Tablets Taking Off Faster Than Expected In Europe
A CNET article today had the positive news that Tablet PCs seem to be taking off a lot faster in Europe than many industry analysts expected. Even though Tablet PCs did not start selling until November 7th and in many cases were not available until mid-to-late December, they accounted for 1% of all “portable” sales during the 4th quarter of 2002. We can speculate that had Tablet PCs been announced at the beginning of October and had immediate availability everywhere, the number would have been in the 3 - 5 % range. That would be well over the dismal forecasts that the pundits had made. HP’s TC1000 was the sales leader, followed by Acer, Toshiba and Fujitsu-Siemens.
In other Tablet PC news, we can expect a second generation HP Tablet PC some time early in the second quarter. No specifics as of yet, but the word on the street is that it will still use a Transmeta Crusoe CPU. Finally, for you Unix geeks out there, you can take heart in the fact that StarNet Communications Corporation will be giving a public demo of their flagship X-Win32 X Server software to “turn Tablet PCs into powerful wireless Unix workstations”. For those of you familiar with X Server software, it acts a lot like the Terminal Service Client built into Windows XP but allows you to control Unix servers rather than other WinXP/Win2000 workstations or servers.
Faster XScale On The Way
Intel has announced the successor to the XScale PXA250 processor line. The XScale PXA255 will come with the same clock speeds — 200, 300 and 400 MHz — but will boost battery life and double the bus speed from 100 MHz to 200 Mhz.
The new CPU will apparently ship in large volumes by the end of March, which means the “next generation” of Pocket PCs and Palm OS devices will benefit from the PXA255. Now if we can just get Microsoft and software developers to optimize their software for the new chip we’ll be in great shape!
Press Release: Palm Powered Share Increases in Second Half of 2002
Palm Powered Mobile Computing Devices Continue to Lead in U.S. Retail, Enterprise, and Smartphones and Are Gaining Share in the European Market, According to Industry Analysts
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — PalmSource, Inc. today announced that Palm Powered(TM) handhelds and smartphones strengthened their position in the retail market during the second half of 2002, according to sales figures just released in the United States and Europe. In European retail sales, Palm Powered handhelds — those that use the Palm operating system — had strong share gains from a year ago, while in the U.S., Palm Powered handhelds maintained share despite increased competition. Palm Powered handhelds also gained share among enterprise resellers, and manufacturers of Palm Powered smartphones were three of the top six smartphone companies worldwide. PalmSource is the provider of the world’s most popular operating system for handhelds and smart phones, and the Palm OS(R) subsidiary of Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM).
Gaining Share in Europe
According to the October-November 2002 sales report from GfK Marketing Services, retail share in Europe of Palm Powered systems rose as PalmSource’s licensees released new products and shipped Palm OS 5, the newest version of the Palm operating system. In Germany, share of Palm Powered mobile devices in October-November increased eight points from a year ago, from 50 percent to 58 percent. In France, share of Palm Powered mobile devices increased 12 points, from 52 percent to 64 percent. In the United Kingdom, share of Palm Powered mobile devices increased by eight points, from 42 percent to 50 percent.
U.S. Retail Share Strong and Stable
During the 2002 holiday season, Palm Powered products faced stiffer competition than ever before as licensees of rival operating systems introduced lower-priced handheld devices and increased promotional spending. Despite the increased competition, Palm Powered handhelds maintained their historically strong share position in the United States. According to weekly retail sales figures compiled by NPD Intelect in December 2002, Palm Powered devices maintained around 80 percent share, roughly the same share range they held during the December 2001 holiday period.
Leading Share in U.S. Enterprise Resellers
Share of Palm Powered mobile devices is also strong among U.S. commercial resellers, companies that sell handhelds direct to corporations, according to NPD Intelect. During the third quarter of 2002, the most recent information available, Palm Powered handhelds had a 72.9 percent share, up from 56.7 percent in the same quarter the year before.
Leader in U.S. Smart Phones
According to International Data Corporation’s tracking of converged mobile devices — smart phones that combine handheld and mobile phone capabilities — Palm Powered smart phones had an 89 percent share in the U.S. during the third quarter of 2002, the most recent data available. Worldwide, three of the top six smart phone vendors’ products were Palm Powered — Handspring, Kyocera, and Samsung.
“Users continue to prefer Palm Powered products for value, usability, reliability and the enormous range of third party applications, content and accessories that are available,” said David Nagel, president and CEO of PalmSource. “This sales data, and the fact that more than 25 million Palm Powered devices have now been sold, underlines the ever-increasing popularity of the Palm operating system.”
The second-half, 2002 share gains were driven by innovative new mobile computing products from licensees such as:
— Alphasmart, with its Dana, a durable and low-priced laptop computer replacement for students;
— Handspring, with the Treo 300, the first Palm Powered communicator to include a bright color screen with a full thumb keyboard;
— Kyocera, with its tiny-but-powerful 5135 Palm Powered flip-phone;
— Palm, Inc.’s hardware division, with its sophisticated new Tungsten T and Tungsten W business products and low-cost Zire for entry-level handheld users;
— Samsung, with its sleek i330 smart phone that combines Web browsing, handheld, and phone functions; and
— Sony, with its Clie NX 70v, which includes a thumb keyboard and video camera.
Additional new Palm Powered products that will ship in the first half of 2003 include Fossil’s Wrist PDA with Palm OS, Garmin’s iQue 3600 GPS-enabled handheld, the Legend Pam168 Chinese-language handheld, and the Sony Clie NZ90 with a two megapixel camera and the highest resolution, feature-rich multimedia capabilities ever in a handheld. Other new devices are in development by Group Sense Limited and HuneTec. The new products, along with the existing lineup of award-winning devices from Acer, HandEra and Symbol, greatly increase the selection of features available to Palm Powered customers. Combined with more than 16,000 Palm OS software programs, the largest selection of software for any handheld, these devices take Palm OS far beyond its roots as a personal information management tool, helping people to be more in touch, as well as productive and organized in their business and personal lives.
Commentary: Handhelds Continue Steady Slide
An interesting CNET News article titled “Handhelds continue steady slide” quoted a Dataquest study released today that showed that worldwide shipments of handhelds fell by 9.1 percent in 2002. That still accounts for 12.1 million units, but there doesn’t seem to be the same high level of enthusiasm for handheld computing devices that existed when the world economy was in better shape.
What I’ve personally noticed in the past several months is that there seems to be a focus on functionality rather than portability in the gadget world. For example, rather than allowing employees to purchase $99 Zire PalmOS devices or “loaded” HP iPaqs, a company that I consult for recently standardized on Nextel’s new BlackBerry phone. Why? Basically, it’s a lot cheaper for them. In many cases, the BlackBerry device (which sells in corporate quantities for less than $200!) is replacing a cell phone, a pager, and a PDA, and in many cases is even replacing a laptop PC for executives who are now receiving their office e-mail on the device!
Likewise, I’ve had several readers write to me lately stating that instead of buying a new laptop PC AND a new PDA, they’re going for Tablet PCs. The thought seems to be that the Tablets are essentially ultralight laptops and for a little more size & weight, you are getting tons more functionality than you would with a top-of-the-line PDA. I personally haven’t given up my Pocket PC Phone yet, but if I could switch to a “voice-only” phone and get a GPRS card for my Tablet PC for about the same cost of the combined voice/data service I’m using, it could be tempting…
I’m also wondering if the “handhelds” number includes those devices that are multi-use, such as the Nextel BlackBerry device I talked about earlier or my very own T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone. If the powers-that-be at Dataquest count these as mobile phones, that could explain part of the decrease in “PDA-only” sales. Between the Pocket PC Phone, Handspring Treo, and some of the other multi-functional mobile phone/PDA hybrids, they seem to have made quite an impact in 2002 and that trend could definitely continue into ‘03.
Finally, I think the article deserves a big “Duh!” in pointing out that the slumping economy is slowing sales of PDAs. Let’s face it; if you’re out of work or underemployed and you have a choice between eating or buying a Sony Clie, you’re probably going to make the intelligent decision and choose food (although most people I know would go for the gadgets!!!).
Press Release: Mapopolis for Palm OS Now Available on CD
CLEVELAND, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ — Mapopolis.Com, Inc. announced that the Mapopolis Map Pack for the Palm OS on CD-ROM will be available for purchase beginning January 28th. The Mapopolis Map Pack contains maps of every US road and major Canadian cities. The new CD makes carrying maps while traveling easier and makes the software available to users without internet access.
The new CDs are already available for pre-order from the company’s website (http://www.mapopolis.com) for $49.95 and will soon be available through retailers. The CD is also included with the EMTAC Bluetooth GPS bundle which is available from the company’s website, the Palm Store at store.palm.com and many retailers.
“It’s much easier to take it with you when you go,” said Mapopolis Vice President Jeremy Straub. “With the new CD you no longer need to worry about whether or not you’ll have internet access to download maps. We know that this especially important to traveling professionals who regularly carry laptops and prefer not to have to download maps in advance.”
The new CD based product provides turn-by-turn directions on your Palm OS handheld and can generate address-to-address directions nation-wide. The software connects to all NMEA-compatible GPS devices and displays the current GPS position on the map with the current directions. The CD includes Mapopolis Major Roads Maps, which were released for electronic download delivery last month.
Press Release: Mobility Electronics’ Portsmith Subsidiary Enables Simultaneous Synchronization and Charging of Multiple Handhelds
One-of-a-Kind Multi-slot Cradle for Palm Handhelds Provides Simple, Efficient Solution for Mass Synchronization, Data Collection and Charging
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Mobility Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MOBE), a leading provider of innovative portable computing solutions for the mobile computer user, announced that it has worked with Palm, Inc. to design a unique, simultaneous docking, synchronization and charging cradle for up to ten handhelds.
The Portsmith Multi-slot Cradle, the only one of its kind in the market, requires only a single power and data connection and connects directly to an Ethernet LAN, providing a simple, efficient solution for mass synchronization, data collection or application deployment. Users simply attach up to ten handhelds to the Multi-slot Cradle, connect to a power source and Ethernet LAN, and begin simultaneous synchronization and charging. The cradle is compatible with Palm(TM) m125, m130, m500 series, i705 and future Palm handhelds that incorporate the Palm Universal Connector.
“The multi-slot cradle provides exceptional functionality for Palm users, and we are proud to be first to market with this unique, quality product,” said Charlie Mollo, CEO of Mobility Electronics. “This product allows us to expand our relationship with Palm and tap into new market segments, further expanding our presence in the mobile computing industry and reaching more users than ever before.”
This product’s capabilities can be expanded using external USB or Ethernet hubs to accommodate even larger fleets of handhelds simultaneously. Users can add more than one Multi-slot Cradle to a wheeled cart to create a synchronization station that can be moved from room to room.
Portsmith’s Multi-slot Cradle provides an ideal solution for various enterprise applications, including survey data collection. Survey data collected in the field or in controlled environments, such as focus groups using the Multi-slot Cradle and a Palm handheld, can be quickly synchronized to a host computer. Utilizing the Multi-slot in this manner eliminates the time-consuming task of individual synchronization and speeds retrieval and analysis of data. The Multi-slot Cradle can also be used to deploy applications and images to several handheld devices simultaneously, considerably reducing loading time. By cascading several Multi-slot Cradles, large fleets of handhelds are readied for deployment simultaneously.
Portsmith’s Multi-slot Cradle also offers a compelling application for the classroom or seminar environment. Using the Multi-slot Cradle, instructors can quickly download the syllabus, course notes, reading lists, questionnaires and tests to an entire classroom’s handhelds at once. At the end of class, handhelds can be returned to the Multi-slot Cradle and assignments can be synchronized to the instructor’s PC for grading. Using the Multi-slot Cradle allows immediate incorporation of participant responses allowing the data to be used during the class, printed for distribution or redistributed to the handhelds.
“Innovative handheld solutions are creating tremendous opportunities for efficient and reliable data transfer,” said Paul Leeper, chief evangelist at Palm, Inc. “Palm’s relationships with industry-leading companies such as Portsmith are revolutionizing the business and education process, as we know it.”
Portsmith’s Multi-slot Cradles are available through the Palm Store and Portsmith; pricing will begin at $399. For more information on the product, please visit http://www.portsmith.com or call 1-888-205-0064.
Press Release: NEC Releases World’s Thinnest/Lightest Tablet PC In Japan
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — NEC Corporation (Nasdaq:NIPNY) announced today the sale of the world’s thinnest and lightest Tablet PC in Japan. NEC’s Tablet PC will also be available in North America and Europe during the first quarter of 2003. NEC is considering releasing the product in Asia-Pacific countries. New tablet PCs sold in Japan come with two models, the VersaPro Series for business users and the LaVie Series for home users.
The main features of new products are as follows.
World’s thinnest and lightest “Pure Tablet PC”
NEC’s Tablet PCs are in the slate form and offer the best in class in usability. Their paper-like touch-and-feel, known as “digital paper,” enables easy information sharing and achieves paperless environment, creating new usage of PCs in business scenes.
— Height: 15mm, Weight: 999g (*1)
— Intel(R) Ultra-Low-Voltage Mobile Pentium(R) III Processor with 933MHz-M
— Wired LAN and Wireless LAN (IEEE802.11a/b), enable users to be easily connected to hotspots
— Enhanced shock durability by protecting HDD with rubber casing
— Reduced variance, which occurs between the pen-point and handwriting or cursor on the viewing screen, by utilizing very thin protection glass
Cool Tool For iPod
If you own an Apple iPod and you’re looking for a nice wire-free way of mounting it in your car so you can listen to your 20GB of tunes as you drive around the world, consider the $99.95 TransPod. This all-in-one device plugs into the cigarette lighter (or shall we call it the auxiliary power outlet) in your car so that it is constantly being charged, places it in a position so you can easily handle the controls and read the display to see what tunes are playing, and it wirelessly transmits the music being played to your FM radio. The result? You don’t have a charging cord going from your cig lighter to your iPod and another “cassette adapter” wire dangling from your cassette player to get all tangled up. I’ll definitely be buying one of these prior to my usual August road trip to New Mexico! They’re available from www.everythingipod.com now.
The Tablet Diaries: Episode 4 Now Available For Your Reading Pleasure!
Hi, sorry for the lack of content the last few days. Between work, working out, and writing The Tablet Diaries, getting the latest and greatest news posted has been very difficult. To top it off we’re in the process of some network upgrades here at PDAntic Central, so even keeping up with the press releases has been hard! We’re hoping to get some new reviews (including a game or two) finished soon and will get those to you ASAP.
In other news, Episode 4 of The Tablet Diaries is available for you to read. In this latest episode I ran into difficulties with the memory upgrade for Sorrento (my Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC), get my wireless connection up and running, and load a pile of software on the unit. To read the latest episode, click here! If you’re interested in reading previous episodes, simply click on the Reviews link at the top of the page and choose your episode of choice.
CNET Radio - Direct To Your Pocket PC
CNET Radio will soon be providing the “essential news of tech” direct to your PC or Pocket PC twice a day through a new service called “CNET Radio Direct”. Hosted by CNET’s Brian Cooley, these two daily reports will combine tech news, interviews and business intelligence in a concise and usable format. The news will be shipped to you in a compact file that plays on the device of your choice (Editor’s Note: My guess is that the Pocket PC format file will be a WMA file…).
You can pre-register for the service by clicking here.
Press Release: Handheld Computing to Offer Palm and Pocket PC Training
SAN MATEO, CA - January 15, 2003 - Handheld Computing Magazine, the number-one guide to handheld devices, announced today the introduction of professionally taught Palm OS and Pocket PC skills classes. Designed for new and novice users of handheld PCs, the half-day courses will teach basic operation as well as tips and techniques for managing contacts, to-do lists, calendars, e-mail, and more.
“This is an ideal environment for consumers and business users who are new to handheld computing and don’t want to spend weeks poring through instruction manuals,” said Andrew Eisenberg, CEO of Handheld Media Group and publisher of Handheld Computing. “In less than four hours, they’ll learn the core skills and some advanced techniques.”
Handheld Computing’s PDA Skills classes are taught by PDA guru Ray Marcus and include course materials, bonus software, a one-year subscription to Handheld Computing Magazine, and 30 days of follow-up technical support via e-mail.
Registrants can choose between Saturday morning and afternoon sessions, beginning January 18 in San Francisco. Subsequent sites include San Jose and Los Angeles, with other cities planned for spring and summer. Registration is $149, but users can receive $30 off the regular price by registering online at www.pdabuzz.com/training.
Visit that site for more information, a complete schedule of class dates or to inquire about corporate training.
Two New Reviews at MaximumPDA.com
Bill Landon over at MaximumPDA.com let me know that he’s just posted two new reviews. One review covers the new Fossil PDA watch, while the other details the RoadWriter Mount for the HP iPaq. You can read the Fossil PDA Watch review here, while the link to the RoadWriter Mount review is here.
Press Release: Applian promises more Control over your Bluetooth Phone from your Pocket PC with New Phone King Software
Applian Technologies announces Phone King for the Pocket PC, the most powerful way to control Bluetooth phones from a Pocket PC. Using a phone like the Sony Ericsson T68 and a wireless headset, you can turn your PDA into a powerful telephone controller. Some of the features include - full support for Bluetooth headsets
- Dial the phone
- Dial by selecting names from your contacts list
- send SMS
- get Caller ID
- get live signal strength and battery indications
- fully customizable speed dialer
- one tap access to voice mail
- and more.
Plus, Phone King allows you to make your own Phone Layouts, or customize the ones that come with the software. You can move and resize buttons, or change functionality and appearance of any button.
Phone King is available now as a free Beta from Applian Technologies at www.applian.com.
Price
$19.95, or free with purchase of Super Incredible Bundle
Press Release: A new version for MobiMate’s WorldMate
The Ultimate Travel Companion just got better!
REHOVOT, Israel, January 15, 2003 ? MobiMate(tm), one of the most prominent software developers for PDAs and Smart-phones, is releasing a new version for its best-selling WorldMate travel companion software.
WorldMate is a leading handheld travel application for PDAs and Smart-phones with hundreds of thousands of downloads to date. Its key features include world clocks with automatic DST calculation, a Day/Night world map, 5-day worldwide weather forecasts from The Weather Channel updated on-line, a currency converter with daily exchange rate updates, a packing list, and an international weights and measurements converter. The product is available for the Palm OS? and Pocket PC? platforms.
The new version incorporates Faster Synchronization, support for Palm OS 5.0 (Tungsten), support for Hi-Density graphics, and more.
Announcing Fitaly2003 for the Tablet PC
The folks who created the “fitaly” keyboard for the Pocket PC (so named because the home row of characters spells out the word “fitaly”) have announced a beta version of Fitaly 2003 for Tablet PCs. This provides a new way of providing input to Tablet PCs through the use of the stylus. Many fitaly keyboard users swear by the concept, which supposedly allows for much faster input of text characters than you’d get with a traditional onscreen keyboard. Since the keys are clustered around the center of the keyboard in terms of their frequency of usage, users can move their stylus around a lot less and do a very speedy job of entering text.
You can read more about Fitaly 2003 for the Tablet PC here, as well as download a copy of the beta. The beta will work until April 1, 2003.
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
