All-in-one smart device with phone, email, messaging, Web, camera, and more1
Palm’s ease of use
Just the right size, with a large screen and an easy-type keyboard
Integrated address book, calendar, memos, and to-do list
MP3 player and streaming audio, such as Internet radio1
3-way conference calling that’s a snap to manage
Speakerphone and speed dial
Supports Word, Excel,® PowerPoint® and PDF files
Palm OS® platform runs over 30,000 applications, from games to productivity tools
64MB user-available memory—add up to 2GB more with an expansion card3
Bluetooth® and infrared wireless technologies
VGA camera/video recorder
Product Specifications:
Operating System Palm OS® 5.4.9
Processor Intel® PXA270 312 MHz processor
Screen 320×320 pixel TFT touchscreen that displays over 65,000 colors
Wireless GSM™/GPRS/EDGE class 10 radio
Quad band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Communications Bluetooth® 1.2 wireless technology, Infrared (IR)
Memory 64MB non-volatile flash memory available for user storage
Camera VGA camera with 2x digital zoom and video capture support
Battery Removable, rechargeable lithium ion battery with up to 4.0 hours talk time
and up to 300 hours standby time
Expansion slot Support for MultiMediaCard, SD, and SD I/O cards
Size & weight 4.4” (h) x 2.3” (w) x 0.8” (d); 5.5 ounces
I noticed a Gizmodo guy at Tuesday’s pre-Digital Life press event, as well as the pretty decent video camera he was carrying (better than mine, certainly). What I must have missed was when he pointed that camera over my shoulder, proving that, indeed, there was only one journalist with a notebook actually conducting business at this shindig. My appearance comes about 43 seconds into their video.
You can see Ask Mobile exactly as it would look on a mobile phone by going to m.ask.com from any web browser. To get to it on your phone, you can go to the URL, or just head to ask.com and be automatically redirected. The home page has seven options:
There’s also a next link that pulls up area code search (enormously useful on any mobile device, obviously), currency conversion, horoscopes, and a feature that shows you the current time for any place you search. Any external link you click is sent through Skweezer, which reformats the pages for smaller screens.
Do a web search, and in many cases you’ll see a picture relevant to your search (especially if you search for a person or place), as well as an excerpt from Wikipedia. Rather than just reformatting search results for a phone, Ask Mobile brings with it one of Ask’s best features, the Zoom feature that expands or narrows your focus. This feature is actually more discoverable and useful on a phone than it is on the web, saving you lots of typing. They also keep track of your recent searches via a cookie, displaying the last few on the search page if you need to get something back.
The directions search does a good job reformatting your searches to fit the proper maps syntax, really helpful when I deliberately omitted portions of an address. Most maps ask you for a correction, but Ask’s understands that time and bandwidth is a factor, and tries to eliminate extra work. It shows you either driving or walking directions, and features a brilliant turn-by-turn feature.
In that feature, once you have your directions, you select “By Turn” and it gives you each step of your journey as a seperate screen, letting you page deliberately through your trip. The turn-by-turn alone makes me want to give them a big smooch. Oh, and they feature the satellite maps in their directions, something very difficult to do with certain other mobile search engines without a Java application. Ask uses straight up normal HTML, so there isn’t a mobile browser out there that can’t handle this. You can also select to send the directions to your phone as a text message, great for saving them for later (and not having to keep the browser open the whole time).
I like that the Maps application shares search history with Directions. It’s just easier that way. The Bloglines link goes to Bloglines Mobile, already a great mobile RSS reader. The horoscopes say:
Mother yourself right now. Just because you’re normally a go-go-go type doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some slow-slow-slow. Put on a fluffy bathrobe, grab a good book and unplug the phone. You’re in do-not-disturb mode!
Sounds good to me!
While Ask didn’t invent mobile, it shows some real smarts with its implementation, adding features no one has and keeping in mind at every step how to make life easier for the user. I hope users are taking notice, because there are some exciting things afoot at Ask. I know that Google’s mobile offerings have never worked well for me, so I’m going to give Ask a shot at displacing my usual Microsoft mobile services, and it wouldn’t be crazy for everyone else to try the same.
Palm unveiled at their Digital Life press conference the new (and expected) Treo 680, an update that falls feature-wise betweeen the 650 and 700 that adds mass-market appeal. It comes in four “exciting” colors, including iPod “Arctic” white. It plays MP3s, and supports streaming audio (like internet radio) and streaming video. It comes with a wired car kit, a bundle choice that clearly is trying to appeal to a younger audience and highlight the audio features. There are some simplified UI elements, including customizable tabs and wallpapers, similar to the Windows Mobile Today screen.
A “new” feature lets you add a number that called you to an existing contact. Because, you know, my crap 2002 phone couldn’t do that :-). Of course, it is part of many improvements to the email and contacts, including Exchange ActiveSync of contacts, and smart addressing for contacts you’ve recently emailed but aren’t in your contact list.
The MP3 player is called Pocket Tunes, and can be upgraded to support DRM protected content. Voice memos can be used as a ringtone. It is thinner and lighter than other Treos, partially because of a smaller battery. Pocket Tunes looks very similar to any typical media player, and comes with 30 free days of yahoo music unlimited.
One of their apps tracks text messages in a threaded view, very similar to how gmail tracks conversations. There is also a TypePad blog posting interface. it also includes the new Google Maps application, which includes traffic information as well as the satelite view.
For now, Palm reaches mobile professionals and prosumers, and they admit that the 680 is designed to reach regular consumers, and it is a significantly larger market. They are trying to appeal to them with brands they recognize and trust, like Google and Yahoo. The goal is to be “more releavant to more people around the world”, and it is exactly what I think Palm needs to do to grow as a company and hold back rival companies.
One other thing: After the conference, Palm handed out bags that contained, among other things, a 1-gigabyte SD card. Sweet. I shoulda grabbed two.
If you’re wondering why posting has been sporadic the last day, it’s because I’ve been attending the huge Digital Life show at the Javits Center in New York. I’ve been shooting a lot of video, and will be uploading a lot of stuff in the coming weeks. Here’s something from earlier this week, at a preview show, where UTStarcom showed off some new phones.
The first phone is the G’zOne, which they’ve made for Casio. It’s a rugged, durable phone, with a 2.0 megapixel image/video camera, but the feature that made me excited is that it is water resistant up to 30 minutes. In the video, the rep dials her own cell phone, then tosses the G’zOne in a fish bowl full of water. The call goes through, as you can see. At the show yesterday, I tried the camera underwater, and the picture quality, in the water, is still excellent (better than my phone when dry).
The second is the Slice, a phone for Virgin Mobile’s prepaid service. At 0.4 inches thick, it is the thinnest phone available without a contract, and it costs just $49.99. It is a high quality phone, with a smooth keypad like the RAZR, an the feel of it is too solid and smooth for that low a price. I was really surprised that it was that cheap, because I’ve paid more for phones that were made out of crap compared to this. Really, just quality construction, it feels expensive. A rep told me yesterday that Target has already started selling them.
According to one person, going back through a series of mergers and other things, UTStarcom used to be mostly Audiovox.
Anyway, I was impressed by their lineup, and if I get my promised review units, you are going to see a lot of fun video with the water-resistant phone. Expect some more stuff after the weekend as I process my hours of video from Digital Life.
The big New York consumer electronics show, Digital Life, is coming up in three weeks at the Javits Center. Turns out there’s a way to get free tickets to the entire show floor (normally $12-15). Just go to digitallife.com and enter this in the “Source Code” box: INSIDER. You’ll get up to six free tickets, although there is a link to get even more. Great deal!
I’ll be at Digital Life for my third straight year, covering lots of cool stuff, including Microsoft’s Windows Vista keynote. If history holds up, it should be really exciting. If you’ll be there, let me know.
(via Digg)
UPDATE: I just found out that a lot of bloggers are getting paid to link to this by PayPerPost. I did not. I never have been affiliated with PayPerPost, and have no plans to be. I wrote about this because I enjoy the Digital Life show. It kick started this blog and made it popular, and is a ton of fun (and productive) every year. If I am getting paid for something, I will make it extremely clear.
I have no problem with PayPerPost, and with any bloggers who use it. However, it bothers me a little if systems like it make readers trust me even a little less. If I post about something, I want you to know I wrote it because I chose to, not because I got a check for it.
I played a shooter with it and had an extended demo. Works very well, and they say its good for saving laptop battery life. Me like.
Of course, no show would be right without wacky radio jocks:
Of course, these guys are from WPLJ, and they gave me free tickets to Blues Traveler, so who am I to complain?
No show would really be complete without booth babes:
Sony was the only one with the scantilly clad ladies (although I heard Carmen Electra was here Friday). While I was posting this, the lady on the left came into the press room and sat across from me and ate her lunch. She was covered in a towel, but it didn’t hold up well…
I’ll have an extensive post later on the Linux tablet PC I saw, but back to the floor for now.
Here’s some pics taken on the DigitalLife floor, along with some commentary on what I saw.
I got to the Intel pavilion, and one of the tables had MP3 players (and I think phones). One problem? They all looked like this:
Ahh!!! Tell me this isn’t the future! Seriously though, I asked around and they found a company that sells MP3 players with the rhinestones, so it wasn’t like some poor guy had to do this all night before the convention.
Here’s Intel’s pavilion:
I tried talking to one of the guys about ViiV, but they had no demos and no info. Somebody from Intel want to help me with this one? I’m kind of very interested…
Tivo was giving away 500 40-hour Tivo boxes. All you had to do was give in a videotape and sign up for a year of Tivo service. They called it “The Death of Video” or something. I was thinking about doing it, but Tivo had given out 500 wristbands within an hour or two of the floor opening. Very cool.
The Tivo guy seemed happy :-). I also saw Sonic and many other happy mascots.
Microsoft’s pavilion was the largest on the floor. There were areas for MSN Music (giving out a free song), Media Center, Xbox/Xbox 360 and many other Microsoft departments. I chatted with the MSN Music guy about the fact that many MSN websites, include MSN Video, do not support permalinking or sharing with friends, a bad thing when you’re dealing with entertainment content.
I got to talk with a nice guy on the Media Center team about my love of MCE, my issues with multiple displays, and how annoying Microsoft’s PR is. I’m so frustrated with Microsoft PR and I can use all the real people at Microsoft willing to talk and help.
Lots of people were playing video games:
There were multiple of these large areas with many game stations, with all the major platforms represented, plus video game tournaments going on.
Palm’s booth was so small. They used to own 90% of the market. They used to be thought of as a major player.
Apple and their iPod should take notice.
One place had a t-shirt cannon firing into the crowd, and they tried to see how many t-shirts they could get hanging off the ceiling wiring. The rain was awful outside, and every so often a leak would send a drop of water on my face.
Last thing I’ll mention: Nokia has a phone coming out that opens halfway, and the screen twists to give it a camcorder phone factor. This I want! Damn Verizon will probably never support it…
Don MacDonald from Intel is onstage, talking about consumers and televisions, just like Intel did last year.
A fun moment happens right at the beginning, where he turns on a live TV and its turned to the news, and the anchor starts talking about a woman bleeding her insides out on the ground (ouch!).
Don shows off entertainment PCs from various companies, including one with an ultra-suede casing. Odd, but possibly cool for a living room. A Hitachi rep shows off that Hitachi has built a technology to take a sporting event and show you just the highlight reel based on how much time you have. Microsoft is doing something very similar.
Don shows off two concept PCs, explaining why Intel is concerned now with “performance per watt” more than pure speed. One is a slightly larger than PDA PC, and one is the latest version of the concept Mac Mini-killer, which looks to be half as tall as the Mac Mini. Very nice concept, but I’ll wait till I can buy one. Plus, Don is talking about not just Windows, so we could be looking at the next Mac Mini anyways.
Showing off Wireless USB and how it can stream video throughout the home, we were subject to over a minute of the awful movie “Stealth”. Definitely the low point.
Finally, he explains how Intel’s ViiV platform will bring together PCs that meet the requirements for the entertainment PC. All ViiV PCs will have remote controls, all will turn on and off instantly, all will have media servers that transcode video on the fly. In other words, all will rip off Microsoft’s Media Center.
All ViiV PCs will have dual-core processors.
Finally, he shows off some home automation. It can seem like that’ll never happen, since the technology has existed and nobody wants to spend for it. I can see one reason why I wouldn’t want it: The smart home won’t shut up! Sometimes I just want to be left alone.
Getting started here at Digital Life 2005. Just 90 minutes to finally seeing the Xbox 360…
Just got out of T-Mobile’s breakfast / roundtable discussion on phones and fashion with Juicy Coutore. Peter Rojas of Engadget was on the panel, and moderating was Jupiter Research’s Michael Gartenberg.
No sense recapping, but basically they were discussing ringtones, their place in digital music, the fact that people are willing to pay for ringtones but not songs. Also on phones, that some men don’t want to carry a bag so they want a phone to replace it, the question of one device all the time vs. different devices for different life situations, technology merging with fashion.
One thing that was said: When fashion technology was concerned, it isn’t about the technology, but about being connected, whether with information or people.
Best moment: What’s cool? iPod, Sidekick, Razr. What isn’t? Trio. About four super-geeks were surprised, but everyone else knew the truth. Its cool to us, but it isn’t cool.
The number of Web users in China, the world’s second largest Internet market, grew by 9 million people in the first half of this year to hit 103 million, the China Daily said on Friday.
The growth represented an increase of 18.4 percent over the same period last year in a market that still has vast potential for further growth, the report said, citing a survey released by the “quasi-governmental” China Internet Network Information Center on Thursday.
“While more than 67 percent of the U.S. population, about 135 million, have access to the Internet, in China the percentage is only about 7.9 percent,” it said.
State media previously predicted 120 Chinese million would be surfing the Web by the end of the year as computers find their way into more homes and domestic telecoms networks grow.
Nearly 20 percent of China’s Web surfers had shopped online, and Internet-based transactions in the six months of 2005 could total around 10 billion yuan ($1.23 billion), the newspaper said.”
I was tuned in into the Google webcast, and apparently so was Gary Price from SEW. During today’s Google conference call, Sergey Brin said that Orkut’s growth in Brazil is phenomenal. Sadly, Gary has stumbled upon this Reuters article:
“Brazilian police arrested 10 people on Thursday accused of selling drugs using Google’s international social networking site Orkut, which is hugely popular in the Latin American country.
“We discovered the drug ring first via authorized phone tapping, and later the investigation included monitoring of their activities on the Internet,” said a duty officer at the Drugs Enforcement Service in the city of Niteroi, just across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. ”
[…]
“We’ve nabbed 10 so far, but there may be more,” he added. The ring distributed mainly ecstasy and marijuana.
My favorite company talking to at the DigitalLife 2005 press preview was Peerflix. Peerflix is a legal peer-to-peer system of trading DVDs you already own, sending them out to other members in exchange for other movies you want.
The basic idea of the system: You sign up, list what DVDs you currently have on your shelf and are willing to get rid of. There’s a point system called Peerbux that classifies the value of the movie, based on how new it is, how popular it is, and how many disks in the set. For example, Million Dollar Baby is worth three points while Star Wars Episode 2 is just one, and the Sopranos Season 5 is ten Peerbux, while Chappelle’s Show Season 2 is five. No DVD-Rs, of course; original DVDs only.
When another member requests a film, you take one of the envelopes (which have neat built-in protective pockets) provided, drop in the DVD (no cases) and a printout, slap on a stamp and send it out. Your account is credited the Peerbux value of the film. Now, you can “spend” your Peerbux and get any DVD available (currently there are about 40,000 circulating through the system). You pay 99 cents per film received, and just the cost of a stamp to send one out.
So, basically you get to trade any DVD on your shelf for any other comparable DVD out there for just 99 cents. The points system ensures no one is cheating, since you don’t get anything till you send something out. You can trade a boxed set for several flicks, like dumping a season of the Sopranos for ten three-year-old films. You even receive your first film free, so you don’t have to have a DVD collection to get started.
Peeflix precharges $4.95 for every five delivered DVDs. Postage comes out to 37 cents for one disk, 60 cents for two, and $1.06 for three or more. At the moment, DVD cases aren’t involved, since one disk would start at $1.60.
I got a chance to really go over the service with Matt Podboy of Voce Communications, their PR firm, and I came off very impressed. The concept is simple and wide-ranging, and a whole lot cheaper than Netflix or Blockbuster.
Better yet, there are great opportunities to really get into the system and try to improve your movie collection. You can easily drop by Blockbuster or Best Buy and raid the bargain bin for a two or three point film that costs a few bucks, then dump it on the open Peerflix market for a brand new film you actually want.
There are two ways of looking at Peerflix: From one vantage point, it is an alternative to renting, with much lower prices and faster delivery (Matt told me there are a lot of people who ship their movies to local users, resulting in shorter delivery times). The other way is that it can be used to build a DVD collection. Find bargain movies that others want, and flip them for more expensive movies you want. I could see people using Peerflix entirely to trade up their DVD library every six months, and little else.
Either way, there is a lot of opportunity for someone who really wants to get into the system. Either way, unlike rentals, you actually own the films, and if you ever decide to quit, you still own every movie you’ve still got. With rentals, you always have to send it back.
————–
The one thing I worry about when getting involved with any service is their financial standing, since if they go belly-up, you can lose big. Luckily, Peerflix’s simple business model, built on the 99-cent fee and the fact that they have no overhead (except for the envelopes) means that they are actually earning money. The profits get reinvested, but the point is that they are not coasting on VC cash, so no worries there.
So, what did I get from Peerflix? A starter kit, of course. A Peerflix envelope, a voucher for a free DVD if I sign up this week, a “How it works” card, and a 4-DVD holder. But, as an added incentive, I got a copy of Million Dollar Baby in the envelope, just to make it risk free for me to get started. I was already hugely impressed, but now I’ve got a movie to watch.
Let this be a lesson to all companies: If you see a press badge, have something to give out worth at least $15. We likey.
Finally, I just want to give a shoutout to Matt’s blog, Active Voice. Matt blogs about PR, naturally. For example, I see a post about Russell Beattie’s complaint about getting lousy pitches, and how PR professionals don’t do their homework before contacting bloggers. You know, I’m so used to getting press releases and lousy pitches, they don’t bother me anymore. In fact, I love getting pitched, even in lousy form letters, so keep ‘em coming.
So, where was I today? I was at the press preview for this October’s DigitalLife show, the sequel to last year’s very successful consumer technology show. Over the next few days, I’ll be pointing out all the great companies and products I got to look at, and, of course, detailing all the free schwag:
Congrats must go to organizer , since the whole event reminded me exactly why I must go to DigitalLife this October 12-14 at the Javitz Center. Lots of cool products, quite a bit of fun. I got to play a video game, play with a robot, test out unreleased products, and of course, get free stuff (what can I say, I love the free stuff, and I got some surprisingly good stuff).
I am surprised Microsoft didn’t show, I was somehow convinced they would be there. Still, a lot of fun, and great demos (not one company bored me). It was like getting an entire trade show in just three hours. Just follow the stuff on the DigitalLife category to keep up, and use the DigitalLife2005 tag on Flickr if you have any photos and to see my own.
Off-topic: My calf muscle was very tight today, due to a lot of recent exercise. Walking around for five hours at the preview made the muscle tighter. Coming home, exhausted, I was so glad to have survived, until I tried to remove my shoe and violently pulled the calf muscle. I have never screamed in pain so loudly in my entire life, not even when I broke my nose playing football seven years ago. Just thought you’d like to know. My leg is okay, but moving hurts like hell.
My favorite company talking to at the DigitalLife 2005 press preview was 
