This morning I was fortunate enough to have a one-on-one chat with Motion Computing's President and CEO, Scott Eckert.  Thanks for all those who posted comments and questions on my blog and on GottaBeMobile.  Rather than pose every question directly (as there were quite a few) I looked for the common themes in the comments and constructed questions from those. 

I met Scott in the foyer lounge of a Sydney Hotel.  We chatted for a couple of minutes about Sydney, the appalling weather and work, then got down to business.  He was pleased that I was taking notes on my LS800 at the meeting and allowed that he used one himself for two years.  This led nicely into my first question.  What follows is summary of my discussion with Scott.  This is not a verbatim transcript as I did not record the conversation.

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Of the 12 comments posted on the two blogs (excluding the one about taking Scott hostage until he included ice cube makers - which we both took as a joke) fully 4 of them mentioned the LS800 directly and two others mentioned a desire for a smaller tablet.  When the LS range was dropped there were a lot of people who were very disappointed, myself included.  In my view Motion created and owned the Ultra Mobile category before the UMPC label even existed.   Given that there is an apparent market for these devices and that they were, and still are,  a device that really turned heads and got people interested in Tablets - why was it dropped?

In response Scott was pleased that I was crediting them with creating a category.  Their goal was to create a truly enterprise class UMPC and he felt that they had done well with that.  He also indicated that while the LS800 did enjoy some success in certain areas that it did not achieve the volumes needed to sustain it as an additional range.  That said the market for this type of device is still there and Motion is keeping an eye on it, there is ongoing R&D and as pen, touch and other technologies mature it is an area that they may re-enter.

Next I said that to me it seemed that sometimes Motion was focusing more on winning new customers than looking after their existing customer base.  Two examples I held up to support this.  The first was the inability to migrate accessories between ranges - such as the M-series range and the LE-series range.  The second was the relatively poor upgrade experience that Motion users had going to Vista. 

On the first point Scott pointed out that their ranges are expected to exist for about 3 years before being replaced by a new range.  They try to ensure consistency in the range, but in order to take advantage of rapidly advancing technology they won't necessarily have compatibility of peripherals between ranges. 

I suppose that this helps Motion evolve their products more quickly as they are not constraining a new range with the limitations of the old. 

Scott also pointed out that while accessories for previous ranges are not necessarily compatible, they are supported and spares are available long after the range stops shipping, which also helps to mitigate the issue for their enterprise customers.

On the second point Scott acknowledged that the Vista upgrade experience had not been all that smooth for end users.  They have learned from the feedback and hope to do it better next time.  He also pointed out that many of their enterprise accounts are still deploying XP based images on their Motion tablets.

There seems to be an increasing focus on verticals with the specialized range expanding and what I consider to be the general use/corporate range shrinking.  Is this going to be a trend that continues?

Motion are really highly focused on the verticals.  In fact when I was chatting to Scott this was very apparent long before I asked this question.  Scott told me that the way Motion look at it is that they have two primary verticals and three product ranges.  The vertical markets they are focused on are healthcare and field automation and the three product ranges can be applied to both of those.

This is not to say that there are not other niches and verticals that don't suit the Motion tablets.  Indeed some of the successful markets have come as something of a surprise to Motion.  The LS800 enjoyed quite a bit of success in the aviation market, and this was largely driven by a software partner who married up his software, the LS800 and a mounting solution and sold this as a bundle.

What other verticals interest you?

Motion's primary focus has always been people who need to use a computer while standing and walking. 

One of the questions that came up was around a slate for artists - any plans to enter that market?

Scott thought that the artist market was pretty well served today by the likes of the Wacom Cintiq which is not mobile, but it provides a much higher resolution and a better digitizer than what is available today in mobile devices.  There may not be too many mobile artists, but many of the ones that are out there are using the LE range devices today with success.

There were a couple of questions around multi-touch.  Motion was leading the market there - what happened?

The technology was very new and Motion just struggled to get it commercialized.  Touch, and the combination of touch and an active digitizer, is and will continue to be an important technology for future ranges.

(reading between the lines I take it there won't be one in the LE range, though I could be wrong.)

Motion also feels that for touch to really succeed it is critical that the applications are designed for and work well with touch.  This led nicely to my next question.

Again - from the questions posted is there any thought of entering the software market to help bring that about?

The short answer is that Motion is not looking to become a software house.  However Motion are already active in that space and they currently work with about 150 software partners in the vertical markets to help them write better applications.  It is better for Motion to have more partners and to work with them rather than compete against them.

This is where Scott talked about the aviation example and how a partner created a market for the LS800 and did really well in it.  Naturally Motion would like to find more partners like that, so for those of you reading this that write software - keep that in mind!

There are some general issues that most mobile users face, such as battery life and heat.  There are also some technologies that seem to be taking a long time to come to market, such as hybrid drives or that still carry a significant premium like solid state drives.  What do you see as the most important technologies coming.

Battery technology is really a chemical process, which means that adding capacity to batteries is not easy.  Motion have found it more fruitful to reduce the power consumption of the device and this is where they are investing.  This means both engineering better, more efficient hardware, adding technologies such as LED backlit displays and working with application developers to make the applications more efficient.

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Some closing thoughts from me.  Scott is a genuinely nice guy and I really enjoyed my chat with him.  He is astute, passionate about his products and focused on the vertical markets and the Motion vision.  Motion are not merely aware of the bloggers, readers and commentors that make up the blogosphere.  They are not just listening to the conversations.  They are actively reaching out and engaging and I think that is a really good thing.  Thanks to Scott for taking the time to talk to me.

I just posted some interesting news on my blog, but I have to post it here, too.

...on Friday I got a call from the country manager here in Australia.  He tells me that Scott Eckert, the CEO of Motion Computing, is going to be in Sydney next week and asked if I would be keen to meet and talk to him.  Heck yeah!

Now it is no secret that I have long been a slate fan and that I've had a couple of Motion slates in my time.  My Motion LS800 is still one of my favourite devices and I've always wondered why there was never another in the LS line...  I've got plenty to things to talk to Scott about.  But then I'm sure some of you do as well.  So if you do have any questions, leave a comment here and I'll see what I can do.  I'm meeting Scott on Wednesday - Sydney time.

So let's here it - what do you guys want to know?  Leave a comment here of over on my blog and I will do my best.

In part 3 of our 3-part video series with Motion Computing, we get to learn more about C5 and the man who headed up the product design effort, Michael Johnson. Michael is the VP of Product Development at Motion after spending 17 years at Apple working in product development. Download the high res version here or watch the embedded video below.

Be sure to watch Part 1 and Part 2.

Click To Play

In part 2 of our 3-part video series with Motion Computing, I spend some time chatting with John Doherty and Scott Eckert, co-founders of Motion Computing. John Doherty personally designed the original Motion slate Tablet PC, the M1200.

John and Scott talk about those early days at Motion, the story behind the design of their original slate, how the name came about, and much more. I think you'll enjoy getting this rare inside look at the people behind the products we have all enjoyed using.

Follow the read more link for the embedded version or download directly here.

Well, I am almost recovered from the CES trip.  It was a most exciting and very busy trip for the whole GBM team, including introducing the newest official team member, our mischievous little friend Splotch!  Huge thanks also go to our additional companion Eddie Vanderbeck (not an official team member - or not yet anyway [:)]) for some great camerawork and general assistance.

In a true blogging style, here are the thoughts I am left with after the trip.  My comments are more general in nature, but are very much a part of the process we went through:

1. CES is HUGE! - There is just no way to cover it all in a couple of days, or a week for that matter.  CES is about much more than the show floor, it is about the networking, the meetings, the dinners, lunches and breakfasts where so many great conversations take place on any and all technology you want to imagine.  The late night meetings that start at 10 p.m. and end at 12:30 a.m. are huge, just because it is the only time you can get together with great contacts.
2. You better have a plan - We had a set of hard appointments, and a set of primary targets we wanted to hit, plus a few "if we have time" opportunities.  It worked out well for our team to split into two parts and divvy up that list.  Even with that list, the pace is frenetic at best.  It is very hard not to divert to other things, especially if you are an electronics and gadget freak as we all are!  There were a few discoveries along the way as well, which always makes it exciting.
3. Our Microsoft MVP status is a valuable asset to us all - We VERY much appreciate the contribution Microsoft made to get our team into the right places there at CES.  That is how we were able to get a private tour of the Partner Pavillion (and a standup meeting with Bill Gates), had intros to key people who we would never have been able to interact with, and got lots of great insider information that contributes heavily to our content here at GBM for you our readers.  Our MVP leads were there and ready to help us anytime we needed it, and without that help, we would have been outside some areas we needed to be in.  As a part of a 2 day Vista RTM lab, we were able to hear and learn a ton of information about this new OS.  We have all been beta testing for a while, but still learned a lot which will come out in various ways to you as we post on the subject.
4.  The network of Tablet PC community is alive and thriving! - It was not just at the Tablet PC meetup (my personal highlight by the way, just like the whole team has indicated) that we saw and heard enthusiasm for the Tablet and UMPC form factor and technology.  When you talk with people like Martin Smekal (CEO of TabletKiosk), and Scott Eckert (CEO of Motion Computing), you know that these companies are committed and moving forward at a strong pace.  Meeting and talking with trhe Neek Talkers (teenage girls) is a treat in itself, just to get their perspectives.  In addition, the relationships with other Tablet PC MVP's like James Kendrick, Martc Orchant, Linda Epstein, Fritz Switzer, Terri Stratton, etc. are very valuable and help us all to stay renewed in our passions for Tablet.  It is a great cooperative community.  There are some great things happening folks, and we will continue to see more coming forth in hardware, software and related devices.  We attended a get together on Tuesday night after the general Tablet PC meetup that included Tablet and related OEM's and ISV's, and were very excited to talk to people like StreetDeck, Eleksen, TabletKiosk, Motion, Toshiba and so many others who are invested in the future of tablet in one way or another.
5. We have a lot of work to do at GBM - We certainly did all we could to bring you the experience, but realized that we have room for improvement.  Rising at 6:00 and staying up until 3:30 a.m. to have meetings, shoot video, edit video, post all the above info is an arduos thing to say the least, but we were committed to the task.  This was our first official covered event, and we fully plan to cover more in the future, so please give us your feedback on how we can improve (even including hints on how to properly use a directional microphone [:)]).  We still have lots of stories to share, more video to edit and post, and much more to tell, so stay tuned.
6. The people who sponsor our efforts deserve your attention! - This is in no way intended to be a shameless plug.  The assistance of companies like TechSmith (We love ya Betsy!), Microsoft, and others were invaluable to making this trip a possibility for us.  Please do check out their sites and products, it is worth doing and  will help continue to fund the efforts we do to bring you these activities.  We have another sponsor coming on board shortly that we are most excited about, so stay tuned for that news soon as well.
7. YOU are the reason we do this - I am way too old to keep these kind of hours and efforts up if there was not a reason (You!) to do so.  This is not a paying gig for us folks, it is an outlet of passion that we do in order to share the great opportunites we get with companies, equipment, events, etc. with you, our readers.  If you do not offer your comments, forum posts and general feedback, then the effort is disappearing into a void.  Tell us what you want, tell us how we are doing, but tell us something!  We want to continue to improve, so let us know how.

Okay, I am exhausted all over again, but I want to take a moment to thank all the members of Team GottaBeMobile.  Working with these guys as we cover these type events is going to continue to be a great experience. 

My partner Rob Bushway is the man folks.  He is concerned every moment of every day that we are being effiicient in our efforts to serve you.  He is the master of content management, keeps us on schedule and in touch, and has a great wife (Kathi) who accompanied us as well.  Kathi was the team "Mom", and the rest of us had wives glad she was along to keep us in line!

Warner Crocker.  Well, whaddya say about WC?  Loves to laugh ("Do you know what I mean" guys?), cooperative in the best sense of team effort, a prolific poster, and a news hound extraordinaire!  He contributed a set of flying, screaming monkeys (don't ask) to a late night session that made us all more productive, you'll just have to trust me on that!  His wife Thomasin was along, but stayed pretty much in the background this time, which allowed us a unique look at Warner's antics.  Thanks Thomasin!

Matt Faulkner is a hoot.  We had to pry him away from those penny slot machines (did I mention he is a big spender as well [:)]) a time or two, but watching him in his first experience like this was a blast to see.  His enthusiasm for what we do makes him a joy to have on the team.  His excitement is contagious and refreshing.

Splotch.  This little guy had more fun than anyone.  We will share a bit more on this later, but he is indeed a little stress reliever!  Look for him to be more and more involved every day in the activities of GBM, and look for ways you may even be able to get SPLOTCHED youself!

And our new friend Eddie Vanderbeck.  He is the only one that walked away with any money from the Casinos, but he deserved it after all the helpful volunteer effort he gave in many aspects of the task (including helping me find a lost cellphone!).  It was great to have you along Eddie!

As I said, there are more posts, pictures, videos, etc. still to come from this trip, so keep checking in with us.  We are moving into a nice period of activity for Tablet / UMPC, and want you to be around as we share the news that surfaces!

Splotch and I can't wait until next year!

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.

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.