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From Bill Gates to James Bond

By Rich Hall

COMDEX, the computer industry's annual desert extravaganza, began as it always does; with the opening keynote address delivered by Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft Corporation. On Sunday, the night before the show officially opened, I stood in line for an hour with about 500 other journalists to get a good seat for The Bill Gates show. We were ushered into what eventually became a very crowded hall, and then, amid much hoop-la, Mr. Gates came onstage and presented his annual look into the future of computer technology.

The general thrust of his talk was that, just as the "big box" model of computing gave way to the desktop PC model, we were now in the middle of another change in the way we'll look at this technology. Desktop computers will continue to be the device of choice for professions (the so-called "knowledge workers"). But new and easier-to-use "information appliances" will start to appear in the near future.

Web Companions -- As examples of these devices, Bill mentioned PC Companions, digital set-top boxes, and the new and more powerful "rich" cell phones. He also unveiled several prototypes of a new class of device called the "Web Companion", inexpensive devices designed to offer simple Internet and e-mail access, but not much else. These looked like small and simple notebook computers, with color display, a keyboard, and in some cases a built-in telephone. However, all they have in the way of software was a built-in operating system, Web browser, and a few utilities. The operating system in all of these information appliances was Windows CE.

Bill demonstrated the capabilities of Microsoft's new Windows 2000 operating system and explained how its reliability would benefit eCommerce. He briefly discussed ClearType font technology, which will improve font display resolution for many different devices, including future versions of Windows CE.

Microsoft and the "PIM Plus Era"

Before going to the new James Bond movie (see below) I had a snack at the Microsoft press booth and spoke with Brian Shafer about Microsoft's Windows CE plans. The emphasis of the talk was the "Information anytime, anywhere" theme that Microsoft has been promoting. Microsoft sees Windows 2000 as the "server" end of that goal ­ the server being the place in the organization where the information is stored. Microsoft is strongly positioning Windows CE to be a big part of the "client" end of this equation, and sees the highly portable PC Companion as one of the ways mobile users will access information.

XTNDConnect Server -- Along these lines, we discussed the expanding relationship between Extended Systems and Microsoft. Extended Systems (www.extendsys.com) recently purchased ASL Systems and took over marketing and development of the ASL Connect synchronization program. The product, now called XTNDConnect Server, synchronizes mobile devices, including Windows CE PC Companions and Palm Computers, with Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange servers and custom ODBC-compliant databases. Microsoft and Extended Systems will work together in a number of areas, including joint marketing and distribution efforts as well as technical collaboration for future products.

Smart Card Technology -- We also discussed Microsoft's support of Smart Card technology. A Smart Card looks like a credit card, but contains an ultra-thin microprocessor that enables the card to save a variety of information, including security access codes, personal identification, medical information, and more. Microsoft is getting behind Smart Card technology in a big way, putting Smart Card support technology in the various Windows operating systems and providing a Windows Smart Card Toolkit to developers. More information is available at www.microsoft.com/smartcard.

PIM Plus Era -- Finally, we discussed the evolution of PDAs and the upcoming "PIM Plus Era." Microsoft hasn't been doing very well competing against the simpler PDAs like the Palm III, and I think they finally realized why. The Palm PDAs are small, simple devices that do PIM tasks well. Windows CE is designed not only for PIM tasks, but to support sophisticated enterprise-wide situations better than the Palm. But then MS went ahead and marketed the Palm-size PC as a competitor to the Palm ­ in essence, an equal. It isn't.

Microsoft is now starting to talk about a "no compromise Personal Information Manager" that can come in a variety of form factors and provide, in addition to the simple stuff, more options for the enterprise. This is what they mean by the "PIM Plus Era." In it you'll see some new Handheld PCs, but expect a lot more focus on the Palm-size PC form factor. Expect also to see a variety of new "information appliances" powered by the Windows CE operating system.

Windows CE UpLink --
(www.micro soft.com/windowsce/uplink/) I also found out about Microsoft's new information resource Web site written by and for people who own Palm-size PCs. The site is designed to help novices and experts get the most out of their Palm-size PCs. Check it out for tips, how-tos, product reviews, columns, links and more.

"Windows powered" PC Companions -- One thing I discovered after COMDEX was that Microsoft has decided to stop labeling PC Companions with the phrase "Powered by Windows CE." Instead, the new PC Companions will have the label "Windows Powered." The operating system will still be Windows CE, but Microsoft will stop advertising the difference. I don't think this change will affect Handheld PC Magazine much. "Windows Powered" on the outside still means Windows CE on the inside ­ and we'll be covering it.

Walking the floor

COMDEX is huge. Over 10,000 exhibitors crowd the three biggest convention centers in Las Vegas. Over 200,000 visitors trudge through the crowded aisles, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. I was one of them, visiting every Windows CE exhibitor I could find.

I stopped by Casio's booth and saw a couple of nifty things. One was an E-100/105 External Keyboard for the color-screen Cassiopeia Palm-size PCs. Open up a clamshell and slip the Cassiopeia into a slot and you're connected and ready to type (see Screen 1). This is a customized version of Landware's GoType portable keyboard developed originally for the Palm PDAs and modified to work with the E-100/105 (www.landware.com/products/gotype/gotypeps.html). No word on when this will be available, but I imagine it will be soon and will be priced in the $80-$100 range. It should be available through Casio's online store, at www.casio.com/mobileinformation/.

Screen 1: Casio will market an external keyboard for its E-100/105 Palm-size PCs.

I also saw the Cassiopeia Corporate Palm-size PC, a ruggedized version of Casio's E-15 Palm-size PC, to be released in the U.S. sometime this year for vertical markets. The Cassiopeia Corporate is a monochrome-screen device with a rugged plastic shell -- it feels very sturdy. One of the remarkable things about this device is the battery technology used. Instead of the Lithium-Ion battery packs found in other Casio's, the Cassiopeia Corporate has a flat "Lithium-Polymer" rechargeable battery pack that attaches to the back of the P/PC. The battery is the height and width of the P/PC, and adds about 1Ž2 inch to the thickness of the unit. The Lithium-Polymer battery comes in three capacities, the highest of which will power the Casio P/PC for an almost unbelievable 72 hours between charges. Extensive use of backlighting will cut that figure in half, but even a mere 36 hours between charges is impressive. Unfortunately, the battery technology is new and expensive, and Casio only plans to use it with its ruggedized Palm-size PC.

The folks at SanDisk showed me their new Double Density Technology that increases the capacity of their Flash memory cards dramatically. SanDisk's MultiMediaCards, CompactFlash cards, PC Cards, SD (Secure Digital) Memory Cards, FlashDrives and flash chipsets will benefit from this development. Expect to see 300 MB CompactFlash and 1.2 gigabyte (GB) PC Cards next year.

I got a quick look at Hewlett-Packard's new Jornada 690 Handheld PC Pro, the follow-on to the popular HP Jornada 680. The 690 will include 32 MB of RAM vs. the HP Jornada 680's 16 MB. The HP Jornada 680 will continue to be available for $899, the HP Jornada 690 will be priced at $999.

Ed Zabrek, our Medical Editor, had a very interesting conversation with Lernout & Hauspie, the company Microsoft worked with to give the Windows CE Auto PC voice command recognition capability. L & H specializes in speech and linguistic technology and has a number of popular speech-to-text and language translation programs for the desktop PC environment.

The exciting news is that L & H is working on Windows CE versions of their programs, including text-to-speech and speech-to-text technology for Windows CE, as well as a specialized speech-to-text program for medical terminology. They are also working on language translation technology for Windows CE (i.e. English to Spanish). This has the potential for being a killer application for Windows CE. We'll keep our eye on it.

Industrial-strength CE

One of the things that impressed me at COMDEX was the number of specialized Windows CE devices being displayed. I already mentioned Casio's ruggedized Palm-size PC. A number of H/PC Pros without keyboards were also being shown, including the Hitachi ePlate (see review, page 13), the Fujitsu PenCentra 130, and the Two Technologies TouchLite. All of these devices have wireless options and are designed for vertical applications, such as route tracking and inventory control.

I saw another very remarkable device from Scanz Communications. The Scanz Scannor is a small, wireless video replay device powered by Windows CE. This device gives any mobile worker the ability to monitor a video system, and is of use to police or security personal, healthcare workers, factory managers, etc. Scanz Scannor is initially aimed at sports officials who need to access a replay of an event to make a close call, or justify a disputed one. The device wirelessly interfaces with a stadium's video system, allowing instant access to video replays. But for every referee needing one of these devices, there are 10,000 fans in the stadium who would love to second-guess a disputed call. This device has a lot of potential.

One Palm-size PC, shaken not stirred!

One of the highlights of COMDEX was ... the new James Bond movie! I won't tell you too much of the plot of The World is Not Enough, except to say that James Bond saves the world from a sadistic villain with the help of a beautiful woman who falls madly in love with him. The interesting thing about the movie, from the perspective of a journalist attending COMDEX, is that the woman (a nuclear physicist named "Christmas Jones") walks around the first part of the movie with a HP Jornada 430se Palm-size PC strapped to her hip.