Epocdigest V1 # 393

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Epoc Digest Fri, 05 Dec 2003 Volume 01 : Number 393

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Sent to: 788 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 11 messages:

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- Re: Rolf - nB Pro OS 7

- Re: Brutus

- Re: SonyEricsson T610 + Series 5mx

- Re: Using Smartphones while flying (OT)

- Re: A Psion 1/3/3a/5/5MX user trys out a Dell Axim X3i running PocketPC

- Malaybook, Palm and the like,

- Re: Discussion of Non-Psion Machines

- re: Psions for sale

- Psion 5mx & Windows ME synchronising woes

- zExe # 392 (4)

- Vetomail....

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 00:06:07 +0100

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: Rolf - nB Pro OS 7

Dear Alan,

<< This is often the case but for many years I've used the expression 'wizz-kid designed'; meaning designed by someone (probably just out of university) that has hardly ever used the previous product and therefore does not know it's features >>

I'm sorry, but that's too simplistic. The Series 3 Psion have been in production for 8.5 years if I remember correctly. Not only had handheld computing technology changed during this period but the buying public as well. People had started to buy a handheld computer in high numbers which horror of horrors, wasn't equipped with a keyboard - the Palm Pilot. And what you overlook is that there's no such thing as a "good feature". A feature allows you to perform a certain function (or functions) and is therefore neutral. Whether it's interesting to buy a product that has a particular feature depends on whether the function(s) you can perform is/are of benefit to you.

The benefit rating of a feature is therefore subject to change. And when its benefit rating slips and slips there comes a time that it's no longer interesting to supply it. PsiWin made file transfer so easy that controlling your PC's drives from a Psion became a feature of all but zero benefit. An integral keyboard became of such low benefit that it started to work against handheld computers that had them. The answer to your question "So why is there no new Palm or Pocket PC device made with one" is simply that they don't sell to a mass audience. Which makes it doubtful whether we get a device like the Series 5mx back. We may have to do with the small thumbboards on a device like the Palm Tungsten C.

<< Progress for advancement yes, but often features that could be retained are lost through ignorance rather than difficulty in implementing them on advanced products >>

Progress also means adopting the new and discarding the old. PsiWin is progress in the sense that it offers a much better overview of files directories that you can get on a small Psion screen. It allows drag-and-drop operation and on-the-fly file conversion. You no longer copy diary and contacts files but synchronise them. Sufficient reasons to adopt PsiWin and to discard accessing you're PC's drives from a Psion.

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 00:06:17 +0100

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: Brutus

Dear Keith,

<< Brutus was Caesar's *friend* - not son. Picky, picky, picky. :-) >>

I could be wrong, but from what I've read about Julius Casar's life, also from his own writings, I've always understood that Marcus Brutus was Julius Caesar's adopted son.

When Caesar saw Brutus among the conspirators that were about to kill him he is reported to have said "You too, my son?" in Greek. (Source : De Vita Caesarum by Suetonius)

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 00:06:24 +0100

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: SonyEricsson T610 + Series 5mx

Dear Aleck,

<< ... I still get a message when I try to synch sms messages or dial up to the net that says my modem settings are wrong >>

I'd recommend using the following modem settings:

Modem tab

- Name : SonyEricsson T610

- Speed : 57600

- Connect : Infrared

- Fax Class : Auto

Options tab

- Loudspeaker in use : Never

- Volume : Quiet

- Pause time for "," : 4 seconds

Initialisation tab

- Init (reset) : AT&F&K3

- Data : (blank)

- Fax : (blank)

Handshaking tab

- Flow : Hardware (RTS/CTS)

- Terminal (DSR/DTR) : Unchecked

- Carrier (DCD) : Unchecked

- Type : Mobile

Note that the only setting important for SMS exchange is the Type=Mobile setting. SMS exchange uses the ETSI/GSM command set, similar to the well-known AT modem commands but mobile phone specific.

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 00:06:31 +0100

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: Using Smartphones while flying (OT)

Dear Ian,

<< There is a school of thought that many other electronic devices are potentially more dangerous when used on a plane than mobile phones; this includes devices such as PDAs, laptops, CD and MP3 players, GameBoys etc. The interference produced by mobile phones (and smartphones) is of the order of 2GHz, which is actually too high to have a significant effect on aircraft avionics ... >>

A tri-band GSM (smart)phone uses the 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 1.9 GHz frequency bands. When it's in stand-by and out of reach of a cell tower it will search for a tower using all three bands at its maximum output of 2 Watt. In case the phone is a North American AMPS phone it will do the same on the 800 MHz band with a maximum output of 5 Watt. That's quite a lot of power compared to the stray emissions of a laptop or CD player. Though I agree that a CD player tends to emit in the kHz ranges the strongest emissions of a PDA or laptop correspond with their clock frequency, which is in the MHz ranges.

Whether a device will interfere with a plane's avionics largely depends on its EMC classification. Trouble is that there's no universal agreement on this. There are marked differences between the interpretations of the America FCC and Europe's CE. What's more, FCC is more strict for home equipment than for office equipment. As flight attendants are no radio engineers it's understandable that airlines use a blanket ban during take-off and landing. Even though a wide range of devices are quite safe to use in an aeroplane.

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 00:06:40 +0100

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: A Psion 1/3/3a/5/5MX user trys out a Dell Axim X3i running PocketPC

Dear Antony.

First, thank you for an interesting read.

<< ... I see two problems with this: ... (2) It would stop any meeting that I was in stone dead if I "extended" for public display! >>

Probably depends on the audience. When people aren't that familiar with PDAs the use of a fold-out keyboard may attract attention due to its novelty value. As an engineer, my meetings have mainly been of a technological nature with fellow engineers and/or technicians. My use of a Psion hardly raised an eyebrow. It was, actually, appreciated as I always had the proceedings of previous meetings in Word files and the decisions and tasks in Data files on my Psion. All eyes were on me when there was a question or disagreement about something discussed during a previous meeting as a search on my Psion tended to be (much) quicker than a trawl through paper records.

<< I was surprised how quick I got used to the stylus for tapping characters in... even had a go at the character recognition for a while too - but ultimately found the on-screen keyboard tapping to be the fastest way to go >>

This will be true for a first time user due to his/her familiarity with a keyboard. I wouldn't dismiss handwriting recognition, though. The system on the Axim X3i is the same as on my (Symbian OS 7) SonyEricsson P800 and you do have to get used to it. Still, it accepts more than one gesture, or style, for most characters. There are four styles for entering an 'A', for example. And most styles will be familiar as they're based on the way we learned to write at primary school. High chance that one of the styles corresponds with, or is very close to, your own writing. You may have to 'clean up' your writing, though, as the gesture you use for one character may be too close to that of another so that the X3i has trouble recognising the difference. But I think you'll become familiar with the X3i's handwriting recognition fairly quickly. And the maxim of "Practice makes perfect" applies.

<< ... the poxy Outlook application is marginally better than the 1988 option that Psion gave us on the LZ64. It is very disappointing >>

I don't like Outlook that much, either. It's probably down to me having a different 'outlook' on what a diary application should be.

<< .. and the "week view" shows blocks to represent "busy" periods - but not a clue as to what you are doing. A quick tap on each block shows the event details, but if you think you will get a nice weekly view like on the 5MX - think again! >>

To be fair to Microsoft, there are limits to what you can do with a 240 by 320 pixel screen. You can double the resolution all right, so that you have four times the number of pixels per unit of surface area, but what's displayed will then be too small for people to read. You have to make a higher resolution screen larger - which means a larger device - which makes it less pocketable ...

<< There is no screen zoom-in / zoom-out feature with any applications, another disappointing issue for me >>

Advantage SonyEricsson P800/P900 as they have three zoom levels - Small, Medium and Large.

<< I run several Data files on the 5MX, home, business, and then an export of our 22,000 contact company database. Since you are forced to use Outlook to manage your contacts, there are few options. The first disaster is that there is no "data import" option - so even though I have a CSV file with 22,00 contacts standing by to be imported--- I can not do anything with them >>

I understand that recent PC versions of Outlook support the v.Card (or .VCF) format. When you can export your company contacts database to VCF, or convert CSV to VCF, you'll be able to get the 22,000 contacts into Outlook on the PC. You're then one synchronisation removed from having them into Pocket Outlook on the Axim X3i.

<< Batteries: internal rechargeable Lithium-ion, provides I think 6 hours use - depending on what you get up to. Don't panic, if the main batteries go flat then the internal backup battery provides for 30 minutes of memory retention. What!!?! The 5MX of course provides 6 weeks of use on a pair of AA batteries. Hmmm >>

That's not fair as Psion specifies a maximum runtime of 35 hours for the Series 5mx. How this translates into days/weeks or use depends on how many times you're using a 5mx during the day. When a Psion specified 35 hours means 6 weeks of use to you, a Dell specified 6 hours could very well translate in to 1 week of use. That's not bad for a device of the X3i's specification. I'm afraid that we have to resign ourselves to the fact that the colour screens and faster processors of the current crop of PDAs means saying goodbye to the Psion levels of stamina we're used to.

What's surprisingly bad, of course, are the 30 minutes of battery backup. Still, all the Palm models right up to the Palm M515 didn't have battery backup at all. Don't know whether this is still true of the current Tungsten and Zire models, though.

<< With so much memory and CPU power in PocketPC's today, I do not understand why we need to have "pocket" versions of normal applications. If Psion were able to make such great apps with a 36.8Mhz processor - why does a 400Mhz PocketPC not fair better?! >>

Well, Microsoft has always been saved by Brother Intel and Brother Seagate. By the time Microsoft's operating systems and/or applications got bogged down, Intel had already brought out faster processors as well as cheaper high capacity memory and Seagate faster and cheaper high capacity hard disks. Microsoft hasn't been pressured to create tight and fast code for a very long time. As Windows Mobile and the Pocket applications are based on their PC cousins, it's not to be expected that they're as tightly written as Psion's EPOC and the EPOC applications. The computer industry proverb says it all - What Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away.

And I'm afraid that the lure of performance has always been stronger than those of economy and efficiency. People's dream PC has a 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4. Their dream PDA has a 400 MHz Intel XScale. Their dream car, whether it's a limousine or a sports car, has a big and powerful multi-cylinder engine. The simple joy of owning a Series 5mx that's 'beating the system' by having a 36.846 MHz processor that runs for 35 hours on two alkaline AA batteries beats them. The same applies to cars. I bought the new Renault Megane in February this year. People tend to like the car, but always ask which engine it has. When they hear it's the 1.5 litre dCi Diesel they always say "Oh ... it's the slooow one". Well, I always agree that its 80 bhp doesn't make it a sprinter (0-100 km/h in 14.5 sec.). But that having 186 Nm of torque at 2000 rpm (6 Nm less than the 2 litre petrol engine) makes for a comfortable drive. And then I talk about, what's to me, the icing on the cake - that I drove 4,000 km in Scotland at an average fuel consumption of 22.6 km/l (63.8 UK MPG / 53.1 US MPG). Most say that this is a very good figure, followed by the remark that they'd still have chosen the more powerful 120 bhp 1.9 litre dCi (0-100 km/h in 10.5 sec.) or the 2 litre petrol (0-100 km/h in 9.2 sec.). They'd rather laugh winning the traffic lights sprint than laugh at another 1,000 km on a tank of fuel.

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 16:57:07 +0100

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: Malaybook, Palm and the like,

Answer to: Thomas F. VAN DER ZIJDEN

Re.: Malaybook - Thanks for the report, was interesting reading. just out of interest, could you repeat what the limitations are of the Malaybook as opposed to a normal netBook ? I know this has been discussed before, but a repeat would be nice and saves me searching through the old digests. Thanks.

Answer to: Andrew Gregory

Re. Palm and the like - Sofar your opinion is a minority, but we'll keep it in mind. Anyhow, the majority of the subscribers do not want us to censor the digest without which we could not stop it. We could of course start a separate digest for Palm / PocketPC machines. If anyone is interested, let me know to my private email address. I don't promiss anything but to consider it if there would be enough interest (and would run it as well on my S7 !!)

As to your hotsync idea between a Palm and a Psion, I would certainly be very interested as I use the combination now on a daily basis.

Best regards,

Itamar Engelsman

London, UK

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 18:44:38 +0100

From: Wong Koi Hin

Subject: Re: Discussion of Non-Psion Machines

Reply to: Chris Arden

I just find it amazing that no manufacturer seems to believe there's a market for a modern small form factor machine with a "real" (e.g. 5mx type) keyboard anymore, except perhaps Sony but that's without phone integration and without the instant-on that's so great with Psions :-(

Dear Chris,

which Sony are you referring to? If you are talking about the new UX-50 or even the older Clies I think they do have instant-on. As for phone integration I am not quite sure what your Psion can do to warrant the phone integration you are talking about that the Sonys' do not have. Perhaps you meant the Phone Manager? In terms of connectivity through the mobile phone, I think most Palms (including Sony's), PocketPCs and other PDAs are on par with our Psions, perhaps better in some areas (like Bluetooth), not as good in others.

Warm regards,

Koi Hin

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 19:47:57 +0100

From: Antony Steele

Subject: re: Psions for sale

Hello Roy,

You will get lots of $ if you sell your Psion gear on Ebay. If you have not used Ebay before then do not worry - it's easy to work out what to do. I've seen working Psions fetching around 150 to 200 UK pounds, and from sellers in the UK, USA, Australia & Germany etc! I've been wanting a 2nd hand Psion since dropping my old one, but there are so many people on Ebay bidding for them, that the price keeps going up too high!

I think that I am about to buy an Ipaq 4150 - which I now think is the best deal. You should check out www.aximsite.com for info on the Dell X3i (wireless, but no Bluetooth - although you can buy a SDIO BT card) and then www.ipaqhq.com for info on the Ipaq's. The 4150 has 802.11 (wireless) as well as Bluetooth and is getting the better reviews, although it is more expensive than the Dell X3i.

(Yes, I know that I said the Dell was a better model only a few days ago!)

I am probably going to go for some hypnotherapy treatment where my knowledge on the Psion products will be medically removed. That way, I will be overjoyed with my new PDA - and will be able to forget about the most superb applications Series 5 users can use. I am also going to be changing the work that I work. For example, I am now going to make use of Outlook to manage contacts on my PC (never needed to when I had my trusty Psion) and I will have to learn how to do nice graphs using Excel (only on the PC, forget about graphs on a PocketPC!).

IMHO there is a clear difference between a Psion user and a PocketPC user. The Psion user only needs the Psion - a desktop PC is not an essential part of the package. The Psion is used in the office (but not for email), and out on the road (email emergencies). However, the PocketPC is just a small subset of Microsoft Outlook running on a desktop PC, and is probably mostly used out on the road with the desktop PC (and Outlook) being the machine used in the office.

Rgds,

Antony

Canberra, Australia

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 20:40:36 +0100

From: ABlake3459

Subject: Psion 5mx & Windows ME synchronising woes

Dear All,

I am told that the combination of the Psion 5mx & Windows ME (my unfortunate mix) is one of the sorriest in the history of computing, and from my experience I tend to agree.

I have tried both PsiWin 2.2 and PsiWin 2.3.3 to synchronise the Psion with MS Outlook, but have constant hassle. The PC usually only recognises the Psion once and then locks out, and the synchronising is rarely trouble-free, contact duplicates gradually building up.

Now I have the nightmare scenario of having taken advice to delete all the contacts on my Psion and start again afresh, only to find that the PC no longer recognises the Psion at all - even for simple word file transfer. And that's after uninstalling PsiWin, clearing the PC registry and re-installing PsiWin.

Is there anyone out there with a suggested solution to my problem - short of

a complete hard set on the Psion?

Yours hopefully,

Andrew

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 21:56:00 +0100

From: vlad a

Subject: zExe # 392 (4)

> Epoc Digest wrote:

> The cleaver bit is getting a very fast algorithm to uncompress. Got it. Thanks!

I suppose you can do such a trick only on a Psion, otherwise they'd have done it on Macs too :-)

I think the zExe-Author deserves long applause and qualified compliments! :-)

best,

vlad

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Date: 4 Dec 2003 22:09:02 +0100

From: Trygve Henriksen

Subject: Vetomail....

Greetings!

Hugh Dibley wrote:

> I am controlling the email that is sent to my inbox.

No, you're letting a server do it for you, and have been too lazy to set it up properly!

Shame on you for not adding the digest to your whitelist!

All such systems have them, so there's no reason not to use them.

And at the same time, why not make certain to add a few 'safe' words to the whitelist?

(Psion, Symbian, Discworld, and similar words, just so that not everyone needs to do that awful verification)

This is actually the FIRST thing you need to do when setting up such a service...

Anyway, unless one of the list crew bothered to verify the address the twerp won't get our comments...

I used N-dream's service until they, too, switched to this harebrained system.

Then I ditched them and bought in at www.spamache.com

It costs a bit, but they store the 'catch' for 30 days, so sailors and such can surf by and rescue important mails when they're in port...