Overview of Pocket PC 2002 and the PDA market

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/17233.html">http://wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/17233.html</a><br /><br />C. Marshall sends us this link of an article entiled "Reality Check: Pocket PC 2002." Has some pretty good comments.<br /><br />• Since its debut last fall, Pocket PC 2002 has helped handheld device makers using the platform cement its popularity in the enterprise market. But observers say Pocket PC 2002 still has a long way to go to win the hearts and dollars of users outside the workplace, most of whom prefer Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) <br />• "They did a good job updating the things that enterprise buyers want," Dulaney told Wireless NewsFactor. "But they didn't wow me on the applications that the rest of us use these things for -- scheduling, e-mail, etc." <br />• Among the improvements Gold cited are features making it easier to attach Word documents to e-mail and the capability of streamlining connections between the device and a company's back-office infrastructures. <br />• While Pocket PC is looking to improve its standing in the consumer sector, device makers are not shedding tears over the situation. In fact, said Meta Group's Gold, the Pocket PC is likely to reach a 50 percent penetration among enterprises over the next three years. "The Pocket PC is going after the higher end of the spectrum," Gold said. "It's not really meant to be in direct comparison with Palm." <br /><br />So what do you think? Sure the Pocket PC has room for improvement. What device doesn't? Obviously Palm thinks they have room for improvement or they wouldn't be finally abandoning their 6 year old OS when OS5 ships this year. You have got to love some of the stuff Pocket PC's in general and Pocket PC 2002 in particular enable you to do. Email attachments, voice recording (I use this heavily while driving), music, remote access to Terminal Server or XP Pro, keeping the important data from Outlook right in my pocket, etc. Do Pocket PC's compete with Palm OS devices? Not the $100 device to be sure, but what about plunking down $400 on a Sony Clie that lags far behind what a $500 iPAQ 3700 can do? Will consumers want to use their PDA as a cell phone? Handspring, Samsung, HP and others are betting the answer is yes.<br /><br />Tune in next year, same bat time, same bat channel, when all of these multifunction devices have shipped to find out the answer. Meanwhile, click the discussion link and tell me where you think it is headed. :-)

[fundmgr90210]

Being an enterprise user myself, I too would "love" what the PPC 2002 can do in terms of attachments, terminal server, etc. The problem for me was that everytime I needed it to do those things, the battery was dead, it was being repaired for a non-existent backlight, the number of open programs put such a drain on the device as to require a soft reset, or my email recipient received a Word attachment that looked like I just learned to compose my first document. What's more, the best place to use any PDA to do such tasks is in a "wireless" scenario. The problem there is that the network speeds are just too, too slow (obviously, this last part is not the fault of the PPC).

PPC is full of potential for what it can do. The problem is that potential doesn't get you there, particularly in "mission critical", enterprise scenarios. Notebooks are still the way to go. The pocket pc can be a decent compliment, but for $525 to $650?

Maybe Palm is only building in items like VPN, a full web browser, 802.11 and GPRS hooks, etc. to compete with MS, but you can't deny their timing. Cost and lack of availability of high speed wireless has made such features practically useless until the (hopefully) very near future. For all the lack of innovation they're accused of, they could be positioning themselves nicely.

[Jason Dunn]

For all the lack of innovation they're accused of, they could be positioning themselves nicely.


Quite possibly, but just like with multimedia and other features that were mocked at the Pocket PC launch two years ago, I think MS is gaining valuable experience in the market and honing their apps - Palm will be starting at 1.0, and that's always a little tough. :-)

[fundmgr90210]

Palm will be starting at 1.0, and that's always a little tough. :-)


Agreed (if you're referring to the fact that they're porting their OS over to a new processor). While it's vapor at the moment, the current reports are that 80% of the current applications should work fine (a good portion of the 20% are simply hacks). Something that should help Palm a great deal however in this regard is the size of it's developer base. I doubt too many of the big selling apps for the platform won't work on OS 5.0.

[Scott R]

The article you linked to doesn't seem to offer any new insights or information. It's just a hodge-podge of previously stated comments and statistics. I'm curious about this comment:
"They did a good job updating the things that enterprise buyers want," Dulaney told Wireless NewsFactor. "But they didn't wow me on the applications that the rest of us use these things for -- scheduling, e-mail, etc."
Wouldn't scheduling and email be two of the biggest things that enterprise buyers want?

Scott

[Ed Hansberry]

Wouldn't scheduling and email be two of the biggest things that enterprise buyers want?

The Pocket PC has better scheduling and email capabilities than the Palm does - sending meeting appointments, accepting invites, email attachments, etc. I think they were referring to the Calendar UI itself and lack of wireless email. Wireless will be taken care of with SmartPhone 2002 and Pocket PC Phone Edition 2002 soon. Calender? Well, www.pocketinformant.com handles that. :-)

The other things it added was terminal server support, VPN, AV API, etc. Things the enterprise is very interested in.

[Ed Hansberry]

Being an enterprise user myself, I too would "love" what the PPC 2002 can do in terms of attachments, terminal server, etc. The problem for me was that everytime I needed it to do those things, the battery was dead, it was being repaired for a non-existent backlight, the number of open programs put such a drain on the device as to require a soft reset, or my email recipient received a Word attachment that looked like I just learned to compose my first document.
Yes, the Pocket PC does have room for improvement in many areas. But lets look at each of these examples from the competition's side.

Dead battery - color Palm's don't last significanly longer than Pocket PC's, mainly due to the anemic 33Mhz processors and 66.67% fewer pixels to power. The t-615 from Sony seem to have about the same battery life as a Pocket PC.
The repair issue - I guess PPC users should feel lucky here. Last time I checked, it wasn't Pocket PC's causing people to replace motherboards on their PC because their PDA shorted it out. And how many M50x's went back after they absolutely QUIT working with their USB cradle. At least the PPC problems have been annoying, but rarely a total show stopper.
The use of PocketNav or other task switcher handles the memory issue quite nicely. Palm's of power users are hacked up beyond belief to do the simplest things - like show you a contact without forcing you to close your current app. Why is it so bad to have to install a simple task switcher? :roll: Easier to complain I guess.
Yes, Pocket Word needs work, but at least when I send an email to someone with a Pocket PC, or when someone sends me email, they know for a fact that I will be able to open it. Palm has admitted that no one third party app is installed on even 10% of Palm OS devices, so less than 10% of Palm users can even compose a Word document to send. Assuming they have installed an email app!

[Steven Cedrone]

Even when the Pocket PC was launched, Palm had to know they would have to give up on the Dragonball and the current (at the time) OS. I really think the "Why would you need that" campaign was just an attempt to blow smoke. Palm needed time to do one of the following:

1) Create a new OS.
2) Buy a new OS

Don't get me wrong, I started out with a Palm III (Changed out the 2 meg card with 8 meg from TRG as soon as it was available), but if they screw up OS 5.x, I think they will be history...

Just my .02



" same bat time, same bat channel (http://www.1966batmobile.com/)" Loved the old Batman show. Check out the Batmobile....

[dma1965]

I was a die hard Palm OS user for years before I got my iPaq. I only switched when I got a job in a company which uses CITRIX metaframe for all its connectivity, and Pocket PC allowed me to administer it from afar. I did not like my iPaq at all when I got it, the first night I had it the battery went dead, and, unlike the Palms I owned, there is no such thing as a one sync restore (still the single greatest feature of a Palm). I really disliked the then horrendous Pocket Money, and the calendar and address book, but soon found other applications (such as Agenda Fusion) which overcame these obstacles. Ultrasoft Money for the Palm OS still BLOWS AWAY Microsofts anemic Money, but it is now at least usable (and does not destroy my data, though I still do not trust it). It did not take me long to find applications that would do all I ever wanted to do with my Pocket PC, and then some. I now do not have any need whatsoever to carry my laptop with me when I travel or go to a job site. My Pocket PC and a few peripehrals can do it all with nary a hitch. What really proved to me that I had made the right decision is when we got a new guy in the company and I needed to help him set up his Handspring. What a nightmare! USB sync is sporadic at best. It occassionally just decides to delete all of his emails. Even using a simple expense calculating spreadsheet with Documents to Go will not work. I showed him my 3870, and all it can do, and he immediately fell in love. I showed him how I can take Yahoo! maps and directions and save them on my device, and view them in all their glory on my iPaq. I let him listen to some Mp3's and watch some movies. I showed him a huge spreadsheet which functions just as niceley on my iPaq as on the desktop. I showed him how fast it syncs, and that it requires no button presses to do so. I showed him how I can print my expense report by pointing it at the IR port of his HP LaserJet. He just stared at his Visor with a blank look on his face.

Is the Pocket PC perfect ? No! Is it easy to use ? With a little practice, absolutely! Will I ever go back? Never!!! :!: :!: :!:

[fundmgr90210]

Being an enterprise user myself, I too would "love" what the PPC 2002 can do in terms of attachments, terminal server, etc. The problem for me was that everytime I needed it to do those things, the battery was dead, it was being repaired for a non-existent backlight, the number of open programs put such a drain on the device as to require a soft reset, or my email recipient received a Word attachment that looked like I just learned to compose my first document.
Yes, the Pocket PC does have room for improvement in many areas. But lets look at each of these examples from the competition's side.

Dead battery - color Palm's don't last significanly longer than Pocket PC's, mainly due to the anemic 33Mhz processors and 66.67% fewer pixels to power. The t-615 from Sony seem to have about the same battery life as a Pocket PC.
The repair issue - I guess PPC users should feel lucky here. Last time I checked, it wasn't Pocket PC's causing people to replace motherboards on their PC because their PDA shorted it out. And how many M50x's went back after they absolutely QUIT working with their USB cradle. At least the PPC problems have been annoying, but rarely a total show stopper.
The use of PocketNav or other task switcher handles the memory issue quite nicely. Palm's of power users are hacked up beyond belief to do the simplest things - like show you a contact without forcing you to close your current app. Why is it so bad to have to install a simple task switcher? :roll: Easier to complain I guess.
Yes, Pocket Word needs work, but at least when I send an email to someone with a Pocket PC, or when someone sends me email, they know for a fact that I will be able to open it. Palm has admitted that no one third party app is installed on even 10% of Palm OS devices, so less than 10% of Palm users can even compose a Word document to send. Assuming they have installed an email app!


The t615c has a superior battery compared to any normally aspirated PPC device, period. I own a 568 (the best of the PPC lot) and a T615C (the supposed worst of the Palm lot). The 615 burys the 568's battery by a 3+ hours life in my use. Do you own the Sony, Ed or least extensively used it?;

I shouldn't need to use an add on in terms of memory management (and we're talking about the general market here BTW, most users wouldn't even know about Pocket Nav); however, I have used that program, Wisbar, and others and have experienced a significant general slowdown in the device. It's a pain, anyway you slice it;

I agree with you on the attachments side regarding Pocket Word vs. Palm offerings; however, the formatting of so many commonly used enterprise docs makes Pocket Word embarrassing for me to use. I mean that literally, I don't want to receive a formatted document, edit it, and send it out to someone in a Pocket Word format. They'll think I'm completely incompetent. Slight advantage PPC;

Yes, there were some 500 series Palms with a cradle (or SUDS) problem. Palm is replacing the cradles in question. I don't even think most of the dyed in the wool PPC users here would argue the fact that PPCs have had horrendous quality issues, particularly when compared to Palm OS devices. If you argue against that, then it really is apparent where you are coming from, and it's not someplace with any intellectual honesty.

You know, your response is more or less fine and expected. But comments such as "easier to complain I guess?" suggest that I'm just shelling for Palm and completely ignoring facts (something I've seen you get accused of doing for Microsoft quite a bit). You might want to consider cutting down on the "roll-eyes" as well. I and others find it weak. It makes it appear as if you're under the assumption that you have some sort of intellectual superiority and the rest of "just don't get it". It makes you look insecure.

[Scott R]

Wouldn't scheduling and email be two of the biggest things that enterprise buyers want?

The Pocket PC has better scheduling and email capabilities than the Palm does - sending meeting appointments, accepting invites, email attachments, etc. I think they were referring to the Calendar UI itself and lack of wireless email. Wireless will be taken care of with SmartPhone 2002 and Pocket PC Phone Edition 2002 soon. Calender? Well, www.pocketinformant.com handles that. :-)

The other things it added was terminal server support, VPN, AV API, etc. Things the enterprise is very interested in.

I'm not interested in hearing your marketing comparison list. I've heard all of that before and am well familiar with what the PPC offers. I was merely pointing out an odd quote from that "important" news item. It didn't sound at all like he was talking about the Calendar UI or lack of wireless, but I'd be interested to know exactly what he was talking about.

Scott

[Timothy Rapson]

Well, as long as this came up, I will throw in my 2 cents.

The PPC is still not stable enough. There are not enough applications and the one I really want (a really good word processor) won't be here as long as MS gives away the competing, but not competitive, PocketWord.

None of the PPC manufactures is serious. They are way overpriced and every PPC model out there has had at least one major design/manufacturing problem. HP = dust. Casio = burned out backlight. Now, Ipaq = a mysterious backlight firmware bug so flumoxing that even Compaq has no clue. The Toshiba's battery last as little as two hours and the only reasonably price PPC, the Maestro has the same lame battery and only 32 meg. It is mercifully being put out of it's misery.

On top of this the Sony Clie NR70 and NR 70V push PPC at the low end of their price range while beating them on several features. Now, there is the Sharp Zaurus comes to run real desktop level software with Linux and a full office suite. The battery life is like a PPC, but the batteries are reasonbly priced enough that one could buy a Zaurus and a couple of spare batteries and still not spend what an HP 567 with the expansion battery would cost. And he could use both memory/expansion slots at the same time. The Zaurus is the real deal for an enterprise model.

I don't think the enterprise is finding enough use for PPCs for them to work their way from the enterprise into the consumer market and MS is so far behind schedule in bringing them into the general consiousness by way of Stinger phones that no one can even remember what MS's plan is supposed to be anymore.



Now, we read that in February Palm share was back up in both the US and Canada.

It could all change if MS would make their OS a little more dependable (not so many soft resets) and if the new models (such as the consumer Genio) with more power stingy processors come on line for reasonable prices soon. Otherwise it will be Christmas and OS 5 will be out evaporating any advantage PPC may have. We'll see.

[Jason Dunn]

Agreed (if you're referring to the fact that they're porting their OS over to a new processor).


Actually, no, I was talking about what will happen when Palm says "Ok, we have the CPU resources now, so let's make an MP3 player and reach parity with the Pocket PC in audio." They're starting at 1.0, while MS has released several versions. Starting at 1.0 is always a little rough. :-)

Agreed that the "big" apps will be ported quickly, and it's good that they have such a high rate of apps working under the emulator. I do think it will be rough ride for the first year though - major OS and CPU changes are always a little confusing to Joe Consumer. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out...

[Jason Dunn]

The Sony uses a reflective screen similar to the iPAQ, yes? Does it have a dust problem as well? I know the first m505's had a dust problem - it seems to be more a "nature of the best" thing instead of being a "Pocket PC only" problem - something to think about when you guys are saying that "Pocket PC OEMs aren't serious". I do agree that the hardware quality needs to come WAY up (specifically with sealed screens), but it's not quite the doom and gloom you're saying it is. 8)

[Ed Hansberry]

I'm not interested in hearing your marketing comparison list. I've heard all of that before and am well familiar with what the PPC offers. I was merely pointing out an odd quote from that "important" news item. It didn't sound at all like he was talking about the Calendar UI or lack of wireless, but I'd be interested to know exactly what he was talking about.

Just common sense Scott. The PPC calendar app does MORE than the Palm app in meeting requests alone. It also allows multiple categories per item if desired. What features does the Palm calendaring app have that the PPC doesn't? None that I am aware of, though I don't ahve a Palm sitting next to me to compare. Its at the office in a drawer. So it must be the UI.

Email ditto. Most Palm's don't have email and the ones that do have less features - save the i705 and VII series and featurewise they have less, except for wireless.

What else could he possibly be talking about?

[Ed Hansberry]

The t615c has a superior battery compared to any normally aspirated PPC device, period. I own a 568 (the best of the PPC lot) and a T615C (the supposed worst of the Palm lot). The 615 burys the 568's battery by a 3+ hours life in my use. Do you own the Sony, Ed or least extensively used it?;

yes. Have one in use at the office. Not sat down do to battery tests, but after a day of similar usage patterns, my 3875 and the T-615 doesn't show much difference in the battery life.

You know, your response is more or less fine and expected. But comments such as "easier to complain I guess?" suggest that I'm just shelling for Palm and completely ignoring facts (something I've seen you get accused of doing for Microsoft quite a bit). You might want to consider cutting down on the "roll-eyes" as well. I and others find it weak. It makes it appear as if you're under the assumption that you have some sort of intellectual superiority and the rest of "just don't get it". It makes you look insecure.

As was yours. :roll: I simply wasn't going to allow yours to go unanswered.

[fundmgr90210]

The Sony uses a reflective screen similar to the iPAQ, yes? Does it have a dust problem as well? I know the first m505's had a dust problem - it seems to be more a "nature of the best" thing instead of being a "Pocket PC only" problem - something to think about when you guys are saying that "Pocket PC OEMs aren't serious". I do agree that the hardware quality needs to come WAY up (specifically with sealed screens), but it's not quite the doom and gloom you're saying it is. 8)


It's time though to put the "yes, but all sidelit reflective screens have dust" argument to rest though. To let the PPC manufacturers off the hook with that argument just isn't correct. Yes there was SOME dust screens in early Sony and Palm screens, but nothing (and I mean NOTHING) compared to say the early iPaq's (I went through 4 in a year!). Keep in mind, I'm not talking about one or two specs, but a whole cornflake field in every unit. Compaq finally seems to have solved their dust problem, only to be replaced by HP's. There's just no excuse. It's been a problem that I'm sure has impacted PPC's sales and bottom line.

[fundmgr90210]

yes. Have one in use at the office. Not sat down do to battery tests, but after a day of similar usage patterns, my 3875 and the T-615 doesn't show much difference in the battery life.

As was yours. :roll: I simply wasn't going to allow yours to go unanswered.


Really? And the Sony actually uses the battery the way the HP does when both are switched off, doing nothing?

No, you wouldn't let any questioning of PPC go unanswered would you? That's right Ed, don't ever let the facts get in the way of you "doing your job". Don't worry, no one ever takes your statements seriously anyway.

[fundmgr90210]

Actually, no, I was talking about what will happen when Palm says "Ok, we have the CPU resources now, so let's make an MP3 player and reach parity with the Pocket PC in audio." They're starting at 1.0, while MS has released several versions. Starting at 1.0 is always a little rough. :-)

Agreed that the "big" apps will be ported quickly, and it's good that they have such a high rate of apps working under the emulator. I do think it will be rough ride for the first year though - major OS and CPU changes are always a little confusing to Joe Consumer. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out...


I would agree, it could get difficult in spots with Joe Consumer. I don't really see multimedia being a problem though. The Clie does MP3 just about well enough for most users via a DSP. Os 5.0 will support "CD quality" audio. Video? A faster process makes almost all the difference in the world.

Your right, it will be interesting.

[Jason Dunn]

I would agree, it could get difficult in spots with Joe Consumer. I don't really see multimedia being a problem though. The Clie does MP3 just about well enough for most users via a DSP. Os 5.0 will support "CD quality" audio. Video? A faster process makes almost all the difference in the world.


Hmm...I'm not making myself clear here. :) I'm talking strictly about the APPLICATIONS - the software that plays the video and audio. If and when Palm decides to offer the software on their devices to play audio and video, they'll be starting from 1.0 - that's all I'm saying. Nothing to do with hardware. Even once Palm gets the hardware to allow video & audio, they have to get software to make it work, and right now they have nothing.

From what I understand the first Sony audio app was quite clumsy but subsequent ones have gotten better - 1.0 is always rough. Whereas the advantage that the Pocket PC has is that their applications have been though several cycles of improvement. Not enough improvement mind you... :wink:

[Rob Alexander]

He lost me when he said... "Pocket PC platform includes a number of improvements likely to keep it dominant in work settings for some time. Those features include improved security and integration with Windows-based office programs. " :? I'm sorry, but anyone loses credibility in my book who considers it "improved integration" with MS Word for Pocket Word to destroy the formatting of synchronized files that you try to round-trip through your PPC. MS should be embarrased that a third-party add-on for Palms does a better job of being a Pocket Word than does Pocket Word iteslf. Other than that, I didn't really see anything particularly noteworthy or insightful about the article.

[fundmgr90210]

Hmm...I'm not making myself clear here. :) I'm talking strictly about the APPLICATIONS - the software that plays the video and audio. If and when Palm decides to offer the software on their devices to play audio and video, they'll be starting from 1.0 - that's all I'm saying. Nothing to do with hardware. Even once Palm gets the hardware to allow video & audio, they have to get software to make it work, and right now they have nothing.

From what I understand the first Sony audio app was quite clumsy but subsequent ones have gotten better - 1.0 is always rough. Whereas the advantage that the Pocket PC has is that their applications have been though several cycles of improvement. Not enough improvement mind you... :wink:


Ahh...got it.

[Foo Fighter]

[quote]Posted by Jason

[Jason Dunn]

He lost me when he said... "Pocket PC platform includes a number of improvements likely to keep it dominant in work settings for some time. Those features include improved security and integration with Windows-based office programs.


To be fair, I think that even the critics like yourself should acknowlege that the Pocket PC has Word & Excel converters in ROM, always available, and pre-installed out of the box. There's nothing to install, nothing to configure, and if your unit happens to die on you on the road, everything is easy to restore. I understand your point that Documents to Go is a better overall solution (and I agree even having never used it), but give the Pocket PC a few credit points for having an integrated solution vs. a 3rd party solution. There IS some benefit in that. 8)


MS should be embarrased that a third-party add-on for Palms does a better job of being a Pocket Word than does Pocket Word iteslf.


I agree completely. And I honestly believe that they are. Whether that embarassment will turn into developer fire to create a killer solution, who knows... :?: I sure hope it will!

[Jason Dunn]

I shouldn't need to use an add on in terms of memory management (and we're talking about the general market here


I'll be REALLY curious to see if, when Palm implements a multi-tasking OS with OS 5.0, they are able to avoid the slow-downs that the Pocket PC sometimes experiences. It's easy to not have memory management problems when you're only running one application. DOS was a very fast OS if you think about it. :-)

[Daniel]

In a lot of ways the PocketWord / Documetns to Go (forget the platform for a second) thing is mirrored in a lot of things that MS does. You can look at it two ways I think. Pro-MS: MS is encoraging 3rd parties to come up with solutions which in turn increases the community and the market. Anti-MS: MS doesn't care about their users and therfore release a crappy version of something that is vital to the operation of the PPC.
I personally think that they somewhat misjugded the market and where people would go with the PPC.
The discussion about the quality issues in PPC is a very good one, I am on my 4th iPAQ (H36xx) and I have problems with this one. The quality is horrendus, but the support (up to this point) has been excellent! I've been given a new one every time. No problem. I am however making a complaint about the quality level of the iPAQ. I find it very strange that there should be such glaring problems with the platform, and yet the devices are replaced at such expense. I would have thought that CPQ would have invested more money in the development and saved money and some pride?
I'm really looking forward to the multi-tasking Palm OS. Not to mention more Symbian devices, because an MS only market is usually a bad one. Monopolies are never good. Having said that I hope that advances in other platforms spur MS on to greater heights so that we get some real innovation. Instead of a PPC coming with voice recording, it should come with voice control and dication. Maybe with the XScale that dream will be a little closer.

Daniel

[Ed Hansberry]

I'll be REALLY curious to see if, when Palm implements a multi-tasking OS with OS 5.0, they are able to avoid the slow-downs that the Pocket PC sometimes experiences. It's easy to not have memory management problems when you're only running one application. DOS was a very fast OS if you think about it. :-)

Based on comments I've seen at http://www.palmoswerks.com/2002/02/07 (no protected memory for apps until post OS5) and "If you're hacking tasks, be aware that this is changing a lot, and tasks will be exposed post-OS 5."

Doesn't definitively mean multitasking won't be there for the user to experience (the core OS has the hooks for it) but it looks like it is really an OS6 feature. I wouldn't think they would release an OS that supported multitasking without running apps in protected memory anyway. That would be a Win95 stability nightmare.

[Ed Hansberry]

Instead of a PPC coming with voice recording, it should come with voice control and dication. Maybe with the XScale that dream will be a little closer.

:lol: I wish! I think you need to get closer to 600MHz to make voice control semi-effecitve. Heck, people are having problems with it on 2GHz machines with unlimited RAM or storage space for the databases. I honestly thing by the time we have voice recognition figured out, 3G will be out and deployed, and the model will be closer to dictating something to your handheld and another server on the backend doing the work. that can be done today with a PPC and WiFi card, but the practicality is limited.

[JonnoB]

I honestly thing by the time we have voice recognition figured out, 3G will be out and deployed, and the model will be closer to dictating something to your handheld and another server on the backend doing the work. that can be done today with a PPC and WiFi card, but the practicality is limited.


Isn't this the application that MS was demoing about a year ago? For PDAs, speech dictation could be the Holy Grail of ultimate useability... not necessarily to compose letters and such, but to perhaps turn into text, your two way voice conversations with your SmartPhone/PPC PE.

[Ed Hansberry]

Isn't this the application that MS was demoing about a year ago? For PDAs, speech dictation could be the Holy Grail of ultimate useability... not necessarily to compose letters and such, but to perhaps turn into text, your two way voice conversations with your SmartPhone/PPC PE.

Yeah, Bill Gates did a demo with a 3600, a WIFI card and some beefy voice processing server behind the stage. For the forseeable future, I think that model is more likely than something that is on the device.

[Daniel]

:lol: I wish! I think you need to get closer to 600MHz to make voice control semi-effecitve.

Well, the XScale scales (damn that name, now I sound like I'm attempting a pun!) up to 1Ghz, so I think it's on its way. It's one of those delayed profit maximisation scalings too IMHO.
I think the scope of the dictation could be minimised to reduce the required processing power. Most PC voice dictation/control software tries to do everything. Remember when it first came out? They were having the same problems then that they are having now. I think it's a matter of scope that needs to be brought under control - just like all PPC software.
Maybe they only allow one or the other, instead of both control and dictation at the same time? I don't know the answer, but it seems like there should be a workable solution.

Daniel