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If you are a software developer or coder of any kind you may find yourself using a file comparison or merge tool at some point. I have been using a product called Beyond Compare for a couple years now and found it to be a great utility. Unfortunately Scooter Software does not make a Mac version of Beyond Compare and while I could use it with Parallels on the Windows side of my MacBook Pro that wouldn’t be very practical in terms of work flow.

For some time I have been looking for a reasonably priced file comparison/merge tool for the Mac. I tried a trial version of zsCompare by ZizaSoft, which looked like a nice choice. The standard version is $99, which isn’t bad but seemed a little high, perhaps since I was comparing it to Beyond Compare. I decided to keep looking and found a nice resource on Wikipedia which was a comparison of file comparison tools.

One of the tools that I decided to evaluate was DiffCompare from SourceGear. DiffCompare has the following features:

• File diff, graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing.
• Merge, it graphically shows the changes between 3 files. Allows automatic merging (when safe to do so) and full control over editing the resulting file.
• Folder diff, performs a side-by-side comparison of 2 folders, showing which files are only present in one file or the other, as well as file pairs which are identical or different.
• Configurable. Rulesets and options provide for customized appearance and behavior.
• Cross-platform. Identical feature set on Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix.

I have only used it lightly at this point, but it looks promising – might be worth checking out if you are looking for a diff/comparision tool for Mac. Oh yeah and I almost forgot to mention the best part – it’s FREE!

One of my criteria when I recently got a new phone was that it be capable of acting as a modem occasionally for my laptop, a MacBook Pro. While I don’t need access frequently enough to justify the $59.99 monthly fee of having a dedicated EVDO card, on occasion it would be helpful to have Internet access – perhaps to show a client a web site when I am offsite.Now according to RIM (BlackBerry) the 8830 can not be used as a tethered modem, nor can it be used as a Bluetooth modem, here is a quote from their support site:”Mac users will not be able to use their BlackBerry handheld as tethered modems with their mac laptop or computer as there is no support capability for Mac yet. The Mac does not use or recognize the standard modem drivers used by Microsoft Windows. At present, there is no tethered modem support via Bluetooth® functionality for Windows or Mac…”A quick search on Google tells a different story. I quickly found a forum thread that indicates that the 8830 can be used as a DUN Bluetooth modem. Below is a summary of the directions that I found for setting the 8830 up as a Bluetooth DUN modem on my network Verizon Wireless:

• Go to System Preferences (OSX 10.4.x or greater)
• Choose Bluetooth
• Under the Setup tab choose “Set Up New Device”
• The Wizard should walk you through the process, but here are the details you need:
  • Username = yourphonenumber@vzw3g.com
  • Password = vzw
  • Phone Number = #777
  • Modem script = WWAN Support

This worked for me – while speed wasn’t great over bluetooth, it certainly meets my needs. If you are trying to accomplish this as well I would highly suggest you checkout the forum thread I previously mentioned.

While there may be no smartphones that met all of my criteria right out of the box it does look like both the Palm Treo 700p and the BlackBerry 8830 came very close. Both phones are feature rich and include many important features such as robust e-mail, Internet, modem capabilities and the ability to read common document formats. However in the end I found a few things that I preferred about the BlackBerry 8830 including:

1. User interface – I like the user interface on the BlackBerry I found it very intuitive. The trackball interface was very easy to use.
2. E-mail – This is what BlackBerry is famous for and give it a try and you see why.
3. Form factor – The 8830 is slim and fit well in the hand – a big plus.

Once I have had ample time to use the phone I will post a short review.

Recently I found myself in the market for a new cell phone. Being one that usually researches new purchases before I buy, I began to think about the criteria of what I wanted in a new cell phone. Here is what I came up for as my criteria:

• A phone that supports “push” e-mail
• Support for viewing common document types (Word, PDF, etc)
• The ability to use my phone as a modem for my laptop occasionally
• A good user interface (a rarity in the cell phone world IMHO)
• A full QWERTY keyboard
• Ability to surf the Internet in a meaningful way
• Compatibility with the Mac platform (both for syncing and modem use)
• Compatible with my current provider (Verizon Wireless)
• A decent music player would be nice

Based on my criteria I would be looking at phones in the category referred to as smartphones. Smartphones are a class of phones that offer more computer like functionality than typical phones and usually include: a keyboard, robust e-mail capacity and productivity software. Well known phones in this category include: the Palm Treo, Motorola Q and the Blackberry.

Before I progressed much further in my research I decided to visit a couple of the local wireless stores. In my area Verizon Wireless has the best coverage by far – I say that in part based on my own experience with other carriers including Nextel (Sprint) and T-Mobile. AT&T is probably the next best choice in this area, but by most accounts the coverage is somewhat spotty in this area.

First I visited the Verizon Wireless store. Never really been a big fan of their stores, they don’t seem very customer oriented. You enter the store and are required to sign in – is it just me or does anyone else feel like they are visiting a doctors office? It seems to me if they are so busy that they need you to sign in then perhaps they need to expand their store and hire enough people to help everyone in a timely manner. At any rate after I signed in I proceeded to look around. In the smartphone section they had phones from Palm including the Treo 700p, several Blackberry phones and the Motorola Q. After a few minuted I was called over to the counter by a sales associate. When I told the associate my criteria for a new phone she sounded surprised that I knew the features I required – hey doesn’t everybody? She immediately started talking about the Treo and the Blackberry. I asked her about Mac compatibility and she referenced a smartphone comparison grid prepared by Verizon. While the grid had some of the information I wanted to know it did not tell the whole story. I asked about using a phone as a modem – she said she did not know the answer to my question. Of course then I would have expected her to find someone that did know the answer, but as usual my expectations were too high. At anyrate I had gotten some basic info from Verizon and realized that I would need to search out my answers myself – thank God for Google.

Next I visited my local AT&T store. While I was doubtful about switching service from Verizon to AT&T I decided I would go take a look and check things out. After all the iPhone was going to be released soon and that was only on AT&T, so maybe it was time to take another look at AT&T. The one clear advantage of AT&T over Verizon Wireless is that AT&T always gets the cool phones long before Verizon does, case and point the iPhone. When I talked the the sales associate she showed me the Blackberry Curve, which looked like a very nice phone. I had never considered a Blackberry, but this was an interesting looking phone – I love the form factor. When asked about thing like using the Blackberry as a modem, I got answers like “I think so”, but being one that like certainty I knew I needed to do some more homework before I proceeded.

As I did some of my own research I kept coming to the same conclusion that there were many phones that did all of the things I wanted if I was on a Windows platform, but the choice for Mac compatibility seemed limited. The Palm Treo 700p seemed to be one of the better choices, it came bundled with Mac syncing software, but after doing some more research I found that it could not be used as a tethered modem for a Mac (at least according to Palm). Although it was indicated that the 700p can be used a dialup networking (DUN) modem over Bluetooth.

I also began researching the Blackberry 8830, while I really liked the Blackberry Curve Verizon did not carry that model, so I began looking at the 8830 which has a lot in common with the Curve sans the camera. According to Verzon’s smartphone matrix the 8830 did not include sync software, but it indicated that there was 3rd party software available. Fact is the 8830 does now include PocketMac a sync utility for the Mac platform. However my research indicated that Missing Sync from MarkSpace was a better choice for Mac users. According to the RIM site (Blackberry) the 8830 can not be used as a tethered modem or as a DUN device. A little work with Google and I did find info to support that the 8830 can be used as a DUN Bluetooth modem. The picture that was now emerging is that perhaps with a little effort I can find a phone that will meet all of my criteria.

So it looks like my best choices as of now is either the Palm 700p or the Blackberry 8830. The iPhone looks very cool and interesting, but looks like it will lack certain features that are important to me, such as the ability to act as a modem for a laptop – not to mention the iPhone will be tied to the slower EDGE network for Internet access. Stay tuned and find out which smartphone I choose.