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Well the new year is just about upon us and it's time to reflect on this 2004 - the good in the bad, the freeware and the vaporware and the hardware - whether it made us smile or made us frown. I was wondering, what do you think are some of the best or the most important Pocket PC developments of 2004? Is it the realease of Windows mobile 2003 second edition? The fact that Pocket PC beat out Palm's sales for a few months?
I'm curious as well as I'm sure most of us are... What can we look back on 2004 and say THIS was it! This was the most important Pocket PC development!
I don't think it was any piece of software at all.....I think the fact that they've added WiFi to PPCs was the most important development of 2004...IMHO..
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Seriously, I'm seeing a lot of flailing around but nobody is delivering what I want (and I think a lot of others do as well). What do I want?
- PDA w/Windows Mobile 2003
- GSM Cell Phone
- MP3 Player
- Built in WiFi & Bluetooth
- SD/MMC expansion slot
- Cell phone form factor
These are smart companies that employee smart people. You mean to tell me that they can't figure out how to build an all-in-one that embraces the features and functionality that we need in a form factor that works? Currently, I practically need a man-purse to bring all of my gadgets with me... while I guess that is an option, I would prefer a snappy all-in-one
Whichever company is first to market with a fantastic all-in-one will be the winner IMO.
I think the price drop in memory cards has a significant impact on the PPC as I can carry around literally hundreds of games, books, movies and maps. Which all helps my device become an essential mobility companion.
__________________ Afterism (n) - A concise, clever statement you don\'t think of until too late.
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
I think that the most important Pocket PC development in 2004 was.... "The LACK of any important Pocket PC developments"
2003 was an exciting year. In both the hardware and software arenas. Integrated Bluetooth, WiFi, and VGA debuted in 2003. WM2003 was a significant upgrade. Fast XScale devices came on the scene.
In contrast, 2004 appeared to be the "mature" and "stable" year for the PPC. New devices were introduced that were uninspiring and had hardware designs that smacked of simply "running out of ideas". WM2003SE was a minor upgrade, with only on-the-fly landscape being one of the more visible features. A feature that SOUNDed more useful that it was in actual use.
Sure there were fun plug-ins like "PocketBreeze" and new ways of interfacing with your PPC using "PPX"...and hidden freebie gems like "ForwardPass". But these were the exceptions. This was a year marked by people turning on each other. TodayPlus discontinued, BetaPlayer accusations, lack of an SE upgrade, WISBar Advanced 2 going commercial, etc. The lack of exciting developments to move the platform forward had quite a few people very frustrated.
A positive development this year, was a seemingly increasing number of people actually wanting to DO things on their PPCs. The lack of gee-whiz hardware releases caused many to hold on to the devices they already had and focus on actually using it. That's why PIMs like AF and PI really gained attentioned, and PocketBreeze is so popular.
Discussions on book readers and multimedia players show an increasing interest in using the PPC to a greater extent. There has even been more discussions about using a PPC as a PRIMARY mobile device (replacing notebook/laptops).
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Well, that's how I saw this year in review.
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Seriously, I'm seeing a lot of flailing around but nobody is delivering what I want (and I think a lot of others do as well). What do I want?
- PDA w/Windows Mobile 2003
- GSM Cell Phone
- MP3 Player
- Built in WiFi & Bluetooth
- SD/MMC expansion slot
- Cell phone form factor
These are smart companies that employee smart people. You mean to tell me that they can't figure out how to build an all-in-one that embraces the features and functionality that we need in a form factor that works? Currently, I practically need a man-purse to bring all of my gadgets with me... while I guess that is an option, I would prefer a snappy all-in-one
Whichever company is first to market with a fantastic all-in-one will be the winner IMO.
Would you really be happy walking around the beach with a £400+ converged device falling out of your pocket or hanging out with your pals on a Friday/Saturday after a few beers and then pulling out a very expensive mobile phone to call a cab.
Having been there and tried it, I'm quite happy to stick to a good phone (e.g. Nokia 9310i) and a seperate pda.
A mobile phone form factor also potentially has issues with such a small screen size. (I input a fair amount of text on my device).
Maybe it's fair to say that there is NO perfect device. But a standard device can have some GREAT adaptations.
I also think that the implementation of a touchpad and the subsequent proving that a touchpad on a PPC is cr@p (IMO), hopefully means the manufacturers can move on to better systems of control.
__________________ Afterism (n) - A concise, clever statement you don\'t think of until too late.
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
I'm with Addic. I do not want my phone in my PDA or my PDA in my phone. I don't want face oil on my screen or headset only communication.
Larger internal storage and more automatic transfer from PC would be useful improvements.
The best moves of 2004 are probably VGA screens and dual slot BT and WIFI units (lose more of those cards).
I wouldn't mind a decent internal GPS but I can survive with it external. Line-in stereo recording would be nice. (I'm looking at adapting the mic input on the Axim X50v.)
Some good comments here. I especially like the one about:
Quote:
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One thing I'd vote for is the faster processors. I was thumbing through some old issues of Palm Computing from 2000 and feeling the nostalgia of the claims of "Blazing Fast ARM 205Mhz Processing!!" Speed does make a big difference to me. I can log into a Terminal Server connection in the blink of an eye, switch to email and check real quick, then change courses and watch a nicely encoded episode of "Family Bonds"
Now for them to just work on that battery life.
Could it be possible that the greatest innovation has yet to be realised? A number of devices have been released with graphic chips, but only a scant few applications actually support the new chips.
If support were to build over the coming year......
Nah! probably not, I'll go with the integrated BT/WIFI vote.
__________________ Afterism (n) - A concise, clever statement you don\'t think of until too late.
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
), hopefully means the manufacturers can move on to better systems of control.
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