Microsoft recently released a version of their Pocket Streets program optimized for the Windows Mobile Smartphone platform. The program adds map navigation capability to your Smartphone, allowing you to locate and display addresses, intersections and points of interest. You can download maps of cities in the US, Canada and Western Europe from the Pocket Streets Web site, or create your own maps using Microsoft desktop applications MapPoint, Streets & Trips or AutoRoute. Once your maps have been synced to your Smartphone you can access them when you’re on the go. The program is available for $24.95 on Handango’s Web site (http://www.handango.com). For more information, visit Microsoft’s MapPoint Web site.
(above) Pocket Streets is now available for the Smartphone.
http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/pocketstreets/smartphone/default.mspx
Palm Digital Media now eReader.com
PowerByHand has re-launched its popular Palm Digital Media Web site and given it a new name. The new site (http://www.eReader.com) offers more than 13,000 popular titles from more than 40 categories, with hundreds of new books added every month. eReader eBooks can be viewed not only on the Palm OS, but also on Pocket PC, Windows and Macintosh platforms via the eReader Pro application. A trial version of eReader Pro bundled with six free books is available on the Web site (http://www.ereader.com/products/ereader/trial).
http://www.ereader.com/pressrelease/20040601/450
SanDisk ships SD combo card with Wi-Fi and 256 MB of file storage
SanDisk has announced that they will begin shipping their new Wi-Fi/file storage combo card before the end of June 2004. The new card combines an 802.11b wireless transmitter and 256 MB of data/file storage on a single SD card. It will work with handheld devices that have SDIO-card slots and that use Microsoft Pocket PC 2002, Pocket PC 2003 or Windows Mobile 2003 operating environments. This is an important product because many of the newer Pocket PCs have a single SDIO card slot, making it impossible to add both wireless capability and extra file storage with separate cards.
The new card ships with consumer and enterprise-grade security solutions, including WEP, 802.1x, PSK and WPA on the Windows CE platform. It uses Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) Wireless LAN technology to provide bandwidths of up to 11Mbps and ranges of up to 800 feet depending on the environment.
(above) SanDisk 256 MB + Wi-Fi® SD Combination Card.
The low-power device is designed to minimize battery drain. The 256MB+Wi-Fi SD Combination card has a suggested list price of $129. It will be initially available through e-tail Web sites in the Americas, Europe and most of Asia.
http://www.sandisk.com/pressrelease/20040524b.html
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Pocket PC magazine Fourth Annual Best Software Awards–2004
Once again representatives from the entire Windows Mobile community will be involved in determining the top Pocket PC and Smartphone software. New Products Editor, Diane Dumas, with the help of Windows Mobile experts from around the world will select nominees from the Pocket PC magazine Encyclopedia of Software and Accessories (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/encyclopedia.asp). On July 19 the list of the potential nominees will be made public and on July 31 they will be finalized. Any Pocket PC and Smartphone user is invited to comment at the Pocket PC magazine forums (http://www.PocketPCmag.com/forum/) about who should be nominated and who should win.The 2004 Board of Experts (webmasters, Pocket PC magazine contributors, Microsoft MVPs) will vote and determine the winners in over 100 categories. The list of nominees can be found in the upcoming Pocket PC magazine Buyer’s Guide. The results will be announced at PocketPCmag.com, at CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & ENTERTAINMENT 2004 in San Francisco, October 26, and in the December/January Pocket PC magazine. For up-to-date details visit http://www.PocketPCmag.com/awards/.
The Future of Windows Mobile Devices
by David Shier
I enjoy speculating about the future of mobile technology, but putting my predictions down on paper is a bit risky. Instead, I’ll provide a mix of predictions. Some of them are pretty certain, based on Microsoft’s roadmap for Windows Mobile devices. Others are pure speculation on my part, based on my more than 10 years of involvement with handheld computing and wireless communications. So with that in mind, come join me on a trip into the Windows Mobile future.
Faster more efficient displays will come in new sizes and shapes
When Microsoft announced the release of Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software, the most exciting new features were the OS’s support of dynamic switching between portrait and landscape viewing modes (Figs. 1 & 2) and its support of new screen sizes for Pocket PCs and Smartphones. Second Edition Pocket PCs will support VGA (640x480 pixels) (Fig. 4) as well as the traditional QVGA (320x240 pixels) screens (Fig. 3). Second Edition software gives developers the ability to create Smartphones with a larger QVGA screen, as well as devices with the standard 176x220 pixel screen. Finally, the new software will allow for the development of handhelds with 240x240 or 480x480 pixel square screens (Fig. 5). This will support the creation of tiny clamshell devices such as two-way pagers and e-mail-centric cell phones, which should provide heavy competition for RIM’s Blackberry series.
(above) Figs. 1 &2: Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software allows Pocket PCs to dynamically switch between portrait (top) and landscape views (bottom).
(above) Figs. 3 & 4: Second Edition software supports displaying Pocket PC screens in the traditional QVGA mode (top) as well as full VGA mode (bottom). However, VGA mode only works on devices that have 640x480 pixel screens like the Toshiba e800 series.
(above) Fig. 5: The Second Edition software will also support the development of devices with 240x240 or 480x480 square screens. Devices with these resolutions have not been developed yet, so we modified an existing Today screen to give you an idea of what they might look like.
While Microsoft made it clear that Second Edition will only support the specific screen sizes mentioned above, it is a good guess that future versions of the OS will support even more diversity in screen sizes and shapes. Certainly there is some demand for the half-VGA (640x240 pixel) display found on the near abandoned mini-notebook format known as the "Handheld PC." Personally I would like to see an 800x300 screen that would accommodate Web pages designed to display on desktop PC monitors.
You can also expect faster and more capable displays on future devices. Most current Windows Mobile handhelds have a single CPU responsible for all device activities, including input, running programs, and displaying the screen content. The approach reduces the number of chips needed in the device, but it also reduces the computing power available to run applications. This, in turn, reduces the device’s ability to render full motion games and video.
Intel’s next generation processor family for mobile devices, the PXA27x series, supports the inclusion of a separate multimedia accelerator chip—the Intel 2700G chip. This allows for a much richer visual experience while actually reducing power consumption. Intel has been demonstrating a "reference device" that uses these chips (Fig. 6). It includes just about all the connectivity you can imagine: phone (GSM/GPRS), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, CompactFlash and SD slots, USB, 10BaseT (Ethernet), and RS232. It also supports dual displays for connecting to an external video projector. This reference device is a bit larger than most Pocket PCs. I expect that commercial devices incorporating these chips will only include a subset of these features.
(above) Fig. 6: Intel’s reference design Pocket PC, developed to demonstrate the capabilities of the PXA27x series XScale processors.
In addition to all this, there are a number of new screen technologies being developed. Of greatest interest to mobile users is the Organic LED (OLED) screen (Fig. 7). OLED displays have a simpler and thinner design, higher refresh rate, and a "self-luminescence" that eliminates viewing-angle issues. In addition, they produce a richer color image. Because of this and the fact that they cost less to built and operate, many predict they will replace existing screen technologies.
(above) Fig. 7: Sh
own here is a prototype of a "universal communicator" demonstrated at Intel’s Fall 03 developer conference. The device combines an Intel XScale processor and a Kodak active matrix organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.
There is also hope for flexible screens that could roll out of the side of a device. For example, this would allow a Smartphone to have a screen the size of a Pocket PC, while remaining small and "pocketable." "Persistent" screens are also being developed. These retain the last image sent to the screen when the power to the screen is turned off. Screens are the largest consumer of power on handheld devices, requiring even more power than a cell phone radio. Persistent screens should greatly increase battery life when they become available in the next few years.
Battery technology improving slowly
Battery life is the one area that seems to be the slowest to improve. In the last ten years we have seen the transition from NiCad to NiMH to Lithium Ion (Fig. 8), and now Lithium Polymer batteries (Fig. 9). But these changes have been evolutionary not revolutionary. All of these technologies still suffer from diminishing recharge capability, giving them two to four years of use before they stop holding a charge. The battery found on most recent Pocket PCs and Smartphones is the Lithium Polymer—a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that can be manufactured in different shapes and sizes (Fig. 9). This means that the manufacturer can mold the battery to fit into the available nooks and crannies within a handheld. Since a battery’s capacity is directly proportional to its volume, not limiting it to a cylindrical or rectangular block can provide the added capacity we all want. However, in practice, there really isn’t that much wasted space in current handheld designs. The added cost of custom shaped Lithium Polymer batteries limits their usefulness. Perhaps as we see more innovative designs—especially for Smartphones—we’ll see developers take advantage of the plastic nature of these batteries. We might see higher-capacity Lithium Polymer batteries twist around the body of the phone.
(above) Figs. 8 & 9: A Lithium Ion battery pack for the Toshiba e740 (bottom). A molded, high-capacity Lithium Polymer battery designed to fit along the back of a Fujitsu Pocket PC (top).
The most talked about exotic battery design is the "fuel cell," which consumes a fuel (currently hydrogen) to produce electricity. While fuel cells are very efficient, they require periodic refueling (unless they’re disposable). This is not only inconvenient, it raises safety issues. These concerns will most likely prevent this technology from becoming a practical power source for handheld devices.
Smaller-sized memory cards, low-power hard disks, internal flash ROM
Just as the larger PC Card (PCMCIA) was eventually replaced by the smaller CompactFlash (CF) card (Fig. 10), the CF card is being supplanted by the SD card (Fig. 11) as the standard format for adding storage memory (and peripherals) to a Windows Mobile device. In addition, even smaller cards are coming to market, including the miniSD (Fig. 12) and the RSMMC (Fig. 13). However, these cards are so tiny that they are difficult to slip in and out of a device. Consequently, they are not expected to replace the larger SD cards as removable storage solutions. Instead, they will be used to add internal RAM and Flash ROM to PDAs and Smartphones—similar to the way you add RAM to your desktop PC. The slots for these mini-cards would most likely be located behind the battery, or in another location that makes it clear that these are for internal system storage—not for repeated swapping in and out. This will allow device manufactures to reduce the cost of their devices by not having to load them with large amounts of RAM or ROM—the end user can add more later.
(above) Figs. 10-13: CF card (top left), SD card (top right), MiniSD cards with SD card adapter (bottom left), and Reduced Size MultiMediaCards (RSMMC) (bottom right).
Finally, hard disk drives are more cost effective for storing large amounts of data, such as music or video. Unfortunately, past attempts to use these spinning disks in PDAs didn’t succeed because the drain on the batteries made them impractical. However, Toshiba and other drive makers have developed ultra-low-power disks small enough to fit in the SD card format (Fig. 14). For the best power management, these hard disks should be built into the PDA, not added on as a removable card. The new Windows Mobile Portable Media Center devices use the built-in drive approach to store large amounts of music and video.
(above) Fig. 14: Toshiba’s ultra-low-power 0.85 inch drive is small enough to fit in the SD card format.
Faster, more intelligent wireless connectivity
A few years ago it was difficult to connect your Pocket PC to anything other than your desktop or notebook PC via cable. Now most Pocket PCs contain some form of wireless connectivity built-in (Fig. 15). Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular phone connectivity are all quite common now, so where do we go from here?
(above) Fig. 15: A Wi-Fi antenna is visible on the top of the ASUS A716, one of a growing number of Pocket PCs with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability.
One of the most common requests from users of Wi-Fi-enabled Pocket PCs is for the integration of the faster 802.11g technology. Currently, there are a few problems with this. Because its 54Mbps speed requires more power, the new technology produces a substantial drain on the battery. In addition, the processor and memory (read/write) speeds in current handhelds can’t keep up with the 802.11g throughput. This is especially true when you use encryption with your network connection (something that I highly recommend.) For competitive reasons, I expect to see 802.11g integrated into Pocket PCs soon, but don’t expect it to be much faster than the current 802.11b Wi-Fi. As handheld processors get faster and the wireless chips become more battery friendly, higher speed wireless will certainly appear. The extra speed will become more important when we start downloading VGA-resolution video files.
A more interesting connectivity option is known as "smart hand off." This allows a Smartphone (or Pocket PC Phone Edition) to automatically connect to either a Wi-Fi or cellular network depending on the most cost effective connection available at the time. Combine this with Internet telephony (known as Voice over IP, or VoIP), and Bluetooth connectivity to a wired telephone, and you have the ultimate handheld phone. Imagine being able to use your Pocket PC as a wireless handset for your home or office telephone system, then make calls via VoIP when at a Wi-Fi hotspot (such as a Starbucks coffee house), and finally using the cellular network when away from the lower cost alternatives.
Pocket PCs and Smartphone users will also benefit from the expansion of high-speed cellular data networks. The next step for GSM carriers is called EDGE. (GSM is the technology used throughout Europe as well as by Cingular/AT&T and T-Mobile in the USA.) EDGE is considered an interim technology that will achieve speeds of about 130-200Kbps. Some GSM carriers are skipping EDGE and planning much faster data networks. In the U.S., AT&T Wireless has begun rolling out EDGE. But with the purchase of AT&T Wireless by Cingular, the future of this EDGE network is in question. For CDMA carriers (Verizon and Sprint) there is 1EvDO with speeds of 300-900Kbps. Verizon has released 1EvDO in San Diego and Washington DC. It is expected that they will only introduce it in high-density urban areas. The rest of the country will be covered by the slower 1xRTT network.
The "soft radio" and beyond
Looking even further into the future, the most interesting technological concept is called "soft radio." Because of the differing frequencies at which the various wireless networks operate (from 800MHz to 5GHz), it is currently necessary to create a separate hardware transceiver for each type of wireless technology used, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS, CDMA/1xRTT, etc. But if a radio control processor chip can be made fast and flexible enough, then it can generate the radio signals needed based on a software program. This would allow the same radio to be used for many different networks, helping to keep the size and expense of handheld devices down. For example, you could roam from GSM to CDMA. Even better, as new radio protocols are introduced, with advancements in data security, etc., they could be implemented with inexpensive firmware updates. Of all the technologies desc
ribed in this article, the soft radio is one of the most exciting—and furthest from reality.
Enhanced displays, better batteries, faster connectivity, and more—this is the future of Windows Mobile devices. I don’t know which of these features you’ll see first, and the truth is you might end up waiting a long time for some of them. So while I hope you found this article interesting, my advice is "don’t wait for technology." When it comes time to buy your next handheld, find the best device available and go for it.
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David Shier is the President of Shier Systems & Software and the Managing Editor for http://www.BluetoothNews.com as well as the Wireless Technology Editor for Pocket PC magazine. A former software engineer and Director of Marketing & Sales, David started Shier Systems in 1994 to focus on providing ultra-mobile computing and wireless communications solutions, and is a frequent speaker at various industry events. Through Shier Systems, David is available for consulting services related to mobile and wireless applications. For his support of the Windows Mobile Community, David has received Microsoft’s MVP award. He can be contacted via email at [email protected].
Music, Movies, and Pictures!
Pocket PC magazine, October/November 2004 Page 2