News Week of January 14, 2007

Agoura High student wins essay contest about teacher

Bacharach said he used to write calculations, problems and formulas "standing at a white board. Agoura High School's Parent Faculty Club purchased a variety of hightech tools for teachers, including a digital projector and tablet personal computer.

"Now I write on the PC and it shows up on the screen," he said.

The tabletstyle of writing allows him to link to websites, programs and other interactive material, bringing math concepts to life for many students.

"It's revolutionized the way I teach," Bacharach said.   (Source: Stephanie Bertholdo , Agoura Acorn)

Apex Announces Three New Assessor Products and Professional Services

Today, Apex Software announced to its clients the immediate availability of one new product, new Professional Services and revealed two new products launching this quarter.

The suite of new products spans from field inspection to the office, seamlessly interconnecting mobility, desktop, Geographic Information System (GIS) layers and CAMA systems to substantially save county jurisdictions valuable time, money and resources.

Apex Medina™ Premium: New Desktop Sketching Hits the Street Today

Medina Premium is the latest assessor generation of Apex’s top tier sketching product, containing all the revolutionary features and intuitive design of its base version while adding powerful yet simple-to-use tools designed for assessors.

“Our desktop sketching software has been used by assessors for over 13 years,” said Randall H. Garrett, CEO and Founder of Apex Software. “In previous years, we focused on enhancing the sketching process. We’ve done that with Medina Premium but we also tackled much more by building in core mobility and GIS support.”

Medina Premium offers a cleaner interface, easier usability and many enhanced features, several of which have been described as revolutionary. Some new features include an open XML API, seamless integration with Apex Nexus™, field data and sketching software for mobile Tablet PC’s and UMPC’s, a universally simplified UI, a vastly improved output, turn-key registration, and Image Overlay Tracing.

Medina Premium also contains foundational support for the implementation of features and products scheduled for release early this year, like 3D/Z-Axis Generation, Layering and integration with Apex Meridian™.

Apex Meridian: Helps Identify Property Change Events

In an expansive and innovative move to help assessors analyze properties from their desktops, Apex Software also announced a forthcoming product named Apex Meridian. Meridian is a Geographic Information System (GIS) based application that enables the viewing of aerial imagery, parcel layers, flood plains and other GIS information available to counties. Meridian helps augment property change detections by overlaying GIS layers with previous assessor sketches, highlighting variations and tagging them for review through county CAMA systems.

“Medina’s integration with Apex Meridian weighs toward the very top of innovative things we’ll do this year,“ Garrett said. “Quite simply, Meridian saves time and money by reducing the need to have boots on the ground for property assessments.”

Nexus Premium: Mobility Software Cuts Time and Waste

When field inspections are necessary, Apex’s new mobility software takes over. Nexus, field data collection and sketching software, runs on mobile Tablet PC’s and Ultra Mobile PC’s (UMPC’s). Described as revolutionary software that replaces pencil and paper during the property inspection process, a basic Nexus product was first introduced to the assessor market late last year.

The latest version, Apex Nexus Premium, was designed solely for assessors. Nexus Premium, like its desktop companion Medina Premium, integrates seamlessly with Apex Meridian, giving it access to all the GIS layers while in the field. Further, Nexus Premium’s open XML structure can tie directly into CAMA systems or work independently.

Nexus takes field sketching and data collection to the next level. The tool is the result of four years of intense research and development and fully embraces Tablet PC technology to provide a natural approach to drawing floor plans, taking notes and gathering data during field inspections. Tied together with GIS and CAMA system integration, Nexus saves assessors time and simplifies the entire process.

“Nexus Premium revolutionizes the inspection process by eliminating the need for pencil and paper,” said Robert Smoote, Executive Vice President of Products. “It saves time by eliminating re-keying and its inherent slowness and error potential while tapping into Apex Meridian’s GIS component and CAMA systems for seamless communication. It’s a must-have product for assessors.”

Nexus Premium will be released to the Assessor market along with Apex Meridian this quarter. County jurisdictions that are already using or planning on using mobility products are being encouraged to contact Apex Software now so CAMA tie-ins are completed and coincide with the release of Nexus Premium.

Apex Professional Services Tie Everything Together

In order to simplify and help jurisdictions with Nexus, Medina, Meridian and CAMA integrations, Apex launched its new service named Apex Professional Services. Apex Professional Services offers a range of cost effective services customized towards the unique needs of its clients. Many are designed to transition counties from legacy sketching and systems to newer solutions. A few of the new services include personnel training, consulting, batch conversion of sketch vector information, digitizing hand drawn sketches and converting sketches to ESRI SHP files.

“We help clients in moving to or using newer technology,” said Jay Grabor, Apex Business Development. “Whether it’s training or converting from a small to large number of legacy sketch files on-the-fly, we can do it.”

Apex Software is currently used in more than 40% of the US county, municipal, city or township mass appraisal offices for tax assessment purposes. Medina Premium will be delivered as a free upgrade to Apex Maintenance clients. For jurisdictions wishing to purchase Medina Premium, prices start at $545 for individual user licenses (quantity pricing and Site License pricing is available). The pricing for Apex Meridian and Nexus Premium has not yet been set.

For a full view of Apex Assessor products and services, visit www.apexwin.com/assessor.   (Source: Press Release)

CES Interview With Bill Gates: Part 2 Transcript

Q:  It seemed like there were a lot of interesting PC advances to talk about.
A:  There is a lot of meat on the core PC. I love ultra-mobile PCs. Even good old SPOT (Smart personal objects technology). It’s out there on the Garmin device. A new generation of phones. We’ve got weather. Devices from Morgan Scientific. We had a lot. How many Vista features did you hear me mention? I mentioned one. The demo hit about five. How many Office features did you hear me mention? Maybe the ribbon. The keynote is more fun for everybody involved if it’s done by 8 o’clock. We had a lot we had to put in there. Sync we had to put in. The home server we had to put in. We looked hard. A lot of the things that we wanted to talk about didn’t make the cut. I wanted to talk about the momentum in Tablet PCs. It’s not mainstream yet but there are good things happening. Vista is the big milestone now in terms of hardware people are building. But I get to give a lot of speeches all year long.

Q:  Does the handwriting recognition learn this time around?
A: It harvests the documents on your machine. It looks at the search index. It looks to understand what words you looked at and re-weights them for you. That harvesting is the big, big advance.

Q: It doesn’t specifically recognize your handwriting? It doesn’t tailor itself to your handwriting?
A: Not in any significant way. There are a few things like number forms and left hand and right hand. You can teach it new symbols that aren’t in there. It’s not a complete redesign.  (Source: Dean Takahashi, Mercury News)

MobileCrunch reviews the Nokia N800 handheld

Oliver Starr has published a comprehensive hands-on review of the new Nokia N800 handheld computer – the next generation of the 770 Internet Tablet that I've been using for the past few months. Like Oliver, I've been under an NDA from Nokia about the device and he and I were pretty frustrated that an unboxing and specs-from-the-box review was posted by someone who was under no such embargo and had a buddy who worked at a CompUSA store and posted the day before the announcement was officially made at CES. Such are the perils of working within the system I suppose.

I any event, Oliver's review does what none of the coverage I've seen so far has managed to yet provide – it gives you the insight that only a month (or more) or working with a device on a daily basis can provide. I've had a few opportunities to work with the N800 when he and I are together and compare it to the previous generation device whihc has become a fixture in my gadget bag (disclosure: Oliver and I work together at Foldera and traveled to Europe in December to attend the Nokia World event in Amsterdam and have some meetings in Espoo, Finland with the company). (Source: Marc Orchant, ZDNet Blogs)

It's small, but benefits are big

Consider the pocket-size, 1-pound OQO PC I've been testing in taxis, airplanes and hotels. Despite its small frame, OQO (pronounced oh-cue-oh) Model 02, from a San Francisco company of the same name, is a full-fledged Windows PC. It has enough wallop to run Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows Vista, though it lacks the capabilities to run Vista in all its graphics glory.

In late 2004, I reviewed its cleverly designed but unsatisfying predecessor. Model 01 was expensive, had a so-so battery and was awkward. It had a versatile but unwieldy docking cable that you needed for connections to external speakers, video monitors and such.

The new model, unveiled last week during Bill Gates' speech at the Consumer Electronics Show, is improved, though it also exacts trade-offs. Notably, the standard battery is a relative weakling, and the machine is not ideal for touch-typing.   (Source: Edward C. Baig, USA Today)

The toughest computer in town

But, actually, how tough is TOUGHBOOK?

TOUGHBOOK series have been around for a few years already. The newest models are CF-30 and CF-19. CF-19 has a swivel display. Fully 180 degree swiveled, it can work as a tablet PC. They'll come to the market in February 2007.

Their anti-shock ability is legendary. Panasonic guys usually throw them down from hovering helicopter for demo. To show the waterdrop resistancy, dousing with a bucketfull of water. Not into the bucketfull of water, I remind you. Because, TOUGHBOOK is not a submarine computer after all. Not yet, at least. (Source: Matsushita Shuji, CNET Asia)
Posted Thursday, January 18, 2007 by ChrisD
Rating: 3.05 (Rate it) 1 Lowest 2 3 4 5 Highest Comments (0)

Toshiba M7 Tablet PC User Review

As a college student who studies the natural sciences, specifically physics and a former productive, but procrastinating high school student, I knew a Tablet PC would be perfect for me. The idea that I could have a fully-functional laptop with note-taking capability meant that I could remove the paper barriers I used to run into while studying in high school. I kept close to heart the idea that buying a Tablet could be a tad expensive, but I’d force myself to use it for all four years of undergraduate studies and I surely didn’t want to skimp on quality. After months of careful review hunting, trips to all of the computer stores within a 30 mile radius of my home and exhaustive pros & cons lists, I settled on the then new Toshiba M7 Tablet PC. Now four months into my studies I can conclusively say that, while not perfect, the M7 is a great buy. However I did customize my Tablet to suit my power needs.  (Source: spivak.d, TabletPCReview)

Vista-Loaded Convertible Tablets

All the hype surrounding Microsoft and its latest operating system, Windows Vista, has reached the point where several laptop manufacturers are already bundling it in their systems instead of the official launch date (which is the end of January). In fact, they put forth three convertible tablets loaded with Vista at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada. And who can blame them? The tablet experience has improved so much in Vista that vendors are jumping at the opportunity to exploit these new features.

For one, handwriting recognition has greatly improved, wherein each pen stroke is reliably translated into digital text. For other mistakes, Vista has a built-in training program that will fine-tune the operating system to make corrections go a lot smoother, no matter how illegible your handwriting is. If you write over a letter in a word, the operating system knows that a correction is called upon rather than adding another letter. The embedded Vista technologies also make it easier for vendors to add intuitive touch-screen capabilities, and you'll find at least one vendor that has chosen a touch-screen over the more popular Wacom digitizer screens.  (Source: Cisco Cheng, PC Magazine)

CES Report: PepperPad InkShow

One of the vendors I really wanted to check out at CES was Hanbit America, the folks behind the PepperPad. I've read a lot about the device, but have never had the opportunity to try one out and compare it to the Origami / Ultra-Mobile PC. Holding the device with the split keyboard gave me some real insight on what would help the UMPC market in regards to built-in keyboard support. The PepperPad sells for $645 on Amazon.com ( affiliate link ), and is available in various colors like Pink, Black, and Silver.

While looking at the PepperPad, Matt and I spotted the well-known OLPC that was also running the PepperPad software. It was interesting seeing the OLPC up-close. It felt like my kids Leapster. Although the OLPC is a convertible, they are not touch enabled, which kind of surprised me.

The audio on this InkShow is not top knotch, as we were having issues with the wireless receiver. I had to adjust the audio in the video after getting back from Vegas. The info is still valuable and gives a good look at the PepperPad, so I decided to post it anyway.

Woud I buy one? I might if it were a tad cheaper. I'd probably consider it for my kids if it were under $500. I'm really intrigued by the device, and like their approach to the keyboard. This is a definite competitor to the Origami / Ultra-Mobile PC platform, although I know I would miss the Tablet PC inking support.

• Watch the PepperPad / OLPC InkShow (7:43 minutes, 58mb, Windows Media streaming or direct download)

• Visit PepperPad.com  (Source: Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile)

Will Convergence Happen Around the Tablet PC?

The OQO model 02 mobile PC is the world's smallest computer powered by Windows Vista. It offers cellular connectivity over Sprint's CDMA EVDO network in the US. Therefore, it rivals the S-XGen, and can be considered a tremendously powerful smartphone.

Will convergence begin happening around the tablet PC? We recorded a video demonstration of the upcoming OQO at CES that makes us wonder.(Source: Tadd Rosenfeld , mytreo.net)

Kelley School and HP bring tablet technology and DyKnow software to students

Photo by: Chris Meyer

Dan Greiner, Indiana University Kelley School of Business professor of finance, works with students and tablet computers donated by Hewlett-Packard Philanthropy.

Print-Quality Photo

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Starting this semester, when Rex Cutshall asks his business students to prepare detailed answers to the problems he poses in class, figuratively he'll be able to follow along and look over their shoulders -- all 45 of them.Undergraduates in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business are being introduced to innovative tablet computers that have touch sensitive displays that permit them to write answers directly on the screen. Faculty members hope this new technology will allow them to more readily assist students' work and improve instruction.

Hewlett-Packard Philanthropy has awarded the Kelley School with a grant valued at $125,000, including 45 HP TC4400 table PCs and $15,000 in cash to purchase classroom interaction software developed by the Indianapolis-based company DyKnow.

Over the course of the semester, nearly every junior in the Kelley School's Integrated Core Program will be given an opportunity to use the computers. Business faculty have been using tablet PCs for instruction, but this will be the first time that Tablet PCs will be provided to their students.

Tablet PCs have become commonly used by health care professionals and are becoming increasingly popular in education settings. With large touch-screens and all the functionality of a laptop, Tablet PCs go far beyond the touch-screen technology found in PDAs.

The Kelley School of Business will join the ranks of more than 200 campuses in 34 countries where HP has provided grants to transform learning and teaching through the use of Tablet PCs. Kelley was one of six business programs that received HP Technology for Teaching grants.

"With these tablets in the students' hands, using this DyKnow software, the students can interact back with us live," said Cutshall, coordinator for the Integrated Core and senior lecturer of operations and decision technologies.

The HP grant will help the undergraduate integrated core expand its educational toolset by allowing the students to engage in active learning exercises within the classroom in real-time. I-Core faculty have been using tablet PC technology during their lecture presentations. Cutshall said student reaction has been positive, and they have commented how the use of this technology by the faculty makes understanding complex concepts easier and clearer.

Photo by: Chris Meyer

Arjun Vatsa, a student at IU's Kelley School of Business, uses a stylus on the screen of a tablet computer.

Print-Quality Photo

"It goes from a one-way transmission -- from instructor to student -- to where I can present students with a scenario, a case, and ask them to etch out a solution and then as an instructor I can see everyone's tablet if I want and selectively toss them up on the big screen," he said. "Students will be able to actively interact with faculty and other students within the classroom during the learning experience."

Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School, said he is pleased that undergraduates will be exposed to and benefit from this kind of advanced use of technology in the classroom.

"Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Kelley. It is exciting to see our faculty partnering with HP to bring a new twist to teaching and learning through the use of tablet PC technology," he said. "HP's tablets and DyKnow's interactive software, used in and out of the classroom, will revolutionize student engagement and learning."

The use of the tablets in the classroom will be part of an empirical case study developed by Cutshall and Dan Greiner, clinical professor of finance, to evaluate and report on the impact that this deployment has on the learning process.

"This technology will keep the Kelley School of Business on the cutting-edge of educational delivery systems," Cutshall said. "We know from the literature that the millennial generation requires individualized attention, interactive technology and equal opportunity for participation. This technology provides this."   (Source: Press Release)

Electrovaya Launches New PowerPad 95 and 130

Enhanced Features, Higher Energy, Lower Cost and Longer Warranty Now Available 
  
Electrovaya Inc. (TSX:EFL) announced today that it is launching a new series of PowerPads® that meets the needs of not only mobile notebook computer users, but also powers such products as the IPod®, cell phone, PDA, Blackberry®, Palm®, and Pocket PC. These new PowerPads® are expected to extend the benefit to users in the mobile community who already enjoy the longer run times on their laptop computers and now can also power their other hand-held electronic devices.

The PowerPad® 95 has an MSRP of US$199, which costs 20% less than the predecessor PowerPad 80 and has 18% more energy. The PowerPad® 95 and 130 each have a 12 month warranty.

Compatible with almost all mobile notebook computers, the PowerPad® series 95 and 130 are compact at only 10.6" x 8.2" x 0.6" and weigh only 1.8 lbs and 2.1 lbs. respectively. The PowerPad® 95 and 130 series deliver longer run-times, of up to 2 and 3 times respectively, than a notebook internal battery. Both the PowerPad® 95 and 130 series have digital fuel gauges, with MSRPs of US$199 and US$299. The superior features of these PowerPads® are expected to be ideal for healthcare, education and mobile professionals. The existing PowerPad® 160s and 300s will continue to serve mobile users that require more energy.   (Source: Press Release)

Microsoft shops for more sales as retailers use more technology

Circuit City faced the challenge of selling more complex products, such as flat-screen TVs and home-entertainment systems, with a sales force whose average age is 23 and in an industry known for high employee turnover.

The retailer recently began using Tablet PCs to walk customers through the sales process. The software, for instance, recommends a flat-panel TV based on a series of questions, taking into account room lighting and how close the TV is to the sofa.

"In order for a strategy to win, it must be different," said Circuit City Chief Executive Philip Schoonover. "Our customers must be willing to pay for these changes over time."  (Source: Monica Soto Ouchi, Seattle Times)

Trent University upgrades forensics lab with tablet PCs

Trent University’s forensic science program might not boast the multi-million-dollar labs seen on TV’s various CSI franchises. But the Peterborough, Ont.-based school has taken one step closer to the cutting edge, thanks to a recent HP Canada technology for teaching higher education grant of $80,000 of HP equipment.
 
The grant, which includes 21 tablet PCs, a projector, colour printer and digital camera, will make Trent the first forensic program in Canada to use tablet PCs in the field, according to program director Paul Wilson. Until now students in forensic programs across Canada have used pen and paper for crime scene data collection.

Most of the analysis is done at the school lab, although students might also use the computers to do preliminary work at the scene to further develop their investigative skills, he said. Applications the school is running on the tablet PCs include blood spatter analysis.  (Source: Kathleen Sibley, ITBusiness.ca)

Asus R1F Tablet PC Review

The Asus R1F has been referred to as the Lamborghini of Tablet PCs and I can see why. This is my first Tablet review and working with the R1F has made it easy. The R1F has a sleek design and is very user friendly. The design is much like a standard notebook until you notice the center hinge, which converts it into a Tablet.

(view large image)  (Source: Tiffany Boggs, TabletPCReview.com)

BumbleBee™-TABLET is a Windows XP® tablet UMPC spectrum analyzer all-in-one system

The calibrated receiver measures a combo of popular wireless bands including Wi-Fi, Wi-MAX, ISM, Public Safety, Bluetooth and more. BumbleBee™-TABLET's interface offers a large 7" WVGA LCD touch-screen featuring Intel Pentium® processor. In addition, the tablet UMPC has an internal 40GB HDD for instant storage and playback of all captured RF spectral network installation, coverage and interference analysis data in the field. Advanced spectrum analysis features include user selectable power triggers, 3 pairs of markers, spectrogram, histogram, video smoothing, waveform averaging, 1 live trace and up to 4 peak hold waveform traces with peak hold & peak search. BumbleBee™-TABLET takes the power of sophisticated laboratory spectrum analyzers and delivers it to installers in the field and engineers in the lab.

• RF Spectrum Analysis In Your Hands or on Your Desktop
• Identify WiMAX, RFID, Wi-Fi, 802.11 & Other ISM Interference
• Large, 7" WVGA, Touch-Screen Interface
• Windows XP UMPC Intel Pentium Tablet
• 40 GB HD Storage
• Channel Power Measurements in dBm
• Peak Search/Hold With Up To 4 Peak Hold Waveform Traces
• User Selectable Power Triggers
• Spectrogram/Histogram Measurements
• Waveform JPEG Snapshots with Preview & Printout
• Optional Directional Antennae for 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Frequencies
• Honeycomb Interference Mapping Software Support   (Source: Press Release)

CES 2007: Bill Gates' Keynote

Waiting in line for the keynote was definitely a high point during CES 2007. The Heiny clan met up with Linda A. Epstein and Chris De Herrera as the line started to form. We, of course, started to talk about Tablet PCs and Ultra-Mobile PCs. The Neeks pulled out the TabletKiosk eo v7110 Ultra-Mobile PC, on which they were proudly showing that they had installed Windows Vista. This quiet sharing turned into a bit of a flurry.

Damian Dovarganes, an AP photographer, began taking photos of the Neek Talk reporters using these pen and touch computers. You can see two of these photos on Yahoo News, which syndicates AP photos.  (Source: Lora, WhatIsNew)

Samwell Ruggedbook tablet PC

Samwell Ruggedbook tablet PC is designed to meet the mobile computing needs and form-factor requirements of on-the-go professionals. With IP54 rugged feature (shock resistance, vibration resistance, spill resistance, dust and dirt resistance, hot and damp resistance, magnesium enclosure) developed specially for the harsh environmental conditions and physical stress.

Features:
* Compact size : 284 x 209 x 63 mm with 4 bumpers
* 10.4" XGA ( 1024x768) TFT ; outdoor sunlight readable supports (optional)
* Resistive or Dual Mode touch panel
* ULV Intel Pentium M Processor (1.1 GHz)
* RAM: 768 ~ 1280MB DDRII 400
* HDD: 2.5" 40/80GB shock mounted
* OS: Windows XP Tablet PC edition
* Build-in WiFi 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth Class II
* Optional: GPRS/CDMA/GPS
* Meets IP54 standard and MIL-STD-810F
* Wide temperature range operability: -20 ~ 60 C

Ruggedbook took the best aspects of the Tablet PC technology and improved on them for high-performance mobile applications. Ideal for industries such as insurance, retail, field service, logistic, manufacturing, healthcare, car PC, hospitality, telecommunication, energy, public safety, law enforcement, military, homeland security and warehousing.  (Source: Press Release)
Posted Monday, January 15, 2007 by ChrisD
Rating: 3.14 (Rate it) 1 Lowest 2 3 4 5 Highest Comments (0)

CES Report: The Black Diamond "SwitchBack" Ultra-Mobile PC

As mentioned before, the GottaBeMobile team had a list of hard targets to find at CES that we wanted to make sure and cover for you guys.  One of those was the Black Diamond SwitchBack Ultra-Mobile PC.  We had heard of this machine a while back, but were interested in putting our hands on one of these super rugged and flexible models of UMPC.

 After a long and hard search through the jungle of CES booths, we finally found it and got a great demo and some video with Shane Lewis of Black Diamond for your enjoyment.  We were very impressed with the versatility of this machine (and their very cool method of displaying the units suspended from chains!).  Think of a solid tank, and you will know how this machine felt in our hands.  Add to that the ability to configure this unit to handle most any processing task via the snap on "modules". and you get the idea.  Need to scan some barcodes?  Snap on a module.  Need to fly an unmanned drone for the military?  Snap on a module.  Need to add a specialized cable to control some other special piece of machinery?  Call Black Diamond, and they will build you a module to snap on.  (Source: Dennis Rice, GottaBeMobile)