Switched On: Longhorn hardware advances could give PDAs a one-two punch
posted May 11th 2005 3:44PM
Every Wednesday Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a weekly column about the future of technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
When comparisons were initially made between the Apple Newton and the original Palm Pilot, two of the most striking differences were size and input. The new PDA was much smaller than the MessagePads that preceded it. And instead of relying on handwriting recognition that resulted in egg freckles all over the face of Newton, used the Graffiti system that forced a small learning curve on the user in the name of increased accuracy. The Palm Pilot started life as an appliance, but Palm OS would grow to a platform in order to drive new functionality.
However, while its hardware kept improving, the main constraints of its size did not. PDAs remained effective tools for retrieving bits of data on the run as long as they had been synced and poor tools for taking notes for an extended period of time. Taken together, though, several hardware enhancements for Longhorn that Microsoft demonstrated at WinHEC – namely the auxiliary display and the one-pound, 7-inch "ultra-mobile" – may represent a tandem challenge to the besieged handheld even in the tethered domain that they have taken for granted.
The auxiliary screen notion combines a small LCD with some basic navigation controls for tasks such as looking up contacts, appointments, e-mail or starting a music jukebox. It seems to have been inspired by the LID (Low-Power Interactive Display) on the promising but still unshipped miniature Vulcan FlipStart PC. When integrated into the covers of larger 14-inch or 15-inch model, the second screen loses much of its spontaneous appeal since these heavier systems aren�t typically carried around all day like a PDA. However, Microsoft notes that such screens need not be physically attached to laptops, and a technology such as Wi-Fi or Wireless USB might be used to make a �local PDA� that could be used around the office for information retrieval as long as one didn�t stray too far from the computer.
Such remote data viewers, ranging from early efforts such as Casio�s Pocket Viewers to Microsoft�s Smart Display tablets, have largely failed in the marketplace, but at least such a device would always be in sync and would essentially be free with the PC. After all, they stay true to the spirit of keeping a little piece of your PC with you. They could of course also double as remote controls for PowerPoint presentations and DVDs, which has been a somewhat more successful proposition.
Then there�s the ultra-mobile, which probably won�t appear until at least 2007, according to Microsoft. Its 7-inch display makes it too large to slip into a pocket like today�s handhelds, but its form factor might finally hold the key to offering conference room note-taking prowess without the impersonal shields that today�s clamshell notebooks create.
At a cost of between $500 and $1,000, the ultra-mobile won�t be the solution for someone who simply needs to look up an occasional business contact, but, at least for the wireless office worker, the input and output capabilities of handhelds may be more effective if handled by separate devices than the compromised PDA.
ah a bit too late - this looks neat though it would be nice to browse my files remotely - it would make desktops less obsolete compared to newer, faster laptops IMHO
I predict this will sink like a rock, at least as a PDA replacement.
The point of PDAs is having your data always there, with you; sometimes this is when you're within wireless range of a 'base machine', but most of the time it's not. The whole idea of a 'local PDA' seems pretty nonsensical to me.
I suppose something like this might work in an era where there's universal global broadband access, but I don't see that coming in the foreseeable future, and I don't think I'd really trust it if it did come. Same reason I believe in laptops rather than 'net cafes, real computers instead of thin clients - I want a machine that works without being dependent on a server.
Of course, there's nothing preventing someone from writing software that lets full-fledged PDAs emulate auxiliary displays, which would pretty much combine the smart display and auxiliary display concepts.
...also, come to think about it, didn't they try this 'thin display' idea a year or two back, a little before they started trying to push the current round of Tablet PC's? I remember a Viewsonic device that sat gathering dust at the local MicroCenter's open-box clearance section for close to a year...
The photo of a piece of plastic with a white piece of paper on it is misleading. When this is released, the display can't look that good.
Look at the OQO or Sony U750P for an idea of what is physically possible in a small form factor. Hold the OQO for a while to get an idea of how hot such a little brick can become. Try to use normally outdoors to make you wish for a transflective display. Try to use for more than an hour to make you wish for a better, bigger, thicker, heavier battery. Try both to get an idea of the trade-offs between an active and passive digitizer. And so on. I just wish that Micro$oft would threaten to hold its breath until it passes out unless mfrs invent small machines without painful compromises. That would at least offer some entertainment.
In terms of notetaking a foldable keyboard and a PDA is a near perfect solution, which we have already, you can write the Big Novel on it, if you want to. They both slip into your pocket or belt holder, so you can walk into a cocktail reception with the whole office (+ library, + photo album, + music collection, + GPS,+++) on you. A Tablet PC may be a technological marvel on its own right,larger screen and all, but it won't sit in your pocket, you are not really mobile with it.
if they could make something that small with a keyboard, it would be perfect for mobility. something 2 lbs or so, you don't need an optical drive. i carry a computer to school every day, shaving pounds and gaining a touch screen would be nice.
I agree with #8. In addition to true portability, PDAs feature instant on, stability and a (relatively) long battery life as compared to a tablet or notebook. And I have never found synchronisation to be a particular problem.
PDAs are not being replaced by ultraportables, they are being supplanted by phones with increasing PDA functionality. Unfortunately, the winning combination of size vs. functionality which is, I think, the thrust of the argument, has yet to be found.
I would be all over one of those ultra-mobiles. A PDA's too small to use comfortably (and the screen's not big enough), a full-fledged Tablet PC is too big and bulky.
I've long felt that if you could get a full-fledged PC (heck, a fullly functional web browser) into something with this form factor you would have the killer app. I'm as big a fan of the PocketPC platform as anyone, but the inherent limitations of the form factor are abundantly clear to anyone who has used one for any length of time, especially if they've done any development work on it. I've had a database driven PPC app in the planning stages for quite a while now, and found that by far the most difficult part of this is coming up with a way to get the data required into a 240x320 screen. VGA screen PPCs are a step in the right direction (My Axim X50v is by far the best device I've ever used,) but the additional cost of VGA screens would be prohibitive for use in industrial type devices which would be the most likely consumers of such applications. Even then, you could probably bring up the resolution even higher if you wanted, but you'd need a magnifying glass to read much more than VGA resolution in that form factor.
I would be among the first in line for one of the ultra-mobiles if they ever actually show up. I would have no problem with carrying such a system around, and it would still be a lot more portable than my notebook (an Inspiron 6000.)
"Longhorn hardware advances could give PDAs a one-two punch"
Here are some other possible examples of "Longhorn could..." headlines:
- Longhorn Invulnerability To Kryptonite Could Spell Doom For Superman
- Longhorn "Ham Sandwich In Every Box" Feature Could End World Hunger
- Longhorn Search Capabilities Could Aid Tooth Fairy
...and my personal favorite:
- Longhorn Could Be XP SP3 With Translucent Windows
The fact of the matter is that the original Longhorn project goals have been scaled way back, and as a desktop OS, Longhorn 1.0 will not, as far as I can see, provide any revolutionary advances.
What we have here is a set of technical milestones (revolutionary new features that work) that have been overrun and superceded by a set of marketing milestones (a semi-solid ship date and enhanced quarterly profits).
The sad part is that Microsoft's habit of preemptively marketing new products based on specifications rather than real working code is the very reason that they're forced to promise to ship before the product is finished.
Regarding the hardware speculations based on a wood and plastic MOCKUP of a working piece of hardware (http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000830041475/)...
The 'Ultraportable' is a good direction for Tablet PCs, but as always with Tablets, I keep coming back to the convenience/cost ratio. Yes, a Tablet PC is very convenient, but does it beat a stack of large Moleskine notebooks and a good pen?
The 'local PDA' concept could entice a few hardware manufacturers, but unless we're talking about a retail price of under $150, I doubt if it would entice many actual customers. Again, a pad of Post-it Notes wins the convenience/cost contest.
I'm not saying that these are bad ideas, but they *are* ideas that are aimed at corporate employees who have reasonably hefty budget authority - very much like Microsoft product managers.
If these products ever do see the light of day, their impact on the general public will be effectively nil.
looks like a clunky version of the apple tablet ... that has been rumored forever...
> ...instead of relying on handwriting recognition that
> resulted in egg freckles all over the face of Newton,
> (Palm) used the Graffiti system that forced a small
> learning curve on the user in the name of increased
> accuracy.
Graffiti was available as a Newton addon well before Palm came along.
lol the apple tablet, microsoft has it, apple doesn't just like many things. when will the apple realize that making a cool device that plays music on a hard drive doesn't make you rule the world. longhorn is completely built from the ground up including the framework. ms is not using a linux infrastructure that already exists making some improvements and calling it the greatest thing ever. of course with custom development it takes longer and there are set backs, any programmer (including myself) will tell you that. apple and ms both have their redeeming qualities, but apple has a loooooong way to go before they reach ms level.
no offense jg, but apparently apple does have one:
http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000790042949/
they just do not have a history of showing off products they can't ship.
my guess is the people in cupertino must see risk with such a product (i.e. cube, newton) or we would already see one. however, I think I would probably buy one if it was available and it ran OS X.
while some people love the small form factor of a pda or phone, I can't get comfortable with those and would love something with a form factor similar to newton and packed with today's technology running mini versions of itunes, iphoto. quicktime, and wifi web and email. i am probably dreaming, but i think we will see a shipping product like that from apple before ms...
It should be noted that, by the time the Palm Pilot came out, the Newton handwriting recognition (HWR) had SIGNIFICANTLY improved. I have a Newton 2000 that can translate my handwriting in almost real time. On top of that, it's accuracy is unbelievably good. The Newton just keeps getting panned because the first versions weren't so good. The final versions were amazing.
Why cant anyone make a pda which can connect to a projector !! (I would like it to be priced at pda levels ... too ) I mean that WOULD be a killer device and convert a lot of notebook users.
I thought the tablet pc was cool ... Till I used it, And it suffices to say that I have never seen such a crappy product EVER !
In fact, the Dell Axim X50v (not the other X50 models though) has a first-party VGA connection kit you can buy to hook it up to a projector that along with the included software can output presentations at up to 1024x768 resolution. It's not cheap (the kit costs $79, direct from Dell) but it sounds like it might be what you're looking for.
This is the picture that has me puzzled. Looks like Gates is finally serious about efficiency and stability!
http://www.churchoflivingfaith.com/images/CobaltBill.jpg
My ideal tablet would be something i could take to lectures providing a solution for the following...
1) easy note taking of many forms i.e. from long paragraphs of text to pages of maths and diagrams
2) to record the lecture in someway, be it video or audio
3) be able to scan in the lecture notes and hand outs easily and make notes over them
4) access online resources from the lecure theatre.
5) fit nicely into my rucksack and withstand the odd bump from riding my bike to campus
I'm using a tablet right now. HP TC1100. I'm not sure what the negative reactions to Tablets in general are all about because it's just a laptop that you can disconnect the keyboard from. I get a new PDA at least once a year for development purposes and have owned/used at least a dozen. A PDA cannot, and should not, be compared to a Tablet. It's like comparing a horse and a cat. Sure, they are both warm and fuzzy, but one has a lot more power and can do more things (riding, pulling, etc).
Anyway, the point is that Tablets are laptops. You should keep in mind that the only thing they offer differently than a laptop is a built-in wacom (or other) tablet in the screen. I use my Tablet for many things. I use my PDA's for other things. They each have their uses and drawbacks.
In the UPC format (www.handtops.com), you have potentially converged devices like the OQO. However, until UPC's and Tablets work out items like boot up times, etc., they will not have the impact that PDA's have had. On the same note, if PDA's continue to evolve into true convergent devices with all the bells and whistles, they will encounter more problems with compatibility. Just look at the Treo650's recent issues.
Don't get me wrong. I love the Treo, and PDA's, and Tablets, but they are used for specific tasks and have their own strengths. In the end you need to ask yourself what your needs are and find a device to match. Not the other way around.
I had a siemens simpad for about two year. Got it on ebay for about $400. (New it would have cost $2500.)
I loved it. the 8" tft screen was fine for document reading and web browsing, even terminal work. and all in about 1 kg, great and dead silent too.
but in the end, the speed soured it for me, a strongarm 206 Mhz first annoyed then irrated me: it had to go.
since then I had several laptops and pocketpc's, but i still miss that simpad.
laptop's are too large, too heavy, sometimes too noisy and pocketpc', well, are too small.
I want to talk myself into buying a slate like fe the electrovaya or tc1100, but at $2000+ I find that too rich.
perhaps this new larger pda will do.
all it has to be able to do, is to show reasonably large documents at reasonable speed on a reasonbly large screen.
rudimentary notetaking even with palmlike shorthand is enough for me.
this with a price around $500 I'm buying.