Our friend John Hill at Allegiance Technology Partners has started a new series of reports on Tablet PC usage he is calling, "True Tablet Heroes".  These reports are intended to show real use of Tablet PC's in actual working situations.

In this first segment, they are following a local fire marshal who has been using a tablet PC for 3 years to do inspections and fire investigations.  It shows hm going to do an actual fire inspection using his Motion Tablet PC.

It is great to see people using these in ways that are not just normal computing tasks which tends to define us in the enthusiast market.  This is an on the job story using tablet, an aircard, web forms, etc.  Go check it out!

We'll keep following these videos!

Dennis Rice and I had the great pleasure to sit down recently and talk to Tablet PC developer Ed Holloway for an interview. In case you haven’t been paying attention, Ed Holloway is quite active on a number of fronts when it comes to developing ink applications. As the co-founder and CTO for Field2Base he is instrumental in the development of that forms application as well as the new Forms2Base application that was recently released.

Ed is also the man behind the Ink Blog Plug-in for Windows Live Writer and the new Ink Search Tool (which just went into Beta 2.) Take a few minutes and check out our interview with Ed about Field2Base and his other inking exploits.

• Watch the video (17:05 minutes, 92.7mb, Windows Media streaming or direct download).
• Check out the Ink Blog Plug-in for Windows Live Writer
• Check out the Beta for the Ink Search Tool
• Check out Field2Base and Forms2Base 
• Enjoy!

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

If you have been following Tablet PCs for any length of time, you have surely heard of Agilix. Agilix was an early stand-out in the Tablet PC space with their GoBinder application, development on FranklinCovey's Plan Plus for Windows XP, and their Infinotes SDK. If you know what you are looking for, you will see the Infinotes SDK being used in a lot of applications today.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Mark Calkins, Vice President of Marketing for Agilix, about where they are headed and the future of GoBinder, their popular notetaking application for the Tablet PC.

Rob Bushway: Mark, it has been 4 years since the launch of the Tablet PC platform. I remember early on that Agilix was leading the way in the development of Tablet PC applications, with Tablet Planner, GoBinder, and InfiNotes. It seemed to many folks in the tablet pc space that Agilix was the poster child for what we all hoped lay ahead for Tablet PC software.  Talk to me a little bit about the start-up of Agilix and those first couple of years.

Mark Calkins: I wasn’t here the first few years, so I missed that phase. But the team talks about it quite often. The early Agilix team created some amazing solutions for FranklinCovey and ones that we sold. We banked a lot on the Tablet PC market, and unfortunately it didn’t take off like we had hoped. The company was even smaller then than it is now, and yet we achieved a lot. It was pretty exciting from what I understand. It helps to have an experienced team with a focus. The focus was clear and the products were delivered. Unfortunately, the market didn’t materialize as we all expected, so we had to branch out. That’s what took us to the education market in the first place.

Rob Bushway: With the release of GoBinder 2006 earlier this year, Agilix seemed to lose a lot of momentum with GoBinder, in my opinion due to a buggy release. We were all looking forward to module development, plug-ins, further enhancements to GoBinder, etc. I know there was a big rewrite to go to .net 2.0. What happened? Have things stabilized out?

Mark Calkins: Agilix was experimenting with a new architecture. First, we were moving to a new platform, the .NET Framework. We were hoping this would cut development time and costs, and allow us to leverage the work we had done with InfiNotes. Second, we were hoping to build a single platform that would allow us to support our work with FranklinCovey, our efforts in the higher education space as well as continue our efforts with GoBinder. Third, we were trying to build an open architecture, so others could extend what we were doing. On paper it made a lot of sense. The challenge was making it happen—we ran into a number of technical issues. It seemed that .NET was not ready for prime time, at least for shrink wrapped software. It was way too slow. And we found we were trying to do too much at the same time. And trying to do one platform didn’t appear to work. What worked well architecture wise for FranklinCovey did not work well for higher education. And we didn’t anticipate the time it would take to make the SDK a reality. So a combination of too many objectives with too few resources and some unfortunately architecture issues resulted in something that didn’t quite meet our expectations. We had to go back to the drawing board.

We decided we could not be all things to a lot of different people and markets. We saw our future as getting more into education and learning, so we made the decision to focus there. We decided to learn from our mistakes and ended up re-architecting a whole new product, called GoCourse. This product became the basis for second version of Blackboard Backpack, and a few other projects we have done  for Thomson and Early College. The results were fantastic. The platform really delivers. It runs on .NET 2.0, it’s amazingly fast and is very customizable, allowing us to support a variety of education-oriented solutions.

Rob Bushway: I’m sure you’ve felt the pressure, on many fronts, from Microsoft and OneNote 2007. What does that mean for the future of GoBinder and your focus on Tablet PC development? Are we going to see a GoBinder 2007 release?

Mark Calkins: There’s no question that Microsoft cannot be ignored, even in the Tablet PC space. While I doubt OneNote 2003 met Microsoft’s expectations, the product does have some great capabilities. And what we’ve seen from OneNote 2007 shows Microsoft is definitely committed to this space. We sort of figured we’d never be able to take Microsoft head on, and that’s another reason we decided to go over to education and learning markets with some unique capabilities. Sure, OneNote is widely distributed in colleges, but it doesn’t do anything like what Blackboard Backpack or Early College EPIC do. And where we are heading will take us further from what OneNote does. The education and learning markets have great potential and we like the direction it is going.

We definitely won’t abandon the Tablet PC. It’s too easy for us to leverage our InfiNotes work. And the Tablet PC is a great product for higher education. But I doubt we’ll spend much time in the general purpose Tablet PC market in the future. FranklinCovey still delivers their solutions, which we will continue to support. Both make the Tablet PC a natural for us to continue to support going forward.

I’m not sure we will do a GoBinder 2007 that would be a natural follow on to GoBinder 2006. We want to stick with the GoCourse platform and there are a number of things we dropped out of the previous architecture to make it faster and more robust. These were features that were hard to maintain and little demand in the higher education market. And we won’t be supporting the SDK any longer—we just don’t have enough resources (technically, it never made it out of beta test). If and when we come out with GoBinder 2007, it will have a definite education, training and learning focus, along with Tablet PC support. Many of the features will be similar to GoBinder 2006’s, but quite a bit will change. Some features will be gone.

Rob Bushway: Being heavily focused on the education market, what has been your experience with the Tablet PC roll-out in the education sector? Are you seeing many deployments or are they mostly laptop based? In your opinion, is  it trending up or down?

Mark Calkins: The Tablet PC has a lot of potential in education, especially higher education and K-12. It is definitely making progress, but unfortunately not fast enough. Many implementations are still laptop based. There are some great exceptions, and we hope they continue. Quite often, when we demonstrate Blackboard Backpack  and show the Tablet PC features it supports, people are still pretty blown away.

Rob Bushway: Where is Agilix focused right now? Who is Agilix’s customer?

Mark Calkins: Agilix is focused on one major effort: building private-label versions of our GoCourse application platform for ISVs and SIs in education and in learning. We started in higher education, and are now moving to government and corporate markets. We are getting a lot of traction, and that is encouraging. There is a HUGE need for what we are doing in serving the department of defense. Everyone who has seen our solution is completely amazed by what we are doing. We think there is the same potential in the corporate market as well. And some of our work is taking us outside the U.S, such as China.

At the same time, we are still looking at a solution we can deliver ourselves. We are working on a new plan that is quite different from anything we’ve done. Still focused on learning, but moving out in a new direction, leveraging Web 2.0 trends. It’s still in prototype stage, but we’re pretty excited about it. We think it has a good chance of being a delivered solution in the future, although only time will tell at this point.

We really like the whole education, training and learning space. So that’s the focus. Primarily selling to vendors, like Blackboard, Early College and Thomson. But with plans to do some direct to users, but very unlike what we’ve done in the past.

Rob Bushway: Talk to me about your software team. I met several of them years ago when they used to work for Folio Corporation; and really enjoyed getting to know Bernd and Jeff at  various forums and conferences. You guys have managed to hold on to a great set of engineers.

Mark Calkins: We have some incredibly talented developers at Agilix. I’ve been in high tech for 30 years, and haven’t worked with a team like this one. Every single developer is able to do what 3-5 people do in other companies, and a lot faster too. With our new direction, people are more excited at Agilix than we have been in a long time, since the early days of the company. There is a new energy here, and that has also helped to make these guys more committed and productive.

Rob Bushway: What advice would you give to the small ISV shop starting to develop and market mobile software?

Mark Calkins: That’s a good question. We have probably developed a couple double business plans to get to where we are now. What we started out doing is not what we’re doing now. I’m not sure we have all the answers but a few things seem clear. First, it’s great to get focused, but you need to be very flexible. If what you are working on isn’t working, don’t be afraid to make a change in direction. Second, take risks with new opportunities. You can’t succeed without taking risks, even if you make big mistakes. For example, Windows Vista looks like it has some pretty amazing opportunities with mobility, and from what we’ve heard from Microsoft, it doesn’t appear that many companies are fully leveraging some of the built-in mobility features yet. RSS and peer-to-peer networking could be very interesting aspects of Vista that have yet to be exploited, for example. Third, get connected. Probably one of the most amazing things about Agilix is how well connected the company is with Intel, Microsoft and other key players in our market. We are able to do things that many other companies much larger than we can do. For example, right now we are doing a joint marketing project with Intel that they are paying for that is hitting over 20,000 education executives with some very high touch marketing. We would have never got that without connections. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that our new platform, GoCourse, is optimized for Core Duo either.

Rob Bushway: Mark, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I know our readers really appreciate the update on Agilix.

Mark Calkins: You’re welcome.

Before you head out for the weekend load up your favorite podcatcher with this GottaBeMobile.com podcast for some great conversation about Tablet PCs and UMPCs. I sit down with the big GBM guy himself,  Dennis Rice, and we discuss Dennis’ recent adventures with the new TabletKiosk eo i7210 and his installation of Vista on his Toshiba M200. Dennis provides some great insight on both topics and much more. We probably both say a few things we shouldn’t that will upset our respective wives, and we take advantage of the fact that Rob is out of town to rib him a bit.

• Listen to the Audio Inkshow (direct download: 26:02, 29.8MB-MP3 format)
• Check out Dennis’ InkShow look at Ilium Software’s Inscribe data entry software.
• Check out Dennis’ Real Time walk through Inkshow of the TabletKiosk i7210
• Check out Dennis’ first looks at the TabletKiosk i7210 in this Inkshow.

And don’t forget you can now subscribe to GottaBeMobile Podcast Inkshows in iTunes. Here’s the link.

Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit.

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

Tableteers love Inking. Blogging Tableteers love blogging about wanting more applications, both client and on the web, to Ink with. But one Tableteer hasn’t waited around, and has created his own system of Blogging in Ink. Mark “Sumocat” Sumimoto, The Father of Ink Blogging, not only is the most consistent Ink blogger in the Tabletscape, but he has spun of a small legion of Ink bloggers. Sumocat and his progeny continue to take pen to blog as they spread the gospel of Ink Blogging.

In this Audio InkShow, I sat down to talk with Sumocat about Ink Blogging, and his perspectives on Tablet PCs. We discuss his Ink blogging tool, Build 52, and also his Electrovaya Tablet PC, a Tablet PC that we don’t hear much about these days. So, if you’re interested in Ink Blogging or anything Tablet PC, sit back and give a listen to this chat with the Sumocat!

• Listen to the Audio Inkshow (direct download: 22:14, 25.4mb-MP3 format)
• Visit Sumocat’s Scribbles
• Visit Inkblogging.net 

 Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit.

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

So, what do organic gardening, mobile technology, coyotes, Tablet PCs, and some wild and crazy conversation have in common? Jim Forbes, that’s what. Recently, I’ve been noticing some very perceptive posts about Tablet PCs and mobile technology on Jim Forbes’ blog, Forbes on Tech, and it prompted me to invite him for an Audio InkShow chat. I’m glad he agreed. Jim, may be retired now and living in San Diego, but he is certainly not shy and retiring when it comes to giving his opinions.

Jim is the founding producer of DemoMobile, and was the editor of the award-winning Demo and DemoWeek newsletters, as well as Sr. Editor with InfoWorld, PCWeek and other publications. He brings a fascinating and varied tech journalist background to the table, and he has a very interesting spin on today’s tech journalists and some of the weaknesses we see (and complain about) in their coverage.

He says he follows mobile technology very closely. Not only does he follow it, he lives it, and he makes a few, what some would say, pretty outrageous and free-wheeling predictions about what is needed in the mobile technology sector, and with Tablet PCs in particular. Example: How much video memory do you think a Tablet PC will need to run Aero Glass? 256K? 512K? Give a listen for Jim’s thoughts. Now whether or not you might agree or laugh at Jim’s “out there” statements, take a good look below the topsoil for some intriguing thinking on why things don’t seem to be blooming just right. We may meander down the garden path a bit in this Audio InkShow, but I’m guessing you’ll certainly find this Audio InkShow entertaining. I know I did.

• Listen to the Audio InkShow Interview with Jim Forbes (direct download: 32:38, 37.3mb-MP3 format)
• Check out Jim’s Blog: ForbesOnTech

Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit..

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

It only took us three tries due to some crazy technical difficulties, but we got her done. We’re thrilled to bring you this exclusive Audio Inkshow interview with Josh Einstein, the developer of Tablet Enhancements for Outlook 3.0 (TEO 3.0) which is now available for sale as of today. If you’re like me, you’ve been waiting for this with eager anticipation (the software, not the interview) but now, today, you can get your hands on TEO 3.0, and listen to Josh Einstein talk about this amazing Tablet PC application. 

Josh and I talk about the many new features that he has loaded TEO 3.0 with. There is a bevy of new functionality that moves this “must have Tablet PC application” into the realm of Killer App, in my opinion. We discuss the Research Assistant, Mappoint and Skype Integraton, Audio notes, and the new enhancements to note taking in Outlook that, I posit, will see a number of users turning to Tablet Enhancements for Outlook 3.0 as their major note taking tool. It may sound like I’m a fan boy, and I am, but only because this application is truly transformational  for Tablet PC users who rely on Microsoft Outlook. If you use Outlook and haven’t given this a try on your Tablet PC, you need to do it now. Not later, not tomorrow. Now. Stop reading this post. Go download TEO 3.0  and listen to the Audio Inkshow.

• Listen to the Audio Inkshow (34:44 min 41.7mb .mp3)
• Get Tablet Enhancements For Outlook 3.0
• Check out the EinsteinTech Community Site
• Watch GBM Inkshows on TEO 3.0
  • TEO 3.0 Exclusive Preview (from an earlier Beta release)
  • TEO 3.0 Research Assistant (from and earlier Beta release)
• Watch GottaBeMobile.com for an Ink Show later this week featuring TEO 3.0

Pricing

• New users: $49.99
• Upgrade pricing for TEO 2.0 users:
  • If you purchased after October 1, 2005–FREE upgrade
  • If you purchased before October 1, 2005–$24.99
• Watch for Student Pricing Soon

There is also a 15 Day Free Trial available.

Watch GottaBeMobile.com for chances to win a free license to TEO 3.0 later this week.

Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit.

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

Yes, Tablet PCs are attractive and what they offer can be quite seductive. So much so, that quite a few Mac devotees have gotten tired of waiting for Apple to get off their duff and taken the plunge. One high profile Mac lover taking that plunge is podcaster extraordinaire, Second Life Guru, and long time Mac aficionado, Eric Rice.

Recently Eric posted that he was “drooling” over the new Tablet PC features in Vista. We got together for an Audio InkShow chat about Tablet PCs, Vista, Second Life, and a wide range of topics. We had a blast. Here’s hoping you do to. Give it a listen.

• Listen to the Audio Inkshow (direct download: 26:17, 31.5mb-MP3 format)
• Visit EricRice.com
• Check out HipCast.com
• Check out Second Life
• The Ink Blot Awards

Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit.

All GottaBeMobile.com InkShows are sponsored by:

Well, I had a little time, and was in the mood for some good conversation with someone about Tablet PC’s and the “Tabletscape” in general.  I pondered and I thought for a while, and ran through a possible list of candidates.  I ended up with a person who is known to many in the Tablet PC arena and also runs a successful blog on the subject.  Plus, he is just generally a nice guy.

We spent a few minutes discussing him, his views on what is going on in the general Tablet/UMPC PC world, and then he helped me to share some special information Rob and I wanted to pass on to our readers on GottaBeMobile.com in the way of an announcement.  You don’t want to miss the news at the end, but will especially enjoy hearing from my “Mystery” guest!

Listen to the InkShow interview here! ( 17 minutes, 64mb, Windows Media streaming or direct download)

I had an interesting afternoon, and some magic occurred in the process!  I actually ended up doing a very interesting interview with a well known name in the Tablet PC blogger world.  In addition to that, there was a great announcement that we need to make on some very exciting news for GottaBeMobile.com!

As soon as I get the video uploaded tomorrow sometime, we’ll share it with you, but if you are a GottaBeMobile reader, you will want to hear what we have coming!

Stay tuned…..

My family and I had the the pleasure of spending some time with Tracy Hooten tonight, who was on her way to a summer internship. For those of you who don’t know, Tracy is co-founder of  StudentTabletPC.com, an on-line community dedicated to college students and tablet pc technology. She is also a Microsoft Tablet PC MVP. 

While she was here, we turned the camera on for a bit and chatted about college, tablet pcs, software, and where StudentTabletPC.com is headed. Take a few minutes and listen in on our conversation. Great stuff.

As you listen to Tracy, it is obvious that she has a real love for learning and sharing what she learns with others. She is an utter delight to be around.

Thanks for coming by, Tracy. You are welcome in our home any time!

• Watch this special InkShow with Tracy Hooten (WMV format, 23:31, 57.8 mb)
• Visit StudentTabletPC.com

In this inaugural edition of Audio InkShows, we are thrilled to bring you our interview with Microsoft’s Chris Pratley. Chris is the Group Manager for Office Authoring Services, which includes OneNote, Word, and Publisher. He co-founded the OneNote team in 2001.

Chris and I talk about his OneNote team, the new beta, OneNote Mobile, insight into why OneNote uses ink the way it does, and more. He also lets us know that OneNote Mobile not only works with SmartPhones, but also with Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PCs and Phone Edition.

Thanks to Aubergine for the rocking intro music, Pursuit, and a special thanks to James Kendrick for letting me know about USB Microphones and music.PodShow.com

• Listen to the Audio InkShow ( MP3 format, 20:13, 23.1 mb)
• Download the Office 2007 and OneNote 2007 beta.
• Visit Chris’ blog

If you read the interview with Motion Computing’s Scott Eckert, you know that he really didn’t answer the Lifestyle PC question that I posed to him. He couldn’t respond to that question due to NDA, even though the “ideal specs” were publicly talked about at the Mobile Partners Brief in Redmond.

Well, with the device officially announced, Scott has followed up (again) and offers his take. Dennis and I have both replied to him as well. It is an interesting dialogue and one that has a lot of varying opinions on what this announcement ultimately means for companies like Motion and OQO.

If you are wanting to know Motion’s thoughts on the UMPC announcement, I’d encourage you to read his answer.

BTW: I just ordered a Motion LS800 and will be posting a review of it in the coming weeks. Hopefully, we’ll have a UMPC in hand as well and will post a review of it. Having those two reviews head to head should prove to be very interesting.

-

Opening up conversations between vendors of all sorts in the Mobile arena is something that gets us excited at GottaBeMobile.com. We really want to see people ask and get answers from both sides of the sales channel.

What makes it even more exciting is when a CEO or other major player not only accepts the request to do an interview, he responds to all the questions in a forthright and open method. That is what happened in this interview with Martin Smekal, CEO of TabletKiosk. Here is the text of the interview:

GBM: Hi Martin, we very much appreciate your taking time out at such a busy time for your company to speak with us.

MS: Hello Dennis, good to speak with you and congratulations on the new GottaBeMobile.com site.

GBM: Thanks Martin. First of all, I think there is some confusion I'd like to clear up as to the actual structure of your company and exactly where you are positioned in the Tablet PC and UMPC market. Can you give us a quick description of Tabletkiosk?

MS: TabletKiosk is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. and was founded three and a half years ago as a boutique ODM (original design manufacture) focused on the development of mobile computing devices and accessories. Our corporate offices are located in Southern California.

Currently we are offering the Sahara line of Tablet PC's and we will announce a UMPC device at the end of this month to compliment this product line.

GBM: How about Martin Smekal himself? Give us a little personal bio and company position information. Tell us about Martin and what your typical workday looks like.

MS: I'm a veteran of the technology sector with over 20 years management experience, with companies like Aldus, Merisel, MetaCreations, PaceBlade Inc, Play Inc., and Time Warner. I have extensive experience leading teams in various disciplines from distribution, to sales and marketing to manufacturing and software development. I'm married and have two wonderful children. I hold a business degree from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University; currently I'm the President & CEO of TabletKiosk.

Working in the technology field affords me the luxury of never having a typical workday.

GBM: We feel that direct consumer to vendor discussion is critical. You are known to us at GottaBeMobile as one of the influential people in this market who has been ready and willing to take time to speak directly to consumers in places like TabletPCBuzz.com and other areas. First we want to thank you for that openness! Why does this direct to consumer discussion seem important to you? Has it helped your business? Has it caused you problems? Would you advise other OEM's and ISV's to do this as a practice?

MS: As the leader of TabletKiosk, I feel that it is critical to our success that we maintain an open channel of communication with our dealer channel and the end-user community from every level of our company. I would like TabletKiosk to be known as the Nordstrom's of the industry - caring about our customers and willing to do what is required to keep them happy. The Tablet PC community has some excellent OEM's / ODM's with long established pedigrees and excellent products - so its not good enough for us to just provide a comparable product, we need to be prepared to offer more in design, accessories and above all service.

Has it caused issues for us? Without a doubt, but the benefits of this direct channel of communication has allowed us to address issues before they became much more costly.

Our long awaited release of the Baja series is a prime example of this - the original product that we were developing was based on the Transmeta processor As it became clear to us this processor technology was being discontinued well into our development stages, we had to make a decision about releasing a product that was known to be utilizing end-of-life components in an effort to grab some market-share while potentially alienating these early adapters, or starting from scratch with a new design that would allow these users to migrate from one generation to the next on this platform without any problems.

Upon discussions with key customers and representatives of the Tablet PC community, on various boards and forums the decision was clear to us - scrap it and start from scratch. But by doing this we have had many questions to answer about a product that has been listed as "coming soon" for far too long….

I strongly urge other OEMs and ISV's to designate an associate to represent and participate in these forums as the data you will receive is priceless - but I also must caution your readers, that some questions posed by members are of such corporate strategic nature or regarding proprietary information you can't realistically expect a response in an open forum - i.e. product road maps, cost structures, distribution strategies, etc… So when you pose them and don't get a response….

GBM: Okay, let's talk about your Tablet PC business. Who are you targeting specifically for Tablet PC sales? What are your current offerings, and how successful do you feel you have been selling Tablets? Has it met, exceeded, or fallen short of your goals long term?

MS: We currently are focused on five specific vertical markets: Control Systems, Education, Government / Public Sector, Gaming (Casino's) and Healthcare. Currently we are offering the third generation of our Sahara series which represents a 12.1" display platform utilizing either a Transmeta Crusoe, Intel Celeron or a Intel Centrino processor. This platform also has the distinction of being one of the few systems on the market currently that offers a Resistive Touch-screen interface and offers full Linux O/S support.

The Sahara line has a full line of accessories behind it from the traditional bump cases, docking stations and battery chargers to items that are exclusive to our design, such as our VESA Plate with I/O which allows for the mounting of our systems to any standard armature device with a VESA 100mm or 75mm bolt pattern, allowing users the flexibility to mount our systems cleanly on a table, in a car, on a wheelchair or hospital bed in a simple to use and clean design.

While the overall Tablet PC market has grown slower then originally forecasted, we have enjoyed triple digit growth each year since our inception, and the future looks very promising as we continue to expand our product offering and pursue new target markets with our solutions.

GBM: We understand that you are putting significant time and energy entering into the new Origami / Ultra-Mobile PC arena. Describe that journey thus far for us, and tell us where you are headed in the near future. Can you give us some details relative to models, markets, availability, etc.?

MS: As the word has leaked out already, TabletKiosk will indeed be a participant in the UMPC market. This is a very exciting technology platform for all of us at TabletKiosk, as it allows us to provide a level of computing power not seen before in such a mobile device / pricing ratio. We believe that this will be a milestone platform from which further device development will be nurtured and exploited as we strive to develop solutions to further enhance our daily lives.

We will formally announce this device in late March, and will begin shipping to customers by the end of April - anything beyond this I have to defer to our official release.

GBM: What distribution channels will you use for UMPC's? Do you see retail as a successful place for you to sell these products?

MS: At this time our business model is not geared to the retail channels - We will continue to offer our solutions through our authorized reseller channel and on a direct basis from our website and our telemarketing team.

While I feel the retail channel is a natural fit for a UMPC product line, at this time we do not have the infrastructure required to support this client base at a level that would be on par with our current authorized reseller channel.

GBM: What do you see as the biggest challenge to doing UMPC right? Is it hardware costs, battery life, etc., or are there other challenges you see?

MS: I feel the first challenge is to make consumers aware of the benefits of the platform rather then the perceived weakness. There has been a lot of hype/speculation around an instant on, 1024 x 768, 5-8 hour battery, GSRM enabled, sub 2 lbs solution that would cost $500 - reality will not be able to meet these expectations. This is the first generation of this platform, and as technology advances this platform will mature as well to a point we all hope will meet these lofty goals.

What has been developed and announced is amazing by itself - a true 900Mhz - 1.0GHz PC that utilizes the Windows XP Tablet extension set, has wireless capabilities and is under $1000 - before the UMPC was announced the closest you could get to something like this would be based on a 8.4" screen and carrying a price closer to $2000 - and people were raving about these units. When you consider how an average user might utilize the UMPC in their daily life to compliment their primary computer, you quickly recognize the value proposition is enormous.

GBM: What message and thought would you like to leave our readers with?

MS: I'd like to thank all your readers for supporting the Tablet PC platform and TabletKiosk specifically, because without you none of us would be here today and to watch www.TabletKiosk.com and this site for our formal release of our UMPC platform.

GBM: Many thanks Martin. We all wish you the absolute best in your goals with Tablet PC's and UMPC's!

Martin welcomes comments from customers at any time. You may contact Martin Smekal at martin@sandduneventures.com. Please visit their website at:

In what will be the first among many interviews with key players in the Tablet PC and Mobile PC industry, we are delighted to inaugurate this category with our interview with Scott Eckert, CEO of Motion Computing. Motion Computing's current product line includes the LE1600 Tablet PC and LS800 ultra mobile tablet pc.

GBM: Scott, Thank you for taking the time to talk with us.

Its’ been over 3 years since the Tablet PC has launched. Motion is considered by many to be a shining star in the tablet pc space. What do you consider your biggest challenges moving into years 4, 5, and 6?

Eckert: Greater tablet awareness and wider development of tablet applications will be the two biggest contributors of tablet industry growth in the next three years.  Tablets are still somewhat of a novelty among most computer users. For example, Motion’s LS800 is my primary computer, and when I’m traveling I’m approached all the time in Starbucks and in airports by people curious about this incredible device I’m carrying. That awareness will grow over time and we know that when our customers experience the tablet, they love it and that keeps us energized at Motion. In addition, the availability of more applications that incorporate digital ink and are designed for pen navigation will also create more compelling reasons for people to use tablet PCs.

GBM: When I was at the Microsoft Mobile Partner Brief last week, I saw a lot of LE1600s and quite a few LS800’s. When most people think of Motion, they think of healthcare, your most successful vertical market. Will Motion always be considered a healthcare vertically oriented company, or do you have plans to introduce devices that will go horizontal, like a portable convertible / hybrid tablet?

Eckert: Motion has a strong brand in healthcare – it’s about half of our business – but we’ve also been very successful in field sales and service automation and state and local government, which are also very important markets for us.  We’re focused on understanding the special needs of these markets, and serving them really well with hardware, software, wireless, and services.  We already see adoption of our tablets outside of our core vertical markets, and expect that to grow, but we have no plans to focus on horizontal markets or commodity products.

GBM: HP dropped the TC1100 hybrid tablet in favor of convertible tablets? Is that indicative of the market for slate Tablet PCs?

Eckert: The market for slates is dynamic and vibrant, and has allowed Motion to grow rapidly.  Tablets, when combined with the right specialized software, are creating tremendous ROI for customers and that’s what matters and will continue to drive the market.

GBM: It is 2008. Realistically speaking, what does the mobile space look like? Have most OEMs outfitted their notebooks with active digitizers? Are kids and soccer moms carrying “Lifestyle PCs”? Have slates turned a corner and finally become a dominant form factor for the average business person?

Eckert: Over the next few years, we’ll see computing devices become more connected, intuitive, personalized and mobile.  As wireless broadband connections become more pervasive and with higher bandwidth, it will enable new ways of computing and the introduction of new applications and devices.  Motion’s mission is to inspire productivity through innovative mobile technology and we intend to continue as a leader in the mobile computing category as this new environment unfolds.

GBM: Talk to me about Motion’s relationship with ISVs When Motion is going in to a particular client with a potential large install base, what can ISVs do to make sure that Motion knows about their product, and if necessary, involves them in the process? Many of the ISVs that I talk to are frustrated because they never learn about these large deployments until after the fact.

Eckert: Of the major tablet providers, Motion by far has the most aggressive partnership program with the ISV community.  We have more than 375 ISV partners in our program that receive development and marketing support and are connected with Motion sales and our channel sales partners.  We’ve worked out a collaborative model for this program, by which sales introductions are made by Motion and to Motion.  We train our channel partners on our ISV partners’ products to make sure that the end customer sees an integrated solution – the right software on the right tablet with the right wireless configuration, service, training and support is what makes the sale.

So, I’d recommend checking out our ISV program and signing up. http://www.motioncomputing.com/partner/software.asp  

GBM: With the introduction last year of the LE1600, many of the M1200 – M1400 owners were quite disturbed about the lack of integration between old accessories and the LE1600.  Mostly it was due to the large amount of money that the accessories cost (docking station, portfolios, etc)  What can customers expect in regards to their current accessories and future models?

Eckert: Customer satisfaction is of course very important to us and the cross-compatibility of peripherals within product families is something that we take seriously when developing new products. For example, the general life cycle of the M-Series product family, which included the platform and peripherals (docking, keyboards, cases, etc.) was approximately three years from the time of launch. Within the life cycle, there were various refreshes, enhancements, and improvements in hardware or software, but the platform and peripherals were cross compatible from their launch in 2002 to their end of life in 2005. During this three-year time period, the M Series had three models in the product family – M1200, M1300, and M1400 – all with cross compatible peripherals.

GBM: I was fortunate enough to test drive an LE1600 prototype at CES that automatically switched between passive and active digitizer mode. Do you envision that option becoming standard in your slates?

Eckert: Microsoft was testing a couple of new tablet technologies at CES and we are pleased that they selected the LE1600 as the reference platform for their tests.

GBM: What role, if any, is Motion playing in Microsoft’s newly announced spec for the UltraMobile / Lifestyle PC? With the LS800, Motion appears to be a great fit there.

Eckert: Microsoft hasn’t announced any specs on this venture.

GBM: When can we expect to see Motion having a visible presence at CES? I realize that CES is called a consumer show, but it is largely regarded as the event for OEMs to be present at. Toshiba soft launched their M400 (clearly a business unit), Fujitsu was there (they are all about business), Lenovo was there, HP was there (although they didn’t have any tablet PCs displayed).

Eckert: Many Motion execs (myself included) attend CES and it’s an event that we’ll continue to evaluate for a more formal Motion presence.  Motion is very active in tradeshows and we currently participate in a large number of them to reach our targeted vertical markets.

GBM: Motion is one of the few OEMs to actively participate in the online communities. I’ve learned in the past two years that most of the OEMs actively read TabletPCBuzz.com, influencers blogs, etc, but they don’t participate in the discussions and engage the community. What sets Motion apart in that regard? Why is it a priority for Motion?

Eckert: It’s important to us to know what the tablet PC community – blogs, customers, partners, analysts, media -- thinks about our products and our industry.  We pay attention to the feedback and know good ideas for our products will come from this community.

The difference for Motion is we are the only company among the majors in the tablet PC industry exclusively focused on the tablet PC category.  Therefore, we have to get it right, and the best way to do that is to be an active participant in the ecosystem.

GBM: I really appreciate the time you took in doing this interview. Any closing thoughts for tablet pc community?

Eckert: We’re still in the early stages of seeing what tablets can do.  When deployed correctly, tablets can have a significant impact on the end user computing experience – it’s not just incremental, it can be transformative. At Motion, we’re impressed by both the myriad ways and places people are using this technology and the ecosystem of innovators and solution providers that is emerging to further the cause. We’re pleased to play our part in the tablet revolution and look forward to continuing to work with the tablet community to realize the potential of this technology.

GBM: Some Questions from some GottaBeMobile.com readers:

1) Will Motion do an XGA LS800 or an SXGA LE1600?

Eckert: We don’t comment on our product roadmap, but are always investigating new technologies and options.

2) What are they doing about the heat issues? The heat by itself isn't too bad maybe, but it's caused either my stylus or the enclosure for the stylus to expand, resulting in a much too snug fit.

When Windows also tells me that my LS800 is too hot and could damage the internals, and therefore it must shutdown, I get scared also.

Eckert: We’ve heard about LS800 heat concerns from time-to-time and encourage people to check our Web site for software updates. http://www.motioncomputing.com/support/driver_download.asp

Specific to the pen issue, it’s likely that this issue is the pen, not the tablet, but it’s hard to tell without more information. This customer ought to call Motion’s technical support to identify and diagnose the issue -- 866-622-7340.