Almost everyone I asked said that the iPhone screen was too small.
They also said⦠"Why is the iPhone so expensive when it has such a small screen?"
You can buy an Android phone with a gorgeous 5.7" display for half the cost of the iPhone in China. That was the biggest screen I found and it looked more vibrant than the screen on my iPhone 5.
If Apple wants to keep selling phones in China, they need bigger screens. Therefore, you can expect there will be a big screen iPhone. The Chinese market is too big for them to ignore. There's lots of competition now and Chinese consumers have zero brand loyalty.
Their server appears to be taking a quite a pounding by the slashdot effect. Text is below...
Edgar ______________________
May 08, 2002 Review: Sony Clie PEG-NR70 Handheld
Sony's latest Clie is a radical and welcome departure from the traditional design of the handheld PDA. Introducing innovations that have never been seen before on a Palm OS based device, the Clie PEG-NR70 and its digital camera bearing cousin NR70V have generated a flurry of excitement among PDA aficionados. This hands-on review takes a first look at what all the buzz is about.
Unique Form Factor
The most easily recognized innovation is the folding "clam shell" form factor. This design choice parallels the progression of mobile phone design in Japan, where ever-larger color LCD screens left little room for number keys that human fingers could comfortably press. In the pursuit of more surface real estate, Japanese mobile phone manufacturers decided to risk the stigma associated with flip phone designs -- a stigma largely caused by Motorola's unattractive and dated models -- by splitting the phone into two halves: an LCD screen on the upper half and a keypad on the lower half. These two halves are thin enough that folding the phone results in a thickness that is still thinner than most mobile phones sold in Europe and the U.S.
PDAs have always had large screens, so when Sony decided to add a keyboard, there was no choice but to follow a similar design philosophy. The NR70 has two very thin folding halves, with an LCD screen and keyboard on the upper and lower halves, respectively. The thickness of this Clie, when closed, feels about the same as a Palm III. But the real innovation is the ability to swivel the screen 180 degrees and fold it over the other half, morphing the device into the handheld form factor that most people are accustomed to using with a stylus. These two modes can be thought of as "keyboard input mode" and "stylus input mode."
Larger Screen Swivels 180 Degrees
The color LCD screen, like those found on previous iterations of the Clie, is a joy to look at. The high resolution screen is bright, text and graphics are sharp, and the 65,536 colors are as vibrant as one can expect from a handheld. But that's not why so many people are excited about the NR70.
Another major innovation Sony introduced for this model, the 320-by-480 pixel 16-bit color screen, is perhaps the most significant. For years, Palm devices have been plagued by an immutable silk-screened input area that occupies valuable screen real estate, while competing devices feature larger displays with less wasted space. Sony's new Clie is the first Palm-based handheld to nix the permanent silk-screened input area in favor of a software-based area displayed at the bottom of the new, larger LCD screen.
You might think that the apps on the NR70 would be lining up to take advantage of this newly liberated screen real estate. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. It appears that there is only a single application, the built-in image viewer, that can temporarily hide the input area and use the entire screen. Although it would be great to be able to use the entire vertical screen length to view calendars, memos, e-books, and other application data, this is not yet possible on this Clie, mostly likely due to limitations inherent in version 4.1 of the Palm OS. While there are no guarantees, hopefully a subsequent update to the underlying software will enable more applications to utilize the entire screen.
Integrated Keyboard
The QWERTY-style keyboard is a boon even to those who have become proficient at stylus entry via the Graffiti input system. Much like the RIM Blackberry communications device, the keyboard on the NR70 is most easily used with two thumbs. Using just these two digits, text input via the keyboard was surprisingly easy and quick. Despite years of experience with Graffiti input, I soon preferred text entry via the keyboard to pecking away at the screen with the stylus.
The keyboard has four modifier keys on the left side: Shift, Control, Function, and Alt. The Function key is used to enter numbers, which are located along the top row of the alphabet letter keys. Entering numbers this way was a bit cumbersome but not as difficult as one might expect. Symbols, on the other hand, are scattered among the remaining letter keys and can be difficult to locate quickly. Thankfully, common punctuation characters such as the comma and period have their own keys.
I did find one significant annoyance, however, when using the keyboard to enter contact data. Sony/Palm made it too difficult to use the keyboard to move from one field to another. The tab key would seem like the most intuitive method, but this simply inserts a tab character into the field. (Somebody please explain to me the purpose of entering tabs into contact fields. Good reasons for doing this are completely eluding me.) Not being the type to read instruction manuals, I unsuccessfully tried every possible combination of modifier keys along with the arrow keys, return key, and even the jog dial. I had to put down the Clie and vent my frustrations via an hour of indescriminate bedlam before I was able to clear my mind, pick the NR70 back up, and discover that control-tab and shift-control-tab are the magic ingredients. However, hitting control-tab with just the left thumb requires too much hand contorting, and using two thumbs is even harder due to the size and placement of these keys. Eventually I decided that the best solution was to simply use my left index fingernail to manually place the cursor in the next field. If the developers out there are listening, I strongly urge them to at least allow for a "Tab key moves between fields" preference somewhere in a subsequent update to the software.
Other buttons on the Clie include Sony's signature Jog Dial that is used to scroll up and down, as well as to select the current item by pushing in the Jog. Also on the left side of the bottom half of the device is the Back button, which is used when the user wishes to cancel a Jog Dial operation. Rounding out the buttons on the left side is the Hold button, which seems to have little use other than in conjunction with the Audio Player application.
Faster Processor
The Clie NR70 is the first Palm OS device to sport the new 66MHz Motorola Dragonball Super VZ. Twice as fast as other handhelds powered by the Palm OS, this processor made the NR70 feel much snappier than competing Palm and Handspring devices. While not as fast as processors found in other handheld platform designs, this CPU allows the NR70 to perform responsively while yielding longer battery life than handhelds with faster processors.
Software Graffiti
Several welcome enhancements have been introduced to the no-longer-static input area, although it is unclear whether these improvements were made by Sony, Palm, or collaboration between the two companies. The most notable enhancement is visual feedback when using the stylus to draw on the input area. A square dot appears when the stylus is first placed on one of the two input boxes, and a thin line follows the movement of the stylus until it is lifted from the screen. This helps visualize what is being entered in the input area and reduces errant stylus strokes.
Other handy aspects of the new input area include a clock in the lower right-hand corner, an LCD brightness control, battery power indicator, and an icon that appears when a Memory Stick has been inserted. There is also a button which brings up an on-screen keyboard inside the input area that is much more space efficient than having a separate window appear above the input area.
Synchronization
Initial attempts to HotSync the NR70 via the USB cradle with an Apple iBook running OS X 10.1.3 and Palm's recently released Palm Desktop 4.0 software produced a "serial port is currently in use" error, despite reports of successful HotSyncs between this configuration and previous Clie models. This error was particularly interesting since serial ports have not been featured on Macs for many years. Hopefully either Palm, Sony, or third parties such as MarkSpace will provide a solution to this problem.
Luckily, a spare Vaio running Win2k/J was handy to test the synchronization capabilities of the new Clie. The included installer CD for Win32 platforms provided an easy-to-follow bevy of installation options. I opted for a basic install, loading on only the HotSync, Palm Desktop, and SoundStage LE software. As expected, initiating the HotSync was as easy as pushing the button on the USB cradle, and the synchronization was fast and accurate.
The SoundStage LE software is included so that users may organize their music collections and transfer tracks to a Memory Stick inserted in the Clie. I found the interface rather cluttered, and the software indicated that there were no compatible devices attached. Rather than spending hours troubleshooting the problem, I simply used the HotSync Manager to transfer MP3 files to the Clie's Memory Stick, much in the same way one would install a Palm application. This worked smoothly, although the transfer took far more time than a 12 Mbps USB connection should take.
Clie Applications
The standard contact, calendar, to-do, and memo applications appear to function much as other Palm-based handhelds and thus don't merit much attention. The built-in MP3 player and graphic applications, on the other hand, are worth mentioning briefly.
AudioPlayer
The MP3 files that had been uploaded via the HotSync manager appeared immediately after launching the included AudioPlayer application. The interface is clean and well-designed, although the somewhat blocky and jagged interface widgets stand in stark contrast to the sharp input area below. Clearly, the AudioPlayer app hasn't yet been fully updated to take advantage of the high-resolution screen. There are three visualization modes, which of course serve little purpose other than to elicit "Wow, cool!" reactions from onlookers. The sound quality through the included earbud headphones was clear with good dynamic range, and the wired remote control between the Clie and the earphones provided convenient operation of the AudioPlayer while the NR70 is folded and placed in a pocket, purse, or backpack. Closing the lid automatically shuts off the LCD screen in order to conserve battery power and also prevents unwanted accidental key presses from interrupting the music. Turning on the "Hold" button will achieve the same effect even when the Clie is open and unfolded.
The inability to listen to music while reading email or composing memos was the only bone I had to pick with AudioPlayer. Perhaps there is a solution that enables this type of multitasking, but I couldn't seem to figure out how. While again this is most likely a problem inherent in the underlying Palm OS, it would be nice if this limitation were lifted in a future software update.
The biggest surprise came when I accidentally removed the remote control and earphones while a track was still playing. While Blink182 tracks may not be the best way to judge audio speaker quality, I was nonetheless impressed with the sound coming out of the tiny opening in the back of the 3/8"-thick bottom half of the NR70. Given how thin the enclosure is, getting audio quality akin to decent AM radio is nothing to shake a stick at. So provided you don't need very high audio volume, load up your NR70 with tunes and leave your boom box behind the next time you head out to the beach or a BBQ.
CLIE Paint, PG Pocket, PhotoStand, and gMovie
The Clie Paint application, while no Photoshop, is a handy tool for creating simple sketches and doodles as well as for editing/annotating photos that have been HotSync'ed into the NR70. The PG Pocket and PhotoStand applications appear to be mainly for use with the digital camera built into the NR70's cousin, the NR70V, so these applications were looked at only perfunctorily. (The NR70V was not yet available for review at the time this article was prepared.) Both applications seem well developed and useful for organizing and displaying digital photos. Sony's gMovie is, predictably, a movie viewing application for video files transferred to the Clie's Memory Stick. This application couldn't be tested in time for this review, so perhaps one of our readers will provide feedback on this application by using the Comments link at the bottom of this article.
Final Thoughts
Sony's latest entry into the handheld market offers radical innovations and raises the bar for both Palm and Handspring. The NR70's folding design, integrated keyboard, and Software Graffiti input area combine to form the most significant advancement in handheld engineering since Apple gave birth to the PDA market many years ago. Add wireless connectivity via the Memory Stick expansion slot, and you may soon find your notebook, MP3 player, and digital camera collecting dust in the corner.
With that amount of retraining, one might as well learn a new layout -- one that is optimal, which would increase speed and decrease the error rate.
Actually, that's not true. It would take you a lot longer to learn an entirely new layout (~10 to 120 times as long).
It would take about 30 hours of practice to ackieve 22 wpm on a new keyboard layout, versus (thanks to skill transfer) about 3 hours on a HalfKeyboard. One journalist that reviewed the product got that fast after only 15 minutes of practice.
Besides, using the left hand on a HalfKeyboard is pretty close to optimal. It is more optimal than Half-Dvoark and also more optimal than a chord keyboard. References are in the paper.
From the article: "Half-QWERTY is based on the principle that the human brain controls typing movements according to the finger used, rather than the spatial position of the key."
It's well worth noting that in playing piano, the human brain *does* *not* rely on using the same finger on the key each time.
You are correct, and that (in part) is why it takes so long to learn to play piano. The hand mapping on a piano violates body symmetry. Also, there generally is no skill transfer involved, whereas the HalfKeyboard was designed to facilitate skill transfer.
The research would be far more meaningful if you'd included tests for optimal keyboards. Would a user pick up the skills just as quickly for a completely new layout?
This research has been done by others, and is discussed in the paper. As I said, it would take a lot longer to learn an optimal layout.
I understand that the QWERT layout might appear to be easier to market. But the people choosing your keyboard are deeply self-interested:
they're looking for a specialized solution to a particular problem. They're willing to put up with the hassles and time commitment to learn the new tool -- why shouldn't they be interested in an optimized solution?
Well, you tell me... If there were 2 one-handed keyboards for sale, an optimal one that took 30 hours to learn, and a near-optimal one that took 15 minutes to learn, which one would you buy?
Also, the optimal keyboard would require you to memorize a whole new keyboard layout, and re-learn how to type. The near-optimal layout requires no memorization and uses your existing typing skills.
I'm looking for a one-handed desktop keyboard replacement, and I'm not interested in five-buttoned chording keyboards;) So, could you use it fulltime?
Yes, of course. People are buying it for that very purpose. In fact, we've pre-sold more HalfKeyboards for PCs than for Handspring PDAs.
that nebulous "feel" which allows one to use it for long durations(which I'm not sure about):)
No need to worry about the feel. It uses the same type of keyswitches found on IBM laptops. They are the best in the business, and higher quality than most desktop keyboards. It's a really nice keyboard.
Why on *earth* is it a QWERT layout (looks like the Y got whacked by a function key)?!
From your question, you appear to have missed the point of this keyboard, which is facilitating skill transfer from standard touch typing.
It does indeed work. Most touch typists pick it up very quickly. If you don't believe me, download the demo and try it for yourself. Alternatively, you could just read this:
I'd like to know, in all honesty, if you could use this on a day-to-day, fulltime basis. Little things; does it have Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, arrow keys? Full punctuation keys?
Yes, it will do all those characters. If you look carefully at the picture, you can see them. The HalfKeyboard is functionally equivalent to a full-sized keyboard.
How does this integrate with the rest of a computer system? I've seen things in the past that are basically a keyboard+screen+memory so you can take notes on the go, and then use the device as a normal keyboard (PS/2 Port connected) on your home machine - hit a key combination and it dumps it's buffer across the keyboard interface.
That was supposed to be our first product, but we didn't raise enough $$$ to do it, so went with the straight peripheral keyboard instead.
However, there are a lot of advantages to the appliance design. A PocketPC device with HalfKeyboard+touch-screen would be much better for notetaking than the products out there now.
Also, do you intend to support other PDA's other than Palm OS devices with the Half Keyboard?
Yeah, we'll be doing an iPAQ version for sure. We already have a working driver. Just a matter of making the units with the appropriate cable attached.
what about a linux driver for a regular keyboard and one handed typing?
There are a lot of different operating systems out there now (several flavours of Windows, Linux, MacOS, BeOS, etc.). Rather than try to write drivers for all of them (or only the popular ones), we thought the path of least resistance was to go the hardware gadget route and thereby support all operating systems.
We are starting with the PDA market and will be moving to the desktop with PC and USB HalfKeyboards.
It's half of a regular keyboard that lets you touch type with one hand USING YOUR EXISTING SKILLS.
We debuted it at Comdex and expect to ship later this month.
I'm the inventor. Feel free to post questions, if you have any...
I did a lot of research into digital cameras last year. I didn't buy one, but here's some of the info I found . . .
How good of a camera you need (and how much you end up spending on one) depends on what you plan to do with the pictures.
If all you want to do is post pix on the web, any 1-megapixel (or less) camera should do a respectable job for you, since web pix are generally low res (640 x 480 or less). At 72 ppi screen res, that's 8.9 x 6.7 inches (pretty big).
What you need the extra pixels for is printing photos onto paper. There's a big controversy over the resolution photos should be printed at, with the general consensus being in the 150 to 300 ppi range. Generally, you should avoid printing at less than 200 ppi.
At 200ppi, you'll need a 1 mp camera to print a standard 4x6 shot, 1.5 mp to do a 5x7, 3.2 mp to do an 8x10, 6.2 mp to do an 11x14.
The highest res digicams available today for under US$1,000, are ~3 mp. Best 3 mp models currently include the Canon PowerShot S20, Nikon CoolPix 990. The 2 mp models of these cameras are the S10 and Coolpix 950. They are all great cameras, and 2 mp models just dropped in price with the introduction of the 3 mp models.
Note that you can get good deals buying 2nd hand cameras. A lot of users sell their 1-yr-old cameras to buy the latest models. Also, you should buy a camera that's small. If it's too big to carry around, it won't get used. (The Canons are small, sturdy, and they look cool. Kodaks generally suck in this regard.)
So why didn't I buy a digicam?
I wanted to print really big pictures, and for that you still can't beat film. Film is cheap, and you can scan onto PhotoCD whatever individual frames you like. You get a 6 mp (!) image which you can print onto 11 x 17 paper.
Slashdot Mirror
Ergo Pro now shipping -- no expense spared to make it the best...
Reviewed here...
Almost everyone I asked said that the iPhone screen was too small.
They also said⦠"Why is the iPhone so expensive when it has such a small screen?"
You can buy an Android phone with a gorgeous 5.7" display for half the cost of the iPhone in China. That was the biggest screen I found and it looked more vibrant than the screen on my iPhone 5.
If Apple wants to keep selling phones in China, they need bigger screens. Therefore, you can expect there will be a big screen iPhone. The Chinese market is too big for them to ignore. There's lots of competition now and Chinese consumers have zero brand loyalty.
VisorCentral has also picked up the story (complete with pictures):
http://visorcentral.com/content/Stories/1448-1.htm
FCC also has info including the users manual
Their server appears to be taking a quite a pounding by the slashdot effect. Text is below...
Edgar
______________________
May 08, 2002
Review: Sony Clie PEG-NR70 Handheld
Sony's latest Clie is a radical and welcome departure from the traditional design of the handheld PDA. Introducing innovations that have never been seen before on a Palm OS based device, the Clie PEG-NR70 and its digital camera bearing cousin NR70V have generated a flurry of excitement among PDA aficionados. This hands-on review takes a first look at what all the buzz is about.
Unique Form Factor
The most easily recognized innovation is the folding "clam shell" form factor. This design choice parallels the progression of mobile phone design in Japan, where ever-larger color LCD screens left little room for number keys that human fingers could comfortably press. In the pursuit of more surface real estate, Japanese mobile phone manufacturers decided to risk the stigma associated with flip phone designs -- a stigma largely caused by Motorola's unattractive and dated models -- by splitting the phone into two halves: an LCD screen on the upper half and a keypad on the lower half. These two halves are thin enough that folding the phone results in a thickness that is still thinner than most mobile phones sold in Europe and the U.S.
PDAs have always had large screens, so when Sony decided to add a keyboard, there was no choice but to follow a similar design philosophy. The NR70 has two very thin folding halves, with an LCD screen and keyboard on the upper and lower halves, respectively. The thickness of this Clie, when closed, feels about the same as a Palm III. But the real innovation is the ability to swivel the screen 180 degrees and fold it over the other half, morphing the device into the handheld form factor that most people are accustomed to using with a stylus. These two modes can be thought of as "keyboard input mode" and "stylus input mode."
Larger Screen Swivels 180 Degrees
The color LCD screen, like those found on previous iterations of the Clie, is a joy to look at. The high resolution screen is bright, text and graphics are sharp, and the 65,536 colors are as vibrant as one can expect from a handheld. But that's not why so many people are excited about the NR70.
Another major innovation Sony introduced for this model, the 320-by-480 pixel 16-bit color screen, is perhaps the most significant. For years, Palm devices have been plagued by an immutable silk-screened input area that occupies valuable screen real estate, while competing devices feature larger displays with less wasted space. Sony's new Clie is the first Palm-based handheld to nix the permanent silk-screened input area in favor of a software-based area displayed at the bottom of the new, larger LCD screen.
You might think that the apps on the NR70 would be lining up to take advantage of this newly liberated screen real estate. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. It appears that there is only a single application, the built-in image viewer, that can temporarily hide the input area and use the entire screen. Although it would be great to be able to use the entire vertical screen length to view calendars, memos, e-books, and other application data, this is not yet possible on this Clie, mostly likely due to limitations inherent in version 4.1 of the Palm OS. While there are no guarantees, hopefully a subsequent update to the underlying software will enable more applications to utilize the entire screen.
Integrated Keyboard
The QWERTY-style keyboard is a boon even to those who have become proficient at stylus entry via the Graffiti input system. Much like the RIM Blackberry communications device, the keyboard on the NR70 is most easily used with two thumbs. Using just these two digits, text input via the keyboard was surprisingly easy and quick. Despite years of experience with Graffiti input, I soon preferred text entry via the keyboard to pecking away at the screen with the stylus.
The keyboard has four modifier keys on the left side: Shift, Control, Function, and Alt. The Function key is used to enter numbers, which are located along the top row of the alphabet letter keys. Entering numbers this way was a bit cumbersome but not as difficult as one might expect. Symbols, on the other hand, are scattered among the remaining letter keys and can be difficult to locate quickly. Thankfully, common punctuation characters such as the comma and period have their own keys.
I did find one significant annoyance, however, when using the keyboard to enter contact data. Sony/Palm made it too difficult to use the keyboard to move from one field to another. The tab key would seem like the most intuitive method, but this simply inserts a tab character into the field. (Somebody please explain to me the purpose of entering tabs into contact fields. Good reasons for doing this are completely eluding me.) Not being the type to read instruction manuals, I unsuccessfully tried every possible combination of modifier keys along with the arrow keys, return key, and even the jog dial. I had to put down the Clie and vent my frustrations via an hour of indescriminate bedlam before I was able to clear my mind, pick the NR70 back up, and discover that control-tab and shift-control-tab are the magic ingredients. However, hitting control-tab with just the left thumb requires too much hand contorting, and using two thumbs is even harder due to the size and placement of these keys. Eventually I decided that the best solution was to simply use my left index fingernail to manually place the cursor in the next field. If the developers out there are listening, I strongly urge them to at least allow for a "Tab key moves between fields" preference somewhere in a subsequent update to the software.
Other buttons on the Clie include Sony's signature Jog Dial that is used to scroll up and down, as well as to select the current item by pushing in the Jog. Also on the left side of the bottom half of the device is the Back button, which is used when the user wishes to cancel a Jog Dial operation. Rounding out the buttons on the left side is the Hold button, which seems to have little use other than in conjunction with the Audio Player application.
Faster Processor
The Clie NR70 is the first Palm OS device to sport the new 66MHz Motorola Dragonball Super VZ. Twice as fast as other handhelds powered by the Palm OS, this processor made the NR70 feel much snappier than competing Palm and Handspring devices. While not as fast as processors found in other handheld platform designs, this CPU allows the NR70 to perform responsively while yielding longer battery life than handhelds with faster processors.
Software Graffiti
Several welcome enhancements have been introduced to the no-longer-static input area, although it is unclear whether these improvements were made by Sony, Palm, or collaboration between the two companies. The most notable enhancement is visual feedback when using the stylus to draw on the input area. A square dot appears when the stylus is first placed on one of the two input boxes, and a thin line follows the movement of the stylus until it is lifted from the screen. This helps visualize what is being entered in the input area and reduces errant stylus strokes.
Other handy aspects of the new input area include a clock in the lower right-hand corner, an LCD brightness control, battery power indicator, and an icon that appears when a Memory Stick has been inserted. There is also a button which brings up an on-screen keyboard inside the input area that is much more space efficient than having a separate window appear above the input area.
Synchronization
Initial attempts to HotSync the NR70 via the USB cradle with an Apple iBook running OS X 10.1.3 and Palm's recently released Palm Desktop 4.0 software produced a "serial port is currently in use" error, despite reports of successful HotSyncs between this configuration and previous Clie models. This error was particularly interesting since serial ports have not been featured on Macs for many years. Hopefully either Palm, Sony, or third parties such as MarkSpace will provide a solution to this problem.
Luckily, a spare Vaio running Win2k/J was handy to test the synchronization capabilities of the new Clie. The included installer CD for Win32 platforms provided an easy-to-follow bevy of installation options. I opted for a basic install, loading on only the HotSync, Palm Desktop, and SoundStage LE software. As expected, initiating the HotSync was as easy as pushing the button on the USB cradle, and the synchronization was fast and accurate.
The SoundStage LE software is included so that users may organize their music collections and transfer tracks to a Memory Stick inserted in the Clie. I found the interface rather cluttered, and the software indicated that there were no compatible devices attached. Rather than spending hours troubleshooting the problem, I simply used the HotSync Manager to transfer MP3 files to the Clie's Memory Stick, much in the same way one would install a Palm application. This worked smoothly, although the transfer took far more time than a 12 Mbps USB connection should take.
Clie Applications
The standard contact, calendar, to-do, and memo applications appear to function much as other Palm-based handhelds and thus don't merit much attention. The built-in MP3 player and graphic applications, on the other hand, are worth mentioning briefly.
AudioPlayer
The MP3 files that had been uploaded via the HotSync manager appeared immediately after launching the included AudioPlayer application. The interface is clean and well-designed, although the somewhat blocky and jagged interface widgets stand in stark contrast to the sharp input area below. Clearly, the AudioPlayer app hasn't yet been fully updated to take advantage of the high-resolution screen. There are three visualization modes, which of course serve little purpose other than to elicit "Wow, cool!" reactions from onlookers. The sound quality through the included earbud headphones was clear with good dynamic range, and the wired remote control between the Clie and the earphones provided convenient operation of the AudioPlayer while the NR70 is folded and placed in a pocket, purse, or backpack. Closing the lid automatically shuts off the LCD screen in order to conserve battery power and also prevents unwanted accidental key presses from interrupting the music. Turning on the "Hold" button will achieve the same effect even when the Clie is open and unfolded.
The inability to listen to music while reading email or composing memos was the only bone I had to pick with AudioPlayer. Perhaps there is a solution that enables this type of multitasking, but I couldn't seem to figure out how. While again this is most likely a problem inherent in the underlying Palm OS, it would be nice if this limitation were lifted in a future software update.
The biggest surprise came when I accidentally removed the remote control and earphones while a track was still playing. While Blink182 tracks may not be the best way to judge audio speaker quality, I was nonetheless impressed with the sound coming out of the tiny opening in the back of the 3/8"-thick bottom half of the NR70. Given how thin the enclosure is, getting audio quality akin to decent AM radio is nothing to shake a stick at. So provided you don't need very high audio volume, load up your NR70 with tunes and leave your boom box behind the next time you head out to the beach or a BBQ.
CLIE Paint, PG Pocket, PhotoStand, and gMovie
The Clie Paint application, while no Photoshop, is a handy tool for creating simple sketches and doodles as well as for editing/annotating photos that have been HotSync'ed into the NR70. The PG Pocket and PhotoStand applications appear to be mainly for use with the digital camera built into the NR70's cousin, the NR70V, so these applications were looked at only perfunctorily. (The NR70V was not yet available for review at the time this article was prepared.) Both applications seem well developed and useful for organizing and displaying digital photos. Sony's gMovie is, predictably, a movie viewing application for video files transferred to the Clie's Memory Stick. This application couldn't be tested in time for this review, so perhaps one of our readers will provide feedback on this application by using the Comments link at the bottom of this article.
Final Thoughts
Sony's latest entry into the handheld market offers radical innovations and raises the bar for both Palm and Handspring. The NR70's folding design, integrated keyboard, and Software Graffiti input area combine to form the most significant advancement in handheld engineering since Apple gave birth to the PDA market many years ago. Add wireless connectivity via the Memory Stick expansion slot, and you may soon find your notebook, MP3 player, and digital camera collecting dust in the corner.
Posted by Sparky at May 08, 2002 12:29 AM
Actually, the Half Keyboard has an embedded numeric keypad.
Edgar
Actually, that's not true. It would take you a lot longer to learn an entirely new layout (~10 to 120 times as long).
It would take about 30 hours of practice to ackieve 22 wpm on a new keyboard layout, versus (thanks to skill transfer) about 3 hours on a HalfKeyboard. One journalist that reviewed the product got that fast after only 15 minutes of practice.
Besides, using the left hand on a HalfKeyboard is pretty close to optimal. It is more optimal than Half-Dvoark and also more optimal than a chord keyboard. References are in the paper.
It's well worth noting that in playing piano, the human brain *does* *not* rely on using the same finger on the key each time.
You are correct, and that (in part) is why it takes so long to learn to play piano. The hand mapping on a piano violates body symmetry. Also, there generally is no skill transfer involved, whereas the HalfKeyboard was designed to facilitate skill transfer.
This research has been done by others, and is discussed in the paper. As I said, it would take a lot longer to learn an optimal layout.
Well, you tell me... If there were 2 one-handed keyboards for sale, an optimal one that took 30 hours to learn, and a near-optimal one that took 15 minutes to learn, which one would you buy?
Also, the optimal keyboard would require you to memorize a whole new keyboard layout, and re-learn how to type. The near-optimal layout requires no memorization and uses your existing typing skills.
Which one do you think most people would want?
Edgar
You hit the Shift key twice and then hit the slash key (the one with the big Z on it).
Edgar
Yes, it does do Sticky Keys on Shift, Control, and Alt.
Edgar
Okay, try this: http://halfkeyboard.com/resources/hk4palm/800.jpg.
Yes, of course. People are buying it for that very purpose. In fact, we've pre-sold more HalfKeyboards for PCs than for Handspring PDAs.
No need to worry about the feel. It uses the same type of keyswitches found on IBM laptops. They are the best in the business, and higher quality than most desktop keyboards. It's a really nice keyboard.
Edgar
Why on *earth* is it a QWERT layout (looks like the Y got whacked by a function key)?!
From your question, you appear to have missed the point of this keyboard, which is facilitating skill transfer from standard touch typing.
It does indeed work. Most touch typists pick it up very quickly. If you don't believe me, download the demo and try it for yourself. Alternatively, you could just read this:
Edgar
Well, it's my company that's producing the product. I wasn't too difficult to convince.
Edgar
Yes, it will do all those characters. If you look carefully at the picture, you can see them. The HalfKeyboard is functionally equivalent to a full-sized keyboard.
Edgar
How does this integrate with the rest of a computer system? I've seen things in the past that are basically a keyboard+screen+memory so you can take notes on the go, and then use the device as a normal keyboard (PS/2 Port connected) on your home machine - hit a key combination and it dumps it's buffer across the keyboard interface.
That was supposed to be our first product, but we didn't raise enough $$$ to do it, so went with the straight peripheral keyboard instead.
However, there are a lot of advantages to the appliance design. A PocketPC device with HalfKeyboard+touch-screen would be much better for notetaking than the products out there now.
Yeah, we'll be doing an iPAQ version for sure. We already have a working driver. Just a matter of making the units with the appropriate cable attached.
Edgar
How does your wife feel about all the porn your creation has spawned?
Also, is she a real blond?(if you know what I mean)
Edgar
There are a lot of different operating systems out there now (several flavours of Windows, Linux, MacOS, BeOS, etc.). Rather than try to write drivers for all of them (or only the popular ones), we thought the path of least resistance was to go the hardware gadget route and thereby support all operating systems.
We are starting with the PDA market and will be moving to the desktop with PC and USB HalfKeyboards.
Edgar
We plan to release a right-hand model for lefties as well (in 2001).
Edgar
Hey Folks,
I'm the inventor of the Half Keyboard. Feel free to post any questions...
Edgar
Check this out:
It's half of a regular keyboard that lets you touch type with one hand USING YOUR EXISTING SKILLS. We debuted it at Comdex and expect to ship later this month.
I'm the inventor. Feel free to post questions, if you have any...
Edgar
Here's the only one-handed keyboard with mainstream potential:
You touch type with one hand USING YOUR EXISTING SKILLS. We debuted it at Comdex, the week before last.
Edgar
I was wondering when this topic would appear on
I did a lot of research into digital cameras last year. I didn't buy one, but here's some of the info I found . . .
How good of a camera you need (and how much you end up spending on one) depends on what you plan to do with the pictures.
If all you want to do is post pix on the web, any 1-megapixel (or less) camera should do a respectable job for you, since web pix are generally low res (640 x 480 or less). At 72 ppi screen res, that's 8.9 x 6.7 inches (pretty big).
What you need the extra pixels for is printing photos onto paper. There's a big controversy over the resolution photos should be printed at, with the general consensus being in the 150 to 300 ppi range. Generally, you should avoid printing at less than 200 ppi.
At 200ppi, you'll need a 1 mp camera to print a standard 4x6 shot, 1.5 mp to do a 5x7, 3.2 mp to do an 8x10, 6.2 mp to do an 11x14.
The highest res digicams available today for under US$1,000, are ~3 mp. Best 3 mp models currently include the Canon PowerShot S20, Nikon CoolPix 990. The 2 mp models of these cameras are the S10 and Coolpix 950. They are all great cameras, and 2 mp models just dropped in price with the introduction of the 3 mp models.
For reviews, visit:
http://www.imaging-resource.com
http://www.lonestardigital.com
http://www.steves-digicams.com/cameras.ht ml
Note that you can get good deals buying 2nd hand cameras. A lot of users sell their 1-yr-old cameras to buy the latest models. Also, you should buy a camera that's small. If it's too big to carry around, it won't get used. (The Canons are small, sturdy, and they look cool. Kodaks generally suck in this regard.)
So why didn't I buy a digicam?
I wanted to print really big pictures, and for that you still can't beat film. Film is cheap, and you can scan onto PhotoCD whatever individual frames you like. You get a 6 mp (!) image which you can print onto 11 x 17 paper.
- http://www.templetons.com/brad/pixels.html
I carry an Olympus Stylus Epic. It's small enough to fit in my pocket, takes great pictures, and it's cheap!http://photo.net/photo/point-and-shoot.ht ml
http://photo.net/photo/point-and-sho ot-tips.html
BTW, for a /.-style photo site, check out:
Edgar
None of these devices are any good for text entry, which is what "most people" do on PCs. There's a new PDA coming out in December that does:
You can type 64 wpm on this thing, and one model is no larger than a cellphone (4.88 x 1.77 inches). Downloadable demo of the system is available too.
This first unit slated for release is pretty basic, but future models will be programmable and have more features.