMail from their Web site. So far, they have not posted information on the future availability of this package. In the meantime, you can download the precursor to this program, Top Gun Postman, from http://www.isaac.cs.berkeley.edu/pilot/TGpostman/. It's very close in functionality to ProxiMail. If I receive any information on the availability of ProxiMail, I'll let you all know about it in a future column.

MulitMail Pro
At the top end of Palm email packages is MultiMail Pro. It's available from http://www.actualsoft.com. MultiMail Pro, pictured in Figure C, provides just about every email function you'd want on a Palm device and has functionality that rivals that found on some PC-based email packages.

FIGURE C

MultiMail Pro provides just about every email function you'd want on a Palm device.

It's a completely stand-alone package that doesn't require the built-in Mail application. It also works with the PalmModem or any wireless solution for Internet access.

MultiMail Pro also supports a wide variety of possible email attachment types. It has a unique architecture that enables developers to create MultiMail plug-ins that allow different attachment formats to be downloadable and readable on a Palm device. It supports receiving and viewing Microsoft Word documents, Quicksheet spreadsheets, CSV (Comma Separated Value) files, and the extraction of Zip file archives. Additional plug-ins are available for handling such attachment types as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files, PRC/PDB (Palm Resource File/Palm Database) files (even allowing them to be installed on your Palm device), and WAV files that can be played on your Palm computer.