Blog:: Craig Pringle

Warner Crocker points to this rather creepy article on the BBC site.  The most human looking android yet.  As I said – a bit creepy.

Michael Sampson has listed five types of business people he believes can benefit from a TabletPC.  He lists these as:

1. Those who spend lots of time in meetings
2. Those who use sketches and drawings to communicate
3. People leading workshops and seminars
4. People who review lots of documents
5. People who like to use whiteboards

Michael has some good comments for each of the above points.  However I also think that there are people outside of the corporate world who can make use of tablets in their jobs.  In the education world tablets are both a great teaching tool and a fantastic bit of kit for a student to have.  I’ve also previously posted about a landscaper that changed his business by using a Tablet to collaborate with clients to plan the layout of the job and then emailing them the quote.

Sure – not everyone is going to benefit from a tablet, but there are plenty who could benefit from a tablet that aren’t using one yet.

Antone Gonsalves, writing for TechWeb News, reports the views of In-Stat Analyst Brian O’Rourke who writes:

"It's unclear how that will mesh with the Tablet PC," In-Stat analyst Brian O'Rourke said. "To me, (the ultra-portable OS) indicates a lack of confidence in the future of the Tablet PC."

I have to say that I’m a bit confused by the reasoning.  The TechWeb coverage of the In-Stat report states that “sales are expected to improve, because vendors, such as Toshiba, Acer and Gateway, are starting to ship Tablet PCs with screens as large as 14 inches. In addition, the average selling price is expected to drop this year below $2,000.” And then goes on to say “Long term, however, sales could suffer, depending on how Microsoft positions the Ultra Mobile 2007 in the market, and whether devices with the OS compete with Tablet PCs.”

I don’t think that a device with a 12” screen – let alone 14” – can be considered to be ultra portable.  This leads me to believe that there could be room for both form factors, with a convergence of the OS.  I would see this as a good thing and potentially more of a threat to the PDA market than the tablet market.

To some extent this convergence is already underway.  Indications from Microsoft are that with Windows Vista we will see the end of TabletPC as a separate SKU.  Meanwhile we are seeing emergence of solid state and hybrid disks that cut down suspend and resume times.  Newer processors have reduced power consumption and battery technology is improving battery capacity (and fuel cells are coming).  The next generation of mobile computers – be they laptops, tablets or something in between – is going to be closer to the instant-on and long life of a PDA, but without compromising on power. 

My Prediction:  Small devices running the full Windows OS will be a fact of life, but this will not kill of the larger tablet type devices until such time as new technology conquers the remaining limitation of a small device – the screen.

Rob Bushway has received his hardtop keyboard for this Motion LE1600 and posted his initial thoughts – with the promise of more to come.

“It still types really well. Very quiet. The tilt angles are still the same as in my first review. The hinge as a lot more play in it than I would like, but its’ not that big of an issue. If you were on a plane, I could see the screen bouncing back and forth a little – more so than what a regular laptop would.”

Rob previously had a preproduction version of the keyboard and reports that the issues he found with that unit are not present in the production model. 

Jk reports that Yahoo has acquired Pixoria, makers of Konfabulator.  Now Konfabulator is free.  Free is good – go get it.

Nathan Mercer from Microsoft pointed me to the official download page here.  So what’s in it?

Overview

If you are a student with a Tablet PC, the Education Pack is a must. Download the Education Pack and get five free programs to help you excel at school and have some fun while you're at it. If you're an educator with a Tablet PC, you'll want to download the Education Pack too.

Equation Writer
Now it’s easy to add mathematical expressions to your papers. Handwrite a math equation, and then convert it into a neatly typewritten image to paste into a report or a presentation.

GoBinder Lite by Agilix Labs, Inc.
Keep track of your schedule with this planner. Use your tablet pen to jot down quick reminders about class schedules, project deadlines, and extracurricular activities.

Hexic Deluxe for Tablet PC
This full-featured puzzle game from MSN Games has a new spin for Tablet PCs. Now you can rotate pieces easily with your tablet pen.

Ink Flash Cards
Create flash cards to help you learn facts or study for an exam. Handwrite a question on the front of a card and put an answer on the back. Draw, insert graphics, and add text too. After you build a set, you can review the cards to test your knowledge and flag which ones you need to review again.

Send to Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
Keep all of your class notes and research in one place. Send web pages, pictures, and other files to OneNote, and annotate or highlight them with your tablet pen. Use the OneNote stationery created for college students, and read helpful tips for using OneNote at school.

Sounds like a great resource for students.

Loren also links to a Flash Tour and screenshots of the Education Pack.

I’m getting my new TC1100 set up just so.  Yesterday I posted Part 1 of this series where I looked at getting the critical software in place.

Today:  Harware Buttons, Q Menu and Quick Launch Shortcuts

These settings are all about easing the things that I do often.  Hardware buttons are too few, so if one is doing something that is not that important to you, change it.

Two of the three soft buttons on the TC1100 fall into this category for me.  Firstly Journal is not something I use, so after installing OneNote it was only natural that the Journal button be modified to launch that instead.  Secondly the Tablet Input Panel can be launched with a gesture, so the TIP button has been changed to launch Mind Manager instead.

Next up was the power button.  The default power scheme is configured to put the computer into Standby mode when the power button is pressed.  I prefer it to hibernate.  This can done on the advanced tab of the power properties as shown below.  I have a sleep button on the keyboard plugged into the docking station, so I left that as Standby.

The TC1100 includes HP’s Q Menu software.  The menu can be launched via the hardware button or from an icon in the system tray.  The menu is highly customisable as you can add or remove buttons to suit you.  Mine looks like this at the moment.

In addition to being able to add and remove the commands HP have provided you can add your own.  In the Q Menu Settings dialog below you can choose which buttons are displayed and in what order.  If you click the Add button you can specify any executable or script, so if you can script it you can add it to the menu.

The place I put things that I use often is the quick launch bar – which is not on by default, you have to turn it on like this.  My quick launch bar looks like this:

Top Row, Left to Right: Maxthon, Outlook, Show Desktop, Snipping Tool, Dial EV-DO connection.

Bottom Row, Left to Right: Work VPN, Home VPN (yes I’m a geek), Windows Media Player, Ink Desktop.

Coming soon – Getting rid of CrapWare and adding some more software.

Paul Mooney: “Collaboration is the killer app on a Tablet PC . A SharePoint Portal configured with Tablet friendly Web-parts and a wireless Wi-fi connection is the alignment that constitutes the sweet-spot for Tablet PC  adoption.”

JK thinks that Paul is on the right track and so do I.  However I would go further as there are many ways a tablet can facilitate collaboration.  Here are some of my favourites:

• Document reviewing.  Ink annotations make the experience of reviewing a document much richer.  Back-ending this with a SharePoint document workspace makes it even better.
• Mind Map sessions.  Great for small groups undertaking planning or creative sessions such a brainstorming.  Plug a projector into the tablet and appoint a scribe.  Using Mind Manager is great for this – with the fantastic gesture support and simple ink entry.
• MSN Messenger – Chat with ink, great for that quick question.
• Shared OneNote sessions – great for 1 on 1 collaboration.
• InfoPath forms can be used to create Tablet Friendly forms that can be built into workflow.  Again SharePoint can be used at the backend.

As previously blogged I have a new HP TC1100 that I need to set up for use.  At some stage I have to switch to the HP, but I have the luxury of time so I can get the HP set up just so.

Step One – Getting all the essential software installed

First and foremost is installing some the software I need.  This is the core stuff, which has gone on in the last few days:

1. Office 2003 Professional
2. Visio 2003 Professional
3. Project 2003 Professional
4. OneNote 2003
5. Maxthon – alternate browser.  The great thing about Maxthon is that it uses the IE rendering engine but replaces the GUI with one that supports tabbed browsing, mouse/pen gestures (two great features for tablet users) and a host of other great features.
6. TrendMicro PC-cillin Internet Security 2005
7. EVDO Card Drivers – got to be able to get online, out and about.
8. BlogLines Notifier – Now that we’re online (see 7) who’s blogging…
9. Tablet Experience Pack (sans Ink Art – see below)
10. Art Rage – great New Zealand software.
11. Windows Media Player 10
12. Roxio Easy CD Creator (came with the tablet’s modular DVD/RW drive)
13. MindManager X5 – Great mind mapping software.
14. Daemon Tools - Excellent free Victual CD Software

Part 2 – Hardware Buttons, QMenu and Quick Launch Shortcut customisations.

It is always an entertaining read when Scoble gets militant.  And when Apple proponents started knocking Windows Vista it was time for Scoble to fire back, with this post.

In true Scoble form when he started taking flak for some of his remarks in the comments he posted them here.

Loren pointed out this comment in Scoble’s second post:

"Why is Apple a success when it's sold a few hundred thousand Powerbooks but Microsoft is a failure when it sells almost as many Tablet PCs?"

It’s the same reason Microsoft is always getting hammered for having to release security patches when everyone else does, too. Over here we refer to it as “tall poppy syndrome” – the flower that stands the highest in a field is the first to get its head lopped off.  Microsoft will always have its detractors, as will every other major corporation in the world.  I believe in the TabletPC platform because it adds value, regardless of what the knockers say.

Acer have introduced to their range a TabletPC with a 14” screen – the C310.  This device certainly seems to aimed at the “desktop replacement” set rather than the “ultra portable” guys (like myself) but those looking for grunt will certainly find it work looking at.  Marc Orchant lists the specs as:

• Intel’s 915GM/PM graphics with Nvidia GeForce Go 6200 graphics subsystem
• Intel Pentium M processors up to 2.13 GHz (Pentium M 770)
• Up to 2 GB of DDR2-533 memory
• 100 GB hard drive
• A number of interchangeable hard disk or optical drive options or a second battery. With a second battery, Acer claims up to 8.5 hours of use
• Intel 802.11 b/g wireless and 1 Gbit Ethernet
• Built-in Bluetooth and IR
• 4-in-1 memory card reader
• Three USB 2.0 ports and one IEEE1394 port.
• 12.8 x 10.7 x 1.4 inches
• 6.5 pounds
• Starts at $1700

The only disappointment appears to be that the nice big 14” screen is an XGA screen, giving a max resolution of 1024x768.  Marc, JK and Warner Crocker all wonder why Acer limited such a nice screen to a relatively low resolution.  I’m with them.

This is nifty – a London artist is using a tablet PC to draw caricatures of tourists in Leicester Square. He emails his work to the client when he is done.

Great concept but if you ask me he could take it further.  He could set up an online business and have the clients email photos in – then email the caricatures back out.  J

Via TabletPC Talk

For some months now I have been using a Motion Computing M1400 Tablet PC provided to me by i-Toyz as my main machine.  This week my employer, Gen-i New Zealand, delivered to me an HP TC1100 Tablet PC – my officially sanctioned “standard” tablet – as a result of a business case I wrote at the beginning of the year.

At this point I can use either.  Later this year we will be integrated into the network of our parent company.  At that time only work provided hardware will be able to be connected to the network.  So I know that in the next couple of months I will have to switch to using the HP at work.  The question I am struggling with is when to make the switch?  I have to say I’m torn.

Now I have to admit it is a great problem to have.  This is also a very interesting opportunity for me to better understand the nuances of the two devices and my own usage patterns.  Both these devices are of the same stock.  They are both what I would refer to as second generation tablets and are both highly thought of models.  I plan to write a series of posts about setting up the HP Tablet just how I like it and about the pros and cons of both devices so keep watching.

In terms of hardware specs the two are pretty similar.  Both have Centrino 1.1  GHz processors and 5400 RPM drives (though the sizes differ – Motion has a 30GB and the HP has a 60 GB).  I’ve got 1.25 GB of RAM in the Motion and the HP will have 1GB (once the memory upgrade they forgot to ship arrives).

Initial thoughts are that the Motion has the following points over the HP:

• The screen viewing angle is much better, as the Motion has the ViewAnywhere screen option.
• Bigger screen of the Motion is great when docked – don’t really notice the difference when in hand.
• Integrated fingerprint scanner – I really like this feature, it should be standard on slate-style tablets.
• Docking station for the Motion is sturdier and has a USB port on the front, which is handy.
• Multiple microphone array

Conversely the HP edges out the Motion in a few ways:

• The design of the detachable keyboard rocks.
• Integrated SD card reader
• Infrared port
• Customisable Q menu is nice
• Charge level indicator on the warm swappable battery
• Work shipped the whole package, so I’ve got the full range of accessories for the HP.  These include a modular Floppy Drive, modular DVD/RW drive, nice leather carry case, caddy for the modular drives, travel adaptors and a totally ridiculous bag (that deserves it’s own post).

The other point that springs to mind is that I may not be the only one that has been paying attention to these details.  I notice that the newer Motion LE1600 includes a SD card reader, IR Port and charge indicators on the warm swappable batteries.  By all reports the design of the optional mini-dock keyboard is excellent.  Could be my imagination but I suspect Motion has had a good look at the competition as well.

Update: Microsoft pulled the article - pity.

Mauricio over at Geekzone points to what has to be the very best kb article ever.

I had to pick myself off the floor after reading this.

"SYMPTOMS
After posting a question to a professional forum or newsgroup and waiting for a while, you get the following answer(s) from the active forum/newsgroup members:

"Your question does not contain all the required information needed for us to help you. Please re-write your question, this time make sure you have all the needed info and we'll try to help."

Another symptom of this error is getting the following answer:

"You question has been answered a zillion times. Please use a decent search engine and/or search our archives before posting any future questions"

or

"RTFM"
"STFW"
"Google is your best friend"

and others.

Other variations of the same answer exist, all depending on the forum/newsgroup quality and percentage of hackers or open source enthusiasts on the forum/newsgroup members list."

<Snip>

The full article is here and is well worth a read.  Likely to be a futile effort, as those who really need to read this are not people who are in the habit of reading kb articles, but it is still very funny.  I can’t wait for the next stupid question I get asked – “Oh – there is a knowledge base article about that, I’ll send you the link…” :)

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a session Toshiba ran for some IT pros at Gen-i this week. The format of the session was very, very smart. The guys from Toshiba sat down with a small number of us. They put a Toshiba M200 in the hands of each attendee. Next they put on a presentation and we worked through it with them. Here is how you rotate the screen - try it. Here is how the gesture software Toshiba bundles with their tablets works – try it. Here’s how journal works – try it. Heirs how you use Toshiba ConfigFree to configure the wireless network on the fly - try it.

At the end of the session came the master stroke. They told us to hang onto the tablets for a week and have a play.

While I can’t say I learned too much about the tablet platform, I’m afraid I am the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately too many IT pros are unable to clearly articulate the benefits of tablet to their customers because they have had little or no exposure to tablets.

What Toshiba is doing is smart for three reasons.

1)       When people have the opportunity to use a tablet for more than a few minutes they start to understand some of the benefits and power of the platform.

2)       IT pros tend to be the kind of people that can spot things that will not only benefit them, but that can be applied to the business problems of others.  

3)       IT Pros influence the buying decisions of the business world.

Like the saying says – Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you give him the ability to feed himself.  Rather than doing a boring PowerPoint presentation that lists the benefits of the tablet, Toshiba are giving people the experience that will allow them to understand the tablet and apply that understanding to real business problems.  Well done.

Here’s what I think would be a nice natural ink enabled blogging app – Infopath. I put together this non-functioning form as an example:

In Infopath text input fields are ink enabled. When you start writing in one an orange, transparent ink entry canvas appears where you are writing. When you move the pen away it converts to text. You can also add ink drawing areas to forms that could be used to attach a quick sketch into a post. This is more the way I would like to work with ink when blogging.

Something I might need to look into…

Some text written in Outlook, then copied and pasted as text.  The ink drawing below was not converted.

Both jk and Greg Hughes have been experimenting with posting to their blogs in ink by penning the posts in Outlook and mailing it to their blogging engines.  Outlook converts the ink to a GIF image auto-magically and the result is pretty good.  Greg’s attempt is here and jk is up to his third iteration.

Although it works, the down side of this approach is that the post is an image and therefore the text is not searchable.  However Outlook does provide quite a natural input interface for writing – there is just no “convert ink to text” option.   What you can do is select ink and copy it as text, then paste it back in.

If there are any developers out there reading this, how about a little plug-in for Outlook that will automate this task?  Does that sound feasible?  I hope the convert ink to text functionality is more pervasive in the next version of Office.  I’m sure it will.

Motion have added an ultra portable model to their already impressive range.  The new LS800 is, in a word, tiny. 

Vital statistics include:

• Intel® Pentium® M Processor ULV 753 (1.20GHz).
• Light weight -  2.2 lbs (1kg for the rest of the world).
• Small - about the size of a paperback, measuring 8.94” x 6.69” x 0.87”.
• View Anywhere® technology (available as an option) offers optimum viewing in any lighting, indoors or outdoors. Ambient Light Sensor to automatically adjust display brightness.
• 8.4” SVGA display
• The new Motion MobileDock transforms the LS800 into a powerful desktop system, complete with USB connectivity and Ethernet.
• Integrated Bluetooth for wireless connectivity to peripherals.
• Dual microphones for Speak Anywhere™ audio
• Integrated Fingerprint Reader prevents unauthorized access. Embedded Trusted Platform Module (TPM) protects data by enabling hardware-based encryption.
• Integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless
• 256MB RAM (Upgradeable to 512MB)
• 20GB HDD(Upgradeable to 30GB or 60GB)
• SD Slot

The docking solution looks pretty smart:

As any realist would expect there are a number of trade-offs for such a small device.  The main ones are:

• Max RAM is only 512MB
• Uses a 1.8 inch drive – no big deal but you can’t throw any old laptop HDD into it.
• SVGA screen
• No PCMCIA slot – however they indicate that the SD slot can be used to connect an optical drive, barcode scanner or camera - did they make the SD slot SDIO I wonder?  That would be very cool indeed.

UPDATE:The SD slot is indeed on SDIO slot, however Motion point out that SDIO is an emerging standard and SDIO devices will need to be tested as it is possible they will not all work.

At the moment if you want an ultra mobile tablet and size is the most important criteria then you should stop looking here.  This device is in a class of its own (for now).

Great news – I have just heard from i-Toyz and they have received their Motion Computing LE1600 demo unit and will have it at the first TabletPC User Group meeting on Tuesday night.  If you want to see one of the latest and hottest slates on the market up close and personal make sure you are there.

Electrovaya have added a new TabletPC to the Scribbler range – the SC 3000.  This latest offering from Electrovaya boasts an impressive 9 hours battery life and hot swappable batteries so it should appeal to those who are out of the office more than in it.  The unit weighs in at 3.5 pounds without the keyboard and trackpad (shown below) attached– which is pretty impressive given the battery life. 

With a 1.5 GB Centrino processor and up to 1280MB of RAM it should meet the needs of all but the most demanding users.  Motion and HP take note – there’s a new hybrid on the block.  The removable keyboard solution looks to be tidy and the included trackpad will no doubt appeal to some.  The unit is available by itself or in a premium bundle.  For full specs and pricing check out the official page here.

Via Geekzone