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Ideal PDA Feature Wishlist?
RichiP asks: "My memory is so poor I forget friends' birthdays and appointments I made a day ago. I sometimes have an idea I want to jot down but that I end up forgetting when I finally come upon pen & paper. To help myself, I was thinking of purchasing one of those integrated PDA and cellphone devices (first the Handspring Treo then another by Samsung), but I've always felt that these devices were still far from ideal. I was wondering if the Slashdot community would share their wishlist of features for what they believe would be the ideal Personal Digital Assistant. Features for input, processing and output are all welcome. Perhaps the device I want may be years from becoming commercial. Given the right ideas from input from others, I might be able to come up with my own device or start an open project geared towards it." Even if you do feel that PDAs have a limited lifespan, if you had a chance to add a feature to a PDA (especially if you felt it would increase the lifespan of the PDA), what would it be?
(just summarizing here)
1] Longer battery life
2] An actual keyboard (or a stylus that works)
3] Upgrade-able software
4] Lots, LOTS of memory
5] Ofcourse, the ability to run in a Beowulf cluster...
A WiFI antennae. I've never heard of one being in a pda. Isn't it time to consider the posibility? I mean, granted, I'd just use it for email and slight telcom purposes.... but... I'd like 'em fast! ;)
Which is why i bought a Psion series 5. All the features the others have and a truly usable keyboard.
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
Get a compaq ipaq handheld, and put linux on it, there is no stopping the upgrading there.
The first company to add voice recognition to a PDA to allow hands free operation, will grab huge marketshare. This will be the killer app of the PDA
would be my first (snicker) suggestion :)
Bitch you KNOW the side.. WORLD MAFUCKIN WIDE..
I have seen too man scratched screens over the years. I would like to see some kind of integrated, and replacable, screen protector.
What do you know I wrote a novel
a pocket pussy! great if you're single!
also great if you're on a hot date that's going to get steamier and you're afraid that you're going to blow your wad too soon. just excuse yourself and go to the bathroom
You clearly stated that your needs where to keep track of appointments and write notes. You could probably also use the contacts information. The Visor and Palm do all of these tasks exceptionally.
Why don't you just say what you really want? A GameBoy Advance combined with a Palm, combined with a cell phone with unlimited wireless service for $5/month.
This is another BS Ask Slashdot, asked simply to get the poster's name on the front page. Cliff you are a screw-up.
P.S. If you are really forgetting appointments 24 hours after the fact, a PDA will only weaken your memory by making you even more lazy.
I hate typing stuff in, and I hate writing stuff down. All I want to do is say "Cowboy Neal; Birthday; 25 December 1997" and a new entry for cowboy neal is added if it doesn't already exist and the birthdate is added.
404 Not Found The requested signature was not found on this server.
It seems like I've been hearing about fuel cells in portable electronic devices being around the corner for years now...although I wonder how that would work out for travelers (having a flammable liquid on board a plane).In any case, I certainly think long battery life is key to any ideal device.
remember, no matter where you go, there you are
I'm a photographer, so the perfect PDA would have the USB and Ethernet built in. USB would allow interfacing between cameras and the PDA, and between the PDA and an external hard drive. Ethernet would allow connectivity to any network, and to my home or office networks. Oh yeah, and the PDA wouldn't run Windows.
I had a Vtech Helio for a while and the idea of taking voice memos when your in the car or walking on a trail or whatever while you remember something your supposed to do is pretty cool. I'd be happy if I could turn those voice memos into text memos for later editing and inserting into the right PDA applications - it wouldn't have to be realtime. If the text didn't make sense, it should be able to point to the sound file memory and I could listen to it myself.
I want them dirt-cheap and mass-produced, like calculators.
Only thing I'd like the PDA to do is perhaps call the numbers, and sync up better with some database that I can use on my computer. I'd also love to see a Date Book/Database thing. Something where I can keep track of people who owe me money and stuff (as I am a private teacher).
But, those are minor. The size of the device is what is important. I've looked at the Treos and they are interesting, but too big.
So, I'll stay with my palm for a while.....till it dies or something....
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
What's wrong with a pocket sized notepad and pencil?
Seriously, as someone who used to carry a PDA around all the time (i did my university notes on a newton), I'd have to say that pencil and paper are going to beat the crap out of PDAs. The only thing that could change my mind would be a pda with integrated wireless networking, monster long battery life, and made of something flexible so I don't worry about crushing it all the time.
For me, it would need to have a seperate fold-out keyboard and be capable of running vim with 80 columns of visible colored text. Obviously for writing code anywhere.
-metric
Tele-dildonics for your PDA :P
For those of us who run businesses, it'd be great to have a TINY printer that could attach directly to my PDA. Then I could use it to print out stickers for pricetags, barcodes, etc...
Also I could use it to print out stickers w/ people's names, addresses and tel. no's and I can stick them onto cards and place them in my rolodex... also for retun address or sending address labels, etc.
I know you're all thinking - "why don't you just sync your PDA to a PC and THEN print out labels..."
Well - my wish is to eliminate that step... so I want a TINY printer for my PDA.
[Connection closed by foreign host]
for all those MP3s. Imagine if the iPod were more of a PDA (with cell phone)???
Linux on the Ipaq rocks, except for one major thing; without ubiquitous wireless internet, its just a feature-rich Palm Pilot. When you can get wireless network access in the same fashion as cell phone access, the value of Unix-based pda's will take off. cell-modems are fine I guess, but I have yet to come across a well-intergrated package. I am usually stuck with specific cell phone, modem cards and cables to provision my wireless access, nevermind the per-minute fees I pay to my cell provider.
It needs to have a basic unix shell, and be POSIX compliant.
It needs to have a nice, backlit screen, preferably with color.
It should have a distinct, elegant, and logical OS.
It should come with a way of downloading a website and all links off the website, and all links off the sub websites. Obviously, there are some sites out there that this wouldn't work on due to size constraints, but being able to download a ton of technical documentation for later review would be key.
It should be able to synch with Macs, Windows, and any given unix out there.
It should play video games at least as well as the original gameboy.
A bigger screen. Not 800x600 or anything, but 320x480 (color) or so.
Built in 802.11b.
Windows CE.
Microphone, Speaker.
If someone actually knows of someone who sells something like this, please let me know!
I want one of those 3d girls.
and force feedback
That's it.
1;
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Sometime ago i've been looking for a PDA to buy too. First I take a look in all manufacturers, aparently the best ones is Compaq, and Toshiba. ;)
Compaq has a lot of expansion, but they are too expensive, and if you want a pcmcia slot, you can't have a compact flash slot, and in almost all features, if you want one, you have to forget other.
Toshiba has something better, but they forgot the pcmcia slot (this makes any PDA very cool, just connect and pcmcia IDE adapter and attach a big disk, listen thousands of mp3 in your car and wherever you want), but they attached built in an 802.11b adapter, and a bluetooth, often an compact flash card.
The processors in all versions are even better then we need, but with Pocket PC 2002 you can't forget it
There is just one thing almost all them forget, its comm ports(no PDA has even an USB port without the docking station) and this make all the use of its power restrict to what the manufacturer wants.
For me it's seems this tech is so recent and i'll wait for at last one year for buy one.
The best way to prolong the lifespan of a PDA is for it to act as a server. It can then play a central role in managing your activities, and share that information to your other systems, Home PC, Work PC, whatever. You would of course need internet access on the PDA, so something like UMTS is necessary. To communicate with nearby devices you can use bluetooth.
:-)
You can add storage space to the PDA, or let it get to your storage through the net. Anyone for streaming audio from your own MP3 collection?
Imagine this scenario: You go into a meeting with just your PDA. You worked on some paper on your PC, and now access it through the net and distribute it to the PDA's of your co-workers using bluetooth. This can work with todays technology! Just convince your boss to buy you all a nice ipaq/zaurus
You would of course have to run linux, as it is the only OS available on PDA's that is actually capable of this. Windows CE was never designed to do this stuff.
is that as far as memory goes, 640K ought to be enough for anyone.
today is spelling optional day.
WiFi Bluetooth (sorry!) Integrated keyboard (zaurus stylee) Fast Processor (500 mhz ish) Flash Memory (lots!) Compact Flash slot SD slot Colour screen (IPaq's is good enough) Good battery life Thats it :-)
I'm waiting for HP to cross the Jornada 720 with the iPaq. Bright, good battery and great keyboard.
... what you need is a $.49 memo pad and pencil.
Sheesh.
- Steve
The sony clie kicks ass - palm os, keyboard, mp3 et, but it would be better with a hard drive, about 20gb should be cool, for an mp3 dukebox
linux pda.
This is the ultimate combination of a PDA/Cellphone that runs on the GPRS/GSM(others, depending on where in the world that you live) system. I suggest you take a look at them on www.rim.net !!!! Cheers from Canada, eh!? =:)
C is for cookie... C++ means I get 2... right? Steve "TheWebMan"
... should really be a hand-held computer.
640x480 screen, extensible (by yanking it out) to 800x640
Integrated pinhole camera
Runs Linux (duh), w/compile-on-PDA
64 megs operational memory, as-much-as-it-can-take storage memory
Grafitti or similar writing system, with add-on keyboard (a la GoType)
IrDA access
Extension capability via high-speed, low pinout interfaces (more than one).
Battery lasts for about three weeks under heavy usage.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
City-wide flat-rate wireless internet access with real web browsing at a 640x480 minimum resolution.
There is so much I could do if I had a web browser in my pocket all the time, and I wasn't nickled and dimed for using it.
I love my PDA, the only thing I can complain about is it size and lack of durability. I either leave it at home because it doesn't fit anywhere or I crush it when I sit/twist/walk. If it was small, perhap implantable (direct neural link) or something that strapped to my arm that is translucent, light, and durable enough to go where I go (ditch digging, ambulance rescue, automotive mechnics,etc). That would be a good start for my PDA.
At the top of my wish list, is a cell phone with the following features:
;-)
1) MP3 player functionality, with 256MB flash memory and USB interface, mountable as a hard drive.
2) Infrared/802.11/Bluetooth modem support, plug & play with any laptop computer, log on from anywhere. (No need to cram a web browser onto the cell display itself.)
3) Ability to make calls over cell network, cordless landline, or internet, at will.
4) GPS/navigational functionality.
5) Last but not least, optional laser engraving for a paltry additional $49, of course. (Do-it-yourself paperclip engraving is just so five-seconds-ago.
Maybe Apple's next Digital Device will be something like this. I have a Powerbook G4, and it's surprisingly difficult to find a workable log-on-from-anywhere solution.
Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
1. Normal PDA screen with builtin projector for the large wall output if required.
2. ability to play dvds and write dvdrs
3. huge hard disk capacity.
4. palmpilot form factor
5. 1-2 months battery life.
6. gigabytes of memory.
7. 2 x 64 bit x86 backward compatible cpus (like amds hammer).
8. DX9 and OGL 2.0 fully compliant graphics processor.
9. 1600 x 1200 min res on the internal LCD with 4kx4k output on the projector with touch sensitivity on the internal lcd.
10. ungodly cheap price (like $99.95).
oh well, it is a wishlist.
DAB would be useful, robust radio reception, EPG's and the dataservices for travel, news.
MRAM - gobs of it (>2GB)
XScale
small (less than 0.5 inch thick)
weight (less than 5 oz)
High res screen
Bluetooth
WiFi
PalmOS (w/ability to replace w/Debian, if desired)
MMC/SD
High Quality Headphone jack
USB2
Long Battery life
My Samsung 8500 has a feature that lets you record voice memos. You just flip open the phone and press the memo button on the side while you talk. It automagically puts date / timestamp on it, or, if you have the time, lets you type a quick note (which is fairly easy with the "t9" word prediction software. Sounds like just what you need.
Michael C. Hollinger
I want a good keyboard... And I want a good sync mechanism. Wireless ofcourse. And the PDA should have a proper multitasking OS, like EPOC for example.
Ever tried to keep a Psion 5MX, a Palm 3c and a Nokia 6210 in sync? Don't even bother to hook it up to the shared outlook calender and contact folders at the office. Too many times the programs that are "supposed" to work f*ck up.
Don't forget that the above mentioned PDA's/phones are my tools. I want to _USE_ them, I don't want to tinker/play with them all day.
On 2nd thought, maybe the new Nokia 9290 series is the way to go. It is at this moment the only alternative with a keyboard. And that is what I need for fast data entry..
- At least a GB of nonvolatile memory (why is it that my digital camera can accept a microdrive but most PDAs can't?)
- 802.11
- Firewire
- MP3 player
- Color screen with MPEG-4 player
- Microphone for voice recording to MP3, preferably with voice recognition but could be downloaded to desktop PC for VR later.
- Wireless short text messaging/email with ability to use its wireless modem from a computer when I need a bigger screen
- Microsloth-free
I guess what I'm looking for is the bastard child of a Newton and an iPod with a few extra bells and whistles.for ease of use without a stylus and storage. 1 part Nikon D-1x, for taking pix when I see them without dragging out a camera. 1 part Newton, for when I want to use a stylus, and 1 part Gameboy. For those long meetings when it looks like I'm taking notes. Tat, and 100% compatibility with a variety of Office suites and wireless ethernet would be blissful
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
1) Small or integrated power cable. This is much more important than battery life. If you can build in a transformer that's so small i'm not embarassed to unwind it, there's really no need for battery life above 6 hours. I'm always at least 4 hours from a wall outlet or cigarette lighter.
:)
2) Off-processor or otherwise more efficient multimedia processing. This would allow for a slower, cooler CPU to conserve batery life when not playing mp3s, movies or fancy shmancy games.
3) Full access to the hardware via a standardized API (either CE, Pocket PC or PocketLinux).
4) A microphone jack. Give me a mic jack and a wireless CF card with the ability to log into a GSM cell system and i've already got my cell phone.
5) Seperate peripheral and memory slots. The new Toshiba unit goes a step further than this, with seperate "Secure" digital memory and compactflash peripheral slots, as well as a built in 802.11b slot. That's what I want.
6) Built in "cradle." That is, I'd like a USB / firewire port on the unit and a USB slot on the machine, so that I can use quality, inexpensive USB cable and not the expensive proprietary stuff. If I could draw power from the line to charge up, it's an added plus.
7) 802.11b. Then I won't need a cradle at all
For my money, that new Tosh Pocket PC unit is close to perfect. It may offend you "pad & pencil" palm folks and you linux lovers to hear this, but the CE OS is very mature, has a ton of apps, is easy to develop for without heavy licensing costs (even if it is for the evil empire), and has so many genuine choices on the market, eg machines with very different hardware for people with different uses.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
cos making money certainly isnt a priority
Handspring Posts Loss, Stock Tumbles
Palm 3Q loss narrows
maybe people should choose a company that will be around for a while as its not gonna be long until we see them on here
unless losing is their new winning strategy
340*480 Color LCD
QWERTY Keyboard
Blackberry-style scroll wheel
>128MB Flash memory
PCMCIA slot
USB connector
Max 3.5"W * 6"H * 1"D dimentions (approx same size as a thick checkbook)
Integraded wireless (data + voice)
Headphone jack
Stereo sound
mp3 audio / mpeg video
TV-out
slashdot.org
Work as a cell phone
Wireless Internet / Email access
Simple database to track lists
Encrypted data vault for PIN's
Synchronize data with computer
USB 2.0 port
Smart Memory port that will use generic SmartMedia
How about a PCMCIA port?
Infrared
Security feature that can't be bypassed with factory tools
A longer stylus. Have two pieces that screw togethor and it would fit
A belt clip, I don't always have a coat to put it in
A vibrate feature for alarms and incoming calls
Color! It's not a grayscale world
Headphone jack for MP3's.
1) 22" LCD screen with a fast enough refresh to play games without the motion blur.
2) dual athlon mp 2g or faster ideally. also, these should allow for future upgrades if need be.
3) a full sized ergonomic keyboard
4) full dolby 5.1 surround sound and subs
5) as a base I would want around 80gigs of storage, but again, it would be nice to have the ability to upgrade that or add on.
6) a bare minimum of a half gig of RAM, but ideall a gig or two. and again, this should allow upgrades or additions.
7) that LCD needs to have millions of colors and have something along the lines of a GeForce 4600 driving it. again, when there becomes a faster version, I want that, so I need to be able to swap them.
8) a very rounded case, that is so shiny I can see my face in it. think like the Nokia 8860.
9) it has to be very light. I don't want to notice that I have this thing with me
10) it should be bulletproof. I tend to keep them in my shirt pocket or inside picket of my jacket in the winter and I want this thing to be able to stop any shots taken at me.
11) in regards to #10, I would recommend Titanium
12) money is no object, but it should cost less than $200.
that would be my ideal PDA.
oh, and it should have some sort of integrated pointing device that is also shiny.
eventually, I want it to be able to translate langauges on the fly, download things off of a wireless connection, read my mind, and create a neural net of my life experiences and sayings as time passes and eventually allow me to use it as my brain.
ideally.
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
I'd love a service that continously looks for better interest rates for my cards, and gives me a one-click option for transferring my burdonesome debt to those cards. A service like that could probably make a tidy profit while still saving idiots like me a lot of money.
...you should. Even though there's a lot to be improved in a standard Palm or comparable PDA, and in another decade we'll laugh at them, they still kick butt. I got a Palm VII a few years ago, my first PDA, and after just a day was wondering how I'd ever survived before. The handwriting recognition works fine (not perfect, but good enough), and the easy synching with my desktop address book, calendar, and to do lists made life 100% better. If you're already experienced with these and are truly looking for the Next Big Thing, then OK fine. But if you just want to get organized, current generation PDA's kick the shit out of pencil and paper. JMHO
-- We all have enough strength to endure the misfortunes of other people. La Rochefoucauld
So far, I bought half a dozen models and nothing seems to work well for me.
- PalmOS: forget it. I can not learn graffiti. the screen is too small, the system is obviously for geeks. No wireless, why do I need a cell phone + this thing.
- PocketPC: sweet screen, nice apps, but battery last for half a day and it's too heavy, too bulky. No wireless integrated. Too expensive.
- Sony picture book: almost great, but too big and keyboard is not practical. Almost all the cons of a PDA and a laptop together.
- My Cell phone (Nokia): it does the job. Appointment, phone directory, voice recognition (to call my friends), decent battery. wireless. Strongly build (fell many times, still works)
Why would I need a pda, when I get so much more out of a cell phone that cost only $29 a month. And if I need to play games, I still can get a GBA (but not carry it all the time.)
PPA, the girl next door.
-- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
ipaq lammahs... The only choice is the Sharp Zaurus!
What's the big deal with pdas? Why not just get a laptop? Vaios are pretty small/light. Is it the fit in the pocket thing?
The pefect PDA would replace my phone as well. It would also have a GPS system with maps. Also, the PDA should have translation software with verb conjugation (spanish / english, Spanish / French, etc..) Naturally, it should have wireless internet, calander email and all the normal stuff, as well, as some secure remote access VPN type connectivity. Another important thing would be instant messaging.
in addition to the features mentioned above, the battery life of these things also needs to be massively improved.
I wonder how far away this device is. I've been thinking we could be ther in a year or so for the past 5 years..
-- -- Warning. Do not stare directly at the sun.
I had a Kyocera QPC-6035 SmartPhone. This is a Sprint PCS based Palm Pilot basically. I got mine for basically the same reasons you want yours: my life was getting very busy and I was beginning to forget things.
Pluses of the Unit:
1. Runs any software a Palm will.
2. Can sync with your PIM computer software (Outlook, etc).
3. Has a much better battery life then most other smaller wireless phones.
Minuses:
1. Size. Didn't bother me at first, but after awhile really started to drag. I found myself not bringing it with my all of the time, especially when I was not working and didn't want a brick hanging off of my belt.
2. I didn't like the way address book scrolling worked. Seemed to take too long to pull up a number.
3. Was too distracting to work while driving.
I am now convinced it is going to take some kind of paradigm shift before an integrated phone/PDA will make it way back into my life. I;ve since switched back to my Samsung SCH-8500, which is easily the best phone I've ever owned.
I still don't have a PDA, but I have a phone, that's the most important thing. If there as a hand held device with phone that ran linux/kde... I don't know if that would still be a 'PDA', basically a hand held computer with built in phone. Should be some way of connecting a portable keyboard of some kind with full size keys, and should sell for less than $750. That would be both cool enough and useful enough to actually want.
i've been lucky enough to test out the mm02 / xda pocket pc phone. it's sooo sweet. o2. as i read the features here, i think this is *the* pda. i have a 256 mb sd card, it plays full screen video, macromedia flash, i play mp3s, wmas, real content. i access the web, get email, sms, instant message and since it's sd, i can use 802.11 and bluetooth when those cards come out. let's see what else, it's gsm / gprs, which has been great in all the cities i've visited. this might be it.
For a second there, I read "My memory is so poor I forget friends" :
"Hello, Cliff!"
"Oh hi, eh..." (quickly glances at PDA) "Hemos."
Well I though it was funny...
No sig to see here. Move along.
i have a visor dlx, an eyemodule, and a backup module. Before i bought my PDA i was just like you. (forgetting names, addreses, taks, memos, etc.) but after i bouhgt one thigs became more clear. I'm planning to buy the visorphone module from handspring. The link below is the visorphone page from handspring: http://www.handspring.com/products/visorphone/inde x.jhtml
cheers,
KeelSpawn
http://www.palmzone.net
... in the palm of my hand!
...or read/compose your e-mail, or browse Avantgo-synced web pages, or wireless access to the 'net, or play games while you wait somewhere, or listen to MP3s, or watch DivX-encoded movies, or any number of modern conveniences.
Maybe you think we should get rid of the automobile too and go back to horse and carriage. Long battery life necessary? Go Palm. Wireless access? Get a wireless Palm. Crushable? Give me a break, you'll be waiting 50 years for something like that.
If your memormy is so bad, you might find building your own PDA a bit of a challege.
.. ugh, this is tough.
... let's seee... add tinfoil strip to connect the USB2 port.. or wait maybe that was firewire. damn memory.. now where did I put that universally vendor-accepted handheld operating system?
- Do your part to help conserve disk space, shorten your si
to be able to change that dead battery by yourself?
It seems that battery from my iPaq is dead. And of course this has to happen just after my warranty period.. And now I have to wonder where on earth I could get that thing fixed (and on what price?).
Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
"Beat up Martin"
:D
but the Newton says:
"Eat up Martha"
I'll stick with Graffiti, thanks.
You can download the QNX on ipaq platform (for 36xx and 37xx series only) at
http://www.qnx.com/developer/download/free/
Note that the docs were wrong --- 31xx series is NOT supported yet.
...KEEP OF THE HERB!!!
Your memory returns after a while, and ffs even my £99 moby [cellphone] keeps appointments.
Eros my man, you hit the nail nail on the head there alright...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There is a prototype called Mipad that does exactly this!
download and unzip the video from the mipad link
I could only find a zipped copy of the video, but its worth watching.
The ability to tell it something, voiced, and have it remind me about it later. I want to be able to add timer/alarm based voice recordings. It does not need to parse the entire language... just certain key words.
:P
Remind me to walk the dog every day at 6pm.
REMIND ME TO (intro keyword, start listening)
"walk the dog" recorded verbatim, played back when the timer goes off.
EVERY DAY AT 6PM (parsed into an alarm)
It should be able to handle many kinds of timers and alarms:
Remind me to go home you workaholic every weekday at 6pm.
Remind me to check for a new mozilla version next Tuesday.
Remind me to buy mom a birthday card on September 1st.
Remind me to call my brother every Easter.
Remind me to check the pizza in 10 minutes.
Remind me to check my heart rate every 5 minutes for one hour.
That's all I want. I could care less about every other feature on a stupid PDA... I do not use them. All I need is someting to remind me of things, quickly and easily. A small LCD screen to review reminders, or possibly an IR port (or bluetooth) instead and some PC software.
It would not need to parse quickly... it could take up to a minute to process the speech. It could confirm that it has successfully added by beeping or vibrating for a second... confused parsing or incorrect parsing would cause it to beep or vibrate several times to get your attention.
Power needs would be quite low... the thing could probably go weeks or months on a single charge. I have a Casio Voice-Recording watch that I have not had to change batteries for yet, and it's over a year and a half old. Only parsing a new recording would tax its batteries.
That is my killer feature. When something can do that for me, I will be on it in a hot second. And if someone patents it and sits on it, I'm gonna be suing for prior art, the b**ches.
"I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
Would be nice for in my turbo Renault sport, which I bought from an old woman who drove only to the supermarket once a week :P
Well, judging from all of the replies I read here so far the future of PDA's is bleak indeed if these are the kind of people designng the next wave of PDA's/cell phones/mp3 players - in fact judging by "progress" made so far they must be one and the same.
What I want in a PDA is a more modular collection of pieces that can each connect with each other - perhaps physically, perhaps wirelessly.
So, rather than have a PDA that can play MP3's but has too smal a storage area (less than 5mb) to be really useful, a digital camera that sucks, and marginal phone built into a clumsy to operate hand unit - I'd like a storage device (700 GB plus please) I can keep in my pocket or piggyback on a real phone (perhaps something built into a battery pack) that services a range of devices I might have on me - A very lightweight PDA (half the width of the palm V) that is basically there to access and manage the storage and run programs stored there, a great 300 megapixel digital camera that also uses the storage device, and whatever other intresting things I can thing of talking to each other (like a shirt with a built in flexible display that mirrors the most recent picture taken ).
Oh, and each individual device had best have a battery life of a month or more, or forget about it.
Note that what I'm talking about sounds like the whole wearable concept, but I'm more about leaving devices in a form factor that suits us than trying to work out how to embed a camera in my forehead.
If you wanted some advice for what to get now, get a Palm V (or at least that form factor) if you are actually going to use it and some other sort of PDA if you'd rather get a toy you'll likley discard in under a year.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Not just the mono voice mic; the PDA should have quality a-d converters and a stereo mic jack capable of mic or line level input, similar to a quality stereo cassette walkman. That and a fast cpu should make it possible to record live music to the internal flash card in MP3 or Ogg format.
I want all my favorite electronic gadgets put together into something that will fit in my pocket, last for weeks on battery power, without sacrificing quality, speed, features, comfort, or cost. Oh yes, it has to be simple to use and of course not be made exclusively by Microsoft.
I think that about sums up all the comments.
Kinda like the guy in this movie?
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
Ultimate PDA for me will have no memory it will be more like a wireless screen of my computer. I will have sometype of VNC over a Wi-fi LAN where I will manipulate information of my computer from my PDA.
No needs for upgrades, unless is a physical upgrade (larger display) and yeah the voice app sound cool too. You will have it as accessories.
The JZA
I strongly suggest going for the most permanent and personal medium possible -- tattoo important information on yourself.
Doing that worked well for Leonard Shelby
Seriously, if you can't remember trivial information for even a short period of time, you should get yourself checked out.
Well, not really a PDA, but does everything like a PDA. OQO Thingy I know /. had a long discusion about this toy, but because oqo is a three letter word, the slashdot search engine doesnt index it. Anyway, back to the OQO, if this doesn't become vaporware, it might be worth it. Check out the site. (not a plug)
--sig fault--
I want a device that probably can be described as a "SSH-terminal".
"Why?" you ask? Well, I can do everything I want to do on the servers on wich I have accounts, I just need to be able to connect to them wherever I am.
This way I also do not have to worry about connecting my PDA for transfer of files, dock:ing it to my PC or similar.
Am I the only one with this kind of need?
I've learned all I know about politics from
i would like a AM/FM radio module, an eyemodule (or any other camera compatible with the springboard) that has infra-red "see in the dark" function, an adapter for use of mutiple modules.
http://www.palmzone.net
Lithium Ion batteries. My Palm M100 ate regular batteries like crazy.
An episode of Earth: Final Conflict (efc.com). See the thing they have called a global? That's what I want. Without the locator chip of course.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
PPC based
12.5 mm / 0.5 in. thick, 3.5 in. x 5 in.
Titanium alloy shell (more interior room, durable)
128 Meg (optionally 512 Meg) of battery backed memory (better would be ferro-eletric non volitile RAM)
2 week battery life in normal use (recharger / sync cradle)
built in 802.11a/b (quad internal planer antennas with diversity receiver)
runs Mac OS X or Linux or ... based on flash personality module (compact flash, or use a microdrive)
Firewire connection for sync / transfers and add-ons
low power (bluetooth isn't low enough yet) wireless for keypad/trackpad
trackpad built into the protective cover
water resistant to 30 meters
high efficiency backlight
128 bits per pixel (((12Y,8U,8V)+32Z)x2)+8A, 216 pixels per inch
3 in by 4.5 in. touch screen display. Hardware zoom if optional memory installed.
normal 16Meg video memory, 256Meg optional (with power save for unused memory)
stereo audio, in and out
builtin MP3 (or better) compression
builtin camera (640x480) with MPEG 4 or better compression
IR transciever (for making really cool remotes or mundanely to print items)
Linux open source drivers from the maker for all built-ins.
low power dsp to enhance voice recognition and graphics (or a fast enough main processor)
price tag under $1000
Except for the pricetag and the battery life, this device could be built today. And the battery life could be accomadated perhaps by a butane or alcohol fuel cell, but heck even if the battery life was 36 hours of normal use, I'd bite. And, if the ferro-electric memory were used there is potential for lower power usage over all (no current needed while device is "off") but even though it has been around a while, little money is spent on the research for ferro-electric memory in comparision to mainstream memory technologies. (note: despite the name, no iron is involved, it just harkens to the days of magnetic donuts). And, you might have to make a ceramic over metal plate substrate with the chips directly wirebonded on it to make the density and heat disappation requirements with current technology.
Similarly a mechanic once answered the question "How fast can you make it go?" with "How much money do you have."
- Tjp
I am in wallow with my inner money grubbing capitalistic pig. ... Oink!
An MEMD direct-to-retina interface built in to my glasses
A small processor unit that I can clip anywhere you'd put a gun holster that I never have to directly touch
A small speaker intergrated into said glasses and a mic built into my watch/neck chain/whatever
A text interface where I can make my right hand as if I'm holding a pen and "write" on my left open palm as input
Retina-tracking with said glasses to control the functions of the thing (you can get it for a videocamera, why not a PDA?)
A built-in GSM/GPRS/CDMA phone
Wi-Fi
All of the above wirelessly linked
So basically I want a wearable computer. All of the above are currently available in some for or another (excpet maybe the input), so all we need to do is drop the price from fourty grand downwards...
Cue The Sun...
Two words
Handera 330
...a cel phone jamming field.
if i'm a grammar nazi, you're an illiteracy nazi.
I need a pda (software/hardware) that can replace the need to have a cal. like the Ti89/ti92 etc.
Might be a java version of maple command line ?
There will be alot of users there, most on my university have bought cal. for +200$(in denmark so might be too must) so there are a huge users market.
One might ask why not just user a Laptop, but thats just too big and overkill for most user.
As a previous /. poster already stated, it must have a unlimited internet access plan, seperate from the cell phone usage.
If the Treo would use a standard voice plan and a internet access setup like Palm's, the device would be pretty killer. As it stands now though, you must use your voice minutes to do simple tasks like checkemail.
Even though it's Wince based, this has the general characteristics of a perfect PDA, minus the necessary keyboard, which will soon be available:
http://www.voicestream.com/pocketpc/default.asp
Live web cams
I want my device to record my whole day. When I say something it is recorded. When you say something it is recorded. It will be like having a transcript of everything and everyone that has touched my life. My pda actually streams my daily blog to my home computer's 1 petabyte hard drive.
My pda's basic organizational structure is based on its bookmarking feature. At any point while my pda is running, merrily recording my ambient life, i can invoke the bookmark command. The bookmark command basically creates a timestamped bookmark for that point in time. The bookmark allows me to playback the recording (or perhaps a structured transcript) as of the time when the bookmark was created.
So what is it good for? First it really does act like a memory extension to yourself. Second, it functions a little like a truth machine: because you've created an audit trail of your conversations, you don't really need contracts: you can shake hands. If someone lies, you can prove it. But perhaps its most important feature is that it protects you: if someone jumps you, you've recorded it, and you can proabably find the person and prosecute. Or if the cop pulled you over, you can be sure he will behave because he knows you are recording ..
The technology behind this is not all that far fetched. Here's the infrastructure you need:
Okay, this stuff would be a little wacky. But so what? It could be fun .. ;-)
If you find the idea agreeable, talk to me about starting a project: I'd like to help
1. Speed
2. Basic apps, calendar, contact list, notepad, maybe a todo list.
3. Anticipation of what I want to do, as in, make all the function keys do the right thing.
4. A *real* keyboard ala Zaurus.
5. A QA team who actually uses PDAs in real life.
Of all the above, 5 is the most important.
What is with your use of decimal? Hexadecimal is clearly more interesting. Or if not that something like balanced ternary. Decimal will be unheard of in the near future, so stop using it.
For what's on the market now, definatley go for the Palm V. I've had mine for about three years and have had no problems with the thing. Now if I could just get it to Bluetooth-talk with my mobile and my headset then I'd be set until somthing revolutionary comes out
Cue The Sun...
No bigger than a credit card. Fits in your wallet. 'nuff said.
I'm curious why you use decimal here. Do you understand the concept of number bases? If you did, you would probably use hexadecimal. But it is more likely that you are too stupid to comprehend number bases and thus unable to deal with anything except decimal.
Bluetooth (built in)
802.11a/b (built in)
ethernet (built in)
2 compact flash slots
SD/MMC/memory stick slot (yes, works with all 3)
headphone 1/8" jack (steero)
IR 4mpbs (but compatiable with most remotes)
mic and external mic 1/8" jack
non-blocking input buttons
mini-USB connector
mini-firewire connector
no keyboard (that's right, skip it)
color (min. 65k)
hi-density pixel resolution (VGA minimum)
battery life (24hrs continuous usage; 3 days ave.)
recharge via USB and include a spring wound dyno.
tilt, temp and baro. sensors
accessories:
wireless (bluetooth) steero head phones
throat mount voice pickup (again bluetooth)
quality foldable keyboard (again bluetooth)
solar charger/spring wound dyno.
wireless (bluetooth) camera
Had a Visor Prism, got a Sony Clié when it broke. The hi-res color screen and keyboard are nice. It takes a memory stick, so transferring pics from a Sony digital camera is a non-issue. The only other thing I want is an 802.11b adapter. They make them for CompactFlash, but not Memory Stick :(
Although, by the time it becomes as lightweight and almost as small as a few times the size of a PDA it may not be referred to as a laptop anymore, unless it has a 13"+ display. I'd love to have a fully functional computer which has Internet access and phone communication capabilties. Have the hardware in my pants or underneath my shirt, keyboard in my pocket, headset on my head. Bah...I'm completely morphing the initial idea into my cyborg dream, although, I could expan upon the dream, but, you get the idea.
If you're religishitty, KILL YOURSELF!
I always thought it would be cool if an integrated cellphone/pda had a little clip-on device with a speaker and a microphone. The device would be very minimal, about the dimensions of a memory stick, and communicate with the pda via short-range rf. The pda could be used for typical pda functions, storing phone numbers, and web browsing, while the clip-on would be used for talking. You wouldn't be stuck with a pda with a dwarfish screen nor a cellphone that covers half your face. The best of both!
I have nothing to contribute to this question but I honestly wonder if it was inspired by the article in this month's issue of DDJ where they talk about the battery life of PDAs.
[o]_O
I own both of these
Intermec 6651
perfect for use in aircraft!
awsome high speed MIPS PDA
nearly full size keyboard which flips behind
screen to operate as a tablet / touch screen computer.
Supports WiFi
Supports Linux and Windows Handheld 2k
alternately
Sony Picturebook PCG-C1MVM/C
runs Linux and Windows NT/XP
20gb hard drive
1280 x 600 screen virtualizable to 1280 x 1024
True daylight readable display
near 1Ghz performance with transmetta 5800 processor
4 hours battery life
fits in area the size of a daytimer
WiFi support
real time Hardware accelerated DVD recording
from TV or built in camera
Most pieces of technology reach a stage where they're "about right," become commodity items, and stagnate. OK, they never stagnate completely, but the differences between a 1957 Chevy and a 2002 Toyota Corolla--heck, even a Prius--are pretty darn incremental. They both have automatic transmission, you put gas in 'em, turn the key to start them, and drive 70 mph on the Interstate with them. You did it in 1957 just the way you do it now. Sure, now you fasten your seatbelt, get 35 mpg, and you never need to replace the vibrator in the car radio. (Don't snicker at that, you ignorant young whippersnapper. How ELSE did you think you'd generate the B voltage for the vacuum tubes?).
Same thing with a PDA. What things do I want that I don't have already? Boring things. Incremental things. Cheaper, clearer, better screen, yadda yadda yadda. My personal shtick is a good eBook reader... but what I'm saying is, PDA's are OK. They've figured it out. A Palm is great for addresses, phone numbers, etc. Just like a four-function calculator is great for adding up a few numbers.
Yes, I've seen calculators built into pens, into watches, calculators that graph equations, etc. but the classic four-function calculator is FINISHED--not in the sense of "dead," in the sense of COMPLETE.
And the PDA is "finished," too. It has a pretty high gloss on it already, in fact, although I'm sure they'll manage to polish it some more in the coming decades.
But the future is a $10 PDA that's about the same size, the same weight, and has about the same feature set as today's $100 Palm (or yesterday's $400 Palm)--or today's $30 cheapo PDA knockoff.
The $400 Palm that makes coffee, walks the dog, is woven into your handkerchief, and plays realtime multiplayer Internet games ain't gonna happen.
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
Why hasn't anyone (that I've seen yet) said something about the god-awful size of these things?
If I leave the house to go out - all I want with me should be able to be on my person or fit into my jeans. If I have to take along a jacket, bag, or any other accessory just to have a big enough pocket to hold my PDA - that's annoying, I won't do it. And then I'll go out without it - and so what's the point.....
On my person:
Wallet - check.
Keys - check.
Cell Phone - Nokia 8260 - any front or back pocket - check.
Sunglasses - hung on T-shirt - check.
Now - where's a PDA that can fit into my pocket? Okay the REXX thing had some potential, but it wasn't "general purpose".
I know there needs to be some kind of rethinking or breakthough in order to combine small _physical_ size with a proper, usable display, which would likely be somewhere between 2 -3 times the size of the unit (at least.)
Something foldable?
Some kind of projection device (we need your help, Obi-Wan!!)
An eyepiece of some sort?
But, c'mon, let's get on it!!!!
My $0.02
p.s. Input mechanism via holoprojector left as an exercise to the reader.
Karen Holland, the late Austin artist, said, "You need a device that not only has a dated to-do list with an alarm, but if you don't do the thing you're supposed to, the PDA starts telling your secrets."
I don't know whether she meant out loud or over the net. Either would be a mighty fine motivator.
Would be really neat if you could pop the back off, put the PDA on an overhead projector, and voila.
I guess at least some of you have already heard about the OQO, a more or less handheld device running Windows XP (or maybe Linux, too). Here's what they say:
"The projected price will be less than most notebooks even with OQO's full set of wireless communications."
"The first product will be available in the second half of 2002."
Now, even though it doesn't really qualify as a PDA (size and price), it'll be a nifty gadget.
where's all that Karma?
I enter data, it gets synced (transparently) over the Internet-- first hop wireless-- to my server. Do it through my cellular carrier, I don't care. I read data, it gets cached locally unless it's updated. But there's no need to cache everything locally, so don't load my PDA up with expensive memory.
Do this, make it reliable, and make it cost less than $100, and I'll probably buy a couple and just leave them where I might need them-- one at work, one in the car, one at home.
With BigClock (free clock program) I can set my Palm to ding on the quarter-hour, dingdingding on the half-hour, and do something kind of similar to the Westminster chime on the hour, but it won't actually strike the hour.
... ("Hey, is it five already?") Surely this would not be hard to program but I can't find one out there.
Settings for chime. I am not a musician and pert-near musically retarded but this works for me:
1200 400
800 600
1000 700
600 800
But, I want more: I want it to do that Ding-dong, ding-dong... Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong! Bong!
Well, I already have one - but the perfect PDA would combine elements from that and all the other ones I've used, namely:
- The ability to easily sync to Mac, Windows, or Linux (like Palms can).
- Much longer battery life, like 20 hours or so worth at full blast. Only low-end B&W Palms even come close to that.
- Easy-to-use media features (PocketPCs do media well).
- A speaker as good as the iPaq's or better.
- Grafitti strokes built-in to the recognizer (I retrained my Zaurus, but it's still not as good/easy as Grafitti).
- A nicer Address Book that has a better list view. I'm sure it's being worked on.
- Ditto something I noted in one of the reviews - the date book doesn't allow one-touch new appointments. Again, I expect it's being fixed in Zaurus.
- I'd like to see a PDA that could be a USB master, allowing me to use standard peripherals. I know it's a power drain, so having to use an extra battery pack or A/C would be OK for that.
- Finally, I'd lake the hardware to be sufficiently rugged that I can just throw it in a bag and not worry about it. All PDA's nowadays need somewhat delicate handling.
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
A pad of paper doesn't beep an alarm before the event you forgot about happens.
Worse, once you fill up the pad of paper, you either leave it at home, where you no longer have access to the information it contains, or carry around two pads of paper. Either way you wind up with scads of paper notepads lying around. I know: that's what I used to do before I bought a Palm. You will never fill up a current-model Palm with your notes and addresses and schedule. I never came close to filling up my original 1 MB Pilot, and current machines start at 8 MB. Plus, when the time comes to copy those notes into some other app, they're already there on your computer.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
I'd like to see more screen space, not just higher res, but more physical space. Perhaps dual screens that folded paperback book style. This gives the added bonus that with good case design, the PDA could also be damage resistant... Titanium shell, etc...
Go away, or I will replace you with a very small shell script.
I think Today's PDA's are just expensive toys. Packed with little features that really don't justify buying one. I'd like to see a PDA geared toward business and work environments. Like UML software on a PDA, or shipping applications that interface with a server, an application that allows a doctor to access medical records or medical information etc. Maybe this is already being done I just havn't seen it.
Yep, that's what I need.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Start with a modern cell phone, with calendar and contact list. To that add:
Voila!
--
bachiatari na torisetsu o yome!
"I like my sugar with coffee and cream." - Beastie Boys
Let's see, in no particular order, what I'd like to see in a PDA:
Well, that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Dexter is a good dog.
This is what everyone needs...
r sonals/oqo/oqo_ultra_personal.html
The OQO Ultra-Personal Computer (transmeta device)
The wireless and versatile handheld computer measures just 4.1 x 2.9 x 0.9 [inches] and has a 4-inch high resolution VGA color touchscreen LCD. The OQO ultra-personal computer includes a 10GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, OQO-link connectors (for notebook and desktop docking), 1394 FireWire, USB, audio and microphone ports, and built-in 802.11b and Bluetooth wireless networking. The OQO-link connectors allow the unit to connect to a monitor and keyboard for conventional desktop PC use or a portable display cradle for mobile use.
more info at transmeta.com
direct link: http://transmeta.com/everywhere/products/ultra_pe
The ideal place for an address book is NOT on the PDA, but back at home on an LDAP server, where it can also be accessed from home and work email programs.
So I want the thing to access my LDAP server. Live, if possible, but at least sync'ed every so often. Use LDAP attributes for people's address info, email address, IRC nick, birthday, everything.
I want one device that meets all of the following requirements. When such a device exists for a few hundred dollars or less I will purchase my first PDA.
1. It must be a pda, keep appointments, phone numbers, etc.
2. Internet ready, must have wireless access to the net for e-mail web browsing, ssh, etc.
3. It must be able to play digital audio whehter the files are stored in the device or on the net (streaming).
4. It must have a full color LCD screen.
5. It must be no larger than a modern cellular phone (palm pilots are too wide).
6. It must be a digital camera.
7. It must play digital video.
8. I must be able to plug it into my desktop in some manner in order to trade information.
9. It must have a large amoutn of storage space, say a few gigs. IBM microdrive preferred.
10. It must run on one fully charged battery for at least 8 hours.
11. It must have an intutive alphanumeric input method.
12. It must not have DRM of any sort.
13. It must be a digital cellular phone and pager.
14. I must have a JRE (Java).
15. It must have a fast processor, fast enough to do all non-3D tasks. Maple or Mathematica (lite versions at least) should run on it.
16. It must have instant messenging, AIM, ICQ.
17. It should have a VNC client or X over SSS or equivalent, so I can use my desktop computer from the middle of the street far away.
18. The wireless net connection must be fast enough to stream mp3s.
That's all I can think of now. Any other features added are just bonuses.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of PDA's.
The thinner PalmOS units have about half these needed features, so that's what I use currently.
* Color
:)
Probably a no-brainer, but I do find it a must. Black&White works ok, but I personally dislike the backlite, I prefer the crisp true-white-on-black text that comes with color palms. Doesn't really matter how much colors, I have one that carries 256 which works fine. More colors usually translate into more cost, which I'll discuss later on.
* GOOD datebook/agenda thingy.
I use my Palm mainly as an agenda, so for obvious reasons the software should be good. I use the DateBook application for PalmOS, which was written by some 3rd party vendor. Even though it adds a lot more functionality to the standard "Date" agenda software supplied by Palm, it still lacks in some areas. The input of dates is still somewhat clumsy, and some functionality requires a lot more time than it should. If I were you I'd really test the agenda software on the PDA your planning on buying.
* OS
In my opinion the PDA should be a 'simple' replacement for the agenda. Palm really understood this, and built a simple OS which performs just this. On top of that, other apps work quickly and easily, and above all intuitively.
In my experience, Microsoft has totally messed this up by trying to create a mini-OS which could still do anything. Thus results in a lot of bloat, and a very slow OS.
In PalmOS, if you click on an app, it's there. If you shut it down (ie start another, there is no 'closing' in PalmOS) it doesn't clog anything. PocketPC2002 (Microsoft) software somehow manages to still stay in the RAM after you shut down the app. This means that you're RAM keeps on filling up, and eventually becomes unworkable because of the RAM shortage. Only way to fix this is manually (yes, manually...) flush the RAM. I haven't looked, but imo the killer-appliction for PocketPC would be some software which automatically did this for you. Or software that automatically flushed it's own RAM after an exit.
* Travel apps availability
I live in the Netherlands, where the train system is the key to getting around if you don't have a driving license. The NS (dutch railway company) have released their entire train schedule for PalmOS (600 kb, OVR.nl if you're interested). For me this is one of those killer-apps without which I would really doubt if a PDA would be worth the money.
If you use some other form of Public transit there are other really usefull apps, such as the entire subway system mapped out for all major cities (New York, Paris etc)
* Battery life
Just like in laptops, battery-life can make or break the usefullness of a PDA. The old PalmIII series had AA batteries, which would last a long time but were a pain in the ass to keep track of. I use a lithium battery, which 'should' last for 8 hours. It usually lasts for 5 hours, which is enough if you use it simply as an agenda and recharge it every other day. If you're a heavy user this will probably still be a burden, so make sure the battery life is more than sufficient. 10 hours plus should be fine.
* Cost.
Maybe I'm just a cheap-ass, but 500+ dollars for an AGENDA is way over-priced. I'm a poor student, so for me the max price I would spend on a PDA would be around 100 dollars. That's the amount where I find the device delivers enough performance to have an advantage over a normal paper agenda
For people with a 'normal' wallet I would recommend going to 200$ before seriously asking themselves whether they're buying a PDA because the find the device useful or because they just want to show off (sorry, seen it happen and I hate it)
* Input methods
The PalmOS has 'ok' recognition software. You have to learn some special alphabet to input characters, which isn't too much of a burden. The real problem is that after one year of frequent use, I still can't quickly jot down an entire sentence without making at least 1 or 2 typos. Windows CE can recognize any writing, but I haven't tested it enough to be able to say if it's really any good.
That's the most important stuff I guess... What I can't stress enough is TEST the write-recognition and datebook application, see if it's easy and intuitive enough, and above all fast enough. You want to be able to quickly jot down notes, not take half an hour to tediously input a note with lots of typos. (minor overstatement)
You need, at a minimum, a CF slot for networking, and one for storage. 2 or 3 CF slots in the Zaurus instead of the useless SD slot would be a lot better.
very funny (as usual) but not reminiscent of my experience with a Newton MP 2100. Not perfect, but pretty fucking amazingly good. I've got that little Simpsons clip as a QT movie along with another with another where Bart says to Milhouse "whaddya doin' Milhouse, just puttin' it in your newton?" Groenig MUST have had one
That was classic intercourse!
Dude. You don't need a gadget, you need a system. Buy a Day Timer, write everything down.
Display some adaptability.
I love my current PDA but the more I use it the more features I want.
Here is my little list...
1. FTP Server Capabilities
2. More RAM, I am thinking at least 128MB
3. Dual Proc, have to have this so I can run seperate scripts to each proc just because I can.
4. Voice Recognition, this is a must. I also want it to talk back and have a minor personality. Similar to Malda's Computer Version of a Pocket Pet. Somthing that talks back but does what it is told.
5. Alrams and neat sound effects so that I will be the envy of everyone at LAN parties and work.
6. 1GB Ethernet
That is about it. I am sure tomorrow when I wake up I will havbe a larger list but this time I will make a post-it note and call my nearest Palm dealer and see what they think of such features.
~Char Lander
Brothers and sisters I have none, but this mans father is my fathers son
I've always thought the ideal PDA would basically be a Sony Walkman with the entire cover being a color LCD screen. That way, all storage could be done with CD-R's or DVD's, no messy compact flash, memorystick, whatever, infinte storage. Add a stylus and a decent OS and you've got the best PDA ever. Toss in GPS and a Hi-Res screen and you're set. Additional Stuff (see tricorder functionality)
I heard this from somebody a while ago here on ./
,say, Home Depot, my PDA can remind me that the next time I went to Home Depot, I wanted to pick up there. This would be worth something to many of us, I think.
I want a combination of reminder, GPS, and a big database of my local area, so that the next time I go near
Form factor like HP 620Lx, True color display, stereo sound, Cruso processor, 1 Gig IBM microdrive, 128 Megs of RAM, I compact flash and 1 type 2 PCMCIA slots, USB, v.90 modem (upgradable) and (if possible) Linux OS in ROM (Or at least a bundled compatible distro included with device).
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
I am interesting in learning how to make a kernel and perhaps a small operating system (in practice...). While I could do so in a PC, I'd love to see a PDA that allows you to create a kernel of your own. You can have a ROM and a Flash RAM where your kernel would be, and be able to boot from any of the two.
Lightweight!
Long battery life over any "fancy" crap "features"
Sturdy.. robust.
A price that allows you to loose it without headache.
Simple enough to allow replacement of parts by users. Waiting for someone to repair it SUCKS.
Interaction with other computers via *documented* and wellknown protocols.
Possibility to write your own software with free tools using C,Perl,Tcl etc.
Preferable it will run NetBSD because it uses wellknown hardware.
Decent keyboard.
Hmm.. come to think of it Nitendo Gameboy pretty much fits the bill!
While I was at Georgia Tech, a couple of kids decided to see if they could hookup a GPS unit to a Palm and provide functionality that reminded you to do things when you were the in the vicinity of a place where a task could be accomplished.
User Scenario: Driving back from work. PDA beeps or [voice message] to remind you to pick up some groceries/get an oil change/drop in on a friend/etc when you are near the store/Jiffy Lube/friend's house.
I seem to remember that they had a lot of code written but were hamstrung by the fact that the GPS unit they wanted to attach to the Palm had its release date delayed and the fact that the Palm would have to be "always on" to receive GPS signals was another issue.
- Wireless and GPS automapping with audible directions (ie "Turn left") and very well integrated 'yellow pages' info. (ie "Find me the nearest public restroom, gas station, bookstore, vegetarian restaurant")
- Better integration between applications. I'd like to have recurring todo's with alarms, appointments that pop up address book entries (ie alarm pops up phone number or plays tones through speaker), etc.
- Video out at a resolution at least 640x480 with a standard VGA and TV cable.
- USB-type jack so I can chain keyboard, video out, mouse, etc through one port.
- More memory, say 1gb. Need space for those MP3s.
What I want most of all is good VT100 emulation, a serial port, ethernet adapter, and a TCP/IP stack. All of this is irrelevant without adequate battery life. A decent keyboard is nice, but at odds with the fact that the smaller it is, the more likely I am to actually carry it.
Dumb terminals are still awfully useful.
I thought I was almost there with my Clie, but it doesn't like my cellphone. I just want something I can easily SSH or dial up a machine with, and get a command line. I could still be happy with a CLI for most things, and could do anything I wanted on my own server.
A real browser would be nice, too, but most connectivity is so expensive in terms of battery & money that I'm not eager to try to download images.
The new Zaurus looks like a good candidate.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
I love all the suggestions, but no one seems to have mentioned the favorite option of all us klutzes: I have to be able to drop it. If it breaks when I drop it, it's not good enough. I went through 3 Palm IIIs that way, and it sucked.
'In knowledge is power, in wisdom humility.'
Check out Tigit Computers
You can even plug a monitor/keyboard/mouse into it...
It's not just a Palm with the phone cobbled on, the mini keyboard is very useful and the phone book integration with the Palm/phone is handled nicely.
And you know what? For all the hype over high speed wireless access, the built in circuit switched data works just fine. Web pages appear almost instantly, even over the 'slow' 9600 dialup speed. Wireless data is now FREE with Cingular wireless too, you just get charged airtime.
If you're the really nerdy type, there is even a Palm implementation of VNC!
Which episode was that?
I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
That would be the perfect combo. The cell-tel thing I could live without. A little PDA with some decent gaming abilities. That would be cool. Maybe add a TV tuner and RCA jacks for connecting a game box. A dongle cable for that purpose would probably be necessary like those made for the old All-In-Wonder video cards, but that wouldn't be bad. And maybe the ability to use a CF modem and/or a CF 802.11b card and/or a CF wired Ethernet card.
Something like that would be swell for travel. If I could get onto chat, play games, keep my schedule and address book and whatnot together, and get my email that would rock.
Probably the Zaurus would be a good model for this, but a Zaurus with a bigger screen. Same OS...Linux would be ideal. Get all those cool emulators running.
Yes, I'm talking about a laptop replacement, pretty much. But smaller and lighter. Laptops are a PITA to take around at this point once you are used to a PDA.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I like the Palm OS. It's simple, it works well and it doesnt try to be everything. I just bought a Kyocera Palm powered phone. I wish I could sync my Mozilla adress book easily on Linux with Palm devices
/ 20 00-April/msg00015.html
Pls vote for this enhancement...
http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-pilot-list
This is an Ask /. that I have seen before
...
Here is my ideal PDA:
The demensions are similar to that of a legal pad full of paper when it comes to LxHxW. The height should be at most no thicker then todays iPaqs.
The screen should be easily readable, backlit, and full color. It needs to easily handle different fonts and display them nicely.
Bluetooth is at the heart of the connectivity process for this bad boy. Syncing with the PC should be done with bluetooth. Using it for your cellphone should be done via a bluetooth earpeice module. The phone portion should be modular enough to support major carriers in the US of A. Communication to accessory devices (such as a detatched keyboard) also needs to be handled by bluetooth.
Expandability is a key. USB and Firewire ports make the most sense but some kind of CF slot or PCMCIA makes sense for an accessory you always need. I just talked about bluetooth for syncing etc. because bluetooth is ideal for short-range. Making this PDA 802.11b accessable is necesary so it can be used house/office wide.
With the size being a full sheet of paper, long battery life should be easy to obtain. So should onboard docking for the cellphone accessory. Another possible accessory would be something like a mini screen. This would talk to the big mama via bluetooth and could quickly be used for getting information such as Datebook, Phone#s, etc and could also be used as the dialing aparatus for the bluetooth phone adapter.
The ability to securely network and actively work between others of these ideal PDAs is a MUST! Whiteboard, chat, etc. between two PDAs in a room shouldnt be too hard since they are going to be bluetooth / 802.11b enabled.
A good amount of storage is not crazy these days with the state of solid-state-memory. I think the ability to keep a DivX or a collection of mp3s or just a lot of pictures would be great.
Input would be customizable. I mentioned a keyboard for when you need to type something on the go. However, I think stylus input is perfect. Due to the size and memory, it could store everything as normal text input and wouldn't HAVE TO translate it to ASCII, but that would be prefered. Also a grafiti system would be available. Since it is expandable and should have a fair ammount of memory on it, voice record/voice recognition/voice2text should not be hard to implement, especially if you can use the cellphone adapter to interact with this mama.
Again with the docking. All accesories should be able to connect to the main PDA for recharging while the main PDA is being rechared / should use the same power input as the main so that you dont have to have different chargers for all the accessories.
... I wish
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
TO HAVE YOUR ADVICE.... heheheh
/. to kickstart our design... THANKS!! :)
or better yet... HI, I'm from Handspring; our R&D budget is so pov. (poverty) that I think I'll ask
Oh god, that woman is John Romero!
Long battery life. Really long.
A versatile, multichannel, wideband radio receiver. So I can listen to the radio, shortwave, cb, watch tv, talk on the phone, etc.
Killer DSPs to go along with aforementioned radio equipment.
A killer display. High defnition gas plasma.
Built in ultrabright microprojector.
Microphone array, so I can place it on the table and it can do noise cancellation as I talk.
An option roll-out semitransparent display like those funky things on Red Planet
Bucketloads of memory. A few gigs of ram, and about a terabyte of fixed storage.
A built in stun gun.
A pocket-warmer mode for cold days.
Voice recognition & comprehension.
I know it's pretty useless but I always thought that it would be cool to have an integrated thermometer in a PDA.... You could get real time temps + log data.....
My ideal PDA:
NO keyboard
Natural handwriting recognition
LARGE, half-VGA (320x480) color display
Overall size similar to a paperback book, maybe slightly taller
DECENT PDA operating system (NOT PocketPC or Palm)
PCMCIA slots!
Reasonably fast CPU, expandable memory
I do not care about: voice recognition, smaller and smaller sizes (if it's small enough to fit in a pocket, it's not big enough to read a book on, browse the Web on, do serious handwriting on, etc.), keyboards (if I want a keyboard I will get a laptop), graffiti (SLOOOOOOOOW), pocket Word/Excel (if I want office I will get a laptop), digital camera add-ons, etc... None of these things are worth anything to me.
Basically, my ideal PDA is the Newton 2100 but with a nicer color display and maybe a little bit thinner.
Why did I say "and you will hate it"? Because basically people get furious when I describe my perfect PDA, as if by making my ideal PDA, the market will necessarily make unavailable theirs (which is usually something the size of a credit card with a built-in keyboard with keys the size of sand grains that can run a Web server and Adobe Photoshop while using a digital camera attachment).
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
I have a small Radio Shack voice record; it does it's job exceedingly well. I can record, skip around messages, organize them into four folders, and so on, without looking at the display on it. Very handy for driving. While a PDA is technically capable of this, the voice recorder feature (WinCE's) isn't that natural for tactile-only handling of messages (while driving).
:-)
Similarly, you can get clunky digital-camera add-ons for your PDA. And cell phone add-ons. And GPS add ons. And so on. These things which have the *potential* of lowering the "device count" that I like to carry around with me, but they don't do these features well enough for me to eliminate my other devices.
When they start doing these jobs as well as the indendant devices, that's when I'll start getting excited. And when they start eliminating the need to buy or carry these other devices, more and more people will buy them.
Oh yeah, and some kick-ass battery live to go along with it would be needed as well. Give me a nice little fuel cell, and better integration with cell/camera/voice-memo/etc., and I'll be in heaven.
Oh yeah, and it shouldn't be much bigger than a matchbook, using one of those retinal projection chip thingies to give me a big screen display.
-me
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
2.8" x 4.5" x 0.7"
~600MHz Transmeta processor
600x800 reflective color touchscreen
Stylus input with handwriting recognition
Virtual keyboard input (watches finger position)
Integrated cell phone with pull-away wireless mini-handset
3G cell/internet connectivity
8h battery life
Basically, a miniature piece of real computing hardware, not a toy. We can almost do this now; in a couple years it shouldn't be a problem. I don't see anyone really trying for it yet, though.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
While I agree with other comments that speech recognition would be huge, I think an equally important feature would be a big move towards modeless operation. I almost never use my Palm because it's such a pain in the ass to keep popping between different features or programs.
At present I use a Psion 5mx. Yes, it's a couple of years old; yes, it doesn't have colour; and yes, it's not being made any more. But there's nothing else that comes even close to letting me do all I want to do. So my list is in two parts – firstly, things my Psion already has:
- Fits in a (trouser) pocket. Mine lives there; much of the benefit comes from having it with you all the time.
- Keyboard. The 5mx one is particularly good – you can just about touch-type on it.
- Email/internet access.
- Good battery life. The 5mx lasts for 10-20 hours on two AAs; I use it for several hours each day, and when I'm not at home and wouldn't be able to recharge it, I know I can just buy a pair of Duracells.
- Storage. The 5mx takes CompactFlash; I have 256MB of storage online.
- Large screen. 640-pixel width isn't much in desktop terms, but it lets you read 80 chars-per-line, and gives you a much bigger `window' onto the contents of the machine.
- A decent OS. EPOC is rock-solid (uptimes measured in years, not minutes), has great built-in apps (Word, Sheet, Agenda, Email, etc.) and tons of commercial and shareware stuff (Opera, news readers, FTP, PDF viewer, games, Spectrum emulator, notepads, you name it), and is designed from scratch for pen or keyboard use and to make the best use of the screen. (I'm not convinced that Linux is currently a good solution for pocket computer users, though if it becomes more popular that'll improve.)
- Java. It's not hugely fast, and takes lots of RAM, but it works and works well.
- Perl.
- The ability to develop software on the device. (I can write in Java, Perl, or the built-in OPL language.)
- IR. When I'm at work or away from home I check my email and CiX messages via my mobile phone. Invaluable.
And the things I'd like it to have:- Reflective colour screen. Colour isn't as important as most people think in terms of actually using the machine (rather than showing it off), and it reduces battery life, but this is an ideal list!
- USB, FireWire and/or AirPort (802.11). Serial just doesn't cut it with the amount of data I have; transferring CF cards works well but these would be better.
- Bluetooth. A little more convenient than IR.
- Faster processor. EPOC's efficient and the ARM processor works surprisingly well at 36MHz, but 100MHz+ would be nice.
- Java 2. (And enough power to use it well.)
- High quality audio input and (headphone) output.
- Inbuilt support for standard file formats (Office, MP3, etc.).
- GPS would be nice, but hard to squeeze into the size.
You'll notice that I don't want my pocket computer to replace my mobile phone; it's a little big to hold to my ear, and I think too many compromises are made in combining the two.You'll also notice that the first list is longer than the second! The 5mx isn't ideal, but it's by far the best for me (YMMV of course), and it looks like that won't change in the next couple of years at least... power users like me probably aren't numerous enough to make my ideal pocket computer commercially viable. :( So I guess I'm sticking to my Psion!
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
Must run Linux
Must have a 1024 x 768 display
Must be the size of a credit card
Must have built-in voice recognition
Must have broadband wireless internet (768/128 MINIMUM)
Must have 80 GB hard drive
Must have 256 MBs of memory at least
Good speaker!!!!
Mic in
Line out
DVD playback capability
GPS system
Thumbprint ID system
4 megapixel digital camera
MPEG-4 support
60W lightbulb equivalent
Mobile phone
32-bit color display
30 day battery life
Ability to survive 20 foot drop onto concrete without damage
Ability to sync with all operating systems
Built-in USB plug
802.11b, Bluetooth, and IrDA support
Full beaming compatibility with PocketPC and PalmOS
Shiny display to use as mirror
Legible clock
Fast processor (Q3A at 80 FPS at least)
Display as bright as my CRT
Easy to use UI
Stable!!!!!!!
- fuel cell
- always on
- one phone number that works worldwide
- interlaced GPS that works with a 'buddy list'
- OLED
- neural tap
- two-way active/streaming video
...anything else is just a rehash of already available technology (hardware & software). You can find what you need now...no need to build a 'wish list' (shows how bad a pro-sumer you really are....)
well.. if your memory is bad now, its just going to get worse using a pda. I stopped using my pda because I relied on it too much and my memory didn't get enough.. excerise?
A) Dual CF and SD slots, since they are used for both peripherals and storage. I like having both slots on my Zaurus, but I'd rather have two CF slots than one CF and one SD slot.
B) "Adjustable" CF slot. Spring-load the connector end of the slot with a catching gear to hold it in place until 'ejected'. My CF NIC has a 1/2" CF-sized portion that sticks up until it reaches the large block for the RJ-45 connector. It would be nice to push that portion deeper into the unit, making it easier to find a good case for it and leave an often-used CF peripheral inserted.
C) Two slots for stylii. You always lose one, so why not sacrifice an extra 1/4" hole to hold a second one.
D) Integrated *standard* ports. USB, DB-9 RS232 serial, an RJ-45 connector for lan, RJ-11 for modem (or integrate lan/modem, although that would be disadvantageous to me, personally). Think about it--we're not far off from being able to integrate these things cheaply. The circuitry needed is *very* small, and the connectors themselves wouldn't make a huje difference in PDA size (maybe 1/3 inch wider if all were put on one side, or 1/3 inch taller if all on bottom--quite possible).
E) Rubber-key keyboard. I love the Zaurus keyboard, but I'd rather have soft-rubber keys than the hard plastic (easier to grip with finger, nail, or stylus).
F) Higher-powered IR. I want my $500 TV remote =P
G) More integration: 802.11a, 802.11b, bluetooth. Why not? So long as power to the circuits is only enabled when in use, it won't make a huge difference in battery life. IANAEngineer, but certainly these have enough in common to share a good chunk of electronics.
H) DC power input with tolerence for a good range of voltages/amperages. You can always use another AC/DC adapter in a pinch, and save money on the high-priced name-brand adapters.
I'm sure I could come up with more, but...
Cheaply manufacturable flexible screens
More efficient batteries that can be manufactured in significantly smaller sizes
(Optional) Voice recoginition (mentioned in several places elsewhere)
The first two points are the most important. If the battery can be made small enough and the screen flexible, then, conceivably, one could almost construct a device with the functionality of existing PDA/cell phone devices in the form factor of a wristwatch! If the above changes could then be produced cheaply enough--say within the $200 range, then the MIT's so-called "pervasive computing" suddenly becomes a far more realistic proposition.
look at the Palm brand PDA's, people love them, but see them as below handspring, and many people with visors, don't use the attachments beyond a memory card and the occational GPS user...Sony is right up there with the Clie, but the proprietary memory stick, can't be used in anything but sony products, where CF and SD/MM cards are used commonly in cameras and cross platform applications. that's just a few, but you get the point.
now for pocket PC's(i.e. the bells and whistles). the ipaq and jornada are the frontrunners in this domain. jornada for the cheap, ipaq for the extragovant. features are about equal(voice recording, IR, pocketPC2002, mp3/mpeg playback, blah blah blah), but casio is overlooked for these more well known names. true, in the past they've put out some real shite, but the EM-500(newest undetermined model) has more features onboard than the equally priced ipaq 3835, including SD and CF slots, but do you need them?
my point is, go somewhere and ask what's available, tell them what you want and they'll tell you where to find it. if it's not out, save yourself a buck or two, and get something to tide you over till what you want is out.
/spammyy
If good things come to those who wait...why work now? Procrastinate!
lots of porn
I use strong encryption to store private info on my palm. That's a tad difficult with pen and paper.
games! of course!! (duh!) :P
nahh, UltraEdit for the PDA would be great!
and not the plus or minus 10 meter kind, the really accurate kind so I can take it out on the golf course. A cell phone and all the other functions you mentioned would be great. Battery life should be about 6 hours with hot swappable battery capability. With voice recognition and swappable antennas, this type of device could be really compact.
Two words: DEATH RAY.
Single hand keyboard, cording ideal
HUD displaing simple vector graphics on pair of glasses that doesn't make me look like a dork
Earphones and a mic that don't make me look like a dork
wireless ablity as well as being able to act as a cell phone
A control block thingy, like on a personal stereo
Life time membership to the borg.
Doesn't need to read handwriting or even be that powerfull, got a laptop to do all that, If someone made a pda like this I would buy ten of the things, pity they sorta became vanity symbols like cell phones I spose, rather then doing anything really usefull.
Btw, killer app, being able to communicate in nightclubs, though sms, how cool whould that be.
Pianist : Some jerk whos taught themselves how to type in rhythm
All I'd want is a decent folding wireless dumb terminal with SSH and a reliable free 64K wireless net connection. Maybe a couple of MB of local text storage.
Yup, that would just about do it for me...
Cheers,
Jim in Tokyo
-- My Weblog.
Of course, I'm a bit biased in that I tested the 2.0 recognition engine.
Looking at the references you give, most of them only criticize recognition on the earliest models, The sole exception is the document Handwriting Tips for Newton Power Users which was a guide to how to get the best possible recognition out of OS 2.0. As the person who anonymously wrote the bulk of that guide, I'd like to say that it was not my intention to slam the general quality of 2.0 recognition. Newton handwriting recognition rocked!
My hope is that when the ARM-based PalmOS devices come out, Sony will release a Clie that has decent word-based recognition. Newton's incredible achievement wasn't just that they got get great recognition but that they did it with such a small memory footprint. Given how much cheaper ROM and RAM are today, I wouldn't be surprised to see a Palm or WinCE device with decent recognition some time in the next few years.
I play Nerd-Folk!
Why bother reading stuff (especially on that little screen)?
This is a big reason why paper is more popular than other PDAs, and why Game Boy is more popular than other handheld video games. One way to get it is either with a reflective LCD or an OLED. I'm looking forward to the latter.
I see alot of people listing color as an attribute they'd like to see. Here's why I think it makes more sense to go with greyscale: 1. Cheaper to make meaning more accessable devices. 2. Because it's a simpler technology than color, it's cheaper and easier to manufacture higher resolution screens. I'd rather have 640x480 greyscale than 320x240 color. 3. Longer battery life. 4. Color is actually one of the least useful information tags. (Tufte)
The main reason the 1.0 Newton got such a bad rep is that it shipped with a configuration mistake, which is that it only recognized words that were in the dictionary. So if you wrote "Martin" on a MessagePad 100 and that name wasn't in the common names dictionary but Martha was, you might get "Martha" instead. Simply unchecking the "only recognize dictionary words" preference item cured the worst such surprises.
I play Nerd-Folk!
Lotus Notes sucks rotten eggs too, but that's another thread.
Generally making external display possible / easy would be a fine thing, an external flat-panel / svga is cheap enough these days.
Building this at 1024/786 or better res would be just great. I'm ok with the minimal screen palm and palm knockoffs put on their units, but it's pretty useless for web access, browsing code or real emails.
As I don't want to sacrifice battery life, I don't care too much about adding CPU-intensive features. I can get wireless or 802.11 or GPS now so keeping the CPU-function back on my home servers is easy enough.
There's some nifty-enough mapping apps for Palm, but really integrating those with an add-on GPS would be a fine thing, especially with an HUD. Just show me where the hell I am on a map / chart :-).
These and other additions:
Linux is Linux, if One need clarify their dist: <Dist>/GNU Linux
bsds are of course just BSD
You remember that a company called Qualcomm made a palm/phone combination. A few years ago they went bankrupt, and their great idea of a PDA mixed with phone was sold to Kyocera, a Japanese company. What's nice about the newer models is that they upgraded the PalmOS to take advantage of the marriage, and fixed some physical issues with the 1.0 release of the phone.
Let me first elaborate on the design. It is a rather wide flip-phone. It's got a numeric keypad that flips open to reveal a full palm screen. There's an extendable antenna, and a nice jog dial on the side to scroll down large pages. It comes with a docking cradle/charger. There is a nice manual showing all the features, as well as a Palm Desktop CD (Windows only?)
First off, it's a black and white screen. Eh, no big deal, except that its competitor, the Handspring Treo has a color screen. The Treo also has about 3 good calls in it before it needs a recharge, I hear, while the Smartphone so far is great. Plus, the Smartphone is way cheaper.
The phone works as a phone when the flip is closed. Only the top half of the Palm screen is used, the time is displayed, and you can use the jog dial to navigate your address book, take a voice memo, or check e-mail, send an SMS text, etc. When you open it, the full screen comes into use, and the palm can run. Interetingly enough, you can run the palm, with the phone part set to On or Off. That's nice, as you can therefore use the Palm apps on a plane, unless the stewardess on board accuses you of lying/sabotage and confiscates it.
It's digital, can run palm apps, including Palm Clipping apps that connect to the 'Net. There's WAP support, though the WAP browser is really bad. It feels slow, and clumsy interface IMO.
A nice feature is that it can plug into a laptop and become a wireless fax/modem, both with a serial cable or IR port. You can download a Palm remote control app, meaning you can change the channel with your phone.
There is no bluetooth support yet, but the salesman told me that in a few months there will be an add-on to the phone's cradle port allowing it. Meanwhile, you have a headset jack, a speakerphone that lets you hear the conversation (but makes you yell to be heard on the other end), IR, and the wireless web.
The Wireless Web differs from carrier to carrier, but with Verizon I was able to send e-mails without dialing up (using a digital network) and use the pager service (for Verizon's network at least).
Kyocera's site is over at www.Kyocera-wireless.com Check it out to see the newest Smartphones, the latest model as of Summer 2002 is the QCP-6035. 8MB of RAM
I want a relational database at the core of the system. I love the mini-apps of both CE and Palm, but I love the potential of integrating them even more. Third-party applications would rise to a whole new level. Ever noticed that add-on software only talks to the builtin apps? SQL as the default data storage mechanism would bring real power and reusability of other third-party apps to handhelds, and just imagine the sync capability of enterprise applications.
"This wound is beyond my ability to heal. We need Elvis medicine!"
We actually need a PDA to collect digital data and send it on to a central db. The field workers have a bunch of crap and carrying anything larger is not worthwhile.
The most important thing we need is "always on" to the internet. I would like to see that in a PDA for $20 a month.
mocom--
Face it, guys: 99% of you have no need for a PDA. Being seen with one ion public doesn't make you important, either. Why not spend your money on something more useful?
I want to see a cheap PDA (none of this useless color crap) with 8 megs RAM and a computer interface that doesn't damage the motherboard with simple software that doesn't do stupid things like use word format.
I'm dying for a useful PDA that isn't $200 and doesn't have fatal flaws. Who the ph*** wants a form of Windows running on a PDA anyways??
Someone set us up the bomb, so shine we are!
as I've seen wives make sure you never forget a single thing. Only one thing: wives don't "beep" they like screaming instead;)
And an "added bonus", you don't have to "input reminders" either, as wives just seem to "let you know" what you are to be reminded of...
Am I the only one waiting for these capabilities before I buy a PDA? Without these features, I shall continue to lug around an iBook...
You geniuses are more concerned with bells and whistles and hardware than actual usability!
I like my Series 5, but it's still suboptimal.
...and the most obvious- a cheapo ball-bearing orientation sensor read on an interrupt triggered by a squeeze switch- tilt the unit into 'portrait,' squeeze, and the display rotates... tilt 'landscape' and squeeze for the same.
Good bits:
Keyboard
Voice recording
'Persistent' data store
Bad bits:
StrongARM (debatable)
Very Windows-like OS, in UI and design
No gesture recognition
So... my wishlist would be:
Hitachi SuperH (300MHz or so, ultra low power, tight code size, more reasons mentioned at the stalled project site at http://www.azpower.com/mylinux/)
Gesture recognition, Newton-Style (okay, it's complicated, but Psion cut'n'paste is *braindead*)
Convertible form-factor (I like the size of the Series 5, as I have small fingers and can touchtype fine on it, but I wish I could fold the screen over the keyboard while using it as an eBook reader)
Li-Ion battery- well, duh.
The persistence system (as done by Psion/Symbian) could also use a little more versioning control... I hate making a change to a document and then realizing I can't abort and reload the original.
Of course, I'd also like to see a decent wearable, but I'd *really* like to see Bluetooth peripherals (unreleased Psion HALO style) that link up to the palmtop wedged in your backpack.
removable titanium armor!
or somthing like that.
You are always at the MOST 4 hours away.
This might be workable, but changing the order would make it infinitely more easily parsable. I.e.
;)
Remind me AT (some time phrase) TO (some verbatim speech). Granted, this gives some stilted English, but it makes it more parsable, because the device just has to split() on AT and TO.
Remind me AT six P.M TO walk the dog
Remind me AT next Tuesday TO check for a new Mozilla version.
You could leave out the at when it didn't make sense, and just have it always strip the first preposition, but leaving in the TO and putting in this order would help.
I feel the accuracy would not be very good. I know I have a hard time getting even 90% accuracy dictating with a good headset sitting at my computer with an Athlon 700 is semi-real time. Perhaps it not being required to be real-time would alleviate this somewhat, but it probably still would not completely solve the problem, and would be annoying in it's own right.
Good idea though. Let's hope some PDA company reads this and rips off your idea
The PDA shouldn't be a device, it should be a network utility.
Most of the time I want something small - like a phone. For me, I start w/ wallet and keys, then add phone. It has to be big enough to make a call, but not bigger than that 'cause I want to take it everywhere. That's not big enough to read e-mail, etc. However, I should be able to see my PDA info on my phone - certainly calendar info would be the most handy, and of course all my contact info (phones do that already), and maybe some e-mail. Web is the 4th priority.
When there's room for another device, it can be a larger PDA or micro laptop or larger laptop. It's all a matter of preference at this point: it's another device, with a larger screen, that somehow has all the same info my phone does without even thinking about it. (It's all wireless, for goodness' sake, so just synchronize it all, please.) If I have 2 extra devices: a smallish PDA and largish laptop or whatever, they should all synch w/ my phone.
Finally, if I'm at my desktop machine, or anybody else's for that matter, I'll probably want to log into my same PDA info and enjoy my monster screen and keyboard to make all those big edits.
How hard can that be?
Btw, does anybody know of a phone that can show/edit calendar info that can also be shown/edited via the web? AT&T iMode does this; does anybody else?
One of the key features for me is that it be very small and light. I need to be able to carry it around in my pocket, and it needs to be durable and well-built so I don't have to worry about it breaking quite so much. And obviously, the more storage space the better. a gig would be nice, but 10 gigs would be better. It'd be nice to be able to toss a couple of movies on there, or a few simpsons or something for a wait. Batterly life is also important, as is 802.11b (or eventually UWB or whatever else we end up with). That's pretty much the list, far as I can think of.
Cheers, Joshua
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!
I'd be entirely happy with my palm V if it had wireless networking (which you can get in later models) and decent sound. A ps2 keyboard port would be neat too. I wonder why there are several offerings of expensie proprietary keyboards and yet nobody sells an adaptor for a standard keyboard, even if it needed to be chanrged separately to the palm..
Believe with me, my saplings.
I can't see why they can't give me a full tcp/ip stack and an ethernet connection on a PDA. This would make the cradle unnecessary (just plug it into the network), it would make it possible to write nifty network analysis tools (the poor-man's fluke network assistant), and you could use it from any network connection. This plus a kb combined with on-line office applications and who needs a laptop?
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
Input Devices/ports
Features/Applications
- CPU fast enough to keep up with the tasks required
- Memory
- sufficient internal memory to deal with a managers e-mail volume
- cf and sd memory ports for MP3 storage
- optional memory stick port if device is made by sony
- ES-based PIM
- Can interact with Outlook, Outlook Express, Evolution, Gnome Office, Koffice, Lotus Organizer, etc. to caapture known scheduled events, and put them in the schedules so that others who need to be able to schedule meetings with you know what time you have available
- It will also parse inbox e-mail, auto-filing informational messages, Identifying spam by content, and handling appropriately, (either simply discarding, or identifying the real source of the spam and notifying the ISP where the message came from of the breach in security.)
- Anti-virus features of recognizing when e-mail contains viri, dealing with it appropriately.
- Inteligently handles apointment requests. If it is from your boss, it may preempt an existing appointment, and forward a cancelation notice on that appointment, (or at lest pend such a notice, allowing you to make that decision)
- Book Reader
- games
- financial management software
- text-telephony
- There may be times when you want to place a phone call to someone who is deaf, so you could do so through an IM client, or you may not be able to speak yourself, so a typing to speach feature might be nice as well.
Are there more? Sure. I would love to be able to say, "I am taking Mindy out to eat tonight." and the ES should be able to identify whom Mindy is, find an appropriate place for us to eat, check with me for approval on the selection of eating places, show me the menu, allow me to select what to eat for both of us, reserve eating space arrangements, if appropriate, select the wine from the resturant's inventory, compare resturant reservation times with schedules for movies in the area, suggest a movie that Mindy might like, if the occasion warrents, make arangements for limo or taxi transportation, confirm that my checkbook reserves cover the expenses, including maximum tips (even if I am not going to tip that much) Interacting with Mindy's PDA as appropriate, (give her the option of selecting her own dinner, without revealing the choice of resturant if possible, getting Mindy's preferences in movies or other entertainment, and setting up an appointment on her callendar as needed.)I also happen to think it would be a good idea if it would interact with my car for scheduled maintenance, my house automation system for security and lights controls (both when I am in the house and when I am away.)
Then again, those are just some of my ideas, I have also liked many of the others proposed.
OS? OpenBeOS, or QNX possibly, something very close to real time.
-Rusty
You never know...
Built in Projector, for those important meetings where you get to show everyone your high-score in Tetris.
| - | - |
If you want a pda I'll have anything to do with it needs to be more than a digital appointment book (I can get a paper one to do the same thing and add notes).
For one, the silly thing should cost SIGNIFICANTLY less than I can build even a cheap desktop for. Maybe not $5 but $20-50 would be a reasonable price for pda's, and $100 for hot off the assembly line top of the line pda's released yesterday. The point is, they should be cheap enough to become a common thing everybody has, not just the parents but even the kids. Cheaper is always better, not just for customers, but for buisness. Sure it's nice to think of two sales at 300% or more profit. But 2,000,000 sales at 5% profit is more likely to make your product something that sticks around and a common household item.
You can keep all the other features they don't hurt I guess. But give me specialized X-server and an encrypted terminal mode. Wireless net is good if it's decent speed and an ethernet port. Now I don't have to worry as much about what features my PDA has, rather I'm concerned with what features my desktop has.
The wireless connection could be used to establish an encrypted VPN link to my desktop thus allowing me to remote administrate and sync any other db's the thing has with the desktop from any location.
Although I don't see why I'd use software that can be housed on the pda when I have remote access to my desktop even if it were only console give me a plug-in keyboard. For example, why should I care if the pda can send email. My desktop can send email and I don't have to worry about the concerns of diskspace so much. Address book, allow me to add entries in near realtime. Calander, date book, etc.
Make your wireless link an always on connection with a flat monthly rate so I don't have to count my seconds. Then I might consider a pda.
For those who like pain, give the thing a usb port that can be used to connect the keyboard, or even a "port box" a small seperate box that contains various ports, make several port boxes so people can connect various types of devices thus keeping the unit modular (modular is a good thing) and the PDA itself small for when someone is on the go and at the same time allowing someone to set up a home away from home where they can connect (with the right port box) a keyboard, mouse, and maybe the tv in the hotel room.
Ah yes and a last note on price. This "modular" thinking does not include burning people on the accesories. Any accesory should of course be less than half the cost of the PDA itself. i.e. the keyboard is included with purchase, the port boxes are $8 a pop and the mouse is about the same.
http://www.linuxda.com/
1) 802.11b
2) USB and FireWire connection (maybe use a dongle to save room)
3) A large hard drive, one of those microdrives perhaps? 64 MB just won't cut it
4) A *real* OS, Linux, Windows (not CE), whatever
5) Headphone jack, I don't really care about external sound so much
6) Since it would be a full OS, I could listen to music, watch videos, etc.
7) I like the PDA (not sure the brand) that has the small keyboard that you pull out and can use alongside grafiti.
You don't work for palm or handspring, do you? Man, remind me if I ever start a business to post a story like this on slashdot to do some quick and dirty market research..
I really want a vorbis add-on module for my visor. The springboard stuff is great, and there's already an MP3 module, but I really want a vorbis one that I can carry around with me. I could finally stop carrying my diskman and case of CD's everywhere I go. It'd be perfect if it could also play MP3's and had a bunch of flash memory too.
"I may not have morals, but I have standards."
Actually you can do wireless with a Handspring. And it has a cellphone module, too. It's up to you if you want to buy a module that costs more than the actual PDA though.
Umm, you only have to buy the $249 module if you want Sprint PCS for your service. If you want GSM service, you can get the VisorPhone module for $99, or free with new service activation.
Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
What I want is that I can take my data with me, and not have to broadcast it through the airwaves. I'd prefer a standardised, hot-swappable memory cartridge format. I want a way to physically secure sensitive data like my checkbook balance and other bank info. I want to be able to pop my info in a slew of devices, from a small cell phone (for quick payments) to a laptop (for the extra heavy duty stuff). If I have to access the network to get my info, then I'm just needlessly vulnerable.
On a related note...
Expecting one unified information format is not realistic, but I do expect manufacturers to settle on one or two standards for peripheral interfaces. When I buy a keyboard or a new memory card for my PDA, I shoudn't have to worry too much about what model PDA I have. (OK, this is only applicable to a degree, analogous to cars all using 24v for electronics and standardised "cigarette lighter" interfaces, but individual sizes for spark plugs and windshield wipers.)
I have a Casio EM-500.
This is how I use it:
- I became a interface between it and my desktop PC
- It always reminds me that people don't ever call back and they should have one
This is what I don't like about it and improvements I would like to see on my next purchase:
- It is not upgradable since the processor is MIPS. It is not compatible with newer versions of Windows (Pocket PC 2002). I saw a new Pocket PC with a Intel processor in it. Maybe that would help standardize them.
- It is slow and memory can get filled up easy. That is where I would like to see something on the lines of caching on the removable memory card.
- The screen broke and they wanted to charge more for fixing it more then it was worth. Luckily for me I found their suppliers on-line and got the parts directly from them and fixed it myself.
- The battery runs out too quick.
It's called the Apple Newton... The only PDA that I ever really liked, because "it worked". Best of all, the damn thing could read my chickenscratch handwriting about 95% of the time, and didn't force me to write in some Graffiti characters....
Onscreen keyboard, plugin keyboard, TWO type2 CF cards, 8 MB ram built in, 200+ Mhz ARM processor, backlit screen (big mother too), rotatable screen, speaker with kick ass sound, recording capability, IR transfer, a neat fold-over cover, long battery life, and an easy-to-code for SDK...
I used this thing to take notes in TWO graduate programs, to beam my notes to the printer right after class for sharing with my teammates (including diagrams I drew on the screen...), as a flashlight when I was cataloging connections in the back of a dark wiring cabinet, as a recorder, as an alarm clock, as a note pad, as... you mention it, I had it in my Newt...
And then of course, because it worked, that stupid fuck Steve Jobs killed it... All I can say is I left Mac Evangalist in the dust... Screw 'em...
Now I'm stuck with some half-assed Palm as a weak subsitute... The sooner the Newton comes back, the better...
My Psion 3A and my Palm 3 and Palm 7 all last for a couple of weeks on battery, using either regular or rechargeable alkaline or NiMH. Newer battery technologies like Lithium Polymer seem to be even more promising. Good power management in the device, and good recharging technology for rechargeables, and ability to use AC power adapters if you need to do long periods of work (without trashing the recharging performance) are really all you need unless you want to carry a high-power-drain CPU-blaster with you.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
A Micro-Mr. Fusion reactor capable of 1.21 GW, a flux capacitor, all the functions of a TNG tricorder, holographic projector, neural transmitter (forget neural jack, bluetooth baby!), Mini Death-Star-Style Super-Laser, car remote control, cellphone/subspace communicator, and a stylus that doubles as a light saber.
And a can opener if you could squeeze that in.
Turbyne
~A'Ëq'i4d)^'$ÊSÈòB
Seriously, I want something that can:
1. High resolution screen, I don't want to see pixels, I want text to appear clear, not pixelated
2. Color, color is important, how else am I going to read my sunday funnies in the middle of nowhere?
3. Console-ish buttons + stylus input. I want my nintendo patented + shaped navigation, maybe a wheel for scrolling vertical, and at least two buttons, one for "OK/CONFIRM/YES" and one for "NO/CANCEL/GO BACK STUPID!" The stylus should not feel like a big plastic toothpick, nor should it feel like a chunk of lead.
4. Expandable , 2MB, 4MB, 8MB, give me 1GB, hehe. No seriously, I want to be able to plug into a firewire hard drive or wireless to a remote computer.
5. Real Video/Sound system. Maybe a mobile radeon is too much, but the video system should be able to pump out full-screen video at 60hz if I were streaming it from somewhere that could keep up. Sound systems have been nothing short of pitiful on handheld's, including handheld game systems. Onboard stereo DAC/DSP to play mp3/ogg's
6. Waterproof, damage-proof, bullet-proof, oven-proof. Hey when I goto pick up a pen, I don't want it falling out of my pocket and smashing into many pieces. Should be waterproof so one doesn't have to put it in the oven to dry off (^_^)
7. Thin-client to winXP-RDP/Linux-VNC things, hey, if it's not on the PDA, It's probably on PC/MAC in the next room.
8. IR/RF remote output, not only should it communicate via IRDA... but it should also be able to act as a universal remote for every single IR/RF device out there so I can get rid of that box of remotes on the coffee table.
9. While we are at it, why not let it interface with the car and have it drive while playing your ogg/mp3's in the stereo.
Why not put an optical sensor in the back and create an optical wireless mouse?
> You've gotta sin to get saved.
To get a good sound quality for the speech recognition engine, and to allow for full hands-free use (having the PDA in a pocket), I think some sort of headset will be required.
This would be a simple way to make sure that only the person wearing the headset can use the speech-controlled functionality.
Just have it read my thoughts, and communicate with me via brain waves or something similar. Have it always on, and never need charging. Have it integrated into my skull (or other body part). Have it know everything that's going on around me, so it can alert me whenever anything wrong is happening.
We may not get anything like this while I'm still alive, but that is by true ideal pda.
Forget about hi-rez screens or MP3. I just want a small, fast wireless device that doubles as my cell phone with good battery life which I can expand as I see fit.
Does this
I've had a palm pilot (note: *not* just a "palm"!) and a psion 5mx in my time. Both have been OK, but I'm now looking for another nice trendy toy to sit at a rakish angle on the desk.
I've already got a bluetooth phone, and was thinking of replacing it with a Treo if it weren't for them saying that they'll never put expansion slots in the treo - and the other Handspring offerings look like butt-ugly cheapo plastic to me.
I want PalmOS not CE; I want bluetooth; I want GPRS; I want a phone; I want GPS as well, at the very least as an expansion option; I want a PDA of some sort; I'm not so fussed on wireless access, nor does IrDA thrill me, but I have USB and ethernet and bluetooth networking options at my dispoal.
The problem currently is the way any one PDA only addresses a few of the above requirements; I want to be able to use with my bluetooth earpiece whilst taking down someone's details into the organizer, whilst on the built-in phone.
And last, I don't want it to say "requires windoze 98 or better" on the box.
~Tim
--
Rushing on down to the circle of the turn
Most of the requested key features I've been reading here already seem to exist in today's cellphones. For example, all Nokia mid-range models and upwards have a good calendar function which allows you to share notes between calendars, sync with the PC, etc. Reminders, alarms, to-do lists are all there, and the T9 keyboard makes data input fast. Even voice recognition is being introduced in Nokia models (first for dialling numbers, but more and more features are getting added). It's not perfect, but it's getting better.
Just check out the features of some of their models.
N.B. For reading e-mail, many GSM providers (at least here in Europe) offer an e-mail-to-SMS service so it's easy to forward all your mails to your cellphone.
---- scrm
I never saw a good cell phone and PDA in one box. Samsung Palm cell phone comes close (decent color screen) but Sprint has terrible coverage in Bay area. Trio looks really lame and I heard bad things about it's battery life. Psion is bulky and has a very strange OS. I would rather have a really tiny cell phone that fits in the same pocket with my wallet and keys and a PDA with screen big enough to be usable. For those, you have a couple of choices. For hacking purposes (PHA?), you might want to get a Zaurus. It runs a pretty regular version of Linux and Java, has a terminal you can use on the device, telnetd etc. But if you are really going to use it as a PDA, you need some kind of a Palm clone. The battery life is a few weeks rather than a day and also everything is in memory and is backed up on every sync with a PC, so you never loose the data. Applications are always loaded in RAM and many of start so quickly you don't even see them loading. Also, the basic Palms are lighter and thinner than most cell phones. You might want to get Sony Clie instead of real Palm or Handspring, because they use pretty fantastic high resolution screens. I have a 760C and it looks better than any notebook screen I saw. Also the MP3 player is hardware assisted and lasts pretty much for the whole day if you turn off the display.
Nor can you search a notepad in a few seconds. Nor can you back up your notepad in 30 seconds. Nor can you use a notepad as a web browser/e-mail client (in an emergency, like I did yesterday to useful effect).
Nor can you get a few dozen full size novels into your notepad and still fit it into your shirt pocket (unless your day job is writing peoples names on grains of rice....)
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
- long battery life
- easy to use interface
- OS that doesn't lock up, hang or crash
with the benifits of the PocketPC- colour screen - it really makes it much more pleasant to use and you can use colour to hilight things (and yes I know the m505 is colour, but its rather murkey)
- integrated 802.11b AND bluetooth
- (most important of all) FULL compatibility with Outlook
Yes, the majority of people on here probably don't use Outlook, but when all your emails, contacts, notes and diary are on there, you'd like a PDA that holds an exact copy of it.(subnote: you can't do alarmed reminders, multiple addresses, linked birthdays and a whole host of other stuff with the Palm - and even if you did use a replacement app, it doesn't sync to and from outlook)
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
1. Price. Yes, they're finally pushing the $100 mark today, but it took way too long. A Newton was/is more powerful, and can still be cheaper in the used market. I am no Apple fan, but the architecture, as realized in the MessagePad 2100 or whatever the 'good one' was, really blows todays' machines out of the water.
2. Interoperability. Again, I'm not saying WinCE, Symbian, or embedded Linux gets it better, yet, but unless you're looking for a truly expensive calendar (something that can be had from Royal or Sharp at any Staples or supermarket for $20), the second most common use of a PDA is as a data viewer and editor. Ideally, the unit should, in stock configuration (remember, it's 2002), be able to store a few multimedia projects, or at least some MP3s. The new Zaurus, and newest Palms are beginning to get this right, now that they can take CF/SmartMedia without $100 adapters.*
3. Ergonomics/Aesthetics. Some of us really are addicted to typing, and really need a portable data-entry solution (for serious work, like papers or coding). The average person who is happy with Palm doesn't need this; they just want a calendar, and don't have a problem paying $300 for a sexy one. The fact is that people have different usage modes, and no one device or form-factor will truly satisfy everyone. Either way, I do think it's time to raise the bar on general-purpose performance and memory capacity.
4. Standalone-ability. This follows from 3; some people like the Palm as a peripheral, and some lust for a standalone 'palmtop.' Personally, I'm in the standalone camp, but I still want an inexpensive architecture designed for reasonable power consumption, speed, and expansion (USB/PCMCIA/CF-PCMCIA), which is why I haven't bought a Libretto. Ideally, today's palmtop shouldn't be much worse than a K6-2 300, and that's a level of a performance readily available in low-power versions from SuperH, MIPS, Coldfire, and even the rather 'lumpy' designs of StrongARM and PowerPC.
5. Open hardware/Replaceable OS- this, in turn, follows from number 4. Thus far, *every* PDA (with the possible exception of the Zaurus) assumes you'll want their proprietary OS in ROM forevermore (and Flash memory for such has been expensive, true). However, while I'd love to find one OS that satisfies me, it would be much easier to be able to mix-and-match Palm, WinCE, Symbian, Linux or NetBSD on various hardware, and have each support it well. Thus far, PDA architectures haven't been commoditized enough to allow this, and I hope that'll change. Now that everything seems to have one or more functioning CF slots, wouldn't it be great if you could reuse one as your router (or portable television!) when it's obsolete in 2 years?
If you're happy with Palm- fine, but a B&W version should be commmoditized down to $30-$100 (like calculators- and this is finally happening anyway, though LCD prices are the killer). If you want more, the choices have been limited until quite recently- the iPaq is good but was expensive and suffers a WinCE tax, and the Zaurus is the same, but at least you can tweak the OS more easily. Neither come in keyboarded form-factors for us handwriting anti-luddites. (Though, if you look back to point 1, I wish *everything* that offers a stylus would support the Newton's level of gesture recognition, regardless of the primary input device.)
Hopefully, that explains why Palm doesn't satisfy. As they move off of the crippled DragonBall and merge in more Be code, perhaps they will satisfy- I've nothing against the company, just the product. Similarly, I wouldn't say that the *option* for ethernet or wireless network-connectivity (something I've had hell with on my Psion; EPOC/Symbian's got a better IP stack, but Palm has all the hardware support) is such a bad thing, but that depends greatly on whether you care about point 4- the ability to shoot your desktop (or spend long periods away from it) and run a palmtop as your primary machine.
I can say that, had I a pocketable NetBSD machine (and yes, I realize I could have one, sort of, with a lot of effort hacking a WinCE device), I would have little need for my desktop, and could access all my 'big' peripherals (heavy storage, printers, etc) over my LAN- or if I wanted to shell out for more portability, over Bluetooth. I want my palmtop to be my 'universal remote' for the infosphere, with all the data I really care about on it (papers in progress, porn collection, etc- obviously mirrored somewhere should I lose the thing), all the tools I need on it (browser, tcpdump, terminal emulation for sysadmin things), and the connectivity I need (ethernet, ethernet, ethernet!) to let it talk to other devices no matter where I am.
I want my pda to instead of have alarms that just chirp or whatever, I want the damned thing to say aloud what I need to do. I also want the thing only to say the alarm message after i have pressed a button which would be at the top. I want to be able to program alarms via voice. I would love bluetooth enabled pda and cell, have the pda dial the number on the cell, be able to do the internet over cell that way too.
DRACO-
Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.
"Very Windows-like OS, in UI and design"
I wouldn't go that far. It's basic, simple to use, you can turn various things on and off to remove clutter etc. I'm not sure what makes it Windows like rather than any other graphical OS.
"I hate making a change to a document and then realizing I can't abort and reload the original."
Umm. Yes, you can. Ctrl-R reverts to saved. There is still a saving system - it's just you don't lose what you had before you saved when you turn it off. Try opening a file, modifying it and hitting CTRL-R, and it'll revert to saved.
I agree though, some kind of guesture recognition would be nice. The contrst on the screen could be better too - at least it's better with the 5mx than it was with the 5.
I've had a couple of Palm OS PDAs (a PalmIIIxe and a Handspring Visor) and although they have their limitations they are just fine for their intended use in their present configuration with this MAJOR exception: Their durability sucks! The most vulnerable part is the screen. I try to take pretty good care of my gear but I, due to the nature of my work I need to keep my pda in my pocket all the time. I've had the screens go ba twice. To replace the screen doesn't cost a whole lot less than just buying a new one. A separate case adds too much to the bulk of the unit. Somebody needs to come up with a much more durable screen.If that can't be done then they have to be made a whole lot cheaper. (Maybe 20 bucks or so)
One of the key uses for my dream-machine would be preparing and running presentations for talks. Plus programming, plus reading stuff (pdf, html). :( I want to be able to run the editor of my choice, the office suite of my choice, any browser etc. but without tedious converting to and from PDA specific formats (like Palm doc). And i want to be able to do real work while sitting in the train etc. i.e. have my projects in there.
I feel somehow restricted by the PDAs out there. I have a Newton (still alive!) and a Palm III (deceased recently
so here are the requirements:
- lots of memory (> 1GB)
- VGA output (for video beamer)
- mouse and keyboard connectors (always handy)
- USB (for printer etc.)
- ethernet (for transferring stuff reasonably)
- screen 320x240 schould be ok
- virtual keyboard should be ok, small real keyboard would be better
- expandability for bluetooth, wireless lan, GSM etc.
- ok, and abviously sound, to play those mp3s
So basically the ideal PDA would be a stripped down notebook, without floppy or CD-rom, without keyboard and with smaller screen. And without superfluous 1.5 GHz heat source, but with reasonalble 200-300 MHz CPU.
Battery capacity could be a problem though i guess.
LCD based displays have come an awful long way from the first, truly awful, ones. But when we marvel at how good current displays are, we ignore how bad they are compared to ordinary black-and-white printed (or even written) paper. Even CRTs are inferior to paper for long term reading (hence the slow uptake of e-books), and PDA screens are even worse. If they have a long document to read, most non-geeks will print it out rather than put it on a PDA, even if they have one.
The problem is not so much resolution (though more pixels obviously help) but contrast ratio. Paper can easily give a contrast ration of 100 to 1. CRTs, I believe, give a contrast ration of up to 20:1. I don't know the figure for PDA screens, but it cannot be much more than about 15:1, if that.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
I'm using the m105 for something like 8 weeks now and am quite happy with it. I've got the KeyBoard and use it mostly for writing longer articles and for "offline" reading (just yesterday I took it out onto our backyard to read some man pages I had copy and pasted to text and tranfered to the palm) It saves weight, paper and most of all printing time. Only a few seconds to make your workstation docs portable - very practical. However, it's all far from ideal. Here's what I want - based on everyday use of a palm, a cellphone and all that:
:-)
:-)
:-)
1. Cellphone w. modem built in on the backside - want it to fit my ear and dont want my display all messed up and spat on
2. Hardware accelerated asymetric crypto module - for text and speech (long way to go till that one - I know)
3. UHF pager built in (Skyper, Scall (german telco pager standard) - good enough for short msg. fast and high power (reaches people where Cellphones fail - in cellars, deep inside buildings, etc.)
4. Display switchable from selflit to relective as to be readable in very bright light conditions.
5. Rechargeble Cells with with minimum of +50 hrs. of juice under full throttle.
6. Shock and (spray)water resitant.
7. easy switchable outer snap-on frame (it breaks? replace it) - basically I've come to like this seemingly unimportant option on the Palm m105.
8. Good pocket/pouch available (I also like the palm-glove)
9. spare cell carger with second cell and rocksolid cellcharging management (one is getting charged - on is in the PDA)
10. Optimized screen space usage, (see Handaera) switchable alignment (also Handaera)
11. Good OS (Palm is quite ok actually) with a solid HTML 4 reader - doesn't have to display everything as intended, but it should do a good work at simulatin/substituting the stuff.
That's kinda what I would like just now. Of course one could say: "Gimme an Octane 8 Workstation the size of a bar of chocolate that runs 200 hrs on a teaspoon of saltwater", but I kinda guessed you wanted a more realistic aproach.
The features I listed above (ecept maybe the crypto module) are pretty much realistic and ould make for a distinct PDA on todays market.
Hope I was of some help.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
"Very Windows-like OS, in UI and design"
I wouldn't go that far. It's basic, simple to use, you can turn various things on and off to remove clutter etc. I'm not sure what makes it Windows like rather than any other graphical OS.
I've heard horror stories from people developing for it, but as I haven't myself, I won't try to go into specifics. There's a bit of fairly obvious 'DLL hell' going on that Palm (and presumably Newton) don't suffer from.
I'd just be happy if the entry window in the S5 filer app could 1- be resized to fill the whole screen/expand the entry area or 2- multithreaded in such a way as to let you interact with the database when it's slid out of the way. From a UI perspective, that shows me they were thinking more about making it look WIMPy than actually making it useful. (Of course, the first version of WinCE was infinitely worse in that regard, and Palm's simple 'usability' comes from the limitations of the system.) It sure isn't bad- I'm happy enough using it- but it's still got obvious dumb spots.
"I hate making a change to a document and then realizing I can't abort and reload the original."
Umm. Yes, you can. Ctrl-R reverts to saved. There is still a saving system - it's just you don't lose what you had before you saved when you turn it off. Try opening a file, modifying it and hitting CTRL-R, and it'll revert to saved.
Confession time; I haven't used mine in 4 months, given that I've lost my 'real life' and been at my desktop 24/7. I think what might be biting me is that I'll think 'screw this,' completely kill the app (Word), and then realize that it *has* persisted that version (and probably lost the ability to ^R it- maybe I'm just not in the habit, and I'll have to play with that if I can scrape up a set of fresh batteries)...
I agree though, some kind of guesture recognition would be nice. The contrst on the screen could be better too - at least it's better with the 5mx than it was with the 5.
I'm weird- the contrast on the S5 is about what I'd expect, though the fixed tilt (necessary for the nice anti-tip feature) does lead to some annoying glare scenarios. I'd rather wait on predictive LCD controllers to fix the whole scrolling issue all LCD devices have than bother to whine about the particular LCD (which was easily replaced, as seen in the 5MX).
One thing I do love is the EL backlight, even though the inverter noise totally ruins audio recording on my original 5.
The real thing that gets me about the S5/5MX is the sheer inability to make them speak ethernet; you can now get a rather expensive IrDA PPP-server-in-a-dongle, but nobody ever bothered to negotiate a driver out of Extended Systems, even while they were doing other work with Psion. (I think Extended was snapped up by Palm a few months after I stupidly eBayed one of their IrDA adapters and expected to find some sort of support, which probably negates any better-late-than-never releases)...
Having owned several PDAs over the years, and thought about how they can be improved, I thought I'd stick my oar in here.
/almost/ satisfied by the existing newly-released Pocket PC 2002 machines. But not quite. I think I could do what I want with an Ipaq, but it would need a couple of sleeves and cards, making the cost really silly and the size unacceptably large.
The last two I have owned are a Psion 5mx (great keyboard, poor screen, great PIM functions, poor PC integration) and an HP Jornada 545 (no keyboard but good enough handwriting recognition, great screen, good PIM functions and good PC integration).
I could wish for a local copy of Google, IMDB &c, DVD rip-and-play directly into my eye, and so on - but what I want is realistically doable now, it's just no-one's managed to put everything together in one package...
My wish list below is
OK, here's the hardware list;
- Integrated bluetooth to talk to my phone. Use this for synchronising my contacts with my phone and web access (GPRS always-on or HSCSD dialup). My phone's ready for this, why not the 3x more expensive PDAs?
- Integrated 802.11a. Use this for synchronising with home PC for backing up, home PC for synchronising appointments and contacts, and ditto when at work (with Exchange). Be able to map drives, use proxies for the web, and print.
- Integrated USB (2.0 ideally) socket - for putting music/movies/documents/etc to and from the PDA when and where wifi isn't available. This would also be capable of charging up the PDA, and grabbing pictures from my camera.
- Scroll buttons on the side, with a select click as well. This is essential for reading ebooks and other large documents, and is done wonderfully on the Jornada.
- Better screen - less power-hungry, brighter, sharper, and higher contrast - 480x640 would certainly be sufficient, especially with ClearType-style technologies.
- Enough CPU and RAM for all the jobs (400 MHz X-Scale and 64 MB RAM almost certainly fine).
- CF Type II slot for a 1 GB Microdrive. This would give me the albums I'm listening to right now, a collection of reference and fiction ebooks, some offline websites, and any other bits and bats I might need. Given the USB and wifi links, a few handy PC utilities might be good too - WinZIP, Acrobat Reader, a handful of network tools, a basic browser, etc.
- A PC-card slot for a PC-Card hard drive, if this can be done for the same physical size and battery life as the Microdrive. 10 GB of stuff would be very useful to have around, even though 1 GB is Good Enough(tm).
- NO SLEEVES! Good idea, in principle. Doesn't work, in reality. Makes it too big, too flimsy, and too fiddly.
- A hard cover for the screen. The Jornada got this right with a metal integrated cover. Saved my screen many times, and is easily removable for extended use.
- Speaker, maybe built into the LCD - as someone else said, the tech is there. Backed up by a good quality line out for headphones or those inflatable speakers...
- Physically the same size and weight as current Ipaqs, Jornadas and so on (without the sleeve). It must live comfortably in my jeans pocket.
- Battery life; a working day of a couple of hours playing music and a couple of hours using it with the screen on high. The more the better, as long as charging is quick. A car cigarette lighter socket charger would *really* help here.
GPS would be nice, but the USB port would let me use the one I already have...
The software side is pretty simple;
- As good a PIM as the Psions had 4-5 years ago would be great - critically a clever calendar, good contact management and a quick-to-use todo list. Outlook on the PC is almost there - that would be good enough.
- Smart, automagic synchronisation. Once I've got in the house and/or office and sat down, I want it to have happened.
- Separate text editor and word processor. Sometimes I want one, sometimes another. And a basic spreadsheet.
- MP3 player, image slideshow, movie player.
- Voice memo taking is handy, as well as a simple quick way of scribbling a note at a moment's notice.
- Compatible and stable enough a platform that there is a decent library of other software - too many apps run on Ipaq but not the Hitachi-based Jornada, for instance.
- Acrobat e-book reader or something that does the same.
There, simple!
I'd pay happily for a machine such as this - say 500 UKP (750 USD) for the unit with everything in it except the microdrive/PC card HDD. And please, whoever does make it, make it tough. Please. I drop things. Rubber-edged titanium would make it very appealing...
...you need to ask "If you own a PDA, be quiet; if you do not currently own a PDA, why not?".
I personally do not own a PDA. Therefore, I am qualified to answer. Here is why I do not own a PDA:
#1: Batteries
The batteries don't last long enough. Even if they did, it would not be enough. One fix for this might be a 60Hz LC-tank circuit to charge the batteries whenever you are in an office building wired to power the thing. You'd need to include a 50Hz tank, as well, for foreign countries and half of Japan. Meanwhile, the batteries back the RAM. When the batteries go, your RAM goes. When your RAM goes, everything you haven't synchronized goes. This leads us to:
#2: Storage
The storage is too small. It's not enough. A small hard disk, of the type IBM sells (and, I guess, which Hitachi will sell) for inclusion in cameras... the size of a quarter, holding several gig... is a minimum. Of course, being electro-mechanical, it will further reduce battery life (see #1). This can be worked around, half by adding more RAM, to be used as cache, and to allow the drive to be slept. The thing needs more RAM, anyway. Eating more power is bad; on the other hand, it will reduce the need for a synchronization umbilical:
#3: Synchronization
The problem with synchronization is that it requires that I have something much more powerful and much more useful than the PDA itself. This pretty much means that the only thing a PDA is good for is transportability. I prefer another technology to solve that problem: printers. So, transportability isn't a "killer app", it's only an enabler. Without a "killer app", the product is pretty much limited to the early adopters, which brings us to the glaring problem, from an early adopter point of view:
#3: Crappy CPU
The CPU is a Motorolla 68*328 -- Dragonball -- processor. This is a 68K processor, which has many of the instructions of the "good" 68K family of processors, but still lacks an MMU. This makes it impossible to run a true protected mode OS on the device (e.g. NetBSD 68K, etc.). It also makes it much less interesting to hack on. Which brings us to:
#4: Fragility
The whole thing is too fragile, from a software persepective. One bad application can crash the whole thing, and one malicious application can wreak havoc. You might as well be running Windows 3.x, GEM for x86, or DOS. Like those OS's, it's got bad human factors design written all over it; bringing us to:
#5: User Interface
The user interface rots. Specifically, the need to use a cryptic non-standard alphabet is awful. It might have a high "geek appeal", but it means the product can never "cross the chasm", as Geoffrey Moore would put it: the appeal comes not from any intrinsic value, but from the extrinsic value of "I know grafitti, and you don't". There's also a common complaint among users that prolonged use of Grafitti damages normal handwritings skills; anecdotally, I'd have to say this is true. The value of the device would go *way, way, up* if only it could recognize what the user writes, instead of making the user write what it recognizes.
That's basically the major points; I could nit-pick on features, like everyone else (e.g. IR or 802.11a/b or BlueTooth sbased synchornization, etc.), but there's no point: those are feature complaints, not product wholeness complaints.
IMO, PDA's are "not ready for prime time", and won't be, until their obvious deficiencies, which make them incomplete products, are addressed.
-- Terry
In addition to wireless LAN maybe also a subsystem for accessing GSM/PCS and UMTS services (needs one smart card interface), and while we're at it, let's throw in another, secondary smart card interface so finally use the Geldkarte and similar electronic purses and we'd finally be set for M-Commerce!
Try www.snpp.com
Compulsary anti-spam landfill:
In the auditorium, Skinner speaks to the children.
Skinner: Children, the times they are a-becoming quite different. Test
scores are at an all-time low, so I've come up with these
academic alerts. [hold stack of cards] You will receive one as
soon as your grades start to slip in any subject. This way
your parents won't have to wait until report card time to
punish you.
Martin: How innovative. I like it!
Kearney: Hey Dolph, take a memo on your Newton: beat up Martin.
[Dolph writes "Beat up Martin" which the Newton translates as
"Eat up Martha"]
Bah! [throws Newton]
Martin: [being bonked on the head] Ow!
-- Good ol' Apple Computer, "Lisa on Ice"
I've thought for years that the ideal PDA for me would include say, 3 buttons or a side dial where I indicate how busy I am: 1-only interrupt me if a family member is in danger; 2-at work or in thought; and 3-not busy at all. Then the PDA serves as universal inbox for all phone/fax/email/etc messages and only rings or beeps based on the sender-indicated priority (high/med/low). That way I'm always available, but only if I want to be, and I get only the messages that matter, as appropriate for the situation. Sort of like a cell phone that semi-intelligently knows when NOT to ring--because I simply hit button #1. This assumes little spam though, I guess.
A Free, fast personal organizer for touch typists: onemodel
I want a PDA that is not just one more thing to lug around. Combine it with places to stick my Cash, Credit Cards, Drivers license and pictures of the neices and nephews.
Make it durable, I mean I am going to be sitting on it.
What about the yopy. It looks pretty amazing?
I've always thought the ship's computer ('Rommie') from Andromeda would make a fairly good assistant.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
Most obvious, glaring omission:
a joypad. Analog, but with "clicks" for cardinal directions. People want to play games, and up/down/left/right is basic.
Other ideas:
a chorded keyboard. Hold a Palm in your palm. Look where your fingers and thumbs are (probably along the sides). Put buttons there and let me enter text with combinations of buttons. Properly implemented, this would be at least as fast as a regular keyboard.
320x480 screen and a useful but very low-powered 3D accelerator.
a decent-resolution (at least 1MP, but why not 2?) camera. Once you have a memory and processor in this thing, how expensive can it be to add a CCD and a lens? Sound in and out also, obviously.
make the stylus a bluetooth microphone/earphone, if you really must make it a phone as well. I still think separate gadgets makes more sense, so I can access and enter information and talk at the same time.
WiFi. Duh.
GPS. Duh. Tie this into the appointments. Imagine being able to set an appointment along the lines of "The next time I'm at my parents' place, remind me to collect my hat".
A clip on the back. When I clip it to something, it switches to vibrate mode (optional). When it's on me, it vibrates. When it isn't, it beeps.
About the size of a regular wallet. ie bigger than a Palm, but smaller than a iPaq. It should fit easily in a pocket, but be no smaller than that.
The Newton user interface. The best computer user interface ever invented, by an incalculable margin.
(I still like Futurama more ;-) )
I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
As a student, something which can function well beneath the rapid pace of academic note taking would be amazing. No unit yet has been capable of doing so.
This is easy--I have put some thought into what I want from a PDA. I really like my Sony Clie, but I would like the following:
-Microdrive (or larger storage support)
-Filesystem hardware abstraction (now you have to load files into their respective applications, and most apps don't understand external storage)
-Bluetooth & IRDA
-GPRS
-a native IP stack & RJ 45 jack
-A full-color screen
-Long battery life
-USB port (keyboards, etc.)
-Good quality screen (Clie scratches very easily)
I understand there are Windows CE device with various combinations of these, but I like the PalmOS interface (I can use a Targus keyboard for text entry).
I am actually considering buying a subnotebook (such as a Vaio Picturebook) but would really like the ability to use a pen (plus I f**king hate touchpads.)
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
The one thing that puts me off with PDA's is lack of non-proprietary connectivity. All you generally get is a cradle or plug (completely alient to any other manufacturer) that allows you to sync with your PC and charge the batteries.
I want my next PDA to have a USB socket, wireless networking, CF (type I and II) and a standard DC power connector.
You fool! You've given cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god! Do you know what that means?
I want Newton-era handwriting recognition. It's been far too long since my PDA interpreted my scrawl as "egg freckles":
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein
I really like the iPaq 3800 series. It made my recent stint of waiting out the east coast storms in airports more bearable...with MP3s to listen to, eBooks to read, and games to play.
But memory cards (my iPaq can take SD, MMC, or CF) cost too much. I can't wait for the day when I can get 128M for $10US.
JoAnn
1. 320 x 480 millions of colors bright lcd screen, as big as the form factor will allow.
2. A little thinner & a millimeter or two wider than the Handspring Visor Deluxe
3. Multiple handwriting-recognition methods (graffitti, etc.) and good voice recognition, including voice file management and speech recognition indexing
4. Unix-based operating system (Linux, BSD, OS X) with command line utility
5. 802.11b and cellular wireless connectivity (in the same form factor)
6. 64 MB working memory, 1 GB storage memory (in the same form factor)
7. Email, calendar, web, ebook, clock, calculator, memo, expenses/money management, games, text editor, word processor, spreadsheet, various command line utilities, including grep, perl, ftp, ssh, etc. all above and beyond the memory listed above.
8. full unicode support
9. encrypted memory & strong security (both physical and electronic)
You said wishlist, right?
Why doesn't Star Trek have PDAs?
They've got Tricorders and Communicators, but I've never seen them down on a planet using them as PDAs. Pop them back to the ship and they are telling the ship's computer all kinds of useless junk (computer set an alarm for my batleth tournement)
What I'd like to see is a miniture verison of the enterprise's AI in a PDA with Voice recognition. That pda would be an assistant!
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
What I'd like is a PDA that when I'm in a meeting with people it talks to all the PDAs in the room, and puts the owner's name on the screen. I can't remember names, but by having the PDA put the names of the nearby people onscreen I have half a chance of getting it. (Best would be a graphic of the table with everyone's name at their place, but that is tough, and people will not always put the right name in, leading the embarrising laughs)
Make them sync up for meetings to, so we can all decide we need a followup meeting next week, and one is scheduled and in everyone's calander. Just don't leak my lunch date to anyone else...
While your at it, put a GPS in the thing so it can remind me about meetings just far enough a head. When I need to go to the next building I need more warning than if the meeting is just down the hall. And a doctors apoinment needs more warning yet.
You might want to consider the RIM BlackBerry 957:
1] Longer battery life
The battery lasts 1 week of constant use, and up to one month of occasional use.
2] An actual keyboard (or a stylus that works)
Yep, keyboard. I'm hoping a newer version will have a backlit keyboard (since the screen is already backlit).
3] Upgrade-able software
Yes, I download new software all the time for it (try www.rimroad.com). RIM also provides all the documentation you need to write your own apps.
4] Lots, LOTS of memory
The RIM apps take very little memory, so all you need the memory for is your data. I recently stuffed my small company's 1500 person contact database into it and it didn't even blink.
5] Of course, the ability to run in a Beowulf cluster...
Errr, probably not... but it does have the built in cell modem, which is the best part. The RIM BB is really a wireless email solution, and it's always connected.
Warning: most slashdotters won't like it because it doesn't have a colour screen. Functionally, however, I think it's one of the best, most useful, appropriately priced PDA's on the market.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
So a portable device has to be a phone. It also has to be (across the same cellphone link) a web browser - a web browser complying with normal Web standards, not a WAP device. And it has to be able to run something equivalent to VNC over SSH across the same link.
What does it look like? It needs to be small, to fit comfortably in a pocket. But at the same time to have the largest possible display. Provided the display is touch sensitive, it doesn't need any keyboard, jog-wheel, cursor keys or whatever implemented in hardware - all these can be soft. Handwriting recognition would be good, but isn't critical. It may be a one-piece unit with a flip-over keypad like the Sony/Ericsson P800; it could even be a clamshell like the Nokia 9120; but frankly it doesn't need either.
And the good news is that thanks to those very clever people in Scandinavia, it's all available now.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
Translation: /.ers for help. Good luck
I have a huge presentation due to my employer Monday morning on how to improve our PDA, and I have nothing to present.
Not to say that it isn't a good idea to ask
This
On the other hand there are the disadvantages. Slowed imput. Reading reduced to a frame a little larger than an index card. Minimal ability to define spacial relationships in a document. I found a PDA to be quite a bit more limited in my ability to represent information and there was always the problem of running out of power at bad moments. My visual search abilities rival that of the palm's (espcially since I date the upper-right corner of every note).
Personally, I've never seen the need to have an email-client or webbrowser in my pocket. Where I work I can't swing a stick without hitting a workstation.
And as for reading novels on a PDA? You gotta be kidding. Reading a novel on a PDA is rather like trying to eat a steak through a straw.
Better resolution and refresh, backlit, small thumb keyboard, and 64mb+ mem. Or just Boba Fett it: comes with a jetpack, wrist flamethrower, and wicked helmet.
Really very simple list, currently, I own a Palm IIIxe and an HP Jornada 720.
What I would like, is the ability for my Palm to connect to ISP via cell phone AND still have the ability to use one of those folding keyboards. Multi i/o can't be that difficult on these palms? Put in 2 com ports. This would allow you to be online AND send/recieve/reply to email.
The Jornada has pcmcia slots, compact flash slot, so its expandable, has built in keyboard (small but its there), not to mention the color screen. However, it has its own limitations, and my wish list for this would be, a built in 802.11 card, and more compatability with other CE devices (programs for most ce devices don't run on the HPC.
As you can tell, I've switched away from my palm, and utilize the Jornada 720 more. It still not perfect, but it does more for me than what the Palm ever did.
Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting someone else to do the work. --John G. Pollard
Sounds like everyone wants a portable computer, not a PDA. To me, a PDA is a cheap (inexpensive) electronic device I can use to store important information or take quick notes. And I still don't the products available are any good for even that. They still weigh too much and are too bulky.
I have a little paper notepad, smaller than my PDA, that I will use to jot down notes about this and that because it is much 'easier' and 'quicker' to do with the notepad than it is with my PDA (Sony Clie s360).
These 'all-in-one' devices belong in another category all together in my opinion.
I think my ideal PDA would be the Sharp Zaurus, made by a company other then Sharp,
Apple, Sony, or M$ (so I'm biased!), completely weather proof, and SHOCK resistant
and I mean I want to be able to drop the sucker on black top from 6 feet up and have it
bounce and still work 100%. I want it yellow and black.
An add-on super life (24 hours +) battery pack. Have it snap on the back of the unit,
doubling the thickness of the unit.
A barcode reader built in or as an add-on and a built in speaker would be nice too, no
buzzer+headset combo.
Oh and as one reviewer of the Sharp Zaurus said, rubber buttons for the keyboard so the
stylus can be used on them without slipping off.
Forget all this PDA nonsense, get your brain in gear before the Butlerian Jihad hits. Seriously though, memory is something that *can* be trained; it's all a question of convincing yourself that something is of a higher priority that you initially percieve it to be.
The one feature I want that I *haven't* currently got is a loud-enough beep. I originally started using PDAs primarily in order to remind myself of appointments with a loud beep. My Handspring Visor, in its protective case inside my pocket, isn't loud enough to be noticed over almost any ambient noise. I want louder beeps!
(Or maybe vibration, like cell phones...)
I love my Palm VIIx, but the following would make it better - ruggedized case, rechargeable batteries, plug-in solar charger, and like with all Palms except the SONY, higher resolution. As someone here once said "just so I can't see the pixels!". I don't need color, or more storage.
I smiled, but I'm serious. People are trying to make PDAs smaller and lighter, but the major weight is usually the screen. The screen simply cannot be much smaller or it is unreadable.
Solution? Holographic displays.
You have a small device with all the hardware, and if you want a visual display, you hit a button and you can then work with the display holographically. The screen is 100% portable.
Okay this is far fetched, but we need serious scientific research on holographics to push computer display technology forward, I think. Its one of several revolutions computers need to get out of this current cludge the current machines are in.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
It is easy to imagine a PDA clipped onto your belt, with an attached case for a pair of glasses. Put on the glasses and the display is projected onto your retina, and the legs of the glasses have a small contact speaker for sound, and a micro microphone for sound input.
Leave the PDA surface for sketches and other scribbles, and use sound as the primary input method. Leave the glasses on all the time and you are permanently hooked into the collective.
Of course it would have to hook into the Cell phone data grid, and would optionally use a larger computer back home in a hyper thin client fat server mode.
In a more advanced system, we would have double retinal projectors to allow 3D display, (including an alpha blending channel to allow display overlays of the real world. Additionally, it would have two small video cameras mounted on the glasses. With this configuration you could record your life stereoscopically, and play it back anytime you liked.
Such a system could have many uses. For example, combined with a facial recognition algorithm it could stick a text label under all faces in your field of view, so you need never forget a face again. (Alternatively, it could whisper the person's name in your ear, or tell you she is a bitch, or tell you to suck up to them, or whatever else you might want.) Or, it might give a visual overlay of the inner workings of s piece of electronics, to assist in repair, or a whole bunch of other applications. (Add a GPS receiver and you have a whole new slew of ideas too.)
I find it annoying when my Palm beeps at me to tell me to go to a meeting I'm already at. I'd love to see a Bluetooth (or something) solution that let the Palm know that I was in the meeting room already, so there's no need to beep at me.
Brant
the biggest problem with PDAs is input speed. Grafitti and/or actuall handwriting recognition is too slow. If PDAs accepted Gregg Shorthand -- designed for writing at high speed, life would be good.
N. --
that book had the ideal pda..kurt vonneghet understands. it's about the size of a credit card and it's all display..it has sound i/o for it's main feature as a translator. all one has to do is start speaking in it and get someone else to say a few words in another language to it and it instantly recognizes both languages and audibly translates between languages. it's a little tower of babel waiting to happen. by allowing everyone to communicate in their own language you've broken down the biggest barrier between modern humans. the pda in the book also had quotes, rules to games, most of the information one could need..i'm sure it could record voice memos as a notepad replacement and set timers/alarms. it could probably play games but that's not something they went into in the book..desktops and frisbees and balls are more suited for games than a pda. i'm sure it could also play music with it's magically unlimited storage and audio output capabilities. they didn't mention connectivity or video but add those in and you could have a communicator that should be able to talk to anyone in the world regardless of language with a video display. something that small would probably be cheap once it's developed and the facilities to build it made. so we should all have one. maybe we'll have a trustworthy government in a decade or so when this is done so we could throw in GPS for security and replace our ID cards and credit cards. then there's only an eyebrow piercing version that shoots video and sound right into your eyes and ears (yet doesn't cause cancer, or cancer is cured/regeneration) then neural implants, robots, the matrix, armageddon, welcome back jesus, fin.
I would like to be able to retire some pro audio gear, or at least replace it out in the field and leave it just for home studio use.
So, I would like, on my PDA++, to play and record UNCOMPRESSED audio files (e.g. linear PCM, stereo or 4-channel or 8-channel, 16 or 24 bit, 44.1 or 96 kHz). "CD-quality" stereo audio is around 11 Megs per minute. I'd need to record a couple of hours at one session (currently it takes a couple of DAT cassettes, in a semi-portable rack-mounted Panasonic SV3800 DAT recorder with separate outboard ART mike preamp)
I would like to be able to record from external inputs on the PDA++, so I would like GOOD quality, shielded A/D converters, also good quality microphone preamps, with 48V phantom power for condensor mikes.
I would like to feed various kinds of analog and digital audio outputs, so I would like a decent D/A converter to balanced XLR +4dbV (pro) analog outputs, or at least 1/4" tip-ring-sleeve outputs, OK if it has to be consumer grade -10dbV line level out, but just don't make it have only a tiny mini-plug stereo headphone jack with no other better quality outputs.
Also at least S/PDIF (the RCA jack), preferably AES/EBU (the XLR jack), digital audio I/O.
And be able to dump to, and read from, audio or data CD-R's, and maybe DVD+R's too.
Oh and MIDI I/O too, plus either SMPTE timecode, or at least MIDI timecode (MMC). So some kind of synthesis capability too, beyond just audio ("sample") playback.
It has to fit in a couple of pockets, maybe in a couple of pieces that would plug in together.
The outboard A/D, D/A, preamps etc. could be gathered in a separate 'breakout box', if the main PDA had a Firewire or USB 2 port.
There are various things around which can do various subsets of these capabilities now, but collecting them all in a couple of small boxes that plug in together and don't cost a fortune hasn't been done yet.....
Thingies (portable digital audio workstations) like the Roland/Boss BR532 are starting to get almost small enough etc., but the BR532 records compressed audio onto SmartMedia cards, lacks phantom power, and doesn't do CD-R's (you have to swap SmartMedia cards with a PC that has an SM reader and a CD-R burner).
And there are some more expensive portable digital audio workstation boxes, from Zoom & Roland & Fostex & Yamaha etc., that have the better mike preamps with phantom power, and hard drives for uncompressed audio (some come with 20 GB that I've seen in catalogs, though that is not so much, it will do as long as you can burn off CD-R's in between sessions to clear the hard drive and keep recording) and they either come with, or can add-on, builtin CD-R burners.
One of the Roland's even records directly to CD-RW, and doesn't even have a hard drive inside. I think it has a huge RAM buffer so you can mix and burn to CD-R, I guess you have to read in from the CD-RW and then swap in the CD-R for burning? (haven't had time to check it out yet, though they have one in a local music store)
Here's my preferences:
1. Long battery life
2. Low weight
3. Small form factor
4. Cellphone/wireless integration
5. Standardized power and synch connectors
6. Rugged construction
The MP3 crap, and the big color screens? If I wanted a mongo color screen, I'd get a laptop. If I wanted an mp3 player, I'd get an mp3 player. If I wanted a Gameboy, I'd get a f**king Gameboy.
I want something that will hold all my phone numbers and addresses, and let me make and receive phone calls. I want it to be tough, because this thing will go whereever I go, whether it be to the city, or backpacking out in the country. I want it to have standardized DC power jacks, so if I lose the original charger, I can walk in to walmart or someplace similar and get a new charger. I want the thing to have a standard USB data jack for synchronization. I want it to run the PalmOS.
The Handspring Treo gets most of this right, but it's not perfect.
I always thought that a Gameboy could make a perfect combo PDA with more memory, connectivity (ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB), cellphone, backlit screen, and the horizontal footprint in addition to playing games.
If you made the front slide up to reveal a qwerty keyboard, you'd be all set... Oh and run a real OS, windows, linux, whatever, similar to the Sony C1 picture books.
Of course if it had a 3" CD/DVD drive attachment and a proper camera (video and still like a Sony mavica) it'd be all the better.
cheers
All the Palms I've seen use only about half of the full surface area as an LCD. The rest goes to hard-wired handwriting recognition space and buttons. I'd like the entire front of it to be one all-purpose touchscreen, and let the software decide what each pixel does. That would make viewing pictures and movies easier as well.
If all one wants to do is to get organized, one
might not need a full PDA. Something cheap like a Sharp 730/770 Wizard (0.9mb for data on 730, 1.9mb for data on 770) might do the trick for $70-80. Chicklet type keyboard, durable clamshell case. Somewhat programmable (see www.ozdev.com for a small development community--I maintain a library for it).
One isn't going to fill up the memory with notes, appointments and phone numbers unless one downloads a phonebook or ebooks. Plus one gets the nostalgia trip of being able to do Z80 assembly programming once again (it's Z80 based!) There are some annoyances in the organization features, but most of those can be overcome with freeware add-ons.
Alex
is a Doom3 capable one
nuf said
I want more buttons like a Gameboy.
At least two sets of four.
Like that gizmo they had in Earth:Final Conflict, the one with the foldable touch screen which could show Da'An (No Da'An communication included).
If that fails, then the Enterprise's Computer along with a com device would be fine...
What all of U need are PDA- sized PC's...
I only have experience with my CASIO PocketPC
PDA, so I don't know about other OS's, but the main thing I find lacking in WinCE 3.0 is a good left-handed writing support, I would just like to have the scrollbars on the left and the top, not right and bottom. etc.
P.S. Why not a Palm? because it can not contain my HUGE Magic database (23 MB). I have the complete MTG spoilers in it, I can search them, sort them, look up how many of a card I posses.
The Color, USB host, and MP3 apability are just a bonus. The M$ "software" it's biggest drawback.
RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
First, I want a much better screen--but black and white. Gimme higher resolution, higher contrast, higher reflectivity. Make it look like paper. Make it so good that I mostly don't need any backlight. Make it so good I don't long for a bigger screen. Make the display low in power consumption too.
Second, protect my data. I was a Newton user and the Newton didn't ever lose my data. Part of this was the fact it used flash memory, part was paranoid programming. I liked the result, Palm doesn't do so well.
Third, run Linux and open source apps.
Fourth, be small and tough.
Fifth, have slow wireless data service like the Palm VII/i705 (slow is good because it has deeper reach into buildings and lower battery requirements), but more general purpose (I wanna ssh into my server), and have coverage in more of the country and world.
Sixth, have some expandability. Those little IBM disks are tempting, but flash is fast and tough and lower power--let me choose.
-kb, the Kent who has been using PDAs for years.
Folks, I just today got a chance to read this thread and quite enjoyed all the views, from trolls to seriously hopeful users.
The thing that surprised me is how many didn't see any serious value to a PDA. The various "just use a $0.29 memo pad!" kinds of comments. For those folks I wanted to add my $0.02 worth.
I carry a newton message pad 2100, the last released newt. It now has almost eight years worth of data. Every appointment, note taken in meetings or business contact. All my personal journal entries about raising my daughter, some with voice recordings of how *she* pronounced words at that point growing up (she's 8 this week). I have her drawings from all the times she grabbed my newt to play with.
Folks, think about your computer and all of it's data. Can you make the same claim? Do you have all of that data?
From another view, how easy was it to capture? I had the newt with me and wrote sitting in a park, at home, in bed, everywhere. So the data made it in and wasn't forgotten as "not worth capturing."
I still don't have what I hope for, but until something arrives, this has been more valuable than my Sparcs, Powerbooks and PCs. By far.
--p
Patrick Curtain, Husband & Father ( i also write software )