PDA posts

Filed under: Hardware, Portables, Odds and ends

The Apple tablet that wasn't

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 29th, 2009

TechCrunch has posted pictures of what they're calling an "unlaunched Apple tablet." In 1990, as the story goes, Apple was supposedly working on a pen-based touchscreen tablet called the Pen Mac that was actually extremely small for the time -- just about an inch thick, with a screen the same size as a Mac Portable. They were bringing a few different companies in on the deal, and apparently it worked well -- ran a full Mac OS, used a pen to control or let you plug in a mouse and keyboard, and there was even a smaller version called the PenLite (bulky by today's standards, but remember that this is 20 years ago now).

So why weren't we all using tablet computers 20 years ago? TechCrunch blames John Sculley, who apparently thought the tablet idea was out, and the PDA idea was in, and we ended up with the Newton instead. I won't second guess him -- while it's easy to think that anything could have beaten the Newton, would the current Apple touchscreen tablet craze even be here if it weren't for the iPhone? And isn't Apple's smartphone just a hop, skip and a jump from their original PDA?

Tags: apple, control, history, john-sculley, keyboard, mac-portable, mouse, newton, pda, pen-mac, penlite, tablet, techcrunch, touchscreen

Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Portables, Apple History

WWNC '09 official announcements and the 2010 bug

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on Mar 4th, 2009

Each year, a crew of Newton users, developers and devotees gathers to celebrate the little green device, discuss projects, share resources and generally have fun. As a Newton owner myself, I've wanted to attend one of these for years.

This summer's event features sessions by Grant Hutchinson, Ryan Vetter and (tentatively) Paul Guyot, who will discuss NPDS, modern uses of the Newton and the Einstein Project, respectively. You can get a full list of presentation topics here.

One topic that I'm sure will be on everyone's mind is the 2010 bug. Briefly, the Newton's clock has a 17-year life, which was born in 1993 and ends in 2010. January 5, 2010 to be exact. Some users have reported erratic behavior when they've tried to schedule calendar events after that date, sometimes requiring a hard reset to escape. This seems to be limited to Newton OS 2.1 devices only.

Eckhart Köppen is working on a fix, but it won't be easy, as a system patch will be required. Former Newton team engineer John Arkley had this to say in 1999:

"...Building and testing a System Update is complex and expensive process and no single engineer could do it. The Newton OS only supports ONE system patch, so ALL the existing 'fixes' and any new ones have to be combined together to combined to create the 'next' System Update."

Still, Eckhart feels it can be done. From what I know of him through the NewtonTalk mailing list, I'm inclined to believe him. In the meantime, check out the "Ramp Up Clip" to get yourself in the mood. WWNC '09 will take place from July 31st - August 2nd in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Tags: 2010 bug, 2010Bug, apple history, AppleHistory, newton, pda, wwnc

Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software, Cool tools, Productivity

Salling Clicker v3.5 brings new Front Row controls, device support and much more

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on May 11th, 2007

One of the major things I miss about switching away from a Windows Mobile or even Sony Ericsson mobile phone is Salling Clicker - just about the best darn software I've ever seen for controlling your Mac with a mobile phone or PDA. Clicker offers a wide array of customizable controls with which you can enable your device to control everything from iTunes to Keynote, and even do things like pause music when a call comes in or lock your display if you walk too far away from your Mac. While I cross my fingers that Salling Software can create a BlackBerry client sooner than later, the rest of you can enjoy today's v3.5 update which ushers in a slew of new features and wider support for yet more devices.

At the top of the feature list is support for Front Row, potentially eliminating the need to pack an Apple Remote when venturing out. Other new features include: improved iTunes functionality with quick access to current playlists and more browsing options, support for Windows Mobile 6 and Symbian 9.x devices, much easier Wi-Fi connections for Symbian and WinMo devices, improved Keynote and PowerPoint functionality and much more (I should also note that Salling Clicker for Windows now supports Vista as well).

Check out the main product page of Salling Clicker for Mac if you're new to the possibilities of this excellent software, or take a look at the v3.5 press release to get a look at what's new for you seasoned clickers. A demo is of course available, while a license costs a mere $23.95.

Tags: clicker, control, front row, FrontRow, mac, mobile phone, mobile phones, MobilePhone, MobilePhones, pda, pdas, phones, salling clicker, SallingClicker, vista

Filed under: Hardware, Rumors, Other Events

Recent Apple patents for phone, PDA, new cube?

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 8th, 2006

Here we go with the Apple patent game again, and this time around it looks like we have blasts from the past and the future. Engadget first tracked down a patent filed by Apple yesterday (pictured right) for "A cubical computer housing assembly comprises first and second ends and four sides, which define an interior compartment for housing the various computer component." Could this be the comeback of the cube? Apple obviously hasn't let the concept go gently into that good night with their cubed New York store, but since this patent is so fresh, don't expected anything to come of it anytime soon - if ever.

The next patent is a bit more interesting in part because AppleInsider has quite a few juicy details, but also because it was filed over a year ago and references a phone-like Apple device which has received almost constant speculation during that time.

Continue reading “Recent Apple patents for phone, PDA, new cube?”

Tags: apple, devices, filing, filings, iphone, patents, pda, september12

Filed under: iPod Family, Software, Internet Tools

Pod2Go becomes Life2Go, adds WeatherBug, other improvements

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jun 6th, 2006

Pod2Go, the versatile information manager for your iPod, has updated to v1.6.4 with various improvements and a name change to Life2Go (Did Kevin get a call from Apple about his choice in application names?). A v1.0 is also available for Windows (traitor!), though I don't know if that is a recent development with this name change.

Updates to the application itself including switching to WeatherBug for all weather information, significant changes to the Notes output and Mail storage, more specific syncing progress and more.

A demo of Life2Go is available, while a full license runs for $12.99.

Tags: contacts, gas, information, ipod, life2go, movies, news, PDA, pod2go, RSS, sync, synchronizing, syncing, weather

Filed under: Hardware, Software, Cool tools, Productivity

Script to start iSync, sync devices, then quit

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Mar 22nd, 2006

This Synchronize with iSync, Then Quit script is yet another one of those handy utilities that is so obvious it makes me say "geeze, Apple really should have done this themselves." Then I realize I'm talking to myself out loud, but I don't have enough money for therapy.

Moving along, this script is another great one-trick pony for all you iSync users with phones and PDAs that you keep in tune with OS X. When run, the script automatically starts iSync and then quits it once all the magic is finished.

One word of caution: Fraser Speirs, who created this and other goodies like the Flickr Export iPhoto plugin, has a couple of specific build instructions to follow to make this script work properly. As a final tip: Fraser also recommends (and I agree) that if you're a Quicksilver user, this is a great script to tie to a trigger for hotkey-enabled goodness.

Tags: automate, automating, iSync, PDA, phone, script, sync

Filed under: Macworld, Software, Odds and ends

Entourage will receive Spotlight and iSync support by March

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jan 12th, 2006

Good news for you Entourage users: included in Microsoft's 5-year Office promise announcement was that, with the March update to Office, you will soon be able to search your Entourage emails through the beauty of Spotlight.

Keeping the surprises rolling, for all you PDA sync-happy folk out there, Microsoft will also build support for iSync right into Entourage, meaning that devices compatible Sync Services will natively be able to sync with Entourage. Unfortunately, I'm *pretty* sure this ironically excludes PocketPC's, but I could be wrong. You can read more about the announcements and new features at Microsoft's PressPass announcement.

At any rate, I think these major new features and updates ought to squash any doubt of Microsoft's commitment to Office on OS X.

[via Hawk Wings]

Tags: emails, Entourage, iSync, Microsoft, PDA, search, Spotlight, Spotlight support, SpotlightSupport

Filed under: Accessories, Portables, Odds and ends

Revisiting the LifeDrive

by C.K. Sample, III (RSS feed) on Jun 21st, 2005

A while back, I noted my first impressions about my new PalmOne LifeDrive. Now that I have spent several weeks, day in and day out, using the device as a PDA to work with my Mac (a PowerBook G4 12-inch), I have a few additional observations to make, and corrections of some of my original comments.

The good news: The LifeDrive is a Palm-powered PDA with 4GBs of storage on board that works wirelessly with iSync via Bluetooth.

The bad news: It's a Palm-powered PDA with 4GBs of storage on board.

Read the long take on the LifeDrive after the jump...

Continue reading “Revisiting the LifeDrive”

Tags: lifedrive, palm, PDA

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