11APR2001 Happy Days Are Here Again. Or are they?  The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 257.59 on Tuesday (Apr. 10). The NASDAQ rose 106.32. And, the S&P 500 Index rose 30.79. The experts are saying that investors have factored-in the earnings warnings during the past few months and that we may have found the  market bottom and be on the path to recovery. Then, after hours, Motorola reported a 9 cent per share loss, 2 cents more than the 7 cent loss expected. It is also Motorola's first quarterly operating loss in 15 years. The US markets open in less than 8 hours as I write these words. My guess is that Wednesday is going to get ugly in certain sectors, if not the entire market based on Motorola's results.

Yahoo, Rambus, Juniper, and GE report their earnings this week. Next week Microsoft, Intel, Metricom (Ricochet), and McData report in. The following week SBC Communications and another large group of companies check in with their earnings report. Looks like a stomach churning couple of weeks ahead of us.

So, let's start the MobileViews Index of Mobility Companies set at $287.49 (up $15.45, 5.7%) as of April 10 (Tuesday) and check back on the index in a month.

10APR2001 Earnings Season. Be afraid, be very afraid...  In the good old days (anytime before March 2000), the time for quarterly earnings reports was one of anticipation in the good sense. A reasonably built portfolio (and many unreasonably built ones) was likely to see an increase in value based on positive earnings reports from publicly traded companies like Cisco, Microsoft, and Yahoo. These days, though, the time for earnings reports is a time of dread and fear. If you, like me, still have an interest in the stock market, check out the new MobileViews Mobile Portfolio. It can help you keep track of firms related to the PDA and wireless web access business.

Check out the MobileViews.com home page. I've been adding new content and links to my writing on PocketPC.com. You can find my Review of NSBasic/CE and my How-To article on beaming HanDBase files in the What's New section.

And, where the heck were my so-called daily commentaries between March 30 and now? I had to make an unexpected trip to Dallas. last week. Preparing for that trip, making the trip, and general laziness after I returned caused the gap. I have a couple more business trip scheduled over the next 6 weeks. So, there may be a gap or two between now and the end of May.

30MAR2001 Spring is Here. Time for Updates!  Did you read my review of the Novatel Minstrel 540 CDPD wireless modem and OmniSky ISP service for the HP Jornada 540 Series in PocketPC.com? If you use OmniSky's service, you should know they just released the OmniSky Release 2.0 Rev. B Upgrade for HP Jornada 540 Series. I installed the upgrade and tested the service a bit after soft-reseting my HP Jornada 547. The performance and stability seems a bit better. And, Omnisky claims that you can now perform SSL transactions with 128-bit encryption.

I haven't seen the new 64MB RAM Compaq iPAQ 3670 or 16MB HP Jornada 525 Pocket PCs yet. However, MSNBC's Gary Krakow has. It is interesting to note that he really seems to like the low-end HP Jornada 525 and its 8-bit (256 color) screen. Check out his column titled...Pocket PCs: Both bigger and smaller

Tip of the day: Ever wish you could monitor your Palm's synchronization progress? Check out the free PC Magazine NetPerSec utility for Windows 95/98/Me/NT4/2000. I noticed it kept track of my Handspring Visor Platinum's USB HotSync progress. It doesn't do that when a Pocket PC syncs via ActiveSync though. Its main purpose is to help you gauge your modem, DSL, or cable modem connection speed. But, it also seems to do a credible job of monitoring Palm  synchronization too.

29MAR2001 The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!  ...or at least that's what it feels like if you watch the stock market these days. Palm (PALM) lost 47.98% of its value on Wednesday (3/28), Handspring (HAND) lost 32.82%, and Research In Motion (RIMM) lost 17.95%. Even Microsoft's (MSFT) 4.61% loss looked good in comparison. Pocket PC makers Compaq (CPQ) and Hewlett-Packard (HWP) lost 4.05% and 6.07% respectively. MSFT, CPQ, and HWP do not make the majority of their income from Mobile products like PALM, HAND, and RIMM. Still, it was interesting to note that Casio (CSIOY) only lost 0.12%.

How will these companies compare in the days and weeks to come? I don't know. But click on the link below to use MSN Investor to track their progress...

Track PALM, HAND, RIMM, MSFT, CPQ, HWP, CSIOY

On lighter note, drop by my new Pocket PC Applications list at...

http://mobileviews/websites/PocketPCApps.html

...It isn't very pretty at the moment. But, it may interest you to know that I maintain the data in a HanDBase applet. The HanDBase desktop application transforms it into XML. And, I upload this XML data file nightly to the web site where the Javascript I wrote using XMLDOM slurps in the XML and creates the hotlinks and simple formatting you see. I plan to enhance this page further as I learn more about how to use Javascript with XMLDOM.

24MAR2001 HP Posts 525/710 Info; Pocket PC Service Pack 1.  HP placed information about the new Jornada 525 Pocket PC and 710 Handheld PC at...

http://www.hp.com/jornada/

You'll also find information about the new CF Card Pocket Camera for the Pocket PC there. Unfortunately, the Product Information box on the right leads to information about the 520 series instead of the camera itself. And, the Press Release area still doesn't have anything more recent than Sept. 7, 2000.

You can find Microsoft Service Pack 1 for the Pocket PC at...

http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/servicepack1.asp

Be sure to read the notes. I understand that the patch requires quite a bit of space. So, you should probably do some research to decide whether really need to apply this SP.

Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) is set to release their 1st quarter earnings report on March 27. It will be interesting to see what their numbers look like in this soft economy. Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) makes a presentation at the S G Cowen Global Tech Conference next week. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) doesn't report its 3rd quarter earnings until April 19.

23MAR2001 What's the Deal With HP???  Here's why HP puzzles me. Go take a look at their Handheld and Pocket PC web site at http://www.hp.com/jornada/. Take a look at the Press Release area that hasn't been updated since early September 2000 (nearly 7 months ago). Then, take a look at their CeBIT New Mobile Products page at http://www.hpcebit.de/transform/new/mobile-01.htm. Click on the order product information link and see if you can get any product information via e-mail. I clicked on the link, filled out my contact information. After 12 hours, I have not seen any of the information I asked for? Namely... Information about the recently announced HP Jornada 525 Pocket PC and HP Jornada 710 Handheld PC. Why doesn't HP update the Press Release area for the Jornada? Why make it so hard to learn more about the new 525 and 710? I'm a huge fan of HP products. I want to know more about the 525 and 710. I'm sure a lot of you do too. I think we should all give HP a call and let them know that we like their products and want to learn more about their current (no Press Releases for 7 months?) and upcoming products. Personally, I can't figure out what the difference is between the 720 Handheld PC and the new 710. As a 720 owner, I'd like to know that. So, what's up HP?

22MAR2001 New HP Pocket PC & Handheld PC; Bluetooth Printer Access.  There are a lot of announcements this week with both CeBIT (Germany) and CTIA (US) conferences taking place. HP announced new inexpensive Laser printers with IR ports for wireless printing from handheld devices...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5195295.html

Socket Communications demonstrated Bluetooth wireless printing from a Pocket PC to an Epson Stylus 777 color inkjet printer...

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/010320/0346.html

HP announced both a new low-end Pocket PC called the HP Jornada 525 that has 16MB RAM and a LCD screen that apparently is more inexpensive that what we have typically seen on Pocket PCs to date. They also announced a HP Jornada 710 Handheld PC 2000. I'm guessing that this is a 16MB RAM version to complement the existing 32MB HP Jornada 720. I hope the 710 has a price point that allows more people and businesses to consider a Handheld PC as well as a Pocket PC...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5203331.html

Finally, Research In Motion (RIM) announced a new feature/service that lets Blackberry two-way pager users synchronize their calendar wirelessly. This is a great feature for Blackberry users...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5202310.html

21MAR2001 Thumbs Down on the Palm m505 screen? I haven't seen the new Palm m505 system yet. But, MSNBC's Gary Krakow has. And, it seems he isn't very impressed with the m505's color screen. You can find his review at...

http://www.msnbc.com/news/546477.asp?0nm=B1AN

How about an MSN branded two-way pager? According to reports from CTIA, Microsoft and Motorola are going to make an MSN branded Talkabout T900 two-way pager. It will feature MSN services (presumably Hotmail, MSN Messenger, and the like). The pager will cost US$99 and the monthly service fee will be $15. I didn't see how many pages/month this fee covers...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5186698.html?tag=cd_mh

AOL is already selling an AOL-branded RIM Blackberry two-way pager called AOL Mobile Communicator. MSNBC's Gary Krakow reviewed it last month and noted some unpleasant experiences. You can find his commentary at...

http://www.msnbc.com/news/528671.asp

As for me... I'm writing more articles for Microsoft's PocketPC.com site. My next couple of articles will be about my favorite Pocket PC application: DDH Software's HanDBase. I'm working on an article about beaming HanDBase records and databases between Pocket PCs and Palm OS devices. Next is an article about exporting/importing files between HanDBase and other applications (tip: exporting to XML is very cool). After that, I'm taking a look at Applian's RemindMe. It is useful subset of the reminder features found in the popular Palm OS app called BugMe!. I'm hoping Applian will morph this application into the more sticky note type application that BugMe! has become.

20MAR2001 Pocket PC Updates, Palm Syncing, & More: Compaq released interim updates to fix iPAQ 3600 series problems with USB/Serial synchronization and PCMCIA (PC Card). You can find the ROMPaqs at...

http://www.compaq.com/support/files/handhelds/us/locate/48_1231.html

I'm too cowardly to test them on my iPAQ. So, please let me know your experiences if you attempt any of the upgrades. Microsoft has its own Pocket PC Service Pack 1 (SP1) updates at...

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q292/2/39.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=g

Please read the notes for all these updates carefully before proceeding to apply the patches!

Iomega announced that the PocketZip (formerly known as the Clik! drive) PC Card will be compatible with the new Compaq dual PC Card sleeve for the iPAQ 3600 series. It will be great to be able to purchase 40MB increments of storage for US$10 (or thereabouts)...

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010319/lam048b.html

Puma announced the Intellisync.com web site/service that lets you sync Outlook, Palm Desktop, or a Palm OS device with Puma's Sync-It feature on the web site...

http://sync.intellisync.com/site/s27_sync-it.htm

This web-based sync feature presumably goes beyond the TrueSync and Intellisync options we've seen fused with various other web-PIM sites (e.g., Yahoo or FusionOne).

19MAR2001 Palm Has Been Very Busy: I update the MobileViews news links throughout the day. If you visit it you will notice that Palm has been very busy lately. For example, Palm announced that they bought PeanutPress today. This could prove to be an interesting problem for Microsoft's Reader eBook initiative. You can find the PRNewswire release at:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010319/hsm015.html

The new US$449 Palm M505 color unit is as interesting if not more, surprisingly, than the recent Handspring Visor Edge and Sony Clie announcements. It looks about the size of a Palm V. It runs the new Palm OS 4.0 and has a 16-bit (64K) color display, a expansion card slot supporting the Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard card types (the Casio EM-505 also supports these cards), and a new Universal Connector that promises to be used across all new Palms, Palm has introduced a beefed up but still slim competitor to both the Palms and the Pocket PC. While Pocket PCs are still (in my opinion) more powerful and flexible than the Palm, I think the slim form factor is going to remain one of the key reasons many people stay with Palm instead of migrating to a Pocket PC.

http://www.palm.com/products/palmm505/

17MAR2001 New Pocket and Handheld PCs?: Sometimes you almost get what you wish for. Via PocketPCThoughts and PDABuzz, I learned that the NEC MobilePro 790 Handheld PC 2000 is available in the UK (but apparently not the US). You can learn more about the 790 at the NEC UK web page found at...

http://www.nec-online.co.uk/our_product_range/product.asp?id=566

I hope NEC brings the 790 to the US' shores very soon!

CNet reports that HP will introduce an inexpensive color Pocket PC called the HP Jornada 520 at CeBit next week with 16MB RAM and an inexpensive color screen (fewer colors or lesser quality?). We'll have to wait to find out more. In the meantime, you can find the CNet report at....

http://cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5163378.html

There's also a report from CNet that the Compaq iPAQ 1.69 ROM upgrade prevents the Xircom 56K CF modem from working with the iPAQ. Click here to find the Compaq sponsored discussion forums. Check out the CNet article linked at...

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5162779.html

I got the chance to play with the new Kyocera QCP 6035 CDMA smartphone sold by Verizon Wireless in the US. This is a remodeled version of the Palm OS based phone that Qualcomm made before they got rid of their manufacturing arm. I was quite impressed by what I saw in the few minutes I had with the device. At 7.34 ounces (208g), it is only a bit heavier that most of the phones now on the market. The phone's width is a bit wider because of the large screen used for interaction with Palm OS. However, the screen is smaller than Palm and Handspring screens keeping the width down to a comfortable and manageable size. The DTMF keyboard touchpad covers the Palm writing area of the screen when flipped up. You can flip it down to expose the rest of the screen to use standard Palm applications with a stylus. You can find more details at...

http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/kysmart/kysmart_series.htm

16MAR2001 Where Did All the Handheld PCs Go?: All of my published articles in the last year have been about Pocket PCs. However, I am also a big fan of the Handheld PCs with keyboards too. You can see the HPCs I am using now or have retired over on my Currently Running page. Right now we only have two fims manufacturing HPC 2000 units: HP and Intermec (nearly everyone forgets Intermec). I'm hoping that NEC decides to add a current generation HPC 2000 model to their HPC Pro-based MobilePro line (the 780 and 800). The NEC MobilePro 750 and 780 had, in my opinion, one of the most useable form-factors of all the HPCs. They were small enough to place in nearly any kind of business or casual carrying bag but also had a large enough keyboard that I could touch-type on under nearly any ordinary business condition (darkened keynote presentation, stadium seating (no desks), conference rooms, my desk, etc. So, please let me know if you hear of any other manufacturers that start building HPC 2000 models. Although I like and use my HP Jornada 720 a lot, I'd like to see something closer to the NEC MobilePro 780 form factor.

FYI: One HP Jornada 720 question that seems to appear now and then is: What fax software runs on the 720 now that bSQUARE does not sell bFAX Pro? It looks like KSE Truefax may run on the 720. You can find it at the URL below. Please what you think of it if you try it.

http://www.ksesoftware.com/products/ce/communication/truefax/default.html

15MAR2001 DDH Software HanDBase for the Pocket PC: I was introduced to HanDBase late in its Pocket PC version beta cycle. But, it didn't take long (a few minutes) for me to become a HanDBase fan. Why am I so excited about this database application? Because it lets a person with no programming skills develop a useful database application (DDH calls them applets) very quickly and easily. I use the applets I've built daily since the first day I installed HanDBase on my Pocket PC. You can find my review (as well as a two-part tutorial on building a simple applet) on Microsoft's PocketPC.com site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/reviews/handbase.asp

13MAR2001 New Sony Clie?: Palm introduces the $199 M105 to compete with Handspring's low-end. Handspring introduces the very appealing Visor Edge to compete with Palm's top-end. And, Sony is introducing its new Clie PEG N700C. I was about to dismiss it sight-unseen as an also ran when I decided to hunt it down on the web. I found a photo of it on Sony Japan's web site. Sony's first Clie didn't impress me. I took a look at it at Fall Comdex 2000. I thought Handspring's products were much more interesting. But, this new Clie. This is a whole different animal. It has the look of something out of Star Trek. Even its model designation N700C sounds like a Starship identifier. I was impressed by Handspring's Visor Edge yesterday. I am even more impressed by Sony's industrial designers today. I think they have designed something that will appeal to a lot of people just by the way it looks. If it performs well and comes in at an affordable price point, Palm and Handspring better start worrying.

http://www.sony.co.jp/sd/CLIE/index_pc.html

12MAR2001 Handspring Visor Edge: I'm going to delay my where is the Handheld PC today discussion for a day so I can comment on the Handspring Visor Edge announced today.

Some of you probably know me from the articles I've written for Microsoft's PocketPC.com or my former job as Forum Manager for the MSN (later MSN with ZDNet) Windows CE Forum. Although I'm most associated with the Windows CE-based Handheld and Pocket PCs, I enjoy working with all kinds of ultraportable devices including those running Palm OS and Linux. So, I had more than a passing interest in Handspring's announcement of the Visor Edge.

The edge costs $399 and is about the same size as the best-selling Palm V although to me it looks more like the Sony Clie. I think Handspring did a lot of things right. And, I even agree with a few things that will probably be criticized by others (like how the Springboard adapter ruins the Edge's design lines and carrying case requirements). What do I like?

1. The size. Everyone, even Pocket PC owners, wants their PDA to be the size and weight of a Palm V.
2. The screen cover. This is a must. It lets you carry the Edge with screen protection but without having to add the extra bulk of a carrying case. I wish all Pocket PCs had a screen cover (only the HP Jornada 540 series does right now).
3. The Springboard adapter (detachable Springboard slot that ships with every Edge). Yes, it makes the Edge look odd. However, it gives the Edge owner the option of using the growing number of Springboard modules. I think, for example, that the Backup Module is a must have for any Visor owner.
4. Silent alarm. Handheld and Pocket PC owners have had this feature for years. It is handy when you want to be notified without disturbing others (e.g., in a meeting or theater).
5. Fast Lookup. I have not seen this, but it sounds like a good search alternative.

You'll probably read a few people criticize Handspring for not making this Edge model (who knows what else they have?) a color LCD model. I'm not going to do that. My view is that most Palm/Visor users do not really care about color. The grayscale LCD is very easy to read in most lighting conditions. And, in any case, from what I've seen of the Palm IIIc and Visor Prism, the color LCDs are nice but nowhere near as good as the various Pocket PC color LCD displays. I think the 160x160 (Palm) vs. 240x320 (Pocket PC) screen difference is huge (237% more pixels on the Pocket PC). I think Handspring has a winning design in the Edge. It should be interesting to see how it competes against the Palm V. You can read more about the Edge at...

http://www.handspring.com/products/visoredge/

11MAR2001 Handheld PCs: Most enthusiast sites like this one tend to focus on a single platform type: Usually the Pocket PC or Palm. I happen to use a lot of different devices: Pocket PCs, Handheld PCs, Palm devices, and web enabled phones. So, you will read commentaries about a lot of different things here. For the next day or two (or maybe more), I'm going to talk about the Windows CE-based Handheld PCs (the clamshell devices with a keyboard). I've got five HPCs running right now and have retired three of them. So, what's happening in the HPC world? Stay tuned for more comments. In the meantime, check out Applian's new CoolCalc (calculator) for H/PC. You can find it at:

http://www.applian.com/hpc/CoolCalc/

10MAR2001 Handheld PCs: It seems like the good ol' Windows CE Handheld PC is a forgotten platform. We haven't seen any Handheld PC 2000 except for the excellent HP Jornada 720 appear since Fall 2000. Here's my take on the situation. There's no sense whining about it. At least the one HPC 2000 we have (the HP Jornada 720) is a good one. Let's make the most of it. Tip: Don't forget you can download free software for the 720 from HP's web site. They have applications like Phatware HPC Notes 3.04 Lite available at:

http://www.hp.com/jornada/products/720/software.html

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