Handheld PCs and their computing cousins plan to take the stage in New York City. Microsoft and Fujitsu will be making the case for tablet PCs, while PC makers will spin visions of a wireless paradise. Read the report at C|Net News.com. In the meantime, all major mobile operators in Europe and the US will launch cell phones and other wireless devices in the coming year that use Microsoft software, sources say. Read this story at News.com.
Tablet PCs, Wireless to Make Noise at High-Tech Show
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
I would have loved to have seen the BeIA-powered Qubit webpad – that had lots of potential.
I’m still looking for the near-mythical (affordable!) webpad/tabletpc/whatever that will allow me to do illustration at a decent resolution with pressure sensitivity.
On another tangent, I recently purchased a Handspring Visor Neo PDA … the little sucker is addictive & actually useful, beyond being a typical geek toy (not that I have anything against those
One of the coolest features is a little app called “Mobipocket” that turns it into an eBook electronic book reader. My favorite sciience fiction publisher, Baen Books, has a ton of what they call “Webscriptions” that allows you to download older printings of their publishing lineup. Right now, I’ve got three entire paperback volumes sitting in this thing, and there’s room for more.
Now, take this another step. Have your home server/gateway box sitting there humming along. It’s hooked up to an 802.11b wireless broadcasting unit. Your webpad/tablet is connected through this, and you can not only do email, browse the web, etc., etc., you can also download any number of eBooks you’ve got stored locally in your server library. Or, if the one you want isn’t there, your server software goes out and fetches it and makes it available to you on your webpad.
One of the nicest features of the Mobipocket app I’m using is being able to do a search for a particular text string. Talk about extremely handy, especially for tech manuals!
Anyway, if they can make a webpad at a reasonable price, I’m going to be hard-pressed not to run out and buy one.
Newsflash: TechXNY, supposedly a technology show, requires attendees who pay for their admission to supply the last 4 digits of their social security number to verify their credit card info during the online signup.
Combined with info located on other sites on how to breakdown social security numbers (beginning numbers are social security offices and area locators), and the info supplied during signup, crackers now have all the tools they need not only to steal your credit card info, but your identity as well.
God bless technology and TechXNY!
..of course that was many years ago, and CRT’s are sooo heavy.
Actually, I can’t wait to get a tablet pc. I’ve used a ruggedized one before, but it was vastly underpowered due to heat issues. All the benefits of a PDA and a PC in one unit. Saving $$$ now, for the machine, and the wireles access I’ll need to go with it…
They look goooooood……now imagine a linux distribution on one – maybe OEone?
Or, from a different perspective, maybe OBOS once its ready…?!
Sure, maybe if they develop the hand-writing recog. and inking software.
Why the hell would you buy a TabletPC just to stick a plain old OS on it that doesn’t support these features? Might as well just get a laptop.
I thought all “major” phone operators were also releasing phones with java as well? or is that not news?
Yes, they are. This was mentioned in a recent editorial on smartphone. Perhaps the Microsoft are more newsworthy because of how quickly Microsoft got INTO smartphones, and how quickly they are being released.
just a thought
–JM