03:41 PM by Bob Russell in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

MobileBurn has a report based on a conversation with Albert Chu, the Vice President of Business Development for PalmSource. Palm Addicts is also pointing us to an MS Mobiles interview with Chu.

It seems that PalmSource has interest in Linux based PalmOS for more than just PDAs and smartphones. Your basic mobile phone of the future may look like something with PalmOS, even if the similarty is just on the surface. Apparently there's a difference between Americans and Asians regarding what kind of user interface people like. PalmSource has expertise in user interface design that would apply very well to mobile phones. It's an uphill battle against some pretty significant competition, but you never know!

10:09 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Yeti 3D Pro is a small, fast portable 3d game library written by Derek Evans. There are ports for the PocketPC, GBA, Windows, Nokia phones, PS1 and Gamecube. Porting of the Yeti 3D engine to the Pocket PC was done by Sean Cross.

Dell Axim X50v users can cheer up, because now there is also an Intel 2700-OpenGl ES optimized version available for download. The demo is a technical preview. As such, it is not complete (no sound, limited game logic and the like). It may do hideous things to your system such as delete files, randomly change your appointments and send rude emails to your mum. I doubt it, but you have been warned! Make sure to read the included readme.txt file first.

07:17 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

KBattery is a tiny (19Kb) application that displays a battery meter and the memory/storage card status for WM2003 and WM2003SE PocketPC devices.

I installed it and will probably keep it on my device!

05:47 AM by Colin Dunstan in Miscellaneous | Lounge

According to preliminary data released this week by Gartner, worldwide PDA shipments increased 6.6 percent to 12.3 million in 2004 compared with 2003.

According to the analyst firm, increased average selling prices drove worldwide PDA revenue to a record $4.3bn in 2004, a 16.7 per cent increase on the year before. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the average price of PDAs reached $353, up 9.4 per cent from 2003.

"The PDA market has shifted from unconnected organisers overwhelmingly purchased by consumers to a market in which 44 per cent of the devices shipped in 2004 offered integrated wireless and/or wireless Lan connectivity," said Todd Kort, principal analyst at Gartner's Computing Platforms Worldwide group.

The fourth quarter traditionally has seen large shipments of PalmOS devices, but Windows CE licensees have taken a substantial lead, and Research in Motion is poised to become the leading PDA vendor in 2005. Windows CE steadily gained share in the PDA operating system market, accounting for 37.7 per cent worldwide in 2003. In 2004, Windows CE became the top PDA operating system when it accounted for 43 per cent of shipments. Palm OS has slipped from 50 per cent in 2003 to 36.3 per cent in 2004.

"Microsoft-based PDAs have gained favor mostly due to their affinity with the Windows PC market and Microsoft's ability to attract more than 30 licensees around the globe," Mr. Kort said.

Additional information is available in the Gartner Alert RIM Sparked PDA Market to Grow 6.6 Percent in 2004.

05:34 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

Do you remember Minimo ("Mini Mozilla")? Minimo is a trimmed down version of the open-source Mozilla web browser to fit in mobile and embedded devices. The current Minimo 0.3 CVS tree is based on Mozilla 1.8b.

Doug Turner, one of the Minimo project leaders, is now looking for people with expertise in Windows CE programming to help him working on a port for Windows CE devices:

Yes. I am currently working on a Windows CE version of Minimo. I should be posting builds in a few weeks.

So, here is a general call for Windows CE developers! If you are interested in Mozilla on Windows CE and have time to help me with some of the work, please drop me a line.

You can contact Doug at dougt[at]meer[dot]net.

07:57 AM by Alexander Turcic in E-Book General | News

NTERA, an Ireland-based developer of nanomaterials with manufacturing operations in Taiwan and Ireland, announced the availability of its NanoChromics display technology at the DEMO 2005 show yesterday.

The company's proprietary NanoChromics display (NCD) contains a reflective layer made of a nanostructured film of titanium dioxide – the chemical used to make paper white. This creates a solid white background with the appearance, reflectivity and contrast of a high quality, printed paper sign. Like a real paper sign, the display is readable at very acute angles. Electrochromic viologen molecules in front of the reflective background give the visual effect of ink on paper when colored and of pure white paper when bleached. Different colors are produced using different viologens. Because viologens are able to attach in high numbers to a nanostructured cathode with a very large surface area, strong coloration is achieved. Past attempts to use electrochromic effects in display applications suffered from both weak coloration and long switching times. With NCD technology, the electrochromic viologen molecules are bound to the surface of the nanostructured cathode, meaning they can be switched very rapidly from colorless to colored and vice versa.

Power consumption of the NCD is reduced by eliminating the need for backlighting; plus, the displays' 1V DC operation is currently the lowest drive voltage of any bistable technology (bistable means that power is only required for image updating, resulting in reduced power consumption).

Built on existing LCD lines, NanoChromics displays will have the optical qualities of the printed page, specifically high brightness and contrast over a wide range of viewing angles and a "paper-white" background. Potential applications for NCD technology include in-store pricing systems, public and advertising signage, mobile communications, and electronic paper and books. George Powlick, manager of one of the venture capital firms invested in NTERA, said: "The compelling advantages of NTERA's display technology, combined with the ability to produce the displays NanoChromics on existing LCD manufacturing lines, has already enabled it to secure significant customer interest. We look forward to working with the company’s management team to maximise in exploiting its potential."

At the DEMO 2005 show, the company showed off an iPod with a modified NCD screen; it definitely exceeded the original iPod in crisp- and brightness. However, how long it'll take for this amazing technology to make it into mainstream mobile audio players, handhelds and e-book readers is still a big unknown.

07:39 AM by Colin Dunstan in Archive | Handhelds and Smartphones

IDG News Service interviewed PalmSource CEO David Nagel, where he talks about PalmSource's acquitision of China MobileSoft, the Chinese market for mobile devices in general, the role of Linux as an operation system for mobile devices, and his personal opinion on the future of the PDA:

It's not dead. We still see 3 to 4 million of these devices being sold with our operating system. What we're finding, though, is that the market is evolving. There are people, like my wife, who still use a PDA. Although she has a smart phone, she just recently bought a new PDA because she does digital photography and uses it as a photo album. Some people will want a combined device, others will want two. The market will sort this out.

02:35 AM by cbarnett in E-Book Software | Reading and Management

Gowerpoint have released a new version of µbook.

The new version 0.9c, adds some options to the autoscroll feature, as well as a new (and unique) option to display very light guidelines under the text to aid reading.

µbook is my favourite reader. Check it out!

Craig.