02:42 PM by Alexander Turcic in Archive | Sunrise

Laurens decided to abandon the standalone Sunrise Viewer for Palm OS platforms. Here he explains why (taken from his blog):

The main reason is that I seriously doubt whether PalmOS will survive in the long term. At any rate, the news of late has not been favourable: PalmOS's dwindling market share, Sony exiting the US and European markets, PalmOne investigating the use of Linux and WinCE in their products, no OS6 devices on the horizon. Hopefully my assessment will turn out to be wrong, but I simply cannot afford to spend time, energy and money into marketing, supporting and maintaining a product for a platform with such an uncertain future.

I'm pouring all my energy into the Windows CE version of the viewer. I expect to release the public beta in February. I'm also investigating the feasibility of creating versions for SymbianOS and RIM Blackberry. These are attractive platforms from a marketing standpoint as they are both seeing significant growth.

Note that his decision does not affect the Sunrise desktop convertor, at least for now. Sunrise 0.4 is still due for release next month.

02:25 PM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Free PPC-based Plucker document viewer Vade Mecum V0.6 alpha has been released. New in this version: support for composite images; 16 bit images no longer turns up black; images that are too wide to fit in the reader are resized; all images, except those used as links, are clickable and opened in a new image viewer, which allows you to scroll and zoom the image; a few minor changes to the search dialog and small bug fixes.

10:02 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Utimaco Safeware has launched SafeGuard PDA 3.0, allowing every Pocket PC user to encrypt (with AES encryption) not only specific files and directories, but also the internal Personal Information Management (PIM) databases, in the same transparent manner.

As a result, your e-mails, SMS, tasks, dates and contact data can no longer be displayed without the correct authorization. Even after a hard reset the PDA's security settings remain active giving only authorized users access to the data.

There are two variants, intended for private customers and companies. The enterprise edition also allows companies to block Bluetooth, WLAN, infrared interfaces and telephones on staff PDAs, control ActiveSync connections and use Active Directory to distribute security guidelines.

You can download this pdf for more information.

09:27 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Portable Audio/Video

"[A] newly obtained document provides incontrovertible evidence that the company has been experimenting with wireless iPods for nearly two years," reads an interesting headline at AppleInsider today.

Somehow the Apple news site was able to get hold of a patent application. It begins with:

"One aspect of the media player system pertains to a docking station that allows a media player to communicate with other media devices. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a wireless media player system that includes a hand held media player capable of transmitting information over a wireless connection and one or more media devices capable of receiving information over the wireless connection. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of wirelessly connecting the hand held media player to another device. The method includes selecting a media item on the hand held media player; selecting one or more remote recipients on the hand held media player; and transmitting the media item locally to the hand held media player, and wirelessly to the selected remote recipients."

I only wonder what is taking Apple so long to implement WiFi. Two years is an insanely long time.

09:21 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Independent was able to chat with palmOne chief Ed Colligan, uncovering some more interesting information on what we might expect from palmOne in future.

Read closely the three following quotes from the article (I marked the important parts in bold):

These changes [enhancements of the Treo 650], Mr Colligan believes, will help PalmOne to compete with manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Nokia, as well as persuading existing Palm users to switch to a smart phone.

"The PDA market has been flat to declining," he says. "But I look at the mobile computing and communications business and see that growing rapidly. We are cannibalising ourselves. If PDA sales are shrinking, it is because we have a smart phone business."

The low-end market [of PDAs] is one where Mr Colligan believes he can make money - and where the competition struggle.

Mark my words: There won't be any high-end PDA from palmOne anymore. Not today. And not in a year. Colligan CLEARLY says so himself. He says he wants his (btw shrinking) customer base turn towards smartphones. He says there cannot be place for both, PDAs and smartphones, and without doubt he is in favor of smartphones. And lastly, to avoid spreading rumors that palmOne is completely abandoning the PDA market he mentions that the low-end sector is still of his interest.

So only a shift in strategy?

I suspect there is more what Colligan is not telling us. Notice that palmOne has had some serious distribution problems. In Europe, you'll hardly find anyone on the streets with a Treo in his hand. Colligan says there was a problem of over-supply; but he fails to explain why his only European partner is UK Orange so far, and what he could do to win other important alliances with European phone network companies. This just doesn't sound right. And if palmOne is really focusing on, I quote, "mobile computing and communications", why then did they decide to release a Tungsten T5 without WiFi?

07:11 AM by Alexander Turcic in Miscellaneous | Week in Review

In case you've missed any MobileRead news from this week, here is our usual roundup:

Avantgo
Avantgo is still doing well
Avantgo server trouble?

Book Links
'Diesel eBooks' bookstore opens - 20% discount
eBookwise launched

Book Reader Hardware
Sony Librie MakeLFR - now with Graphic support

Emerging Technologies
Paris Hilton actually using her Sidekick II toy
Roaming Wifi
With UniFi-1, WiFi in PDAs soon standard?

Game Reviews
Astraware Mazera 1.0

General Chat
Do pretty girls ride the subway?
eBayFeed 1.12 - eBay non-US fixed
eBook Culture: Ready to read e-books
Essay: The Future of E-Books
Firefox 1.0 released today!
Gmail officially POP3 enabled!
Recycle your PDA at Staples
Skin It!
Tablet PCs from ancient days...

General Palm Discussion
"A Very Bad Quarter for the Palm OS"
20% discount on game 'Jack or 100 Ways to Barbecue'
Agendus Pro 9.0 Beta for Palm OS available
Earthcomber
palmOne Tungsten T5 spotted for $319
palmOne Tungsten T5 spotted for $349
US CLIE Developer Support approaches an end
Which is better: Microdrive or flash memory?

General PPC Discussion
10% discount on Dell Axim handhelds
19% discount on Dell Axim X50v
Free Today Weather Plugin
HP iPAQ hx4700 JAVOSkin Case
Ramblings: SPB Full Screen Keyboard for PPC
TextMaker and PlanMaker on sale, Nov. 11th only! $11.11
Unofficial video driver gives boost to Axim X50v
Watch DVDs on your PocketPC

New Links
Exclusive: CBS 2 Mobile
Exclusive: CNET News, infoSync, TechRepublic for AvantGo & Co
Exclusive: MSNBC for Avantgo & Co
Exclusive: Slate & Inquirer for AvantGo & Co
Exclusive: Washington Times for Avantgo & Co

01:47 PM by sUnShInE in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

The Wireless Broadband Alliance announced an agreement yesterday to enable wifi roaming among 6 international wireless carriers including BT Group, Maxis, NTT Communications, StarHub, Telstra, and T-Mobile USA. This will allow consumers to use their wifi account subscription at home and abroad, in 11,500 locations in countries including Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

And if you're a T-Mobile HotSpot US user, you will be able to roam internationally for no additional charge for the remainder of the year. A price for international roaming will be determined next year.

12:54 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

As any PDA or smart phone user is aware, these devices are wonderful for access to all kinds of content wherever you may happen to want it. Multimedia, eBooks, PIM information, MS Office documents, .pdf documents, etc. Whatever you consider important, you can have with you.

As these devices are growing in capability, they are rivaling laptops in some ways. (Larry Becker's book Lose The Laptop does a fine job of describing how in some cases you can convert over to a PDA and not needlessly carry around that big ole computer any more.) But you do have a smaller screen. And there's the biggest gotcha of all... no full-sized keyboard.

I haven't really seen many people zero in on the keyboard as the limiting factor on a PDA, so right here and now, consider it done at MobileRead.com. Screens are getting pretty impressive, with VGA and even fairly generous sizes. It wasn't long ago that VGA was a standard maximum resolution on a desktop computer screen. Sure it's small, but in my mind it's acceptable for most everything you need to do on the road once software support for VGA increases. (Granted, us older folk might have to strain our eyes a bit!)

But the keyboard is always going to be somewhat of a limiting factor. You hear stories about all kinds of alternative input gadgets. Like a one-handed FrogPad keyboard, or on-screen keyboard replacements like Fitaly.

My Toshiba e405 even has a built-in voice command system, which gives functionality rumored to even be coming with the next versions of Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS (Voice Control Still Coming).

Lasers are even producing keyboards projected on desktops, so you can lay down your PDA on a surface, and it reads your keystrokes magically by sensing finger motion. Very futuristic and exciting, but not quite like my desktop keyboard at home.

If you're working on a document, or trying to enter text, there's nothing as comfortable as a standard, good-ole two-handed QUERTY keyboard. Sure, there are even alternative layouts like a DVORAK, but who wants to learn how to type on keyboards that no one else uses? It was hard enough for me to learn to type with a standard keyboard! Besides, one of the great things about typing is that I can think the words and they just sort of unconsciously appear on the keyboard and screen. Once I have to think about what I'm doing, I can't really concentrate on what I'm actually trying to say.

Some great keyboards are available for those who are lucky enough to have a place to carry along not just a PDA or smart phone in their pocket, but a folding keyboard as well in a backpack or purse or pocket. Some keyboards use a physical connector, but more popular these days are the infrared or bluetooth connections. I've had a folding keyboard with just about all my PalmOS devices, and they're actually very nice. In fact, much nicer than you would expect. Every time I take a trip, or go somewhere knowing I'll want to do some typing, I make sure to carry along a folding keyboard plus a power cord for my pda. Instant mini office! (If you're really into a portable office, be sure to check out this nice article.)

Unfortunately, I don't always know ahead of time when I'm going to want to use my folding keyboard, and I look bad enough with one bulky PDA in my pants pocket. I'd really look foolish with a bulge in each front pocket in addition to keys and miscellaneous other items. Besides, I'm not expecting to keep my Toshiba PPC very long anyway, so I'm not going to spend the bucks on another folding keyboard just yet. (It's a temporary replacement for my old Clie SJ33 until I find another superstar PDA to move to in the near future.)

So, when I saw the SPB Full Screen Keyboard, my heart lept just a little bit, and I had visions of never needing to carry a folding PDA keyboard again. Real typing right on the screen, and all you have to give up is a few bucks and a lot of screen space while you type. I've used the software a little bit now, and I've got some good news, bad news, and a tip.

The good news is that SPB Full Screen Keyboard is a slick program. It does what it portrays, in that you get a full screen usable keyboard. Kind of like Fitaly, but it uses the whole screen in landscape format to show you a keyboard and a one line display so you can see what you're typing. It's probably not what you want to use if you are entering just a word at a time, but it is an interesting alternative if you are entering larger amounts of text.

After trying to type with two hands (but only two fingers), I got some perspective on how much you can expect to get out of it. Two fingered typing is actually not so bad. Even on the screen. Of course, I have fairly small hands and fingers, so that helps a lot. Most PDAs now probably also have a slightly larger screen than my tiny 3.5" Toshiba does. But I do still have to really concentrate on what I'm doing, so it's not really natural. You don't have that sense of whether or not you hit the right key like you do on a read keyboard, and you do have to focus to make sure you're not missing too many keys.

The bad news, unfortunately, is multiplied. First of all , there is absolutely, positively no way that the full screen keyboard will be a substitute for general touch typing. If you are writing a novel, you are not going to be happy on this thing at all.

Secondly, it's going to be a matter of preference whether you enjoy using this keyboard for "typical" PDA input. I can see where it could be something that some people really enjoy using. But for others, like me, Fitaly seems to be a better option. Only problem with Fitaly for me is that I have to look at the mini keyboard when I type so it doesn't let me watch what I'm typing while I type it. All my attention is on the input method, and it's hard to keep focused on what I'm really trying to think about. But all in all, I like Fitaly best of all the options I've tried so far, including the built-in MS PPC input options.

And, finally, the biggest gotcha is also a tip.
[shadow=#006699]Try out the software before you buy!!!!!![/shadow]
But you have to know what to look for.

When I tried out the demo, it looked to me like it was worth a place on my PPC as an alternate input method. I still would like to do that. Unfortunately, it's not an option right now for me.

Here's what happened. I installed the demo, and got a standalone program on my PPC. That's what I did my experimentation with. It didn't install on my input method dropdown list (where things like Fitaly show up). I had some fun and decided to order it, figuring it would show up on the dropdown list after I registered it. Bad assumption!

It did NOT show up on the input list after registration. So be sure you check the demo on your PDA to make sure it works as advertised before you buy. There is a workaround if you have problems, but you love the program so much that you want it anyway.... you can assign it to a hardware button, which invokes the program whenever you want to enter text with it. You can continue to use other input methods as usual until you decide to push the button for SPC Keyboard to pop up. The text you type comes up on the display of the keyboard screen, and somehow manages to transfer the text to the application when you switch back to it. (Hopefully you also have a switcher utility because there's nothing I've found on the keyboard screen that lets you jump back to the program. I'm not saying you can't do that, I'm just saying I haven't found a way.)

The customer service rep was polite, patient and made a reasonable effort to make it work for me, even bearing with me as I questioned her about registry entries and the like. In fact, she provided a reference to a memory bug whitepaper tied to problems loading DDLs, but I'm not convinced it applies because it seems to only apply to PPC 2002. In the end, we both basically just gave up. She referred me to Handango (my original purchase location) for a refund. It looks like I may never get one, but I'm working on it.