This is crazy. Some scientist at NTT DoCoMo have figured out a way to use the human body, and clothes attatched to it, as a way to transfer data at speeds as fast as 10Mbps. They are saying that with the technology, your phone could connect to your PDA from your pocket, or in your purse. You could exchange business cards with someone by shaking hands. Cool stuff. Of course, you may become more suspicious when someone bumps into you on the subway! You can read the story from www.news.com.au here: The Story
Archive for October, 2002
Something pretty big in the handheld computing industry happened today. Sony Electronics has bought a 6% stake in Palm Source, the company that develops the PalmOS. Palm Inc is being split into two companies, Palm Source and Palm Solutions. Palm Source will write the software of the PalmOS, and sell it to hardware developers. Palm Solutions will be a hardware company, making the Palm brand handhelds.
Now, Sony owns a small part of Palm Source. Sony invested $20 million into the PalmOS, and now owns about 6% of the company. Many believe that Sony is giving Palm Source a financial boost to help keep the PalmOS alive. Others feel that Sony will eventually take the entire company over.
Personally, I think this is great. It shows that Sony is really going to stick with the PalmOS, and isn’t just making toys. It also shows that Sony isn’t trying to form a monopoly. I feel that they could have very easily bought the whole company if they wanted. Instead, they are helping Palm Source through hard financial times, and thus aiding in the continued development of the PalmOS.
This is pretty crazy. Sharp has shown a prototype for a new model in thier Zaraus line of PDAs. The Zaraus runs Linux OS. This new model has a clamshell design with a full keyboard (small size) and a 640×480 screen. It appears that the handheld will be able to operate in keyboard (landscape) mode, and by twisting the screen around and folding the unit shut, similar to the Sony NR/NX series of PalmOS handhelds, the unit would operate in a tablit mode. The unit uses a CG Silicon display, which was developed by Sharp. This type of display can have twice as many pixels in the same space as a TFT display, and consume less power. Sounds like a winner to me!
Read more about it at Brighthand.com http://www.brighthand.com/article/Sharp_Clamshell_Zaurus_Demoed
Sony has officially announced their new Clie. The new line is the NX series, and it is made up of two models. The NX70V and the NX60. I will describe them real quick, but if you check PalmInfoCenter.com or Cliesource.com you can learn anything you want to know about these two units.
The NX series is based on the current NR series Clie. They have the radical clamshell design that has drawn so much attention recently. The unit is made up of two parts, the screen and the keyboard.. The screen can be flipped up, leaving the thumb keyboard below the screen, or you can twist the screen 180 degrees and fold the screen back down. This leaves the screen on outside of the unit, for use in tablet mode. Enough about the idea of the case, which you really have to see pictures of to fully understand. Lets get on to the specs of the new NX series models.
One of the biggest things about the NX series is that it is Sony’s first PalmOS 5 model. The NX runs PalmOS 5 on a 200mhz ARM chip. The unit has a 16 Meg ROM and 16 Meg of RAM. The NX70V has built in voice recording and a 640×480 digital camera. The camera can take shots with 2x digital zoom, and record MPEG4 video straight to the Memory Stick. The NX60 does not have the camera. As with all Sony handhelds, both units have a Memory Stick slot. One thing that sets this model apart, however, is a compact flash card slot on the back of the unit. Sony says that this slot will only accept certain Sony cards, such as their WiFi card, and will not use regular memory cards. Many believe that Sony is trying to keep people using their MS format, and also hope that the crippled slot can be made to use memory cards with a software hack. Both units have built in MP3 playback. Like the NR.. these units also have a 320×460 screen with virtual graffiti area.
The thing I am most weary about with this device is the battery life. Sony estimates that the unit can get 5 hours of life with the backlight off. Some people have reported that they have had hands on experience with the units, and only get about 2 hours of use with the backlight on. This is horrible. I could never use one. In the time I have been in drafting class as I write this, my unit would already be half dead for the day. Also, these units are very large, the compact flash slot extends from the back of the unit. As Sony’s first try at PalmOS5 there are bound to be glitches in the OS that will be fixed in later models. I am going to wait.
One interesting thing… it seems that Sony may be releasing the NX series in the US and Japan at the same time. Before, new units were offered in Japan before they hit the States, but this release may represent a welcome change to Sony’s habits.
Project “Lights in Car” has gone well. I have two neon tubes in the back seat of the 200SX, flashing to the bass. The sensitivity on the lights can be very hard to control though, and they are often too sensitive and light up from wind noise, or are not sensitive enough and stay off. I am working on it though. When the lights are setup right it looks really cool.