Nuclear Microbatteries: Months Of Life For Your PDA or Phone
IEEE Spectrum, the magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has an interesting article in the September 2004 issue about a possible new power source for our pocket gadgets - nuclear microbatteries. These devices use a low-level radioactive source similar to those found in smoke detectors and exit lights to cause a nanotech cantilever to bob up and down. As the cantilever moves, it generates electricity through the piezoelectric effect.
While these micro power plants don’t put out enough wattage to operate a cellphone or PDA, they could recharge the batteries in your handheld devices. That could enable you to go months between recharging your devices or let you bypass recharging altogether!
Just to give you an idea of the energy density of these microbatteries, a Li-ion chemical battery like those used in many pocket devices has an energy density of about .3 milliwatt-hours/milligram. A nuclear battery using tritium as a beta source has an energy density of 850 milliwatt-hours/milligram (about 2,800 times the density of Li-ion) while one using Polonium-210 has an energy density of about 57,000 milliwatt-hours/milligram (190,000 times the energy density of a chemical battery!).
These devices are quite safe - current devices use 1 to 10 millicuries of nickel-63 or tritium as “fuel”. They generate low energy beta particles that can be blocked by a layer of as little as 25 micrometers of plastic - much thinner than the plastic containers used to contain most semiconductors. Beta particles of this type are also blocked by the dead-skin layer that covers your body.
There’s no word on when these may actually make it to mass market, but having virtually unlimited battery life would be great! The article or a short version of it may show up online next month at http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/ or you can buy the “dead-tree” version of Spectrum at your local bookstore.
What Good Design Looks Like: The New Apple G5 iMac
I’ve always been impressed with Apple’s designs, from the days of my first 512K “Fat Mac” in 1984, through the sleek Apple IIGS, through the Macintosh IIcx, the PowerBook G4 and the iPod. All of them are beautiful and functional machines.
Well, the girls and boys from Cupertino have done it again. They just announced the G5 iMac (see below):
Yes, I know that this has nothing to do with mobile computing or PDAs, but I am a sucker for great design and this is a fantastic example. As you can see, it’s a beautiful all-in-one design and crams the heart and soul of a G5 Mac into something a little bit larger than a 17″ LCD monitor. There are three models - 17″ with a 1.6 GHz CPU, 17″ with a 1.8 GHz CPU and 20″ with a 1.8 GHz CPU. If you’re solely in PC-land and haven’t used a Mac before, understand that the 1.8 GHz G5 and Mac OS X are tremendously fast.
I’m tempted, although they’ll be in short supply for a long time and they definitely aren’t cheap! Maybe I’ll have to wait for the Tablet Mac to arrive 
New Feature on PDAntic.com
PDAntic.com readers! You can now send your friends a direct link to a post on this site by clicking the little “envelope” icon at the bottom of each post. This is an easy way to get the word to others about some of the news you get here on PDAntic.com. Have fun!
So, Where Do I Go From Here?
OK, you’re probably going to get tired of my little opinion pieces this week, but get used to it!!! I don’t have much else to do so it’s time I caught up on my writing anyway.
I’ve been giving some thought to what I want to do with my gadgetry in the near future. My main gadgets include my Nokia 3650 camera phone, an HP iPAQ 4150, a palmOne Tungsten T3, an Apple iPod (first generation - 10 GB), a Mac PowerBook G4 12″ laptop and a slowwww Dell Dimension desktop PC. I like replacing PDAs on a regular basis so I have the latest and greatest, while computers usually get upgrades for a few years before I replace them. My Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC was an exception last year - I was so irritated with the slow processor in that device that I got rid of it after less than a year and bought the PowerBook.
Let’s start with the phone. I’m somewhat interested in getting the iPAQ 6315 Pocket PC Phone. It could easily replace the Nokia phone and my 4150, although it doesn’t have the blinding speed of the 4150. However, a lot of companies are starting to ban camera phones from the workplace and that worries me a bit. On the other hand, it has quad-band GSM capabilities, a VGA camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a thumb-board that make it a real potential workhorse for me. It would resolve a problem that I currently have - when I’m commuting and using a GPRS data connection for web surfing, people can’t reach me on the phone. The 6315 actually allows concurrent voice and data connections.
If I were to get a standalone iPAQ, I know which one I’d get - the hx4705. Need I say more? Fast, full VGA screen, Windows Mobile 2003 SE, WiFi, Bluetooth, and unbelievable speed. It’s more expensive than the 6315 and I’d still need to get a Bluetooth phone for on-the-road surfing, so that might not be a viable solution.
How about the palmOne devices? I basically use my Tungsten T3 for two purposes; it’s my every-other-day replacement for the iPAQ and it lets me test cross-platform or Palm-only software. I’m not sure I need to replace the T3. If I did, I’d probably downgrade to the Zire 72 for its camera, low cost, and Bluetooth. I’m not sure I want to spend money on the newly released SD WiFi card for the T3, since I think it’s ridiculous to spend another $129 for something that should be built-in. There are rumors of an upcoming T5 with Bluetooth and WiFi, so maybe I’ll trade up at that time.
I’ve already updated the iPod. Just before my recent vacation I found that I couldn’t get the iPod to talk to my PowerBook, so I immediately jumped to the conclusion that the iPod had gone bad and bought a 20GB 4th-generation iPod with all of the new nifty features. Unfortunately, I found out that it wasn’t the iPod - it’s a problem with the FireWire port on my PowerBook! Now I’ll have to get the PowerBook repaired (thank heaven for AppleCare) and sell the 10GB iPod on eBay…
Speaking of the PowerBook, I’m still very happy with it. Yes, it only has a 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor and the hard drive space is limited to a measly 40GB, but it’s still faster than most Intel-based notebooks and I love Mac OS X “Panther”. It has a DVD writer, so there are few reasons to justify replacing it for another two years or so. I may upgrade by getting a huge external FireWire hard drive (like the LaCie 1 Terabyte external) for my digital photos, music, and video.
Finally, there’s the old 1.4 GHz Dell Dimension desktop. What do I want to do? Replace it with a notebook PC? A Tablet PC? Another desktop? Whatever I decide to do, I’m thinking that it needs a large HD or at least FireWire so I can connect it to the external hard drive I’ll buy for the Mac . Tablet PCs are still too expensive for what they do, I’m bored with the traditional “white box” PCs, and many notebook PCs are underpowered. There’s a possibility that I’d replace the PC with another Mac, then put Virtual PC on it so I can run Windows software when necessary - a new G5-based iMac is supposed to be announced next week.
Gee, it’s tough being a gadget geek - TOO MANY DECISIONS!
Why It’s Good To Be Mobile
I’m having a couple of weeks where my mobile gadgetry is going to be very useful.
After 20 years in the same house, my spouse and I decided that it was a very good idea to have some major interior work done - painting, recarpeting, new furniture, etc… I have a very bad sensitivity to paint fumes, so I definitely wasn’t going to be able to do that work. Likewise, I’ve never installed carpeting and really didn’t want to try!
For at least three days this weekend and a handful of days next week, I’m going to be spending a lot of time in unusual places. As an example, I’m posting this from my Mac PowerBook G4 12″ laptop while sitting outside on our patio. Since I have a WiFi network set up, it’s easy for me to roam around our house and work from just about anywhere. I may have to do some “real work” for my employer over that time and had previously used a wired ethernet connection; I bought a $9.99 (after rebates) WiFi card from CompUSA last night and got my work laptop up and running on the home network in about two minutes. My wife’s Sony VAIO laptop is also wireless, so she’s able to join me in the back yard escaping the paint fumes. If it rains, we’ll just move to the garage…
Of course, I need to use my Windows XP PC (a desktop) as well. It’s upstairs in the fume zone where most of the painting is taking place, but I can use Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection software for Mac to run my PC from the Mac. I just finished writing a document for a group that I’m an officer of and printed it out, all from my Mac about 75 feet away. I’ll have to brave the paint a little later so I can grab the document and mail it, but at least I can hold my breath while I’m doing that!
I am adding to the wireless network this week - we’ve had problems in the past using my XP PC as a “print server” for the network, so I finally broke down and bought an SMC WiFi print server that I’ll attach to the printer so any one of our devices (including the wireless PDAs) can print from anywhere on the network.
As part of the work we’re doing here, my home office is moving to a new location with some very nice high-tech furniture, so I’m thinking about setting up a PDAntic.com webcam so you can see what’s happening here at PDAntic Central.
pt’s Latest: The Search Engine Belt Buckle!
Just when I thought I’d seen everything, Phillip “pt” Torrone came up with this…unusual…use of a Pocket PC:
You can read the details here on Engadget. The short story? Take one belt, some velcro, some silver beads, a glue gun, an iPAQ 2215, a little tape, a little time recording the output of a search engine, and you’re ready to hit the clubs in style!
Press Release: WorldMate Professional Edition with “Flight Status Option” from OAG
Flight information is just getting better!
Lod, Israel August 19, 2004 ? MobiMate?, one of the world’s leading mobile application provider, just released the latest version of WorldMate? Professional Edition for Pocket PC, offering new and a exciting Flight Status service.? This is one of the first services of its kind available for the Pocket PC platform allowing users to track the status of their flights and receive the up-to-date information directly to their handheld device.? MobiMate has again partnered with OAG, the world’s leading provider of travel information since 1929, to offer this new and exciting feature complimenting the flight schedules service.? The user can now check flight schedules ahead of time, choose the desired route and check the status of the flight before leaving for the airport!? No more time wasted waiting around at airports because he/she didn’t know that the flight had been delayed??
Flight Status is a first of its kind pay per use service, which means that there is no monthly fee, the user buys and uses the tokens only when he needs them.? Tokens are currently available in packages of 30 credits available on the MobiMate website.
WorldMate Professional Edition is aimed directly at business travellers, who require more travel-related information and tools to assist them in planning, managing and tracking their business travel.?? This is why MobiMate is constantly adding more business related features that allow business travellers the tools to always be one step ahead of competition.? Main features include ? Flight Schedules and flight status information from OAG, online currency converter, five world clocks, weather for over 38,000 locations supplied by The Weather Channel Interactive Inc., an itinerary manager, international dialling codes, packing list, tips and tax calculator and much more!
“Working together with the best partners in the industry, we are constantly adding new features that make WorldMate Professional Edition the best business travel tool available on the mobile market.? The Flight Status service is the first of its kind pay-per-use feature for Mobimate, but will be followed by many more.” stated Jennifer Charny, MobiMate’s Marketing Manager.
For FREE trial & more information, please visit MobiMate’s Web site at http://www.mobimate.com/ppc/worldmate/pro/index.shtml
T-Mobile Online Training for iPAQ 6315
Interested in the HP iPAQ 6315? The good folks over at Pocket PC Thoughts found a link to a T-Mobile training course for the iPAQ 6315 that is aimed at sales personnel. Be the first to know more about the 6315 than your local sales rep! It’s actually a pretty good piece of Flash courseware and really shows how to use the device. I certainly want one!
View the course here:
http://media.t-mobiletraining.com/wbt/ipaq-h6315/launch.html#
Press Release: PocketMac BlackBerry Edition Now Available
La Jolla, CA–August 2004–Information Appliance Associates, creators of the original Mac-to-Pocket-PC sync solution, announces the new release of PocketMac Blackberry Edition, the first ever tool to sync Mac users’ data with RIM BlackBerry handhelds.
“We’re incredibly excited,” said Terence Goggin, CTO of Information Appliance Associates. “After 14 months of engineering and testing, we’re proud to release this unique tool that for the first time gives Mac users the ability to sync with BlackBerry handhelds. What’s more, we’ve made sure no one’s left out — older serial-based BlackBerry 957s can also fully sync as well.”
PocketMac BlackBerry Edition includes all of the great features users have come to expect from the PocketMac brand, including 2-way sync capabilities with…
* Entourage Contact Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs fully Contacts from Microsoft Entourage to the BlackBerry.
* OS X Address Book Contact Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Contacts from the OS X Address Book to the BlackBerry.
* Now Contact Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs in both directions Contacts from Now Contact to the BlackBerry.
* Entourage Calendar Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Calendar events from Entourage to the BlackBerry.
* iCal Calendar Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Calendar events from iCal to the BlackBerry.
* Now Up-To-Date Calendar Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Calendar events from Now Up-To-Date to the BlackBerry.
* Entourage Tasks Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Tasks from Entourage to the BlackBerry.
* iCal Tasks Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Tasks from iCal to the BlackBerry.
* Now Up-To-Date Tasks Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Tasks from Now Up-To-Date to the BlackBerry.
* Entourage Notes Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Notes from Entourage to the BlackBerry.
* Stickies Notes Synching–PocketMac BlackBerry Edition syncs Notes from Stickies to the BlackBerry.
Goggin continued, “This release has something for every Mac-based BlackBerry user. From Stickies to Entourage support to iCal & OS X Address Book, this is what BlackBerry users have longed for.”
PocketMac BlackBerry Edition also offers these additional features…
* USB/Serial Support–PocketMac BlackBerry offers complete support for USB-based & Serial-based BlackBerry devices.
* iSync Integration–PocketMac BlackBerry offers full integration with Apple’s iSync.
* Sync on Connect–When PocketMac BlackBerry users put their device in their USB cradle, PocketMac will automatically sync their BlackBerry with their Mac; they do not have to manually initiate a sync each time.
“This new product extends the PocketMac technology to the next level - BlackBerry handhelds,” Goggin added. PocketMac BlackBerry Edition retails for $29.95.
More information about PocketMac BlackBerry can be found at http://www.pocketmac.net/blackberry.html
Back to School with VITO!
VITO Technology salutes students all around the world and congratulates you all on the beginning of the new exciting school year! Smart kids, it’s time to make a deal on this new VITO offer!
No more boring notetaking! Record your lectures in MP3 format with VITO SoundExplorer to study them later at home, while entertaining yourself with four thrilling games! College is fun, even more fun with VITO!
VITO SoundExplorer and the games go with 30% discount, and all together is $10 off. Enter discount code STUDENT for the 30% discount, and STUDENTPACK for the $10 deal.
Offer is valid until September 1st.
Missing Sync for Palm OS v4 Now Shipping
Mark/Space is now shipping version 4 of The Missing Sync for Palm OS. This new version not only provides new features not available in PalmSource’s HotSync Manager, it completely replaces it! It also replaces our previous Missing Sync products for Palm OS, Sony CLI?, Garmin iQue and Tapwave.
WHAT’S NEW IN 4.0
Here are just a few of the new features in The Missing Sync for Palm OS v4:
?o Sync over Wi-Fi/AirPort
o Bluetooth internet connection sharing
o MemoPad application syncs memos for Address Book/iCal users
o SyncMinder reminds you when it’s time to sync
o Drag-and-drop file install to both internal and card memory
o Easily turn on/off groups of conduits with Conduit Profiles
o Supports existing Palm OS conduits
?o Supports Palm OS 4 and Palm OS 5 handhelds
?o Makes HotSync Manager look tired and outdated
?o There’s much, much more!
? ?
SPECIAL UPGRADE PRICING
Own a previous version of The Missing Sync for a Palm Powered handheld by palmOne, Sony, Garmin or Tapwave? If so, then you qualify for an upgrade: just $19.95 for purchases prior to 23 June 2004, free after that. Check out http://www.markspace.com/palmosupgrade.php for details.
Even if you don’t qualify for an upgrade, at only $39.95, The Missing Sync for Palm OS v4 is only $10 more than the products it replaces while providing many more features.
We hope you check out version 4 of The Missing Sync for Palm OS today.
Connectivity Crisis
My connectivity crisis is over.
I’ve returned from vacation and everything is working well now that I’m using my home WiFi connection. As mentioned in an earlier email, I was having tremendous problems getting into ANY Google websites (GMail, Google or Blogger) while using my Nokia 3650 Bluetooth phone as a “modem” for my Mac PowerBook G4 12″. I never could get into my GMail account, so I was unable to receive any of the hundreds of emails that were sent to me during that time dealing with new Pocket PC or palmOne products. I also got about 2,500 spam emails which I spent a good part of this evening cleaning out…
I’ve sent a note on to the good folks at GMail to let them know about the problems so hopefully they’ll be fixed before I go on my next trip out of town. Since it’s impossible to get into GMail from a Pocket PC or palmOne device, I sure won’t be able to get into it that way.
More postings coming up soon!
Notes From The Road…
Every year about this time, my wife and I hit the road down to New Mexico to attend the Santa Fe Opera, browse galleries and buy art. Of course, being a technogeek means that I always bring something along with me to use on the road.
For a few years I brought along just a Pocket PC or Palm device without worrying about connectivity, but back in the days of the Palm VII and Palm i705, I would take the devices to Santa Fe only to discover that this was one part of the world that didn’t have Palm.net service. Last year, my PC of choice was a Compaq TC1000 tablet PC - I used the built in modem to make a dialup connection to MSN so I could check my “home account” and it worked just fine.
This year, I decided to take the Macintosh PowerBook G4 12″ with me and make a connection through my GPRS phone to the Internet. The first two nights while we were in Telluride, Colorado, I had no GPRS service so I was outta luck. In addition, there was a local WiFi connection that I was going to see if I could “steal”, but unfortunately the site was protected by a Access Control List so I was unable to do that.
Our next stop was Taos, New Mexico. There, I was thrilled to find out that I had a GPRS connection and I could easily connect the Mac to the Internet. Unfortunately, there was an issue there as well - I couldn’t get into my Google “GMail” account. I could check my “.mac” email and my MSN email account with no problem, but the GMail account (with a web-based client) was totally inaccessible.
That problem followed me down to Santa Fe, so I can look forward to a thousand or so emails by the time I get back home early next week! If you’re trying to send me an email, please forgive my tardiness in responding.
Palm.net Shutting Down
Well, it’s a good thing I no longer own a Palm VII or a Palm i705! palmOne has announced that they’re shutting down the Palm.net wireless service after 5 years of service. It’s a move I certainly expected, since with the rise of digital networks (1xRTT, GPRS) it was expected that anyone who wanted wireless service that was faster than the pokey Palm.net network could easily get it - and at a cost per minute much less than what Palm was charging.
After August 31, 2004, owners of the Palm VII or Palm i705 will only be able to use their devices in non-connected mode. palmOne will offer a $100 discount to current subscribers for a Treo 600, so all is not lost…
BTW, I’m on vacation again, and unfortunately the connection I have through GPRS isn’t working too well. As a result my updates may not be as “regular” as they are.
Press Release: Buy Battery Pack Pro and Win a new iPAQ rx1715
Sammamish, WA ? August 3rd 2004 ?Omega One, a leading developer of consumer applications for Windows Mobile-based Pocket PCs, together with PocketGear.com, the world?s leading provider of content for the Pocket PC, are pleased to announce that Omega One will give away a new HP iPAQ rx1715 to one lucky buyer of Battery Pack Pro, the best selling Pocket PC application. From today until PocketGear.com records the 100,000th download of Battery Pack Pro the email addresses of those people who buy Battery Pack Pro from PocketGear.com will be recorded. When the 100,000th copy is download, a name will be drawn from that list of Battery Pack Pro owners, and that person will receive a new iPAQ rx1715.
To date, over 97,000 people have downloaded Battery Pack Pro from PocketGear.com, so there is not much time left until the winner will be known. To enter the drawing the person must dowload and purchase a copy of Battery Pack Pro between August 3rd and the time of the 100,000th download. Trial downloads are not eligible for the drawing.
?Battery Pack Pro has been one of the leading Pocket PC applications over the last two years,? said Andrew Haslam, CEO of Omega One, ?Reaching the 100,000th download mark on PocketGear.com will be a significant achievement for us and for PocketGear.com, and we want to give something back to our customers in the form of this great new iPAQ.?
?Battery Pack Pro has been a consistent best selling application for us at PocketGear.com,? said Slawek Pruchnik, vice president, Windows Mobile Consumer Channel for PocketGear.com. ?We are pleased to support Omega One with this great opportunity for one of our premier partners.?
Battery Pack Pro was the top selling Pocket PC application in 2002 and 2003. Omega One?s other top selling products include Journal Bar which has been consistently in the top 10 Pocket PC applications, as well as 1-Calc, a universal calculator, and 1-Pass, a physical security application.
Battery Pack Pro v1.1 is available for $19.99 on www.pocketgear.com.
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Joy of Tech!
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MacLevelTen
