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Buy A PC Today, Get A Free iPaq
If you purchase a Compaq Evo D500 desktop PC or Armada 110 notebook PC directly from Compaq today, you’ll get a free iPaq H3650 (32MB). You can order it at www.compaq.com/bt
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Windows XP Pro and Pocket PCs
I spent a couple of hours yesterday upgrading my home PC (Dell Pentium 4) to Windows XP Pro from Windows 2000 Pro. It was a piece of cake, although I did have a small problem with my Jornada not being recognized the first time I dropped it into the dock. The iPaq was immediately recognized and synched, but I had to re-install a driver from the Jornada CD-ROM before I was able to get it to work properly.
If you like the look of the user interface of the Pocket PC 2002 devices, you’ll love XP - and I’m very impressed with it. It seems to clear up the UI a lot, it seems very stable, and it boots up very quickly.
I’m still working on my Pocket PC 2002 (in particular, Jornada 560 series) review. Expect to see it soon!
Put On That Blue Blazer…
Handspring has announced Blazer 2.0, the latest incarnation of their web browser for mobile Palm OS devices. It’ll probably show up as an upgrade for the Kyocera QCP-6035, and I’m guessing that it will be the browser of choice on the upcoming Treo devices. If you have the existing (1.1) version you’ll probably be able to qualify for a free upgrade, and new users will be able to purchase 2.0 for only $19.95. Read more about Blazer 2.0 here.
Pogo - Kinda Cool, But Is It Really THAT Good?
There’s a new kid on the wireless gadget block - Pogo. This unique looking little device is expected to go on sale in the UK by the end of 2001, and will supposedly eliminate the need for 3G wireless systems for high-end color browsing. Some how, I think I’ve heard this before. Frankly, compression schemes and tiny browsers are no substitute for big wireless bandwidth. I gotta admit, though, this is a cool looking device!
Anybody Seen Their iPaq Upgrade CD-ROMs, Does Anybody Really Care?
I don’t know anyone who has received their iPaq Pocket PC 2002 Upgrade CD-ROM yet…but nobody seems to be worrying because most of the gadget geeks I know are buying new devices and are planning on selling their “old” upgraded units on eBay. I have to laugh at people who say that Compaq’s support is superior to HPs - they haven’t delivered these CD-ROMs on time, they kept delivering faulty BIOS upgrades last year, and I’ve never been able to get an answer from their online support sources.
XScale Chips and Windows CE 4.0 To Debut At Comdex Next Month
If you can pull yourself away from the slot machines and strip clubs in Vegas next month during Comdex, be sure to keep your eyes open for the new Intel XScale processors (can you say BIGGER THAN 450 MHz?), the upcoming successor to the StrongARM chips we all know and love. They’ll demo the new processor with Windows CE 4.0, also known as Windows CE .NET. No idea when this stuff may make it to our Pocket PCs, but at least the new boxes have flashable ROMs for the OS although we’ll be buying a new round of PDAs if we want the faster chips!
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Best PDA I’ve Seen Lately - And For Only $2.49!
http://www.stupid.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=store&Product_Code=PDAC
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Great Product, Dumb Policy
One of my all-time favorite Palm apps is Vindigo. This is a wonderful city guide application that is constantly updated and features great reviews of restaurants and night spots in 19 major cities in the US and UK. One of my favorite features is the ability to put in the nearest intersection, get hints on restaurants/nightclubs/etc in the vicinity, and even get walking instructions on how to get to the spot you want to visit. You can even provide your own rating of all of the included locations, add restaurants or clubs, and that information is passed along to Vindigo when you HotSync.
Yesterday (10/23/01) Vindigo announced their long-awaited client for Pocket PC. However, they also announced that Pocket PC users would get the honor of paying $30 a year for what Palm users get for free. You CAN download a copy of Vindigo and try it out for 30 days at no charge, then decide if it is worth the $30 a year.
Personally, I think if Vindigo is going to charge Pocket PC users for the use of their service/product, they need to be fair and also start charging Palm users.
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YASC (Yet Another Sony Clie)
Sony has come out with another Clie, this time a mid-range monochrome model. They also announced a Memory Stick Camera Module (cool!) and an audio adapter. Here’s the press release:
SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 22, 2001– Super Slim Palm-Powered(TM) Device Also Functions As A Universal Remote Controller
Adding new functionality to handheld devices while reducing the profile, Sony Electronics today unveiled the CLIE PEG-T415 handheld, which features a slim design with an aluminum case and an enhanced infrared port for controlling audio/video equipment.
Sony also announced an optional Memory Stick(R) camera module (model PEGA-MSC1) that enables consumers to shoot and view digital photos directly from the new CLIE T415 handheld, as well as the currently available N760C and N610C CLIE handhelds.
“Utilizing the Palm OS, CLIE handhelds have always been about fun and entertainment, and the new CLIE T415 model takes that sentiment to another level,” said Russell Paik, vice president for handheld marketing at Sony Electronics’ Information Technology Products Division. “By enabling the device to act as a remote controller, the CLIE T415 handheld is now the link to one’s household entertainment.”
The new CLIE handheld will retail for about $300, and the PEGA-MSC1 camera module for around $150. Both devices, expected to be available at retailers nationwide in November, can be pre-ordered online beginning today at www.sonystyle.com/clie. Product specifications can be found at www.sony.com/clie.
Measuring a mere 0.39 inches thin, the CLIE PEG-T415 model has the slimmest silhouette in the industry, while retaining key features found throughout the CLIE handheld line-up, such as the Jog Dial(TM) navigator with Back button and the Memory Stick(R) media slot.
The CLIE T415 handheld features a high-resolution (320 x 320 pixels) monochrome display, ideal for viewing detailed images and crisp system fonts.
For users looking to view and edit text and spreadsheet documents directly on the handheld, the CLIE T415 model comes bundled with Documents To Go(R) 4.0 Standard Edition by DataViz, Inc.
CLIE PEG-T415 Handheld: In Control
Creating a link between handheld and household entertainment, Sony’s enhanced infrared port, in concert with the newly bundled CLIE Remote Commander (v. 1.0) application, transforms the new CLIE handheld into a universal remote controller. Capable of commanding system settings on most DVD players, TVs, VCRs and AV receivers — all from a distance up to 15 feet — the new CLIE T415 model eliminates the need for multiple remote controllers.
To minimize the headaches associated with programming a universal remote controller, the new CLIE Remote Commander application has preset programs for DVD players, TVs, VCRs and AV receivers from most manufacturers currently available in retail stores.
Users can now choose how they wish to be reminded of a scheduled event or task. The CLIE T415 model also features a built-in speaker and the new Sound Generator feature that enable users to use preset system sounds or create their own with MIDI and WAV files converted on their PC with the bundled Sound Converter (v. 1.0) application. The enhanced sound also intensifies the handheld gaming experience with richer, more engaging sound effects on supported applications.
Key Product Specifications
CLIE(TM) PEG-T415 model
– Palm OS(R) software version 4.1
– Motorola(R) Dragonball VZ 33MHz processor
– Jog Dial(TM) navigator with “Back” button
– Memory: 8MB (7MB available) (DRAM) / 4MB (Flash)
– Interface: USB (Cradle) / Infrared Port / Memory Stick(R) media slot
– Display: High resolution (320 x 320 pixels) backlit EL display (monochrome)
– Power: Lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery (internal)
– Dimensions: 4.65 (L) x 2.83 (W) x 0.39 (H) inches
– Lightweight: approximately 4.3 oz. (including stylus)
Some third party applications may display lower resolution.
Bundled Accessories
Protective cover
USB HotSync(R) cradle/charger
Stylus
Estimated Price of Optional Accessories
Memory Stick Camera Module (PEGA-MSC1) $150
Audio Adapter (PEGA-SA10) $130
USB Cradle (PEGA-UC600) $50
Carrying Case (PEGA-CA60) $40
AC Adapter (PEGA-AC10) $30
USB HotSync(R) Cable (PEGA-HS10) $25
Stylus Pack (PEGA-ST60) $15
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Incredibly Dumb Pocket PC Game…But That’s What’s Good About It!
For those of you who have every Pocket PC game in existence, here’s one you probably DON’T have:
http://www.leedungarees.com/buddylee/downloads/pda.html
Have fun!
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Pocket QuickView 2.0 (Press Release)
Hanaho Games (newly partnered with BitBank Software) have just released
Pocket QuickView 2.0. A fast and versatile imaging program for Windows
CE (Pocket PC and HPC). Unique features include support for many file
formats including multipage and undocumented FAX files, screen capture
utility, IRDA printing, slideshow feature and the ability to directly
play videos (AVI & MOV) captured with digital cameras. The Pocket PC
version is free for personal use (no timeout) or $29.95 for business
use.
Download it today from www.bitbanksoftware.com/ce/pocketview.htm
Supports the Pocket PC 2000/2002 and HPC 2000/Pro platforms for ARM,
MIPS and SH3 processors.
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eXtremely Little About Pocket PC
I attended the Denver “Microsoft eXtreme” event today. In case you’ve never been to one of these before, they’re a 2 hour marketing event primarily aimed at the home user of Microsoft products. As such, you get to see the best upcoming games (some of the ones for the Xbox look great!), software and hardware that is about to come out, and info on new OS versions… You can imagine that with Windows XP coming out next Thursday, this was the main focus of the eXtreme event. However, there was a short segment about the Pocket PC 2002 devices. They quickly waved a new iPaq and a new Jornada in front of the camera, then focused on the Toshiba Geneo. That made no freakin’ sense at all, since Toshiba recently said they’ll be selling the device only in the enterprise market!
There was very little that they showed - just the new interface, some of the new apps, etc… The big demo was of the Pocket PC 2002 Theme Generator, which doesn’t even run on your Pocket PC! However, it is a very cool app and something that everyone with a Pocket PC 2002 machine should get. You can download it HERE. I’m going to make up some themes and (if I can) will be sure to post them on PCPocket.com.
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i705? Irrelevant!
It occurred to me while looking over some materials on the new Handspring Treo communicators that the Palm i705 will probably never make it to market. It is now an irrelevant product. With the new PDA/Phone devices coming out from Handspring, Microsoft (Stinger), Compaq (allegedly working on a phone sleeve for the iPaq) and Danger, why would anyone want a device that just does data? When you’re looking at a very lightweight unit that does everything, the inability to make phone calls suddenly looks very stupid.
If Palm wants to stop “making mistakes” (to quote Carl Yankowski), they’d better seriously consider dumping the i705 immediately and start looking at a really innovative device that provides wireless voice and data as well as PIM functions.
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Handspring’s Treo Communicators Officially Announced!
The Handspring Treo line of phone/PDAs, which had been “unofficially announced” a few months ago, was finally acknowledged by the company. In fact, it’s the top item on their website although the first of the GSM devices won’t ship until the beginning of 2002. At that time, you’ll be able to get a Treo 180 in one of two models - with a RIM-like keyboard (the Treo 180) or with a Graffiti-like virtual keyboard (the 180g). These things are TINY, and at a cost of $399 (including service activation) it looks like they were definitely worth waiting for. However, I’d personally hold out for the Treo 270, which is expected to ship in mid-2002. Why? It’s got a color screen and if you remember my previous rants, I refuse to even consider any PDA without a color display! I have a Motorola Talkabout 2-way pager at this time and love the little thumb-board keyboard, so I have a funny feeling that the Treo 180 is the one I’d gravitate towards.
According to Handspring, the Treo 180 will weigh only 5.4 ounces with battery! That’s really light, and consider that you’re giving up two devices (a separate PDA and cell phone) for one tiny device. COOL!
If you’ve read any of my archived articles for the last several years on PCPocket.com, you’ll probably remember that I have a deep interest in seeing a single device that will do everything that we currently use MANY devices for. I would love to replace my PDA, cell phone and pager with one little device, but the kluged devices that have come out so far have been worthless. Things are changing with the Treo and one other new product….
But Wait, There’s More! How About That Danger Hiptop?
OK, stupid name but a neat product. Once again, it’s a tiny pagerlike device that is a cell phone and internet-connected PDA in one. No pricing yet, but you can read all about it here…
Where’s Stinger?
Of course, there’s also the Microsoft Stinger platform that is expected to start shipping early next year as well. I would guess that Microsoft will try to steal the thunder of the Handspring announcement by coming out with a more definite ship date for their product. They have two opportunities in the next week - there’s an eXtreme event scheduled nationwide on Saturday, October 20, and the official product launch of Windows XP is next Thursday, October 25. Both would be a great time for Microsoft to show off their upcoming cell phone/PDA. I’ve seen the Stinger in action, and it is wonderful.
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Talk Back? Blogback!
If you’ve ever totally disagreed with one of my rants, you can leave a comment now. Scroll down to the end of each post and just click on the “Comments?” text, and a small window will appear. You can leave a comment, your e-mail address, your URL and your name, and anyone who clicks on the “Comments?” link will be able to see it. If people start going overboard flaming me I’ll yank this faster than you can imagine, but this should be fun!
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Fun Use For A Pocket PC
OK, maybe one in about two thousand people will find this FUN, but I thought it was an interesting way to use a Pocket PC and you might find something similar that you can do. One of my other hobbies is amateur (ham) radio, and I’ve recently started thinking about studying for the Morse Code exam so I can increase my privileges on my FCC license. I was trying to think of a way to study for the exam on my Pocket PC and finally hit upon it yesterday.
One of the really good ways to learn Morse Code is to listen to letters, numbers, and punctuation, and then try to write out the letters as they come across. You then compare what you “heard” with what someone sent, and you can get an idea of how accurate your copy is. There’s a really good website called “AA9PW.COM” that has all sorts of Morse Code generating tools as well as online exams. You can go to one page that generates a .au audio file of randomly generated Morse Code, and it also provides a text file that shows what was sent. What I did is to go to the site and generate practice files. I then did a search on Google for a package that would convert .au files to a format that the Pocket PC would play back. I found a program called CONVRT14.ZIP on “Programmers Heaven” - it’s a cheesy old DOS package, but it does exactly what I needed. I then converted all of the .au files to .WAV format. My next move was to create a folder on my storage card called “Code Files” into which I moved all of the .WAV and .TXT files that I had created.
Now, I can use the Pocket PC 2002 File Explorer to go to the Code Files folder, tap once on one of the .WAV files, and it will start playing it (it does NOT use Windows Media Player - it will actually play them directly through the OS). A small player control does appear, and allows you to pause, start or close the .WAV file. The way I use this is to start the .WAV file up, writing down the letters as they are “dit-dahed” to me on a piece of paper. I WOULD use the Pocket PC to capture what I’m listening to, but they only let you write down the stuff by hand when you’re actually taking the FCC exam, so I thought I’d practice this the way I’m going to be tested. Then when the file has finished playing, I take the written copy and compare it to the .TXT file that shows me what was actually sent. This way I can see how good I’m doing, or if I need to get additional practice.
Just another thing that you can do with a out-of-the-box Pocket PC that you CAN’T do with most Palm OS devices…
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DUH!
Palm CEO Carl Yankowski made one of the all time stupid comments today at the Palm shareholder meeting when he admitted that “We made mistakes”. No shit, Einstein! Hey, you announced devices long before they arrived so your inventory of older devices built up, watched as some of your licensees like HandEra and Sony built devices that ran rings around your stodgy designs, completely alienated your biggest supporters by threatening to sue webmasters who ran sites with the word “Palm” in their names, and started losing in the enterprise market by not working with corporations. I’m just really glad I’m not one of those people who purchase Palm stock, which soared up to around $160 a share on IPO day and is now smelling up the joint at $2 a share…
If I WERE a shareholder, I’d be making sure that Carl was out looking for a job FAST! And if I were a Palm board member, I’d make damn sure that I didn’t give him the usual golden parachute. This guy has taken this company and trashed it very quickly. Sad.
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Why Not Just Buy A Pocket PC?
OK, I’ve written this before, even on PDAntic.com (my Palm OS website). But WHY would anyone still say that Palm devices are cheaper when you have to spend $$$ to make them function just like a Pocket PC? A good example came whipping into my e-mail inbox today — from Palm! They were advertising a third-party package from Bachmann Software called FilePoint, which the main object of seems to be giving the Palm OS something similar to Windows Explorer. Wow, $20 for something that you get built into every Pocket PC… If you want spreadsheet or word processing capabilities, you go out and buy something like “DocsToGo” or “QuickOffice” at about $50 a pop. If you want to listen to MP3s, you need to have a Palm with audio capabilities - which means either spending close to $500 on a Sony Clie or buying a Handspring plus a 3rd party Springboard module that will play MP3s (there are similar solutions now available for some of the Palm machines as well). And if you weren’t lucky enough to get a Palm with Chapura Pocket Mirror included, you’ll need to spend even more money to be able to synchronize your Palm device with Microsoft Outlook…
So why not just buy a Pocket PC? Particularly after the recent release of the Pocket PC 2002 machines, which feature a much-improved GUI, the best handwriting recognition EVER on a palmtop, improved versions of the Pocket Office apps, and other features for enterprise use of Pocket PCs. In the long run, I think you’ll save money…
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iPaq H3870 - The Wait Begins Again…
Folks who were early adopters of the Compaq iPaq know how bad things were when the first models hit the market - a lot of users ended up waiting up to six months to get delivery on iPaqs that they had pre-ordered. Well, now that places like MobilePlanet are starting to take pre-orders for the new iPaq H3870, I’m sure that the wait will begin anew… This IS a rather sexy device - 64MB of RAM, Pocket PC 2002, built-in Bluetooth (although it won’t have much to talk to…), built-in SD slot, works with all existing expansion sleeves, all for $649.99. I’m just not sure that I would want to wait for months for one of these when the HP Jornada 56X series is available NOW. Hey, they basically do the same thing (with the exception of the now-useless Bluetooth technology) and you can get the HP for about $600-$610 from most retailers, so why wait?
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
