News: New Microsoft gadget set for debut "Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will show off the device, known as Mira, during his eHome presentation Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The device is effectively a cross between a Pocket PC-based handheld computer and a TV remote control." It will be larger than Pocket PCs.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:22 AM |
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infoSync : Tactics in space InfoSync reports that this latest game from ZioSoft supports multiple players via infrared or 802.11b.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:10 AM |
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Pocket PC Passion has a bit of a CES preview running on their home page today. First, there is a review of the SiPix Pocket Printer A6, which Dale says has good print quality, though the software is not complete for Pocket PC 2002. Next he reports that the Compaq Bluetooth Wireless Pack with CF Card Slot is shipping from Compaq and available from Datanywhere. Dale has ordered one, so if you are at CES be sure to stop buy the Microsoft booth and check it out. Dale also has photos of the Prect Compact Trio adapter, which is a CompactFlash adapter for Multimedia, Secure Digital cards and Sony Memory Sticks. Finally, Dale has a working version of the Toshiba Secure Digital bluetooth card.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:04 AM |
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CES and Macworld are not the only big trade shows in January. January also inclides the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. This year you can follow event coverage on your Pocket PC by subscribing to a special AvantGo channel. A new service are videos that you can download and play on Pocket PCs. There are currently two fairly length videos on the site: a preview for this year's show and highlights from last year's show. If you are an automobile enthusiast, the NAIAS is the event of the year.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:00 AM |
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Wireless News -- Verizon Wireless To Offer Pocket PC/Phone Combo "Launched in 10 states a few weeks ago, the $600 package comes complete with an Audiovox Maestro Pocket PC (pre-loaded with Windows Pocket PC and a raft of utilities) and CDM-9100 wireless phone utilizing Verizon Wireless' code-division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum wireless platform." I think $600 is way too high! They are basically selling the Maestro at the retail prices rather than providing a discount.
posted by Frank McPherson 7:07 PM |
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O'Reilly Network: Using Xircom Wireless on a College Campus [Jan. 02, 2002] Would this guy be better served by a Pocket PC and a wireless LAN card? I think he would. First, he is using the Xircom WLAN Springboard that costs $229, where you can buy WLAN PC Cards or CompactFlash cards for $100 or more less. Not to mention that the Springboard only works in Visors, whereas he could use the PC Card or CompactFlash card in his laptop as well. Further he talks about administrating NT Servers, which can easily be done using the built-in Terminal Services Client that comes with Pocket PCs, and he doesn't even mention anything about network utilities such as the fine ones available for Pocket PCs from Cambridge Computer Corporation.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:06 PM |
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SD vs. MMC: Which card is for you? - Product Reviews - CNETAsia This is a good overview about the differences between SD and MMC. Dale Coffing did some testing and found MMC cards to be faster in Pocket PCs than SD. Since SD is supposed to be faster, I wonder if there is something in the Pocket PC causing the difference.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:27 AM |
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Rumors of a new Apple PDA have been appearing ever since Jobs killed Newton. If this is real I wonder whether Apple learned any lessons from Newton. A big lesson that they should have learned is that a PDA needs to be able to sync with Apple and Windows computers. If this thing only syncs with Macs like the iPod, then it will be limited to a niche market.
As you may know, the original Palm Pilot was pretty much an answer to Apple's Newton. Palm addressed many of the failings of Newton such as size, handwriting recognition, and synchronization. Functional Windows synchronization was a major selling point for Palm because Newton could not sync with Windows and Apple never seemed committed to make it sync with Windows.
BTW, I think iWalk is a pretty cool name for a PDA.
Update: I got my registration that lets me see the pictures and videos, and I have to admit that the pictures show a very cool device. If this exists, and the price is right, and it includes Apples handwriting recognition, and it syncs with Windows, this could be one cool device. It might even be a threat to Palm and Pocket PCs.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:21 AM |
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SecurityFocus home infocus: Palm OS: A Platform for Malicious Code? Part One SecurityFocus has a two-part article about whether the Palm OS is a viable platform for malicious code like viruses and trojans. The second article concludes: "To answer the initial question of this series, it can be concluded that Palm OS is a suitable platform for malicious code. Furthermore, it can be expected that there appears in the near future malware for this platform, which utilizes more advanced techniques than described in this article. "
posted by Frank McPherson 9:50 AM |
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Go go gadgets--Gates to kick off CES "Start-up Dataplay plans to announce partnerships with hardware makers and will demonstrate portable digital-audio players that use its discs, which are roughly the size of a quarter and have a 500GB capacity. According to the company, drives that can read the discs have been distributed to manufacturers, and portable players will be available this year costing between $199 and $299."
Next week may be interesting with Macworld and CES. Apple normally is pretty tight-lipped about Macworld announcements, but this year they have been pushing up the hype. Steve Job's Macworld keynote was moved up a day so that he could be at CES, so it looks like there will be more consumer electronics announcements, ala iPod, from Apple next week.
posted by Frank McPherson 9:04 AM |
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I thought ActiveSync locked up Outlook while it was doing a backup of my Pocket PC. I was wrong. I couldn't do anything in Outlook because McAfee was displaying a virus warning and the Windows was hidden.
The backup finished and reported that a number of databases couldn't be backed up due to the files being locked. The thing is, I did a soft reset prior to running the backup, so the files shouldn't be locked. I wonder what is going on.
posted by Frank McPherson 2:53 PM |
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The Gadgeteer has a very good Casio E-200 Pocket PC Review. One of my gripes with the E200 are the buttons which look like they are painted.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:56 PM |
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