Tracy Hooten of The Student Tablet PC blog has ordered a Toshiba M200 Tablet PC and has posted on Tablet PC Buzz that according to the Toshiba web site is now shipping with a wide-angle display. The wide-angle coupled with the 1400×1050 resolution will make this the best Tablet screen available. Keep us posted when you get the M200, Tracy!
CompUSA is running a good deal on the Toshiba R15–S822 Tablet PC. The R15 is listed at only $1400 (after $200 mail-in rebate) which is a great deal compared to other sites. This is the same Tablet PC Eric Rice discussed on the Tablet PC Show. This R15 model has the following features:
1.6 GHz Pentium M
Lora Heiny has some additional information about the mobile vision laid out during the IDF keynote speech (webcast replay here) by Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini. Otellini demonstrated (20 minute mark in the webcast) a portable computer with a 5” screen that displays in either portrait or landscape and elaborated on his specs for such a device:
This sounds awesome and the most surprising part of his discussion of such a device was the intended availability time frame– first half of 2006! BTW– the intro to the keynote was as well done as any I’ve seen, including Apple’s. The big theme was Growth through Mobility. Gotta love that. 
My Tablet PC (HP tc1100) has been running slower and slower of late. You know, the typical windows XP creeping crud that makes the PC take longer and longer to do anything. This happens often on my computers because I am continually installing software for evaluation. I regularly remove software once I’m done with the evaluation so yesterday since my PC was getting really sluggish I went through my routine of removing all unused software. The first thing that happened after I rebooted post-removal was that several programs I use all the time would no longer run since one of the program removals had deleted a system DLL. A quick Google search found the DLL and I downloaded it, popped it into the Windows folder and all was well.
What surprised me after the final reboot was how fast the Tablet is now. The speed is comparable to that seen with a total system rebuild. Most of the programs I removed were not resource intensive except apparently one. I installed the new beta of Google Desktop Search a few days ago and had turned off the MSN Desktop Search Toolbar so they wouldn’t clash. I have been very impressed with the GDS so I removed the MSN Search last in my sequence. What a difference! What this proves is you don’t necessarily need to do a full system rebuild, something that is a pain on any PC but especially on a Tablet PC. Try removing all programs and utilities you don’t use very much and see what happens.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini has pledged to have WindowsVista running on handhelds by the end of the decade. Otellini says that a new generation of devices he calls handtops (I hate that term) are possible due to Intel’s performance per watt initiative.
(via MicrosoftNewsTracker)
I have seen this on several Apple blogs recently. Apple has a job posting calling for a Handwriting Recognition Engineer. The wording of the solicitation is very interesting indeed:
Title: Handwriting Recognition Engineer
Req. ID: 2379263
Location: Santa Clara Valley, California
Country: United States
Req Date: 11-Aug-2005Are you passionate about providing handwriting solutions to end customers? Do you strongly believe that using a stylus and a tablet is the way to interact with computers?
Apple Handwriting Recognition team is seeking an engineer who will be responsible for advancing gesture and handwriting recognition on Mac OS X. The ideal candidate will be an expert in the area of pattern recognition, with an excellent understanding of handwriting recognition issues. The person will also assume primary responsibility for maintaining existing code and tools.
Key Requirements:
* Expert in the area of pattern recognition
* Strong design and analytical skills
* Strong coder with experience in C
* Ability to write quality code and ship quality products
* Ability to manage several concurrent projects
* Track record of innovation and excellence on previous assignmentsAdditional Desired Skills and Experience:
* Well versed in the area of handwriting recognition
* Knowledge of and experience with neural network algorithms
* Experience with Unix and familiarity with Mac OS X
* Knowledge of Cocoa or Carbon (with desire and ability to learn the other)
* Excellent communication skills
PhD or a minimum of 5 years experience
Notice the call for someone who “strongly believes that using a stylus and a tablet is the way to interact with computers”. Interesting.
Red is always ferreting out cool tools and his list of 20 Skype tools is excellent for anyone who uses the VoIP program. He’s got brief descriptions and links to all the tools which run the gamut from hardware to software utilities to make the Skype experience even better. There’s a tool that automatically mutes Winamp or Windows Media Player when you get a Skype call, very cool, and my favorite, Audiomatic for controlling Skype using voice commands. Wow. The only tool I use that Red missed is SkypeHeadset for using a cell phone Bluetooth headset with Skype. Great stuff!
Looks like Red turned off trackbacks, too bad.
CNET has published the rarest of beasts, a hardware review that gets it right all the way through. The review of the Toshiba Tecra M4 covers all the basics, specs, configuration, ports and screen, and they also do a very good job describing the shortcomings of the M4 (weight and screen glare) as well as who this Tablet PC is perfect for. Good review and worth checking out if you are interested in the M4. From the review:
With a silver lid and a black base, the Toshiba Tecra M4 convertible tablet looks right at home in the boardroom. It is solidly designed and loaded with features, but its 6.2-pound weight is a killer if you want to hold your tablet like a clipboard for any length of time. If you want a decent laptop with tablet functionality, the Tecra M4 provides top-notch performance, a comfortable keyboard, and a large 14-inch screen. If you’re looking for something to use primarily as a tablet, you’re better off with smaller devices such as the ThinkPad X41 or the Motion LE1600.
TechNewsWorld has published an article today that shows how many computing tech writers just don’t get it. The article is worth reading as it covers the evolution of mobile computing devices from the Apple Newton to the Tablet PC of today. The author makes some good points about why these technologies had problems when they were introduced and how each genre of mobile device led to the next. Where the article goes off base is in the section about the Tablet PC. He mentions the new Motion LS800 as a good step toward a more mobile size yet claims that a keyboard is probably a requirement for a laptop replacement. The size of the keyboard determines the size of the Tablet PC (or the notebook computer) so it’s not clear what this guy wants to see produced. Where I really have a problem is the statement:
The tablet PC is clearly coming but it is more an evolution of the user interface right now than a true replacement for the existing laptop computer.
Hasn’t this author seen convertible Tablet PCs? These are full notebook computers with extra functionality as a Tablet PC. These are already replacements for the existing laptop computer, not several years out as the article states. I wish people writing these types of articles would actually use a Tablet PC before they make incorrect statements like this. Off soap box now.
In the current Tablet PC Show podcast Eric Rice mentioned the USB gooseneck microphone he uses for recording podcasts and I’ve already gotten several requests for more information. The microphone is from DVForge and is the MicFlex, a USB microphone that draws all power from the USB port. It works on both Macs and Windows PCs and the recommendation from Eric Rice (Mr. Audio) is a strong one. Specs:
Max Height= 22"
Diameter= 4"
Freq. Response= 35Hz-18KHz
Sample Rate= 48KHz
Sample Depth= 16-bit
Power= USB bus powered
USB Cable Length= 5-feet
MSRP $39.99
The microphone part detaches from the weighted base for using in a mobile setting.
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