Well, this month, we're going to talk about how to use the new real-time wireless functions of AvantGo to increase your power to access information even more. What's really cool is you can use AvantGo Wireless even if you don't have a wireless connection from your Palm handheld to the Internet.

What is AvantGo Wireless?
AvantGo Wireless is a new feature that gives you real-time access to AvantGo's channels. You don't even need wireless connectivity to utilize it. It works fine with a PalmModem, which I discussed in detail in the article, "An unsung hero: using the PalmModem" at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200102/modem001.html.

Instead of accessing AvantGo channels in an off-line manner, AvantGo Wireless allows you to access its contents in real-time. There's no waiting for synchronizing, and you can get the information you need right away. You can use it to access any pre-defined AvantGo channel. Unfortunately, it won't work with any custom channels you may have created.

Wireless AvantGo is displayed on my Palm IIIc in Figure A.

FIGURE A

AvantGo Wireless allows you to access AvantGo content in real-time.

How do I get AvantGo Wireless for my Palm handheld?
You need to be running AvantGo version 4.0 on your Palm handheld to utilize this feature. You can determine what version of AvantGo you currently have on your Palm handheld by selecting the About AvantGo entry in the Options menu.

AvantGo 4.0 is available free of charge from http://www.avantgo.com. Their Web site will inform you of all the requirements for running AvantGo 4.0, as well as guide you through the installation process on your Palm computer, PC, and/or Mac.

If you're currently an AvantGo user, you should probably still download AvantGo 4.0 to your Palm handheld even if you don't use the new wireless functions. It's the first version of AvantGo that allows you to copy data from the retrieved pages. If you select the Copy item from the Edit menu, your current page will be copied into the Palm handheld's Memo application. If the data is too big to fit into a single Memo, it will automatically be split into multiple Memos.