BSQUARE Working to Get Handheld Released

[Ed Hardy]

Wireless carriers are looking into releasing BSQUARE's handheld, which offers an integrated keyboard and a VGA screen.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/Ca...dering_BSQUARE

[Timothy Rapson]

This did look good 6 months ago, but with the Sharp Zaurus C700 coming, is this (without PPC compatibility for software expansion) going to go anywhere?

[whiteafrican]

In either case, I see a tombstone on the horizon.

The simple epitaph reads;

RIP - Palm Inc.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[gfunkmagic]

640 x 480 pixels!! WHOA!! I imagine BSquare bundling a magnifying glass with thing thing too?

P.S. whiteafrican dude... in your dreams...

[TawnerX]

It actually does come with magnifying glass of sort. It has built in zoom hardware button.

[treynolds]

Originally posted by Timothy Rapson
This did look good 6 months ago, but with the Sharp Zaurus C700 coming, is this (without PPC compatibility for software expansion) going to go anywhere?

By all counts, the Zaurus will probably NOT be released in the U.S., at least that's what Sharp was saying, just like the Casio 3000.

Right now I'm REALLY happy with my J548, but this bSquare device is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. 640x480 on a 4" screen would be perfectly readable.

I'd jump ship for this.

Tony

[ipaqgeek]

640 x 480 pixels!! WHOA!! I imagine BSquare bundling a magnifying glass with thing thing too?

640x480 on a 3"x2" screen is the same pixel size as 2346x2160 on a 11"X9" (a 15" monitor). That seems like alot until you realize that you normally hold your PDA 1/3 the distance from your eyes when compared to the distance to your monitor. Your eye will therefore observe 3 times larger pixel size than what 2346x2160 would give you (ie. divide by 3).

In other words, after doing the math, the observed pixel size on this screen is comparable to 782x720 on a 15" monitor placed 3 feet from your face.

Heck... that's low resolution by today's standards. Now consider that the observed pixel size on a 320x240 PDA screen is comparable to 391x360 on a 15" monitor placed 3 feet from your face. Your video card probably won't even go that low.

Besides, try to view a regular webpage on a 320x240 PDA. It truly sux.

480x320 will be the standard within 2 years. 640x480 will be the standard within another 2. In 5 years you'll wonder how you ever got along with 240x320.

[imported_felixdd]

I like the GUI of the new CE.NET -- I like having the start menu on the bottom (is that doable now?)

However, this approach was also taken with CE 1.0-2.11 -- with similar features (they didn't have a "Today screen" per se but did have an "active desktop" of sorts where you can choose to view your tasks, events, emails, etc. etc.) . Is going back to this format going to be a good idea seeing the GUI of yesteryear being so inefficient? (Too many taps to get something done).

[masitti]

This is excellent news! I showed great interest for this when they showed it on TechTV. While this compares to the C700, they are different styles. The Zaurus is a clamshell, and I believe on this one just the keyboard slides out.

[pixelator]

Looks nice. Kind of heavy, and I still wonder why people even bother with those tiny chiclet keyboards, but hey - I suppose if it doesn't add any exterior bulk it's worthwhile.

I do love that screen - looks nice and bright, and the UI looks slick. More Windows-ish than PPC2K2. It looks like they could've made the screen bigger, but that's the only real criticism I can think of at this point.

Looks like the "lack of innovation of the Microsoft handheld world" is about to change. Any word on expansion card formats?

b