Palm Blog: My idea of summer fun

My idea of summer fun? Catching up on a good book, letting my inner muse free herself with some sketching, cooking up a tasty BBQ, or maybe just gazing at the night sky. Here’s how my Palm Pre helps with all of the above -- with free webOS apps.

Plop yourself in a shaded hammock for some summer reading. pReader software works with popular eBook formats. For content, point your phone's browser to The Gutenberg Project (m.gutenberg.org), a huge library of free classics. Or find out if your public library has an eBook lending program for current favorites in Mobipocket or eReader format. pReader software works seamlessly with the DRM on both.

If art is more your thing, try some sketching with Paintr Lite. The Featured Gallery of other users' artwork is amazing. For an entertaining challenge, try your hand at roll-a-doodle.

Never turn up at a backyard BBQ empty-handed again. What's For Dinner Lite frees you from the drudgery of printed cookbooks. It lets you search multiple recipe websites at once, and automatically creates a shopping list with one tap, remembering your chosen recipes in a convenient list. Or you can just use Yelp orGoodFood to find a great take-out place nearby.

Turn a gorgeous summer night into science class. Teach kids (or big people) about lunar cycles using Moon Info, or introduce them to meteorology using the weather maps inAccuWeather. Wear them out before bedtime by having them jump up and down to simulate earthquakes with Seismograph(tip: set preferences for a low amplitude).

Bonnie L., Customer Support