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Epoc Digest Sat 22 Jun 2002 Volume 01 : Number 019

Sent to: 379 subscribers

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In today's Epoc Digest 10 messages:

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- Thanks to Itamar/PDA market niches

- Re: SMS when in foreign

- Re: Opera vs Web icon

- MC218, Revoworld page, D&G, WindowsCE , Palm, Thank you

- Siemens S45

- NETBOOK ROM AND SCREEN ROTATION

- RE: EPOC DIGEST # 018 - SMS when in foreign country

- Batteries, Bluetooth, Mirrors

- Travel Modem, Zip files, Opera icons, 9210 SMS query

- Re: EPOC DIGEST # 018

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Date: 19 Jun 2002 03:19:43 +0100

From: Cyril Catt

Subject: Thanks to Itamar/PDA market niches

First and foremost, sincere thanks to Itamar for his considerable

effort, not only in establishing and maintaining this list, but also for

his considerable ongoing help to struggling Psion owners over the years.

Secondly: in recent years pen-based ‘Palm’ style devices were touted as

the most efficient format for PDAs, and displaced the keyboard-based

clamshell style machines that previously dominated the market.

As several other contributors have noted, the weakness of pen-only

designs is now tacitly recognised by the fact that for Palm machines

there are currently at least half a dozen add-on keyboards, even more

‘poke-at-the-screen’ virtual keyboards, and a current crop of ‘Palm’

style machines is arriving with tiny keyboards inbuilt. But none of

these solutions appears as satisfactory as the clamshell style machine

with keyboard big enough to use more than two fingers on (and its

larger, landscape format, screen, which is far more efficient for text

display)

Let’s hope common sense finally wins, and as the last of our Psions

succumb to what appears to be inevitable cable or screen failure,

someone will recognise that there are at least two separate markets out

there. One is for people seeking information on the run, with limited

direct data entry needs, but easy synching with desktop platforms -

which the Palm format provides. The other is for folk who have to do

considerable data entry and/or manipulation in remote locations. I would

suggest they need a good built-in keyboard, a wider screen than the

Palm, replaceable batteries, a well-integrated suite of basic software

designed for small screens and long battery life, and conversion apps to

synch with desktop platforms and printers. Except for file conversion

and synching, Psion machines seemed to fill this bill very well.

To keep the cost down, only these basics should feature in the core

unit. But provision should be made for add-ons to provide for the needs

of those who require sound recording, cell phone, faxing, email, MP3,

digicam, GPS, TV, videoconferencing, music synthesizer, virtual reality,

teleporting, and other facilities in their PDA.

Cyril Catt

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Date: 21 Jun 2002 07:33:07 +0100

From: "Jack"

Subject: Re: SMS when in foreign

To : "Thomas F. VAN DER ZIJDEN" Subject: SMS when in foreign country Hi Thomas,

There are some inconsistencies in ER5 dialling %-[

Have a look in :

Conf.Pan. / Dialling/ Location /Edit and Country

and in Time/Map/Edit/...details

?Are your Contacts or data base # "well" internationalised ?

ie : +ii (N) a nnnnnnnn

Might be an Email2.00 Pb... time to reset?

Jack

PS Have a nice trip in sunny France _____________________________

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Date: 21 Jun 2002 07:54:21 +0100

From: "Jack"

Subject: Re: Opera vs Web icon

To: Darryl Kempster <>

Subject: Opera vs Web

Hi,

If I remember well (I don't have Web any more on nB158) Temporarily rename Opera folder (ie : opOpera) + do a soft reset HTH

Jack

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Date: 21 Jun 2002 09:55:09 +0100

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: MC218, Revoworld page, D&G, WindowsCE , Palm, Thank you

Answer to : Rick Gillyon

Re. MC218 - Left my Psion at home (how could I <BG>) and typing this on my PC at work, a strange feeling. I suppose Ericsson would receive the palmtop and send it on to Psion for a repair, receive it back, etc. etc. and therefore have to charge considerably more, but still an outrageous amount. Clearly they are not supporting a product they sold for several years, which is a bad habit in the industry. It confirms my other decision to move from Ericsson to Nokia for my mobile some years ago .... . But I wouldn't call a 2nd 5MX as "having seen the light" .... ?

Answer to : Nicole Carbonara

Re. Revoworld page - Yes, I did, but I think there is somehwere at the bottom a button for an english translation ? If not, sorry, but my Japanese is not up to standard yet ... <BG> [nor was England's football for whoever cares].

Re. PNicolas - At the top of his first page you will find that his website was last updated back in 1999, so little chance he will do it now specially for us unfortunately. I wonder why people that don't use their websites leave them up and running this long ?

Answer to: Dick

Re. D&G - That is a good price for a repair. Worthwhile to check if they will repair the MC218 as well (Rick ?). Maybe you could post their website or telephone details on the digest ?

Answer to: Peter Keene

RE. WindowsCE - Maybe MS should abandon that platform and take over EPOC instead ? Certainly a sound business decision I suppose ?

Answer to: Andrew Longdon

Re. Palm - If you think your purpose will be served with a Palm, certainly go ahead and buy one when your current Psion stops functioning. However, I wonder what you do with your Psion that you think the Palm can replace it ?

To All:

Re. Thank you - Many thanks for all the thank you's. However, unfortunately we had a medical emergency in the family early June and Rolf took over the daily management of the digest, at the same time perfecting his macro's and programs for running the digest smoothly on the 5MX. Yes, I still send it out, but sends it to me all ready to go with a few "copy and paste" to do. So, thank you Rolf too !

Our personal lives are somewhat back to normal again, and I hope to contact you all in the next two weeks or so about the future of this digest (which is bright, of course, but not ... orange ...[for those that know the add]).

Bye,

Itama

*++++++++++&

Date: 21 Jun 2002 10:04:26 +0100

From: Christopher Marwood

Subject: Siemens S45

Hi all,

Just a report that my newly acquired S45 works perfectly with my 5mx. The settings in the .doc posted at www.mikemcc.net do not work however (for me at any rate), so in case anyone else is having trouble, here are my settings which work for a GPRS connection on O2 in Ireland

Name - S45

Speed - 57600

Connect - Infrared

Fax Class - Auto

------------------

Init (reset) - AT+CGQREQ=1,3,4,3,7,31

Data - AT +CGDCONT=1,"IP","INTERNET"

Fax - (blank)

(I have a separate profile for GSM connections set up with AT\Q1 as the Data string)

------------------

Flow - Hardware (RTS/CTS)

Terminal (DSR/DTR) ticked

Carrier (DCD) ticked

Type - Mobile

In fact, Software, untick, untick also works.

The ability to infrared Contacts in the phone's address book (as opposed to its phone book) is an added bonus.

The GPRS connection is pretty quick, about the same as using the 56k infrared modem, I would say.

Hope this helps someone,

best wishes, Chris

*++++++++++&

Date: 21 Jun 2002 10:29:19 +0100

From: Peter Keene

Subject: NETBOOK ROM AND SCREEN ROTATION

Hi Guys,

While Psion's software engineers are (hopefully) ironing out the kinks in Build 158 of the netBook ROM I wonder whether they would consider writing some software to enable the screen to be rotated from landscape to portrait mode and back again.

I find that the most convienient way to hold a netBook when standing up is by its 'spine' (the battery compartment), like a book. In this position the device is perfectly positioned for making handwritten notes using one of the recognition apps (it's very difficult to type on the keyboard with one hand, the only other option whilst standing). It is also the best way to hold the netBook when making pen sketches but then, of course, you don't need to rotate the screen because you can rotate the sketch.

Before I launch an assault against the Teklogix bastion, is anyone else interested in this (rotating the screen orientation) or am I going to be wasting my time? Is there a hardware limitation?

Regards,

Peter

Cape Town

*++++++++++&

Date: 21 Jun 2002 14:49:16 +0100

From: "Nicole Carbonara"

Subject: RE: EPOC DIGEST # 018 - SMS when in foreign country

Reply to: "Thomas F. VAN DER ZIJDEN" Subject: SMS when in foreign country

Thomas

>> When I am in a foreign country (e.g. France at the moment) << I am also presently in France.

>> I notice that all my Dutch phone numbers (when I want to call them) carry the extra 0031 <<

Where? In your mobile phone book or in your Psion? If in you Psion in which application?

>> However, when I create a new SMS in e-mail (I have a 5mx) and choose a name from the Contacts, it still uses the 06 and not the +316 <<

This is normal. You have to correct the number manually.

NicVal d'Isere, France

This message has been checked for all known viruses by Trend PC-cillin

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Date: 21 Jun 2002 22:26:53 +0100

From: Kevin Thorne

Subject: Batteries, Bluetooth, Mirrors

Reply to Alan Chambers:

I'm not too sure either. Technically, I can see no reason why they couldn't give it a reasonable battery life whilst powering a colour TFT screen. Just look at the success of the colour Nokia Communicator. All it would really need is a decent quality removable li-ion battery. This type of high output but compact cell wasn't really widely available or cheap enough when the S5 was first launched - it was a relatively new technology then but it's a different story today. I'm sure we would have seen a colour 5mx eventually as a result of more efficient battery technology had development of it continued.

Reply to Mark:

<Does anyone know whether Bluetooth can be used with a Psion? (I seem to remember someone asking this question previously but don't remember the response). There are now Bluetooth PC Card and CF adaptors available from people like Expansys.com (although the CF Card wouldn't fit in a 5mx without modifying the microswitch that tells the Psion that the CF 'door' has been closed). Could the Psion be made to recognise a Bluetooth card - and could it then connect with a Bluetooth-equipped PC or mobile phone?

My instinct says "no" - there's nothing to be found at www.bluetooth.com, and Psion's decision to cancel their Bluetooth PDA project wasn't a good omen...>

That someone asking was me and I haven't had any response yet :-( My instinct is also telling me "no" as someone would have to write the required drivers for EPOC. I can't see that happening now somehow.

Reply to Andy Hayes:

Another useful tip if you really prefer using IR transfer but still want to easily see both screens is to line up both IR ports using a carefully adjusted mirror behind both machines. Just put both machines at a slight angle (with the mirror behind, the S7 on the left and the S5 on the right) and it should work.

Regards

Kevin Thorne

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Jun 2002 16:57:32 +0100

From: Kevin Thorne

Subject: Travel Modem, Zip files, Opera icons, 9210 SMS query

Reply to Itamar:

<Re. Travelmodem - Appreciate your point, but it sometimes happens with my Nokia 7110 as well that I get a connection which than hangs. Maybe it has got something to do with the IR port ?>

I occasionally get a dropped connection when using my S7 with a Nokia 8210 but this nearly always happens in a known poor signal area, simply due to a dropped call (where voice calls would also drop frequently). What I don't get on the 8210 is this "hanging" where the data flow just stops but I remain connected, which shouldn't happen with a landline connection. But yes, perhaps it is due to the IR connection as I never had any trouble with my old Psion 14.4k Travel Modem which used a serial connection.

<Re. Digest 1-10 - The email went to many others at the same time who did not have problems. No, the zip file was created on the Psion with RMRZip. I'll send it agian today.>

Thanks very much. See my reply to Philip S. Adkins Potter below:

Reply to Philip S. Adkins Potter:

Yes, you are right. Someone kindly sent me RMRzip to evaluate and it does indeed recognise Itamar's zipped digest archive, whereas Navigator does not. I don't know why Navigator cannot unzip the file either :-( but RMRzip definitely has no problem unzipping it.

Reply to Darryl Kempster:

Subject: Opera vs Web

I've had this in the past too. You haven't mentioned if you've uninstalled Opera Darryl, but if my memory served me correctly, I used the Control Panel Add/Remove option to get rid of Opera but still found the icons displaying Opera. On closer inspection, I still found remnants of it left over. I went to C/system/apps and manually deleted the Opera folder that should have been removed by Control Panel to remove all traces of it and lo and behold - my icons changed back to nice friendly green Web icons again! Hope this helps.

To all:

Can anyone with a recent Nokia 9210 confirm something for me? When composing SMS on an ER5 Psion using the Email app there is a very handy character counter on the top right of screen. I know the first 9210 machines lost this useful little counter but there have been many firmware updates since then on ER6, so maybe it's been reintroduced. Does anyone know?

Regards

Kevin Thorne

*++++++++++&

Date: 22 Jun 2002 18:36:31 +0100

From: "Arent_Kits_van_Heijningen[106016.3614]"

Subject: Re: EPOC DIGEST # 018

on 19 Jun 2002 09:42:05 +0100

wrote :

MC218 / Screen Cable

>>Considering my problems, I looked at what to buy as a replacement. Any realistic non-Psion replacement is going to cost approx £500, with probably *at least* another £150 in software, £100 for memory if no CF-I slot, and another 50 or more for a cable to connectit to the GPS. All in all, 4 or 5 times the cost of

a 5mx. So I bought the 5mx. <<

The only really viable long-term alternative now is PocketPC , this platform is now poised for the final kill with the Asus ( known for their motherboards and more recently a quite decent notebook line ) / Palm partnership to enter the PocketPC market

Both HP/Compaq and SHARP are now putting a massive effort behind theirs and there's a thriving community of both users and developers uncluding people fom the vendors themselves ( And **NONE** of those disclaimers that they only post in a personal quality there ! !)

Also because there are multiple vendors , hardware prices as well as those of spares/accessories are dropping

Standardisation similar to that found in the desktop world will mean that accessories ( and possibly even spares ) will no longer be vendor-specific , making it possible to hold on to a device after manufacturing has ceased

On 19 Jun 2002 10:54:06 +0100

Dick Chatjaval wrote

To Kits:

Thank you for your advice and information on the USR External Modem. Does it come with a regular serial cable for the pc? If so, how does one change it for use with 5mx serial port. Sorry to ask this question if it has been already addressed in prior posts. I have a spare USR/3Com Sportster and would like to try that. <<

You need the following bits

1 A Hosiden to DB-9 MALE cable (www.psionleads.co.uk for the 3c and the RISC-based machines ( s5(mx)/mc218/s3mx/s7/netBook ) alt for the s7/netbook only :www.socketcom.com

2 A DB-9 MALE to DB-25 FEMALE adapter

3 For the s7/netbook only : If the Psion lead is unavailable you can use the Socket lead ( the catch here is while the lead by itself is not much more expensive than the original Psion one , the keying and pining is different so you have to purchase their PCMCIA adapter card as well wich will add another 100 or so eeuros to the total cost

4 A suitable power supply ( 12-20 volt 800mA minimum , if you want to run a s7/netbook from the same supply this should be 1600-2000 mA

Very important :

The USR Sportster and Courier have AT commands wich differ from those of Psion's own modems , in order to work properly , these commands have to be included in the script !!!

Treat the modem as a serial device and set up the connection accordingly

the scripts included in my earlier post are actual working ones that I have run on a Zaurus Classic

On 9 Jun 2002 12:37:20 +0100

Peter Keene wrote about

KEYBOARD PDAS / TOUCH-SCREEN

>>I've just had my first look at a Sony NR-70-V - in a magazine, not 'in the flesh' unfortunately. Now that Sony is a Symbian licencee I wonder whether we'll ever see one of these magnificent little machines running a version of the Symbian platform?<<

Yes and no , Sony will come with Symbian-based products next year but they will use the PalmOS 4.1 or higher interface , not the native (eikon ) one

With the exception of Ericsson and Nokia ***NONE*** of the Symbian licencees is going to use more than just the kernel and the GSM/GPRS/Bluetooth stacks , here's a little breakdown:

Siemens sx45 :

UI is WindowsCE PocketPC on a MIPS VR 4142 (?)

SHARP :

Planned smartphone uses Lineo embedix+Trolltechs Qtopia as the UI probably directly on top of the Epoc 32 kernel

Sony :

PalmOS 5 on top of a completely stripped kernel

To make a long story short Symbian will be completely hidden underneath a PalmOS/*CE layer and the result will be sold as a Palm or *CE compatible product

Ericsson and Nokia will also move to fully embedded after the next releases ( Ericsson P800 and Nokia 7650/7690 )

>>As to future development of the Jornada 710/720, that would be encouraging. However, I recently had an e-mail from Conrad Blickenstorfer, editor of Pen Computing, in which he expressed concern for the future of the H/PC version of WINCE because Microsoft don't seem to know what they want to do with it.<<

The separate version of WindowsCE for the Handheld PC will be dropped , HP will probably release upgrades to make the 710/720/728 completely compatible with the iPaq range

The next generation of keyboarded devices will probaly become totally compatible with the (then) current release of PocketPC

Also the possibility to use alternative environments based on Linux , NetBSD and BeOS will be taken into account

RE: PB EasyMate/NEC MobilePro 7*0 series

Last Thursday I had someone from NEC in the Netherlands on the phone and he told me that the abovementioned line will be EOL'ed ( i.e gradually retired after the current model -the 790 )

He claimed the market chances for large form-factor high-end PDA's are diminishing because of the pending onslaught of ultraportable/ultrapersonal PC's at price levels very close to these of large form-factor high-end PDA's

ultraportable/ultrapersonal PC's are capable to run standard operating systems and applications wich means substantial cost savings as there's no separate development effort necessary for mobile users

Also many applications that are expensive and limitedin functionality on a PDA are cheap or even free and fully functional on a PC

"kits"

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