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I know that our readers are extremely busy people. So to help you sort through all the clutter on the Internet, we've create a new WinceBiz Executive Yellow Pages section that provides links to all the most important sites and information resources business people use every day, including news, stocks, weather, and travel. There's no unnecessary verbiage; just clean simple links! To save yourself time, please check out this exciting new feature!
With Windows CE finally beginning to make inroads into the palmtop market, quite a few articles on the subject are beginning to appear in the mainstream IT media. The latest edition of the respected Information Week, a leading US based publication targeted at MIS professionals, has a very interesting report on synchronizing data between mobile devices and corporate MIS systems.
Given the growing number of notebooks and Windows CE and Palm devices that are being used by mobile workers, not to mention cellular phones and wireless paging devices, implementing efficient data synchronization systems is becoming an increasingly critical issue for IT managers. The Information Week article does an excellent job of explaining the issues and describing the solutions that are currently available on the market. Definitely worth a look!
R.I.B.
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I'm pleased that I've finally completed my review of the HP Jornada 860 mini Handheld PC and posted it on the site. The only comment I can add to it is that the more I use the device the more I like it. Even its purple color has grown on me!
HP, along with Compaq, is featured in an article in the latest edition of the US-based VAR magazine. Entitled Handheld PCs: Big Things in Small Packages, the report chronicles the growing popularity of Windows CE and Palm devices in US vertical application markets. That doesn't mean that palmtops will replace notebooks, however. According to VAR, "While handhelds will fare best in vertical markets, subnotebooks will be used as laptop replacements by mobile professionals", and "a laptop will be used more and more as a desktop PC replacement."
Read the our full review of the HP Jornada 680.
R.I.B.
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Thank you very much to everyone who responded to the second question we posed in our interactive CE Survey. As with the first question we posed, we were very pleased with the number of answers we received. Those of you who are regular visitors to the site I hope you will continue to participate in these surveys. As we garner more information from our visitors we hope to further tailor the website to give you the information you want. As always if you want to share a direct opinion with us about our website content, please send us an email.
With 50% of our respondents saying that they had purchased their Windows CE device for personal use and the same number saying that they had bought it for business use, the results were a dead heat. Many respondents, in fact, said that they used their device for both personal and business purposes. This begs the question as to whether they claimed for their device under their company expenses!
This week we have a new survey question: Do you write emails on your Windows CE device often, seldom, or never? We look forward to receiving your answers.
R.I.B.
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Having used it for nearly a week now, I'm getting to really like my new HP Jornada 680 Handheld PC. So much so, in fact, that I've almost grown accustomed to its hideous purple color (though I don't think I'll ever come to actually like it!).
HP has, I believe, put a huge amount of work into the design of the product to make it as easy and convenient to use as possible, and it contains a lot of extremely well-thought out features, such as the large tactile keys on the keyboard. Other touches like the PC card and CF card slots don't quite work as well as they might -- but even with those you can see that HP's engineers have tried very hard to solve what are very difficult problems.
As I keep on mentioning, the main reason I bought the Jornada 680 was because of the keyboard. Its large tactile keys make typing huge wads of text a breeze, even for someone with quite large fingers like me. The keys also have a pleasant springy action. And as a nice added touch the battery pack slightly elevates the back of the unit, with the result that the keyboard is slightly slanted.
Another thing I really like about the 860 is its size and weight. Measuring just 7.4" x 3.7" x 1.3" in (18.9 x 9.5 x 3.4cm) and weighing only 1.1 lbs (510g) with a standard battery, it's small and light enough to carry in a handbag or even -- at a stretch -- the inside pocket of a jacket.
HP has done an excellent job of packing a lot of features into such a small unit. The stylus silo has been handily placed on the front right-hand panel of the device for convenient access, and the stylus can be easily removed with a simple clicking action. The Voice Recorder and volume control buttons are located on the front left-hand panel, so you don't have to open the device to record a message, and the keyboard has eleven hot keys for launching applications.
The only part of the design that has problems is the PC card slot and CompactFlash card slot implementation. HP decided to put the PC card slot above the CompactFlash card slot, and as a result inserting and removing a PC card from the PC card is a maddening experience. Installing a CompactFlash card is also a hassle; you have to press down on a latch bar to open up the module and then press it down once the card is inserted. Tricky and frustrating. But, on the other hand, given the growing popularity of CF memory cards and devices like the IBM MicroDrive, a CF Card slot is an essential feature on a Handheld and HP deserves praise for its attempt at implementing it.
Software was not a key factor in my decision to buy the Jornada 820, but I've very quickly grown to like the HP applications that are bundled with it. HP quick pad is a great little application for writing down lists and notes during a meeting, and as an added bonus allows you to send your text to a Tasks, Email or even Word file. On similar lines, HP viewer lets you group your Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts information in one easy-to-navigate package. I haven't yet had time to use the HP dialup program, but it looks pretty useful.
Compared to HP's own applications, the third party software bundle that comes with the device is quiet disappointing. The Inso Outside In program looks as if it might be a useful utility for viewing email attachments, but I am not a great fan of PocketQuicken. And I think that bundling trial copies of Sierra Imaging's Image Expert CE and Wesstek's Jetcent print is downright tacky. Why not simply provide the full versions?
Despite these minor complaints, I'm very satisfied with my decision to purchase the HP Jornada 680. Over the weekend I'm going to put it through its paces more aggressively and will publish a full review on Monday.
R.I.B.
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Despite a recent slowdown in its economy, Hong Kong still has a justified reputation as a great shopping center, whether it be for cheap clothes and gift items at places like the famous Temple Street night market or luxury brand name goods in the exclusive shopping centers in Central. The same is true for consumer electronics goods such as cameras, video cameras, and DVD players, and of course desktop, notebook, and palmtop computers.
Although I couldn't find the latest Handheld PCs announced by IBM and Compaq (nor, alas, the Casio E-100), a pretty good selection of Handheld PCs were available, most notably the Sharp Mobilon, the Vadem Clio, and the HP Jornada 820 and 680 models. I have been a long-time fan of the Clio, particularly its revolving screen, but was put off by the price (around US$1000) and a nagging doubt as to whether I really needed a device with such a large screen.
If I made a lot of presentations to customers when on the road, the Clio would be ideal. But since the primary functions I used my HP LX620 for were writing and scheduling, I decided against buying it. I discounted the HP Jornada 820 too, for the same reason, as well as the fact that it doesn't allow touchscreen input. This is one of the best features on the LX620, and I can't understand why HP didn't include it on its larger cousin.
That left the HP Jornada 680 and two models from Sharp, the Sharp Mobilon HC-4600 and the Sharp Mobilon Pro PV-5000, for me to choose from. With their sleek and sexy designs, I had brief but pleasurable flirtations with both Sharp models, and even entertained fantasies of purchasing the optional digital camera card so that I could take photos and transfer them to the device. But since I don't even normally carry a standard camera with me, reality rudely intervened (though I have to admire the creative marketing of the Japanese). I'm a word guy not a picture guy, and the keys on the keyboard of the HC-4600 were far too small for my liking. And although it was quiet cheap at just under HK$4000, the device featured Windows CE version 2.0 and I wanted a device with the newer Windows CE 2.11 Professional edition.
As for the Mobilon Pro PV-5000, I instantly fell in love with it. But in addition to being almost too sleek and too sexy, I decided that it was too big and too expensive. Carrying it around me in the office on my travels would, I concluded, be like going out on a date with a gorgeous supermodel. Sure, I would attract envious glances from everyone around me, but soon, very soon, something terrible would be bound to happen. If losing my HP LX620 was annoying, parting with a Mobilon Pro PV-5000 in a crowded airport lounge would be truly devastating. I wouldn't be able to withstand the heartbreak!
So that left me with the new HP Jornada 680. I deliberately say 'left' because it took me three visits to the store before I finally overcame my aversion to the device's hideous purple color and bought it. The clincher for the deal was the 680's great keyboard, which features large tactile keys that make typing text a breeze. Other key factors that swayed my decision were the small and light form factor of the device and the excellent experiences I have previously had with products from HP. About the only feature it lacks is some kind of tracking application that will help me retrieve the Handheld should I ever lose it!
I've been using my HP Jornada 680 for nearly a week now, and so far I have been pretty satisfied with it. Tomorrow I'll write down the initial impressions I have of the device, then I hope to do a full blown review over the weekend.
R.I.B.
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I've done some pretty dumb things in my life, but few can match losing my HP LX620 on my latest business trip for sheer carelessness and stupidity. I still cannot figure out how I managed to do this: The last time I can recall using the device was in the departure lounge of Guangzhou airport; but it had disappeared from my baggage by the time I reached my hotel in Beijing. I called up the airline to check whether I had left it on the plane, but although they were very helpful I don't think I'll ever see my HP LX620 again.
Quite apart from being pissed off at losing a machine that cost me nearly a thousand bucks when I bought it, I was also pretty steamed at not being able to access my email for a week. For although I had my Palm-size PC with me, I had only brought along a PC Card fax/modem with me. In the future, I'll have to remember to bring my Pretec CompactModem along with me whenever I go on a trip.
During the first couple of days of using my Palm-size PC, I began to seriously question whether I really needed to spend close to a thousand dollars on a replacement for my HP. But, in the end, I came to the conclusion that I would have to stump up the cash because Palm-size PCs lack one simple component that I find absolutely essential: a keyboard.
While Palm-size PCs have pretty good handwriting recognition capabilities with Jot, they're only really suitable for light writing tasks such as scribbling a few notes during a meeting or a blasting off a one- or two-line reply to an email. The main reason for this is simple ergonomics: holding a Palm-size PC with your left hand while writing down notes with a stylus in your right hand becomes quite uncomfortable after five or ten minutes. That's enough to write down a few notes in Note Taker or input an action item into the Tasks application, but hardly sufficient for a short memo – let alone a detailed report or (dare I say it) an entry for this journal.
So when I arrived in Hong Kong after my trip to China, I resolved to buy myself a new Handheld. With so many models on display in the electronics stores and computer markets of the former British colony, this process was a lot more difficult and took me a lot longer than I had originally anticipated. Which model did I finally purchase? That's the subject of tomorrow's journal entry.
R.I.B.
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I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you a few ideas about the Windows CE Business Solutions website and our plans for you and its future.
Windows CE Business solutions or Wincebiz as its affectionately known around here, is a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday operation that provides fresh content on a daily basis -with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays and national holidays. Our office is based in the South East Asia region and for that reason you will note that our holidays may not coincide with yours, depending on the region you are from.
We are attempting to target an audience of users of the Windows CE operating system in general while providing a particular slant on our information that would specifically interest the business user. The "Tip of the Day", News, Links and Journal entries when viewed regularly should keep the reader abreast of the Windows CE sector of commerce. Other features of the website while more static in nature and only occasional updates are made available as resource materials that you can refer to as needed.
What you can look forward to in the near future at Windows CE Business Solutions includes more links with brief descriptions, to help guide you more accurately to the resources you need. We have over 125 described links at the moment and we are going to be adding a lot more!
You'll be seeing more reviews of the products and software that you tell us to review.
You'll be seeing more "How to…" in our "Tip of the Day" section. In fact feel free to send us an email and make a suggestion of what you'd like to learn how to do on your Windows CE device.
You'll be seeing more surveys for you to vote on. This keeps us informed about what real users of CE are doing.
Were even fleshing out a couple of other top secret features that we plan to spring on you, but then hey if we told you they wouldn't be a secret. Just keep your eyes peeled in about a week or so.
R.I.B.
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Over the past few weeks we've started receiving quite a few emails from people asking us for help on quite a number of different technical issues about Windows CE. Although we like to help and will try to whenever possible, we simply do not have enough time or resources to guarantee a response to all such inquiries.
If you do have a technical question about Windows CE, we suggest you visit the Official Windows CE Newsgroup FAQ website. This contains answers to hundreds of questions posted by members of the Windows CE newsgroup, and is run by some of the leading experts on Windows CE. Other sites you might also be able to get help from include Chris De Herrera's Windows CE Website, which has an excellent FAQ section, and MSN's Computing Central Windows CE Forum.
R.I.B.
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It's been quite a while since I've written a software review for this website. One reason for this is that I don't often have the chance to spend two or three hours taking an application through its paces and writing up a detailed report on it. Another reason is that very few new applications have caught my attention of late, and I have been content to keep on using the programs I already have installed on my Handheld and Palm-size PC devices.
I thought it would be useful therefore to tell you about which applications I do use on my Windows CE devices, starting today with bFIND from BSQUARE. I'm not making any fanciful claims that these applications are the best in their class. They're simply ones that I find very useful and would definitely recommend them to our readers.
I don't know about you, but I waste far much time than I'd care to admit searching for files and documents that I long ago forgot the name of. bFIND is a powerful and flexible search utility that can be a real life-saver in such situations, particularly when you are trying to locate a long forgotten file that you urgently need to send to your boss or customer.
The application lets you search through all the documents and files on your Handheld or Palm-size PC, such as Word or Note Taker files, Excel spreadsheets and even email messages. All you have to do is input a key word, phrase, or name, and the application immediately locates all the documents on your device that contain it, as shown in the screenshot below.
You can even set parameters to further speed up your search.
I use bFIND on both my HP LX620 Handheld PC and Everex Freestyle Palm-size PC, and don't know how I would be able to survive without it. Now you can purchase it as part of bSQUARE's bUSEFUL™ Utilities Pak from the BSQUARE Online Store and other resellers. At $79.95, the bUSEFUL™ Utilities Pakis not exactly cheap, but it does feature some other useful applications such as bUSEFUL Backup Plus. Please visit the BSQUARE home page at www.bsquare.com for further information.
R.I.B.
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HP's announcement last week of its new JetSend Mobile Printing Solution for Windows CE Handheld PCs could potentially be a huge boon to business users. Just imagine being able to walk up to almost any printer and almost instantly print out a Pocket PowerPoint file in glorious color for your customer -- all without having to mess around with any cables or even any software drivers.
I say "could", however, because HP still has a lot of work to do in order to ensure that all printers are fully JetSend-enabled. As the number one in the global printing market, HP is in a strong position to push this standard and make sure other printer companies adopt it. HP claims in its press release that three million JetSend-enabled products have shipped into the marketplace since the introduction of the first JetSend-enabled device, the LaserJet 4000 printer. But when I checked out the new JetSend website at http://www.jetsend.hp.com, I couldn't find any lists of JetSend-enabled products from other printer manufacturers.
HP has articulated a very compelling vision of a world of intelligent, JetSend-enabled devices exchanging information freely with one another, regardless of manufacturer or device type, and the JetSend Mobile Printing Solution is a step in the right direction. Let's hope that they can aggressively push its implementation.
R.I.B.
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I guess you must be a real hard-core geek if you start getting excited about Windows CE products designed for industrial purposes. But that's how I feel about the new WiiN-PAD Handheld PC from Data General Corporation. With its durable tablet-style design, eight-inch diagonal color DSTN LCD display for easy data access and entry, and a choice of RF, LAN, and modem communication options, the product looks as if it truly lives up to its billing as "technology for doctors, nurses, and other mobile healthcare professionals." The only drawback I can see is the product name. OK, this is not a consumer product, but surely the marketing people at Data General could have come up with something a little bit more compelling!
Jesse Berst, the editor-in-chief of ZDNet's popular AnchorDesk website, certainly has no problems coming up with snappy phrases and slogans. But he's gone way beyond the limits of hyperbole with his latest headline: When, Why and How Windows CE Will Save Bill Gates' Butt. Come on Jessie, what with the DOJ's court case and the growing popularity of Linux, Bill Gates has got a lot more to worry about than installing Windows CE on the world's gas pumps. Besides, I thought it was only impecunious middle managers like me who really need to cover our asses.
The Windows CE Developers Conference this week gave additional new momentum to the magic number of 21 million. This, as you may recall from the May 21 entry of this journal (not to mention numerous news articles), is the number of handheld PCs that IDC predicts will be sold in 2003. Naturally, Microsoft's marketing people missed no opportunities to trumpet this figure and claim that by then the majority of these devices will be based on Windows CE. And, just as naturally, the press (Jessie Berst included) dutifully reported this information to their readers. Seen any other Magic 21 Million articles recently? If so, please send the URL to me. I'm thinking of starting a new Magic 21 Million Sightings section.
R.I.B.
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Even if you still feel uncomfortable about ordering a Windows CE device online and prefer to purchase one from somewhere like BestBuy or CompUSA, it's always useful to know the price you can expect to pay before you enter the store.
So that you can find this information with the click of the mouse, we've added a permanent link to the 20-20Consumer website, an independent service set up to help people find the best prices on Windows CE products and accessories.
With its user-friendly design, this website makes it easy for you to look up and compare the prices offered by leading on-line retailers for all the latest Handheld and Palm-size PCs plus accessories. It also includes pricing information about other non-Windows CE products such as digital cameras, notebooks and printers, as well as some useful tips about purchasing on-line.
So the next time you're thinking about buying a new Palm-size or Handheld PC, check out the 20-20Consumer website. To paraphrase a slogan from a Yellow Pages ad, think of the time and money you'll save by letting your mouse do the walking.
Even if you still feel uncomfortable about ordering a Windows CE device online and prefer to purchase one from somewhere like BestBuy or CompUSA, it's always useful to know the price you can expect to pay before you enter the store.
So that you can find this information with the click of the mouse, we've added a permanent link to the 20-20Consumer website, an independent service set up to help people find the best prices on Windows CE products and accessories.
With its user-friendly design, this website makes it easy for you to look up and compare the prices offered by leading on-line retailers for all the latest Handheld and Palm-size PCs plus accessories. It also includes pricing information about other non-Windows CE products such as digital cameras, notebooks and printers, as well as some useful tips about purchasing on-line.
So the next time you're thinking about buying a new Palm-size or Handheld PC, check out the 20-20Consumer website. To paraphrase a slogan from a Yellow Pages ad, think of the time and money you'll save by letting your mouse do the walking.
R.I.B.
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It might have taken a while, but the CompactFlash standard is finally beginning to take off. No longer are you limited to a choice of memory, Ethernet and fax/modem cards for your Palm-size; now you can also select from a growing number of I/O, barcode scanning, and even digital phone connectivity CompactFlash solutions.
One of the leaders in the CompactFlash arena is Socket Communications, and you only need to read the first edition of their new quarterly Battery Friendly Bulletin to get a clear idea of the innovative products that they have in their future roadmap. Their In-Hand Scan™ Card CF+ looks particularly interesting. Integrating a state-of-the-art DSE-923 laser scanner engine from Symbol in a CompactFlash Card, it provides a slim and lightweight solution for barcode reading. Another product that caught my eye was their Digital Phone Cards, which let you connect your Windows CE device into a digital PCS phone, and create an instant all-digital connection to your office network or the Internet. Let's hope that they come up with a GSM solution in the near future.
Pretec is also aggressively rolling out new CompactFlash products, including a 160MB memory card and even a GPS module, a prototype of which was on show at last week's Computex. Another company to watch is Xircom, long a leader in PCMCIA cards, which has announced the CompactCard Ethernet 10, the first in its new CompactCard line of CompactFlash cards.
To help you keep track of the CompactFlash products that are coming on the market, we have created a new CompactFlash Card Solutions Section on the Windows CE Business Solutions website. In this section, you will find tables listing all the CompactFlash cards that have been announced, together with links to more detailed product information on the manufacturer's website. We hope that you find this new section to be of value and as always, welcome your comments and input.
R.I.B.
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I'm glad that Computex Taipei 99 is finally over and we can now resume normal service on the Windows CE Business Solutions Home Page.
As I wrote in a previous journal entry, the show was pretty disappointing from a Windows CE point of view. But underneath the mountains of ultra-slim notebooks (no surprise that Handheld PC Pro devices are not yet taking off in the market!) and iMac-inspired translucent color PC cases, I did finally manage to unearth an interesting product -- an external 56.6Kbps fax/modem module called PalmLink from a company named Foresson.
You can connect this little beauty to your Palm-size PC (or notebook or even desktop PC for that matter) using a serial cable. It's small and compact, and comes with room for two AAA batteries, which the manufacturer claims give you at least a couple of hours of battery life for the modem -- a great feature if you are regularly on the road. This looks like a wonderful accessory, particularly as Pretec's CompactModem is so expensive these days (around US$169) and draws heavily on the host device's batteries. Foresson has promised to send me a sample in the next week or so for me to review. I look forward to writing about it.
R.I.B.
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It's very easy to complain about the crowds, the noise, and the heat (not to mention your tired sore feet) at a tradeshow. But even in these days of instant communication via the Internet, there's nothing like dragging yourself round the booths, examining the new product offerings, collecting the brochures, and talking with the sales people to get a real feel for what's going on in your industry.
It's almost as if Palm-size PCs were expressly designed for such an occasion. See or hear something interesting? Just take it out of your shirt pocket, pull out the stylus, and start writing. A lot more convenient than any device with a keyboard - and no need to waste time transcribing handwritten notes after the show.
Unfortunately, however, as far as Windows CE goes I haven't found a lot to write about at Computex Taipei. Apart from demos of a 160MB CF memory card and a CF GPS card from Pretec, there was nothing that could be described as new. And even those two products will not be available on the market until the end of this year.
There's also been a lot of buzz surrounding set-top boxes from companies like Acer and Tatung, but again these will not go into mass production until the latter part of 1999. The scanner maker Umax also made a curious announcement of a new wireless stock-trading system using a Handheld PC and a so-called cell-phone bridge. As anyone who has tried to hook up their Palm-size or Handheld PC to a mobile phone, it's a neat idea - but not that easy to implement.
R.I.B.
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Imagine being able to connect your Palm-size PC to your mobile phone so that you can download your email wherever you happen to be.
I said "imagine" because even in regions that have adopted GSM such as Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific, this dream is still a long way from becoming reality.
That's not to say that it's impossible to hook up a Palm-size PC to a GSM mobile phone; it's just exceedingly difficult and for most people more hassle than it's worth. One of the main problems is that most Palm-size PCs do not have an internal fax/modem; so you need to either install a so-called "soft" modem on your Palm-size PC or connect your Palm-size PC to a mobile phone like the Nokia Commander which has an internal modem.
The second major issue is the connecting cable. Most phones from the major phone manufacturers require different connectors; there is no standard cable. Software modem + cable connector kits for the Palm-size PC are available from companies such as Option International and SoftGSM. Just make sure that the kit you order contains a cable that is compatible with your mobile phone.
Why not use the Infrared port on your mobile phone to transfer data to your Palm-size PC, I hear you ask. That way you won't need to worry about a cable. That's true, in theory at least, but some of the phones require special Infrared software drivers before you can do this. I never said this would be fun! But if you are still determined to connect your Palm-size PC to your GSM mobile phone even after reading this article, then help is at hand. Check out Arne's Windows CE and GSM Home Page for all the information you need to know on this subject. It provides all the information you need to know about the subject, including phone compatibility testing results, a great explanation about SMS, and regular news updates.
Meanwhile, I think I'll stick to my trusty Pretec CompactModem and pray that every hotel I stay in has a phone jack that I can use.
R.I.B.
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