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Business Users' Color Palm-size PC Guide | |||||||||
i.) Viewing, Displaying, and Sharing Color Photographs Introduction One of the highest potential applications for color Palm-size PCs is in providing business users with the ability to store, view, display and share color photographs in bitmap format (or other popular imaging files types) on their device. A picture is worth a thousand words as the old cliché goes, and as with many clichés it contains a grain of truth. How much time do we waste trying to explain new product features to a customer or describing what the person who will be meeting them at the airport looks like when a photograph would do the job in an instant? Available Applications All the color Palm-size PC manufacturers have recognized the importance of this application by bundling electronic image viewing programs with their devices, as shown in the table below.
Casio's Image Viewer, for example, supports the most popular graphic image formats, including .bmp, .jpg and Windows CE .2bp file types, as well as the company's own proprietary .cam format for use with Casio QV Digital Camera .cam image files. The other applications support similar features. A powerful third-party solution that's worth taking a look at is Image Expert CE from Sierra Imaging. This application will let you download, view, manage and communicate digital images on your color Palm-size PC. By linking your device to a digital camera or PC, Image Expert CE will also enable you to annotate them with voice, ink or text and share them via email and IrDA. Potential Business Applications The potential business applications for the use of photo imaging software are enormous. Imagine, for example, how sales representatives for a travel company could take advantage of a color Palm-size PC loaded with Image Expert CE. Instead of carrying a case of heavy brochures around with them when visiting customers, they could pre-load images of the destinations they are promoting on their device and display them in glorious color to their client when on a sales call. Here is a sample file from the Sierra Imaging home page that illustrates my point:  To take things a step further, the sales person could include pictures of the hotels and rooms the client would be staying in, and even make a mini-presentation for the client using the slideshow mode.  The application could be of even more value to a tour guide, particularly when used in conjunction with a digital camera. In addition to being able to show members of their tour party the places they will be visiting on their trip, the tour guide would be able, for example, to take photos of a sub-standard hotel room that a customer has complained about. Then they could transfer the file to their color Palm-size PC device, and email it to Head Office as an attachment to a report written in Note Taker for immediate action. What an efficient way to respond to a customer complaint! Other Potential User Scenarios There are of course many other potential business applications for color Palm-size PCs featuring photograph imaging software. Here are a couple that immediately spring to mind: Mobile Sales Representative Mobile Sales Representatives would be able to make extensive use of electronic imaging software on their color Palm-size PC. They could use the application to store and instantly display color photographs of their products and catalogs to customers without having to go through the hassle of booting up their notebook and opening the inevitable PowerPoint. Should the Salesperson require it, detailed specs and other product information could be stored as text annotations or Note Taker files. Field Insurance Assessors Equipped with a color Palm-size PC and digital camera, Field Insurance Assessors would be able to swiftly compile accident and damage assessment reports. Once they have taken photographs of the accident they could transfer the files to their Palm-size PC via a serial cable or infrared and incorporate them into a standard reporting form. They could then send the report back to head office using a CompactFlash Fax/Modem or wireless communications module. Color Palm-size PC Imaging Applications Links Image Expert CE For more information about Image Expert CE, please visit the Sierra Imaging website at: http://www.sierraimaging.com/contact/Products/imagex/imagexce.html Casio Cassiopeia E-100 Casio has quite detailed information about Image Viewer and its other applications at its website. Please go to: http://www.casio.com/hpc/ Compaq Aero 2100 Compaq has some information about the HTC Picture Viewer application the pdf download files in the specifications sections of its Aero website. Please go to: http://www.compaq.com/products/handhelds/ HP Jornada 420 Quite detailed information about Inso's Outside In application, which is bundled with the HP Jornada, can be found at http://www.hp.com/jornada/. You can find additional information about Inside Out and other Inso products at the company website at http://www.inso.com Back to Top Home Color Palm-size PC Overview
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