Jenny Levine: PDAs

Today we took the kids to see Big Fat Liar. It was totally excellent and everyone loved it, including us adults. If you have kids of any age, two thumbs up. At the beginning of the movie, Frankie Muniz's 14-year old character is late for school, so he has to climb in through a window. He needs someone to distract the teacher though, so he uses his Cybiko to contact his friend Kaylee on her Cybiko and asks her to do it. I nearly did a Danny Thomas spit take.

In visiting the Cybiko site for the first time in a while (I still need to get to the store and look at the new "Xtreme" version), I noticed that it now comes with a WAP browser and they've got the MP3 player live.

Microsoft, WebEx Ink a Digital Deal

"Attempting to boost momentum behind its Tablet PC initiative, Microsoft on Monday showcased its 2.5-pound pen-based device and announced that WebEx would support its digital ink capabilities. Online conferencing vendor WebEx said at the Demo 2002 conference in Phoenix that it will build Web conferencing services for the Tablet PC, taking advantage of the portable form factor to boost enterprise communications in meetings, according to K.V. Rao, director of platform marketing at WebEx in San Jose, California.... In addition, Groove Networks says it is building a secure collaboration offering based on the Tablet PC that will allow users to work together on projects in real time, sharing comments in digital ink." [at PC World]

I hadn't thought of this. I've been focusing a lot on how PDAs can make reference librarians more mobile, but I hadn't considered that the Tablet PC could do this but with more screen real estate. Things that make you go hmmm.......

Qualcomm's Vision of the Wireless Future "When he finished, there were 20 brand-new, CDMA-based mobile handsets and devices arrayed on the table, the high-tech souvenirs of Belk's most recent trip to Hong Kong and Japan.... 'These are not PowerPoint slides,' Belk said. 'These are real devices that are already shipping in volume in Asia.' " [at Business 2.0]

And there's the rub. When I do my presentations, that's all I have - pictures of prototypes or of devices not available in the U.S. Europe and Asia really are 18 months ahead of us in this area.

"Beale also discussed Qualcomm's gpsOne location technology.... It also opens the door for many new location-based services, such as traffic information and local weather forecasts. On Japan KDDI's network, there are already more than 20 location-based services available -- all of which are relatively inexpensive, costing less than $5 per month."

I'm looking forward to being able to travel and have information come to me automatically based on my location. For example, if I'm at a conference and I'm looking for a restaurant, I'd like my phone/PDA/whatever to know where I am and offer a list of nearby choices. Maybe it should tell me what movies or plays are on tonight and if there are still tickets available. You get the idea....

"Predictably, both Belk and Beale anticipate strong growth for the wireless industry as ever-more-compelling products and services become available and the industry settles on a single communication standard. How long will that take? Belk, whose career began in the personal computing business in 1983, likened the wireless industry today to the PC business of the 1980s. 'I wouldn't worry about the wireless industry yet, it's still relatively young,' he said. 'Just look how long it took the PC industry just to get to the point of standardized parallel cables.' "

Not to beat a dead horse, but the ebook industry is even younger than PCs, and PDAs have really only come into their own during the last few years. So don't count any of these technologies out just yet.

More market share numbers, PalmOS down, Pocket PC up "According to the report expected to be released Wednesday, Palm saw their market share drop more than 10 percentage points in 2001 to 38.9% (5.1 million units) while the PalmOS platform still accounted for more than half of PDA sales worldwide.... The PalmOS platform's decline was the Pocket PC platform's gain with Microsoft's mobile operating system almost doubling its share of the market from 11% in 2000 to 21% in 2001.... It should also be noted that according to this report, over 20% of all PDA's shipped worldwide last year were neither Pocket PC or PalmOS based, an interesting statistic indeed. And while the numbers are slightly different from a similar report filed by NPD last month, the message is clear and that is that PalmOS share is dropping while Pocket PC share is rising." [PDABuzz.com]

Not at all surprising. I'm curious how they'll start counting the combo PDA-phones in next year's reports.

Languages in the Palm of Your Hand "[Ectaco] has developed a handy pocket-sized gadget that translates English phrases into French, German or Spanish. Instead of thumbing through a dictionary, you just say a phrase in English, the device translates it and then repeats out loud in the foreign language in a robotic voice.... The device fits in a pocket with ease. It uses AA batteries and costs $249.95, which could pay for a few bulky paper dictionaries.... 'Unfortunately there is a lot of background noise here,' explained Mr Davydov. 'Usually it works 90% of the time.' " [via Bruce]

So make that a PDA/cell phone/GPS/translator combo for my Christmas list. Someday there will be white papers and articles about how to conduct reference interviews with non-English speakers using a translator device. Hey, Ectaco - if you'd like to test this out in the real world in libraries, let me know!

Sony's New Prototype PDA Form Factor "The unit, only seen for a few seconds by most is a departure from the standard handheld form factor, sporting a vertically aligned clamshell design, a thumb keyboard, and a large rectangular display. Looking closely at the photos from ascii24.com, you can see the CLIE logo, 5 hardware buttons, a thumb keyboard made up of very small keys, a digital camera, and a screen which looks like it could run 240x320, 320x480 or similar resolutions which fit into this ratio. The most compelling aspect of this device in my opinion is the ability to see the screen when the device is both open and closed." [PDABuzz.com]

Still more innovation in handhelds. It looks like PDA makers are finally starting to think out of the monolithic block. Why wouldn't they put the buttons on the outside, though? Then you wouldn't have to open it for basic functionality. What would you be able to see and do with the screen closed?

Also from infoSync is a screenshot of the Space Taxi pinball game mentioned in the Have Cell Phone, Will Shoot post from a few days ago . It only runs on the Nokia 9210 and Nokia 9290 phones, but my oh my is it purty. Now that's the kind of service that would make me switch cell phones and carriers, but of course it's not available in the U.S. The game is written in Java, so I can only imagine what we'll start seeing as screen resolutions, processors, and battery life improve.

BTW Meryl, these phones are supposed to be better for deaf users (as well as the rest of us) because of the larger keyboard and the bigger screen.

In today's "too damn cool" department, we have an announcement from tDevice about a new case/keyboard for Palm Vx and Handspring PDAs called a "Q-Pad." "Designed into approximately a 3"x5"x0.9" dimension, the new Q-Pad for Handspring VisorEdge and Palm Vx packs the solid protection of an internally framed leather case, an integrated 60 key QWERTY keyboard with dedicated numeric keypad, and an ergonomic PDA viewing stand. The Q-Pad brings back the promise of PDA's 'virtually anytime, anywhere computing' by allowing the true mobility of a PDA, a keyboard and PDA protection in a single, easy-to-use package." [via infoSync]

And it supposedly costs less than $70. Shazam! I wouldn't want to use this for taking notes in meetings, but it's a hell of an advance for wireless typing. If they make this available for the Palm i705 soon, I think it may really take off. Of course, I'd rather they made one for my Clie first, but since I don't use it with wireless access yet, I guess I can wait. I am constantly amazed at the new approaches for input that we're seeing these days. This could be one option for a librarian working in the stacks.

riteMail Electronic Ink comes to a PDA near you "`riteMail shows off the power and flexibility of the Palm Operating System -- being able to send email in your own handwriting directly from a Palm handheld is simply too cool, not to mention genuinely useful,' said Chris Dunphy, Director of Competitive Analysis, PalmSource, Inc. Free beta versions of the riteMail client software for Palm OS, Pocket PC(TM) 2000 and desktops on any platform (utilizing Java technology) are available immediately for download at the riteMail site www.ritemail.net. The Pocket PC 2002 and Windows CE version of the software will be available by the end of February at the same site." [PDABuzz.com]

PalmSource 2002 Day 3 Summary "I concluded my final day at PalmSource 2002 yesterday and my overall take on the show was that it was a success. Traffic throughout the expo and developer sessions was brisk and while I can't say most were bubbling with enthusiasm, I can say that a fair amount of developers and product vendors feel the current changes being made are steps in the right direction." [PDABuzz.com]

Epson was demonstrated Bluetooth printing from Bluetooth enabled Palm devices.
Bachmann Software announced that their FilePoint and PrintBoy software was to be bundled with Handmark's Mobile Tools utility suite.
Electric Pocket introduced SmartInstall which allows for automated installation and configuration of applications without the need for a desktop sync.
and Palm and XcelleNet announced a partnership to deliver management solutions to enterprise customers deploying the Palm i705.

In case you haven't seen this elsewhere, The Handheld Librarian is hosting an Acrobat PDF about X-HTML and Basic Web Pages for PDAs. It was developed by E. Lynne Beades, Web Development Librarian, at the Health Sciences Library at the University
of North Carolina Chapel Hil. Thanks to both Lori and Lynne for posting this!

Report: Better PDA Sales Await. " 'Shipments in 2002 for PDAs will increase about 18 percent as new manufacturers enter the market and a wave of wireless functionality takes hold in a big way,' said Neil Strother, a senior wireless handset analyst with In-Stat/MDR. 'The future will be all about making the PDA a more ubiquitous device and more useful to both the mobile business user and the on-the-go consumer.' The market will peak in 2004 with an annual growth rate of 30 percent, the report predicts." [via allNetDevices]

Do you think they're counting Cybikos and the like as PDAs? One of the biggest questions I was asked this past holiday season was, "What type of PDA should I get my kid for Christmas?" ("kid" usually referred to a high school or college student), so I think that this figure is either conservative or the projected growth for combination PDA/cell phones is higher.

Office Depot dumping Visor inventory "VisorCentral is reporting that Office Depot is running some sort of "fire" sale on all Visor handhelds and Visor accessories. Some of the liquidation deals include the $99 Targus Total Voice Recorder for $25, the $99 Stowaway foldable keyboard for $49, the $39 Visor Backup Springboard module for $12, and $50 replacement Visor Prism cradles for $20. Office Depot has also removed all Visor products and accessories from their online store. This begs the question, does Office Depot know something no one else does? Could the Visor line of PDA's be heading to the grave much sooner than Handspring wants everyone to think? I still recall a representative of the company saying that Visor production will begin to ramp down in March, so I wouldn't be surprised if Visor's cease production all together by July 2002, much sooner than Handspring co-founder Jeff Hawkins would like everyone, especially developers to believe." [PDABuzz.com]

I never liked Handspring's products specifically because of their modular approach. To get everything I would have wanted, I'd have to spend $1000 and then still carry around with me all of the modules. I have enough trouble keeping track of my Clie and cell phone, thank you very much. So I'm not surprised that Handspring is scaling back in the face of competition from the new PocketPCs. If you own one, though, get thee to an Office Depot!

Caution urged on 802.11a adoption "...users can expect a more limited feature set than currently found in 802.11b products, listing such missing items as full security capabilities, network management, and roaming.... 'We think we will see a lot of companies roll out 'b' and augment it with 'a' where they need higher bandwidth. But 'g' will be the true successor to 'b' because of its backwards compatibility to both 'a' and 'b,' ' said Alex Thatcher, wireless solutions product manager at HP, based in Palo Alto, Calif.... The issue over handheld devices is even more problematic. Handhelds currently support a 16-bit bus for PC Card and Compact Flash II add-on cards. Wi-Fi 5, in its first iteration, uses a 32-bit bus technology and will not work with current handhelds." [in IDG InfoWorld]

Illustrates the state of acronym soup in today's wireless world. I remember how excited I was to get my first 28.8 modem, so I'm optimistic about a high-speed, wireless future sooner than later.

For those of you using the Movable Type blogging software, Meryl shows you how to make it available for PDA readers.

First Weblog entries via SMS "The post below was submitted via a NTT Docomo i-mode phone's email application (all the way from Japan). Maybe it's the first Radio weblog posting to come in via i-mode?? We used the P503i model phone, which has a version of J2ME built in. The first Java enabled phone in the world. This particular phone was available in Japan almost 1 year ago!" [via Alan A. Reiter: Wireless Blogging]

Al also points us towards JapanInYourPalm.com, a site that provides "western professionals and their families a new and comprehensive information source that simplifies and enhances the experience in Japan" via handhelds.

This month's PalmPower Magazine has a good article with detailed instructions for Making Expansion Cards Work for You. This will definitely help with my Clie since 63MB of the Memory Stick is just sitting there twiddling its thumbs watching the paint dry.

I couldn't get in to Schoolblogs for most of this week because it was down, so I'm catching up on all of the cool stuff I missed. One to watch is the Palm Pilots in the Classroom blog.

What I'll be doing in my next meeting: Text Twist on my Clie. I have very fond memories of playing Boggle and Scrabble with my mom. :-) [infoSync]

Fujitsu Siemens drops PPC 2002 bomb "Out of the blue, Fujitsu Siemens has given a sneak preview of a new PPC 2002 device - with built-in Bluetooth, a top-secret Intel processor and an upcoming GPRS add-on module." [infoSync]

Drooling....

USA Today provides primers on PDA Lingo and Wireless Lingo. Good handouts.

Tech firms fiddle with tiny keypads "To use the Senseboard, you slip a rubber pad over each palm. Sensors track muscle movements in your hand and allegedly can tell when you reach up for a Y, for instance, or across for quote marks. It's amazing that something like that can work at all. But it doesn't work well. Reviewers at Comdex reported that its accuracy rate was zero percent, give or take a little. For Samsung's Scurry, you put a sensor on each finger. A tiny gyroscope measures movements in the air and figures out which key you hit. Reviewers reported that this works better than the Senseboard, getting only about 19 of 20 letters wrong." [USA Today Tech]

Sorry, Pamela and Kate. Guess I'll stick with my Stowaway keyboard, at least for now.

Theory: you start doing crazy things when you buy a car that handles snow well. Proof, Exhibit A: Me. Tonight the whole family went out in the snowstorm to go grocery shopping. Yeah, I know what you're thinking and you're right. We're nuts. But here's the part I want to share with you.

The kids, ages seven and six, predictably got bored after five minutes, and what did they want to do? Guess. Go on, guess. Okay stop because you'll never guess. In the supermarket, they both wanted to play with my Sony Clie PDA (I actually have the 710, but they don't make it anymore). They both like to draw in Diddlebug, and we've used it as a way to do flashcards for letters and numbers in the past while waiting in the doctor's office. Tonight, Kailee instinctively figured out that she could practice her cursive writing in the program, and then she discovered the calculator that let her do math. After a while, I had to get it away from her so that Brent could play "the blocks game" on it (Tetris). Did I mention they're seven and six? And they've never once had to ask how to hold the stylus; they just know.

Lori is looking for contributors for The Handheld Librarian. My problem is that I don't have time to post to multiple places, so I'm afraid I haven't been very helpful in this respect. I'm categorizing my posts though, and one term I use is "PDAs," so how can I automatically send those posts to the HL blog? I know it can be done, but I'll have to take some time to figure it out. I'll have to learn it for SLS anyway, but if you've done this before or have suggestions, I'm an open book. Also, please contact Lori if you're interested in contributing!

BBC bans use of non-MS PDAs "...now an internal memo leaked to Silicon.com reveals that it has banned staff from using any non-Microsoft PDA with company machines. So BBC staffers using Palms and Psions (Psion, incidentally, is based not a molotov cocktail's throw from Beeb HQ) can deem themselves security threats, and have until summer of next year to switch or stop using them with the company kit."

This is especially depressing because Europeans have a broader range of choices for PDAs. I can't wait to see what the BBC says when someone issues the first report of problems with PocketPC 2002 security.