Tablet PCs, PDAs, Portable Storage Platforms, Pocket Video Players

Ready for Prime Time

In the past, manufacturers have touted tablet PCs as the wave of the future. But heavy units, poor handwriting recognition, and scaled-down versions of operating systems have prevented them from becoming popular. This fall, however, two new models may help push past the hype and get on the radar of business and power computer users.

Tablet PCs are thin versions of notebook PCs that get their input via a pen stylus, either by tapping on the touch screen (e.g., to use an onscreen keyboard) or by offering ports to let you connect a keyboard. They are bigger than PDAs and provide more functionality, with some offering the full computing experience. This month, Microsoft will be releasing its Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system, which is supposed to include better handwriting recognition software. In the future, manufacturers plan to let you talk to your tablet PC, too.

The Estari 2-VU offers a different take on tablet PCs by providing two screens instead of one, in a clamshell design. Imagine opening up a laptop and having screens on both sides. Estari hopes to position the 2-VU laptop to appeal to those in the legal, medical, and academic professions because the dual screens make it easier to read long documents.

Special file-management software will let users retrieve files easily, and two pages or documents can be read simultaneously, side by side. Alternatively, a user could read a document on one side and take handwritten notes on the other. Estari also plans to offer a smaller version as a dedicated e-book reader. It should be on the market at the end of this year at an initial cost of $3,995.

The PaceBlade Pacebook takes a different approach to tablet PCs by offering a more modular solution. The Pacebook screen is a fully functional touch screen, but it also comes with a physical keyboard that connects to the screen wirelessly via commercial infrared.

You can prop up the screen in portrait or landscape mode and position the keyboard in the most ergonomically beneficial position. A separate, proprietary digital camera accessory is available in order to take pictures (think insurance agents) or videoconferencing (think doctors). Available now, the Pacebook retails for $1,999.

For Librarians? The introduction of tablet PCs into the mainstream will herald a new era of portable computing that will demand remote and wireless access to the full range of our services, not just pared-down versions. For example, a tablet PC user will be able to take full advantage, while on the go, of a library's online services. This could include database access, searching the OPAC, and asking questions over a live chat connection. Or imagine a tablet PC user in the library working on a document or presentation and then being able to transmit it wirelessly to the library's printers.

Also, new users don't have to spend time configuring a modem. In addition, a standard feature of the e740 is the ATI IMAGEON 100 graphics acceleration chip, which can handle MP4 files for streaming video (pulled down wirelessly, of course).

Toshiba is aiming the device squarely at business users by also offering a $100 hardware add-on that attaches to the bottom of the device. It provides VGA and USB ports in order to connect a monitor, projector, or keyboard, making it a viable option for giving presentations. It is on the market at a cost of $599.

Embedded connectivity can also use the Bluetooth wireless standard to synchronize devices and let them communicate when they are within 30 feet of each other. A few cell phones with integrated Bluetooth connectivity have started to appear in Europe, and we should start seeing this technology in all types of devices (including PDAs and laptops) in the near future. This is owing to a breakthrough in the size and construction of Bluetooth chips.

Texas Instruments recently announced the arrival of the BRF6100 chip. It is important because it integrates Radio Frequency and Bluetooth on a single chip instead of on two chips as has been the standard. In addition to using less power than two chips, the smaller size brings the total price of manufacturing to just $4 per chip (rather than the current $10). BRF6100 chips are scheduled to go into mass production early next year.

For Librarians? Next year, cell phones and PDAs with embedded wireless connectivity will become more mainstream as prices continue to drop and users upgrade their existing devices. Although wireless services will start with power users, eventually more people will expect to access them from within the library on their own devices, not our computers. This type of opportunity opens up a new range of services that libraries will be able to provide, especially for students and business users.

As devices continue to shrink but add wireless connectivity, the need to store content and data accessed from external sources will increase. Prices for portable storage platforms are dropping, while new formats are appearing.

Olympus has announced the development of the xD Picture Card, a new format of memory media for digital cameras (and eventually other devices). Why does Olympus think we need yet another type of memory card? Because this one is the size of a penny and will eventually hold up to 8GB of data, whether it's MP3 audio files, MP4 video, or JPEG pictures.

Although other storage formats currently hold up to 512MB of data and the IBM MicroDrive comes in a 1GB version, this announcement represents the largest portable storage format in the smallest package to date. The xD Picture Card was released in August and is priced to compete with SmartMedia cards.

While some believe that the xD may fail because consumers don't need yet another format and because other memory media will soon increase their storage capacity to 8GB or better, Olympus plans to introduce digital cameras that support the xD format this fall.

USB-based flash storage devices continue to drop in price while adding features and increased storage capacity. They're small enough that you can carry these drives around with you on your key chain, then simply plug them into any USB port to access the data.

The Transcend USB Flash Drive comes in sizes up to 1GB, while the Trek Thumbdrive Touch includes a biometric sensor that uses your fingerprint for security. In other words, just plugging it in verifies your fingerprint and gives you access to the data. New models are available for both, with prices ranging from $25 to $200 depending on the size of the drive.

For Librarians? As wireless connectivity becomes more pervasive and storage capacity increases, patrons who access our services will be able to take more and more information away with them. Assuming, of course, we're prepared to send digital files to their devices, whether they are cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, or laptops. Librarians need to start talking to vendors and publishers now in order to prepare to serve patrons who will carry their entertainment in their pockets. We need to make sure that content providers are also adapting to the digital future in ways that still allow us to circulate the content.

With the introduction of MP3 digital audio files, music went portable as a new market sprouted up for MP3 players. It was only a matter of time before this happened with video, too, and that time is quickly approaching. Although PocketPCs (and to a lesser extent some Palm-based PDAs) have been able to handle video, dedicated portable video players are now being produced thanks to the adoption of MP4, a standard for streaming video.

The first device to be targeted squarely at this market is the PoGo Flipster, which also handles MP3 music files, displays pictures, plays video games (such as Tetris), and includes voice recording. It looks like a cell phone and opens with a clamshell design to reveal a 2.5" color LCD screen. It connects to your PC via a USB cable, allowing transfer of files to the device.

The PoGo Flipster can even synchronize with Outlook to offer some PDA-like functionality. The Flipster comes in a 64MB or 128MB version, although an SD expansion slot allows up to 512MB of additional storage.

While all of this sounds great, the Flipster is definitely a first-generation product. Its biggest problem is that it only handles Windows Media versions of MP4 video files, which is not the standard version used by most computers. The Flipster was released last spring and retails for $399 for the 64MB version and $449 for the 128MB upgrade.

In contrast, the Sharp MT-AV1 lets you record video directly from any NTSC video source, such as a TV, VCR, DVD player, or PC. It's about the size of a minidisc player, which makes it the equivalent of a video Walkman, and it handles standard MP4 files. Unfortunately, it's only available in Japan, and while you can purchase it over the web for approximately $400, only the manual has been translated into English; onscreen menus are in Japanese.

For Librarians? As people begin to carry video around (and access it wirelessly), we need to be able to circulate these types of digital data, preferably directly from our online catalogs. In addition to circulating physical videocassettes or DVDs, the library of the future may find itself circulating digital video files of recent movies. It might also increase the demand for library-authored multimedia files, such as local history video tours, children's story times, and online tutorials.