Well this is interesting. PDABuzz.com is reporting that Agenda will be shipping the VR3 starting April 23. I was told just this past week at Comdex that it won't ship until this summer. That really makes my comments regarding the performance of this PDA all the more interesting.
posted by Frank McPherson 11:45 AM |
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We're back up!
posted by Frank McPherson 8:30 PM |
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It's a wrap! This will be my last visit, and post, fropm the Media/Analyst facility at Spring Comdex. As you walk about the show floor it is very evident that this is the last day of the show, though the thinner crowds make for a more leisurely stroll. The two pieces of Pocket PC related information today will interest those who support information technology for corporations. First is Inciscent, which makes a network management program called Inciscent Command and Control. If you go to their web site you will not see Pocket PCs mentioned, though the demo that I saw on the show floor was on a Compaq iPAQ and a 3COM Wireless Ethernet card. On the Pocket PC it runs as a web application in Pocket Internet Explorer that communicates with a server they call Element Manager. The server communications with routers and switches on your network via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and provides the information back down to the device in a format you can read. This setup also works with WAP phones, Blackberry and other two-way pagers, and Palm OS devices. A neat feature is bookmarking of common commands so if you frequently find yourself doing the same traceroute you can enter it once, bookmark it, and then in the future re-issue the command with a tap of a link. I am sure I am just giving a very high level overview of what you can do with this product, and I am told withit you can send any SNMP command.
Inciscent is also developing a wireless email product called SkyBox. It sounds like a variation of the web-based mail theme, but for mobile devices. They are targetting the product at enterprises, but will also provide a subscription service to consumers. Pricing and availability is unknown at this time.
If you are lucky enough to work in a corporation that officially supports handheld computers, and unlucky enough to be the one who has to actually provide that support, you might consider Orbiter from Callisto Software Inc. Right now they only support Palm OS devices, but a Pocket PC version is under development. The software provides asset management and software distribution via synchronization. With Palm OS devices it works with HotSync, Pumatech Intellisync, Aether Software's ScoutSync, and Extended Systems XTND Connect Server. No doubt the Pocket PC version will work with ActiveSync, as well as the previously mentioned sync products that support Pocket PC.
posted by Frank McPherson 4:00 PM |
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I'm suffering through an outage today. Both of my domains our down, and for a while this morning I couldn't get to my email. When you are traveling email is not something that you want down. As I write this my web sites are still not online, though I did receive word from my hosting service that they suffered some soft of hardware failure. When this post gets published I'll be back up.
posted by Frank McPherson 3:35 PM |
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Not much Pocket PC news to report from Comdex today. I spent most of the day attending conferences on various wireless technologies. The day was supposed to be wrapped up with the "Science Fiction Pioneers" conference featuring writers Eric Flint and Geoffrey Landis. Neither sci fi writers showed up so the conference was cancelled. All those who showed up were given a hat as a parting gift.
One Pocket PC related item that I failed to mention yesterday is that there are a couple of Korean companies here showing handheld devices running the Handheld PC 2000 software. The devices look for elegant, very Sony-ish. They have beautify color displays, oriented in landscape. And I found them to be incredibly lite. Problem is, will these ever see the light of day in the United States? If the Palmax/UR There fiasco is any indication, the answer is no.
National Semiconductor is also here with a big booth showing off tablet-shapped information appliances. The Honeywell WebPAD looks cool, and runs the Handheld PC 2000 software. Problem is that their $1000+ price tag is too high, even if that includes Proxim's Symphony HomeRF products.
posted by Frank McPherson 6:31 PM |
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Are you concerned about the security of your data that is stored on your Pocket PC? Many of you are, and I guarantee that corporations are very concerned about the security of their data on handheld devices. Biocentric Solutions has a couple of products that secure data on Pocket PCs. The BioHub is a Type 1 CompactFlash fingerprint reader that works with all Pocket PCs (except the Casio EM-500), as well as Handheld PCs. The software applies biometrics to recognize your fingerprint, which is your password. Not only does this product provide an alternative to the built-in password function on Pocket PCs, but it can also be used to encrypt files on the device or storage cards.
Compaq iPAQ owners may be particularly interested in the product that Biocentric announced today --- the Biocentric Sentry. It is a CompactFlash sleeve with the fingerprint scanner built into the back. I can see Compaq selling tons of their iPAQs bundled with the Biocentric Sentry to corporations. I will be working with Biocentric Solutions to get an evaluation unit, so I hope to have a more thorough review written in the next couple of months.
Both the BioHub and the Sentry are available right now directly from Biocentric Solitions, and they have plans to distribute their product through retail outlets this summer.
posted by Frank McPherson 6:09 PM |
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The CTIA and CeBIT conferences sucked up all the handheld news, though there are two items that may be of interest to you. One is the "official" launch of Agenda Computing's VR3 line of Linux-based PDAs. Launch may be a bit strong. Actual product won't ship until this summer. I got a chance to play with a unit, and I think Pocket PC users should be happy. By comparison a Pocket PC is blazing fast -- heck, it makes the older Palm-size PCs look fast. The gentleman that I was talking to told me that performance enhancements are in the works. That may be the case, but I wonder, if the product is supposed to ship this summer, in three months, and it normally takes three months to manufacture enough product to get it in the pipeline, wouldn't that mean that the software would have finished and sent to manufacturing one or two months ago?
In my opinion handheld devices are all about input. For me there is one major reason why I will not use a Palm OS device, I do not like Graffiti. I believe the user of a device should not have to learn how to input data to use that device. Would the personal computer have succeeded if it required a different form of entry than the touch-typing you learned in high school? Likewise, I don't think a handheld device user should have to input data in ways that are not natural to them.
Well, the VR3 uses Graffiti. They have made an improvement over Palm in that the writing area is the entire screen, so you are not stuck using the hard writing area at the bottom of the device, but I actually think this makes things worse. Not only do you have to remember how to write with Graffiti, you have to remember where to write. Upper case letters in the upper left-hand corder, lower case in the upper right-hand corner, etc. I may be nitpicking here, but it would seem to me that if they are going let me write on the screen I should be able to write everywhere on the screen.
The digitizer also needs to be improved. Many iPAQ users, including myself, experience problems with spiking in the digitizer, which causes incorrect translation. When I tried writing on the VR3 character strokes would simply not be recognized, and it would phase in and out. I would enter a letter, and it appeared, then enter another and it wouldn't. Not good. Hopefully this will also be fixed in the shipping product.
It's Linux-based and that gives it a lot of buzz, so you will see it on Tech TV and CNN. From what I have seen, I think the VR3 could be a nice entry-level PDA, but I don't see it making a dent in Palm, Handspring or Pocket PC sales.
posted by Frank McPherson 5:52 PM |
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Change is one sure thing in the IT industry, and no where is it more evident than here at Comdex. Two years ago when I was here Microsoft was dominating both in exhibit space and presence. Today they are no where to be found, as are most other big name PC vendors. Two years ago EDS was here with a RV. Today they are strategically located at the main entrance, and I think they have the largest presence of any large company. EDS also has the largest give away, starting with t-shirts and escalating up to a party at the House of Blues with Dennis Miller, and a Corvette give away. It is no wonder then that the EDS booth has a lot of traffic.
Another change is how Windows CE is viewed. Two years ago Windows CE was hardly mentioned as a mobile solution. Today, while nowhere near as popular as Palm, the Pocket PC does get mentioned in references to mobile solutions. That also corresponds to what people are carrying here. It's not like they are everywhere, but I am also not the only person using a Compaq iPAQ.
posted by Frank McPherson 5:20 PM |
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Today is the first official day of Comdex. Yesterday I attended an IT & Public Policy forum, and I wrote my comments about the forum in my other web log.
posted by Frank McPherson 5:10 PM |
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I just checked Voicestream's web site and it says that they are still not available in Chicago. I am making a big assumption that if I am getting a connect here in Portage that I will also have a connection in Chicago. They probably have the network up and running but haven't announced it. One way to know for sure is whether there are any Voicestream stores in the area.
posted by Frank McPherson 8:34 PM |
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During the week I will be staying with a friend who lives in Portage Indiana. It is about 30 minutes from Chicago. When I got here I made to discoveries. First, Voicestream is available. I was here just a month ago and at that time I could only connect to Voicstream inside the McCormack Place, but no where else in Chicago. They have been claiming that service would be available in Chicago reall soon for the entire year that I have been using them. It now appears to be available,.
The other discover is that I can connect to the Internet using the Novatel Ministrel modem in Portage. Verizon is the CDPD provider here, and the signal strength is half, but I can get my email. Web browsing is slow, and I've been downloading newsgroup postings for the last 15 minutes. I'm curious to see how good it is in Chicago.
posted by Frank McPherson 8:26 PM |
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During the week of April 2 I am at Spring Comdex. I'll be making reports here as I have time, which might be more frequent that you expect. I've got wireless Blogger working with my Jornada & Omnisky connection.
posted by Frank McPherson 8:19 PM |
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Just joking April Fools fever was running rampant today. Jason got me good since I first read of his 505 conversion via AvantGo in a rest area between Detroit and Chicago. It made me eager to get to my destination to confirm whether this was true, or whether the wool was pulled over my eyes.
Of course, Jason wasn't the only one to do this since Foxpop and Smaller.com all got in on the act.
I was so caught up with my trip that the fact that it was April Fools day flew right over my head.
posted by Frank McPherson 8:15 PM |
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