John is posting about another OneNote Power Toy - wonder what it could be...  what is that surprise??  Huh - it links back to our site...  I don't think I have any idea what he's talking about... :)

We are all about secrets these days aren't we...

As a corporate user valiantly trying to upgrade to Vista, one last hold-out was my iPassConnect account. With the new iPassConnect version 3.60, iPass has finally launched the long-awaited support for Vista. iPass allows seamless connection to a myriad of WiFi hotspots, including all T-Mobile, so I can browse at any Starbucks I want. (Maybe I can go on a Coffee Break with jkOnTheRun) I've used iPass to connect in hotels, coffee shops, and many other places without being charged - just pay the iPass bills and get access at thousands of hotspots around the world. Although regular users can get iPass accounts, it's mostly aimed at corporate users whose companies pay the bills.

And now, only a year after Vista launched, iPassConnect supports Vista. Now, if we can only get them to support Windows Mobile 6 as well...

This came from the comments section on my post about K-Sketch.  Pencil , an animation software among other things, is another program that allows for some fun times on your Tablet PC.  It looks like this weekend is going to be a fun one for trying to make some onion skins... (click image for full size shot of the interface)

Pencil is an animation/drawing software for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. It lets you create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics. Pencil is free and open source.

Give it a download and have a good time.

I have been to WIPTE the past 2 years and I can say that it's been a great place to hang out and meet other Tablet PC folks focused on education.  This year's event has now been scheduled for October 15-16 and information is up on their site.

WIPTE is open to anyone with an interest in instructional technology. A wide variety of disciplines are embracing Tablet PC's and similar pen-based devices as tools for the radical enhancement of teaching and learning. This conference is intended to leverage this shared passion and to identify best practices in the educational use of pen-based computing so that all educators may benefit from this next generation of technology. Each WIPTE paper presentation includes an assessment component as an important part of the presentation. The WIPTE program also includes keynote talks, poster presentations, vendor booths, panels, and special sessions.  Learn More - (PDF LINK)

If you are interested in Speaking or Writing a paper to be published in their book, check out the information on their site.

This probably voided his warranty, but an enterprising hacker by the name of 'guryhwa' has posted details of how he replaced his Eee PC's Celeron processor with a Pentium-M. Note, this technique is not for the faint of heart...

Prior to leaving for St. Louis, I had wonderful images in my mind of sitting back in a chair next to Maggie's hospital bed and reading. There is nothing more relaxing than getting lost in a good book, and a hospital room is a good place to do just that.

Well, something happened between those dreamy scenes and actually getting to St. Louis. My wife, Kathi, got a hold of my Kindle and I haven't held it since.

What you have to know about my wife to really appreciate this story is that she is as close to anti-gadget as anyone I've ever met. She just started using a cell phone last year for goodness sakes. She used my Kindle during the holidays and liked it a lot, but never really took to it if you know what I mean. It didn't become a part of her daily routine of reading.

That all changed during this trip.

Four hours in to our trip, Kathi had just finished reading a Sherlock Holmes paper-based book and was really interested in reading another. She lamented that she didn't bring any others with her. Always one who enjoys bringing happiness to my wife, I picked up the Kindle and handed it to her, and told her to search the Kindle Store for one. I was sure they had converted some. You should have seen the look on her face when she found several listed. She clicked "buy" and within 30 seconds to a minute, they were downloaded to the Kindle, and she was off and reading some more Sherlock Holmes books. All done from our car traveling on I-70 in the middle of Kansas.

Every now and then, I glanced over and could tell she was " in to the book ". During a gas break, I asked her how she was enjoying the Kindle. She told me that she was surprised at how she was able to connect with the story and not get distracted by the gadget. It wasn't long before she consumed that book and was back on the Kindle Store, with no help by me by the way, looking for more books.

From that moment on, the Kindle was in her purse everywhere we went: MEG testing center, hotels, hospital room, and traveling back home. When we were not taking care of Maggie, she was reading. When we were sleeping in a hotel, I would find her snuggled up in bed reading just like she does with paper based books. On one occasion, a nurse came in to our room, and we naturally started talking about books we were reading. She mentioned a book that sounded intriguing to my wife, and within minutes of the nurse leaving, Kathi had found it on the Kindle Store, purchased it, and was already glancing through the forward. I think Kathi bought 4 - 6 books during our trip, and was frequently browsing the Kindle Store while we were traveling home.

Not all is wonderful and glorious in Kindle-land for her, though. First of all, my wife likes to read at night, and has noticed that it is a little difficult in poor lighting. She wants some back-lighting bad. Secondly, although she likes the location and feel of the Next Page button, it does get accidentally pressed more times than she would like. Third, not all the books she wanted to read were available in the Kindle Store. For example, a friend called during the hospital stay and mentioned a book. We went to look for it in the Kindle Store, but couldn't find it. Unfortunately, there was no Kindle Edition yet.

I knew that the Kindle had changed ownership without my consent, when I started hearing her say things like "Can you hand me my Kindle?", "Did you charge my Kindle last night?". The last nail in the coffin occurred after we got home. I walked up stairs to put away some things and noticed that the charger was on her side of the bed with the Kindle already plugged in. Nothing much has changed in the days after getting home and being settled. She's still reading at night and still calling it her Kindle. In fact, she's purchased 3 - 4 more books since getting home.

She connected with the Kindle for multiple reasons. First of all, when she wanted to look for something different to read, she could. And, for the most part, she could instantly buy it and begin reading it no matter where we were. Second, she was able to get in to the book and not get distracted by the gadget itself. As ugly as the Kindle is, the layout and design allow a reader to get lost in a book much easier than say a Pocket PC or UMPC. Third, the battery life is outstanding. She read and read without worry of the current battery charge. The only caveat to that was the wireless. Because the wireless is a major drain on battery, she had to remember to turn off the wireless when not using it. Those three things are huge and are the major reasons why I no longer own a Kindle, and why my anti-gadget wife owns it instead.

Huh? Microsoft has pulled an unprecedented move by dropping the prices on a couple of variants of the Vista operating system. Vista Ultimate will drop from $399 to $319. The Vista Ultimate upgrade drops from $259 to $219. Vista Home Premium upgrade will drop from $159 to $129. Given that there really has been no real “ultimate” in Vista Ultimate, I guess on some level this makes some sense to somebody, but in the end retail customers will get an opportunity to save some money.

In Podcast #46, Warner and I cover a wide range of topics, from the latest software exploiting so-called cloud computing like EverNote and SkyDrive, Rob's big Motion Computing taunting and teasing as well as his new Lenovo X300, and the new HP Compaq 2133 UMPC.

• Download GBM Podcast #46 here ( MP3, 49 min, 45.5 mb)

• Subscribe to our GBM Podcasts via

  • iTunes

  • Zune

  • or your favorite podcatcher.

  • Spread the word by voting for us at Podcast Alley

All GBM InkShows and Podcasts are sponsored by TechSmith.

This has been a totally crazy week. I've spent more time on the road than I've spent at my desk.

Yesterday, I spent a half day at a cable manufacturing plant doing a bunch of SQL Server programming work. As I've been using the unannounced Motion Tablet PC for all of my note-taking the past two weeks, I had it with me during my visit there, too. I showed it off to the controller and he was duly impressed, to the point that he was asking me when it was going to be available, pricing, etc. He immediately saw practical use for the tablet in many facets of his business - from warehouse management to shipping / receiving to outside sales needing to communicate with the home office. I've been demoing tablet pcs to him for several years and this is the first time I've seen him that interested in buying one.

By the way, if you have not been following the comments in these two Motion threads ( here and here ), be sure to give them a read. There are some great comments in there, with some anonymous poster with inside info on the tablet pc giving a whole bunch clues - it's been hilarious and fascinating to follow.

If you've been waiting for "just that special deal" before plunking down for a HP 2710p Tablet PC, then you might want to check out these HP Smart Buy specials ( GBM affiliate link ). HP is offering the 2710p with discounts from $345 - $505 off, depending on configuration. If the TC4400 is more your cup of tea, it has discounts of around $200.

You can access the specials through this link or by clicking the HP banner that randomly appears on the top of the site.

Here is where Surface gets fun - games!

Checkout this video of a new game, called Firefly, the Surface team and Carbonated Games have  developed that brings in multi-players touching the screen at the same time. Awesome!

I've been saying for quite sometime that one of the big draws of Surface will be the ability to play games with other people. Imagine sitting at  restaurant with a bunch of friends playing a game while waiting for your food.

Surface is where Microsoft is one-upping Apple with multi-touch BIG TIME! 

via Engadget

Most folks know that Apple added multi-touch touchpads to their MacBook Pro line earlier this week, which prompted Loren Heiny to ask the following question:

Let me see. How many “tech-leading” Tablet PCs have multi-touch? Oh, yeah. None.

This is getting old. Where is the defibrillator for the Tablet PC industry?

Good question, Loren.  We do know that Dell's XT will support multi-touch when N-Trig releases the update, although we don't know Dell will release it for current XT's. Beyond that, I have to agree with Loren: where's the defibrillator? If there was ever a platform  poised to bring true multi-touch, it was the tablet pc, and again, we see Apple taking the lead.  I originally dismissed Apple's multi-touch touchpad approach as un-natural, but after demoing a MacBook Air last week, I came away quite impressed with how natural it felt. On a related Apple multi-touch issue, check out this patent request for a next generation "multi-touch input surface" which aims to replace traditional input devices like tablet, mouse, and keyboard.

Back to Tablet PCs - hardware support is just one of the issues. We still need OS and software support for multi-touch to truly work and be functional, which presents more delays.  

By the way, my St. Louis trip has delayed my publishing the N-Trig interview. I'm still working on it, getting more questions / answers from N-Trig, etc.

We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know the specfics, and speculation has been wildly crazy on this. Sprint joined Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile with their own “unlimited” plan today, but they redefined the landscape with their new offering. The others offer “unlimited” voice options with data plans you can add on. Sprint’s Simply Everthing plan will offer “unlimited” voice and data along with text, e-mail and GPS. Here’s the quote from the press release:

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In an industry-defining move, Sprint (NYSE:S) today announced it will launch a domestic unlimited pricing plan that gives customers unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, Sprint TVSM, Sprint Music, GPS Navigation, Direct Connect® and Group Connect® for $99.99 a month. The new pricing plan is available to existing and new customers beginning tomorrow.

The inclusion of data and other services is huge in my opinion and should spark some shakeup down the road. Note also, that existing customers can opt for the new plan without having to extend their existing contract.

Looks like I’m heading to the Sprint Store this weekend if I can find a few moments.

Here’s the link to the full press release.

I can't draw worth a darn, so this program I founda program called K-Sketch from The Register might be good for some 'impressive' drawings when no one is looking.  This might make for a fun contest sometime to see who can come up with the most creative animated drawing.

K-Sketch will allow ordinary computer users to create informal animations from sketches. Current tools for creating animation are extremely complex. This makes it difficult for designers to prototype animations and nearly impossible for novices to create them at all. Simple animation systems exist but severely restrict the types of motion that can be represented. To guide the design K-Sketch, we have conducted field studies into the needs of professional and novice animators. These studies showed the wide variety of motions that users desire in informal animations and indicate how to prioritize these types of motion. Our design allows the most important types of motion to be defined with pen gestures, and gives visual feedback for coordination of events.

I am downloading K-Sketch now - I'll see if tonight I can post up a rough animated something...

So there looks to be a Beta of Internet Explorer 8 out there to some select beta testers.  I know there is a public beta coming soon, but for now, any GBM readers out there with their Tablet PC's running the new IE8 Beta??

Microsoft is planning a public beta of the new browser, and rumors have it that it will be released after Mix08 - March 5-7, so the wait might not be much longer...

And it does pass the Acid2 test now :)

Google Docs has gotten a nip and a tuck and has redone the look of their Cloud applications. While it isn’t a major overhaul, the look and feel now feels a bit more like Microsoft Office prior to the 2007 GUI. 

I’m not a big user of Google Docs primarily because the spreadsheet application is so lacking and most of the spreadsheets I work with are more complex than I can work with in Google Docs. While the word processor is sufficient enough to do some of my word processing, it has been mostly an experiment for me to use it, not a difference in work flow.

So, I’m curious. How many GBM readers use Google Docs and what are your experiences? Chime in.

Via Google Blogoscoped

Trying to keep all my e-mails during the day straight is sometimes a chore, and the biggest part of that is making sure some of the requests get done before I forget about them...

This is what I am currently doing - I do have a new process I am going to try, but I will post that up after about a week of trying the new system.  What do others use?  OneNote and Outlook?  Am I missing a great tool??  This process works in tablet mode or laptop mode with the help of TEO.

1. I have added a button to the Quick Access Toolbar that will allow me to 'copy to folder' - I do a copy because I still want the e-mail to be in my Inbox

2. Then I choose the folder for 'Tasks'

3. After that, I put in the Title and when the task is to be completed

So there you have it - my simple way to make a task out of an e-mail...  I will sometimes just do a drag and drop, but I already have the e-mail open most of the time - say form a reply or fwd.  And since I have a Windows Mobile phone, the reminders get to me on my phone as well with Exchange Activesync.  The new system to get me more organized is going to be much more work to get set up, so we'll see after I get it fully up and running.  Stay Tuned!

Not that I'm trying to one-up Warner or anything, but I just received a sample of an iRex iLiad e-book reader with an integrated Wacom digitizer.

Although the iRex iLiad is not a new product, given the recent reviews of the Amazon Kindle and the video we did with the Kindle and the Sony Reader PRS-500, it seemed appropriate to look at the only real pen-based solution on the market. After all, inking is the way to go!

I'll be doing a full InkShow on the iLiad in the next couple of weeks, but to whet your appetite:

• Best screen visibility -  by FAR, over the Sony Reader or the Kindle. Totally subjective, but wow.
• Larger screen - 8.1" diagonal vs. 6" diagonal
• Digitizer - allows both book annotations as well as free-form note taking on blank sheets of e-paper
• Sudoku - 'Nuf said.
• WiFi - I connected to my WPA encrypted access point at home in just a couple of minutes. Transfer files, etc. Although the reader doesn't officially support web browsing, there are solutions for that available on the web (like enabling the browser that actually ships in the system but hidden/disabled).
• File formats supported : PDF / HTML / TXT / JPG / BMP/ PNG / PRC (Mobipocket)
• You can read the full set of product specifications on the iLiad website.

Before you ask, yes, all of this goodness comes at a hefty price. The official US sales portal is eReader Outfitters who list the iLiad at $699. Yes, for that same $699 I could buy a decent laptop. But for those people who really want a portable note-taking solution, this could be an interesting slate. I plan on checking this out as more than just an e-book reader so that I can see how far into the slate computer category this can stretch.

Mi-Co, makers of Mi-Forms, one of the most popular form-filling packages that supports ink input, is sponsoring User Days 2008, April 22-23 in Research Triangle Park, NC. If you're in the area and interested in forms input with inking, this should be a great conference to attend. "This conference will be packed with examples of how companies can save time and money in implementing data capture applications using the latest in mobile technology, Digital Ink, and Mi-Co software."

Location: Hilton RTP, Research Triangle Park, NC

Dates: April 22-23

Agenda:

• Mi-Forms Technology updates - Preview of Mi-Forms Version 7
• Presentations, Speakers, and Panels
  • Latest trends & technology in Mobile Forms Solutions
  • Hands on demonstrations of Mi-Forms Solutions in use today
• Hardware - see what's new for mobile data collection
  • Digital Pen
  • Tablet PC
  • Windows Mobile
  • Intel MCA
• Exhibits
• Networking
• Awards and Prizes
• Just plain FUN

Registration information should be posted soon on the Mi-Co homepage.

NedZad Mujcinovic’s concept for a multi-touch screen e-Book reader makes so much sense, that I would imagine companies interested in the market are already working on their own. Doing away with buttons and relying on a touch screen, especially if there is multi-touch, just seems like a no-brainer way to go. Another nice feature of Mujcinovic’s design for the Livre, is that it has a leather cover. Hmmm? I wonder how soon before he gets hired?

Via Engadget

We’re seeing more and more (probably because we’re looking) news about touch on tables and surfaces lately. Here’s another that just popped on to our radar. The TouchTable 84 is designed as a collaboration tool that is networkable so that multiple users in the same or different locations can work with data.

Additional TouchTables can be networked to allow synchronized remote collaboration.  This means that different groups can connect to the network and share data over long distances.  Each device on the network displays the same information and is updated concurrently.  Control of the displayed information can be handed off as needed and shared among groups as the discussion warrants. This shared virtual space allows all groups of users to contribute, regardless of their physical location.

Via BornRich.org via SlashGear

Yeah, this is a rant and it is probably a bit off topic for our usual coverage here. But I’ll try and make it relevant. AllTel is proudly announcing a new voice mail service called VoiceMail Max. The purpose? It will now allow customers to customize their voicemail greetings with celebrity voices.

Here’s my point. I understand mobile companies and OEM’s work hard to come up with products and services that lend the perception of value to their customers. Nothing wrong with that. But, IMHO, we see far too much of this kind of silly development on things that are nothing more than polished up fru-fru that quickly fades away. The same can be said of companies, like Asus, that spend resources developing their own little proprietary apps for their devices that do nothing more than fill up the machine with CRAPWARE. Most of that kind of CRAPWARE quickly gets uninstalled, so why bother adding it in the first place.

I’d much rather see these companies devote those resources into better products, better service, and indeed into better customer service, than I would continue on the path of providing silly add ons. That’s where the real value is with a customer, not in some silly service or application.

Well, I guess that’s confidence. HP must think they’ve got a winner on their hands, and I’m surely hoping they do. According to reports from DigiTimes they’ve ordered up 2 million of the yet to be released Compaq 2133 UMPCs that we and everybody have been following. As Engadget points out, that’s 10% of HP’s worldwide laptop sales last year. I think the price is going to be a real determining factor here. Some reports peg it at $600, some at $400. In the end, I’m betting we’ll see some different configurations with different prices.

Via jkOnTheRun

GBM Forum member Sean is reporting on this experiences with the new Fujitus P1620 in a great thread in the GBM Forums. To get started he sets up his usage scenario and his previous devices and then departs from there. He’s answering user questions and there are a couple of interesting points to highlight. First up, I’m pleased that Fujitsu’s palm rejection seems to be working as well with the P1620 as it did with its earlier cousin. Second, while he likes the SSD, he is concerned about the 32GB size. He covers everything from battery life to the keyboard in his posts in the thread, so if you’re interested in the P1620, check it out. Nice job, Sean.

Don't go to the bank on this one, but....

I've been hearing some rumblings around the tabletscape that Lenovo's next Tablet PC will be dubbed the X200, and is set to release around the 4th quarter of this year.

If true, I wonder what we might could look forward to in an X200? What features of the X300 could we hope to see in an X200?

Some items I think are a given:

• SSD
• I see them sticking with the 12 inch screen. X300 for 13", X200 for 12"; not sure what they'll do with resolution given the 1400 x 1050 issues.
• Definitely going thinner in the fashion of the X300
• Multi-Touch improvements
• Wireless USB
• LED screen

What do you think?

You guys are ruthless. I give you a mile, you want two. I give you some chocolate cake, you want icing on it. Geesh, what else can a guy do to get some appreciation around here?

Hoping to satisfy the longings of the heart of many GBM readers out there, I begged the powers-that-be at Motion Computing to share something else about that super secret Motion Computing Tablet PC I've been using the past week, and here it is:

It's durable.

How's that for something extra to whet your appetite.

Stay tuned.....

GBM reader Phillip sent us a link to a guy that used Snag-It and MindManager to take notes with during a training session.  It's an interesting concept to morph the two together.  I use SnagIt, from TechSmith (one of our site sponsors), in a similar fashion, but not in combination with MindManager.  I normally just take a 'snag' and it automatically gets sent into the clipboard - then I can paste it about anywhere. 

I can see how capturing the screen, adding ink notes/arrows and sending it to MindManager would be very useful during a technical session.  I was in one last week and would have like to use it then...  Maybe I need to take a look at that link for the MM plugin for SnagIt.

This would be great for making that UMPC into a carputer.  Laptop GPS World is giving away a fully loaded package to two lucky winners!!  Head over and sign up!  I had Streets and Trips running on my R2H for a while and it did a really good job.  This prize would allow you to have any UMPC (or Tablet PC for that matter) as a navigation unit!

Microsoft just donated to Laptop GPS World two copies of Streets & Trips 2008 with Connected Services. For those not familiar with this product, please read our Review: Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 (Laptop GPS World review). Streets & Trips is a very popular trip planning software program. The new "Connected Services" edition comes with an excellent GPS receiver (based on the powerful SiRFstarIII chipset), and a new MSN Direct receiver for providing traffic information and local gas prices.

One part of this prize package I didn't have was the MSN Direct service - anybody out there using this service already?

 Lenovo created quite a stir the past several weeks with the ultra-thin, 2.9 lb X300 notebook.

After visiting the Apple store last week, I would have purchased the MacBook Air had I had the money. I'm glad I waited until I got my hands on the X300. WOW!! I'm amazed every time I pick up the X300 at how light and well balanced it is. The boot speed and overall speed has been pretty impressive so far, too. In my opinion, the extra features like 2 more USB slots, support for 2 batteries, wireless USB, and integrated WWAN make this a no-brainer for the road warrior . The only thing missing, of course, is the Tablet PC functionality.

Enjoy this first look review of the X300. In addition, I also compare it to the X61 Tablet PC so you can get a real world comparison to the size differences. I'll have a more detailed review in the next couple of weeks. Post any questions you might have, and I'll try to get them answered.

• Download the high res video review
• Watch the embedded video review below
• Pricing starts at $2548
• Learn more by visiting Lenovo.com, and by visiting Inside The Box where they open up the X300 and tell you all the background information on it.
• See comparison pictures between the X300 and the X61 Table PC

So, if you’re afraid that you might be picking up some germs from your handheld, or if you share devices with others, or if you’re in the health care field, this might be of interest.

Socket Mobile is announcing a new line of products that come with an anticbacterial plastic to cut down the transmission of germs.

The first product they will be releasing is the SoMo 650 handheld computer and docking cradle and that is targeted for the third quarter of 2008.

Here’s a quote from the press release:

The new antibacterial product line incorporates the use of an antibacterial additive that gradually releases microbe-fighting metal ions upon becoming moist or wet. In conjunction with the traditional cleaning and sterilization procedures used on similar data collection equipment in the healthcare and hospitality industries, devices built with antibacterial plastic provide an additional layer of protection against the multiplication and spread of potentially harmful bacteria and microbes, giving organizations the opportunity to enhance the safety of medical staff, patients, workers and visitors. In addition, the antibacterial plastic reduces, or in many cases eliminates, the need for and dependence on protective skins or shells that can become expensive over time as a consumable-type accessory.

And here’s a link to the full press release.

Thanks to Steve Seto who sent this in.

Looks like Lenovo is now shipping the new ThinkPad X300 and at a lower price than was previously mentioned. Considerably lower. According to Gizmodo, you can order one today for $2,488 as opposed to $3,111.00. The price I’m seeing at the moment on the Lenovo site is a bit different, but then the configurations may be as well, but it definitely looks like a price drop. At least for the moment.

Now if we can just get Rob to give us some more info on that review unit he has.