Author: James Kendrick

HP wasn’t content with refreshing the 2740p Tablet PC; it has also updated the entire ProBook and EliteBook lines of business notebooks. Like the 2740p, the EliteBook 2540p gets new processor options to bring high power to the ultra-thin notebook for the first time. The 2540p is still just over 3 pounds, yet can be purchased with a Core i7 processor for high-speed computing in a thin and light form. There are also three battery options for this new model — three, six and nine cells, offering up to 12.5 hours of operation, according to HP. The 2540p with the 12.1-inch screen starts at $1,099 at the HP web site.

The entire ProBook line is also being refreshed to provide three different processor options, Core i3, i5 and i7. The ProBook line is comprised of notebooks in four sizes: 4320s (13.3-inch), 4420s (15-inch), 4520s (15.6-inch) and the 4720s (17.3-inch). This line is considered HP’s top business brand, and all of the new models can be outfitted with either integrated or discrete graphic options (ATI Mobility Radeon), depending on intended use. The ProBooks start at $719 from HP.

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HP has refreshed one of my favorite Tablet PCs, and while the 2740p is much the same as the 2730p, a new touch option has been added. The dual digitizer rounds out the original pen input with full Windows 7 touch control. HP is still offering the slice battery and the ultra-slim docking station options, which are both the best in class for extending the 2740p for extended use scenarios.

The 12.1-inch screen only displays 1280×800 resolution; it’s a shame they don’t offer a higher resolution option for those who prefer one.  The touch screen is an outdoor viewable screen.

There are high-performance Intel CPU options available for the first time in this product line — either a Core i5 or a Core i7 processor can be configured.  Up to 8 GB of memory and 320 GB of hard drive storage can be configured.

HP is also unveiling the HP Day Starter utility on the 2740p and all ProBook and EliteBook notebooks. Day Starter is a Linux application that comes on within five seconds of hitting the Power button and provides a look at the day’s schedule, along with battery status. The system continues to boot in the background while Day Starter is displayed, allowing the user to see Outlook (only) schedule information without affecting system boot time. HP Day Starter is for information only, no interaction with the information displayed is possible.

The 2740p will be available in early April at a starting price of $1,599 through normal HP channels.

If you are thinking that the 2740p looks the same as the 2730p, you are correct. My video review of the 2730p gives a comprehensive overview of the 2730p, along with a comparison of the older 2710p. Have a look if you’re wondering what the new 2740p will look like in action.

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Our platform focus continues this fine Sunday with the e-Book Echo, our take on the week in the digital publishing world. In the mad world of electronic book readers, a few highly anticipated models have bubbled to the surface of our attention. The Alex by Spring Design is an exciting reader due to the second color touchscreen used to control the e-Ink main screen. The Alex has been signed by Borders to handle the bookseller’s digital content. Unfortunately the Alex has run into a release delay, pushing it back from appearing this month to early next month. No reason for the delay has been shared by Spring Design.

Another interesting reader that has yet to appear in customer hands is the Entourage eDGe. The eDGe is the most unusual of all readers given the two full-sized screens that make it far more than just an e-book reader. One of the screens is a typical e-Ink display for reading digital content, although the screen has an active digitizer to allow handwriting with a pen. The other screen is a standard color touchscreen, designed to allow the owner to take full advantage of the Android operating system powering the eDGe. Word from Entourage indicates the eDGe may start shipping in just a few weeks, after a delay of a month.

These delays are not unusual in this space, it is becoming the norm. Every week sees the announcement of one or two new e-book readers, but the truth is we don’t see many actually hit the market. It is beginning to look like the reality is hitting these manufacturers across the board. E-book readers may seem to be easy to bring to market, but the reality shows it takes longer than expected. I wonder if the components are in short supply?

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The Price of E-Book Progress

Verizon’s latest entry in the Android space, the Motorola Devour, which is already being referred to as the Baby Droid due to its similar appearance to Verizon’s first Android phone, went on sale this week. The Devour is smaller than the Droid, and retains the sliding QWERTY keyboard for text entry. It has a smooth metal finish, and most notably, ships with the MotoBlur application first seen on the Motorola Cliq. MotoBlur is Motorola’s social network aggregator, where users can see all of their contacts’ status updates on one screen. The Devour retails for $49.99 with a two-year contract.

Also this week, the Slacker music streaming service got better for both Android and BlackBerry devices with the addition of wireless music caching. Slacker is a music streaming service that uses technology to determine what kind of music you like, which it then streams to your phone over either Wi-Fi or a 3G data connection. Using it, music can now be cached on the handset, stored for playback whenever desired. The Slacker service costs $4.99 per month.

In the meantime, the Android-based e-book reader from Spring Design, aka the Alex, was scheduled to appear this week but was instead delayed until March. The Alex sports two screens: a large e-Ink screen for reading books and a smaller, color touchscreen for controlling the device. We were impressed with a hands-on demonstration of the Alex we saw at the CES in January. Alex owners will be able to use e-book content from bookseller Borders as part of the sales agreement signed by the two companies in January.

The Nexus One is the hottest Android phone available, at least until the Desire hits user’s hands. In the U.S. the Nexus One is being sold direct by Google for use on the T-Mobile network. The carrier is also selling the Nexus One. It is known that Verizon will be supporting the Nexus One at some point, and the FCC is leading us to believe that may be pretty soon.

The unwiredview has spotted the CDMA version of a phone made by HTC (maker of the Nexus One), with a model number that implies this is the Verizon Nexus One. The current Nexus One is model #PB99100, and the new model at the FCC is model #PB99300.

As a Verizon customer, and as one who covets the Nexus One, this is great news if it pans out. The Nexus One is an outstanding phone, and coupling that with the Verizon network would be the perfect match.

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It seems the rush to bring slate devices to market is not going to slow down, thanks to the announcement of the iPad earlier this year. There are slates poised to hit the market from big companies and small companies alike. The expected flood of devices to choose from has me thinking about the traits a slate must have to provide the best user experience. Here are the 5 things slates must have to drive sales.

1. Comfortable form. This is only common sense, but it is crucial for a given slate to be widely accepted in the marketplace. Slates are meant to be used one way — in the hands — which means thin and light. Equally important is the weight distribution to allow users to handle it in different ways. Some will use it in landscape orientation to fit web pages, while others will prefer the portrait orientation to mimic a notepad. Since slates will weigh at least 1 – 2 pounds, the weight must be spread over the entire device. It will not be comfortable to use if there is a heavy battery on one side.

2. Proper size. Slates are, by design, highly portable devices, intended to be used virtually anywhere. This precludes making them too big and heavy. A good size range to balance portability and usability is in the 9 – 10 inch screen range. This is big enough to display web pages comfortably, an expected usage for slates, yet small enough to fit in any bag. Smaller than this size and the screen starts getting too small for all possible uses, and larger screens will result in heavier, harder to carry slates.

3. Good touch screen. Slates are driven by touch, and that function must be responsive. A good capacitive touch screen will go a long way to making the interface natural to control by hand. Intelligent multitouch implementation is key as the ability to totally run things by fingertip is mandatory. Users must be able to point and click, move things around, resize images and perform intricate operations by hand. This is an area not open to compromises, to keep the user experience good enough to drive sales.

4. Solid web experience. These devices are not intended to replace computers, there are plenty of those around already. The slate will be a natural web appliance, simply by factor of its form, and I predict most of them will be used heavily for working with the web. This means the browser included on the slate must have absolutely no compromises in use, compared to the desktop equivalent. Slate users will visit the same web sites they do on other computers, and will demand these sites work. Sites that are heavily Flash or Javascript based will require a full browser to use properly. Any slate that fails in this regard will frustrate users, and with competition heating up this is a death knell.

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5. Price. The slate is not intended to replace a computer for anyone, nor should it. There are already Microsoft Windows Tablet PCs available that serve that purpose, especially for professional purposes. These slates are auxiliary devices by nature, and only need focus on that approach. The cost must be kept low enough to the consumer that the purchase can be justified. It’s easy for a buyer to pick up a slate because it’s cool and fun, but not when the price crosses a certain point. I believe that point is in the $600 range, and once that threshold is crossed the marketing is going to get difficult indeed. Ideally, a $400 slate will fly off the shelves, as they become more of an impulse buy. These slates are going to be subsets of full computers, and purchase gets much harder to justify when the price gets too close to that of those computers. It is the same as the netbook effect — sales ramped up quickly as folks could justify buying a less capable computer if the price was much lower.

These traits are the ones I find most important for a slate to gain market acceptance. They are going to be aimed at the mainstream consumer, not the geek types who demand more from their computers. They will end up being sold in big box retail stores, and for that to happen successfully they must be comfortable, fun and cheap.

To those wondering why the choice of operating system didn’t make my list — I don’t think it’s important. It must be easy to use, light on the processor and most of all optimized for touch. These will be accepted as leisure appliances, not computers, so the OS is not a factor. I do think it better be maintenance free for the user.

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My favorite time of the week is here for the 77th time! That’s the time I get to share the happenings at my home office, Mobile Tech Manor (MTM), and ruminate over the implications of them. It was a rather slow week with no gadgets arriving, but that looks to change in just a few days. I spent some quality time with interesting software, and I’ll share thoughts about that.

Arrivals at the Manor

This week only one gadget arrived at MTM, and it’s not even a gadget. Oh it’s a piece of hardware, a nice phone in fact, but that’s not why it’s here. Verizon recently rolled out a spiffy new version of its VZ Navigator service. They asked me if I wanted to try the new service and sent a BlackBerry Curve with the service active. I’ll only have it for a short while but I want to compare it to the Sprint Navigation service I use heavily.

Navigator is the carrier’s GPS/ Navigation service that’s been around for a long time. This new version adds some features to bring it up to the level of its competition, most importantly the ability to cache the entire trip to map. Previous versions of Navigator only downloaded a small bit of a trip being routed, which meant a constant connection to Verizon’s network was mandatory to keep the trip flowing.

This new version ends that restriction, with a connection up front required, but since the entire trip is now cached the navigation session is fluid, network connection or not. I’ll be putting VZ Navigator through its paces to see if it’s worth the $10 monthly charge.

Verizon is going to send a Motorola Devour  in a few days, I should have it for the next column. This is the “Baby Droid” with MotoBlur that the carrier is just starting to offer. I’m particularly interested in the sliding QWERTY keyboard, pictures of the Devour show it to be a capable keyboard.

Software stuff

I played with a lot of software this week, some intentionally and some unplanned. I have totally incorporated LogMeIn into my work flow, but I’ve covered that on the site. I did pay for a Mac program that has become a big part of my work day.

Viewfinder is a simple program that has a great interface, making it a good tool. Bloggers are always looking for artwork to include in posts, and Flickr is a good source of them. Many photos uploaded to Flickr are OK for bloggers to use due to the Creative Commons license. The problem is there are so many photos on Flickr that finding a good one to use in a post can be a daunting task. Viewfinder brings good image searching to the table, and it is so good at it I finally paid for it. The free version is full-featured, but has delays in place to entice you to pay for it. It’s only $22, so I ponied up the cash.

Gmail shenanigans

Google is a big part of my day, I’ll bet I spend 90% of it in either Gmail or Google Reader. This week Gmail got an overhaul, and I found out about it in a funny way. I sent an email to a coworker, and in it I indicated I had included a web link to point them to the intended web site. I hit the Send button, and a Gmail box opened up informing me that I had used the phrase “included a” but had included no attachment on the mail. “Did you forget the attachment?”

That was so cool. In this instance I had not forgotten an attachment, but we’ve all done that at times. Gmail is now scanning the email and making itself more useful by covering our back. Some folks won’t like it doing that but I find it useful.

Another big change was made in the way I use Gmail. I use the Remember The Milk (RTM) task system, and I have long used its Gmail gadget to track my tasks within Gmail. It’s not a great utility in Gmail, but it’s better than nothing. This morning when I fired up Gmail the RTM task pane suddenly appeared on the right side of the screen, and with new abilities. I didn’t change anything so this surprised me.

It didn’t last long, when I closed Gmail and restarted it the RTM gadget was back on the left side as always, with the same clunky interface. I did some investigating and RTM also has a browser add-on for Firefox and Chrome that looks that what I saw on my Gmail screen. The problem is I never installed it, and it has only appeared twice in Gmail like that and then went away. I’ll have to investigate this pretty thoroughly. I liked the changes, however briefly they appeared on their own.

Batteries

I bought the Apple Magic Mouse a while back, and I am loving it. I have been keeping my eye on battery consumption, as many have reported that the Magic Mouse caused the Apple Wireless Keyboard, which I also use, to eat batteries like M&Ms. Some are reporting going through a set of batteries a week in their keyboards since getting a Magic Mouse, thus my concern.

I am happy to report that my situation isn’t that bad. I do feel the keyboard batteries are getting used quicker than before I got the Magic Mouse, but not alarmingly so. I have replaced both the mouse and keyboard batteries once since getting the mouse a couple of months ago.

Personal

Thanks to all who expressed good wishes over the diabetic control problem I mentioned last week. I was scheduled to have the continual glucose monitor inserted this past week, but the doctor had to reschedule it. That won’t happen until next week now; I’ll keep you informed about how that goes.

e-Book of the week

This week I have been head down in the fifth book in the Nic Costa series. The Seventh Sacrament by David Hewson is another great mystery in the manner only Hewson can tell it. The same cast of characters is on hand to figure out what happened to the little boy those many years ago.

The cast of characters is what makes this Costa series so entertaining. Hewson has created a very complex cast for these books, and the main characters are some of the most difficult ones I’ve come across. In the beginning of the series I questioned if Hewson would be able to mature these characters well. I needn’t have worried, the characters in this series have grown with each subsequent book in the series, and marvelously so. Hewson is to be commended for his story-telling skills.

Wrap-up

That’s my week, I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll be back next week, same bat time, same bat channel. Until then, be safe.

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It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another Palm Press, our weekly look at the world of Palm. Some disturbing news has come out of Palm this week concerning lower than expected sales numbers. The company warned that current quarter results were going to be low, due to “slower than expected” reception of the new webOS phones on Verizon. The quarterly revenue is now expected to only fall between $285 – $310 million. The way was also paved for particularly bad annual numbers, as Palm is now forecasting revenues “well below” the $1.6 – $1.8 billion originally estimated. It is clear that Palm is not out of the water yet, and the new “Plus” models at Verizon have not moved as quickly as Palm was hoping.

Palm phone owners have been anxiously awaiting the appearance of the webOS 1.4 update. The update was rumored to appear today, but no update has surfaced at the time of this writing. What has leaked out is the changelog that details all the new things that will appear in webOS 1.4. In addition to the expected video recording capability, many of the native webOS apps will be getting refreshed with new functionality. Most significantly, Adobe Flash 10.1 support is included in version 1.4, with the Flash player expected to be downloaded from the App Catalog.

Best Buy is now offering the new Pixi Plus from Verizon for free with a 2-year contract. It can’t bode well for Palm that the latest model is already free. To further show how wacky the U.S. phone world can be, the older Pixi from Sprint is still $79.99. If you can’t move enough phones at no cost to customers, there’s something wrong.

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I have long been an advocate for a good lunch break during the workday. As a home worker, I find a benefit in stepping away from the computer and having an intermission during the day. I am fortunate in that I can work almost anywhere, as long as I have a computer and access to the web, and I have come to appreciate the “working lunch.” Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mean eating while hunkering over a computer. I have combined the need for a break with the joy a change of scenery brings to my work — the working lunch.

I try to have a decent lunch in a venue that is also conducive to having a good work session. I eat my lunch while reading a good e-book, and when I’m done I pull out the notebook and get to work. I find it relaxing to have my break, followed by a work session that requires no additional travel.

I bring either the Kindle or the iPhone to read while I eat. I have books in both Kindle and eReader format, and the latter cannot be read on the Kindle. The iPhone can handle both formats, so if I bring it I can read any of my e-books. I prefer the Kindle, but for eReader books it’s the iPhone. It’s my favorite part of the day.

Once the fun part is done I get to work. I fire up the notebook, (since I am cloud-based it doesn’t matter which one I bring), and I jump on the web. I like to patronize eateries that have free Wi-Fi, and I’m finding more of those than in the past. I believe the cost of supplying a Wi-Fi hotspot for customers has probably dropped from just a year or two ago. I’ve been told by restaurant owners that the cost is now low enough they consider it a good investment.

Finding a venue with Wi-Fi is not always easy in the U.S. Some of the big chain restaurants have free Wi-Fi, McDonald’s and Panera Bread come to mind, but the trick is finding one with good working conditions. Having good food is a plus. Panera Bread is a solid choice that meets both requirements (good food and Wi-Fi), but I wouldn’t want to do that every day.

Many Americans are surprised when I point out that most Denny’s restaurants now have free Wi-Fi. I’m not sure if it is a corporate policy, but I’m finding many of the locations I try do have it. The Denny’s near me has recently put up a sign touting the Wi-Fi, so perhaps they all will have it soon. I find it a comfortable place to work, and the bottomless coffee cups are nice.

I find the Open WiFi Spots web site to be a good source for finding open hotspots; they have a listing covering many cities in the U.S. I’m certain there are other online resources for finding free Wi-Fi; leave your favorites in the comments if you have them.

I don’t depend solely on having Wi-Fi during my working lunch, I also bring my pocket hotspot with me. The MiFi is the backup plan that has never let me down for connectivity. Even if I go to a place I’ve gone before, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that a given hotspot may be down. Since I require web access the MiFi has my back.

Just today I had an unusual circumstance that pointed out how wise it was to bring the MiFi. I frequent the place I visited for my working lunch, and the Wi-Fi was active as expected. Unusually, I was hit with the inability to work with the WordPress site, which is essential for my work. All other sites worked fine, with good speed, yet the WordPress site just looped while loading a page. I suspect something in the network configuration was causing WordPress to keep trying to make a connection, and failing. No problem, I hit the button on the MiFi and was in business in seconds. WordPress worked fine on the Verizon 3G network.

The MiFi in particular is not essential, the 3G data access is the important thing. Any connection method is good, USB modems and 3G integrated into the computer work well. Some folks can tether a laptop to a 3G-enabled smartphone, and that works, too. The key is having the backup connectivity if your work is dependent on web access. Good 3G connectivity is even good enough for me to access my home computer, if needed.

My working lunches are nothing special, but they seem that way to me. It is my favorite part of the work day, and I feel rejuvenated when I have lunch this way. There’s really nothing special other than a change of pace (and scenery) in the often hectic day. I highly recommend these lunches.

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Scribd is one of those things that you really appreciate once you try it out. The method of displaying virtually any complex document with proper formatting and controls to facilitate the reading is simply great. I especially like how well the research papers on our subscription-based service, GigaOM Pro display in Scribd. What does this have to do with mobile tech? I’m glad you asked. Scribd has now added a “Send to Device” feature that does exactly what it implies — sends any Scribd doc right to your phone.

Most Scribd content is paid content, so this is adding more value to the purchase. It’s a great way for authors and publishers to get their content out to a big, mainstream audience. Even more exciting is the quiet news that Scribd is working on a “series of mobile applications tailored especially to the Android and iPhone operating systems.”

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I am getting a lot of questions about LogMeIn since recently writing about the computer utility that provides remote control functions to any Mac or Windows PC. That many questions about a service usually means I need to dive deeper into how I use it, which I’ve done with LogMeIn — and my top five ways to do so are the result.

LogMeIn’s base function is to allow for the control of any computer remotely from any other one. This control is done securely over the web, and that is the primary strength of LogMeIn. You can sit in front of any computer, anywhere in the world, and control the host computer no matter where it is located. The remote computer screen appears on the local computer, and this is all done through the magic of the web browser.

LogMeIn for computers comes in several versions, with LogMeIn Free available at no cost (naturally). The premium versions add various functionalities, from the ability to copy files between computers to full-blown IT support services. The free version provides the sophisticated remote control functions to any computer, and most folks can likely get by with it.

Each computer that you wish to control remotely must have the local LogMeIn utility installed, to handle the secure login and connection. This only has to be done once and it takes few resources running in the background. Once LogMeIn is installed, that computer can be accessed from any computer, anywhere. Here are the top five ways to get the most out of LogMeIn, based in large part on the questions I am receiving about how to use it to maximum effect.

Display settings are key. When you use LogMeIn to control a remote computer, it uses the web browser as a window into the other computer. The computer you are sitting in front of becomes the de facto screen of the other computer, and you see everything you would see were you sitting in front of the other computer. LogMeIn provides a wealth of settings to handle the way the remote computer screen appears locally, but it is simple to get the maximum functionality. There is now a setting in the display drop-down box that automatically adjusts the remote screen resolution to that of the local computer. This is important as the two computers often have different display resolutions, which left on its own can make things difficult to see.

A common scenario for LogMeIn use has the user controlling the desktop system at home from a notebook computer somewhere else. Since most notebook screens run at a lower resolution than desktops with bigger screens, this resolution switching is critical. LogMeIn handles switching the host resolution (desktop in this example) to that of the notebook used to access it. It does this automatically and importantly it switches it back when you log out. That means the desktop screen switches back to a nice hi-res setting, without any user interaction.

Once that setting is made and the host display is switched to the local resolution, LogMeIn allows for a “full-screen” mode. This lets the remote desktop completely take over the local screen, and once that happens it is just like sitting in front of the host system. There are still accessible controls on the edge of the screen should you need to do something on the local system. It is very well implemented and works seamlessly once set properly.

LogMeIn works in any web browser that supports Java; I have used it in Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox without issues. If you are using a Windows PC to access the remote system, I recommend using Internet Explorer. LogMeIn installs an ActiveX control the first time you do so, and this adds a lot of controls to make the session easier. It still works fine in the other browsers, but the ActiveX control makes it more like a native app in Internet Explorer.

Tap into computing horsepower. One of the potential benefits of using LogMeIn is to tap into a more powerful computer than the one you are currently using. Say you have a powerful desktop computer at home, but are using a less powerful netbook on the road. Using LogMeIn you can take over the powerful system and do more intensive tasks than the netbook will allow. I have used this method to do video editing and encoding remotely. These tasks are very compute intensive, and typically completely take over the system on which I perform them. Since I am using the compute power of the remote system, my less powerful local system lets me do this without impacting the local work.

The same reasoning applies to intensive system maintenance functions, such as backing up entire systems or running a complete virus scan. These are often functions scheduled to happen in the middle of the night, but there are times when a manual scan or backup would be useful. Rather than do this when you get home and have that system tied up for an extended period, you can access it remotely via LogMeIn and fire off the maintenance. It doesn’t impact your local system, and the maintenance is all done when you get back home.

Support computers remotely. If you are like me you have the lucky designation among family and friends as the one to call when they have computer problems. You’ve likely spent many phone calls trying to explain to Aunt Sue how to install a new program, or figure out why her email won’t work. With LogMeIn, this situation is much improved. Simply log onto the other computer and install that program. Or you can see for yourself exactly what the problem is, and figure out how to fix it like you would on your own system. That the “email won’t work” quickly becomes a “Gmail is down” can save you an inordinate amount of time on the phone. You can also remotely run the maintenance that all family members seem to forget.

Access work computer from home. These days of Gmail it’s easy to forget that a lot of folks still have no way to access work email from home. Members of the “no BlackBerry” workforce often wish they could check the email at work while out of the office. If the corporate network allows access, you can use LogMeIn to tap into your work PC and get at that email. Or perhaps your work entails using specialized software. You can take over your work computer and run the program. This can be a big benefit when out of the office. Again, the corporate network would have to allow this, but it’s worth a try.

Use your home PC from any public PC. If you do a lot of traveling you’ve no doubt found yourself with some free time but without having your laptop handy. Maybe you’re passing by the hotel business center and realize you’d like to access your PC at home but you left the laptop in the room. No problem, just jump on the public PC in the business center and log into your home machine. You’ll have your complete home computing environment right there where you need it, including the ability to run any of your programs or access any of your files. Since LogMeIn uses a discrete browser session to handle things, when you log off the public system your information is gone. It’s like carrying your big desktop system everywhere you go.

These are by no means the only ways that LogMeIn can be leveraged, but they are the ways I find myself using it most often. The utility I get by accessing one of my computers when needed cannot be overstated. It’s like carrying all of my computers around with me, all the time. Just a lot easier.

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The Motorola Devour from Verizon almost seems like the Droid’s little brother, but the more I see of the phone, the more I like about it. It has a metal case with a sliding QWERTY keyboard that looks much easier to use than that of the Droid. It also has a unique side-mounting battery, showing Motorola’s attention to detail on the Devour. The folks at Mobile Burn got their hands on a Devour and have published an very in-depth video of the Devour. They give one of the best overviews of the MotoBlur screen that integrates all of the social networks onto a single screen. I am also impressed how peppy the Devour appears to be in the video.

Motorola is putting Android 1.6 on the Devour, which is a shame since version 2.1 is already available on some phones. That means any features introduced with Android 2.x will not be present on the Devour. It’s getting to be a real chore to keep up with all of the versions of Android now on the market, and which phone has which version. That aside, the Devour looks to be a solid effort by Motorola. It should be available from Verizon soon. I suspect my wife would really like the Devour, given its social network bent.

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It wasn’t that long ago that phones did what they were designed to do, connect to phone networks. Having Wi-Fi on a phone was a pipe dream, and why would you even want that? Then phones started to appear with integrated Wi-Fi, and everyone took notice. Formerly the domain of laptop users while on the run, Wi-Fi was quickly noticed to be not only desirable on phones, but mandatory. With Wi-Fi onboard almost all smartphones on the market, it is not surprising that over half of the connections to Wi-Fi hotspots are made by phones and other handheld devices, not laptops.

Mobile ad distributor JiWire has reported that 56 percent of all ads served over its Wi-Fi networks are dished up by handheld devices — phones in particular. The JiWire network consists of hotspots in hotels, coffee shops and airports, normally the domain of laptop users.

I suspect a couple of things are at play with this wide-spread usage of Wi-Fi on phones. Cost is likely one factor, as phone data plans are still expensive and many have monthly data caps that must be respected. Then there is raw speed — Wi-Fi networks are almost always faster than even the best 3G phone networks. When faced with a limited amount of time, the faster the network, the more that can be done.

I admit that when phones first started getting Wi-Fi capability, I kept it turned off most of the time. I was concerned about unnecessary battery drain, so I only turned it on when needed and quickly disabled it when I didn’t. Now I don’t think about it, Wi-Fi is usually on most of the time as I find it is actually gentler on the battery than 3G data connections. How about you? Do you use Wi-Fi on your phone or other handheld device? If so, what drives that usage?

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Rumored Apple Tablet: Opportunities Too Big to Ignore

I’ve been covering Evernote a fair bit lately, as it is an integral part of my work system. Notes I send to my notebook in the Evernote cloud are available on any device I might be using at the time and I’ve even showed how to freely capture handwritten bits without inking them on a Tablet PC. Evernote recently formed a partnership with printer maker Lexmark which further extends the benefits of the Evernote method. Lexmark produces all-in-one printers that have a new option on the control panel — Scan to Evernote.

The new option will allow printer owners to scan any paper document directly to their Evernote notebook in the sky. Scanned documents will be instantly available for reference from any device the user may own. Since the new capability is integrated directly into the printer, no computer interaction is required. Simply place the document in the scanner tray, hit the icon on the control panel and that’s it.

The new Evernote integration is available for Lexmark Interact, Prestige and Platinum Web-connected touch screen printers. Owners of these printers can download the Evernote integration at the Lexmark web site at no charge.

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Is Lifelogging the Future of Social Media?

I have an unusual setup in Mobile Tech Manor, with a plethora of computers just waiting to get used to full advantage. There is no telling what gadget I might be using at a given moment, or what platform it might be running. One disadvantage to the platform agnostic mobile worker, and I count myself in that group, is that often I find myself needing a given file or document that is currently residing on a computer that is not at my disposal. This has prompted me to take another look at LogMeIn, and I am happy to report it’s working well.

I used LogMeIn way back when and it did a good job for me. Where I found it to fall short was in the Mac realm, as the Pro version did not work on the Mac. That meant I could not perform file functions across platforms, and that was a killer for me. Recently it came to my attention that LogMeIn Pro now works on the Mac, so I grabbed a 30-day trial account and have been using it heavily. It is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool in my software toolkit.

LogMeIn provides a lot of different functions, but the two I use most are the remote control and the file management. Remote control lets me run any computer in Mobile Tech Manor from any other computer I have configured with LogMeIn. This control takes place in the web browser, and it turns the computer at hand into a remote terminal to my other computers. This is useful as I can log into the MacBook back in the office, and run any program or perform any Mac function from whatever computer I happen to be using at the time. It’s not as fast as if I was sitting in front of the MacBook, but it’s certainly fast enough to be useful.

I also use the file management functions of LogMeIn — in fact I do this more than remote control. I am prone to grab any notebook when I head out the door, and as a result it is common for me to realize I need a file or two from another computer to use in my work. With LogMeIn, I can connect to the other computer, and fire up a graphical file manager with a dual pane displaying files on both computers, the remote one and the one at hand. Copying files is a simple process, and finding the files I need is easy to do in the file manager.

It is liberating to be able to grab any computer for a remote work session, and having LogMeIn around makes that painless. I no longer find myself stuck due to not having the files or programs at hand to get the job done. It’s a simple matter to tap into any system and grab what I need. That’s heady stuff, I am finding.

I also have LogMeIn Ignition on the iPhone, but I don’t use it very often. It’s cool to run the equivalent of a full computer on the little iPhone, but frankly I don’t really need to do that much. The iPhone app is quite expensive ($29.99) too, so unless you have a glaring need for this function it’s too expensive to just play with. I can see IT folks might find a real benefit with this app though, and the ability to remotely access a computer on the go. It is also available on a number of smartphone platforms, although I haven’t tried others.

I know there are other programs that do this, but I am happy with LogMeIn. It handles everything I need it to do, and I find it worth the $70/ year for one computer. I’ll likely pony up the cash when the trial is over, at least for the MacBook. That way I can access the office stuff from any other computer using just the browser.

A fun benefit that doesn’t have much real use but I like to do, is tap into the MacBook from the ThinkPad x200 Tablet. It is downright cool to run the ThinkPad as a Mac, complete with full touch controls. It shows what a Mac with a touch screen would be like. As I said, fun stuff.

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Everybody Hertz: The Looming Spectrum Crisis

My post on the technology in OneNote that makes ink notes on the Tablet searchable has touched a vein with many. I’ve heard from quite a few who are in two camps — the ones who swear by this technology and the ones who didn’t know it existed. While the Tablet PC/ OneNote combo is powerful for those who take a lot of handwritten notes, there are those who don’t need quite so much firepower for note taking. There is a simple way using Evernote and a mobile phone to turn any notes handwritten on paper into fully searchable information.

Evernote is the note application that works on just about every platform. This includes Windows and Macs, and most smartphone platforms. Notes can be imported into Evernote a number of ways, and all notes are stored in the Evernote cloud. There is a free version of the service for light users, and a Premium version for those needing more online storage.

Notes in the user’s online notebooks are accessible from any device that can run the Evernote program. They can consist of text notes, images, web links and the like. One of the strengths of the Evernote technology is how it scans any image a user uploads into the notebook, to determine if there is any text that should be indexed for searching. Upload a picture of a stop sign, and after a brief period of background scanning on the server you can run a search for the term “stop” and Evernote will find that image across all of the user’s notebooks.

This works for handwriting, too, so turning handwritten notes into searchable text is quite simple. Take the notes on paper as usual, and when done you’re ready to bring them into the Evernote cloud. Fire up the Evernote app on the smartphone with a camera, take a photo of the page and send it to your online Evernote notebook.

Once it’s there, the Evernote processors take over and scan the image for any recognized words. It may take a while as Evernote is doing a lot of this in the background, but once the scanning has taken place the entire page is now searchable in the Evernote desktop app.

You can then search for text using Evernote on any device, and all notes that contain the search phrase will be presented, with the search phrase highlighted. Since the search is taking place in the cloud, your ink notes are accessible (and searchable) from any device that runs Evernote. The program presents the photo of the note page, so you can refer to all of the notes that you took along with the object of your search.

This is not a high volume solution, so if you take lots of pages of notes, you’ll need another method. But if you only occasionally take notes, or you want to capture that one important note you scribbled on a napkin, this is a good solution. The impressive thing is it is low cost, or even free.

I appreciate good technology, and when I come across it I make every attempt to incorporate it into my life. I am not lazy (although some might argue with that); I simply want to leverage technology to maximum effect every chance I get. Since that usually makes my life easier, so much the better. One such technology I have used for years and have come to take for granted, and something happened today that drove home just how important it can be. It made me realize that it is sad that this particular tech hasn’t become more widely recognized, as I believe it could be one of the most important developments of the past decade.

Until adopting the blogger lifestyle full time, I was a consultant. Specifically, I was a consulting geophysicist for years, working in a highly technical field that depended very heavily on sophisticated computing technology. I regularly used computing clusters with over 10,000 Intel CPUs, so you get my drift.

This morning I received a call from a former client, who needed some specific technical information about a project I handled back in the day. I have been removed from this work for two years, so needless to say I had no idea how to answer his query. I told him I’d have to research it and get back to him. I suspect he figured it would be a good while, if ever, that he heard back from me with his needed information. He was stunned when I called him five minutes later.

When I was working as a consultant, one of my main tools was OneNote on a Microsoft Windows Tablet PC. I used this to handle all meetings I attended by jotting notes on the slate with the Tablet pen. I would immediately grab the Tablet when I made or received a phone call, as having good project notes was critical to my work. I worked this way for years, and accumulated thousands of pages of ink notes in OneNote. It was the only way I could keep on top of things back then.

After receiving the call this morning I fired up OneNote and entered a search term, “Jericho,” in the search box. This was the project codename my friend was asking me about. In less than 30 seconds, OneNote found exactly what I was looking for.

Notice how the handwritten word “Jericho” is highlighted yellow? That’s how OneNote indicated this matched my search term. Notice how bad that handwriting is? And yet it still knew what I had written. It had returned every single time I wrote the word Jericho in my notes, and this was high up the list as it was one of the first notes chronologically. That was important as my friend also needed to know if I could tell him when this initial project meeting took place. It was right there on the note page.

Think about that for a minute. As you can see, I was able to lay my hands on the actual meeting notes taken over three years ago. Can you go to the drawer or shelf where you keep all of your Moleskine journals or legal pads containing past notes and find anything from three years ago? Much less exactly what you’re looking for in just a minute?

This is empowering technology, and it’s a shame it is not more widely used. Most people I show this capability to are completely blown away that it exists, and yet they knew nothing about it. It is not hard to see how useful this capability can be, to almost everyone. The ability to search anyone’s handwriting, and figure out what they wrote is applicable in a bushel of situations.

My fellow Tablet PC enthusiast friends are smiling now, as they’ve been using this for years. But they are the only ones, and there’s not that many of them. That is simply a shame, given how good this technology is.

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Web Tablet Survey: Apple’s iPad Hits the Right Notes

It’s Tuesday and that can only mean it’s time for our weekly feature, the BlackBerry Buzz. Rumors have surfaced that a major telco, most likely Verizon, is canceling orders for the Storm in preparation of dropping the phone from its lineup. The Storm has not been without its detractors, but if this holds true it will be sad to see Research In Motion’s only full touch phone fall by the wayside. I’m still happily using my original Storm, and from what I’ve read the newer Storm 2 is even better. Oh the fickle world of the smartphone.

The BlackBerry Master Control Program (MCP) has received a new beta update, and it’s fleshing out quite nicely. This donation-ware program is a full-featured program that provides complete desktop control over any BlackBerry phone. It facilitates the handling of applications, and allows updating the OS without fear of the process getting interrupted. All of the features are packaged in an intuitive graphical interface that makes the program very easy to use. The program is Windows only, but runs on Macs successfully under VMWare Fusion.

RIM is starting a new developer initiative to promote “super apps”, which the company defines as an app that “leverages the unique capabilities of the BlackBerry platform to offer a seamless, integrated and efficient experience.” To kick off the program there is a webcast on Feb. 25 for developers to find out how to work with RIM on the new super apps. This is a great initiative on RIM’s part, as engaging the developer community can only be a good thing.

Lenovo was all over the CES in January showing new things, but they didn’t stop to rest when the big show ended. They have just announced some new ThinkPad models that should be available soon. The ultra-portable X-series gets a refresh, with the x200 line at the forefront. The 12-inch x201 and x201s are getting faster processors (over 3 GHz available), while retaining the 2.5 – 3 lb. weight for portability. There are three battery options — 4, 6, and 9-cell for up to 12 hours of run time.

The most exciting new model for me is the x201 Tablet, which is the 12-inch ThinkPad with the convertible screen. This model remains largely the same as the x200, with the addition of a small trackpad to augment the Trackstick. I happen to like the Trackstick, but there are times when a trackpad would be easier to use. The x201 Tablet comes with both input methods for maximum utility.

There are two display options for the new Tablet, an outdoor viewable screen and a multitouch enabled screen viewable from wide angles.

The massive w701 is the refreshed model of the 17-inch ThinkPad I reviewed last year. The w701ds is the model with the second display (10.6-inch) that slides out of the main 17-inch display, making for a full dual-screen portable workstation solution. The w701ds has new processor options and retains the Wacom digitizer option for professional applications. The dual-screen model must be seen to be believed, so my original review should be revisited for the photos of this behemoth.

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The State of the Smartbook