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Handspring's New Handhelds
miradu2000 writes "Handspring has released even more handhelds to drool over. The Treo 270 is a wireless PDA, with a CSTN color screen! They also have decided to make a new organizer too, dropping their proprietary Springboard slot in favor of SD. The Treo 90 is a color PDA with SD and built in keyboard. Strange as it seems SD I/O will not work with the Treo 90. Full coverage is at TreoCentral.com."
As a generic user? I'm not really sure. The uses are there, waiting, for decent wireless net access that is cheap and universal. Their small enough, that you can easily use them standing up, with a single hand (unlike a laptop, that has to be pulled from the carrying case, and set down). If only it had the net access, checking stocks, looking for a place to eat, etc. all become possible. Maybe even keeping an accurate checkbook with debit cards (the cash register beams IR indicating the amount withdrawn?).
More intriguing for me, are the non-generic uses (they also require wireless networking, but not necessarily internet access). A waitress taking orders on an iPaq instead of a pad of paper. No more wasting paper pulp, or having unreadable orders. The data mining a restaurant could do, knowing exactly what and when something was ordered. The inventory accuracy that might allow.
Or maybe lots of things that you use a clipboard and paperwork for. Too many to name. Brain has stopped working, if this were a normal hour I could think of at least 2 dozen such ideas... I have before. Oh well...
What advantages does the Treo have over the Kyocera SmartPhone? The one that actually has a keypad, and a palm screen when you flip it open.
My wireless-junkie friend tells me that either one is a really bad idea, as you can't upgrade them, no expansion slots, no bluetooth. Your thoughts?
Okay. I've seen lots of new laptops with SD readers, and now handhelds as well.
But I've yet to see a single SD card in use.
What is SD, and why would I use it over, say, any other conventional flash.
Is it actually useful, or something some industry is trying to push?
We each use tools that we most feel comfortable with. Even though I like my Pilot, sometimes I'm still using little sticky notes - mainly because I like pen and paper (although I often regret doing so as some tidbit of info is now floating around my desk somewhere). My wife uses a small notepad in much the same way as I use my PDA - notes, contacts, grocery lists, calendar, etc (though she does eye the PDA display at the local tech store).
But there are a few things to consider before we shrug off a PDA as an overpriced notebook. Collecting and storing data is the main strongpoint to a good PDA, but its small amount of computing power pushes it beyond a notebook.
The search function has been great. Sure, you can flip around a notebook looking for a tidbit of data. But my PDA's search is very quick. It makes short work out of hundreds of entries in several different database / formats.
PDA memory tends to outpace a notebook of the same size / convenience. Not only can I add data at wonton abandon, but if I keep up a regiment of syncing with my desktop - that data is backed up on a regular schedule (and can even be input by a much more comfortable keyboard or copy&paste action). Furthermore, that larger capacity allows one to tote around large amounts of data like dictionaries and e-books with no additional inconvenience (try that with your favorite paperback novel and notepad).
There are tasks that computing alone makes possible. I store account information encrypted with 128bit IDEA. I also have a few applications that kill time when the novel just doesn't quite work out (variations of Risk and Reversi to name two).
Sure, not everyone will find a PDA to their liking. And there were certainly simular devices before the PDA (consider Franklin who's pricy organizer products and systems now offer variations that include Franklin PDA applications and a compartment for a PDA). But nonetheless, PDAs are considerably more usefull than their critics often credit them to be.