06-10-2004, 08:00 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
We speculated on this a few weeks ago, but now Brighthand is reporting that HP has confirmed that their sleeve formfactor is officially dead.
"The h5500 is the last classic 100-pin connector model from HP...The company believes these peripherals are no longer necessary. Many of the functions they offered are now built into the handhelds, or are available as CompactFlash or SDIO cards. Also, sleeves were created at a time when the iPAQs were much larger than they are today...HP's Dev News also explicitly states that the h5500 series will be discontinued this year."
It's sad to see an era go: my first Pocket PC was an iPAQ h3650, and I was the envy of my officemates when I got the hard-to-obtain PC card sleeve for it.  It's still at home, along with a CF sleeve, a Silver Slider sleeve, a CF Plus sleeve, and many other accessories. I also bought an iPAQ h3870 because of, among other things, its sleeve compatibility. However, most of them are now stuck in a closet gathering dust -- the integrated functionalities of my i700 and e805 have rendered them moot.
That said, I think there are still vertical applications for which the sleeve formfactor is incredibly convenient -- it allows size flexibility, which products like the YellowJacket use. On the other hand, companies could still build a "virtual" sleeve that wraps around a PDA and uses a CF slot to interface with the device. At the same time, without a standard formfactor specification, such sleeves are likely to be short-lived as PDAs keep evolving. What's your thoughts on the situation?
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06-10-2004, 08:06 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 165
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
On the other hand, companies could still build a "virtual" sleeve that wraps around a PDA and uses a CF slot to interface with the device. At the same time, without a standard formfactor specification, such sleeves are likely to be short-lived as PDAs keep evolving. What's your thoughts on the situation?
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One word: Bluetooth
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06-10-2004, 08:06 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,725
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Interesting, those were my first two PDAs too. Got a 3650 in early 2000, and am still using my 3870 that I got in 2002. I'm planning on getting a 4700 series, if they're as good as they sound.  Still sad to see sleve support go. I'm suprised they can't change the iPaq design and still keep it sleevable.
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06-10-2004, 08:16 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,768
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by JoeLevi
One word: Bluetooth
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Maybe - if BT ever increased to respectable speeds. Native bus interfaces will always have a place. That said, I did not care for the proprietary nature of iPaq sleeves.
__________________
Jonathan (JonnoB)
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke
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06-10-2004, 08:20 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 18
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it's interesting that you mention the YellowJacket. That device actually uses a CF serial card as it's interface to the iPaq, so really isn't dependant on the sleeve for anything other than a CF slot.
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06-10-2004, 08:25 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 165
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by JonnoB
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Originally Posted by JoeLevi
One word: Bluetooth
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Maybe - if BT ever increased to respectable speeds. Native bus interfaces will always have a place. That said, I did not care for the proprietary nature of iPaq sleeves. |
What options did iPaq sleeves add? YellowJacket is cool. CF & PCMCIA sleeves had their place. What am I missing?
With WiFi built in, there goes your need for a WiFi card. SD/MMC capacities are at 1GB or more. SDIO enables a bunch of stuff (cameras, etc.).
Bluetooth built in allows you to (theoretically) sync, print, connect to modems, cell phones, keyboards, and even GPS receivers (some with maps stored inside of them).
Seems like the perfect solution...
Granted, saturation of devices is anything but ideal, and often Bluetooth doesn't work the way it's supposed to, but it's a step in the right direction. IMHO
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06-10-2004, 08:47 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by JoeLevi
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
On the other hand, companies could still build a "virtual" sleeve that wraps around a PDA and uses a CF slot to interface with the device. At the same time, without a standard formfactor specification, such sleeves are likely to be short-lived as PDAs keep evolving. What's your thoughts on the situation?
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One word: Bluetooth |
Has Ed been informed of the situation? :wink:
I agree that while it's sad to see the sleeve finally slide of this mortal coil, it's good that we now have PDAs that are so much smaller and better equipped. The sleeves showed that it was possible, even desirable to keep adding functionality to the early PPCs I'm not sure how you would deal with a PC card and a PDA these days. :?
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06-10-2004, 08:54 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by JonnoB
Quote:
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Originally Posted by JoeLevi
One word: Bluetooth
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Maybe - if BT ever increased to respectable speeds. |
I think you may be interested to peruse the front page shortly. :wink:
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06-10-2004, 09:21 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 332
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The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today launched Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Bluetooth, which permits speeds up to 2.1 Mbps�three times faster than the 721 kbps that current devices can manage�while maintaining backward compatibility. Simultaneously, chipmaker CSR (Cambridge Silicon Radio) announced silicon supporting the new data rate.
Your first question might be: Who needs faster Bluetooth? In introducing Bluetooth EDR today at the WiCon World show in Amsterdam, the Bluetooth SIG is arguing that the faster rates are becoming necessary. Users are now asking PCs to support higher numbers of Bluetooth peripherals simultaneously, including mice, keyboards, audio and telephony headsets, and mobile phones. Meanwhile, mobile users increasingly need to download large image files from their mobile-phone cameras. A 1-Mbyte image that takes 12 seconds to download over Bluetooth 1.2, the group points out, would take 4 seconds to download over Bluetooth EDR.
Moreover, the group emphasizes, Bluetooth EDR equates to a significant power-consumption advantage for mobile devices: Transferring a given amount of data in one-third as much time translates into a big reduction in battery-sucking radio activity.
Bluetooth EDR achieves the higher data rate by making a move from the GFSK (gaussian frequency shift keying) modulation used in Bluetooth 1.2 to PSK (phase shift keying). Existing Bluetooth devices will be able to work with EDR devices because the spec still uses GFSK for packet headers, uses the same process for link establishment, and sticks with the same packet timing and structure. In fact, the symbol-transmission rate of 1 megasymbol per second also remains unchanged. PSK simply allows each symbol in the packet payload to carry more bits.
[more]
http://www.reed-electronics.com/ednm...dustryid=22043
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06-10-2004, 10:00 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 270
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Re: Brighthand: iPAQ Sleeves Officially Dead
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Originally Posted by JonnoB
Quote:
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Originally Posted by JoeLevi
One word: Bluetooth
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Maybe - if BT ever increased to respectable speeds. Native bus interfaces will always have a place. That said, I did not care for the proprietary nature of iPaq sleeves. |
We have covered this before. Name one common sense peripheral that is needs more speed then Bluetooth offers today on a PDA with built in WiFi, Bluetooth and SDIO for storage.
Two that were mentioned in a past post were a VGA card and an external HD. I still believe those a foolish options for a PDA.
Another point is the new 2GB 4 bit SDIO card shipping in July will out perform any CF card shipping today.
Sean
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