Does BSQUARE's reference design tell the future?

[Andy Sjostrom]

<a href="http://www.bsquare.com/news/press/story.asp?PressID=305">http://www.bsquare.com/news/press/story.asp?PressID=305</a><br /><br />BSQUARE is a mobile solutions engineering power house and spans both device development and software design. They have a close relationship with Microsoft's mobile groups. A couple of days ago they published a news release containing an offer to OEMs and carriers containing a handheld reference design. The reference design is built on Intel XScale technology and used the Windows CE .NET operating system. Right off the bat: this is NOT a Pocket PC, this is NOT a Pocket PC, and this is NOT a Pocket PC. Eventually, future releases of the Pocket PC platform will be built on top of Windows CE .NET, but that we happen only when the Pocket PC group is finished building the user interface, applications and so on.<br /><br />That said, I do think it is interesting to see a company like BSQUARE bring a hardware reference design that features a VGA display, a slide-out retractable QWERTY thumb-type keyboard, dual-band GSM cell phone, and built-in GPRS support, and support for email, SMS and IM. The "400 MHz-64 MB RAM-SD slot-backlit TFT-16 bit-640x480-1900mAh" device weighs 280 grams (9.88 oz) and measures 140mm x 87mm x 19.6mm (5.5” x 3.4” x .77”). A remote device management technology that enables carriers to roll-out new features and applications is included, which reduces "the risk of expensive product recalls by permitting devices to accept remote updates." (Source: Brian)<br /><br />Does this device contain any fragments of the future of Pocket PCs?<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/bsquare_01.jpg" />

[klinux]

Hmm, similiar concept as oqo and tiqit but different architecture (CE vs XP, Intel Vs. xscale). Could be very interesting come near the end of the year when/if these things are actually released.

[rlobrecht]

Hmm, similiar concept as oqo and tiqit but different architecture (CE vs XP, Intel Vs. xscale). Could be very interesting come near the end of the year when/if these things are actually released.

I think the key with OQO is that its a real PC in a pocket form factor. It runs XP not CE. Of course that might be its downfall.

I'm not familiar with the tiqit.

[Timothy Rapson]

Wow, what a cool Pocket PC.






























Yeah, I read. Not a Pocket PC.

So, what will it run? Casio BE-300 software? How would one get a Browser, Word Processor? anything running on it? It's interesting, but Samsung (or some Korean company) already makes a model much like this, I don't see it anywhere on the sales charts.

Interesting. Going nowhere.

[Ed Hansberry]

This looks like a purpose built machine that would be sold by compaines like Symbol and Intermec. Also something that carriers might sell to compete with the HipTop Danger, but this will have little/no interest in the PDA market.

[TMAN]

I would buy that device in a heartbeat.

[Sven Johannsen]

Reference Design? What does that mean? They went nuts with Photoshop and Powerpoint? Or they actually built one?

[Ed Hansberry]

Reference Design? What does that mean? They went nuts with Photoshop and Powerpoint? Or they actually built one?
It is a prototype with specific feature sets. It exists but isn't ready for production, maybe not even close to production.

[PPCRules]

Does this device contain any fragments of the future of Pocket PCs?

I would like to see PPC developers adopt this sideways keyboard mode.

A keyboard the width of a vertical PDA just isn't big enough. Now one the width of the height of the PDA would be quite comfortable. Plus you have the aspect ratio of a desktop PC, even if kept at quarter-VGA. I think a PPC with this kind of configuration would be an instant hit, and preferable to the mechanical nightmare the Sony NR70 must be.

[dochall]

http://www.bsquare.com/news/press/story.asp?PressID=305

dual-band GSM cell phone
no tri band -booooooo.


Very interesting concept though. Great alternative layout to the Sony. The only question is how thick? 3.4 inches see overly chunky to carry all the time.

[dondiego]

Maui: 5.5" x 3.4" x .77" and 9.88oz

for comparison iPAQ 3800: 5.3" x 3.3" x .6" and 6.5oz (not including sleeves)

[dochall]

Maui: 5.5" x 3.4" x .77" and 9.88oz

for comparison iPAQ 3800: 5.3" x 3.3" x .6" and 6.5oz (not including sleeves)

:oops: That will teach me to read properly. For some reason I had 3.4 as the smallest dimension and had read 7.7" rather than .77" :oops:


Well we're all metric over here. Honest guv!

[Scott R]

I predict that what we currently know as the Pocket PC will cease to be. Future devices will be ones such as this one. Perhaps the Pocket PC team will remain on, but their future devices will probably be built close to this spec and offer very little backwards compatibility. The Pocket PC can't compete with simpler, cheaper Palm OS devices on the low-end and has been hobbled by MS attempts at "simplifying" it as high-end purchasers have a tougher time justifying a PPC over a notebook.

With a resolution of 640 pixels wide, more horsepower (presumably the OS being finally updated to take advantage of the XScale), a thumbboard, VS.NET (and CF add-on) about ready for prime-time, and a price comparible to high-end PPC offerings, devices such as these finally may deliver the goods to own the higher-end PDA market.

As always, just my humble opinion.

Scott

[Scott R]

OK, I just took a closer look at the PDF on their site (lots of great photos, BTW). If you can trust the screenshots as accurate (and I think you can), it speaks volumes. This is not a "slap your own UI on top of the CE OS" along the lines of what Casio had to do with their not-quite-PPC CE PDA. This thing features a Windows XP look-and-feel which I have a hard time believing was not created by MS themselves. Whether or not the Pocket PC team is completely out-of-the-loop on this is uncertain. Any way you slice it, it looks like someone within MS is working hard at making CE.NET a full-featured product, not just an underlying OS. I had a feeling this might be the case back when I heard the latest news about the latest version of CE.NET which mentioned very un-OS things such as support for reading specific types of files, etc.

Scott

[bblock]

Anyone who likes the pic at the top of this post has GOT to read the pdf on bSquare's site: http://www.bsquare.com/wireless/php.asp. Scott's right - the pictures are awesome if not in quality then in what they show.

I'd buy this in a second - it's only a hair bigger than my 3850, but it's a hell of a lot smaller than my ThinkPad, and so much more capable screen-size-wise than any Pocket PC.

Besides... it's downright sexy!

[Ed Hansberry]

I predict that what we currently know as the Pocket PC will cease to be. Future devices will be ones such as this one. Perhaps the Pocket PC team will remain on, but their future devices will probably be built close to this spec and offer very little backwards compatibility. The Pocket PC can't compete with simpler, cheaper Palm OS devices on the low-end and has been hobbled by MS attempts at "simplifying" it as high-end purchasers have a tougher time justifying a PPC over a notebook.
Huh? Every quarter the Pocket PC gains a bit more marketshare and Palm slips just a little. Granted, PPC is in the 25-30% range and PalmOS is still 50-55%, but you are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay premature in talking about the PPC death. Or just 4 years behind the times still talking about it. :roll:

The only thing that will ultimately disappear is the Pocket PC that doesn't have some sort of wireless connection. Either Bluetooth, 802.11 or some cell radio will be standard fare in each Pocket PC.

[Xaximus]

YES YES YES! Finally! This is closer to what I'm looking for in a PDA. The horizontal screen with slide-out keyboard is a very cool idea, IMO. Now what they need to do is get a good 5-10GB hard drive in there :D.