Blog:: Craig Pringle

What is in the Alpha? Support for MetaWeblog API Support for text only posts. Automatic ink-text conversion for the title and body fields. Known issues: The TIP icon gets in the way need to hide this Have to use the TIP to correct errors I have something else planned. Images links and formatting are lost when you post.

You might ask - since I am building the Alpha - where is the Alpha going? I have three brave souls that will be testing it out for me. Thanks guys - I look forward to your feedback.

This is just a quick test before I build the Alpha of BlogPad. If this works then I'll package it up and post again about what is (and isn't) in the alpha.

It would seem the TabletPC Show has been revived on the Podcast Network with a new host.  Perry Reed has recorded show 25 and posted it.  In the show notes Perry appoligies for the sound quality and it is truely bad!

Perry has been around the traps in the mobility space for a while and is on the review team over at PocketPCThoughts.

You can check out the show notes and download the podcast here.  Got to say the sound quality really poor and I gave up after a few minutes.  I hope that is sorted for the next edition.

I recently blogged about the very clever DotSurfer EVDO card that has a built in USB connection, allowing it to be used with devices without a PC Card slot.

This is available in New Zealand through Telecom, but AFAIK not in the US.  This left several readers asking "What about us?"

Now there is an answer (other than move to NZ) that will be available in the US in Feburary 2006.

James Kendrick points to the very cool Elan Digital Systems U132 - an apadtor specifically designed for portable devices without a PCMCIA slot.

"What makes the introduction of the U132 so exciting is the list of 3G cards the company is listing as compatible:

• Alltel CDMA, USA (Kyocera Wireless Passport KPC650)
• Iusacell CDMA, Mexico (Kyocera Wireless Passport KPC650)
• MTN Mobile Office Fusion Card, South Africa (Option Fusion)
• Movistar CDMA, Argentina (Kyocera Wireless Passport KPC650)
• Optimus Telecommunications, Portugal (Huawei E600)
• Orange Mobile Office Fusion Card, UK + France (Option Fusion)
• Sprint CDMA, USA (Novatel Wireless S620)
• T-Mobile, Germany + Austria (Option Fusion)
• Verizon CDMA, USA (Kyocera Wireless Passport KPC650)
• Verizon CDMA, USA (Novatel Wireless V620)
• Vivo CDMA, Brazil (Kyocera Wireless Passport KPC650)
• Vodacom UMTS, South Africa (Fusion Card)
• Vodafone UMTS, UK (Mobile Connect Card)"

Recently Rob Bushway blogged about taking multiple tablets into a customer and finding that they favoured the HP TC1100.  When they heard that this fine tablet is being discontinued (or is it?) they shifted focus to the Motion Computing LE1600.

About the same time I went to see one of my customers with multiple tablets, with a similar result.

In the last mad week before Christmas I went to see another customer.  They had been evaluating the HP TC4200, the Toshiba M200 and the Lenovo X41 tablets for a few days.  They could not come to a clear decision and were not convinced that they should go tablets at all.  This is when I became involved.  I went in with a couple of Motion Computing slates and talked through the pros and cons of the various form factors.  At the end of the meeting (only half way through actually) they took a real shine to the LE1600.  They have ordered a couple of units to put through their paces.

The big research companies believe that the convertible will be the tablet that dominates the marker.  I wonder.

I believe that reason that the customers I have talked to have favoured the slates is twofold.

1) They want something small and light.  They want a Tablet PC to opitimise the mobile device.

2) Someone (namely me) is able to explain the slate in a way that lowers "the fear factor" involved in giving up a keyboard.  Or rather pointing out that you don't have to give up your keyboard.  When it is docked it is just like a traditional PC.  Attach a convertible keyboard and it is just like a laptop.  All this and it is small and light, so you can take full advantage of the slate features.

I suspect that Rob, with his vast knowledge of the Tablet PC, would similarly lower the fear barrier for his customers. 

Is the key to unlocking the full potential of the slate market as simple as being able to educate the potential customers and reduce the fear?

Rob Bushway points out that the TC1100 has re-appeared in the store on the HP site. Interesting - and James Kendrick notes one model is shipping now and the other has an availablity date of 16-Dec-2006. "Does this mean HP is actually manufacturing these again? Here's hoping."

Greg Hughs links to a great article by Philip Chu outlining Seven Habits for Highly Effective Programmers.  An excellent read for anyone who has tried to cut code.  It is reasuring to know that I have managed to do employ some of these in the development of BlogPad to date.

This looks like a great addition to any mobli-geek's kit bag.  The WiFlyer is a portable wi-fi access point that can allow you to use your hotel broadband away from the desk.  And if the hotel does not have broadband all is not lost.  From the GeekZone review:

"In addition to being a wireless access point, the WiFlier also has an ethernet adapter, so you can plug a non-wireless capable computer directly to the small box.

But what is really interesting is its ability to connect to a phone line and dial-up to your ISP, as a modem - a wireless modem for that matter. It comes with a built-in V.92/V.90 compatible modem, with digital PBX protection, as an alternative connection"

Check out the full review here. 

Well Xmas Day is upon us (in NZ anyway). Happy Holidays to all my readers, I hope the holiday find you merry, safe and well!

Loren Heiny has posted a list of 10 Predictions of a Tableteer as to what 2006 may hold. As to the last one - hey I resemble that remark!

Like Rob another tablet blogger is asking questions.  Mind you, Lora is well known for asking questions that spark great blog conversations.  Remember the Hardware vs Software question? 

Today Lora asks:  Would you give up your Tablet PC for a classic notebook?

No way.  That would be like giving up opposible thumbs!  Once you've gotten use to the extra flexibility offered by the tablet platform you come to depend on it.  Leave the notebooks to the monkeys - I'll keep my stylus (and my thumbs).

Rob Bushway has posed a question to his readers:

"For those of you who own a Tablet PC, is your Tablet PC your main computer or is it a secondary computer?"

Well - for me the tablet PC has well and truely taken over the top spot.  In fact it has become my main computer to such a degree I am going to re-task the desktop in the study as a media centre PC because I never use it.  My tablet goes to work with me in the morning and comes home with me every night.  It has my work on it, my news reader and the ebook I am currently reading. 

One of the frequently mentioned limitations of the petit LS800 from Motion Computing is that without a PCMCIA slot you can’t use an EVDO card for connectivity on the go.  While I continue to hope that EVDO will be embedded in mobile computers in the near future I was looking for a solution for these devices today.  Enter the GTran Wireless DotSurfer 6210 dual band CDMA/EVDO card.

 

In addition to being a fully functional PCMCIA card in it’s own right the 6210 is something else.  On one end of the DotSurfer card is a standard PCMCIA interface.  On the other end is an antenna and a rubber cap that covers an interface for a USB cable. 

 

This allows you to connect the DotSurfer 6210 card to any computer with a USB port and surf at EVDO speeds wherever there is coverage.  This is an excellent solution for the LS800.

The picture below shows the DotSurfer card connected to the LS800. 

 

If you are looking for a more portable solution then you can tuck the card and the excess cable behind the strap on the bump case as shown below. 

 

The DotSurfer 6210 is available through Telecom in New Zealand.  A great option if you need EVDO on a device without a PC Card slot.

Well I managed to download Vista build 5270 - though I can't install it just yet.  I've got a Motion Computing LE1600 to put it on, but I need to take it to a customer tomorrow - then its all mine!

Shoud be interesting to see if the tablet features are starting to come together.  I see that Colin Walker has managed to get it installed and initial impressions are favourable!

Off and on I have been downloading built 5270 of the Windows Vista beta all day. Over two thirds of the way there now and I'm getting a much better transfer rate now. Bit over an hour to go. Going to bed now - what are the odds I get up in the morning and it is 99% finished and has the status showing as "interrupted"?

My M1400 has developed a sheilding fault whereby the mouse cursor keeps jumping down to the bottom right hand corner. I've sent it back for repair under warranty. In the meantime the local distributor is loaning me a LE1600 for the Christmas break. I'm looking forward to getting the recently released Vista beta (build 5270) onto it to see how it runs. I'll keep you posted.

I'm working@ home today and just caught a report on "Breakfast" (TV Show) about Bloggers. Apparently we are challenging mainstream journalisms. This won't be news to many bloggers but it is good to hear from "Mainstream Media"

James Kendrick links to Owen Braun who writes about some of the extensibility features in the upcoming version of OneNote.  Sounds great - I can't wait to see what the community comes up with here.

I never got around to deleting the feed for the old TabletPC Show on The Podcast Network even though I know that James Kendrick and Marc Orchant rebranded the show as OnTheRun with TabletPCs. Needless to say I was a bit surprised to see a post on the old feed that reads: "The Tablet PC Show is coming back very soon! Make sure youre still subscribed" Source: http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/tabletpc/2005/12/18/stay-tuned/

I think I've got the categories working - the XML looks OK, but the proof is in the posting! I need to put in some error handling for things that I know break BlogPad, such as no network connection, and then I'll be looking for alpha testers. The alpha will only support the MetaWeblog API so if your blog supports that and you are interested in testing leave a comment or use the "Contact" button in the sidebar of my blog.

Just a quick test post from BlogPad to make sure my implementation of the MetaWeblog API New Post method. If this works then I just need to hook in the categories and add in some error handling for an Alpha.

Update:  That worked - just had to come and assign the categories after the fact. 

Don't you love it when you make a statement like "I would love to see more Tablet focused development resources out there…" and the next day you discover a whole pile more?

Here are some more Tablet Development resources I have found:

• http://www.tabletdev.com/ - this includes Tablet Devleoper blogs, resouces and forums
• GotDotNet Tablet Section - loads of sample code and applications
• Annotator Tool - Microsoft sample application
• Recognition Alternates Tool - Another MS Sample

(I wish my bank account was crammed full of money)

Over on Things That ... Make You Go Hmm TDavid has posted a great recap of his first year as a tablet owner (marking the end of his third year of thinking about tablets and how they fit into his digital life.  Check out the year in review here - its a great read.

A recurring topic of late has been the sentiment that applications are the key to unlocking the full potential of the slate.  “Apps make it” I wrote in response to Lora Heiny’s question.  This caused quite a bit of talk about what the killer app for the Tablet PC is and Colin Walker, James Kendrick, Warner Crocker, Rob Bushway and others added their thoughts.  Recently TDavid asked in a comment on my post about demonstrating multiple tablets to a customer (you can find both the comment and the post here):

“How can we -- those of us who like the tablet form factor --change this? Come up with more reasons that only can be used, or primarily be used with ink.”

One of the thoughts that this sparked in me is that most of the apps that are really great on a tablet are business focused.  Surely one of the things that the community as a whole can do to encourage uptake is to encourage software manufacturers to make the applications consumers already use more tablet friendly.  To this end I have compiled some of my thoughts on how developers can make their existing applications more tablet friendly today.  I’ll also include some links to resources I’ve uncovered while trying to write my first Tablet PC app – BlogPad.

Adding Ink to Your Windows Forms Application

In order to truly understand the how you can improve your application interface for the Tablet PC I really suggest you using a Tablet PC as your main machine for a while.  If you can’t do that then here are some of my thoughts:

·         Textbox vs Ink Edit – If your application uses textboxes for text input then a tablet user can enter text into these using the tablet input panel.  You don’t have to do anything.  That said as a tablet user I much prefer applications that I can just write in the boxes directly.  To achieve this you can use the InkEdit control instead.  The InkEdit is a superset of the RichEdit control that allows for ink entry and performs the conversion automatically.  You can manipulate the properties of the InkEdit to only allow plain text if you are trying to replace a textbox.

·         RichEdit vs. InkEdit – If your application uses RichEdit controls consider replacing these with InkEdits.  Your Tablet PC users will love you for it.

·         Think about how you handle situations where you want to allow users to select multiple items.  On a slate tablet multiple section can be a real pain.  You sometimes need to bring up the on-screen keyboard and hit the Ctrl key to do this.  Consider using the CheckedListBox control instead.  Another option is a panel with checkboxes on it which may be easier if you have a fixed number of options that you are not changing at runtime.   I would avoid ListBoxes if you are wanting to allow multiple selections.

·         Limit textual input to the bare minimum.  Use dropdowns, radio buttons and checkboxes where the input is predictable.  This is good practice anyway but makes a real difference on the tablet.

·         Add value with other ink controls – you can add exciting new features to your application with some of the other ink controls.  The InkOverlay allows you to create inkable windows.  The InkPicture control provide a means of entering hand drawn pictures as ink.   These can then be converted into various image types.

Use Gestures

Keyboard shortcuts are hard to do.  Consider using gestures to perform actions in your application.  Gestures allow you to capture the motion of the stylus and trigger the assigned action.

Make your layout pen friendly

Sliding controls are easy to use with a stylus.  Also if you are using InkEdits then make sure you make them big enough to write in comfortably.

Don’t forget the built in things

Two powerful built in features are the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) and the Microphone.  You can leverage the TIP to help with conversion and correction.  Also built into the tablet is the speech engine.  This can be used to either enter text or control applications.

Further Resources

These are just my thoughts and I’m not even a real developer.  Some useful resource I found while trying to learn enough to write BlogPad include:

·         MSDN Mobile PC and Tablet PC Developer Center – full of articles, samples and recorded webcasts that will help get you started.  You can also get the current SDK there.

·         Add Support for Digital Ink to Your Windows Applications: a particularly good article from MSDN Magazine that covers lots of things you should consider.

That said I would love to see more Tablet focused development resources out there…

Your Thoughts?

I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on how existing applications can be made more tablet friendly.  Also people who have done more tablet development might be able to add a few more tricks and traps.  Which applications do you want to see made more ink aware (don’t just tell me – tell the vendors too!)?  Which applications do you think do it well now (i.e. who should people emulate).

Hey - I had a breakthrough.  For the last day or so I've been struggling with why I could not populate the categories listbox programatically.  Not unusually it turned out I had done something stupid.  I had used the CheckedListBox.BeginUpdate method then added the categories.  I tried adding the categories (in a number of ways actually) and they would not show up.  Finally figured out I had omitted the corrosponding CheckedListBox.EndUpdate so the update was never committed.  Doh!

Now I can get the categories via the MetaWeblog API and populate the list as shown below.  Notice I am using the CheckedListBox control rather than the standard listbox as it provides a much easier and more obvious mulitple select interface for the pen.

Now I just need to rewrite the NewPost method to post via the MetaWeblog API and I'll be able to do text posts with categories from BlogPad.

One of the things that TDavid’s comment on my earlier post about evaluating multiple tablets got me thinking about (You can check out both the comment and the original post here) was the differences between the business and consumer markets for the Tablet PC.

Primarily I deal with the business market in my day to day job.  In that world – within reasonable limits – when one option is more expensive than another option I help customers determine which option is better by analysing and quantifying the price difference and estimating the value of the benefit of any additional features in the more expensive option.  I blogged earlier this year about an analysis I performed that compared a tablet (the HP TC1100) and a notebook that was of similar size, weight and specification.  The price differential was NZ$1.08 per working day over the three year book life of the machine.  At that sort of differential the tablet is easy to cost justify for many business users.

The consumer market however is a different animal.  Now I don’t deal with this market in a professional sense so this bit is more supposition based on an introspective look at my own habits as a PC consumer.  I suspect that in the consumer space the buying process is somewhat different as there is no income return to cost justify against.  I believe that the consumer will budget a certain amount (or resign themselves to spending a certain amount) and then try and get as much “bang” as they can for their “buck”.  Obviously I am generalising, and some consumers will make buying decisions based on more specific requirements – such as gaming, digital photo editing or video editing etc.  Many consumers will look at how much they have to spend and what they can get for it.  For many years the desktop pc was the only choice that consumers made as laptops were generally outside of the price range they were willing to commit to. 

As laptops prices have fallen more and more consumers have decided to pay the extra money for the portability of a laptop.  As the prices of Tablet PCs I hope that some consumers will chose to purchase those as well.  In fact this is already happening – though the people who opt for a tablet are often people like artists or photographers for whom the pen interface offers some obvious benefit.  

But what is in it for the average consumer?  Most of the really good tablet aware software is business focused.  The web is not a very ink friendly place.  I believe this is the key to opening the consumer market – developing consumer focused applications that are tablet aware.  Or rather software companies should take their existing applications and make them tablet aware – but that is a different blog post…

Tdavid posted a really good comment on my post about evaluating multiple tablets. You can  check out both the comment and the original post here.

This comment raises a number of good points and has given me a few things to add to my list of things to blog about.

At the end of his comment TDavid states:

"How can we -- those of us who like the tablet form factor --change this? Come up with more reasons that only can be used, or primarily be used with ink."

Here here! We need the applications to really leverage the stylus -that will help drive demand. The other problem the Tablet faces in the consumer market is one of awareness. We need to evangelise the tablet to help raise awareness.

Looks like there is a new slate on the block.  The PaceBlade SlimBook was uncovered by Tablet PC podcasters Marc Orchant and James Kendrick. 

Specifications include:

Check out the site here.

Via Warner Crocker

HP have released an updated driver for the hardware buttons on the TC4200 that allows the users to modify them or reset them back to defaults.

"This package enables customers to program the Quick Launch Buttons on the keyboard of the listed notebook models, or to use the default settings."

If you have a TC4200 you may want to check it out here.

Rob Bushway recently blogged about taking four tablet PCs into a customer and gauging their reaction.  Interestingly they preferred the slates in the group.

“They were both immediately taken with the TC1100 – their overall favorite. They were majorly bummed when I told them that HP had discontinued the model – they loved the size and hybrid aspect. After the TC1100, their attention turned to the LE1600.”

Interestingly I too have been taking multiple device into a customer recently.  I took the following devices into a customer looking for a device to form the basis of a new mobile solution for their field assessors.

·         HP TC4200

·         Toshiba M200

·         Toshiba M4

·         Motion LS800

·         Motion LE1600

·         Panasonic Toughbook CF18 (semi-rugged convertible)

·         Itronix GoBook Tablet (MIL-SPEC rugged tablet)

I opted not to put up the HP TC1100 as it will be well and truly discontinued by the time the pilot finishes.

Interestingly we go a very similar result.  The slates were the ones to capture the hearts and minds of the customer.  In our case the customer also favoured the Motion Computing LE1600 over all of the convertibles.  They were interested in the rugged stuff but it just wasn’t portable enough.  The convertibles did not really capture their interest.

Sort of makes you wonder if dropping the TC1100 in favour of the TC4200 is the right move for HP…  Or if Gartner is right that convertibles will dominate the market?  I admit – I’m biased as one can be.

This weekend I undertook some long overdue blog mainteinence.  Firstly I tidied up some of the categories - I had a duplicate "TabletPC Dev" and "Tablet Dev" which I consolidated down to just "TabletPC Dev".

I also decided to move my feeds over to Feedburner so I can better track readership stats of the feeds.  In doing so i don't want to lose anyone in transit so I decided to look for a way to achieve this without requiring people who have already subscribed to change the feed they are subscribed to.  The goal then was to redirect the existing feeds - including RSS, Atom, CDF and Category feeds to feedburner at my end so you don't need to do anything.  This is made possible because I run my own webserver.

The blogging engine I use, dasBlog, creates all the feeds with a single ASP.NET page.  This page can generate RSS, Atom, CDF or Category feeds depending on the options passed to it in the URL. 

If I am planning to redirect the original feeds to feedburner URLs then I need to pull the feeds from a different URL - else Feedburner would end up trying to pull the feeds from itself.   To do this I created a copy of the SyndicationService.asmx page with a differnt name and then created feeds in feedburner for the main feed and each category feed.

That done I had to figure out how to rewrite the URLs for the original feeds to redirect to the new ones.  This turned out to be harder than I expected, but I got there in the end.  If I were running on Apache then I could use mod_rewrite which can rewrite URLs based on regular expressions.  In the end I found ISAPI Rewrite from Helicon Tech that does much the same job for IIS.  I used the Lite version which is free, but does not have the advanced features such as proxying or caching. 

Initially I thought I could get away with just two rules - one to handle the main feed and one to handle category feeds.  Unfortunatly the space in the "TabletPC Dev" category caused me a bit of pain and I had to create a specific rule just for that.

Does it work?  If you are reading this and did not need to change anything then yes.  Yay.

After a couple weeks off I am going to be restarting BlogPad development.  I have come to a decision that is going to set me back a bit so don't hold your breath for a RC before the new year.

I was using a free library I found to handle the MetaWeblog API.  Unfortunatly this is a bit limited as several API features have not been implemented - such as assigning post categories.  As such I have taken the decision to drop this library and write my own from scratch.  This will allow me more control and give me the ability to reuse functions for several APIs.  That will make it easier to add support for additional APIs into BlogPad going forward.  It will take me longer now, but a better result in the end.

I also need to figure out the best way to convert the RTF in the ink edit to HTML for the post.  If anyone has done this before I would love a couple of pointers.

TDavid has recommended that people in the market for a Tablet PC today either hold off or buy an older model for now.  He writes:

“Sacrilege, I know, for a guy like me that buys most things on the cutting edge. However, consider what you can do with a buffed older model vs. buying a model that will probably be outdated in a year when Vista comes out?”

He raised a number of points and I’ll address several here.  A number of bloggers have chimed in on the subject – such as Warner, Marc and Lora – and their posts are worth a read as well.

I have to say I disagree that you should hold off at all.  In my opinion if you are due for a replacement you should just find a new tablet that suits your personal working style and buy it.  Regardless of when you do this the tablet you buy will be out of date very, very quickly.  There is always going to be something – a new OS, a better technology or a new feature – that will come out just after you buy a new tablet.  Deal with it.  Though frustrating when you have just upgraded I for one love the rampant rate of innovation in the mobile computing world.

When it comes to Vista let me say this.  If you buy a new tablet now it will run Vista provided you put enough RAM in it.  I am Running the Vista beta on a Motion M1400.  Apart from some well documented bugs in the TIP that make it hard to actually use as a tablet it is fine.  When docked – for instance – the performance of Office 2003 is similar to what I experienced of Windows XP 2003.  What may not run on most tablets you buy today (or most laptops for that matter) is the new Aero Glass visual effects.  Let me be clear on glass – pun intended – Aero Glass is eye candy.  It looks great but it adds no real functionality.  The limitation is that Aero Glass requires quite a bit of grunt in the graphics processor and this generates a prohibitive amount of heat for most mobile devices.

Some of other TDavid’s comments don’t strike a chord with me.  For example weight – are most tablets overweight?  Device selection is and will always be a series of tradeoffs.  There are some heavy tablets and some light tablets – find the one with the most acceptable tradeoffs and go for that.  The Motion LS800 is only 1kg (2.2 lbs) but the tradeoffs include screen size, resolution, and no PCMCIA slot.  The Acer C200, Motion LE1600 and the Sahara tablets seem to be nice portable devices to name just a few (I left off the TC1100 as it is discontinued.)

Tablets do still carry a premium but waiting for the price to come down is like waiting for the latest technology.  You will be disappointed because pretty much any time you buy you will find that a better machine will be cheaper in 12 months.  That’s just life in the computer world.  The question you should be asking is “Does the flexibility offered by the Tablet functionally add sufficient value to justify the cost.”  For many people it does – for other is does not.

I would also add – don’t feel you need to upgrade just because Vista is coming.  If you are not due for an update consider jamming more RAM and a faster drive into your existing tablet.  I think you will find that it handles Vista just fine.

I see Tablet Authority have in their accessories section a yoke mount for the Motion Computing LS800.  I would think that when combined with a bluetooth or SD-IO GPS this would make a great navigation solution for the small plane.  If you measure mobility by distance covered - then that must be one of the more mobile solutions out there.

If you are in the market for a new TabletPC then you may want to check out the updated buyers guide at Tablet PC Review Spot. The list includes the latest models from a range of manufacturers including:

·  Acer

·  Averatec

·  Compaq & HP Compaq

·  Electrovaya

·  Fujitsu

·  Gateway

·  IBM (Lenovo)

·  Motion Computing

·  Panasonic

·  Sharp

·  Toshiba

·  Viewsonic

 

Recommendations  are based on user type and these are grouped into:

"The Student/Home User"

"The Mobile Professional/Field Academic"

"The Power User/Uber Techie"

Check out the full guide here.

My wee girl Sylvie turns one today (of course she reads Warner's blog too and has her whole life) and is well on her way to becoming a geek.  Already she has a facination with cords and seems to like the Xbox controllers. 

Her favourite tablet seems to be the LS800 and she featured in my review of said tablet.

We had a family birthday party for her on the weekend.  One of the presents she got was a Magnadoodle, which we have already dubbed "Sylvie's Tablet".  Here is a shot of Sylvie trying to pull the wings off a Cocker Spaniel at her party (the wings were only put on the dog for the photo.  He appears to be waiting it out...)

Congrats to Warner Crocker who has been blogging away for a year.

In typical humble Warner style he has celebrated the fact by recognizing the efforts of others.  Thus Warner has announced the winners of the first annual Ink Blot awards – or as double award winner Sumocat has dubbed them The Blotties.

I too won a Blottie – in the “Best I'm Tired Of Waiting For Developers So I'll Develop My Own Tablet PC App” category :)

I’d like to thank all the tablets that helped me get to where I am today…

Seriously though – thanks Warner for the Blottie and much more importantly thank you so much for you entertaining and informative blog!  Keep up the great work and look forward to reading Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 2 for many a year to come.

 

I recently attended the annual Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) conference.  Aside from giving me a fantastic change to have a dig at HP for dropping the TC1100 I also got a great insight into how Local Government is using mobile technology and what topics are top of mind.

I was very pleased to learn New Plymouth District Council received a nomination for the prestigious innovation award for equipping their building inspectors with Tablet PCs and porting their paper based forms to the digital world.  Alas they did not win – but the fact that they were nominated did a great job of raising the profile of Tablet PCs with other local government bodies.

Over the three days I had a great deal of interest in mobile technology.  On our stand I had a Motion LS800 and a Panasonic CF-18.  I had some very interesting conversations with representatives from several councils who are looking to mobilise parts of their organisations including building inspectors, health inspectors and dog control officers.

One really enjoyable experience was talking to a person from Taupo District Council (which covers the area where the conference was located.)  They were so impressed with the ease of use that the next day they actually sent in a couple of the dog control officers to check it out for themselves.  I was in the process of showing the concept to these two when their IT manager walked past.  They collared him (excuse the pun) and said check this out.  I explained that the Panasonic Toughbook had an imbedded EVDO module and connected it for them.  The IT manager set up a VPN connection back to the office, brought up the Dog Control app via Terminal Services and handed it back to the dog control officer who proclaimed it fantastic.  The next question was how is it in sunlight.  No problem – I just took the device back and said “Follow me.”  We wandered outside (still connected) and continued using the application.  It just worked.  That was an exceptionally powerful demo in its own right, but when we started looking at using an application that is ink aware they started to get very interested.

MindJet have released two new plugins for Tablet users.

First up is an export to One Note plugin. As JK writes:

"The good folks at Mindjet are at it again and this time they have released a plug-in for MindManager that makes me very happy. On a recent OnTheRun with Tablet PCs podcast Lyn and Olga expressed a desire to be able to draw freehand ink on their mind maps. Michael Scherotter of Mindjet just posted a comment on jkOnTheRun announcing the new Tablet Extensions for MindManager."

The other plugin sends your maps to Journal.

Very cool.

Via JK

I was at the annual conference of the Association for Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) earlier this week.  Gen-i had a couple of stands there and I was occupying space on one with a couple of Tablet PCs and a virtual keyboard.  I talked to many a potential customer – more on that later – and I also had a golden opportunity to have a crack at HP for discontinuing the TC1100.

I had just finished setting up when a couple of guys from HP (who I know pretty well) walked by. 

“Why haven’t you got an HP tablet on your stand” joked one.

Well he did ask – so I gave it to him.  Both barrels.

I said “You guys had a tablet that is widely acknowledged to be one of the best designs in the market.  It is so good that it has a veritable cult following among some users.  The form factor has been around since ’92 and it is still considered to be one of the very best.

“And what do you do?  You retire it in favour of yet another “Me To” convertible [YAMTC?] with little to distinguish it.”

Then I asked, “I have on my stand the smallest and lightest slate on the market” (The LS800) “and a ruggedized convertible with an internal EVDO module.  These are interesting, innovative devices.  Why on earth would I want to put another boring convertible on the stand?”

At this they retreated sheepishly.

Later on I wandered past their stand and I couldn’t resist another jibe.  Check out  this photo of their stand.

I had to say it…  I pointed at the picture on the backing of their stand.  “That’s a cool tablet – where do I get one like that?”

They did have a 4200 off to the side...  Don't get me wrong - the 4200 is a capable tablet.  It just is nothing to the 1100.

I have quite a haul home for the weekend.  In my geek bag today I have two tablets in addition to my venerable work provided TC1100. 

Firstly I have the Lenovo X41T convertible.  This is going to be the new corporate standard for the consulting and sales teams at Gen-i.  We got hold of one before they start flooding in so I can get to know it and be better prepared to help the others when they get their tablets.  This is the first time I’ve had an X41 tablet for any length of time so I’ll blog my likes and dislikes later in the weekend.  As I’ve said these are going to start flowing into Gen-i soon but I probably won’t replace my TC1100 though – it is only a year old (thus not up for refresh yet), suitably kitted out with RAM and I like it. 

The other tablet I’ve got for the weekend is going to a customer on Monday is an old favourite.  It’s the petit LS800 from Motion Computing.  This little guy is such a joy to use.  As an added bonus I managed to get the Bluetooth virtual keyboard working with it – bonus geek points.

I actually had two other devices that I could of brought home but I would have had a coronary trying to carry them as well.  They were a MIL-SPEC tablet and laptop from Itronix .  There are days when I really love my job :)