A Palm That’s Well-Connected
Palms and Handspring Visors share a common operating system--the Palm OS--and a common problem: getting stuff in there that isn’t character-based.
Want to write down an appointment, enter an address, note a to-do item? Each can be done either by using the Graffiti method of writing on a Palm’s screen, tapping on a tiny on-screen keyboard or attaching an external keyboard.
But if you want to draw a map to Joe’s barbecue, a pie chart from comments at a budget meeting or something else graphical, it’s not possible with the standard complement of Palm software. The $200 SmartPad2 from Seiko Instruments in Torrance offers some hope, but it might frustrate many users.
Using magnetized ink and a transceiver that sends an image of the ink to software on a Palm-compatible hand-held, the SmartPad2 succeeds brilliantly in one crucial area: giving users the ability to create and attach “inked” notes, drawings and what-have-you to a memo, address book entry or to-do item on a Palm.
The notes can be e-mailed from the PDA using special software, or uploaded to a desktop PC for print-out, mailing or storage.
Following a model released last year, the SmartPad2 adds a QWERTY keypad imprinted on the bottom of the digitizer tablet. Seiko says this keypad is nearly 250% larger than the traditional Palm keypad and should be easier to operate for entering text.
The SmartPad2 is housed in a note pad portfolio, measuring 7 1/4 by 10 1/2 inches, and is 1 1/2 inches deep. A holder will contain a standard 5-by-8-inch note pad, while the opposite side of the folio has space to mount a compatible PDA with Velcro strips.
Two AAA batteries power the unit, and one AAAA battery powers the SmartPen, which is based on technology from A.T. Cross. The unit also has a miniature ballpoint cartridge for writing. Two pen refills are supplied with the product.
Setting up the SmartPad2 was straightforward, beginning with PC and hand-held installations of the software. Once the SmartPad2 was loaded on the Handspring Visor Prism I used for testing, I lined up the device on the Velcro pad with the infrared beam arm of the SmartPad2. The arm can be repositioned to handle the side-mounted IR port of Visors or the top-mounted ones of Palm devices.
Communications between the SmartPad2 and the Visor were flawless. One has to use the applications provided by Seiko--an address book, calendar, memo pad and to-do list program--in order to add the inked items.
The inkings transfer well to the desktop PC, where they can be stored as either Windows Bitmap or JPEG files, both of which are common graphics formats. As JPEGs, the files don’t take up much space, about 2 kilobytes per “page,” as the images are referred to on the SmartPad2.
All of these functions are good, but the one thing missing from the SmartPad2 is likely to remain so: a method to translate handwriting, either block print or cursive script, into electronic characters. Such a function is found on Compaq’s iPaq and other Pocket PC models--and it works fairly well.
But Seiko has resisted such efforts. When Seiko adds handwriting recognition, this device will be invincible. For now, it is a super-convenient note-taker that probably will still find much success with a broad range of users.
Details about the SmartPad2 are online at https://www.seikosmartproducts.com/products/sp582.html.
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Mark A. Kellner is a freelance technology writer and hosts “Mark Kellner on Computers” at https://www.adrenalineradio.com from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays.
