Pocket PC Thoughts links to OBD Scan Tool Software for Windows CE that enables Pocket PCs to be used to diagnose problems with cars. It would seem to me that the this would be one step better if vehicles had Bluetooth interfaces so that you could simply walk up to the car and figure up this program to do the diagnosis.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:47 PM |
link
The Seattle Times: Practical Mac: Palm doesn't play well with Mac or Windows I've often heard from Palm supporters about how well Palm syncs with Macs. Well, Glenn Fleishman has a different take that shows that Palm sync with Mac (and he says Windows too) isn't perfect.
The bottom line I think is that synchronization is not an easy thing to make happen when you factor in the intricacies of desktop software and the serial or USB connections. Many articles about Pocket PCs cite the problems that exist in syncing with desktops, suggesting that Palm does a better job. The truth may be that it does just as a good job, but not better.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:28 PM |
link
The Register reports a security vulnerability in Pocket PC Phone Edition that enables one to bypass the phone's PIN. However, one should read this article very closely. What it is saying is that once you enter a PIN that provides access to every phone session (GPRS or GSM) from that point forward. In other words, it doesn't require you to enter a PIN for each and every session that uses the PIN, just the first one. That sounds like a design decision intended to not require the user to enter redundant information. Why wouldn't one assume that if the PIN is entered properly the first time it wouldn't be entered properly from that point forward? There is no additional protection provided by making one enter the PIN multiple times.
This article is a classic for The Register.
posted by Frank McPherson 11:43 AM |
link
Hiawatha Bray has written a good article on the state of the handheld market. Here are a couple of good quotes.On the Handspring Treo, "The company has sold 47,000 units, an impressive sum. But that only includes sales to retail stores and distributors. How many have made their way to living, breathing customers? Just 13,000. Not good. Especially not for a product on which Handspring is betting the entire company."
"Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard Co., having completed its merger with Compaq Computer Corp., will kill off its Jornada line to concentrate on Compaq's hot-selling iPaq handheld. This unit, based on software from Microsoft Corp., is the only major success story of the industry at present. The iPaq has surpassed Handspring as number two in the handheld market, mainly by winning sales from Compaq's major corporate customers."
posted by Frank McPherson 4:25 PM |
link
Yahoo! News - Embedded Linux crying out for standards "But that open market -- which supplies vendors with choices for user interface and other components -- can be a problem, since it's impossible to be sure whether a particular piece of software will work on all embedded versions of Linux."
posted by Frank McPherson 3:38 PM |
link
This is Omnisky, which I have been using for more than a year for Pocket PCs. Earthlink must have sent out a press release yesterday. Its not new!
posted by Frank McPherson 3:19 PM |
link
Pocket PC Thoughts reports that HP is selling a 32 MB version of the iPAQ 3850 as the 3830 for $499. I think $499 is too expensive for a 32 MB device. Toshiba is paving the way with their e310 at $399 and that is where HP needs to go. (I had to edit this post to change the references from Compaq to HP.)
posted by Frank McPherson 6:09 PM |
link
Pocket PC Thoughts reports that Nextel is launching a new wireless modem and wireless Internet service, which they call Packetstream Gold. The service will cost $54.99 for all you can east Internet access anywhere in the country, and no roaming charges. They claim the speeds will be up to 56 kbps, though I do not know what technology they are using. The service can be ordered now. The best news about this announcement is that they are coming out with a flat rate plan that is in the ball park. It might still be a bit too high, but it is not far from the $39 I am paying for iPAQnet today, and iPAQnet tops off at 19.2.
The modem is made by Motorola and is a PC Card. They claim it will work with a Palm OS device, but I do not know of a PC Card adapter for Palm OS devices.
I hope this does well so that Voicestream and AT&T get a clue.
posted by Frank McPherson 11:47 AM |
link
Mercury News | 05/15/2002 | Watch-handheld hybrid needs more time to perfect They Merc give's Fossil's product a thumbs down.
posted by Frank McPherson 9:46 AM |
link
David Pogue's New York Time's column on Bluetooth is a good read. It's also worth reviewing his list of Bluetooth-capable products.
posted by Frank McPherson 8:53 PM |
link
Pocket PC Thoughts is running a survey asking people whether they have lost data because of something going wrong with ActiveSync. If you have ever experienced data loss thanks to ActiveSync now is the chance to have your voice heard.
posted by Frank McPherson 5:24 PM |
link
Cingular has also launched their wireless Internet service called Data Connect, which will support Palm and Pocket PC devices. Apparently this service will allow one to use a Cingular phone as a modem for Internet access, which not anything new. (Though Cingular says it will also work with their TDMA network, which is a bit of magic I think. My guess is that the data is really riding across CDPD in that case since TDMA doesn't support data.) What the press release does not say is how much the service will cost. Does it use your existing minutes, or require more minutes? If you are already a Cingular customer this may be worth watching.
posted by Frank McPherson 4:14 PM |
link
Cingular Wireless This press release has prices for Cingular's GoodLink service. Starts at $34.99 per month, and the device starts at $249 per month. I wonder how good it will be to retrieve Word attachments via Cingular's Mobitext network?
posted by Frank McPherson 4:08 PM |
link
Good Technology tries to go one better on BlackBerry - Computerworld "Good, which boasts 20 enterprise wireless e-mail accounts, announced today that it will expand its offering with its own wireless data device, the G100, and an enterprise data access server, called GoodInfo, this summer. Good will also support devices by Palm Inc. and the Microsoft Pocket PC platform, said CEO Daniel Shader in an interview."
posted by Frank McPherson 3:59 PM |
link
USATODAY.com - So far, so good for tech start-up "Over the past 18 months, the core group that's building Good Technology has written 300,000 lines of software code, eaten 3,985 bagels, produced 10 babies and kept the biggest secret in Silicon Valley." As I read this article I can help but see the irony in a company other than Microsoft bringing full wireless synchronization with Outlook/Exchange to market before Microsoft. I think it shows that Microsoft may be too large to move fast enough.
posted by Frank McPherson 3:50 PM |
link
MobileDB for the PocketPC For $29 you can buy a Pocket PC application that converts to a MS Access or Excel database or file to a Pocket PC format. The web site doesn't state whether they support record-level data synchronization, or file level synchronization. While it's kinda cool that a Palm OS developer is coming out with a Pocket PC version of the application, I don't see how they don't provide something that isn't already either available with Pocket PC's by default, or available at a cheaper price.
posted by Frank McPherson 1:44 PM |
link
PDA Buzz / Reviews / Vindigo 2.0 for PalmOS and Pocket PC One of the cities that Vindigo has added is Detroit, so I checked it out last night. Unfortunately, it does not cover the entire Detroit metro area. The maps only cover Detroit, Dearborn, and Grosse Point. Movies and music do include sites in the metropolitan areas that are not available on the maps. Consequently, I still don't think Vindigo has enough value for me to make it worth the $25 per year.
posted by Frank McPherson 1:30 PM |
link
I am testing some changes with Blogger that hopefully leads to built-in RSS support for this site. Pardon me while I try some things out here.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:53 PM |
link
Blogger is testing some changes that might finally resolve my problems with this site's archives.
posted by Frank McPherson 12:44 PM |
link
Mail delivered to Handspring's Treo Is it just me, or doesn't everyone expect e-mail to be included in their Internet service? This can't be the only way one can access email using a Treo.
posted by Frank McPherson 2:11 PM |
link
Very cool. I just installed Word Commands on my iPAQ and it works as advertised with the Compaq folding keyboard. Too bad that the program is specific to Pocket Word so that I can't use it with Pocket Blog.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:17 AM |
link
WordCommands for Pocket PCs Thank's to Jeff Kirvin's article I have discovered WordCommands, which adds control key functions to Pocket Word making it easier to create documents using external keyboards.
posted by Frank McPherson 10:00 AM |
link
R.I.P. Jornada I can't help but wonder where all this wailing and mashing of teeth was when HP and Compaq first announced this merger last September? What did everyone expect, that they would keep both the Jornada and iPAQ lines of Pocket PCs? There is little to be done now, so why wasn't there much press about this before the merger was voted on?
posted by Frank McPherson 9:58 AM |
link
