TDA (Tactile Digital Assistant) the new PDA?

imashoe writes "BonaFideReviews has just posted an article on the latest thumb-powered up-and-coming mobile device, the TDA (Tactile Digital Assistant), a possible replacement to the PDA."

Comments

Who uses them?

[markmcb]

Does anyone really use PDA-type devices? I work for a large organization and run around to meetings and all that jazz, but I never have the use for one. I even received a free PDA once, but just threw it in my closet never really using it. If you've got a laptop and you've got a cell phone, is there any need for a PDA?

Re:Who uses them?

[gManZboy]

The real question is: If you've got a PDA/Phone (Blackberry, Treo, etc) is there anny need for a laptop? I'd much rather cary around a Treo than a laptop and phone to my meetings.

Re:Who uses them?

[WinterSolstice]

I'll bite, though I have to say this is one of those "use it or don't" kind of things... lots of people sit on both sides.

I use one. I live on it. It has saved my butt more times than I care to recall, and it is the only posession I have that I literally can't function properly without.

Why?

Well, I have a really high-end handheld (the iPaq 5550), with a 1GB SD card. Bluetooth, 802.11b, fingerprint scan, autobackup, swappable battery pack, etc. I use it with a keyboard and recorder at meetings. I sync all of my work on it at 30 minute intervals all day long. Wirelessly, of course. And by all of my work, I mean it literally. It contains every line of code, every document, every script, and every "critical" tool I have ever used. I keep the whole thing encrypted, and set to nuke after 3 invalid login attempts (fingerprint + password). The files are maintained in their native formats (Unix or VMS for the most part, but lots of cross platform files like PDF, HTML, etc. Also all the Office cruft). It's basically a subnotebook on demand. I have a foldout keyboard, and some additional memory cards. I carry them when I need them, and added up they still weigh less than a small laptop.

I have peformed emergency DB restores from my sailboat and (in one case) a restaurant. I have used it to tweak vacation photos. I use it to keep notes. I use it to write code or docs while waiting for other things. I listen to music on it. I use it to navigate. I read e-books daily.

I was hired at my most recent position largely because I was able to instantly tap my entire code and documentation library. When I say "Oh, I've done that before", it means give me five minutes, and I'll have it. Not "let me remember how that worked". When I moved 9 hours away and lived in a hotel, I had my entire database of information no further than my hip.

Oh, and since lots of people like to say "Well, what if it dies/gets run over/dropped overboard/etc?" The answer is simple. It backs up every morning at 04:00, and the backup is transmitted to 3 seperate servers. I do a manual backup daily at lunchtime (to CD as well as the other sites), and small autobackups happen every 30 minutes. For this data to "die" would require 3 seperate servers, the CDs, and my handheld to all choke at once.

I'm extremely paranoid with the data because it *is* my livlihood. Sure, I could operate without it, and for 3 months I had to when I was between devices. That brief experience proved the usefulness of it.

I had another experience where my laptop died last year. Corporate policy was to store data on the common drive and the laptop, and sync it. Unfortunately, this only applied to 100MB we were allowed to store on the server. What about the rest? Well, handheld to the rescue. There was the rest of my data, and I was back in business within 20 minutes (USB 1.x) on an old desktop.

So yes, some people really do use them.

-WS

Re:Who uses them?

[rob_squared]

And you don't have to be a uber poweruser to find it useful. I go to a university in boston and for just about all my classes I type my notes with a stowaway keyboard. When I'm between classes I can do homework in word format and email it using wifi, my phone's bluetooth, or an rj45 jack on campus. Aside from that its great for books and reviewing class notes. It plays music when i fail to recharge my ipod. And lastly it keeps all my addresses and #s. If I need to make a call i beam it via bluetooth and answer it with a bt headset. Oh, and it has a good enough calender to help me remember birthdays and spontaneous class meetings.

The ultimate

[chadwbennett]

The only PDA I will ever buy will have:

1) Cell Phone
2) Bluetooth
3) A good megapixal camera / video camera
4) more than 20 gigs of memory for the movies and pictures and MP3s
5) One that can wipe my booty

I sure hope apple comes out with one of these. In a couple of years

Get your free MAC MINI

Star Trek anyone?

[Killjoy_NL]

The first thing I thought of was the "Padd" from Star Trek. Those things might become more realistic if they can be cheaply built.

But after reading the advertisement (you can't call it an article IMHO) I saw that we have a long way to go.

I think I've seen this before

[Dark Paladin]

Perhaps even in a Slashdot port (but I won't call "dupe" yet).

It does look interesting, but my #1 worry: thumbprints. It's just part of my nature, but when I'm working on something with a screen, I get pissed off when I see all the grimy greasy thumbprints all over it marring my view.

Of course, I'm going to have to see how well this argument stands up as I look into buying a Treo and worry about how my thumbs will mess up the surface.

Re:That would be "other people"

[markmcb]

Ah, yes - the "I am the world" fallacy. You are not a statistically significant sample set, so your assessment of something as !useful does not actually mean that the item is !useful.

[Insert Proper Southern Accent] Sir, I applaud you for insight. The world is ablaze with your firey intellect.

I seldom see people use PDAs for much more than address books. I know tons of people who own them, but very few that actually use them. I also understand the differences between a phone, PDA, and computer. I just fail to see why you'd spend the cash on a PDA when you can get a very small, light weight, battery efficient laptop for not much more money that does so much more for you.

Touch screen = Dirty screen

[netsavior]

Seriously, ever lose your stylus and use a finger? If the "Future" is thumb input and STILL no usable keyboard, we are just spinning our tires. I see no advantage to this device other than obvious and lame "Thumbs are harder to lose than a stylus" from TFA. I have *gasp* a pocket pc based PDA and I can say that the snap-on keyboard I use for my PDA took it from "Toy" to "Tool" and the fold out keyboard took it from "Good enough for email" to "Perfect for working out of an airport". With a PDA I carry it, a WiFi card, 2 keyboards and a charger and I am good to go for business travel (sounds like a lot, but it all fits in my jacket pocket). With a TDA the ONLY difference would be I would also have to carry a cleaning cloth and some cleaning solution so that I could read the screen, however since there are no applications or SDK for the TDA, I would not be able to get work done anyway, so I guess I could just leave it all at home.

Either product is BS or article grossly wrong

[Dan East]

Many facts stated in the article cannot possibly be correct:

It feeds on a single AA battery, which according to the company, can sustain for several weeks.

Pretty good battery life for device with "seven processors" and a 320x240 display.

The Jackito measures 140 x 80 x 16 mm

AA batteries have a diameter of 14.5 mm. That leaves less than 1 mm thickness for the case on either side of the battery. The unit would have to be thicker than 16 mm.

a large 4.5 color QVGA LCD fingertip touch-screen

4.5 color? The pictures of the device show what appears to be a black and white screen, so perhaps that is 4 level grayscale.

2.5 MB SRAM

That reduces the capability of the device to legacy Palm-type functionality. How can that compete with new multimedia Pocket PCs with 128 MB RAM that even sport hardware accelerated 3D?

The Jackito is available for sale on www.jackito.com at a list price of 600

$600 for a PDA without a color screen, only 2.5 MB RAM, no integrated WiFi or bluetooth, and is not compatible with either Palm or Pocket PC?

Also Novinit says that the finger's contact area is hundred times larger than that of a stylus and a stylus exerts hundred times more pressure on the screen than a finger.

First, I've never had a problem breaking the screens of my PDAs with the stylus. Second, they are out-right admitting that you can't achieve the same precision using your finger as a stylus. Third, a great deal of the screen is now obscured by something much thicker than a stylus. Finally, assuming the touchpad driver simply uses the center point of the large touch area (ie your thumbprint) as the pointer position, then it is impossible to touch the very edges of the screen, which is where the scroll bars reside.

you can choose the screen type (color or monochrome)...MP3 player...Bluetooth

How can they power a color screen, an MP3 player (ie driving headphones) and bluetooth with a single AA battery?

Dan East

Interesting screen...

[David Horn]

...a large 4.5 color QVGA LCD fingertip touch-screen...

Is this 4.5 colours (huh?) or 4.5 inches? Or centimetres? Or Ohms, or light years, perhaps?

Someone needs to get their dictionary out before submitting reviews to Slashdot. I only read two paragraphs because of the appalling grammar and the fact that it didn't seem to "read" fluidly.