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PDA Designed for the Great Outdoors
Paul Bawon writes "A company in UK called Node has developed the world's first consumer PDA designed for use specifically in outdoor environments. The device is fully waterproof to 3 meters, has a 8 hour battery life, built in DGPS receiver and 1 Gig of storage. Bluetooth and WiFi come as standard as does a touch screen and either a PocketPC or Linux operating system. I bumped into them at a tourism conference in Edinburgh where they were demo'ing the unit and I was impressed. It's smaller than a standard postcard."
It's a nice concept. It looks like it can handle being shaken up a bit on the trails and dropped without hurting much. Only things I wonder about are how sturdy it is internally and how scratch-resistant the screen is. By the way... first post.
If it's that thin, it would be easy to bend.
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
Bluetooth and WiFi come as standard
Have they improved their range *that much* ?
Pretty impressive stuff otherwise but I am personally looking for a Tuzngsten C which has both the autonomy and the WLAN.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
from the site:
Features
Wireless networking
400mhz xscale powered computing
Colour screen 320 x 240 hi resolution
Incredible low reflection screen
Location aware technology
Ultra long battery life - up to 6 hours
Rubber easy grip design
Changeable colours - choose from 265
Easy clean screen and casing
Robust durable casing maximising protection
Changeable necklace strap, assists devise care
Auto load software
Hidden restart -button
Water proof casing
Simple charge options either dock or individual charge
Expandable memory option
Advertising and branding space on rear of devise
Light weight casing design
Lockable casing design
Landscape screen
Touch screen
If it survives my washing amchine i mnay get one... that seems to be ap roblem with me... wasjing my electronics!
Nothing for you to see here, Please move along.
Sounds like being an outdoors PDA, it wouldn't really need the WiFi, but I guess it would be useful when your at home. Sounds a little like they were just cranking up the price a bit on that one. But none the less, this is one sweet PDA. Think of going hiking with some buddies, and even if your seperated, if you've all got bluetooth, you can still stay in communication. Deffinitely a must have for and outdoor geek.
"It's smaller than a standard postcard."
/me sets mode +rant
/me sets mode -rant
No it's not. Two of the three dimensions are smaller than a postcard, but so are the flag pole I have in my back yard. Comparisons like that are useless.
Underholdning.info
The "Node Explorer" looks like something you can buy in one of the MMORGs.
and the name I thought it was designed for porn hunting.
Still, it looks cool and sturdy enough to throw in the bottom of a bag and frisbee it from a cliff or whatever.
liqbase
A very nice product, although 8 hour battery life is somewhat lacking for a GPS. Garmin has a similar product: http://www.garmin.com/products/iQue3200/ but it's not as beefy. I still don't understand why you need to check your email and appointments out on the trail...
Wow. I think that is pretty cool. It is obviously a bit bigger than what you would expect from a PDA, but it might have interesting applications for forest rangers or nautical police.
... a built-in swiss army knife.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
because ruggedised PDAs have been around for ages - example is the Panasonic toughbook which they target at industrial and 'law enforcement' customers (ie, has to be rugged enough to be used to subdue violent suspects).
The industrial ones are very expensive as the customers can afford to buy them.. is this the difference between them and this new Consumer model?
A portable field charger that doesn't require external battery source (solar, hand crank, whatever) would have been nice. That, or some sort of long lasting methanol fuel cell. I mean, if you're really gonna use this thing in the great outdoors doing forestry surveys or something, I would imagine that having an alternative charging source would have been nice to have. '6 hours ain't a whole day of battery life in my book...'
Site seems to be under the influence of, well, us. Here's google's HTML version (cached) of the Node Explorer product info sheet: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:0ycwbWxgTh8J: www.nodeexplore.com/pdfs/NodeExplorer_v2_020904.pd f+nodeexplore&hl=en
Erm, please look at the link. It is obivously much thicker than a postcard. RTFA.
smaller than a standard postcard
All I can picture is Seamus Harper with a porn Flexy.
Outdoor PDAs are truly invaluable. I don't understand why anyone would buy one. If I want to go outdoors, I sure as hell don't want to be near any electronics.
In this day and age with computerized everything, sometimes it feels good just to get away from it all. This device doesn't let me do that. It does let me use GPS which I guess would help when I get lost, but so does my watch which is smaller, lighter, and less to think about when hiking.
This device is sans value.
Dancin Santa
Or do people ususally go the the great outdoors to get away from this kind of stuff.
Schedules, appointments, who cares! My favorite part of backpacking is not knowing or caring what time it is!
Ok! Whose been playing Tetris on the gps unit again?!
Some things shouldn't be combined together, especially if you have to depend on it.
Both the article summary and the company's site say "smaller than a postcard" which is obviously a ridiculous statement - two dimensions pretty much tell you nothing about the size of the device... it could be 3" x 5" x 25" and still be "the size of a postcard"
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
Just get an aluminum case for your Tungsten C. :P, THERE, INDESTRUCTIBLE.
Sorry guys, I have to go plug my PDA/GPS into my tent.
A PDA with 8 hours of battery life is useless. A GPS with 8 hours of battery life is dangerous.
Eeew.
-Peter
Slashdot in the shower! Geocaching in a lake!! PORN IN THE BATHTUB!!!
HERE
PDA designed for use specifically in outdoor environments
That's a funny way of saying outside - anyone want to turn on the babble fish translator from earlier today to read what I am actually saying.
Technically correct, I guess, since you go inside the door to go in doors; therefore you would go in to the out door to go outside (or is it out the in door). Thus you are never out of anything but inside of something be it indoors or inoutdoors.
Finally! Geeks don't have to go offline to take a shower!!! Future -cons will smell better! I'll never miss another slashdot frist prost!
Waterproof and WiFi... Geek dreams...
Yes, but is it bear-proof?
Hey an 8 hour battery life may seem lacking for the great outdoors, but there's a good chance you will not have it on all of the time that you're kicking, that is just not needed. And compared to my Dell Axim X3i, I wish I could get 8 hours. 2 if I'm lucky playing SNES Roms.
The whole product assumes that geeks even go outside, and I'm not sure that it happens. ;)
The nice rugged body and wireless abilities would lend itself nicely to war-driving, war-camping, war-hunting, and war-backpacking. The wirelss might be useful for comunicating between backpackers.
I just hope this thing is more rugged than my Garmin E-legend. The screen on mine gets all wonky every now and then, but it can be fixed with a 'technical' tap.
I was invited to go camping with some friends of my wife's. They go several times a year to this same place. When I got there, I discovered that almost everyone in the campsite had an RV and a boat (it was near a lake). Since I grew up where camping meant chopping up a dead tree to make fire in order to boil water so it was clean, the notion that this was even called "camping" bothered me. That's not the point (which makes everyone wonder why I posted it in the first place).
The campsite advertised wireless Internet access.
To me, electronics and wilderness are almost always mutually exclusive. Other than GPS and maybe a cell phone, I can't imagine the need to be connected. It would be like taking my laptop to the Bahamas so I could read Slashdot. Sorry, but a vacation isn't a vacation if you're still doing work.
What is this "outdoors" of which you speak? Does it look like my screensaver?
This one gang kept wanting me to join cause I'm pretty good with a bo staff.
Coralized Link
Just in case
I wonder if it would be possible to cluster 3 units together using the bluetooth or WiFi, then using the GPS on each one to use the differential algorithms to triangulate the position like more expensive professional GPS products do.
What are you smoking? The site is very much 'up'.
Offtopic? Blow me.
The site is down.
Mod me "unfunny" or "unoriginal" if you must, but saying that the site is down (when it is) is certainly not offtopic.
In my senior projects class, one group designed data acquisition systems for power line techs, etc. using PDAs. Their main obstacle turned out to be screen visibility, not ruggedness. I know my laptop screen is hard to see in bright sunlight even with the brightness turned all the way up. Anybody know how to address this problem? Polarized sunglasses?
Guys,
The PDA has been designed as part of solution targeting tourist attractions (including the outdoors) and NOT as a product that will be sold to the public.
Garmin Rino GPS/FRS/GMRS devices can transfer GPS data over the FRS channels to other similar radios. They built in some games. Games that require running about in the real world to solve some challenge on the screen of the device.
I see this supporting the same sort of thing, in a more open platform. Imagine linking over wifi to play a game of GPSpong or something.
The military might be interested in these rugged PDA's.
Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
Why is battery life so short everywhere I look? I don't get it. They ran moon orbiters on less juice than a coffee maker. Why can't we get batteries that last more than an afternoon? GRRR! I hate batteries.
Speak truth to power.
Not exactly my definition of high resolution. I think that recent handhelds have typical 320 x 320 resolution, don't they?
Doesn't the news item advertise 8 hours?
Frankly, do we need that many colours to pick from? I think not. Some marketing droid must have thought that a big number here would impress the customer.
(Note that I couldn't read the article yet, as the site is obviously /.ed.)
I'm an avid hiker/backpacker, and have run into 'yuppie' types who have their PDAs, GPSs, cell phones etc., with them on their trips; and consider themselves 'experienced' hikers. Problem is they couldn't navigate their way out of a paper bag with a map and compass, let alone tell me what 'mean declination' means.
After college, I worked at an independent bookstore for a bit, including the map department -- once had a hunter looking a topo map, point at the contour lines, and say 'they sure have a lot of roads there'. And to think the man owned a gun...
I do think there's some place for this kind of thing, but it's no replacement for knowledge, esp when you break it or the batteries die or you find yourself needing to think quickly without assistance.
But I'm also something of a purist, I backpack to 'get away from it all' including the digital realm, I really don't want this kind of gadget interfering with my experience. And please people be considerate of others - don't yammer on loudly for 15 min on your damn cell phone when others are trying to enjoy a little peace and enjoy what nature is offering. Thanks.
'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
Durability is going to be a larger and larger necessity as PDAs move from a niche market to the mainstream.
I need one that can survive a washing machine. I haven't washed mine yet, but my wallet has gone through many times already. I know others in construction who could use a PDA for specialized needs. But you need one that is going to be able to take abuse. Yes, there are special cases you can buy, but they make your PDA three times as large. That defeats the main point of having a PDA... I can slip it in my pocket.
Whoever finds a way to make a relatively cheap PDA that can handle abuse will make some good money.
Not nearly enough. I can't think of any outdoor trek that lasted only 8 hours. Maybe the intent is to only turn the device on when you actually need it, but you can bet that anything in cold weather is going to bleed that 8 hours down to something much less. Any serious outdoor-ready device needs to have several days of battery life, especially if the customer would like to use the built-in GPS to do something as novel as finding their way back to civilization after getting themselves hopelessly lost.
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
Forget Blue Tooth, an outdoor device requires GPS.
"The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings."
It's been down every time I hit the link. Perhaps my ISP can't find it. Perhaps it's down.
Every other site I've visited this morning is just fine - this one is not.
Linux on a PDA is one of the few things that mistifies me. Having had and used a Zaurus for a very long time I am frankly shocked by how good the interface is, especially when you consider that it's taken a long time for the desktop version to aquire half as much polish.
:o)
It's vastly easier to navigate through than the PocketPC version, and more flexible than the Palm version - possibly because it was designed as one entity (in qtopia) than being a bunch of disparate parts like desktop Linux.
Anyway, it's a great choice, with the new PIM apps finally rounding out the package - mplayer, kismet, nethack... what else do you need on a pda?
(Incidently with this model you should be able to install kismet with GPS support so that it automatically logs the location of wireless networks as you war{travel} - much easier than having another unit plugged into the serial port!)
Beep beep.
Seems like PDA are really coming into their own for outdoor use. It seems like regular Palm Pilot PDA's hold up well outside anyway, I regularly use mine back country skiing and so do many guides and avalanche forecasters, see http:\\www.snowpilot.org
I'm sorry, but this is a lot of hype for a device with nothing but renders on the website. Is this thing made by Infinium Labs too?
Ok, maybe this is just me but.... Unless you have a satellite uplink(run off a hand generator or something similar)and a small wireless network to share with the flora and fauna, those wireless connections aren't gonna do you much good. I will give you that it's fine for transferring data to it before venturing out into the wild blue yonder. However, what does this device buy you other than being a really cool toy to throw in the river to show off with? I say buy you a kick-a$$ GPS and call it a day. At least as far as the great outdoors is concerned....
Cliff Claven
K.E.G. Party Chairman
Founding Leader of: Koncerned for Egalitarin Governance
http://tinyurl.com/4qz7l
... and how readable the screen is in various states of light - especially bright sunlight.
Nice... a PDA who can be almost used by a kid. is waterproof and meaby if you drop it can survive... and the best... is running in Linux ;).
These PDA's appear to be directed more as tour guides than as a hikers companion.
From the main page: "Node provides services and products that take the visitor experience of a building, national park or city further and deeper than ever before."
Thus keeping this ideal in mind, a 8 hour battery life is pretty good. I can't think of to many tour's that would be lasting that long. So when the group returns you plug it in the charger and it is ready to go when the next group arrives.
http://www.talla-com.com/download/rpda_commercial. pdf
ipaq based
designed off their military counter-part
Well stadium use would be great. Could use the wifi access to track your fantasy football teams, and with the GPS/bluetooth integration, you could pay the beer guy and have him locate you (come on, section, row, seat info is so dated). As a bonus, since it is waterproof it should be protected from most stadium served beers, especially the likes of Coors, Bud, Miller....now if they are serving Guinness, or some oatmeal stout, you may want to buy the extended warranty.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Nothing to see here folks, move along...
blakespot
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
iPod Hacks.com
Very nice feature, especially since I just killed my palm m505 by wiping the screen with a paper towel sprayed with windex *sighs* Water now below screen :[
I'd love to try this new one out though,
Doubt it.
DGPS != GPS
DGPS stands for Differential GPS and comes in a variety of flavors, all of which use corrections from some trusted source to eliminate the inherit errors in GPS (such as ionospheric errors).
I checked the site to actually confirm that it has DGPS, but I couldn't find any evidence. Most commercial DGPS services cost in the thousands of dollars a year (OmniSTAR, StarFire) and would be totally overkill for a simple handheld PDA intended for recreational activities.
Granted, this unit might support WAAS, but that wouldn't qualify this as a DGPS unit.
Sorry to go off on what was probably just a typo!
"We need a fourth law of Robotics: Stop Fingering My Wife"
Do these pictures look like prototype renderings, to you?
Yeah I know the screen is simulated (shouldn't be but everyone does that).
Specifially the microphone/adaptor socket isn't perfectly round, it appears to be a flat sided polygonial cylinder. Check out the small slideshow thingy.
I took my GPS with me on a recent trip to Yosemite and Mt Whitney. My main reason for using it was to check my altitude when climbing. However I found that it was constantly having trouble locking onto satellites when I was near any cliffs, peaks or in a canyon. Depending solely on a GPS unit to navigate in the mountains is foolish. Plus GPS units become unusable in very cold weather as the screens grind to a halt and alkaline batteries die. Even keeping in my jacket couldn't keep it warm enough.
It is a good idea to have a watch unless you are very good at reading the sun. Being able to estimate your speed and where you'll be by sundown is a very important skill in the outdoors.
I agree on the escaping the crapola of regular life though. If you bring a cell phone with you, turn it off and only use it for an emergency. It is incredibly annoying to get to a beautiful summit only to listen to some idiot who has to tell everyone they know where they are (usually at the top of their lungs).
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
8 hours? Just day trips then.
802.11 in the woods? very handy.
"especially if the customer would like to use the built-in GPS to do something as novel as finding their way back to civilization after getting themselves hopelessly lost"
Isn't the GPS supposed to keep you from getting lost in the first place?
"Inflammable means flammable? What a country!"
MacBook Pro. Worst name since the Bicycle
If that's your favorite part, you can enjoy your favorite part of backpacking by simply hiding all your clocks, gadgets, and computers and hanging out in your house. You'll save money on gear and travel time, and you won't have to hang your food in midair to prevent the animals from eating it.
It's cheaper, and those of us who backpack for reasons besides an inability to think of another way to get away from clocks will have less crowded trails to deal with.
People who backpack to "get away" baffle me-- I backpack to get somewhere I want to be, not to hide from my wristwatch. If it's dark and raining, and I'm stuck in my tent-- I'll be loving the 10-hour battery on my GBA.
Small GPS's such as the Garmin eTrex Legend support DGPS, I don't see why this unit can't.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
Why not just upgrade your own PDA with this bad boy. http://www.micronicsgps.com/2007s.htm
Not to be too hacky, but it is trivial to add a good solar cell to most electronics, especially if they are built for a charger. This one looks like it uses a fairly standard power plug, which means it's probably 2.0 or 1.9 center positive. Anyone with a unit could tell you to required voltage, but I would guess 12v as it has an internal hdd. All that's left to do is find a good 12v solar cell, find a plug of the right size, chop off the end bits of the two and attach them together, and double-check that current is flowing in the right direction. Bing! You're done.
It's very easy. Check these values, of course, with the requirements of the actual hardware before you start plugging things in.
The ______ Agenda
Yeah, but since the thing has such a low battery life, you would have to keep it turned off until after you already *are* lost. Either that, or keep your outdoor treks down to something significantly less than 8 hours... like maybe a trip to the Six Flags Safari...
GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
Which provides even my just-over-US$100 Garmin Foretrex 201 with a pretty good fix. While this is not DGPS, it appears even Garmin is getting ambiguous with its language in this regard. You will note at the bottom of page, they discriminate between WAAS and DGPS, but in the description of WAAS they say, "The corrected differential message is then broadcast through one of two geostationary satellites, or satellites with a fixed position over the equator."
Digital Ocean's Tarpon was an outdoor version of the Newton many years ago.
http://www.msu.edu/~luckie/tarpon.html
Nope. It doesn't. It supports WAAS. Follow the link in my other post in this thread...
If I'm out on a remote trail, my cell phone doesn't work, much less wi-fi. Guess it'll have to cache information until you can sync up with a network connection back at the base camp?
Um, DGPS is also operated by the Coast Guard for nothing. Check here.
Gorkman
Because you really need to be able to check your dayplanner when you're taking a huge steaming dump in the woods and wiping your butt with leaves.
It's intended to be used as an interactive tour guide at historical sites, outdoor museums and the like - popping up information about what happened 200 years ago where you're standing now and that sort of thing.
It's clearly designed to be bought by institutions.
Putting moderation advice in your
I always wondered, are these vertical meters or horizontal meters?
/ Also confused by "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2000-04 -07&res=l
If they really want to be ahead of the game, they should pack it with a zigbee receiver.. so the park ranger can stay in communication over a wireless mesh sensor network..
Outdoors and great adventures aside, this toy looks perfect for the Pacific Northwest geek on the go.
;) will make it truelly usefull for people such as myself who keep all the important tasks (Mutt, irssi, bitlbee, server administration) running on a remote server in a screen.
Living in a part of the world where it rains almost solid for 6 - 9 months out of the year, having a PDA that can take some drizzel will rock.
On top of that, having it be linux based (although I'd like to see a NetBSD port
Something seriously gets my geeky wang going, thnking about sitting on a park bench, in the rain, sending IMs, restarting apache, and checking my mail, all while it raining. ]:3}>
Pretty Pictures!
OK, I think we may be having a semantical issue here. The Legend can't use DGPS directly, but can output GARMIN DGPS protocol which can then be used as a DGPS service point. In conjunction with the appropriate software, one could place one Legend at a known geographical point, USGS marker for example, and use another, again with appropriate software, to get the accuracy offered by DGPS.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
From the post: "It's smaller than a standard postcard."
You know, I've received postcards from folks in the UK and I don't recall them being nearly as large as that PDA. Perhaps the conference he attended was in Flatland.
So yah, maybe we won't all be subscribing to a DGPS service (btw, doesn't the US Coast Guard run one?) but that doesn't mean the unit can't do it. It's the nature of neat hacks of this type to get cheaper over time, as the hardware evolves to run them.
Actually, your receiver is "DGPS Ready". Were you to buy additional DGPS equipment at additional cost (as mentioned in the parent of this thread), you would achieve a more accurate fix as mentioned in your product manual. This would be useful, for example, if you were making very high-resolution maps for, say, orienteering. There is a description of such activities, with a picture of a guy with just such a setup here: http://www.orienteering.org/techarticles/ocad_gps. htm
you shouldn't be out there.
I have since begun experimenting with various pieces of consumer electronics to see if they will survive a soaking. Tamagochis will not. Anyone want to donate an XBox?
"In keeping with all new hot gadgets, it won't be available in the U.S. and will cost at or above $699!"
Actually, let me correct myself. You would not achieve a more accurate fix with DGPS nowadays, since selective availability is turned off. Looking at Garmin's catalog, their DGPS receivers are discontinued since Clinton signed the executive order to stop SA. Were it to be turned back on, DGPS would overcome it.
WAAS, on the other hand, attempts to overcome the other slings and arrows of GPS, like atmospheric interference, and is probably more useful.
Just turn it off when you're not using it. Sheesh.
Smaller than a postcard used to mean something back in the day. My pda (Ux50) is smaller than a 3x5 card, my phone is smaller than a cats head. Of course things arn't as thin as a postcard yet. We are going to need new standard comparisons soon.
Don't blame me, I voted for Cthulhu.
That said, they have a recess on the back for the owner to place a logo. They'll make them to whatever color your organization requires (a certain university may want them in maroon and gold, for example, to give virtual tours to incoming freshmen.)
The screen is supposed to be visible in full sunlight. The other thing to keep in mind regarding screen resolution is that the focus isn't supposed to be on the gadget, it's supposed to be on the historic site (or whatever.) Hi-res graphics probably aren't as high a priority as usability, durability, battery life, weight, power consumption, price, etc.
Anyway, it's a special-purpose device, and is certainly not being marketed as a "PDA Designed for the Great Outdoors" despite the Slashdot assertion to the contrary.
John
Did you see this story?
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Finally something that meets the needs of the great (digitally) unwashed!
...Imagine an outdoor beowulf cluster of these....
-- When did Ignorance Become a Point of View?
I'll use it in a diver's camera enclosure if I go outside in the rain! ;^)
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
I think the claim to world's first consumer PDA designed for the great outdoors has to go to the Digital Ocean company for either their Seahorse or Tarpon offerings.
While Digital Ocean wasn't the biggest, best-known company in the world and its PDAs weren't the most popular ones available at the time, they definitely did exist and were available to the general public and designed for the great outdoors.
Of course, they each weighed in at around three pounds, but again, in that time period cell phones weren't all that small either...
A relatively simple Google search pulls up lots of info on both of these PDAs designed for outdoor use.
Even without SA, DGPS is much more accurate than simple CA tracking. L1/L2 Carrier phase tracking does work REALLY well, but still does not compare in quality to DGPS corrections that I mentioned in my post. L1/L2 carrier phase corrections work wonderfully for RTK units and surveying in a point, but when mobile, it looses it's advantages over DGPS.
And as some have mentioned, DGPS capable does not mean it uses DGPS for positioning, like the article suggested. It does mean that you can input DGPS corrections via separate units.
Oh, and WAAS will not guarantee anything more accurate than 3 meters.
http://www.garmin.com/aboutGPS/waas.html
This fails to mention NavCom's and OmniStar's decimeter accuracy, but who's counting right?
"We need a fourth law of Robotics: Stop Fingering My Wife"
I like it. But I don't think I'd spend my own money on it. As far as wireless goes, I need 802.11... Blue Tooth does nothing for me. GPS would be groovy. Now if I could mount that on the dash of my Bronco, then I'd consider it instead of an Axim.
MadOgre.com
Well, it'll run WinCE or Linux. So the OS is not burned into ROM. I wonder if it would be possible to recompile the Newton OS for this thing? It certainly has the computational cajones for it (~13mhz on the eMate) and the Newton didn't have any particular hard-button requirement that this thing doesn't meet. The only thing I can think of being a problem is the lack of PCMCIA, but with wireless... and drivers... this could be a real option to buying used hardware if you want a Newton. Adding support for the color screen and non-kludgy wireless drivers would seem to be the biggest issue, IMHO.
"Bluetooth and WiFi come as standard"
Water resistant and wireless! Can it do both at the same time? Since radio waves generally travel only through the air, probably not. But if it did...
Finally, you'd be able check your email in peace, from the bottom of your swimming pool. You could take some underwater snaps with your waterproof digital camera (sold separately for $2999 + tax), and send them instantly above the surface. If you have any in your local lake or ocean, you could even chat in real-time with the local WiFi- or Bluetooth-equipped marine life. The possibilities are endless!
But current wireless technology probably doesn't work in water. So this is all just fantasy... at least, until 802.11sONAR comes out.
I have actually played a football match with it on a show, and the thing still worked afterwards (we just had a mad moment, it happens). The funny thing was that the supplier of "ruggedised" handhelds was not prepared to do the same for evidence. They lost a *lot* of sales that day ;-).
;-)
I know of some of them being ran over by cars and still working - not much use with a cracked display, but you could still get the data of them afterwards. I don't think my Clie would like that.
But heck no, no use in water - waterproofing was a clear plastic bag then
From the creator of TurboBuzzer (ah, those were the days. Now where's my Zimmerframe?)
Insert