Touch Screen Gadget

Treo Pro sales pitch

Posted by sawaru | Category: Mobile Phone, Smartphone

It looks Palm set to announce the Treo Pro today. Not mentioning details specifications , but the email did confirm that the device "features a one-touch Wi-Fi button, GPS, Windows Mobile 6.1 and a high-resolution flush color touchscreen".

After googling , some specifications on the new Treo.

New details on the Treo Pro

• The battery is pretty much confirmed to be a near-unbelievable-for-this-size 1500 mAh.
• The WiFi switch is over on the side and works exactly as you’d like it to
• There is a decidedly non-Treo-esque power button up on the top, which brings the Treo more in line with traditional Windows Mobile devices.

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Typhoon complaints to many touchscreen device manufactures

Posted by sawaru | Category: Trend Watch & News

Typhoon’s complaint alleges that defendants have infringed and continue to infringe its US Patent 5,379,057 issued 3 January, 1995 and entitled “Portable Computer with Touch Screen and Computer System Employing Same,” and US Patent No. 5,675,362 issued October 7, 1997 and entitled “Portable Computer with Touch Screen and Computing System Employing Same."

It launched litigation over the alleged infringements in December 2007 against Dell. Now, Typhoon has added Apple, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, Panasonic, HTC, Palm, Samsung, Nokia and LG Electronics to the list of companies it is litigating against.

“The addition of these defendants is a further step in protecting Typhoon’s IP from being unfairly exploited. Hopefully, the world of potential infringers will take notice that it is the company’s intent to aggressively protect its intellectual property,” said Typhoon’s director of legal affairs and licensing, Hofheimer, Gartlir & Gross lawyer, Craig Weiner.

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Windows Mobile 6.1 improvements

Posted by admin | Category: Smartphone, Windows Mobile

Microsoft recently introduced Windows Mobile 6.1, an upgrade of the Windows Mobile operating system.

It adds new features and capabilities to the previous (6.0) version, enhancing your Web browsing and day-to-day use of Windows Mobile. It also adds new features and capabilities of interest to the enterprise users. This article looks at some of the more important enhancements.

Improved Messaging

Microsoft has made some significant enhancements in the Messaging application. For enterprise users Microsoft added Exchange Auto-Discovery, which makes it easier to set up synchronization with Exchange. Users are now able to download e-mail from all accounts at the same time. Microsoft added auto-complete for e-mail recipients, which makes it easier for users to enter e-mail addresses on small keyboards and touch screens. Also, Windows Mobile 6.1 added the ability to select multiple e-mail items in the list so you can easily delete or move e-mail. Finally, Windows Mobile 6.1 includes optimizing the bandwidth utilization for Exchange, POP3, and IMAP4, which is very important to enterprise wireless data users.

Other enhancements to WM 6.1

A number of enhancements made to Windows Mobile 6.1 are of particular interest:

• Bluetooth headset auto-pairing: Makes it easier to pair your device with standard Bluetooth headsets.
• Bluetooth phone address profile: This enables the transfer of phone book information across phone-enabled Bluetooth devices.
• Network Time (NITZ) Description: Automatically updates the time on a device when it moves into a new time zone or receives a Daylight Savings Time (DST) change from the cellular network.
• Cut, Copy, and Paste capability added to Windows Mobile Standard (non-touch screen) smartphones.
• Enhanced "Getting Started CD" not only contains user-installable versions of Mobile Device Center and ActiveSync, it includes software that helps the user set up their device and an application that makes e-mail setup easier by exporting their Outlook settings from a desktop PC to the Windows Mobile device.

Managing Mobile Devices—System Center Mobile Device Manager

Last fall, Microsoft released a new server to manage Windows Mobile devices called System Center Mobile Device Manager (SCMDM). SCMDM actually adds Windows Mobile Devices to Active Directory and provides group policy management of the device security as well as a separate VPN connection optimized for Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile 6.1 is required to support SCMDM. SCMDM is covered in detail in the Enterprise section on page 55.

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Latest Palm version of Windows Mobile rumor

Posted by admin | Category: Trend Watch & News, Windows Mobile

The second half of 2008 has long been considered a very uncertain period of transition for Palm. The embattled handheld maker will presumably be attempting to tread water on the residual sales of the popular Centro smartphone alongside a handful of new Windows Mobile-powered devices, all while presumably prepping the Nova OS for release sometime in 2009. What exactly Palm’s upcoming Windows Mobile device lineup looks like remains the most pressing question facing the Palm faithful as we kick off the beginning of the summer months with just a small handful of rumors to contend with.

As usual, all of the information presented here combines a great deal of speculation based largely on Palm’s past releases plus a handful of leaked images, specification and online chatter. Of course, we’ve had a few leaked images, roadmaps, and specs over the past year to go on as well. All of the content of this article is essentially speculation and conjecture based on Palm’s traditional device history and should in no way be interpreted as an actual Palm release schedule.

For references purposes, this site has a handy repository of nearly every Palm device ever released with their internal codenames.

Codename: Zeppelin / Possible Product Name: Treo 800w (CDMA) / ETA: July 22

Notes: This fabled device (AKA the "Mercedes Treo" mentioned by Ed Colligan in late ‘06) has been making the rumor rounds for well over a year now and is approaching legendary status. While official specs have been very slow to emerge, the general consensus is that the device will be powered by Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, have a 320×320 recessed touchscreen, a ~400mhz CPU and 128mb of RAM with 256mb of ROM. It should also achieve a series of notable milestones, such as Palm’s first EVDO REV-A handset, Palm’s only GPS-enabled device, and Palm’s first smartphone with integrated wi-fi capabilities. Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and a 2.0megapixel camera round out the hardware specs.

Codename: Otto / Possible Product Name: Treo 500 (GSM) / ETA: Out Now (outside USA)

Notes: Introduced in September 2007, the Treo 500 remains a Europe-only device due to its tri-band GSM radio. The Treo 500 is Palm’s first "outsourced" smartphone with Asus being Palm’s ODM.

Codename: Drucker / Possible Product Name: Treo 800w (GSM) / ETA: July 22/ Q3 ‘08

Notes: Much like how the Centro debuted in domestic CDMA flavor prior to its global launch in GSM guise, a mildly updated GSM version of the 800w that, depending on the source, is schedule to launch simultaneously alongside the CDMA version or possibly later in Q3.

Right now our best bits of information regarding this device are the slides from the leaked Vodafone presentation back in January. This device’s rumored specs are identical to its CDMA brethren, aside from a flush-mounted touchscreen (another first for Palm).

Codename: Wanda / Possible Product Name: Treo 500 Successor (GSM) / ETA: September 2008 (Europe only?)

The "Wanda" is expected to be a minor refresh of the ho-hum Treo 500 that appeared late last year. The main additions to the Wanda’s spec list are integrated GPS functionality as well as much faster 3G HSDPA support.

Codename: Skywriter / Possible Product Name: "Centro-like device running WM 6.1" / ETA: Q3-Q4 ‘08?

Notes: This is a new term previously unpublished prior to Tam Hanna’s announcement last week. Several possibilities exist as to the exact identity of this this mysterious device. The codename "Skywriter" evokes the image of a lightweight, stylish device (ala Centro) designed around text messaging and e-mail. This product’s codename is also strangely reminiscent of the old i705’s "Skywalker" codename.

Finally, a much less likely scenario could have Palm releasing a new higher-end budget device combining the current’s Centro formfactor and touchscreen with the more robust Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS. One advantage of introducing a low-end device under the Centro moniker would be the gain support for 3G GSM networks or EVDO Rev-A, Bluetooth 2.0, Google Maps’ location and/or GPS capabilities and A2DP wireless headphone support, none of which is possible under the aging Garnet OS. However, Palm would be forced to likely offer such a device at higher price than the Garnet-based Centro due to Microsoft’s Windows Mobile licensing costs…unless, of course, Palm and Microsoft have been able to renegotiate their licensing pricing in order to push more WM Pro-based devices to the lower end of the smartphone market.

If Palm could hit the ground running this summer and fall with two 320×320 WM 6.1 smartphones, they would enjoy near-exclusivity in this particular segment (WM 6.1 320×320 touchscreen w/ full QWERTY keyboard) of the market, though a cheaper touchscreen WM Centro could potentially steal sales from the flagship Treo 800w, risking further dilution of the Treo line’s cachet.

[palminfocenter]

Palm OS is going history?

Posted by admin | Category: Smartphone, Trend Watch & News

Recently, an editor from pcworld James A. Martin was talking to an executive at a smart phone software developer. The company had recently released new versions of its software for RIM BlackBerrys, Windows Mobile Smartphones, and other devices–but not for Palm OS smart phones. he asked why.

"It’s a dying platform," she replied, matter-of-factly.

Her reaction wasn’t surprising, given Palm’s long, slow slide from top PDA maker to third-tier smart phone vendor. There’s been uncertainty about the Palm OS’s future for years. Palm Treos running  Windows Mobile became available in January 2006. And Palm has been developing a new, as-of-this-writing-unreleased Linux-based OS for what feels like an eternity.

Still, the software executive’s comment aroused mixed feelings.

In short, he got a strong urge to stray from my Treo  and no doubt many of you have felt similar urges–and even acted upon them.

What You Get

Does that mean it’s time to ditch our Palm devices? Not necessarily. Here are four reasons why Palm OS smart phones are still worth owning.

1. The Treo Touch Screen Isn’t Too ‘Touchy.’ The iPhone/iPod Touch screen is gorgeous, bright, and big, by smart phone standards. But it can be a bit too "touchy." For instance, on my iPod Touch I’ve often clicked accidentally on an e-mail and opened it when I was simply trying to scroll through the list of messages. The more I use the iPod Touch for e-mail, the less it happens, but still, it’s annoying. The iPhone/iPod Touch screen also makes it a bit too easy to accidentally click a link on a Web page. I’ve rarely had these problems with the Treo’s touch screen.

By the way, current BlackBerrys don’t have touch screens, though there have been rumors that a touch-screen BlackBerry is on the way.

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178M Touch Screen Phones to Ship by 2011

Posted by admin | Category: Mobile Phone, Multi Touch, Smartphone, Trend Watch & News

Attendees of last week’s CTIA Wireless event saw major mobile phone makers like Sony Ericcson, Samsung and LG all tout new touch-screen-based devices. By 2011, handset makers will ship some 178 million phones with touch screens according to new predictions from Multimedia Intelligence, a market research firm. Compare that to the "rounding error" touch devices represented in the context of the entire handset market in 207, in which 1.12 billion devices were shipped, and you see a very significant jump.

One major catalyst for this change: Nine months ago, Apple took the entire mobile industry by storm when it released the iPhone. Apple’s first smartphone, based on its innovative and easy to use touch screen user interface (UI), already has made the company the number three smartphone maker in the world based on sales, according to research company Canalys. And it only sells one device, compared to the dozens of devices sold by its rivals, like Nokia and Research In Motion, numbers one and two in the market, currently offer.

Though handsets with touch screens had been available for years from companies like Palm and HTC–Apple even offered a PDA called the Newton throughout the 1990s–none had combined touch screen tech that doesn’t require the use of a stylus with such a simple and innovative UI.

With the iPhone’s success in the market–Canalys says Apple sold some 2.3 million units through Q4 2007–came a huge consumer appetite for touch screen tech, and Apple’s competitors have been quick to try to meet that demand.

Before CTIA, HTC debuted devices like the T-Mobile Wing and Sprint Touch, both of which have touch screens. LG released the touch-based Voyager. Palm’s Pilot and Treo devices, which have been around for years, have all featured touch screens. GPS maker Garmin plans to release a touch-based smartphone. And even BlackBerry-maker RIM is rumored to be working on a touch screen device.

At last week’s show, Sony Ericcson showed off its Windows Mobile-based XPERIA device, which has both a touch screen and a slider keyboard, not unlike the one found on T-Mobile’s popular Sidekick device. Then Samsung surprised the crowds with an iPhone lookalike called the Instinct, which will be available soon from Sprint. And LG showed off the Vu device with its touch screen and AT&T mobile TV support.

And the growing trend won’t likely stop at handset makers. AT&T recently said it would soon staring using Microsoft’s Surface desktop PC, which is users control by touching its large surface touch screen.

Panasonic recently unveiled a digital camera with a touch screen UI

And iSuppli recently predicted that global shipment revenue for cutting-edge touch-screen technologies will rise to $4.4 billion by 2012, up from $2.4 billion in 2006.

[cio]

Android on the run

Posted by admin | Category: Mobile Phone, Smartphone, Software, Trend Watch & News

Where’s Android?

Google’s Android was the star at the mobile industry’s last big conference, February’s Mobile World Congress. Now, during the first week of April, as the industry gears up for CTIA Wireless, its major U.S. event, Android is a no-show. High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), the Taiwan-based maker that says it will roll out an Android phone later this year, will be at the show, but is keeping its Android plans under wraps.

Android is part of the company’s broader strategy to increase its sales and brand recognition in North America. To achieve that, HTC, which has manufactured cellphones and portable devices since 2002 but often sold them under other brands, like Palm ,is launching its first U.S. ad campaign, investing in high-end touch-screen phones, and moving into ultra-mobile computers.

As a founding member of Google’s Open Handset Alliance (OHA), a group of companies dedicated to promoting Android, HTC has been working on the project since last year.

That doesn’t make HTC a shoo-in, however. Other OHA members, including Samsung and LG, are also gunning for the honor of making the first Android-based phone. Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America, believes his firm is still in the lead. "I believe we’ll be first to market. We feel very comfortable in that claim," he says.

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