Reports by Consumers

Makers of these devices can to keep competition from mobile phones at bay by staying ahead of converged devices. Mobile phones must first and foremost provide robust voice services; anything else is secondary. Gaming handhelds have the distinct advantage of being designed specifically for games; and that functionality never takes a back seat to any other application. Screen size and resolution, controls and I/O, and other features are designed to deliver the best possible gaming experience.

ecent patent filing for “Electronic Device Having Display and Surrounding Touch Sensitive Bezel for User Interface and Control” shows that Apple has developed another interesting way to operate it’s portable gadgets. Instead of dedicated buttons, touchpads or scroll wheels that uses a lot of precious real estate of the handheld, Apple suggests that we use a narrow touch sensitive bezel around the perimeter of the device for data input and control.

When it comes to GPS devices, you’ve had only two flavors to choose from: handhelds or in-vehicle systems–until now. Garmin’s latest GPS system, the Quest, lets you have your cake and eat it too. The $624 Quest is small enough to fit in your pocket, but it contains nearly all the features we’ve come to expect in the bigger and pricier vehicle-navigation products, including voice-guided driving directions and route-planning capabilities. Of course, there are trade-offs. The device doesn’t come with an expansion slot or a mini hard drive, so you have to load and reload maps as you go. Still, whether you’re driving or hoofing it, the Quest will help get you to your destination without getting lost.

We ended the session ealier than what was published on the schedule with a show-and-tell of podcasts and vodcasts of 3rd grade students on handhelds and 6th grade Social Studies podcasts. A Saturday morning well-spent!

We talked about this on last weeks show. Microsoft’s Origami product, the handheld to beat all handhelds. Don’t know if you’ve seen the microsite teaser for the product. Not really worth your time but seems they’re trying hard so ooh I’m tingling with anticipation. From all accounts the product seems to fall short on expectations except on the price which is estimated at around $1000.

We browsed Tony Vincent’s website www.learninginhand.com. Here, I read some articles on using the Handhelds, browsed at pictures, and view some sample lesson plans. This site is helpful as a source of information to some of our class assignments.

Opera Mini is a free download for mobile phones. It also can be delivered to handhelds by way of text messaging. The software is for handsets that are capable of running Java applets. Most current mobile phones have this capability. The browser is available in English and several other languages.

Personally, I would get an Ipod as it looks so much better then its competitors and I am not alone. Morgan Stanley polled consumers on their purchase plans during this holiday season. The polled results showed that consumers planned to buy more Ipods then cell phones. On top of that, “Of all the consumers planning to purchase an iPod this holiday season, only 4- percent said they would purchase another brand of MP3 player if a store was out of their desired model. Also interesting, more people plan to buy iTunes gift cards this season than non-iPod branded MP3 players.”

Blackberry Thumb first shows up as a throbbing sensation, then it moves onto aching, and finally it becomes so painful that it hurts to dial telephones or use remote controls.

I have to take a moment to comment on the latest addition to my list of podcasts that I listen to. The list is short as there is so little time to listen to all the good folks out there. However, one that is at the top of my list is Soft Reset. It is collaboration between Tony Vincent and Mike Curtis. I have bugged Tony for years picking his brain as I have been using handhelds in my classroom for a couple of years. These two guys really know their stuff. Like I said, I have used both the Palm and the PPC for quite some time and I learn more good things from their podcast each time.

Whether or not you choose a Pocket PC from Dell, you stand to gain from waiting because Dell’s entry will create downward pricing pressure. Personally, I expect to buy from Dell if they hit the rumoured pricing levels ($300 and $500 models) and come through with the planned peripherals. I’ve never liked the iPaq line because it doesn’t offer built-! in Compact Flash, and I hesitate to buy another Pocket PC from lower-volume manufacturers (Audiovox, Toshiba, NEC) because of the lack of peripherals.

The next generation of consoles is forgoing a level of universality as many of the new systems will come in several different bundles of varying capability and cost. Handhelds such as the PSP are acting like laptops. The video game industry is now the largest entertainment industry ever, and one of the major components of the entire tech sector.

I recently bought a handheld pc from Dell, while researching prices I came across something quite interesting, it seems that Dell hates Canadians.

It's being reported on Slashdot that a class action suit against Palm is being settled. The class action suit was brought against Palm because of bad backup capacitors. Owners of "dead" Palm m100, m105, or m125s can file a claim, send it in, and they should receive a replacement. There's no word what the replacement will be, but anything is better than a dead PDA.

If you want a GPS for both hiking and driving use, then a handheld unit would be the way to go. Some handhelds even have accessories to allow them to be installed in an automobile. But don't rule out a PDA. More on that in a moment. For driving only, there are GPS receivers made just for vehicle use.

Prices for automotive GPS start at around $250 US. These provide turn--by--turn guidance. Spend a little more than that and you get voice guidance. These are larger than handhelds in order to accommodate a screen large enough to be seen while driving. They are powered by the car's electrical system and because of this, they can only be used in a vehicle.

Korean manufacturer Pontus recently introduced a couple of new GPS handhelds, the HNA-3520 and the HNP-3510. Details are a bit sketchy at the moment (or rather, a bit Korean) but we do know that both models have a 3.5-inch LCD screen, and the HNA-3520 adds a built-in TV tuner and MP3 player.

The StyleTap Platform allows you to run applications (and games!) originally written for Palm OS handhelds on your Windows Mobile Pocket PC handheld. With more than 20,000 applications for the Palm OS platform available – many of them free – you will be able to do so much more with your Windows Mobile Pocket PC handheld. Demo preview available for download.

This Customer Advisory (CA) is designed to assist HP iPAQ Pocket PC series handheld customers whose devices have cracked displays.

1GB Secure Digital card for MP3's, PDA's, handhelds, digital cameras and digital camcorders that have a Secure Digital card slot

Mobile Knowledge "provides advanced GPS, wireless and mobile data communications technology to optimize the operation and security of vehicles and other mobile assets for enhanced fleet management applications". Tranware provides "Transportation Software for Taxi, Paratransit, Courier, Limo and Airport Shuttle". Vettro "mobile applications transform wireless phones and handhelds into powerful, enterprise-connected computing devices".