New Pocket PCs, New Palm Licensee, No Posts For A While…
As expected, Dell announced the availability of the new Axim X5 Handheld, which is of course a Pocket PC. You can order one of the 400 Mhz XScale/64MB RAM versions online today for only $299 (after $50 rebate) or a 300 Mhz XScale/32MB RAM version for only $199 after rebate. The cheaper model doesn’t include a docking station, so I’m assuming that it uses a straight USB cable instead. You can read more or order one online here.
HP also announced the availability of two new iPaqs, both of which we covered earlier. You can read more about these new ‘paqs by scrolling the page down.
Bill Gates gave his keynote address at Comdex last night, and of course gave the Pocket PC a lot of coverage (that’s him with a Dell Axim X5 above, as if you couldn’t recognize him!). A press release I received this morning says it all - “Last night, presenting his annual “state of the industry” speech at Comdex to a capacity crowd of more than 12,000 conference attendees at the MGM Grand’s Garden Arena, Bill Gates illustrated the shift from single-purpose personal computers to a new era of truly personal computing. Unveiling a new low-priced Dell Pocket PC (the $199 Dell Axim X5 Pocket PC that makes powerful handheld computing available to a far broader audience), Gates predicted this shift would drive tremendous growth in the technology industry. Gates also announced new OEM partners for Windows? XP Media Center Edition; revealed the official launch date for Windows Powered Smart Displays; highlighted Microsoft’s newest servers and development tools; and announced a new Web service for information workers.
Gates also announced The Dell Axim, which features a 300mhz Intel XScale processor and 48 MB of memory, offers the functionality of more expensive models at an unprecedented low price. “Devices like this will enable even more companies to give their employees the power of mobile computing,” Gates said.
Mystery Palm Licensee Revealed!
The mysterious new Palm licensee that we were all wondering about has been revealed - it’s Fossil, those folks who make really great watches. As you remember, they have a device that is a PDA-compatible watch; you synch it with your Palm or Pocket PC. It looks like they’re going to now try to build PalmOS technology into a watch-sized device. Cool!
No Posts Until December 1st
Sorry, but I’m burned out and need a big break, so I’m taking some time off from the site. I won’t be able to do any news updates due to some problems with Blogger Pro (grrrrrrr….don’t get me started), so unfortunately you’ll have to go 10 days without fresh content. As soon as I get back I’ll be looking for a new weblog publishing suite so that I don’t have to put up with the quirks of Blogger. Until December 1st, please visit one of our friends at PocketPCThoughts.com. See you in December!
Movie Tickets By Wireless PDA
OK, those of you who have been reading PDAntic.com for years know that I’ve had a Palm VII, a Palm Vx with Omnisky service, a Palm i705 and now a T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone. Quite a while back I owned and used an even earlier wireless PDA, the Motorola Envoy, but the service was so expensive and applications so limited that it was really just a horribly pricey toy.
One thing my wife and I love to do is go see movies, and for the most part we purchase our tickets online in advance so that we can just go up to the kiosk at our local theater and print the tickets without having to stand in line. While there are a number of online movie websites that will give you theater listings and locations, it’s been difficult to find a way to actually purchase the tickets wirelessly.
We were eating out last night when the topic of attending “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” on Friday night came up. I had tried to pre-purchase tickets from my PC earlier in the day, but for some reason it was only listing a few scattered showings - none of which worked with our schedule!
I whipped out the Pocket PC Phone and pulled up the MovieTickets.com website, mainly with the hope that I would be able to see if other showings of the film were now showing up. I didn’t expect that I’d actually be able to purchase the tickets since the Pocket Internet Explorer browser has been notoriously bad at handling complex websites.
Well, imagine my surprise when everything on the MovieTickets.com site worked exactly like it does on my “big” PC! Of course, I had to scroll the screen back and forth to see everything and hit the correct buttons, but before five minutes was up I had ordered the tickets and had a confirmation number for my order. This is all done on an SSL-secured website, so I knew that my purchase was being done securely.
About an hour later I pulled up Gopher King (see the reviews section for more information about this wonderful service!) and checked my MSN e-mail to make sure that the confirmation e-mail for the ticket purchase had shown up. It had, so tomorrow night we’ll simply have to walk up to the ticket printing kiosk and grab our tickets without standing in the huge line to see Harry’s latest exploits at Hogwarts.
I know this doesn’t sound like any “big thing”, but considering that this is the first time that I’ve been able to actually use Pocket IE on the Pocket PC Phone to do something that I normally associate with using a desktop PC I was thrilled. As browsers improve in the future on devices like this, I think we’ll see a lot more online purchases being made from everywhere…
Two new HP iPaqs to be released next Monday
HP will release two new iPaqs next Monday at Comdex, one that is targeted directly at the consumer market and another that is specifically designed for the enterprise market. The number of new Pocket PCs and PalmOS devices that are coming out this fall is phenomenal!
The first device is the HP iPaq h1910, which is meant to be a low-cost “replacement” for the HP Jornada line as well as an entry-level iPaq for the rest of the market. The $299 rumored price is a bit high considering that the ViewSonic V35 (which has better specifications) is already selling for $275 or less, but for people who want the HP name and iPaq quality the price should be reasonable.
As you can see from the picture at the left, the h1910 is an attractive unit with the typical iPaq transflective display. It’s very compact, 4.46″ x 2.75″ x .5″, and a scant 4.23 ounces in weight. Inside is a 200 Mhz Intel XScale PXA-250 processor and 64MB of RAM, along with an iPaq first - a swappable battery pack.
The device for the enterprise is the HP iPaq h5450 (left), which is a wireless powerhouse! Featuring built-in WiFi (802.11b) AND Bluetooth, the h5450 will be perfect for businesspeople who need a device that can use public/private WiFi networks and can also link to Bluetooth phones for other wireless connectivity.
The h5450 is definitely aimed at the enterprise market, with a rumored $650 (perhaps higher) price tag and a built-in biometric scanner (thumbprint scanner) for security. Also equipped with 64MB of RAM, the h5450 is a bit heftier than its consumer-oriented brother at 5.43″ x 3.3″ x .63″ and 7.26 ounces. It will be using the now-standard Intel XScale PXA-250 processor running at 400 Mhz. And for those who were just about to ask the question…yes, it will also come with a user-swappable battery pack!
Both of the new iPaqs will be available for purchase on Monday, 11/18/02, so be sure to keep checking your favorite PDA retailer.
YAPPC - Yet Another Pocket PC!
The list of low-cost, light Pocket PCs keeps getting longer! MiTAC has just announced the new Mio338 Pocket PC, which is part of their DigiWalker series of mobile computing devices. The Mio338 Pocket PC has a 3.5″ 16-bit transflective display, 32MB or RAM, an SD/MMC card expansion slot with SDIO support and an Intel XScale PXA250 processor. There is no listing yet of what speed that processor runs at; it’s probably either the 300 or 400 Mhz model. Lest you think that the XScale CPU will really speed things up over your original 206 MHz iPaq or Jornada, it won’t until the OS and applications are written to take advantage of the Processor.
You can get your choice of colors on a silver gray casing - either a pastel pink or pastel blue finish will make your Mio338 really stand out. The device will have a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery and is expected to provide more than 8 hours of usage.
MiTAC hasn’t announced the introduction date for the Mio338, the markets in which the device will be promoted, or the cost. However, many expect the price of the Mio338 to be around $300 US.
Club Pocket PC Fan Fest At Comdex Next Week
If you’re a Pocket PC owner and will be in Las Vegas for Comdex next week, be sure to attend this year’s Club Pocket PC Fan Fest! The Fan Fest will be held next Wednesday, November 20 from 7 - 10 PM at the top of Bally’s Las Vegas in Skyview 5/6.
Fan Fest is an opportunity for Pocket PC fanatics to join Microsoft and other Pocket PC geeks for a night of food, fun, and friends. There will be demonstrations of software and hardware products, contests, prizes and wonderful giveaways! To attend, you’ll want to register on the Club Pocket PC website at http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/club/community/comdexfanfest.asp. As with previous Club Pocket PC Fan Fest events, shoes, shirts and Pocket PCs are required for attendance (no Palms allowed!).
PhotoTraveler SD Digital Camera Add-On For Palm Handheld Devices
Veo, a digital imaging company that had previously shipped a CompactFlash-based digital camera add-on for Pocket PCs, has announced that they will soon be shipping the PhotoTraveler for Palm handheld devices. The PhotoTraveler plugs into the SD slot on the Palm m125, m130, m500 and i705 series, as well as the Handspring Treo 90. The $99.99 PhotoTraveler is available for pre-order on Veo’s website, features a swiveling lens, and can capture images at 640 by 480 resolution. The camera comes with a quick reference guide and brushed aluminum travel case. No word on when this will work with my Pocket PC Phone…
Press Release: Microsoft and Samsung Announce Low-Cost Pocket PC Concept Design
REDMOND, Wash. - Nov. 11, 2002 - Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Semiconductor Inc., a leader in system-on-a-chip technology, today announced the availability of a new Windows? Powered Pocket PC concept design that dramatically lowers costs and reduces product development time for mobile device OEMs and original device manufacturers (ODMs).
The new design incorporates a Samsung ARM9-based S3C2410 application processor and Microsoft’s powerful Pocket PC software and a 3.5-inch QVGA grayscale or color display. The Samsung application processor utilizes NAND Flash memory and includes a host of peripherals. To enhance multimedia functionality, multimedia card, SD and SDIO expansion card capabilities are incorporated into the concept design. The design sets a new standard for ultrasmall handheld devices with its 4.1-by-2.8-inch size and only 2.9-ounce weight (grayscale version).
“The power of the Microsoft? Pocket PC software coupled with the performance and reliability of Samsung’s application processor represents a paradigm shift in mobile device concept designs,” said Dr. Yun Tae Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Solution Project. “This ultralow-cost, maximized design gives consumer electronics OEMs and ODMs the ability to rapidly bring to market high-value, low-cost mobile computing solutions.”
“Mobile device manufacturers can take advantage of fully optimized low-cost concept designs to bring their products to market quickly and at competitive price points,” said Juha Christensen, corporate vice president for the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft. “By collaborating with Samsung, we ensure a more rapid development process so that hardware manufacturers can include industry-leading multimedia and broader wireless functionality in computing devices such as Pocket PCs and smart phones.”
By working with Microsoft on the concept design, Samsung has dramatically reduced the complexity of the solution and lowered costs to levels that will enable OEMs and ODMs to deliver substantially improved product offerings to the high-value, low-price segment of the PDA market. Microsoft’s powerful Pocket PC software and Samsung’s application processor give the reference design NAND Flash capability, highly efficient multimedia and gaming functionality, new peripherals, and broader wireless support.
Friday Afternoon News Bits
OK, I’m going to start getting worried. Remember how last week my web hosting provider had a server crash that took about three days to fix? Then remember how I commented about my Pocket PC Phone suddenly deciding to shut down completely for a few hours? It appears that there’s something “going around”, ’cause my hard drive crashed on my main PC. Sigh…now I get the thrill of rebuilding it this weekend. Grrrrrr…
On the plus side, as I started my usual morning wireless surfing with the Pocket PC Phone this AM, I noticed a little screen appearing in Pocket Internet Explorer that had me set up T-Mobile’s Internet Accelerator. For some reason, I’d never seen this before. It is apparently setting up the Pocket PC Phone to send all web pages through a proxy server that does compression of data, because within seconds of doing that I was able to notice a huge difference in how fast items were downloaded to the Phone. Not only was everything much more responsive, but my normal morning usage during my commute (about 450 - 500 K) was cut in half. Cool! Now that I’m doing the 20MB a month plan for $34.99, it’s going to be difficult to use all of that bandwidth!
I really like the capitalist/consumerist world — in my notes on Wednesday evening I was commenting about the low cost of the HP Compaq Tablet PC and how the Acer convertible unit was about $700 more. Well, while doing some searching today I noticed that the Acer unit is currently selling at about the same $1700 - $1900 price range as the HP device. They’re apparently applying a nice rebate to the Acer Tablet PC in order to bring it closer to the price point of the HP Compaq device. Competition - it’s a GOOD thing.
Handspring / Palm license RIM’s Keyboard Tech
Handpsring settled a lawsuit with RIM this week by licensing the keyboard technology used in the RIM BlackBerry devices and emulated on the Handspring Treo line. Palm apparently forestalled a similar lawsuit by licensing the same technology for their Tungsten W wireless device.
Keyboard Available for Pocket PC Phone
I was happy to see that Datanywhere (www.datanywhere.com) has announced the availability of a folding keyboard for the Pocket PC Phone. I’d still love to see a clip-on thumb keyboard for the device, but this is a good start. In other news, Datanywhere also has a new sync/power cable available for the Pocket PC Phone which allows you to plug your device into any USB port for synching/recharging - without an AC adapter!
Sendo A No-No On Smartphone 2002
UK wireless handset maker Sendo had always had one of the coolest-looking Smartphone devices in their Sendo Z100. It appears that the Z100 will never ship now that Sendo has sent Microsoft’s Smartphone 2002 software packing. They’ve apparently decided to license Symbian’s smartphone OS instead. At least they were nice enough to wait until a couple of week’s after Orange’s SPV Smartphone 2002 device shipped to break the news…
Loox Phone Capabilities Nixed?
Fujitsu Siemens, makers of the highly anticipated Pocket Loox Pocket PC, had been working on a GSM/GPRS module that would clip onto the back of the device and turn it into a phone. Apparently, Fujitsu Siemens has cancelled their development work on the module but it is expected that Audiovox or another vendor will fill the gap by providing a CompactFlash-based solution. That actually makes more sense to me; it could be used with any Pocket PC with a CF slot and it eliminates the bulging mass of a clip-on sleeve (can you tell I don’t like the iPaq sleeve concept?).
Treo Owner? Free Graffiti!
If you have a Treo Communicator, you might miss the ability to use Graffiti for data entry (with that nice built-in keyboard? I doubt it…). If that’s the case, Handspring is making CIC’s RecoEcho Plus package available as a free download for Treo owners. RecoEcho Plus gives Palm Powered handhelds the ability to write with Graffiti anywhere on the screen rather than just in the Graffiti area. On the Treo, it gives the user the ability to use the keyboard for entry of long messages while being able to use Graffiti for short data entry.
Cool HP Compaq Tablet PC / Comments About Tablet PCs
Thursday, November 7th, will be the day that Microsoft and a host of hardware vendors will introduce Tablet PCs to the world. You’ve probably read my positive comments about Tablet PCs, based on my experiences at M?bius Redmond 2002 with three different devices: one from NEC, one from ViewSonic, and a convertible unit from Acer. One device that I didn’t get a chance to play with was the HP Compaq Tablet PC TC1000. Expect to see a lot of hype about this device, as it can serve as a Tablet PC only, as a notebook, and also (with the addition of a docking station) as a desktop replacement.
This is also one of the most reasonable Tablet PCs I’ve seen so far - $1,699 for a unit with 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, a 10.4″ tablet screen, a Transmeta TM5800 CPU running at 1 GHz, and a detachable keyboard. Add $100 and you get built-in 802.11 wireless networking. That’s about $700 less than Acer’s Tablet PC convertible which has similar specs.
You can use the device as a Tablet PC only, leaving the keyboard back at your office or desk while you wander off to a meeting. In this mode, the device weighs about 3 pounds and uses an active pen for ink input. If you decide that you need to type, you simply attach the keyboard. As noted, there will also be an additional docking station that will turn the unit into a full fledged desktop replacement. The TC1000 will replace Compaq’s Evo N200 ultracompact laptop, which currently sells for about $200 less.
Will The Face Of Mobile Computing Change After Tomorrow?
Expect to hear a HUGE amount of hype tomorrow. One thing that you’ll find is that a lot of the pundits are already “not getting it” in terms of the Tablet PC concept. I’ve seen a good dozen pre-reviews already that have made a big deal about how inaccurate handwriting recognition is in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Well, that’s because you’re not supposed to rely on HWR. Instead, the concept of ink capture is a primary focus for Tablet PCs.
One of the most handy applications that is part of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is Microsoft Journal. This application essentially turns the screen into an electronic piece of paper complete with blue lines and a red margin line running vertically. At the top of the page is a spot where you can jot in the subject of the document you’re creating - i.e. “Status Meeting 11/7/02″. You can then just start writing the document in your own handwriting. If you need to add a drawing, you can sketch away. Let’s say you’re working on a list of action items, you move on to another agenda item, and then realize you need to add a couple of items to your list. With “regular” paper, you’d probably write the new items in the margin of your document or try something like drawing a line to the new items from the original list. On a Tablet PC running Journal, you simply “stretch” the page and you can add to your original list. It sounds simple, but the power of Journal is what will make or break this product.
Another thing I really liked (not sure if it will be included at the launch) was something called “Snippet”. This is cool - if you’re doing some web browsing and see something you just HAVE to send to a friend, you can make an irregularly shaped border around the text or picture you’re highlighting, add notes or even sketches, then send that clipping to your friend via e-mail. He or she can open it easily and see it the way you’ve annotated it.
I’m frankly thinking of getting a Tablet PC. I’m tired of being chained to a desk when I do my blogging or website updates, and that’s with either a laptop or a desktop PC (by the way, the hard drive on my desktop just died so I’m updating this from my wife’s PC). I like the fact that it’s just like a piece of paper - I’d really like to see the Blogger Pro folks make it possible for me to hand write my blog and post it (don’t worry, my printing is legible!). I like the fact that Tablet PCs are extremely lightweight. I like the fact that I can put it into a suspend mode in a few seconds, then turn it back on hours later - in a few seconds. And I need a second PC so that when my primary unit dies, I’m not out of luck…
I don’t think that Tablet PCs are going to make an initial impact. In fact, I think I remember seeing an article that showed only a 5% market share in 2003! However, as pricing drops and features are fine-tuned, you can expect that just about every laptop will be able to convert into a Tablet PC and that sub-$1000 Tablets will be available. And when that happens, and as people get used to using pens instead of keyboards again, you can expect that the majority of PCs sold will be Tablet PCs. Microsoft’s projection is that this will happen within 5 years. Of course, a lot of the media types who just don’t get it will try their hardest to kill the platform.They were successful in killing the Newton MessagePad (over a five year period) by making fun of its handwriting recognition capabilities even though by 1998 its HWR was unbelievably good. By the way, if you’re a Mac OS X Jaguar user, you can take advantage of that great HWR by using a Wacom tablet and Inkwell. Click here for more info…
Let’s just hope those pundits are not successful in killing Tablet PCs. For once, the industry is working on something that can really change the way we work with computers.
Press Release: Bachmann Software’s PrintBoy Bundled with AlphaSmart’s New Portable Computer for Students
PrintBoy gives students and faculty the ability to quickly and wirelessly print assignments from new portable computer
SPARTA, NJ (November 6, 2002) - - Bachmann Software is pleased to announce that its PrintBoy software is bundled on the new AlphaSmart Dana, a Palm Powered(tm) handheld portable computer designed to provide powerful yet affordable computers to students. Students will be able to use PrintBoy to print their assignments to any IR or USB printer directly from their AlphaSmart Dana computer.
Viewing printing as an essential function for students, whether they are using desktop PCs or handheld portable computers, AlphaSmart has chosen to include PrintBoy printing support for its Alphaword word processing application on the ROM of its new computer, rather than offering it as an optional program. AlphaSmart will also distribute a trial version of PrintBoy Deluxe, which will introduce its customers to convenient printing of spreadsheet, database, email, Memo Pad, Date Book, and Address Book files from their AlphaSmart computers.
“PrintBoy is viewed as the industry standard among educators when it comes to printing from Palm OS(r) handhelds,” said Glenn Weyhausen, senior director of product marketing at AlphaSmart. “A computer of any type just isn’t complete without the ability to print, especially in the education market where collaboration and paper grading requires hard copies to be produced.”
“The education market has strongly embraced the necessity of printing from PDAs,” said Glenn Bachmann, president of Bachmann Software. “As schools are under increasing pressure to provide every student with access to a computer, and budget constraints and anytime/anywhere learning opportunities prevailing in today’s education system, the adoption of AlphaSmart’s cost-effective portable computers is sure to grow, and with it the need for users to be able to quickly and easily print their assignments.”
About PrintBoy
PrintBoy software provides the users of Palm Powered handhelds with the ability to print their most important content. By including driver support for most of the popular printers on the market, users can simply select the application that they want to print and beam their data to a printer. PrintBoy supports appointments, contacts, memos, to-do items, email, and the clipboard. PrintBoy Deluxe includes all of those same functions, with the addition of documents, spreadsheets and databases, allowing users to print imported Word and Excel compatible documents.
Press Release: Cutting Edge Software announces Quickoffice Enhancements for New Palm OS 5 Handheld Computers
Quickoffice Provides Complete OS 5 Compatibility and Leverages the Technological Strengths of the Newest OS 5 Handhelds, Including ARM Processor and Double-Density Screen Resolution
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., November 6, 2002 - Mobility Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq/NMS: MOBE), a leading provider of innovative portable computing solutions for the mobile computer user, announced that its Cutting Edge Software subsidiary’s Quickoffice and Quickoffice Pro productivity suites for Palm Powered(tm) products have been enhanced for the wave of Palm OS 5 handhelds entering the market, including the recently launched Sony NX60 and NX70V and the Palm Tungsten T. The new version 6.2 of Quickoffice, including the Quicksheet spreadsheet, Quickword word processor, Quickchart graphing module and Quickpoint presentation software (included only in the Quickoffice Pro version), have been enhanced to leverage the unique technological capabilities of OS 5 devices with ARM processors.
Installed on a Palm OS 5 device, Quickoffice and Quickoffice Pro are faster and more powerful than ever:
Processing Speed - Quickoffice version 6.2 applications have been optimized to take advantage of the ARM processors that OS 5 supports, enabling faster screen-refreshes and processing of data in Quicksheet spreadsheets and rapid file access and display in Quickword. Quickoffice applications also now include native ARM processor code tweaks to further increase image access and display speed in Quickpoint.
High-resolution Screen - Readability of Quickoffice documents, spreadsheets and presentations have been greatly enhanced on OS 5 handhelds as each application will leverage the 320 x 320 pixels of Palm OS 5 screens. The new high-resolution screens offer twice the resolution of most current generation handhelds. Quickword also offers full OS 5 high resolution FontBucket support and is supplied with a free Windows-based TrueType font converter.
Unique Hardware Support - All Quickoffice Pro applications are fully optimized to take advantage of the new 5-way navigation pad on the Palm Tungsten T and Tungsten W handhelds, and also boast full support for making use of the full screen of the latest Sony NX series devices, by using the “virtual graffiti” area for extended application display.
Wireless Connectivity - With superior on-board support for such wireless networking standards as Bluetooth and WiFi/802.11b, the next wave of Palm OS 5 handhelds provides unique capabilities to take advantage of Cutting Edge Software’s wireless file management and document collaborative innovations, Mobilefile and Quickoffice Conference. Users of the latest wireless handhelds will be able to leverage their devices’ wireless capabilities to save, retrieve, and exchange files as well as collaborate on Quickoffice files.
“Cutting Edge Software was the first to offer a spreadsheet for the upstart Palm OS back in 1996, and we’re thrilled that Quickoffice can now leverage the technology of the next generation of Palm Powered devices,” said Michael Compeau, Cutting Edge Software’s vice president of business development. “Whether the customer is an individual user, a workgroup or an entire enterprise, Quickoffice Pro and Palm OS 5 is a super-charged combo for on-the-go productivity.”
Quickoffice and Quickoffice Pro are available for purchase at Quickoffice.com or any leading online retailer of Palm OS applications, including PalmGear.com and Handango.com. Quickoffice retails for $39.95, while Quickoffice Pro retails for $49.95. Mobilefile retails for $49.95 and is available at Quickoffice.com.
Press Release: Cutting Edge Software announces Quickoffice for Macintosh
Award-winning Palm Powered Productivity Suite Enables Macintosh Users to Create, View, Edit and Synchronize Word and Excel Files
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., November 4, 2002 - - Mobility Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq/NMS: MOBE), a leading provider of innovative portable computing solutions for the mobile computer user, announced that its Cutting Edge Software subsidiary has released Quickoffice v6.1 for Mac OS X, enabling Macintosh users to utilize Quickoffice for viewing and editing Microsoft Office v.X files on their Palm OS handhelds.
Quickoffice for Mac features a suite of award-winning productivity applications, including the Quicksheet spreadsheet, Quickword word processor and Quickchart graphing module. Quickoffice for Mac provides intuitive synchronization with Mac desktops using drop-down menu add-ins for both Excel and Word. Quickoffice makes a copy of files to be synchronized to users’ handhelds, a unique approach from other Palm OS office solutions available for the Macintosh. Because Quickoffice for Mac does not modify a user’s original files, it eliminates the risk of removing any formatting or elements in the original file.
Quickoffice for Mac provides all the handheld functionality Windows users have enjoyed for years, including full file operability with expansion cards like Memory Sticks and Secure Digital cards, thesaurus and spellchecker capabilities in the Quickword word processor, support for displaying fonts, and the exclusive multi-level ZoomView(tm) display technology in Quickword. When combined with a free desktop tool for creating compatible FontBucket display fonts, ZoomView enables users to zoom in and out on a document without altering font sizes. Many enhancements included in Quickoffice for Mac are most apparent when used with the newest high-resolution device models, including the Palm Tungsten T and Sony NX series handhelds, featuring display resolutions up to 320 x 480 pixels.
“We are excited to bring the power and functionality of Quickoffice to our Macintosh customers,” said Michael Compeau, Cutting Edge Software’s vice president of business development and planning. “Quickoffice Mac provides a powerful suite of Office productivity tools that can be useful for individuals as well as entire workgroups regardless of the type of desktop computer being used by each member.”
Quickoffice for Mac requires Palm Desktop and HotSync Manager version 4.0 or later and any handheld running Palm OS 3.0 or later. Quickoffice for Mac is compatible with Mac OS X and Microsoft Office X. Support for the company’s Quickpoint solution for Microsoft PowerPoint compatibility and integration will be offered in a future version of Quickoffice Pro for Mac. The Quickoffice suite is available for purchase at Quickoffice.com or Handango.com. The retail price for Quickoffice for Mac is $39.95.
Dell “Axim” X5 Pocket PC Available November 18
Dell has announced that their new Pocket PC 2002 device will be known as the Axim X5 (kinda sounds like a spacecraft from a bad 1970s British SciFi series, doesn’t it?). The announcements on Dell’s website are rather sketchy, other than saying that the device will have “wireless connectivity” and will run the Pocket PC 2002 OS. Rumors have had a low-end device hitting the market at $199, with a WiFi connected version (64MB) selling for $299. As noted, the blurb on Dell’s site doesn’t give any pricing or technical specs, just a lot of “sound and fury, signifying nothing” (apologies to Shakespeare…).
You can read the web page and see a quick Flash movie by visiting the following page:
http://www.dell.com/us/en/gen/topics/segtopic_axim.htm
I’m also curious. The page says it will be available on November 18th, while other sources say that it will be available for order on November 18th. There’s a bit of a difference between ordering one and having a handheld in your hand. Anyway, this could truly give Palm and PalmOS licensees a run for their money, as there are starting to be some very low priced and powerful Pocket PCs in the market while Palm and Sony prices seem to be heading skyward.
Review: Gopher King
I’ve just finished posting a review of Gopher King, a unique “one-stop-shopping” e-mail portal that can be access from any type of device over any type of connection. I use this service to get to my MSN mail and to several POP3 servers, as well as call up important information. If you have a Pocket PC Phone, this is the way to get to all of your mail easily!
The review can be found here: http://www.pdantic.com/reviews/gopherking.htm
Friday Afternoon News Bits
Well, it’s been a weird week. I’m still recovering from the server outage earlier in the week, finding links and even pages that were restored from older versions for some odd reason. The last work I did on the site before the crash was to set up PDAntic Mobile Edition, and I can’t find my initial files so I’m back to square one on that. Thanks for your patience during this fun time!!!
PalmOS 6.0
Hey, PalmOS 5.0 isn’t even really out the door of the barn (er….Palm Source headquarters) and they’re now talking about availability of PalmOS 6.0 in 2003. It appears that 5.0 was really just a bump in the road, kind of a interim step between the old Palm operating system and the future. The new version (which will run on any PalmOS 5.0 device) features graphics and multimedia frameworks that are built on the BeOS code that Palm acquired when they purchased Be, Inc. This is exciting news, since BeOS was a very fast OS! Swappable I/O interfaces are part of 6.0, which means that hardware vendors can use input methods other than Graffiti on their future devices (i.e., speech recognition) and applications won’t know the difference. PalmOS 6.0 will also support native ARM applications, once again a very good sign that it will be a responsive environment. For enterprise purchasers, it’s interesting to note that Palm Source has stated that they’d like to build Microsoft .NET compatibilty into 6.0…
Palm has recently looked a lot stronger than Handspring, what with the recent reverse stock split bringing Palm’s stock price back into the $12 range. Handspring is struggling along in sub-dollar land, which is prime territory for stocks that are about to be delisted from NASDAQ. I’m beginning to think that the future will consist of Palm, Inc. for the enterprise market and Sony (with the Clie line) for the consumer market, with no room for another player in the PalmOS world.
FM Radio For Your Pocket PC
Remember one of my rants last year (or earlier this year…) about how worthless I thought streaming audio or video over wireless networks was? In that article I commented that someone could put a TV and/or radio tuner into a CF card, and give people access to the content they’re used to! ProLink (http://www.prolink.com.tw/) has just announced their FM201 CF Type I FM tuner for Pocket PC, which means we’re halfway there! Now all they need to do is add a TV tuner to this card and I’ll be a happy camper…
Another Sign That SpringBoard Modules Are A Dying Breed…
Does anyone remember the Sprint Digital Link cell phone module for the Handspring Visor? I didn’t think so. After all, only about a thousand of these modules were ever sold. These modules used the “old” CDMA technology, and Sprint has decided to not support future development of the module or software to make it compatible with their new 1xRTT network.
Get Yourself A Tungsten T, Free Overnight Shipping and Some Apps To Go With It
If you purchase a $499 Tungsten T from Palm’s online store (http://store.palm.com) through the end of November, they’ll throw in free overnight shipping. You need to use the TMAIL promotional code to get the free shipping. Once you’ve bought that Tungsten T and have it in your hot little hands, you’ll want some apps that are optimized for the device. First, the folks at TealPoint Software have announced that TealMovie 3.0 has been able to display movies at 60 frame per second rates on prototype ARM hardware (no word on how it works on production Tungsten T devices…), and that the TealMaster 2.0 will allow you to run Hackmaster hacks on your PalmOS 5.0 device. You can reach TealPoint’s website at http://www.tealpoint.com.
Kinoma Software has announced that Kinoma Player 1.5 (http://www.kinoma.com/products.html) is optimized for PalmOS 5.0 and the features of the Tungsten T. I’m still not convinced of the need to watch digitized movies on something other than a portable DVD player, but if you absolutely, positively have to watch movies on your Palm device, this is probably the product to download.
Last but not least, you can play that addicting game Bejeweled on your new Tungsten T! Check the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com/games/popcap/bejeweled/for details.
Low Cost Packard Bell Pocket PC
Packard Bell has announced a new low cost Pocket PC called the PocketGear 2030 that will be available in Europe immediately. This is a branded NEC-designed device, featuring a 200-MHz Intel XScale CPU, 64MB of RAM, an SD I/O slot, and a 16-bit reflective TFT display. No word on availability in the North American market. A similar low-cost iPaq from HP is expected soon, probably in the $200 - $300 range.
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
