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Spotlight On Windows-Powered Gadgets And Gizmos
An anonymous reader writes "WindowsForDevices has published a big article showcasing seventy-three consumer devices that were on display in Microsoft's device expo at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Each device runs Windows CE, Windows Mobile (Pocket PC, Smartphone, etc.), or Windows XP Embedded. A photo and brief description are provided for each. Some cool stuff!"
I note that a bunch of these items are not yet shipping, including the Phantom Gaming System that came in 3rd in this years Vaporware Awards
I've got a Casio Cassiopeia EM500 PDA with Windows Pocket PC. I dont know who was responsible for choosing the software setup on the ROM but who ever it was id like to think they are jobless now. It comes with a memory eating AOL setup tool - at most your going to use that once, at most! So now you have an ugly AOL icon sitting there and the software is on the ROM chip wasting space. Similarly other useless applications, and things that Casio have added that just duplicate windows apps that are already on there - eg there are two address book apps - one by casio, one by ms!
Microsofts motto when developing PocketPC was that apps stay resident in memory when you open them - so if you want to close them you have to go to the memory manager. The idea is stupid because apps load almost instantly anyway and while running in the background some of them seem to eat CPU power even when the PDA is off!! so the battery dies. Luckly other non ms software writers just put Exit buttons in their apps.
Microsoft is just not good at.. erm.. anything really.
There are many ways to make a call and that's probably the most complicated. Have you tried pressing the green call button? Or just start dialing a phone using the keypad?
If you are going to bash some product it's best to spend more than two minutes with it.
Does it run linux?
;-)
Actually, the Intrinsyc MicroPDA does. RTFA!
Interesting, eh?
)9TSS
Phone first and computer second describes the Symbian-based phones fairly well. If you never bother to take advantage of the ability to install thrid-party software, or the calendar function, or whatever, you can still just dial a number by typing it on the pad and you can view your contacts by clicking the function button with "Contacts" written on the screen beside it. The phone side of the interface for my N-Gage is basically just an expanded version of what's in my 8810 and you need never explore any of the rest of it.
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I just got myself a Treo 600 for Christmas and I think it balances pretty well. True it is a Palm first with a phone built into it, but it works. One of the palm applications buttons is a phone button. Once on the phone screen you can make a call either by using the direction-pad thing to scroll to a contact / favorites list or by dialing on the keyboard. True it has a built-in camera, but I'll probably end up ignoring it. The battery life's great from what I've found so far (couple of days easily). The only downside to it is the keyboard buttons are a little small untill you get used to them.
Even if there is a shortcut to the phone functionality, I know for a fact that the people at my wife's company who use this phone daily (and have for over four months) don't know where it is. I've watched people with multiple college degrees pull this device out, tap the start menu, and tap phone every time they want to make a call, then put the call on speakerphone, because they don't like holding the damned thing to their heads (especially in the convenient leatherette binder thingy that comes with it).
Windows-based "smartphones" have serious usability issues. They're too complicated, and they don't do their #1 job (that is, be a phone) very well. Hell, while you're in a call, if you do hold the phone up to your head, your ear keeps tapping the screen, and the person you're calling wonders why you keep punching out touch tones.
The issues I raise are real, and they're legitimate concerns. It's easy to bash me, since, yes, I pointed out that it is my wife's phone, and I don't use it every day. But the fact of the matter is that I *listen* to my wife every single day, and she and her co-workers complain about these phones constantly. It would be foolish of a phone manufacturer to ignore these issues if they want to succeed in the marketplace.
Ultimately, however, I think smartphones solve a problem that no one asked for a solution to. I'll steal a line from "The Daily Show" and ask, who really wants a device that combines the battery life of a digital camera with the image processing capability of a cell phone?
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The article lists devices running Windows CE, Windows Mobile, or Windows XP Embedded. The XBox is based on a version of Windows 2000, not XP.
:wq
You do now. My primary machine (provided by work, using a mostly standard image) runs Windows XP. It has had 3 or 4 blue screens just since I got it last July.
Worse, Microsoft's claims of increased "reliability" are, I believe, based strictly on the OS performance. Now, instead of the OS going belly up, I get an average of one crash a day at the application level. Normally, I'd say fine -- it's an app that doesn't behavior properly under Windows. But it's Outlook! Maybe I don't get it, but whether it's Microsoft Windows that crashes, or Microsoft Outlook, I still lose a lot of work.
To use a bluetooth mouse you must have a bluetooth stack that supports the HID profile.
Microsofts bluetooth stack was completed after Windows XP shipped, It was supposed to have been included in XP SP1 but was delayed due to a lack of hardware support. It will probably be included in XP SP2.
The only way to get hold of the stack at the moment is with a MS Bluetooth keyboard/mouse or direct from MS if you are a Bluetooth hardware device manufacturer.
Mac OSX 10.2 includes support for HID devices but it was shipped after Windows XP so they had time to let the standards finalise.
I don't think you can complain about needing a driver disc for a major new Wireless subsystem.
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