Michael Sampson

Industry Watch: RIM Innovates with the Storm

Research In Motion (RIM) took the wraps off the BlackBerry Storm last week. The Storm is the latest device from RIM and it has no physical keyboard, a total departure from every other wireless email device from RIM. Obviously the Storm is designed to fight back against the mind share and growing market share of the Apple iPhone, which also has no physical keyboard, but which is drawing rave reviews in many quarters. Perhaps RIM-aligned customers will be less likely to jump ship to the iPhone now that RIM has an iPhone-like device on offer.

The RIM keyboard has always defined BlackBerry devices, thus RIM has had a tremendous amount of organizational inertia to overcome to get this device to market ("That's not the way we do things around here!"). The RIM keyboard was successful during its fight for market dominance against Palm -- you'll remember that Palm devices didn't have keyboards but relied on special writing for text input, at least until Palm acquired Handspring and started putting keyboards on the Treo devices. I think Palm is still going ... but I know that RIM definitely is.

While RIM has clearly innovated to get the Storm to market, it will need to demonstrate that its on-screen keyboard works better than the iPhone one, but maybe not that it works better than a physical RIM one. I have an iPhone 3G, and I hate the on-screen keyboard (yeah, it's cool and all that, but I actually want something that works for work). While I can type perfectly with two thumbs on the RIM BlackBerry, the best I can get on the iPhone is one finger typing, even in landscape mode. It just doesn't work the same as the BlackBerry. From a use case point of view, I am more than willing to type email messages and blog posts on the BlackBerry, but using the iPhone 3G for that is a revolting thought. And thus I don't do it.

It will be interesting to see how the Storm plays out, and I look forward to trying one in comparison to the iPhone 3G. My sense today is that a real keyboard is still critical, thus I think the BlackBerry Bold is a better next-generation device for wireless email users.

Recommendation
- RIM-aligned organizations can use the Storm as a way to blunt calls for migration to the iPhone 3G.
- A physical keyboard is still critical when using a wireless device for email and text input

Eric was right ...

Eric was right all along ... and it's taken me years to do something about it.

Traveling with a wheeled laptop bag rocks! It's so much easier on the back and shoulders.

My New Mobile Office: The iPAQ 212 and Bluetooth Keyboard

At some meetings, it is very appropriate and fine to haul out a laptop and make notes. At others, it's too much of a visual barrier.

On some seats on a plane, there's enough room to open a laptop and type for hours. On others, there's barely enough room to fit your knees in.

On some days, carrying a full laptop and bag around is right and proper. On other days, you don't want the hassle.

And in most church services, pulling out a laptop to blog the sermon is severely frowned upon.

For a long time I have been thinking about getting a smaller device for writing and note taking -- at meetings, on the plane, or just on days that a laptop is too much. And for the moment, I have found a perfect solution: the HP iPAQ 212 Enterprise Handheld and an HP Bluetooth Keyboard (the image below is not to scale).

Things That Work Great
The iPAQ has a large screen (for an iPAQ), and it can go from landscape to portrait mode at the touch of a button. I keep it in landscape mode ... It's the best option for the writing that I want to do.

The battery life on the iPAQ is fantastic. The most I have used it for between charges is about 3 hours, but that only dropped the battery meter to 67%, leading me to guess that I could easily get 8 and maybe 10 hours out of it between charges.

The iPAQ range from HP supports external keyboards, and those keyboards fold in half. So I can walk into a meeting with no laptop bag, but with the iPAQ in one pocket of my suit jacket and the folded keyboard in the other. Whip both out, turn the iPAQ on, wait about 10 seconds for Bluetooth to power on, and then open the keyboard and get straight to work.

And to prove that it works great, take a look at these blog posts. Both of these were written on the iPAQ with the external keyboard, rather than a full laptop:
- Novell Roadshow in Christchurch
- Unified Communications -- Some Recent Real World Experiences
- this post (apart from some final edits on my Mac)!

Why Not an iPhone?
A valid question for someone who uses a Mac as the mainstay of their computing world is "Why not an iPhone?" For me there are two simple answers that may or may not apply to you:
- (1) there is no external keyboard for the iPhone (yet?), and
- (2) you can't do Dvorak typing on an iPhone, external keyboard or not.

Dvorak on the iPAQ: Meet InterKey
Talking about Dvorak typing, the availability of translation software to take the input from a QWERTY physical keyboard and render it as Dvorak was the primary reason for going with the iPAQ 212. I searched the Web for such translation software, but could not find it (must have been using the wrong search terms). However, at a recent breakfast meeting with Gavin Knight -- a friend from Wellington and an HP employee -- I asked him whether he knew. Using Twitter later in the day he found out fairly rapidly that the answer was "Yes".

The software is called InterKey, and is made by a Russian firm called Paragon Software, but is sold via their brand name of PenReader. They have three editions of InterKey ... Standard (for changing the on-device keyboard), Professional (same as standard, with some additional goodies), and Portable (for supporting external keyboards). If you buy the Standard Edition, you get Portable for free; but if you buy the Professional Edition, you don't. Unfortunately, you can't buy Portable by itself, and so when my free trial of Portable ran out just before a big meeting, and I was thus rendered unable to take notes, I emailed Paragon and asked what to do. And so they gifted me a copy of Portable. That really impressed me ... thanks Paragon!

I should note, too, that Portable does a lot more than merely support Dvorak. It is a general purpose piece of keyboard input translation software for many international languages, such as Albanian, Italian, Latvian, and many more.

As a Dvorak typist, I highly recommend it.

Things That Don't Work (Yet)
There are some things that don't work for me yet, but I can live with it at the moment. First, there is no Mac synchronization software for the iPAQ 212. I know of Missing Sync for Windows Mobile from Mark Space, and while that software is exactly what I want, it doesn't yet support the 212. I wait, and hope, that it will soon. And yes, I have told them that I want 212 support. But nothing yet.

However, given that my primary need is to get access to the documents that I have typed on the iPAQ, I have found a work around that works: SugarSync. I have installed SugarSync on the Windows XP machine that I sync the iPAQ to, and have declared the file folder that the iPAQ document store links to as a SugarSync "full sync" folder, which means that anytime there is a change or update, those documents update to my other computers in my SugarSync network. Such as my Mac. It works fine, and actually covers over Mark Space not supporting the 212 yet.

Secondly, for some bizzare reason, I could not get the iPAQ 212 to work with my Lenovo X60 Tablet running Vista. I tried ... multiple times, and the laptop will just not recognize it. It is particularly weird, too, because the Palm Treo 500v that I had for four months worked first time; both that and the iPAQ 212 are Windows Mobile 6 devices. Go figure. I haven't taken the Lenovo to my reseller to get them to investigate because (a) I have too much writing to do at the moment, (b) the XP laptop gives me what I want, and (c) I am hanging out for Mark Space to add support to Missing Sync so I can use it on the Mac.

What About You?
Do you always carry a laptop for writing on the go, or are you using something smaller?

TypePad Mobile Test

Do you read me?

Update: see TypePad Mobile for details.

Can the iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld Do Dvorak?

As a gadgeteer, I am always interested in seeing what's new in the world of gadgets. The new HP iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld has caught my attention. I have owned a few iPAQs, and although there were problems with stability, the idea of being able to have a small form factor device like that with an external keyboard as a way of taking notes in meetings, and for use on the plane, has long been fascinating to me. I did it with a previous iPAQ, and it worked great, apart from the stability issues with the device.

In the last 6 months I have moved from typing QWERTY to typing the Dvorak layout ... and so the question is ... does the iPAQ 210 handle Dvorak entry on the HP iPAQ Bluetooth Folding Keyboard? Anyone know?

First Week with a BlackBerry Curve 8310

I have had a BlackBerry 8707v for about a year. It has worked well, and I have written previously about how pleased I have been with it, and the precursor 8700 that worked great until I accidently dropped it.

Research in Motion haven't been standing still, however, and it has released new mobile devices in the past year. One of those was the Curve 8300 series, and I received an evaluation unit from RIM under the RIM Analyst Relations programme a week ago. In asking for it, and in trying it out, my frame of reference has been: Would I spend the money and upgrade, or is the 8707v sufficient to my needs? And what would I recommend to clients?

First, what's different? The 8310 is narrower and thinner than the 8707. The 8707 looks positively big next to the 8310, and the latter includes more capabilities. There's a camera on the back. There's a media player inside. It has space under the battery for a memory expansion card. So all in all, the device is a better gadget (more is better)..

Smaller means that the keyboard is smaller. That hasn't proven to be a problem. I could type fast enough on the 8707 to blog in real time (all of the posts from the Global Leadership Forum were blogged live on the 8707 last week), and I can type just as fast on this one (the post "WSS in Business" was typed live on the 8310). And this review was too.

Smaller means that a belt holster isn't essential. This is the first device with a QWERTY keyboard that I've owned that is small enough to fit into a pocket. This device could easily and comfortably go in my jeans pocket, a suit trousers pocket, or a pocket on a white shirt. It's small enough and light enough to do so.

The in-built camera makes it a true mobile blogging device. I haven't had that before, but the picture of Gary in the SharePoint post from earlier this week was taken on the 8310, attached to an email, and sent up to TypePad for immediate publication. It was great. Of course there are other cool business scenarios too: the insurance assessor submitting claims from the scene of the accident, etc.

The main complaint I have is that RIM took away my beloved thumb wheel! I had become very proficient at using that thing, and now it is gone, it took me a few days to get used to the pearl, and how to use it. And the removal of the clickable thumb wheel and the introduction of the four buttons on the front has changed the interaction paradigm, but I am adjusting.

While on the subject of the interaction paradigm, I do like the new short menus on the pearl button, and the option of a full menu. The short menu includes the most realistic thing the user would do next, and I have found it a good addition.

So with that said, back to my original evaluation frame. Yes, I would upgrade. And yes I would recommend it to clients.

(Like Volker, I'll give this the "Editor Refuses To Give It Back Award")

(Okay Microsoft ... I'm willing to give a Windows Mobile 6 device the once over. Are you game, given my three negative experiences with devices I purchased?)

Marc on Gadgets

Here I am sitting at the breakfast table at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston, and Marc Orchant joined. Very quickly all of the gadgets came out, and he spoke passionately about the "new mobile office" of a Nokia N80 (the Internet tablet) and a Nokia 95 (mobile phone / 5MP camera / and more). He's a great guy!

Palm Foleo: Falls Short of First Base, Let Alone a Home Run

Yesterday Jeff Hawkins, the founder of Palm and Handspring, tooks the wraps of Palm Foleo, a new "mobile companion" device.

With its 10-inch screen and full-size keyboard, the Palm Foleo mobile companion connects wirelessly with your smartphone to help you do more on the go. Unfold it, press a button, and it's on instantly—while just one touch brings your email to the big screen.1 Use your Foleo to view attachments, type longer emails, or to get a bigger look at web pages and photos you'd normally view on your smartphone.2 And with up to five hours of battery life packed into such a compact design, you'll do big things wherever you go.

Jeff says that about 5 years ago they extrapolated out the trends of increasing capability (storage, speed, etc.) on handheld devices, and realized that the limiting factors of keyboard size and screen size were not going to go away. So they envisioned a new market niche ... a "companion" device to a smartphone that gives the user a bigger keyboard and screen when that is needed. The Foleo works by connecting wirelessly to the smarthone device, and sync'ing (say via Bluetooth) the emails that are on the device and then displaying them in the Foleo's email inbox. The Foleo does not have wireless capabilities itself to connect to the Internet; it relies on the presence of a smartphone to do that. Indeed, it is a "companion" that extends the power of the smartphone.

The Foleo will be released in summer 2007, at an introductory price of $499 (after a $100 mail-in rebate).

Analysis
I have a long standing interest in devices and mobility as an industry analyst, so here's my considered opinion:

• Going Back to the Psion, HP-95LX and Newton ... Before Palm brought out its ground-breaking Palm Pilot in the mid-90s, if you wanted a device for mobility you needed something larger ... with a decent screen and a keyboard. The devices of choice before the Pilot were from the Psion range, or an HP-95LX (man, I wanted one of those!), or an Apple Newton (although it didn't have an in-built keyboard, you could connect one by cable). The Pilot changed the landscape ... it made handwriting recognition work for the masses, and delivered a form factor that made portability a no-brainer. The Foleo is a return of the pre-Pilot days ... the benefits of a big-screen and keyboard, but with the attendant weaknesses of size and bulk to carry around.


• Business/Executive Market ... In the business world, people view their smartphones as a companion to their desktop or laptop devices -- it's not the main device. It extends the capabilities of their standard computer when they are out-and-about, or when a full machine isn't needed. If their main computing device is a desktop, then a companion (Foleo) to their companion (smartphone) may be of interest, but if they have a laptop, the interest will be much less. Why wouldn't they just carry their laptop around (albeit heavier to carry and generally more difficult to connect to the Internet than the Foleo is positioned to be)? With respect to using the Foleo during transit times, I don't see that as being much of a go. As I shared based on my experience in New York during May, when the roads are bumpy or you are in a crowded train, pulling out a full device (laptop or Foleo) doesn't work -- the thing bounces around if you can balance it on your knees, and in cramped spaces, it's too difficult anyway. A small device with a thumb-driven keyboard works because your arms counteract the bumps and it is small enough to use. The Foleo isn't going to change those dynamics.


• Education/Student Market ... In the education market, students increasingly view their mobile phone as their primary device -- and computers as secondary or companion devices. Given that they shift around frequently between classes, and between campus and their dorm room or home, they need something that is persistently with them, and a mobile phone plays that role nicely. Web-based communication and storage services work in this market segment, because of the need to get to "my stuff" from any computing device on the planet. A Foleo-style companion device in this market segment may work fine ... it's the size of a small textbook, and it delivers good local value when a larger device is needed. The positioning of the Foleo as a relatively-inexpensive "companion" device may work just fine in this market.


• Healthcare/Medical Worker Market ... Perhaps another segment where the Foleo find a home is in healthcare situations. Imagine this scenario: a doctor going their rounds carries their smartphone with them when visiting a patient. It's the device that stays with them wherever they are, but when they get to a specific ward, the head nurse hands them the local Foleo. Now when can carry both their smartphone and the shared Foleo when they go from bed-to-bed, and use the Foleo's larger capabilities for accessing patient records, for viewing X-rays and other medical charts, and for updating the central system. All of this is brokered through their smartphone--thus giving them inherent authorization to sensitive data--but is accessed and inputted via the Foleo. That could work.


• Shared Foleo's in Meeting Rooms, Airline Lounges or in Business/First Class ... Another scenario that could work is that an organization buys a series of Foleo devices as "shared infrastructure" that are kept within a specific meeting room. When you turn up for a meeting, you no longer have to take your laptop (perhaps the meeting is only 30 minutes long -- probably not worth it unplugging all those cables), but instead have your smartphone with you and you take one of the shared Foleo devices on entering the room. You use that to type your meeting notes, or to give a presentation, all moderated by the authorization brokered through your smartphone. Another place where this idea could work is in airline lounges or even in business or first class in the sky ... a harried executive who has 5-10 minutes in the lounge may not want to pull out their laptop, but would gratefully take a Foleo for a spin for that time. Or in the air, a Foleo could be a value-added "special" service for high-end travellers for whom pulling out their laptop isn't ideal.

Net-net: I don't see this as a home-run for Palm, and it may not even get them to first base. There will be some segments that find it interesting, but I don't see that translating into big sale numbers.

Summary and Conclusion
How about you? Is the Palm Foleo a "must-have" in your life? Why? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Deceptive Advertising by Text?, Sep 28

Last night I received this text from Vodafone NZ on my BlackBerry:

Sep 28, 2006 3:16:53 PM
Upgrade FREE to the powerful new Blackberry Internet Email service at www.vodafone.co.nz/myblackberry. Now U can surf the web, manage 10 email accounts & more!

I *know* that BlackBerry service is NZ$35 per month ... surely this can't be right? A call to Vodafone Customer Services illuminates that whilst the upgrade is free, the monthly service is not. But then shouldn't that have been written as "FREE upgrade"?

It's a bit deceptive for my tastes.

Mobility Report, Aug 15

Omni Extends GroupWise to Nokia Series 60
Omni Technology Solutions released Version 2.2 of Omni Mobile, its wireless email solution for Novell GroupWise. The new release adds support for Nokia Series 60 smart phones, with BlackBerry and Nokia Eseries support coming in 4Q2006.

Omni Mobile provides more than just PIM synchronization - it provides a complete on-line and off-line GroupWise caching client for mobile devices. Its native GroupWise look-and-feel lead to quick user adoption and high user satisfaction. Omni Mobile's server module installs on customers' existing Novell NetWare, Linux or Windows servers.

Version 2.2 is available immediately.

Source: Omni
Tags: wireless+email+groupwise

Training for Productivity and Collaboration
People-OnTheGo, a provider of productivity training, has released a number of free online training modules to help information workers make good use of email, Microsoft Office, and certain mobile devices.

While e-mail, office applications, and handheld devices are becoming primary tools that impact the workers’ productivity and ability to meet their business objectives, most workers are given these tools and expected to use them with virtually no training and no best practices in place .... As more users, inside and outside the corporate world, look for better ways to handle data, present information, and collaborate with others, innovative and cost effective online training programs will become available. The People-OnTheGo free training modules are an example of such programs, and are intended to provide users and training managers with immediate benefits and a more accurate assessment of their training needs. The productivity online live workshops, Web self-paced classes, and onsite programs can then be the next step to achieve long term and lasting productivity improvements in the workplace.

Source: PRWeb
Tags: mobile+workers

Nokia upset with Qualcomm
Nokia filed a complaint against Qualcomm, and asked a US court to force Qualcomm to license its mobile technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.

The complaint asks the court to order Qualcomm to comply with its written agreement with international standards bodies to license intellectual property essential to GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.

Source: InfoWorld
Tags: nokia+qualcomm