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RIM dealt another blow in patent lawsuit RIM's offer/settlement to pay a company called NTP US$450 million over a patent dispute was apparently not good enough, and so a judge threw out RIM's offer. This means that RIM may have to pay NTP over a billion dollars in order to keep its wireless service running in the United States. This most unfortunate lawsuit has been going on for years, and is yet another example of a blatant attempt at profiteering off the success of technology pioneers like RIM. Remember how Palm faced a similar situation when Xerox sued Palm over patent infringement with Graffiti? Palm's energy and focus was diverted for years, and they even abandoned the original Graffiti (doubtlessly to significant harm to them) until the lawsuit was thrown out because it had no merit. Yet, Palm was wounded and has never been the same. We certainly hope the same won't happen to RIM. [read RIM's update on the litigation] -- Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2005 by chb
Symbol and Avaya provide VoIP mobility solution Symbol Technologies and business communications applications specialist Avaya Inc. announced the availability of a mobility solution that helps mobile professionals access essential enterprise applications as they roam throughout their workplace. The solution integrates Symbol's data capture, mobile computing platforms, and wireless infrastructure with Avaya's IP telephony software and mobile client applications. It combines Symbol's award-winning MC50 Enterprise Digital Assistant, WS5100 Wireless Switch, and AP300 Access Port with the Avaya IP Softphone based on the Avaya Communication Manager platform. The solution is ideal for retail, healthcare, manufacturing and environments where campus workers require mobile computers, scanners and other technologies combined with voice communications. [see full release]
-- Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2005 by chb
O'Neil mobile printer for popular Dolphin 7900  O'Neil Product Development released the PrintPAD 7900 that combines their 4" thermal printer with an integrated cradle for Hand Held Products' popular Dolphin 7900 rugged mobile computer. The cradle assembly also uses Bluetooth so that it can be sued to print even when the terminal is not inserted. The rugged PrintPAD can print well over 2,000 6" receipts or other short documents on a single charge, making it perfect for route accounting, store deliveries and many other mobile field applications. -- Posted Wednesday, November 30, 2005 by chb
Bluetooth growing in leaps and bounds The Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced that the Bluetooth market is now shipping an amazing 9.5 million Bluetooth units PER WEEK, twice as many as just half a year ago. Dr. Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG, views that as a rousing endorsement of Bluetooth as the personal area network of choice for mobile phones, portable computers, cars, stereo headsets, MP3 players, and more. For comprehensive information on the current state of Bluetooth, check the Bluetooth website. -- Posted Tuesday, November 29, 2005 by chb
Visual Voicemail now on Palm Treo, other mobiles  Mobile workers know the tedious voicemail routine: Call voicemail, enter PIN, wade through menus to sequentially to one message after the other. Skip, save, delete, repeat. Visual Voicemail from Traverse Networks changes all that, delivering voicemail to mobile devices within an email-like inbox. Visual Voicemail is available as a stand alone solution or as a fully integrated component of CallConnect that provides complete control of a corporate office phone from mobile devices including Palm Treos, RIM Blackberries and Symbian based smartphones. Very clever. -- Posted Monday, November 28, 2005 by chb
Microsoft tweaks Hosted Messaging and Collaboration for Mobile Microsoft announced its Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 3.5, a hosted solution that enables service providers to equip small and midsize businesses with enterprise-class email services, mobile device data access, team websites and online presence information. In version 3.5, Microsoft incorporates new mobile synchronisation capabilities taking advantage of Windows Mobile 5.0, direct push of email and PIM data without the need for SMS, remote device wipe of sensitive data from lost or stolen devices, a variety of security enhancements, and new tools that lessen management time and extend customer acquisition opportunities for hosting partners. Sign up for free Hosted Messaging seminars -- Posted Monday, November 28, 2005 by chb
Acer introduces TravelMate C200 Tablet PC  Acer America introduced the TravelMate C200 series of Tablet PC convertibles. Unlike most convertibles to-date, the C200 uses a patented sliding-track mechanism for a much more stable writing surface than the common pivot/swivel mechanism used by almost all other Tablet PC convertibles provides. The C200 has a 12.1" display, uses either a 2GHz Pentium M 760 or a 1.5GHz Celeron M 370, has up to 2GB of RAM, up to 100GB of disk, and a slot-loading DVD burner or conventional DVD/CD-RW. The device also has a 4-in-1 card reader, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, Gigabit LAN, and a 56k modem. There are three USB 2.0 ports and Firewire. Prices start at US$1,399. A top-of-the-line model with biometric fingerprint scanner gos for US$1,899. Our take: it's about time someone re-introduced a more stable solution than the ubiquitous but pretty useless pivot. IBM used a similar solution many years ago on its P750 and P360 Thinkpads. [see press release] [see Acer product page] -- Posted Tuesday, November 22, 2005 by chb
New BlackBerry has Broadband access  RIM and Verizon Wireless introduced the BlackBerry 7130e, the first to take advantage of Verizon's "BroadbandAccess" on its EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) service. This allows using the 7130e as a modem to download documents to a notebook at between 400 and 700 kbps--quite remarkable. The new data service adds $15-$30 to a standard monthly BlackBerry bill, depending on the service plan. Other than that, the 7130e is another step in RIM devices' evolution to more PDA-like capabilities and display quality while, of course, retaining the still unmatched push-based RIM wireless email. Our take: We still prefer the 8700 Series' thumbtype keyboards over weird hybrid keypads, but RIM's push to make their devices ever more useful is most impressive. Let's hope those obnoxious patent infringement lawsuits are settled real soon. Nasty stuff, that. -- Posted Monday, November 21, 2005 by chb
Nokia buys Intellisync In a move that may or may not bode ill to competing OS platforms, Nokia and Intellisync announced they have signed an agreement for Nokia to acquire Intellisync, a leader in platform-independent wireless messaging and applications for mobile devices. Intellisync stockholders will receive US$5.25 per share in cash for each Intellisync common share. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006. Intellisync was founded in 1993 and has approximately 450 employees. Our take: Whether longtime PDA synchronization stalwart Intellisync will still "power virtually any device" in the future will remain to be seen.
[see Nokia release] -- Posted Thursday, November 17, 2005 by chb
Symbian's staggering numbers While the PDA market seems to be stagnating at best for now, the numbers of Symbian-powered advanced handsets is huge and growing. No less than 8.5 million Symbia handsets were shipped in Q3 of 2005 (and a total of over 23 million for the first three quarters) and the installed base of Symbian OS users is now almost 50 million. 60 Symbian OS phones from eight licensees are shipping, and that many more are under development. Fujitsu, Nokia, Mitsubishi and Samsung all released advanced new EDGE, GSM/GPRS and FOMA phones. For more info see All About Symbian. -- Posted Thursday, November 17, 2005 by chb
Acer aims to become a force in PDAs Digitimes reports that according to its chairman, Acer may sell 700,000 PDAs in fiscal 2005, up from just over 100,000 last year. The sales will continue to climb 114% in 2006, when the company’s ranking in the global PDA market is expected to rise from third to second. Acer current PDA lineup, the n30, n35 and n50, are manufactured by Lite-On Technology. IDC recently reported the handheld device market totaled 1.68 million units worldwide in the third quarter of 2005, with Acer enjoying the most on-year growth among the top-five vendors. -- Posted Thursday, November 17, 2005 by chb
PalmSource acquisition final Japan's Access and its US branch announced it has completed the acquisition of PalmSource which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Access and no longer traded as a separate company. Each share of PalmSource has been converted into the right to receive US$18.50 in cash. Up to now, almost 40 million devices using the Palm OS have been sold. According to CNET's news.com Palm CEO Ed Colligan had told Computer Business Review in October that he probably would not have separated PalmSource from Palm had he been in charge at the time. It also reported that Motorola had launched a failed US$17.25 per share bid for PalmSource. -- Posted Wednesday, November 16, 2005 by chb
Handwriting reco comes to game machines Zi Corporation, which provides intelligent interface solutions, has signed a licensing agreement with Nintendo where Nintendo DS developers can employ Zi's Decuma handwriting recognition technology in games for the Nintendo DS handheld video game system. The Nintendo DS has two screens, one of which uses touch-screen technology. Users can interact with the Nintendo DS by using standard control buttons, a microphone or the touch screen. While this seems an odd concept, some of the early DS games that use the touch screen are very compelling and definitely enrich the gaming experience. Zi Corporationsaid, "With Decuma, Nintendo DS users will experience natural handwriting recognition previously only available to PDA and smartphone users. Zi continues to bring its multi-modal input products to leading mobile phones, gaming platforms and smartphones across the globe." [see press release] -- Posted Tuesday, November 15, 2005 by chb
SynapticsDual Mode TouchPad holds potential  Interface solutions specialist Synaptics' Dual Mode TouchPad module transforms the Synaptics notebook TouchPad from a navigation device to a media control center with the touch of a button. In default navigation mode, the TouchPad provides cursor navigation. When the dual mode button is engaged blue LEDs illuminate application icons and controls on the pad. The illuminated interface offers multimedia controls, including volume, play/pause, stop, previous, next and mute, and also application launch buttons for Internet Explorer, search, mail, and media player. To switch from cursor mode to media mode, users tap on the upper right tap zone on the TouchPad module. The Dual Mode TouchPad is now shipping with the new Medion MD 96500 notebook computer. It's easy to see many other mobile/tablet applications for this interesting technology. [see release] -- Posted Monday, November 14, 2005 by chb
PCMCIA ExpressCard makes inroad  Once upon a time, the PC Card ruled the expansion card field. Today, those cards look quaintly huge and have long been replaced by CF Cards, Memory Sticks, SF Cards and other smaller formats. For most applications, but not all. That's because the smaller formats generally can't provide serious hardware expansion. That's where the PCMCIA's ExpressCard comes in. PCMCIA calls them the plug-in I/O cards for the next generation of PC devices. There are two form factors (2.1 x 3.4 and 1.35 x 3), both smaller than the old PC Card. Both support the USB 2.0 and PCI Express interface--much faster than the old CardBus. PCMCIA just completed its 5th ExpressCard Compliance Workshop in Taiwan, with 15 companies testing 32 products. At this point, the ExpressCard standard is used in more than 95% of all notebooks, giving the PCMCIA ExpressCard a good chance for success. [see ExpressCard site for all information] -- Posted Monday, November 14, 2005 by chb
Iomega releases 4 and 8GB Micro Mini hard drives  Storage medium veteran Iomea certainly has had its ups and downs over the years. The (massive) original Bernoulli Box was very cool, and so were the ZIP disks in their day. There were a number of flops as well, but now Iomega has something interesting in higher capacity versions of its tiny shockmounted Micro Mini hard drives. The 1.75 ounce 4200rpm drives are smaller than most USB keys, have an ingenious fold-away USB 2.0 neck, are powered by the USB port when you plug them in, and even have a lower price per gigabyte than flash USB keys. It comes with backup and music management software for Mac and PC, and Adobe Photoshop Album SE for PC. Suggested retail is US$129.95 for the 4GB and US$169.95 for the 8GB model. -- Posted Thursday, November 10, 2005 by chb
Handango launches Tablet PC Catalog Mobile systems software vendor Handango has entered the market for downloadable Tablet PC software with the launch of a Tablet PC catalog. Customers can download applications at Handango's Web site and on the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Software store. Now, Tablet PC owners have a place to discover and download the best selection of software for their Tablet PCs. Additionally, Handango has extended its robust marketplace platform, Handango AMPP, to support Tablet PC applications, enabling Tablet PC manufacturers to create new streams of revenue through their own branded software storefronts. -- Posted Tuesday, November 8, 2005 by chb
PDA sales UP! No, DOWN! No, UP! No, DOWN! Mobilemag.com: "Gartner predicts PDA sales to sky rocket this year -- According to a report by Gartner, the shipment of PDAs in Q3, 2005 has registered a staggering growth of nearly 21 percent over the corresponding period last year. The total shipment figure in the given period stood at a commendable 3.45 million units. On the basis of this trend, Gartner has projected a record sale of nearly 15 million units of PDAs this year which will far exceed the best ever PDA shipments figure of 13.2 million units registered in 2001."
Betanews.com: "PDA Sales Continue to Decline -- Handheld devices continued to fall out of favor with consumers, according to a report released by market research firm IDC. In the third quarter of 2005, handheld sales fell 8.8 percent compared with last quarter, and 16.9 percent year over year. Even with the declines, device manufacturers are continuing to release new products, many featuring some type of wireless connectivity. While IDC expects an uptick in sales sequentially from quarter to quarter, sales will likely miss last year's numbers." -- Posted Monday, November 7, 2005 by chb
Netgear launches blazing-speed wireless product line NETGEAR announced its RangeMax 240 family of wireless networking products, a wireless networking solution capable of delivering data at wireless speeds up to 240 Mbps. That's wireless which is fast enough to support simultaneous bandwidth-intensive applications such as high-definition video, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephony, streaming audio, and online gaming. The RangeMax 240 Wireless Router (WPNT834) uses MIMO technology with Adaptive Channel Expansion. When used with the RangeMax 240 Wireless Notebook Adapter (WPNT511) and USB 2.0 Adapter (WPNT121) you can get wireless effective throughput of up to 100Mbps comparable to that of 10/100 Fast Ethernet wired networks. It is compatible with and connects simultaneously to RangeMax 240, RangeMax, and all other 802.11b/g clients. RangeMax 240 dynamically avoids interference from neighboring wireless networks to maintain the most reliable, high-performance, long-range network connection. Our view: Of course, we've seen faster-than-standard wireless before and it usually comes at the expense of compatibility and, well, being a standard, but this kind of speed shows where we're headed. -- Posted Monday, November 7, 2005 by chb
Tiny Nokia 770 Internet Tablet now shipping  What is this? Deja-vue all over again with a little webpad? Didn't we go through this four years ago and it went nowhere? Didn't even mighty Microsoft throw in its towel with the shortlives Mira/SmartDisplay? Well, Nokia has never been one to shy away from a challenge in its never-ending quest for wireless supremacy, and hence the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It's a 5.6 x 3.2 x 0.8 inch black and matte-silver mini-tablet that weighs 8.1 ounces, has a 65k color 4.1-inch 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen 128MB of flash (over 64MB available to the user), a RS-MMC card, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g WiFi, a 1,500mAH battery good for 3 hours' worh of browsing, and it runs the Linux "Internet Tablet 2005 software edition". Though this is a Nokia device, no telephony. That'll happen next year with the 2006 Internet Tablet edition that supports VoIP and Instant Messaging. -- Posted Monday, November 7, 2005 by chb
Two new Asus GPS Pocket PCs  Asus announced two new "Global Positioning Systems devices" (is Pocket PC becoming a dirty word?) that for now are available in Europe and Taiwan. They are the MyPal A632 and A636. Both use the Sirf Star III GPS module, use a 416MHz Intel PCA processor and run Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC. Other specs: 128MB Flash ROM and 64MB RAM, 1,300mAH removable Li-Ion battery, Bluetooth, dimensions of 4.8x2.9x0.75 inches, and a weight of 6.7 ounces. The A636 model (projected at US$560) has one SDIO slot and 802.11b WiFi, whereas the US$500 A632 model has no WiFi but, interestingly, dual SDIO slots that also support MiniSD. -- Posted Friday, November 4, 2005 by chb
Garmin adds another GPS Pocket PC  The GPS/mapping specialists at Garmin were the first to offer Palm OS devices with built-in GPS receivers. Then they added a Pocket PC version with very similar looks. The iQUE M5 impressed us so much that it was given a 2005 Pen Computing Magazine Editor's Choice Award. Problem is, at $699 the price was a bit high and so Garmin released a stripped down iQUE M3 version with a slower processor, less ROM, no Bluetooth, and less mapping software for US$200 less. The just released iQUE M4 is essentially the M3 with a couple of improvemens and a full complement of Garmin's best mappoing software. The sole problem we see is the price of $642, just $58 below the list price of the more powerful M5. -- Posted Monday, October 31, 2005 by chb
FinePoint's new digitizer in three new Tablet PCs One of the sore points in Tablet PCs is the active digitizer where Wacom holds a virtual monopoly. At some point Mutoh America was a player in active digitizers thanks to having taken over tablet maker Kurta (founded in 1979). Mutoh sold the Kurta line in 1996, but retained the engineering staff and the electromagnetic pen technology. In 2000, the digitizer business spun off Mutoh America and formed FinePoint Innovations. The FinePoint digitizer managed to get a few design wins in Tablet PCs, most notably the initial Compaq tc1000 Tablet PC, but lost ground to Wacom. One of the problems was that the FinePoint pen needed a battery and was thus thicker than Wacom's slender pens. Well, in September 2005, FinePoint was purchased by InPlay Technologies in a roughly $3 million stock transaction. InPlay is in the business of marketing and licensing emerging technologies. InPlay was interested because FinePoint had developed a new digitizer technology and had orders for over $1 million in the bag. FinePoint now announced that its new digitizer technology is used in "a major computer manufacturer's new product line of convertible notebooks" and that FinePoint now has a total of $3.1 million in orders. The company wasn't named, but FinePoint hinted it had an established 20-year history. FinePoint also states that its new digital technology means very low power consumption of the notebook battery and superior performance, accuracy, and a true pen-on-paper look and feel. -- Posted Friday, October 28, 2005 by chb
Sun Microsystems announces integrated RFID solution RFID is hot and getting hotter all the time, which means we're seeing more big player get into the action. Sun Microsystems announced the availability of the Sun RFID Industry Solution for Physical Asset Tracking, a combination of products and services to help simplify and accelerate the process of designing and integrating an RFID solution for tracking physical assets. Sun's RFID solution is based on the Solaris 10 OS, Sun Java Enterprise System and Sun Java System RFID Software. The solution is packaged with third-party components and applications, such as the RFID-enabled mobile asset management system from Applied Logistics Solutions and is capable of working with many of the commonly available RFID readers, including the Intermec IF5 intelligent reader and Intelleflex ultra-long-range battery-assisted semi-passive RFID tags and readers. [Sun's RFID page] -- Posted Wednesday, October 26, 2005 by chb
Imation has a better idea: the Swivel USB key  USB keys are one of the really great inventions of recent times. I carry a gigabyte of storage on my keychain. When I need to move data from one system to another, it's often much easier to simply use a USB key than to rely on quirky networks. One big problem: I've eventually lost the cap of every USB key I've ever had. Apparently Imation noticed that weakness and introduced the Swivel Pro Flash Drive. Its swivel cap that easily swivels and snaps into place. It also sports a 50% increase in read speed and now can read files at 12MB per second, and an asymmetrical makes it easier to identify the top of the drive to put it into the USB the right way. There's also a quick-release lanyard. Capacities range from 128MB to 2GB suggested retail prices from $24.99 to $199.99. [see Swivel Flash drive page] -- Posted Wednesday, October 26, 2005 by chb
PHT Corp uses Palms to collect medical data Palm, Inc. announced that PHT Corporation, one of its leading clinical trials customers, is using 1,500 Palm Treo 650 smartphones to collect and wirelessly transmit self-reported data from subjects using PHT's customized LogPad application in clinical trials across the globe. PHT plans to roll out the initial set of smartphones over a six-month period for use during a series of clinical trials. PHT has deployed more than 20,000 Palm handhelds in the past two years and is at the forefront of smartphone use in clinical research. More than 70 biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, including 13 of the top 15 drug-development firms in the world, use PHT's market-leading electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) solutions in more than 180 clinical studies worldwide. -- Posted Tuesday, October 25, 2005 by chb
RouteView mapping saves on trucking fuel expenses With fuel prices at record highs, companies providing delivery services can saving tens of thousands of dollars in delivery expenses -- as much as 30 percent of their costs in fuel, mileage and manpower -- by using a unique and powerful product called RouteView. RouteView from RouteView Technologies is a map-based software system that turns hours of route planning into minutes, ensures correct addresses and efficient routes, helps to balance workloads, calculates mileage and sets a productive pace to help drivers. RouteView slashes as much as 30% of fuel and other delivery costs of home furnishings, appliance and wholesale distribution companies--a great application of wireless mobile technology. [see GPS/wireless version info] -- Posted Monday, October 24, 2005 by chb
Symbol adds pistol grip, WinMo 5.0, WiFi to MC3000 Symbol Technologies expanded the breadth of the MC3000 family of mobile computers (winner of the 2005 Pen Computing Magazine Editor's Choice Award) by introducing a new pistol grip form factor. The new MC3090G model offers customers in the retail, transportation and logistics and government industries increased flexibility and versatility allowing them to choose the form factor most appropriate to their business. Symbol also announced today that it will refresh its MC3000 line of mobile computers to include Microsoft Windows CE 5.0 and additional features such as 802.11b/g/a WLAN connectivity. [see release]
-- Posted Monday, October 24, 2005 by chb
LISTEN to blogs and news with Odigo For those who like to listen to news instead of reaing it, try Odiogo, an application that enables users to listen to the latest news content from hundreds of news sources and blogs via MP3 players, PDAs, phones, or laptop computers. Odiogo ("Audio News To Go") extracts blog posts or articles from news sites (such as The New York Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal) and converts them to light audio files in seconds. The files can then easily be uploaded to any MP3 device. Odiogo converts the content on any website containing RSS feeds into small audio files using text-to-speech technology. -- Posted Thursday, October 20, 2005 by chb
GE Healthcare offers mobile extension to PatientKeeper GE Healthcare announced today the release of Centricity Physician Office Mobile. Powered by the PatientKeeper computing platform for physicians, the new offering extends the functionality of Centricity Physician Office to mobile devices such as PDAs and Smartphones. Physicians can access and manage their patient lists and schedules and capture charges quickly and accurately -- from any location. Physicians can wirelessly sync or cradle their devices to connect with Centricity Physician Office. Charges captured on the device are automatically submitted, reducing the lag time between service delivery and charge posting. [info on PatientKeeper] -- Posted Thursday, October 20, 2005 by chb
NAVTEQ releases new data set tailored for trucking industry Digital map provider NAVTEQ released a new data set, specifically tailored for the trucking industry, that includes truck access restriction and recommended truck route information linked to the NAVTEQ map of North America. This data enables transportation and logistics solution providers that use NAVTEQ maps to enhance routing solutions, multi-vehicle optimization applications and truck navigation products. The new truck attribute data provides both restriction and recommended route information. The restriction attributes include legal, height, weight, length and width specific information for segments of roadway. The data set also offers Surface Transportation Assistant Act (STAA) routes: Federal Highway Administration designated highway networks that can best accommodate truck traffic. This information will allow solution providers to develop routes optimized for fleets. -- Posted Tuesday, October 18, 2005 by chb
Symbol announces two Partner programs Symbol Technologies announced two programs to help customers reduce deployment time and implement an interoperable end-to-end enterprise mobility system: the Solutions Validation Program and the SymbolPLUS Partner Program. Both are designed to validate third-party vertical market solutions and technologies with Symbol hardware so customers can eliminate significant cost and hassle in evaluating these solutions. The Solutions Validation Program lets partners co-validate applications and solutions on Symbol hardware, including the MC50 enterprise data assistant (reviewed in the latest issue of Pen Computing Magazine) and the MC9000 mobile computer within the recently built Symbol Solution Center, a testing facility located at Symbol's Holtsville, N.Y. headquarters. The SymbolPLUS Partner Program validates third-party peripheral devices such as wireless printers and GPS receivers to help make sure these products operate "out of the box" with Symbol products and solutions. [Symbol Partner Program] -- Posted Tuesday, October 18, 2005 by chb
PalmSource among first to join Mobile Linux initiative The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux, announced the formation of a new working group, the Mobile Linux Initiative (MLI), focused on accelerating the adoption of Linux in the rapidly-growing mobile market. MLI participants will work on operating system technical challenges, foster development of applications for Linux-based mobile devices, deliver requirements definition documents and use cases, and host complementary open source projects that support the initiative. MontaVista Software, Motorola, PalmSource, Trolltech, and Wind River are among the first members to participate in MLI. [see Mobile Linux Initiative] -- Posted Monday, October 17, 2005 by chb
Motorola enters rugged handheld market  Motorola announced its entry into the commercial off-the-shelf rugged mobile computing market with the rugged HC700-L flashlight-style handheld. The first in a series, the HC700-L is designed to meet the rigorous demands of mobile workforces in a variety of industries including utility, transportation, logistics, public works, public services and manufacturing. The device is built around a 416MHz Intel PXA270 chip, has 64 to 128MB of SDRAM and 64-128MB of Flash. For expansion there is a MiniSD card. The HC700 supports an area imager, 1/2D decoding sgnature capture, has an LED aimer, and also supports GPS-location services. The device is sealed to IP64 standard, can handle 6-foot drops, and operate in -4 to 140 degree temperatures. A hot-swappable 1800mAH battery provides good battery life. On the OS side, you can get either WinCE .NET or Pocket PC. [pdf of Motorola HC700-L specsheet] -- Posted Monday, October 17, 2005 by chb
Nice Office now on WinMo, Pocket PC and Smartphone eAgency, a Newport Beach, California-based On-Demand Collaboration software provider announced availability of the company's next-generation Nice Office Wireless solution for use on Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and Smartphone devices. Now compatible with the latest wireless devices using Microsoft's Windows Mobile, including HP iPaq, Audivox PPC, i-mate JAM, Dell Axim, and Samsung models, Nice Office Wireless, designed for the small-to-medium business market, offers complete wireless synchronization of sales and customer data, industry data, along with emails, calendar information, appointments, and contacts. [see eAgency Nice Office] -- Posted Friday, October 14, 2005 by chb
Palm launches US$99 Z22  In a well-timed and much appreciated one-two punch, Palm not only launched the intriguing new TX, but also the handsomely styled $99 Z22. That's just "Z22", not "Zire Z22." The new lossleader device, quite obviously aimed at first-time PDA users and others who like things simple and inexpensive, runs "Garnet" Palm OS 5.4 on a 200MHZ ARM-based Samsung processor, has 32MB of memory with 24MB available to users, a color 160x160 touchscreen, a has a Mini USB connector. It measures just 2.7 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches and weighs almost nothing: 3.4 ounces. Compared to the prior lossleader, the US$129 Zire 31, the new model has twice the memory, runs the newest version of the Palm OS, but doesn't play music (it can handle photos, though). Palm advertises it on its website as a "Small wonder. Your planner, journal, sticky notes, and calendar all in one little place." [see the Z22 Palm product page] -- Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2005 by chb
Palm releases new Palm TX  Palm announced the new Palm TX handheld (just Palm TX, no "Tungsten") that features integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technologies, a large, high-resolution 320x480 pixel color screen; and all the power needed to efficiently access and manage information conveniently on the road away from the desktop. The TX sports an all-black housing, runs Palm OS "Garnet" 5.4, has 128MB of memory with 100MB accessible to users, a 312MHz Intel PXA processor, a SDIO slot, a standard 3.5mm stsreo headphone jack, and a multiconnector. It measures 3.1 x 4.8 x 0.6 inches and weighs 5.25 ounces. The Palm TX will have an estimated street price of $299 and includes a very generous software bundle. Compared to the Tungsten T5 whose overall design it shares, the TX adds WiFi and costs $50 less, but has a somewhat slower processor and half the memory. [see Palm TX page] -- Posted Wednesday, October 12, 2005 by chb
State-of-the-art rugged Pocket PC with IP67 sealing  While we haven't seen a lot of new commercial Pocket PCs lately, industrial models keep on coming. Juniper Systems of Logan, Utah, is offering the Archer Field PC, an ultra-rugged Pocket PC with IP67 sealing, a 5-foot drop spec onto concrete and an operating temperature range between -22 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The Archer is technologically state-of-the-art with a 520MHz PXA270 processor, Windows Mobile 5.0, CF and SD card slots, 64MB RAM and 128MB Flash, a 3.5-inch transflective display, and optional end caps that can accommodate GPS, radios, barcode scanners or a camera. The Archer also has a 9-pin serial connector in addition to Mini USB A host and Mini USB B device jacks. The unit is a bit larger than it looks in the picture (6.5 x 3.5 x 1.7) and weighs just over a pound. Too bad we couldn' include it in Pen Computing's upcoming roundup of rugged Pocket PCs. -- Posted Tuesday, October 11, 2005 by chb
Wyse releases new Thin Client There was a time where "webpads," "internet applicances" and similar smart terminal contraptions were seen as the Next Big Thing. Some of those concepts are still around and may yet make it big. One that never went away is the "thin client"--simple, inexpensive devices that provide quick access to information. Wyse Technology is a leader in that field. The company just released their fastest and sleekest Thin Client yet, the S10. Wyse says the S10 is very fast thanks to the new 5.0 version of Wyse Thin OS (formerly known as Wyse Blazer) that works in conjunction with the Citrix server. Interestingly, thin clients are not OS-dependent. Wyse suggests picking the OS best suited for an application (Wyse Blazer/Wyse Thin OS, Windows CE, Linux, Windows XPe) and then the hardware platform. A OS features chart helps deciding. There's also a hardware comparison chart in PDF form. -- Posted Monday, October 10, 2005 by chb
Gateway officially releases its new Tablet PC convertible Known in insider circles for quite some time, Gateway now officially launched its new convertible notebook Tablet PC (see product page). Officially named the CX2600 Series Convertible Notebook, it is the first convertible notebook available at retail with a 14-inch widescreen display. It is also nicely priced at less than $1,400.00. -- Posted Thursday, October 6, 2005 by chb
BlueShark releases new Win CE 5.0 Thin Clients BlueShark Technologies announced two new Apriza 5000 Series models. The Windows CE 5.0 based units include a local Internet Explorer 6.0 browser and designed specifically for use with web (IE) and server based (RDP and ICA) applications. The Apriza 5400 and 5410 are powered by a 400MHz, Via Eden embedded processor, have 2 USB ports, 2 serial ports, a parallel port, 2 PS/2 ports and VGA out. They come with 32MB of IDE Flash and 64MB RAM, and have a durable, yet attractive, enclosure that's ready for the most demanding environments. Prices are attractive, starting at under $300. [product overview] -- Posted Thursday, October 6, 2005 by chb
Linux software platform for consumer devices Wind River Systems, Inc., a leader in Device Software Optimization, announced its Linux device software platform for consumer devices, delivering a commercial-grade quality Linux product line that scales to support a full range of device requirements from the smallest handhelds to the most robust network equipment. Device manufacturers have the flexibility to develop innovative, highly differentiated product offerings with complete assurance from a fully tested and validated Linux 2.6 implementation, a cutting-edge Eclipse-based development suite and global support and professional services from a technology expert with over 20 years of experience. [full release] -- Posted Wednesday, October 5, 2005 by chb
Trimble Introduces Subfoot GPS Handheld for High-Accuracy Mapping  Trimble today introduced the GeoXH handheld receiver—the first integrated GPS field computer to deliver subfoot accuracy for Geographic Information System (GIS) data collection and mapping. The GeoXH handheld is based on Trimble's H-Star technology, first introduced in the GPS Pathfinder® ProXH receiver earlier this year. H-Star handhelds and receivers greatly reduce the time it takes to collect high accuracy GPS data in the field. For even greater accuracy, a Zephyr™ antenna added to the GeoXH handheld yields 8 inch accuracy. The GeoXH uses a 416MHz Intel PXA processor running Windows Mobile Version 5.0 for Pocket PC. -- Posted Wednesday, October 5, 2005 by chb
Toshiba adds goodies to the Satellite R15 Tablet PC convertible In a press release that could easily be misread as the announcement of a new Tablet PC platform, Toshiba alerted of the availability of new options for its Satellite R15 Tablet PC notebook convertible released in early 2005. The R15-S829 model offers features new to the line, including a DVD SuperMulti Double Layer drive that reads and writes in up to 10 formats and can nearly double a recordable DVD's storage capacity in DVD+R double layer format, and a 5400rpm 80GB hard drive for quicker access to files. The S829 comes with 512MB (expandable to 2GB), a more powerful Intel Pentium M735 processor(5), and, of course, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. -- Posted Tuesday, October 4, 2005 by chb
Paragon Software's PenReader Paragon Software's Smart Heldheld Devices division began in 1995 to tackle some Newton projects. That led to specialization in a market niche: RAM-based localization of smart handheld devices. These days, its PenReader handwriting recognition sofwtare is available for Pocket PC, Tablet PC, earlier versions of Windows, and other platforms. The latest version, PenReader 2005, is available for download (trial). It supports 28 languages, so even if you like to scribble in Latvian or Icelandic, try PenReader. For the Tablet PC version, click here. -- Posted Monday, October 3, 2005 by chb
Parascript - still recognizing patterns after all those years In the early 1990s, handwriting recognition was thought to release computer users worldwide from the shackles of the keyboard, and Paragraph/Parascript was perhaps the best of those recognition pioneers. Many are gone now, but Parascript is still here, with its Intelligent Recognition recognizing 250 million documents for the US Postal Service and other institutions every day. The company's flagship product AddressScript is now available for Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Canada as well. The universal OCR solution is based, in large part, on the use of independent "learning" modules, resulting in automated customization to country-specific writing styles and addressing standards. Benefits include: lower customization expenses, shorter implementation time, increased recognition performance and improved system reliability. AddressScript provides superb read rate and accuracy, reads both handwritten and machine-print text, and recognizes addresses across the entire mail stream, including letters, flats and parcels. -- Posted Monday, October 3, 2005 by chb
Motorola's Finger-Writing Recognition Technology Motorola won the Gold Award at the 8th Asian Innovation Awards banquet for its Finger Writing Recognition Technology which was developed by Motorola Labs in Shanghai with the Chinese consumer in mind to make Chinese text input easier, faster and affordable. The Finger-Writing Recognition Technology is an intuitive program which adapts to the user's writing styles and begins recognizing characters and completing them. It enables simplified and traditional Chinese characters as well as English. -- Posted Thursday, September 29, 2005 by chb
GPS - not just for cars and PDAs anymore  Garmin International Inc. announced that it is now serving as a tier-one automotive OEM supplier with its newly-developed modular GPS navigation system on the 2006 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. "This marks the first time that Garmin has provided a vehicle manufacturer with a factory installed navigation system," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing. "The Gold Wing is Honda's premier touring bike, and navigating the highways and byways just got a lot easier now that Garmin is on board." Known as the Honda Satellite Linked Navigation System, it provides complete North American mapping with nearly six million points of interest displayed on a large seven-inch integrated display. -- Posted Thursday, September 29, 2005 by chb
Sony Aibo: old dog learns new tricks  We've reveiwed the whimsical, yet future-oriented Sony AIBO robo dog a couple of times. It recognizes faces and voices, expresses emotion through its face lights and even connects remotely to the Internet so you can keep in touch with it from anywhere. Now with Mind 3 software on board, AIBO is supposedly more engaging, entertaining and interactive than ever. According to Sony, AIBO can now blog its own photo diary and read out website content aloud. AIBO remembers the location of its items and its favourite place. Simple dialogue with AIBO is now possible with AIBO responding with spoken words. You can connect with AIBO over the Internet and navigate it or take pictures from anywhere in the world. -- Posted Thursday, September 29, 2005 by chb
OQO announces improved model 01+ Enhanced Ultra Personal Computer Comes
 OQO announces the OQO model 01+ with 512MB RAM, 30GB Hard Drive, USB 2.0, internal Speaker, improved Pen-Based digitizer, Car/Auto ChargerWith upgraded specs, new features and additional accessories all packed in the same 14 ounce pocketable design that made the model 01 the smallest and most mobile Windows XP computer on the market. The model 01+ starts at US$1,899; the original remains available for US$1,499. Our take: We'll be most interested in reviewing the new digitizer implementation as this was a real problem with the original model 01. The at times anemic processor apparently remains the same. -- Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2005 by chb
iAnywhere launches 'RFID Insider' site for RFID Developers Sybase subsidiary iAnywhere announced the launch of a new web-based resource center, RFID Insider, for RFID developers. The site aims to deliver the software, tools, and educational content necessary to advance RFID development capabilities in the market and bring them to the mainstream. -- Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2005 by chb
Charcoal JAM - cool and twice the RAM  i-mate USA announced the launch of the i-mate Charcoal JAM mobile phone for the U.S. market. The Charcoal JAM includes all the advanced Windows Mobile features of the i-mate JAM but has twice the built-in memory at 128 MB. The new i-mate Charcoal JAM retains the same design and compact dimensions of the original JAM, which is the slimmest Pocket PC on the market, but comes in a distinguished charcoal color. The i-mate Charcoal JAM has a suggested retail price of $665. The original i-mate JAM will continue to be available at a suggested retail price of $649. -- Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2005 by chb
Symbol and BARTEC unveil explosion-protected handheld Symbol Technologies announced a partnership with BARTEC, a provider of products and services for hazardous environments, to deliver explosion-protected versions of Symbol MC9000 ruggedized mobile computers. Designed for deployment in hazardous industrial locations where flammable gases may be present, the MC9060-G and MC9060-K mobile computers deliver increased productivity and improved operational efficiencies for customers in the environmental protection, chemical, oil, pharmaceutical, natural gas, plant engineering, transportation and energy industries. -- Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2005 by chb
THEY DID IT!!!! After months' of denying it, the once unthinkable happened: "Palm, Microsoft and Verizon Wireless have just announced a partnership to bring Windows Mobile to the Treo smartphone. The new smartphone provides customers with more options and will be available beginning early next year." [Read full press release]
Now all that remains to be done is speculating what it all will mean. The idea behind the original Palm was to offer a blindingly fast, yet totally simple way to carry and access data. Longtime Pen Computing Magazine readers may recall Jeff Hawkins' words in our interviews with him. He predicted Windows CE devices becoming ever more complex, something that he really didn't want to have any part of. Apparently complexity won over simplicity. Or perhaps it was simply Microsoft grinding away at, and finally once again prevailing over what is, or rather once was, a better solution. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
Trimble T-Ticket mobile citation software Ouch! At Pen Computing Magazine we like fast cars. Good thing we only speed at the track, or else we may get a first-hand look at Trimble's new T-Ticket Mobile Citation Software. Designed to seamlessly integrate with Trimble's rugged Windows CE-based Trimble Recon handheld computer, the officer follows a series of simple screens to enter details on the violation. The officer then prints the ticket via a Bluetooth wireless printer. Once the citation is complete, T-Ticket wirelessly updates the police database with the electronic citation information, generating statistics and compiling reports that accurately reflect the citation activity in a specified area or time period. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
AppForge to support BlackBerry AppForge, long among our favorite mobile application software smithies, announced plans to support BlackBerry in its Crossfire development system. While other solutions may require a server-based system that transcodes web-based or ASP applications, Crossfire applications will be fully local on the BlackBerry. AppForge will be the first company to offer this type of comprehensive development solution to the market. At Pen Computing we've used BackBerries since Day 1 and we applaud AppForge for extending support to the platform! [see release] -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
Palm-based wireless sensing system  ImagiWorks announced its ImagiProbe Wireless Sensing System ships to schools today, and Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, the 12th largest school district in the nation, is among the first to get the new Bluetooth data collection tool designed to engage students in scientific exploration and discovery by allowing them to easily collect and visually analyze data. ImagiLabs for ImagiProbee kits include a variety of "SensorScience" discovery activities. The data collection system is used with Palm Powered (Palm OS 5.0 or higher) handheld computers and devices. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
Intellisync Unified Messaging Intellisync, known for its platform-independent wireless messaging and mobile software, introduced "Intellisync Unified Messaging" for mobile devices. Intellisync Unified Messaging makes any type of mobile communication -- email, voice, text or instant message -- accessible on a single interface on any device in any location, with "One-Touch" access. The goal here is to increase productivity and user satisfaction with wireless communications for mobile professionals, large enterprises and wireless carriers. Intellisync Unified Messaging also provides an enterprise-ready, carrier-grade wireless email and instant messaging platform that will enable IT managers and mobile operators to provide users with seamless access to business and personal communications on mobile devices. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
Handmark Pocket Express Version 2.0 Mobile media publisher Handmark announced Version 2.0 of its award-winning Pocket Express suite of wireless content services for cell phones, smartphones, and wireless PDAs. The new rev adds an attractive new "Tuxedo" interface, location-based services, more news and photos, real-time sports scores, and improved mapping features, all accessible from a central "PageOne" screen. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
HP launches new and enhanced iPAQs HP announced a new iPAQ, the rx1950 series Pocket PC, and enhanced iPAQ hx2000 series Pocket PC, and Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrades for select iPAQs. The upgraded 2000 Series models are the hx2190 (US$349), hx 2490 (US$399) and hx2790 (US$499) which all replace prior 2100/2400/2700 models. The primary difference seems to be Windows Mobile 5.0 and a price that's lower by US$50 for all models. The US$299 iPAQ rx1950 is a new model that brings integrated WiFi to the lower end of the iPAQ spectrum. Also announced was a US$39 Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade for the hx2000 series. -- Posted Monday, September 26, 2005 by chb
Dell Axim X51v -- worth it? While we always felt the HP iPAQ 4700 was the champion of the glorious 480x640 resolution Pocket PCs, Dell did a credible job with the Axim X50v, the little "v" indicating that this was an Axim with a VGA display as opposed to the dinky 240x320 screens of other X50 models. However, the X50v had mediocre battery life and was a bit sluggish in its graphics performance. So what's the deal with the just released X51v? It's essentially the same machine, but has 256MB of Flash ROM (twice as much as the X50v) and comes with Windows Mobile 5. That's about it. Given that you can upgrade the X50v to WinMo 5, the extra $100 Dell charges for the new model may be a big much, but that may well come down in time. Anyway, kudos to Dell for being first with WinMo 5. -- Posted Friday, September 23, 2005 by chb
Navman releases new GPS-enabled Pocket PC  Navman, a designer and manufacturer of GPS, communication and marine products, announced an addition to its line of navigation products for the consumer electronics market. The Personal Interactive Navigator (PiN) 570 combines a GPS receiver with a Pocket PC. The Windows Mobile 2003-based Navman PiN 570 has a 3.5-inch 240x320 transflective LCD touchscreen, a Samsung 266MHz processor, and 64MB of internal RAM. Tele Atlas map data is stored on a supplied 128MB memory card and accessed through the device's SDIO MMC/SD slot. The device uses Navman's SmartST 2005 mapping software that provides turn-by-turn instructions, several map views, trip planner, POIs, etc. The Navman PiN 570 is available at electronics stores nationwide for U.S. $499.95. Our take: the good news is that GPS-equipped Pocket PCs seem to be one of the few PDA growth areas. The not-so-good news is that the hardware is almost always underpowered and nearly obsolete. Why not go all the way and offer a state-of-the-art machine? It'd still be less expensive than an in-dash system by far. -- Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2005 by chb
Pocket PC Phone: Trying every form factor  The search for the ultimate form factor for Pocket PC Phones continues. Obviously they can never be quite as small and sleek as the latest cellphones because they have more functionality, power, and a much bigger screen. Then there's the pesky need to offer both a phone keypad and a reasonably useful keyboard. Many find thumbtyping acceptable, others find the tiny keyboards too small. So let's offer a bigger one, one that slides out sideways. Those who've seen the tiny OQO Windows machine know the trick. Enter the device that makes its entrance onto the US market as the Sprint PPC-6700. It is a CDMA Windows Mobile 5.0 device with a 416MHz XScale chip, Bluetooth, WiFi, megapixel digicam, a size of 4.25 x 2.3 x 1 inches, a weight of 6.1 ounces. List price is $629.99, but considerably less with service plans. [see Sprint listing of device] -- Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2005 by chb
Acer unveils C200 convertible w/o "the twist" One of the huge annoyances with all current Tablet PC convertibles is the twist/swivel hinge that looks great, works well, but also means the display is flexing so much when you tap the display with the pen as to render it nearly useless. Everyone has used this design since Microsoft reinvented the pen computer back in 2002, starting with Acer's own C100. That is peculiar as at least five design solutions exist (we showed and explained them all in Pen Computing Magazine).
So now Acer showed a new Tablet PC convertible machine that uses a more sensible design, one where the display opens conventionally. You can then slide the bottom of the display forward on rails, with the back of it being supported, making for a much more stable solution. IBM used a variant of this in its early ThinkPad convertibles, the P750 and then the P360. [see images of the new design]. Those who remember the Vadem Clio will also find this design familiar.
In terms of specs, the C200, which will come in C202 and C204 versions, uses either a Pentium 1.73GHz M740 or a 2.0GHz M760, the Intel 915GM/915PM chipset, 512 or 1gb of DDR-2 RAM, Nvidia GeForce Go 6200 with 64MB of VRAM, gigabit Ethernet, BT, Firewire, a 4-in-1 card reader, a PC Card slot, 3 USB 2.0, IR, modem, and an optical drive. The display is a standard 12.1 inch 1024x768. -- Posted Monday, September 19, 2005 by chb
Psion Teklogix handheld selected by US DoD Psion Teklogix, a global provider of solutions for mobile computing, wireless data collection, imaging and RFID, today announced that its rugged EPC-compliant 7535 Hand-Held Computer with RD7950 Integrated UHF RFID Reader has been the only hand-held reader selected for use by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), U.S. Coast Guard and several other federal agencies. Psion Teklogix partners CDO Technologies, SYS-TEC and WFI have each been awarded a Blanket Purchase Agreement from the Army Contracting Agency Information Technology, E-Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center. Psion Teklogix has more than 400 government installations worldwide, and a Government Solutions Group supporting its Department of Defense and Federal Agency customer base. -- Posted Friday, September 16, 2005 by chb
Fujitsu will offer diminutive P1500 with Tablet PC Edition Fujitsu Computer Systems announced that its ultra-portable LifeBook P1500 notebook convertible will become available with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition starting in October. The P1500 has a 8.9-inch WSVGA wide-format display and has a footprint considerably smaller than other TPC notebook convertibles. Pricing will start at US$1,549. We initially thought the product was Asian markets only, but then Fujitsu offered it in the US, but with just a touchscreen and standard Windows XP Professional. -- Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2005 by chb
Unova to change name to Intermec There was a time when Intermec was just a subsidiary of Unova, and sort of a stepchild at that. Then Intermec stepped up to bat and, under the dynamic leadership of Larry Brady, established itself as a successful and driving force in the mobile/wireless industrial market. I've had the pleasure to attend one of Brady's visionary presentations at the 2003 Intermec conference and then speak to him in social settings, coming away more than impressed. So we're not surprised that Unova's board of directors decided to change its name to Intermec, Inc. effective January 1, 2006, with Larry Brady at the helm. -- Posted Tuesday, September 13, 2005 by chb
Symbol and Intermec make nice. For now. When it comes to scanners, barcodes and wireless systems for tracking inventory, nobody does it better than Symbol Technologies and Intermec. Much is at stake here with RFID coming on strong, and so it was no surprise when the two feisty competitors went at each other in an intellectual property dispute. Fortunately, reason has prevailed, for now, and the two announced that pending and anticipated legal action was on hold and they'd try to resolve their differences regarding intellectual property issues. As part of the kiss-and-make-up, Symbol joined Intermecs Rapid Start RFID intellectual property licensing program, and agreed to cross-license its own RFID patents with those of Intermec. [see joint release] [see participants in Intermec's RFID Rapid Start Licensing Program] -- Posted Tuesday, September 13, 2005 by chb
PalmSource sale won't affect existing customers According to an article in news.com, the sale of PalmSource to Japan's Access won't have an immediate impact on Palm owners as existing versions of the OS will continue to be supported. Access said it also wants to complete a Linux/Palm OS hybrid that was already in progress. The eventual goal is to combine the Linux-based Access NetFront browser with Palm version 5x (Garnet) and might also use version 6 (Cobalt) -- Posted Tuesday, September 13, 2005 by chb
Cingular certifies rugged Intermec mobile computer for voice and data Intermec's 700-Series of rugged handheld computers, its most successful handheld of all time with over 300,000 sold and a former recipient of Pen Computing's Editor's Choice Award as Best Advanced Industrial PDA, has been around for a while. However, the company has kept it technologically up-to-date and the device is available in numerous configurations. One of them, the 761, has now been approved for voice and data transmission via GSM/GPRS on the Cingular Wireless network, the largest wireless digital voice and data network in the United States. With this certification, Cingular customers now can use an Intermec 761 handheld computer to make voice calls, send data and manage documents. The 761 also operates in the 850MHz band, providing increased coverage and network availability, and employs Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Phone Edition software for enhanced, telephone-like operation. -- Posted Monday, September 12, 2005 by chb
PalmSource bought by Japanese company PalmSource agreed to be bought by Access Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based provider of mobile content delivery software, including the NetFront mobile browser. Access will pay US$324 million, or US$18,50 per share (PalmSource stock was at just $10 yesterday). Interim PalmSource CEO Patrick McVeigh said "We believe the customer and technology synergies of the combined companies will open up new market opportunities for both companies worldwide." Access says it expects the deal to expand its product line and geographic reach, giving it operating system platform expertise and Linux development resources for mobile devices in the U.S., France and China. Palm CEO Ed Colligan said Access is currently a Palm software technology partner. Reuters made the following interesting statement: "PalmSource developed the Palm software used in devices made by gadget makers including Palm, Sony, Kyocera and Samsung." PalmSource, of course, had bought China MobileSoft (and some of its executives with experience that went way back to the beginning of pen computing), a company that specialized in Chinese mobile Linux, so ownership by Access might accelerate a move to Linux and penetration into large Asian markets. What will it all mean? Japanese ownership seems to indicate a Palm OS move towards Linux rather than Windows Mobile (though NetFront is available for Widows Mobile). And it's hard to see what will happen to Palm, Inc., now that its own OS is owned by a Japanese company. -- Posted Friday, September 9, 2005 by chb
Gateway launches new Tablet PC convertible  Gateway, whose M275 notebook convertible has had sort of a low-key career, has introduced the Gateway M280 notebook convertible. The most distinguishing feature of the new model is a 14-inch wide format screen with 1280 x 768 pixels. There is a choice of either a 1.86GHz Pentium M750 or a 1.4GHz Celeron M360. 5400rpm hard disks of 40, 60, or 80MB are available, as are various optical drive options. The machine is fairly large (13.6 x 10.25 x 1.36) and heavy (6.75 pounds), making it primarily suitable for desktop use. Like the M275, the new model has a multi-format card reader that now can also read Memory Stick/Pro. On the video side there is a choice between an ATI Radeon X600 and Intel 915GMS circuitry. Memory (DDR2/533MHz) goes up to 2GB. A powerful 75 Watt-Hour battery suggests more than adequate battery life. For specs, click here. -- Posted Wednesday, September 7, 2005 by chb
6 and 8GB Microdrives soon available Hitachi Global Storage Technologies will start shipping larger Microdrives soon, probably the 4th quarter of 2005. Carrying the cutesy codename "Mikey," the new Microdrives will have storage capacities of 6-8GB and will primarily be targeted to portable multimedia players (hello larger capacity iPod Mini!), MP3 players and handsets. Hitachi sold 4.4 million Microdrives in the first half of 2005. -- Posted Wednesday, September 7, 2005 by chb
Philips "rollable" display Philips Polymer Vision is showing a prototype of a rollable 5-inch 320x240 display that uses a bi-stable electrophoretic display effect from E-Ink. Once the user is done, the display rolls back into a 4 x 2.4 x 0.8 inch housing. The prototype is based on Philips' PV-QML5 rollable display reference design, and is simply meant to elicit customer feedback for now. -- Posted Friday, September 2, 2005 by chb
First workshop on Tablet PCs in education A couple of years ago, we published an article by Dr. Dave Berque of DePauw University on pen computing in education. Dr. Berque and several others involved in pen computing are putting together the first Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education (WIPTE).
Organized by representatives from DyKnow, HP, Microsoft, and several notable educational institutions, WIPTE will be held April 6-7, 2006, at Purdue University. WIPTE will bring together educators and technologists using Tablet PCs and other pen-based technologies in the teaching and learning environment.
To date, there has been no venue for sharing and disseminating the value of pen-based computer technology as it cuts across a variety of educational disciplines, grade levels, and settings. In an effort to address this need, WIPTE seeks submissions from individuals with experience deploying pen-based pedagogy in varied educational environments. Paper submissions are due November 1, 2005. Read the call for proposals and get more information at http://www.purdue.edu/wipte. -- Posted Thursday, September 1, 2005 by chb
Pontifications on the future of the Tablet PC Recently there's been a rash of Future-of-the-Tablet-PC assessments from a gaggle of assorted experts. Most interesting, perhaps, those of Ziff-Davis industry pundit David Coursey. Read his "Tablet PC IS Stronger Than Predictions Suggest." For a bleaker assessment, check out Ed Oswald's Tablet PC Platform in Trouble?" -- Posted Wednesday, August 31, 2005 by chb
Primerica uses 4,000 Palms for insurance applications Palm reports that agents of Primerica Financial Services are using 4,000 Palm handhelds and smartphones to complete insurance application in clients' homes. Agents are using a Primerica-developed application named TurboApps to synchronize information and complete error-free insurance applications in much less time. -- Posted Tuesday, August 30, 2005 by chb
PhatWare releases Calligrapher 8.0 PhatWare Corporation, a leading provider of software products and professional services for mobile and desktop computers, announced the availability of CalliGrapher 8.0. The new rev of our favorite handwriting recognition software includes support for Windows Mobile 5.0, a tweaked reco engine, and a new soft input panel called Write Pad and a statistical analyzer that learns from errors. This and several other enhancements (new color selector, improved graphics, floating and attachable on-screen keyboards with autocomplete, user dictionary import and export, improved support for landscape screen layout and full-VGA devices, etc) make the US$39.95 (US$24.95 upgrade) a must-have for any Windows Mobile user. -- Posted Monday, August 29, 2005 by chb
Asia only: Diminutive Fujitsu Lifebook P1510 Tablet PC  How come our Asian friends always seem to get the coolest stuff first while we here in the good old USA have to wait, sometimes forever? Such is the case with Fujitsu's diminutive new LifeBook P1510. At about 2.2 pounds it is probably the lightest true Tablet PC convertible, yet it is powered by a 1.2GHz Pentium M753, uses the Intel 915GMS chipset, has a 60GB hard disk, both a CF Type II and a SD card slot, and 802.11a/b/g WiFi. Two battery options are available, with the bigger one packing a 56 Watt-Hour punch. The 8.9-inch TFT display is a "wide-format" 1024 x 600 pixel. The footprint is 9.1 x 6.6 inches, and the little thing is 1.45 inches thick. If you read Korean, there's a nice illustrated review at nottes.com. -- Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2005 by chb
Mitac Mio GPS-enabled PDA shipments soar While everyone is singing the blues about the PDA market, Mitac reported a 60% increase in second quarter 2005 shipments of their Mio line of GPS-enabled devices, from 600,000 to 1.1 million for the April-June 2005 period. Mitac might well ship four million units this year, and they expect the worldwide 2005 market of GPS-enabled devices to be around 10 million. Interestingly, Mitac is hedging its bets by offering GPS units that are Pocket PCs (like the Mio168RS), CE.Net devices (like the Mio136), and proprietary (like the Mio269). For their US offerings, check www.miogps.com. -- Posted Friday, August 19, 2005 by chb
AMD introduces mobile superchip Once again upping the ante for mobile performance, AMD introduced the Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+. The ultra-high performance chip joins the company's Turion 64 Mobile Technology as their primary weapons in the mobile space. The initial announcement mentions Fujitsu Siemens as a customer for the new chip which will debut in their new AMILO A1667G notebook, to be available in Europe shortly. [see press release] -- Posted Thursday, August 18, 2005 by chb
Rolling with the punches Our friends over at Pocket PC Magazine have changed the title of their publication from Pocket PC Magazine to "Smartphone + Pocket PC." This is the second name change for the foremost publication in the Windows CE space. Founded in 1997, some four years after our more vertical market-oriented Pen Computing Magazine, the magazine initially went by "Handheld PC Magazine" after the platform Microsoft introduced in late 1996. In 2000, the name was changed to Pocket PC Magazine, in response to Microsoft's own name change of their primary Windows CE platform. We wish hardworking publisher Hal Goldstein best of luck in this new phase of his magazine. -- Posted Thursday, August 18, 2005 by chb
Intermec leader in rugged PDAs Forbes cites a Venture Development Corp. report which says that Intermec Technologies is the worldwide market share leader in rugged PDAs. The market is estimated to be just short of US$500 million. [see news item] -- Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2005 by chb
Will they or will they not? Direct quote: CAMBRIDGE, MA, U.S.A. –August 11, 2005—SYWARE, Inc. announced today that it will provide a specific help desk for Palm OS users who will need to consider transitioning field PDA applications with the expected eventual transition to Windows Mobile. The help desk will go into action as soon as Palm OS officially releases a “Treo” version with Windows Mobile. Many current users of Palm OS will need to start preparing to move their existing or future applications to this new platform to continue to enhance their business mobility. SYWARE’s Visual CE Mobile Database and Application Development product and its integrated products for wireless synchronization and remote printing will allow this to take place without needing to hire new programmers to learn and use Visual Basic. SYWARE requires no programming to develop robust PDA applications on Windows Mobile PDAs. [see full release] -- Posted Wednesday, August 17, 2005 by chb
First WinMo 5.0 smartphones with BT and WiFi Things just keep getting better in the Windows Mobile smartphone space. Qtek, located in Finnland (where else?) has released the Qtek 8300 and 8310, both running Windows Mobile 5.0 and including both Bluetooth and WiFi. With WinMo smartphones becoming so much more powerful so quickly, the question is only whether the big wireless carriers will be willing to push Microsoft-based products as opposed to more proprietary systems that they can customize for their proprietary service plans and offerings. -- Posted Tuesday, August 16, 2005 by chb
WeatherBug 6.1 available, and a MS Smartphone version WeatherBug, a leading provider of weather information services who owns over 8,000 weather tracking stations and more than 1,000 cameras in important places, announced version 6.12 of its WeatherBug software and subscription service.  The software offers digital forecasts, lightning maps, weather alerts, historical data, access to weathercams, storm maps, and much more. Of particular interest to mobile users is WeatherBug Wireless that brings extensive, and attractively presented weather information not only to most advanced mobile phones from all major carriers, but now also to Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphones. Screens include streaming current conditions, detailed 7-day forecasts, alerts, local radar, live cameras from all the strategically placed weathercams, and photos. If the weatherbug really bites you, you can even set up your own advanced backyard weather station with wireless transmitter. -- Posted Monday, August 15, 2005 by chb
General Dynamics to acquire Itronix General Dynamics announced it will acquire wireless and rugged systems specialist Itronix from Golden Gate Capital. Itronix will become part of the General Dynamics C4 Systems business unit, which integrates secure communication and information systems and technology. With more than 10,000 employees worldwide, General Dynamics C4 Systems specializes in command and control, communications networking, space systems, computing and information assurance for defense, government and select commercial customers in the United States and abroad. Mark Fried, president of General Dynamics C4 Systems, said, “The acquisition of Itronix will allow General Dynamics C4 Systems to bring even higher value to our core Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security customers, and expand further into select commercial and international markets which increasingly are calling for rugged computing solutions to meet their mission requirements.” -- Posted Wednesday, August 3, 2005 by chb
Tapwave Zodiac is gone When you go to www.tapave.com, it'll say, "We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005."
That is so sad. The Zodiac was easily the most innovative and most promising PDA platform in a long time. It received rave reviews and had almost unlimited potential. In the same respect, it perhaps suffered from an identity crisis. It was a premium Palm device that looked like a game controller/console, which means business types couldn't bring it to a meeting. As a game device, it lacked truly good gaming titles and developer community support. Game consoles are usually supported by game sales. The Zodiac couldn't do that and was thus perceived as a very expensive gaming console. Tapwave itself was both very open to working with the tech press, but also rejected our early criticism on game quality and variety. So it's "another one bites the dust," and that is too darn bad. -- Posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 by chb
InStat: Tablet PC market to grow to US$5.4 billion by 2009 A new InStat report, "Tablet PC 2005: Increasing Shipments Amid a Cloudy Future," predicts an increase in shipments from US$1.2 billion in 2004 to US$5.4 billion in 2009, but mixed overall success. According to InStat, vertical markets continue to be the driving force. InStat also says an integrated next-gen Tablet PC OS in Microsoft's Longhorn would have a significant impact on TPC sales, and that the recently announced Ultra Mobile 2007 portable PC form factor could have a significant impact on future TPC shipments. -- Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2005 by chb
Get involved in the Tablet PC product development process at Microsoft Microsoft Usability Research group is currently seeking Tablet PC users from the Seattle area to participate in a 2 hour usability study for the Tablet PC team. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to make a direct impact on the product design and development of future Tablet PC applications and/or form factors. All scheduled participants for our usability studies will receive a software gratuity for their time.
Please contact Derek St. Laurent at 1-888-261-8488 (or 425-722-0574 direct line) if you’re interested. Derek can also be contacted at a-dereks@microsoft.com. -- Posted Monday, July 25, 2005 by chb
Sharp develops "anti-snooping" LCD Everyone loves wide-angle LCDs, especially the Tablet PC folks, but a side-effect is that the person sitting next to you can see what's on your screen. Which isn't always what you want. So Sharp developed a new LCD that can be switched between wide and narrow viewing angle. Very clever (but we hope that the wide angle setting is really wide angle). [click to see] -- Posted Friday, July 15, 2005 by chb
TiVo and Microsoft team on mobile video According to Reuters, TiVo extended its TiVoToGo portable video service to mobile computers and smartphones. The service enhances TiVo's recent addition of a function that allows subscribers to move recorded TV programs to their computer. Initially, TiVoToGo includes Microsoft-based portable media centers (click to see). To what extent Pocket PCs and smartphones benefit is not clear yet. -- Posted Wednesday, June 8, 2005 by chb
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