PocketPCHow2 Log

Saturday, November 10, 2001

NEWS.COM reports that MobileStar is now back on.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:08 PM | link

There are a couple of companies that will upgrade the internal memory in Pocket PCs.

• Times2 Tech provides 64 MB and 128 MB upgrades for Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs.


• PCE2000 provides the same service as Times2 Tech by providing 64 MB and 128 MB upgrades for Compaq iPAQ Pocket PCs.


• LinearLogiX Corp provides a 64 MB upgrade for the Compaq iPAQ.

Pentopia Chameleon for the Compaq iPAQ Review This is a tiny stylus that fits in the iPAQ silo, and includes a pen. I did not know that it was available. There is also a version available for the HP Jornada 540 series.
posted by Frank McPherson 6:28 PM | link

This is good news. PocketMac appears close to shipping. It seems just like yesterday that Terry posted the question on Brighthand about the market for Macintosh synchronization software. Which reminds me, Larry Bank is supposed to be working on a Pocket PC browser that would be an alternative to Internet Explorer. I wonder how he is doing?
posted by Frank McPherson 4:22 PM | link

PCWorld.com - What's Next for Handhelds? Pre-Comdex report, and a prediction of little handheld news, with everyone waiting for "the next big thing." The only nugget of Pocket PC interest is the first public showing of the NEC PocketGear.
posted by Frank McPherson 2:08 PM | link

Barron's Online - Knockout Blow? Here is some good analysis of the battle for the handheld space. I expect there will be more of this early next week after the analysts have time over the weekend to mull over the departure of Palm's CEO. The gist of the article is this, Palm and Handspring are hurting. Palm's "competitive officer" Michael Mace complains Microsoft has too much cash to compete against. He says, "Even if we beat them commercially, they don't go broke and go away." The article goes on to say that wireless network access is key to handhelds in the near term.

I think Mace's gripes here are fairly predictable. If you can't beat them, whine, and get sympathy from all the Microsoft bashers. As I have said before, I fully expect that if Palm disappears, there will be those will try to twist some type of antitrust claims into it, as if Palm themselves had absolutely no blame for their own problems. So let's lay down some facts here for the record:

• There is nothing wrong with a company having cash, and using that cash.


• Palm entered the market knowing full well that they may compete with Microsoft.


• Palm has enjoyed more than five years of dominance in this market. During that time they pretty much were the only player, and one could almost say they were a monopoly. If Microsoft never entered this market, who else would compete with Palm? Would that be good?


• The truth is that without competition, Palm was not motivated to improve their products. They made this decision after determining Microsoft to not be a threat. The decisions that they made is now coming back to haunt them. If Palm had the motivation to continually improving their products, there simply would have been no way for Microsoft to catch up to them.


• Palm decided to license their software to other companies. This was despite the experience of Apple where when they did the same thing Apple simply fractured their own market and lost money in the process. The lesson here, that frankly Palm should have known, is that software companies license software, not hardware companies.


• Palm's own management did not accurately predict demands during the last holiday season and consequently was responsible for lack of inventory and lost sales.

Friday, November 09, 2001

News: Comdex: Spotlight's back on tech "Chipmaker Intel and networking giant Cisco Systems, meanwhile, will be demonstrating wireless local area network products using yet another wireless protocol, 802.11a. An emerging standard, 802.11a is five times faster than the established 802.11b, which it is meant to complement." Hey Dale. Be sure to check this out for us, ok?
posted by Frank McPherson 5:33 PM | link

Before September 11 the big news in the tech industry was the merger of HP and Compaq. Since then Pocket PC users have speculated on which Pocket PC, the Jornada or iPAQ, would be the winner of this merger. Now it looks as though the merger may not happen, with most industry pundits saying it is dead since the deal is not supported by the Hewletts or the Packards.

Ironically, just last night I was asked for my opinion on the best bang for the buck Pocket Pocket PC. My recommendation is the iPAQ H3765 with its 64 MB of RAM, Pocket PC 2002, and $499 price tag. My second pick is the HP 568, with its 64 MB of RAM and built-in CF Slot. The price tag for the 568 is $649, but HP is offering a $50 rebate. Then you factor in the cover, the better battery life, and expansion capabilities that include a PC Card adapter and an extended battery with SD slot. The more I wrote about the 568 the more I began to realize that it may very well be the best Pocket PC 2002 device available. The only iPAQ that appeals to me right now is the H3870 and that is due to its built-in Bluetooth support, which I admit is more a geek factor than anything practical. The NEC PocketGear has potential with it's dual slots, but it's hampered by only 32 MB of RAM. I was fired up about Toshiba, but so far they aren't selling to consumers and they don't have the cover. I am looking forward to seeing whether my opinion still holds six months from now.
posted by Frank McPherson 11:30 AM | link

allNetDevices: - Casio Ships E-Pen Add-on "The company, known for its consumer devices including the Cassiopeia Pocket PC handhelds, Thursday started shipping a wireless digital pen. It enables users to write on plain paper, then capture the writing, in real time, on their Pocket PC or on subnotebook computers."
posted by Frank McPherson 10:23 AM | link

The Register: "So what next for Palm? With the PALM ticker scraping the bottom of the NASDAQ, and Palm-creator Jeff Hawkins' Handspring exhibiting much of the leadership that Palm itself has failed to provide, we wouldn't bet against a kind of reverse take-over, with Handspring mounting a buy-out of the old dame. That would provide a delicious Jobs-like symmetry to a company that has employed so many former Apple employees, and made so many of Apple's old mistakes."
posted by Frank McPherson 10:00 AM | link

Thursday, November 08, 2001

Palm CEO Yankowski Resigns "Palm Inc. on Thursday said chief executive Carl Yankowski resigned, following a tumultuous year in which the once high-flying handheld computer maker saw its market share chipped away by competitors and its stock price plummet."
posted by Frank McPherson 5:42 PM | link

PCWorld.com - Origami Folds Eight Gadgets Into One "Looking to revive interest in Internet appliances, National Semiconductor will show off a concept product at Comdex next week that combines eight digital gadgets into a single, portable appliance weighing less than a pound, the company says."
posted by Frank McPherson 12:26 PM | link

Wednesday, November 07, 2001

Note to Steve Sande, you need to update Blogback or add an e-mail link to your site so that one can send you feedback. Anyway, an easier way to make Blogger posts from your Pocket PC is to use http://wireless.blogger.com.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:59 PM | link

I stopped by the toy store this afternoon, and I continue to be amazed by the increasing amounts of Pocket PC stuff that you can now buy retail. Most of the Handango bundles were available, along with Zio Golf 2, which I decided to pick up. I also found Electric Fuel for the HP Jornada, and speaking of the Jornada, I could have also bought the HP Camera. The only Pocket PC 2002 device available was the HP 565. There were several iPAQ 3535s and 3670s for sale.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:53 PM | link

Glenn Fleishman reports that MobileStar is alive!
posted by Frank McPherson 10:46 PM | link

Compaq handheld bundles slide-show program - Tech News - CNET.com "Software company Presenter, which specializes in programs for running slide shows and other presentation formats, announced that Compaq will include its iPresentation Mobile Client with the iPaq H3800 series of handheld computers running on Microsoft's Pocket PC software."
posted by Frank McPherson 7:41 PM | link

Here is a run down on the Pocket PC events taking place at this year's fall Comdex.
posted by Frank McPherson 6:34 PM | link

Tuesday, November 06, 2001

Chris Pirillo deleted the Stowaway keyboard driver from his Pocket PC, only later to try using a keyboard sent to him and it didn't work. When he deleted the driver he thought surely it would be on the CD. It wasn't. Chris got the files he needs to make the keyboard work, and reports that ThinkOutside wasn't expecting anyone to delete the driver. Apparently they have since done an update to deal with this issue.
posted by Frank McPherson 4:10 PM | link

Monday, November 05, 2001

Compaq iPAQ 3835/3850 Pocket PC Review Classic Gadgetgeer review, very well written and informative.
posted by Frank McPherson 7:55 PM | link

Geek.com Geek News - Steve Jobs on PDAs - "How useful are they?" Jobs disses PDAs and Geek.com readers react. Jobs has been pretty consistent on this issue ever since he killed Newton. I think he simply doesn't want to spend the money to do it right, and he knows that Palm does not have the Apple elegance.
posted by Frank McPherson 7:53 PM | link

I have another reason to go to CompUSA. A person just posted in the newsgroup that they now have Electric Fuel for the HP Jornadas.
posted by Frank McPherson 7:06 PM | link