NOTE: The Coola service has unfortunately been closed down due to "major changes in the marketplace."

Reviewed by: Greg Gaub

If you don't know anything about Coola, you should read my first review, and check out the Coola web site for more info. The following review does not cover the basics, but only some of the cool, new features recently added to Coola.

About Coola (provided by Coola)

Coolaź is an amazing new service that lets you take information from web pages or emails and put it wherever you want it on your Palm handheld. Addresses, directions, travel itineraries, restaurant reviews, apartment listings - any and all types of information can be transferred in a snap into the Palm application you want, when you want. It's fast. It's easy. And it's free!

Coola Right-Click

Recently added to Coola's set of features is a downloadable MSIE 5.0 plug-in. IE users can download and install thig plug in, which allows them to quickly create Memo Coolets. With the plug-in installed, the user need only to select the text they want from a web page, right-click on the selection, then choose "Make a Coolet" from the pop-up list. The information is then transferred into a Memo Coolet creation form. The title of the Coolet is automatically extracted from the title of the web page you were on, but you can change it if you need or want to. All you need to do is click the submit button, and your Memo Coolet is created. From there you can add it to your device, send it to a freind, or copy the code to put it on your site or e-mail. It is now no longer necessary to copy the text, go to the Coola web site, click the Create Memo Coolet link, paste in the information, and go from there. This feature saves actions and clicks, therefore time. For more information, visit the Coola Right-Click page.

UPDATE FROM COOLA!

Coola user's asked for it and now they've got it! Creating coolets using our Right Click plugin for IE was so popular that users let us know they needed it for Netscape. Simply highlight text on the web and click a button on your toolbar and you will find the information in your Palm the next time you HotSync from anywhere. No downloads necessary, simply drag and drop a link onto your toolbar. Works for Netscape and IE!

Coola Signatures

Users have always been able to create a unique form of Address Coolet called a Coola Signature. The signature feature has now been imporoved! Now, when a friend or other user adds your information to their device by clicking your Coola Signature, they are added to a sort of "subscription" to your signature. From then on, whenever you update your signature, the new information is automatically updated on their device! You no longer need to send your signature to them, or tell them to click on it again. As long as you keep your signature up to date, and your friends and associates use Coola, they'll have your most recent and correct contact information! Check out the Using Coola Signature page for more information.

Doc Coolets

Break the 4k barrier with Doc Coolets! This new feature is, by far, the most revolutionary of the Coola features added to date. To put it plainly, you can now add and create standard Palm Doc format files through Coola! Not only will this simplify the addition of e-books to your device from sites that provide them, but also those long product reviews can now fit on your palm in one file! Don't stop there, though! Sites that provide long texts and manuals in plain-text or even HTML format can now be used to add the same text to your device! Now that information is not limited to 4k (by the Memo application), the possibilities are endless!
How does this work? Well, I don't know anything about the technology involved, but I do know what a user does. Here's a blow-by-blow of the process, from installation to reading (if I can recall it correctly)...

1. To make use of the Document Coolet technology, a new version of the Coola installer is required. The download was only 475k, a mere 3k more than the original Coola installer, and with this feature added, it's nothing to complain about. Once downloaded, run the program to install.
2. After installation, you can go right to making Document Coolets. There was no additional installation for the Palm device (i.e. no HotSync required).
3. It will help to have a web page or text file you know of that you'd like to create a Doc out of, but you can always do some quick surfing to give it a try. If all you want to do is click a Coolet link, feel free to click the one at the top right of this page. It will load this review into your device, where you can continue reading. ;-) Anyway, once you have a web page you want to convert, simply copy the URL of that page from your web browser.
4. Once you have the address of the page you want to convert, simply go to the Coola web site, click the "Create Coolets" button, then click the "Document" button to get started. You can also go directly to the Create Doc Coolet page from here.
5. The form will ask for your e-mail address (if you're not already logged into Coola), the title of the Document, and the URL of the page to convert.
6. Once you've typed and/or pasted in the appropriate information, click the "Submit" button to create the Coolet.
7. After the Coolet is created, you can click the Coola button to add it to your device, or send it to a friend, or copy the code to add a link on a web page or in an e-mail message.
8. When you're ready, HotSync your Palm device to add the document(s) to it. During the Coola sync portion, you'll notice the Coola window pop up and indicate the documents being installed.
9. That's it! You're done! Open your doc reader on your palm and start reading. :)

Need a Doc reader?

There is a wide variety of PalmOS document readers available. The Gadgeteer has been keeping a great article called Palm DOC Reader Comparison Review up to date with new reviews and information. If you just want something now, SeaPUG recommends CSpotRun. CSpotRun is a great little reader, and it's FREE!

Go get started!

If you want to start making use of the Doc Coolet feature right away, then you need to hit the Document Coolets page. There you will find more information on how to use the service, download links for the software update, and more!

Likes

1. Coola Right-Click: simplified addition of small snippets of information into PalmOS Memo files, anything less than 4k is ideal.
2. Coola Signature: no longer need to inform people of changes to contact information!


3. Coola Docs: Quickly and easily convert large amounts of data on the web into standard Palm document files, readable by too many applications to list.
4. Coola Docs: Can convert HTML pages as well as TEXT files, and possibly more... as long as a web browser can display it, it should be convertible.
5. Coola Docs: Can access public FTP sites as well as HTTP sites. This is great for people who like to use Project Gutenberg to catch up on the classics.
6. Coola Docs: Converted documents read well, and even include some formatting features, such as bulleted lists.

Dislikes

1. None... though adding "Make Doc Coolet" to the Coola Right-Click options would be nice. :)

Rating: 5 needles (out of five).

More Reviews of this product:

1. Geek.com PDA Review: Coola 1-Click, by Jen Edwards
2. Coola: Now Syncing DOCs to your Palm, by the PalmGuru

If you would like to add any comments or corrections to my review, please contact me at flux@snapbag.com