DAP announces CE3000B handheld for security and access control DAP Technologies, a Roper Mobile company, announced the DAP CE3000B, a rugged Windows Mobile 5.0-based handheld that addresses FIPS 201-mandated access security. The CE3000B is specifically billed as a "handheld for security and access control" and includes everything needed to provide immediate identification as security checkpoints and other places where quick, positive identification is essential: both contact and contactless SmartCard readers, fast fingerprint identification, and 1D and 2D barcode reading. [Read description and specs of the DAP CD3000B security access control computer] -- Posted Friday, September 28, 2007
Palm introduces the Centro, its smallest smartphone yet Palm and Sprint introduced the Palm Centro smart device, aimed at individuals and traditional mobile phone users looking for more in a phone and perhaps a better way to manage their professional and social lives. The Palm OS Centro, available for just $99.99 (with the usual service plan requirements), has voice, text, IM, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a full-color touch screen and full thumb-type keyboard, and it comes in onyx black or ruby red. The Centro comes with 64MB of RAM, a microSD slot that can handle 4GB cards, a razor-sharp 320 x 320 pixel display and Bluetooth. [Read our description and commentary on the Palm Centro] -- Posted Thursday, September 27, 2007
Full review: GETAC V100 The GETAC V100 is a small, lightweight notebook that can either be used as a standard laptop or, by rotating the display, as a Tablet PC slate. Up-to-date technology includes an energy-efficient ultra-low voltage Intel Core Duo processor, a large 120 or 160GB serial ATA hard disk, gigabit Ethernet, fast wireless PAN and WAN implementations, SD Card reader and an integrated camera. The V100 uses advanced thermal design to keep heat buildup at an absolute minimum. Heat pipes and the sturdy aluminum alloy case keep the computer cool and alleviate the need for a noisy fan. Customers can select different 3G cellular data options, add an integrated GPS receiver, an optional Smart Card reader, and even opt for a 12.1-inch wide-format touch screen instead of the standard 10.4-inch touch display. This machine will give the Panasonic CF-19 a run for the money. [Read our detailed review of the GETAC V100 -- Posted Thursday, September 27, 2007
Hand Held Products introduces Dolphin 7850 Hand Held Products announced the Dolphin 7850, a Windows Mobile 5.0-based handheld computer purpose- built for scan-intensive environments such as retail and warehousing applications, including inventory and price management, shipping and receiving, order picking, and cross docking. The 7850 is compact (7.1 x 3.3 x 1.4), fairly light (22 ounces) and rugged enough to survive 5-foot drops and earn an IP64 rating. It can be ordered with a variety of scanners and has a powerful battery that can last up to 10 hour even in scn-intensive applications. [See description and specs of the Dolphin 8750] -- Posted Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Europeans not interested in cell phone TV Mobile TV on cellphones and smartphones was supposed to be the next big thing. Now a Gartner study in Europe shows that interest in mobile TV and video downloads is actually very low. Only 5% of the polled Europeans showed any interest in watching TV or video on their cells in the next year. Gartner speculates that the main problem may be the tiny screen size. Then there are all those different business models and technologies, and the extra cost. Interestingly, mobile TV is much more popular in Asian countries where spectrum availability is not an issue. -- Posted Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Full review: Trimble Nomad The TDS Nomad ranks right up there with the best conceived, designed, and most meticulously executed rugged handhelds we've tested over the past 14 years. Its superb industrial design is ergonomic, attractive and functional. The technology is state-of-the-art, and in some areas beyond. The result is an eminently practical, powerful handheld computer that can tackle whatever task it is assigned to. [Read full review of the Trimble Nomad]
-- Posted Friday, September 21, 2007
LXE introduces wearable Windows CE voice computer LXE has substantial experience with wearable and voice activated, enabled and/or controlled computers. The company's HX2 is a small arm- or waist-wearable that's voice enabled, but it still has a display. The new HX3, introduced in September of 2007, does away with the display altogether. It is a completely hands-free voice-operated computer for use with voice-directed logistics applicatons, even if they take places in freezers with temperatures down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. [see description of the rugged LXE HX3 voice computer] -- Posted Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Wacom reworks brand, concentrates on consumers Wacom announced a new brand concept and corporate look to fuel continued growth and broader adoption of its pen tablet technology within the consumer sector as well as expanding the use of pen-based devices for business computing applications. Wacom will aggressively address the consumer market, with a new family of pen tablets, called Bamboo. This new family of pen tablets includes Bamboo, for enhanced productivity and personalized input, as well as Bamboo Fun for those looking to unleash their creative expression. See Wacom Bamboo family highlights. -- Posted Friday, September 14, 2007
Palm Treo 500V - not what we expected Yes, it is a long awaited Windows Mobile 6 device, but it is a Windows Mobile Standard product. That means in the old terminology that it is a Smartphone. That means it is not a Pocket PC and does not have a touch screen�how sad. A second disappointment is that it has been released in Europe before the U.S., but I suppose that is the Palm pattern now as we recall the 700s and 750 releases abroad instead of in their own country. Why? Read [first impressions of the Treo 500v] -- Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007
OQO first to use VIA's new 1.6GHz C7-M processor VIA Technologies announced that OQO is the first manufacturer to ship the 1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor in the latest configurations of the OQO model 02 product line. The higher-speed processor in this update of the OQO model 02 increases the device's performance and enables mobile professionals to enhance anytime/anywhere productivity. In addition to a faster processor, the OQO model 02 update now also supports EVDO Rev. A with data rates of up to 1.4Mbp as well as storage capacity of up to 120GB,. A SSD (solid state drive) option is also available. -- Posted Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The biggest HP iPAQ release yet! What a day. HP returns Apple's serve with a masterful volley of their own: Five new iPAQs (and a whole slew of new iPAQ programs, services and accessories). Read all about the "classic" iPAQ 110 that combines iPAQ style with state-of-the-art technology; the enterprise-oriented iPAQ 210 -- a spiritual successor of the iPAQ 4700 with its big and razor-sharp VGA display; the iPAQ 310 Travel Companion with a large, ultra-hi-res screen and a GPS-optimized processor; and two quad-band/3Q/WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS communicators with either a phone keypad (the iPAQ 610) or a thumbtype keyboard (the iPAQ 910). -- Posted Thursday, September 6, 2007
Apple revamps iPods, adds iPod touch, cuts iPhone price Apple revamped its entire iPod lineup, added a new one, and lowered the price of the iPhone. The little iPod Shuffle comes in new colors, the iPod Nano now has video on a larger and brighter display (4GB $149, 8GB $199), the video iPod becomes the iPod Classic (80GB $249, 160GB $349), and there is a sleek new iPod that looks like the iPhone. The new iPod Touch has a 3.5-inch display, comes with 8 ($299) or 16GB ($399) of memory, has WiFi and does pretty much everything the iPhone does, except making calls. Yes, it even has Safari. The 4GB iPhone is dropped, the price of 8GB iPhone drops from US$599 to US$399. That's good, but rather vexing for those who paid the original price just a couple of months ago. -- Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
New reviews: Zuma and PhatNotes 5 Zuma is a Windows Mobile game that involves shooting epigraphy coated colored balls from the mouth of a swiveling frog that you control in a harried attempt to explode three or more balls of the same color moving along a track before the whole pack reaches the skeleton's mouth, and he swallows them all, and you are defeated in humiliation [see Zuma review]. PhatNotes 5is a word processing powerhouse that allows you to organize your notes hierarchically in a multitude of ways including subject matter, origin or edit dates, color codes, and you can search for content strings across the entire compressed database. The professional version allows synchronization of unlimited note databases between PC and mobile devices. [see PhatNotes 5 review] -- Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
iPhone outsells all other smartphones in the US ISuppli reiterated its forecast that Apple would sell 4.5 million iPhones this year, rising to more than 30 million in 2011. The iPhone sold more than RIM's Blackberry series, the entire Palm portfolio and any individual smartphone model from Motorol or Samsung. In July 2007, its first full month on sale, the iPhone accounted for 1.8 percent of all U.S. mobile handset sales. -- Posted Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Palm dumps Foleo Jeff Hawkins' latest brainchild is dead before it even hit the street. Today Palm CEO Ed Colligan announced they'd pull the plug on the Foleo so because it'd become clear to him "that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts." That statement also seems to affect Palm's offering of Windows Mobile devices, and to that Colligan said, "We will, of course, continue to deliver products in partnership with Microsoft on the Windows Mobile platform, but from our internal platform development perspective, we will focus on only one." So there. [Read Ed Colligan's blog terminating Foleo] -- Posted Tuesday, September 4, 2007
DAP Technologies, a Roper Mobile company, announced the DAP CE3000B, a rugged Windows Mobile 5.0-based handheld that addresses FIPS 201-mandated access security. The CE3000B is specifically billed as a "handheld for security and access control" and includes everything needed to provide immediate identification as security checkpoints and other places where quick, positive identification is essential: both contact and contactless SmartCard readers, fast fingerprint identification, and 1D and 2D barcode reading. [Read description and specs of the DAP CD3000B security access control computer] -- Posted Friday, September 28, 2007
Palm and Sprint introduced the Palm Centro smart device, aimed at individuals and traditional mobile phone users looking for more in a phone and perhaps a better way to manage their professional and social lives. The Palm OS Centro, available for just $99.99 (with the usual service plan requirements), has voice, text, IM, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a full-color touch screen and full thumb-type keyboard, and it comes in onyx black or ruby red. The Centro comes with 64MB of RAM, a microSD slot that can handle 4GB cards, a razor-sharp 320 x 320 pixel display and Bluetooth. [Read our description and commentary on the Palm Centro] -- Posted Thursday, September 27, 2007
The GETAC V100 is a small, lightweight notebook that can either be used as a standard laptop or, by rotating the display, as a Tablet PC slate. Up-to-date technology includes an energy-efficient ultra-low voltage Intel Core Duo processor, a large 120 or 160GB serial ATA hard disk, gigabit Ethernet, fast wireless PAN and WAN implementations, SD Card reader and an integrated camera. The V100 uses advanced thermal design to keep heat buildup at an absolute minimum. Heat pipes and the sturdy aluminum alloy case keep the computer cool and alleviate the need for a noisy fan. Customers can select different 3G cellular data options, add an integrated GPS receiver, an optional Smart Card reader, and even opt for a 12.1-inch wide-format touch screen instead of the standard 10.4-inch touch display. This machine will give the Panasonic CF-19 a run for the money. [
Hand Held Products announced the Dolphin 7850, a Windows Mobile 5.0-based handheld computer purpose- built for scan-intensive environments such as retail and warehousing applications, including inventory and price management, shipping and receiving, order picking, and cross docking. The 7850 is compact (7.1 x 3.3 x 1.4), fairly light (22 ounces) and rugged enough to survive 5-foot drops and earn an IP64 rating. It can be ordered with a variety of scanners and has a powerful battery that can last up to 10 hour even in scn-intensive applications. [
LXE has substantial experience with wearable and voice activated, enabled and/or controlled computers. The company's HX2 is a small arm- or waist-wearable that's voice enabled, but it still has a display. The new HX3, introduced in September of 2007, does away with the display altogether. It is a completely hands-free voice-operated computer for use with voice-directed logistics applicatons, even if they take places in freezers with temperatures down to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. [
Yes, it is a long awaited Windows Mobile 6 device, but it is a Windows Mobile Standard product. That means in the old terminology that it is a Smartphone. That means it is not a Pocket PC and does not have a touch screen�how sad. A second disappointment is that it has been released in Europe before the U.S., but I suppose that is the Palm pattern now as we recall the 700s and 750 releases abroad instead of in their own country. Why? Read [
VIA Technologies announced that OQO is the first manufacturer to ship the 
