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Is There Room for an IM only Device ?
tealover writes "MSNBC Has an article about a new device from Motorola that they're marketing that just does IM. It' called IMFree. Kind of a combination of a cordless phone and pager; There is a base station that plugs into a USB port in your computer, so it's only portable in relation to the base station. Sounds and looks like the kids would like this."
I got the Java Midlet based IM (Specilized ones for MSN, Yahoo and AOL ) and a mobile jabber client. Also, with my sprint vision plan I can use the web browser to use the IM ( which I prefer, specially on a well made mobile IM tool like Yahoo's messenger).
But a small dumb terminal, that looks and feels like a pda would be handy, I think the portable phone/usb base station is a pretty good idea, Would a pda that does all of it's processing on your desktop computer be a lot cheaper? I think a cheap zaurus-like pda would be a good trade of for range of use.
Ansi's and stupid tricks!
... is something that provided a very cheap screen/kb/mouse combination which wirelessly connected to a new session on a linux box. That way, I don't need to scatter boxes all over the house and multiple people could use it all at once. Mike
Why buy an extraneous hardware device to do what my computer can do in a few pixels of screen space?
If this were mobile, MAYBE it'd be worthwhile but my phone already has this covered (e-mail, c-mail).
I know that the US is not really into SMS, but in europe, it's HUGE. In belgium alone, a few MILLION smss are sent every day. At 40cents/message, that's big bucks for a service that costs next to nothing.
The situation has gone so far that studies have shown teens to use their thumbs for stuff that the previous generation would have used the index finger for. Like dialing an ordinary phone, or pressing the doorbell.
When will I end this grieving ? When will my future begin ?
I'm not sure if this will be a good-selling device.
First of all, the limitation because of a base station, really hurts it's image. It would be very cool if I could Jabber in the train, but I don't think I will Jabber on my couch, when my PC is ten meters away.
The second Bag Thing is the huge competion between PDAs and IM devices. Why would I pay for a (probably expensive too) IM device, when I can get a PDA with 802.11b? A PDA gives me much more features, including Instant Messaging. I currently have the Zaurus SL-5500, and I'm really happy to have it, I can do just anything with it, including Instant Messaging.
I think this device has a chance, but only if the prices are (much) lower than the PDA prices, or if it's going to support GPRS/UMTS/etc.
In need of reliable and affordable server monitoring?
Motorola is still on that IM kick?
After that crap V101, you think they might just go after quality and customer service instead.
I'll wait 'till Nokia makes one. I need my phones to last longer than a few weeks.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Yip, MSNBC does tend to get slashdotted quite regularly...
The purpose of cell phones and pagers is so that you can communicate with people when you are not at a phone. This IM device does not let you communicate with people anywhere, like cell phones.
Also, don't some cell phones have AIM integration? If someone owns one, I would like to hear how their mobile phone compares to both normal computers and this device.
I've had a chance to borrow an iBook with an AirPort card for awhile, and I really like being able to go anywhere in the house and be online without wires getting in the way. I see this device being very successful for the same reason. There are trade-offs: you can't browse Slashdot with it and the screen and keyboard are small and awkward, but it's vastly cheaper than a laptop.
I wouldn't want one of these for myself. I do a lot with the computer, and usually just have AIM running in the background; when I'm not at the computer I probably am busy doing something and don't have time for IM. I'm not in their target market though. A lot of less tech-savvy people use the computer exclusively for communicating with people (via IM or e-mail) and surfing the web, and don't necessarily do both at the same time; for them, this would free them from having to sit in front of the computer, which they only do now because it's the only way to use IM/e-mail/the web.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
the form factor, keyboard layout and purpose is so much like a blackberry that surely it won't be long before Research In Motion layers are knocking on moto's door. Remember when RIM sued Handspring... *sigh* imagine if someone had successfully protected a patent on the QWERTY keyboard layout. We'd all have to learn to type all over again every time we bought a keyboard from a different company!
Before adopting WHATWG, read the moonlight.NET EULA [http://www.microsoft.com/interop/msnovellcollab/moonlight.mspx]
seem to be carrying around cell phones these days. And it seems a lot of them support AOL Instant Messenger.
When cell phone prices eventually drop to the point where everyone can afford them (which I guess may be now), then an IM only device will be kind of unnecessary. That is, unless it's a dirt cheap service.
Vonal Declosion
wonder how long it will be till someone makes it run on linux .. *ducks*
I'm a little tea pot.
...the ability to let others use the computer whilst someone is IMing. /. or the like is usually slim to none, due to my little sister spending copious amounts of time 'chatting' to her friends.
I know that when I go home for a weekend or something, the likelyhood of being able to check my email, the latest
I think this sort of thing could come as a breath of fresh air for other members of the house hold
Also IMing age is usually self-concious age and so privacy hilst IMing is usually of the upmost importance (I know it is for my sister), thus the ability to do it from their bedrooms, for instance, would probably be very much appreciated.
Just my thoughts on it,
Alex
----------
Any fool can talk, but it takes a smart man to listen
----------
aol/tw ought to offer a rebranded
version of this, integrate it with
their services (emphasis on aim),
and send out these things for free instead
of the damned cdroms (including a
net installer for their pc & game console software
in the im device).
(or someone else should)
As much as you guys hate MS, you post a story on linking to MSNBC at 1am (PST), a time that probably draws the least amount of traffic to and from this site. Come guys, we may have been able to /. MS's servers if you had posted this at, say, noon. How much fun would that have been, eh?
Nothing from nowhere I'm no one at all
This seems pretty silly to me as most teens here (Netherlands) are equipped with a mobile phone. It doesn't seem to have any added value over plain-vanilla SMS messages. Don't the States have a SMS service?
---
"The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
ha ha ha. Good. Real Good. Now if we just correctly replace the terms Linux with Windows 98 wherever it occurs in the article...
-------- Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate -- the bombs always hit the ground.
Wireless Terminal.
Admin your *nix box from anywhere (Within your home. Who would of thought), Or watch the cpu usage.. This thing has alot more uses, Then one thinks at first look.
But does it have encryption?
I thought this is what hip-top were for. Mobile, portable IM and web services, with a full keyboard. Other then not being able to get out of range of a "base station," and using your existince computer's connection, I don't see why this is all that great.
Is there something I'm missing here?
to get soda or to take a leak i can take my IM service to the crapper with me!
I wonder how long it will take linux to make this device appear as a terminal. You could admin your box from anywhere in the house.. Or you could watch your cpu usage from the roof.
is if this thing had voice. You'd be able to send an IM to anyone that would signal them by making noise or rattling a similar device in their pocket, and you could actually talk into the device and hear your friend talking back. Wouldn't that be great? Even better if it weren't tied to a base station so you could use it anywhere. I wonder what we could call it; how about "telly-fone"?
Anyone else look at it and think it was a Lable Maker?
I've carried a 2 way pager (the cheapie motorola version that does nothing else) for nearly 2 years now...
"Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." - A.B.
With so many cellular providers, and text messaging being chained to only customers of the same provider, I've found it to be essentially useless.
Not to mention that I consider my Nokia phone to be a rather unwieldy device for typing messages - I wonder if everyone that uses SMS has a better device than I, or if they're just willing to tolerate them more than I.
I believe Motorola is trying to expand its market after losing ground with apple.
I can see something like this being usefull if it supported 802.11b. In more and more enterprise environments .11b is becoming ubiquitous, I know MS, Cisco, and many other large corporations have basically all of every building covered. But being tethered to the distance covered by a single basestation kind of makes it rather useless, if you are close enough to the PC to be in communications with it why not just use the keyboard?
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
SMS is really like IM'ing. And there are even some telcos that have some kind of SMS<->IM gateway. At least here in my coutry (Philippines), where SMS costs PhP 1.0 (approx. $0.02 US). We have an SMS<->ICQ Gateway which costs around PhP 2.50 per sent message. And I think the only barrier why there isn't any other SMS<->IM gateway is that either the telcos and IM provider (AIM, Yahoo, MSN) doesn't see any market demand for such things... yet.
Some years ago, my bro'in law was vp at Vodafon.
He showed me their latest product : MyAirMail.
It was exactly the same thing as mentioned above except that it would send and receive real emails and be 4-times smaller.
So, is there a market for this new im device when there has already been such products in the past ?
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Well they are going to have to be cheaper than what is being offered now. I have had 4 cell phones and I have turned everyone off because of PRICE. SMS with some Cell providers is like a buck a message here in the US many don't even offer it. If the US providers want my Cell Phone biz they have to drop price. It would be great if they would loose Qualcom and use the stuff Europe has. Qualcom has a death grip on The Celular service in the USA. Service suffers greatly for it.
As you can see I don't care about my karma.
Have been brainstorming a bit about this subject in the past: why haven't the mobile phone producers and network operators integrated instant messenging ( real-time! ) contact list with the phonebook in our cell phones? Just like with IM programs buddies could than update their own profile and this would show up in everyone's phone. My friends use this to keep track where everybody is and what they are upto all the time! It would require both new functionality of the phones and more significantly, a cheap broadcasting technique similar to SMS. But it would rock, I think!
After the 'phone, it's keyboard, PDA, sync cable, GPS, and penknife, no, there's no room in my pockets for an IM device.
I have AIM on my Nokia 3390 (I think it's a 3390) through T-mobile. I think you get 50 incoming messages free with most of the plans, an upgrade to 500 is $3/month, which I have. Considering that's about 16 messages/day average, I'm unlikely to go over it. I actually rarely use it cause when I'm home I'm usually at the computer with trillian running anyway.
Typing on it's a little annoying at first, but I can manage it ok now. It's nice to have when I need to get ahold of someone and I know they're probably on AIM, or when I'm just sitting somewhere bored.
The only problem I have with it is I can't seem to get it to pull my entire buddy list down off AIM, even when I tell it to. So I often have to manually add people to keep it in sync with the list on my computer. Once they're added it's fine though, so it's a minor annoyance.
Introducing the new Occam Fusion! Now with sqrt(-1) fewer blades!
And hearing John Inman camping it up inside their head in an "Are You Being Served?" stylee?
"Iiiiii'm freeeeeeeeee!......"
Im = Instant Moron...
Like you!
to send an IM command to an AIBO to go to the fridge and bring back a beer? This could be an important function for the "too lazy to get up and type the command on the computer" niche market...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
There's no reason why it can't support MSN etc. Don't want a separate device...
Communications technology giant Motorola (Quote, Company Info) is angling to cash in on the younger set's attachment to instant messaging with its new wireless IMfree device.
... but we're very happy to be working with AOL -- they're the big player," he said.
The blue-and-silver, 5-inch-square device looks like a very large wireless pager. With a built-in keyboard and LCD display, the device enables users to carry on six simultaneous IM sessions on America Online's (Quote, Company Info) AOL Instant Messenger service.
While the IM client resides on the device, it connects wirelessly to a base station attached to a user's PC. The PC must be kept running and online while IMfree is in use.
What you get, essentially, is a basic level of AIM connectivity anywhere in the home. The client supports a handful of AIM emoticons, but does not support rich text. IMfree users appear as mobile users to others on AIM -- that is, with a small mobile phone icon next to their Buddy List name. There are a few glitches to work around -- if AOL is an IMfree user's ISP, then the IMfree user must log into the handheld with a different Screen Name than they used to sign onto PC.
Eventually, the device could support other public IM networks, said Larry O'Shaughnessy, director of marketing at Motorola Consumer Products Division.
"We're constantly talking relative to other potential opportunities
The device, which is available online now for about $99 and will reach offline stores later in the year, is seen by Motorola as appealing to families with teens or pre-teens. For one thing, it enables the kids to use IM without dominating the family PC.
"Anyone who knows or has a tween or teen of their own has seen firsthand the passion this audience has with IMing," O'Shaughnessy said. "This passion will only increase with the new Motorola IMfree -- giving kids a more convenient and private way to IM with their friends away from the PC."
IMfree's software also includes built-in parental controls, enabling parents to blocking certain chat invitations. In addition, parents can also specify times during which a child can access AIM via IMfree.
It also doesn't require much in the way of advanced setup or a cutting-edge PC. Like most cordless telephones, the system operates at a 900MHz frequency, enabling it to reach about 150 feet. The base station connects to the PC via a USB cable, and the handheld unit includes a rechargeable battery.
A base station supports up to seven IMfree devices -- ideally enabling siblings or, perhaps, a college dorm hall, to use the devices. At some point, Motorola expects to sell the handsets separate from the base stations.
The move takes Motorola's long involvement in mobile instant messaging in a new direction. So far, most of the tech giant's efforts have centered around mobile phone-based IM. For one thing, the company is a major player in the Wireless Village (now Open Mobile Alliance) initiative to develop carrier-interoperable cell phone instant messaging.
In 2001, the company's Lexicus unit launched a Java-based, cross-network IM client, teaming up with presence software developer Personity. Notable for its support for AIM, Yahoo! (Quote, Company Info) and MSN's IM networks as well as Wireless Village protocols, the client is supported on a number of Motorola devices. Also that year, Motorola worked with Microsoft (Quote, Company Info) and Arch Wireless to deploy MSN Messenger on its Talkabout T900 two-way pager device.
Motorola has been working with AOL since late 1999, when the two first inked a deal to support AIM on Motorola's Timeport PDA/cellular phone combination devices.
But with mobile IM still having yet to catch on significantly, Motorola is banking that a low-cost product targeting an established market could fit the bill.
"We like the ubiquity of IM, and anything associated with IM and teens is a really dynamic, fun ma
Cybiko does this. Am I supposed
to dance around and clap at motorola's innovative entry into the teen PDA
market?
P.S. I'm just P.O'd slash doesn't do more coverage on this device, I
have 3, they're a hell of a lot better than luggin a laptop through the house
for IRC or IM'ing. Really cool toy.
IMFree reads like "I'm free", which just happens to be the catchphrase of a character in a British sitcom from the '70s called 'Are you being served?'. The character, played by John Inman, was extremely camp (1970s British shorthand for gay).
Even today, you occasionally hear people calling out "I'm free" in an Inman-ish voice. I think calling the device IMFree is just asking to be ridiculed. That said, Motorola might be able to use John Inman in their adverts or something...
* For example, many years ago in Spain I saw a billboard advertising a carbonated drink called "Pizz" or something similar.
"The noble art of losing face will one day save the human race"---Hans Blix
And I think the PDA makers have neglected this potentially huge market for way too long. Only now we're starting to get a trickle of PDAs with integrated wireless (Bluetooth or 802.11), whereas that could have been THE killer app for handhelds from day one. They concentrated for too long on WAN-type wireless, which until recently didn't have the infrastructure to do right (with GPRS it's finally getting there), while base-station-type home networking could have been done for a long time and would have been enough for a lot of people. As others have said, who wants to get up from in front of the TV and walk to the PC (probably in another room) to look up something, or carry a hot and heavy notebook on their lap, when you could just whip out the PDA and do the same thing? Let's face it, other than for commuting times most people spend most of their day within potential range of a base station, at home or at work.
On that note, I've also been getting frustrated with this obsession for smaller and smaller memory card formats. While these slots were always primarily intended for add-on memory, the reality is that an almost even more important use is for communications expansion, since most PDAs nowadays have adequate memory but inadequate connectivity. And it's simply a lot harder to pack especially new multi-chip technology into a SD or MS form factor than into a relatively roomier CF card. After all, the size of the card is hardly the limiting factor for the size of the PDA. Then again, with the trend of putting everything into new PDAs, after you've got a camera, BT, WiFi, GPRS modem and GPS receiver in there, maybe there's not much expanding left to do. Ah well...
Absolutely, Captain Peacock.
Oh, btw, it also does an admirable job at email. Again, sometimes it's easy enough to use the Sidekick even though you're sitting at the computer.
Oh, btw, it's a darn good web browser too. In fact, I'm using it right now to post this reply.
Oh, btw, it's also got all the usual PIM functions of a PDA.
Oh, btw, it's also an okay cell phone. Seriously, the fact that it's a phone is an afterthought to me. It's not that great as a phone.
They've just begun letting people play with a development kit too so I have high hopes of making it fill other needs too. It really rocks. I do have some complaints but this a damn fine tool.
For quite a long time, SMS (text messaging) was rare in the US. It was also very expensive.
Over the past year or two, SMS prices have dropped considerably and providers have been pushing and marketing those features more.
It seems especially common to be marketed for prepaid phones - SMS on prepaid phones seems to be about the same cost as "contract" phones, while voice minutes are much more expensive. In addition, SMS is in addition to most contract plans, while it is taken from your prepaid allowance in prepaid plans. (I mentioned increased marketing of SMS - Almost ALL of Verizon's advertisements for SMS features are in conjunction with advertising for their prepaid FreeUP plans.)
So I don't see SMS becoming popular for older business users (who have monthly contract plans) anytime soon, but I think SMS is catching on with younger people (especially teens), who are more likely to get a prepaid phone. (In fact, teens under 18 can only get a prepaid phone unless the contract is in their parents' name.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
I'm a perfect example of this.
My senior year of college, I had a desktop and a laptop. The desktop was always kept reasonably up-to-date for my entire college career. (That year it was a 1.1 GHz Athlon with DDR memory, etc etc.)
The laptop was an old cheap beat-up POS. Pentium 200MMX, 128M, 12" screen.
I used the laptop 95% of the time that year, for one reason: Even though the chair at my computer desk was pretty comfortable, the couch in my apartment's living room was ten times more comfortable. I pretty much did all my work that year either on the couch or sitting in a folding chair in the front lawn.
Thank God for 802.11
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Most cellular providers charge quite a bit for SMS on contract plans.
SMS is often *cheaper* on prepaid plans than contract plans. Unfortunately, almost no one except teenagers go for prepaid plans because the individual minutes are so expensive, and you don't get massive quantities of offpeak time. (I have virtually unlimited night/weekend calling.) The only reason teenagers go prepaid is because they legally are prohibited from getting a contract plan until they're 18.
As to the interface - I have a Kyocera 6035 Palm/phone combo. Graffiti is a wonderful way to write SMSes, but at 10 cents a message not included in my monthly bill, I usually call the person instead and use the minutes I've already paid for, unless I have reason to believe that they're in a situation where their phone ringing might be undesirable. (For example when my dad was on a business trip.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
so THIS is the amazing life changing device that has sucked up all of Motorola's R&D money!
Now I don't feel as angry about the current state of their G4 processors, what with this incredibly useful and life-enhancing device requiring so much time and effort on moto's part!
How silly do *I* feel?
In Japan, there is a drink called Calpis. (As in, sounds like "cow piss")
It's semi-intentional...
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
"The best thing about it is the connection. We have it hooked up to our DSL, so I am able to access it anytime. I also really like how easy it is to work. It works faster than my computer (via modem) and doesn't take up a phone line. (My brother has the DSL connection on his computer)." Wow, this is a pretty dumb set-up. Why would you pay for DSL and separately for another phoneline/ISP? Anyone ever heard of a home network!?
What else can you really do with them? They are electronic chains that make the execs trip down stairs and run into things as they 'chat' away with each other.
I am going to hell and I am going to take all of you with me.
The Handspring Treo has software for IM'ing. VeriChat works on AOL, ICQ, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.
Not only that, but I can use it away from my home. I recently went to the beach and had a great internet connection for chatting with friends & co-workers. You can find info about VeriChat on InfoSync or at VeriChat's web page. It is a solution that is much better than a dedicated device and offers much more, such as web surfing and email as well as any other Palm OS application you may need (such as VNC!)
Why would I want one of these when I could just buy a T-Mobile Sidekick that has AOL Instant messanger, email and phone capabilities built in. Just seems like its coming out 3 years too late... But I'll probably break down and buy one anyway, damnit.
http://trillian.cc/plugins/plugins.php?componen
Ive been ircing on my Sidekick phone for 6 months with its AIM capabilities.
you have trillian pro running with the bridge plugin and you get IRC through your AIM.
Does this seem like the same thing AOL did with that particular version of the Blackberry, only less useful?
And also...it is just me or does the picture of the columnist make him look like a guy who drives a pickup with a (heavily stocked) gun rack?
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
Where is the Porn-Only device? Clearly, this is the next "killer app". Are these big companies just too embarassed to release it? Or, did all the beta testers never come out of the bathroom?
We may never know. Please suggest some features that you would need in a Porn-Only Device (or POD(tm)). From both a hardware and software point of view, we probably now have the technology to achieve such technology. (i.e. left-hand-only controls (or right), media player, kleenex dispenser...)
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
Hey, with CSI and CSI: Miami they're on a roll, right?
"IMFree...IMFree...and freedom tastes of reality..."
I am totally ignoring IM until there is a real standard.
Check out Jabber's IETF page. I hope XMPP pulls it off. It's hurting my social life -- this no IMing!
Can you recommend a good IM system that works with the Z (preferably that I don't have to pay for, heh)? Someone mentioned CenterICQ or something like that... ncurses-based client that's supposed to be really clean and easy to use.
+++ATH0
IM gets blocked at my office, so I'm tunnelling IM over SSH to a free socks5 server I'm running, but I can't seem to figure out the logging side of things.
I refer to old logs all the time, from where my wife parked the car to what was the URL I sent to my co-worker last week.
slashsearch.org - slashdot search. powered by google.
OMG!!!!! 2 cool 4u!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
This is pretty cool, but AOL had already introduced a device years ago called the AOL Mobile Communicator.
The device costs $99.95 and the service is $29.95 a month, which is in addition to the monthly AOL membership fee. The service is only available to AOL members.
This one also did AOL E-mail so I guess its fair to say it wasn't an "IM Only" device- but its major selling point IMO was that it did AIM before you could get AIM on cellphones. I think you can still buy it from them!
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
Judging from how my daughter uses IM, limiting to six conversations will kill this device. I think a dozen is more the norm. By the way, keeping up with many conversations has turned her into a speedy touch typist.
On the motorola site it says this can be used within 150 feet of a pc. With up to six units on a base station.
If only it did IRC...
It's not surprising that this article has attracted a torrent of comments like "I wish it were a dumb terminal" or "Why can't it access Jabber?" As always, these foolish questions can be dismissed by reading the article.
"Motorola is marketing IMfree to young teens, and to young teenage girls in particular, because they found this group was a heavy user of instant messaging services."
Now I know that many of you Junior Slashbots out there are very proud of the fact that you've been using Linux and Jabber since before they were cool. However, the market for AIM is enormous among young teens. In homes with broadband, many AIM users have started leaving themselves signed in 24/7. This leads to some contention, as it's impractical to run more than one instance of AIM on a home PC. In a home with, say, one PC and three kids, mom can type a letter while her kids use the AIM devices wirelessly. Total cost for the kids' hardware: $300.
Now, I'd like to see a $100 handheld terminal device that would sell well among the Slashdot crowd. Remember, it has to include wireless Ethernet, a color screen, Bluetooth, compatibility with all bands of GSM, at least 128 MB of RAM, an MP3 and Ogg Vorbis player, a Gecko-based web browser, a terminal which can run any shell imaginable, Perl, a C compiler, an 80 GB hard drive, a usable keyboard, FireWire, USB 2.0, and Infrared. And it has to run Linux.
For more information, click here.
Ah yes, from the company who brought you "hey, let's completely ignore this upstart wireless telephony protocol in Europe, and build a network of satellites. The phones will be horrendously expensive, but it won't matter 'cause they'll be ubiquitous!"
Closely followed by "hey, let's get the shareholders to fund a pretty fireworks display" after getting it so, so wrong.
Coupled with the inability to develop a decent UI (see any of the GSM & 3G phones past or present), this should be a killer! For the company, anyway...
NO.
I pay $2.99 a month for 500 messages. Not a bad deal, I'd say.
Screw that .. the reason I don't use my PDA at all anymore is cause my Cell phone can keep all my numbers (and addresses if I was not so lazy to finger tap them in)
Only thing I wish is that they made small compact cell phones like the Moto T720, which I have, and gave them an easy computer hotsync option.. like their bulky big brothers the PDA phones. The thing already has a color screen and some memory.. function for calender's, and storing names and addresses and all that jazz. No easy way to hotsync though.. I gotta number tap in everything... (which is the only reason I don't use the calender function, I can stand doing phone numbers.. because they're one and done.. calender is always evolving.)
Anyway thats my rant.. could be offtopic.. but I think a lot of stuff (especially IM function) should go to consolidation.. not seperation of function. The whole seperate devices for seperate (all communications related functions) is just a money sink.
Who makes you Sig?
I thought AOL came out with a portable IM device long ago. I don't know whether it hit it off, but I seem to remember it existing.
-Dae
"Alle reden vom wetter. Wir nicht." - SDS Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund.
j00 4r3 3n73r1ng l337 w0r1d.
Ok its just for your house.. ha .. didn't read the article in true /. reader fashion.
.. especially if you're sketchy about giving kids their own private computer.
.. but I don't think it'll catch on.. (good that its stand alone equip .. no *service* involved)
Well my Rant is still viable I think.. though now sorta offtopic Ugh..
Eh Seems like an OK product
otherwise its gadgetry.. people will get it.. they'll use it
Who makes you Sig?
I have a cell with unlimited free long distance and free in-region calling (Verizon), not to mention a free message service. Why the hell would I bother with IM when I can simply call someone up and *talk* to them - or leave a message if they don't have their cell on?
I fail to understand what the appeal is, unless the younger generation has an aversion to actually using the spoken word.
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
Are we supposed to believe that a 13-year old girl actually SAID that?!? I know 30-year olds who don't talk like that. Those "testimonials" by his niece and nephew read like a script of Dawson's Creek. It's almost laughable.
Not JUST IM unless you provide other services through IM 'daemons' or bots. Even so; You MUST support at least basic PDA features; Phone book, note pad, calendar. Otherwise, you WILL flop. People expect a small device to do that sort of thing, and a $5 device will do it, so adding the functionality should cost mere pennies.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Cough cough .. umm ... cybiko? You know, those ultra-cool PDA / IM / Wireless / All kinds of PDA crap devices? Ebay them for about $5 now, I expect no less from these new ones.
-Rob
terpmotors.com
What if this thing was incredibly small and incredibly cheap? Maybe it wouldn't fly here, but some other markets have a high demand for cheap single-function devices, most notably South Korea.
Someone named an OS for me.
I'll put it on the counter next to my MailStation, which only does email, on the other side of my i-Opener, which only does the Web.
I'm just kidding. My i-Opener runs Linux now. =)
pcow
The only surefire protection against Microsoft infections is abstinence. - The Onion
Base Unit and Accessories (500x500)
Diagram of Keys
Generic 1
Generic 2
Generic 3
The last three were grabbed from The News Market. Maybe someone with an account can post the full size copies?
"And a voice was screaming: 'Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?'" - HST
Have one... it's called a phone...
I think this is a great idea ... BUT
$99 seems a bit expensive for what it is
would be nice if it ran with other IMs and IRC
the fact that it needs to be in range of the base station kind of sucks. But I could see a GPRS version of this being a wonderful thing to have, although it would probably need voice facilities too.
Why would there be a market for this? The connected PDA's that dominate the market could surely handle this, as could any cellphone with web capability. I'm all for dedicated devices, but the last thing anyone needs is another lump of metal in one's pocket to go along with the cellphone, PDA, iPod and Game Boy.
I use my cellphone's web ability for IM and email more than i use the phone for voice calls. I developed a similar device as this for home use.. basiclly a PDA that runs Linux and allows text based web (including IM and email) as well as VoIP calls. Mine uses WiFi which was the easiest solution for me. Mine cost about $500 to make though and requires a Linux server to be handy. Overall, I like what they did with this but I think they'd have better luck if it could access the PCS (or similar digital cell network) as well as some sort of base unit when at home. Possibly allowing unit-to-unit messaging would be cool too. I think the article makes a good point that it'd be a great idea if the base unit was self-contained so as not steal processing power from a PC (or require it be left on) and could be plugged directly into a network hub. I wasn't clear from the article if this thing could support multiple users but I'd say that such support would be a very good idea. Being limited to messaging with just six people seems kind of sucky too. On my phone I can IM with any number of people so I see no reason this unit couldn't do the same. As for a future addition.. obviously it'd be awesome to give these things color screens and mini-cameras like newer cell phones so that you could IM pictures to each other.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Obviously just picked their name to be FCUK. And their name seems to be on everything these days (t-shirts, perfumes, etc.)
Cross referencing mobile phone triangulation with personals adverts in seedy magazines I guess. We have the technology.