Epocdigest V1 # 322

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

Tips for Posting to the Digest and how to unsubscribe

at the end of the Digest

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

Epoc Digest Wed, 20 Aug 2003 Volume 01 : Number 322

************************************************************************

Sent to: 807 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 12 messages:

==============================

- Re: misc

- Why does Psion Word porduce files in a special format?

- Re: NetBook Pro (4 Itamar)

- UX-50, Starbucks has free WiFi

- Listening to sound files on the netBook

- Iconpatcher

- software included on the new netBook pro

- New Apacer card speeds up complete Mbook

- Ethernet, Netbook Pro, Revo Battery Solution,

- Repairing Ericsson MC218

- CURIOUS FAILURE NBook/Belkin Serial to USB is OK

- Sony Ericsson P800

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 05:37:40 +0000

From: martin

Subject: Re: misc Errata

RE: Resource usage

>>>But the increase in functionality in PalmOS from 4.1.2 and above also comes at the cost of increased CPU and memory resource requirements

And this is likely to happen in Symbian OS as well <<<

Not fully correct. As far as the Symbian OS core is concerned, architecture jump was already done when Psion moved from SIBO (EPOC16) to EPOC (EPOC32). They do not need to do it again for decades to come (I could only imagine a jump to 64-bit as a remote possible reason). The ROM image and memory requirements have not changed much between ER5 and Symbian OS 7. Thus, there is very little chance of Symbian OS ever becoming bloated.

Certainly memory and CPU consumption is increasing for *other* reasons:

- 12, 18 and 24 bit colour UI

- Unicode text files take double memory compared to Ascii text files

- Need to have multimedia players/imagers and multimedia content

- Handling of MS Office and other memory and CPU hungry files.

- Power hungry games

- etc.

but you can hardly blame the core OS for those.

cheers

Martin

RE: 6650 comment from Arent

>>>The 6650 from Nokia ( embedded Symbian 6.1 , can only load and run J2ME applications , no native ones ) should work , it is dual-band/dual-mode TDMA ( 900/1800 GSM/GPRS )/ WCDMA

with IRDA and Bluetooth <<<

No, the 6650 does *not* run Symbian OS at all. It runs MOOS (Manufacturer's Own Operating System). Furthermore, it does not support TDMA. It does, however, support WCDMA and 900/1800 GSM/GPRS.

cheers

Martin

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 06:27:19 +0000

From: Marcus von Cube

Subject: Why does Psion Word porduce files in a special format?

Edward,

>I've never understood why Psion Word produced files in a proprietary format instead of rtf.

Let me explain what I understood from reading Martin Tasker's "Professional Symbian Programming":

The file formats have to do with embedding. When EPOC32 was designed, one of the goals was to make documents containers for other documents and make them itself embeddable in other documents. (You can embedd Sheet, Word and Sketch in Word, Agenda, Data; With the SDK it's even possible to create your own file format as containers or embedded streams.)

This has a few implications: Document types cannot be distinguished be file name, extension or similar mechanisms which rely on the file system; the information has to go into the file itself. That's what UIDs are all about. The second implication is a concern for developpers: All the applications are in fact DLLs.

What happens if let's say Agenda encounters a Word note in an entry is as follows:

1.) Agenda sees an embedded data stream and knows its length and position in the file or in memory. It then examines the UIDs in the header of the stream. The UIDs help Agenda to

identify the application which can cope with the stream and loads the app (since it is a DLL, this is very simple; no seperate processes, just a bunch of code). The app is then asked to render the object as either an icon or a piece of text/graphic or whatever the app decides.

2.) When the object is opened (tapped on), the app takes control of the screen. For the app, the only difference between the normal startup with a file or the embedded startup with an object is the location of the document: it is not in a file by itself but in a container in another file, controlled by another app.

Thus, the native file formats have to be special (contain UIDs). This gives the opportunity to

make the files more compact then their "standard" counterparts (RTF is ASCII text and therefore

blown, don't talk about M$ DOC!)

What Psion/Symbian simply forgot is to make the import/export of those file formats part of the applications!

Marcus

http://www.mvcsys.de

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 06:52:58 +0000

From: Neil Thompson

Subject: Re: NetBook Pro (4 Itamar)

It is precisely because of it's appeal to commercial users that I was interested. My company (www.appswing.com) has some technology that transfers existing Windows applications to pure HTML equivalents allowing them to run on any device with a web browser. The sorts of markets stated by Psion are the same as those we are targeting.

BTW the digest seems to be almost wholly concerned with what machine people are going to get next - it that what people really want to read on an EPOC list?

Neil Thompson

www.neilthompson.co.uk/psion

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 14:53:12 +0000

From: Larry De Coste

Subject: UX-50, Starbucks has free WiFi

For Arent:

Thanks for Ed Hardy's review on the UX-50. I'm feeling better about the purchase even though I paid full price.

For Keith,

Referring to what you wrote on Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:49:55 +0000:

| From: Keith Giles

| Subject: Can't Resist An OT

| Larry de Costa wrote:

| > I may even buy my first Starbucks coffee!

To test the WiFi 802.11b access to the Internet.

OT: I'm very fussy about my coffee. I always make it myself at home and never buy it out.

Take care, Larry

Larry De Coste

Riverside RI EE.UU.

Linux User #305687 (Libranet GNU/Linux 2.8)

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 15:14:09 +0000

From: Christopher Holly

Subject: Listening to sound files on the netBook

I occasionally like to go the the public radio website and catch up on some news interviews I miss. Problem is they only play in RealPlayer or Windows Media formats. Is there any software that will play either of these on the netBook? I suspect not, but I have been surprised before about the capabilities of my Psions.

Also has anyone figured out optimal settings for Opera to allow it to work faster? I have the extra memory chip so I have 64M with about maybe 45M available.

Using 5mx and netBook in the land of Microsoft . . .

Chris Holly

Bloomington, Indiana

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 15:48:14 +0000

From: Steve Hodgson

Subject: Iconpatcher

ED> Re. Iconpatcher - Did anyone use this program ? Martin is ED> busy with new addition in his family and as my question ED> might be interesting for others too I thought I'll ask here. ED> To me it is unclear how I create the colour icon from the ED> B&W one. I want to take the B&W one, open it up, add colour ED> to my liking, close it again and than replace the B&W one ED> with the coloured one. Can someone tell me the steps to take to do this ?

There's quite a lot of detail involved. Probably too much for the

digest. To avoid re-inventing the wheel I would suggest Martin's

tutorial at Foxpop (www.foxpop.co.uk). You can also get to the

tutorial through the Psience5 web site.

Cheers,

Steve mailto:steve

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 18:14:55 +0000

From: Gianluca Gallino

Subject: software included on the new netBook pro

Dear all,

I received a couple of private email from people who could not download or have access to the internet page of the first official specs of the netbook pro with windows ce.net OS (

http://www.pageup.fr/produits/terminaux/pdf/PAGE%20UP%20-%20NETBOOK%20PRO.pdf ).

As a result, I thought that this issue would be of general interest and therefore I just copied and pasted here enclosed the full list of the applications which will be included in the new machine:

1) Software functionality

Microsoft CE 4.1 providing applications:

My Documents

Recycle Bin

Internet Explorer 5.5 for CE

Inbox

Microsoft Voice Recorder

Control Panel

Power Manager

Word

Windows Media Player

ActiveSync

Remote Networking

Calculator

Solitaire

Freecell

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

Terminal Emulator

Windows Messenger

Dial Up Networking (RAS/PPP)

Not bad for a device which - according to a PT statement on Pdastreet (July 2nd) should be intended as a pure 'task-specific' mobile computing device for the enterprise market"... without containing "a full suite of applications such as you would find on current netBook" ;-)

Moreover, here is a second list of the 3rd party applications which may may be licensed separately if required:

2) Software functionality:

* Spreadsheets

* Certicom VPN client

* Multimedia Flash Player

* Java Virtual Machine

many people (including myself) have reasons to believe that PT may pick up many more opportunities around the whole world of enterprise market if they could offer both a nB pro win CE.net and a nB pro Symbian OS v. 7.0

Therefore, please keep on supporting the petition on

http://www.petitiononline.com/nbookpro/petition.html

which has just reached 1463 signatures and it is still steadily growing.

The more names on the list the higher likelihood that we will see a Symbian OS version of the new netBook Pro as well.

symbianfully yours;-)

cheers

gianluca

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

Date: 18 Aug 2003 19:45:08 +0000

From: Thomas F. Van der Zijden

Subject: New Apacer card speeds up complete Mbook

Hi group,

A-Tembo in Delft, The Netherlands now sells Apacer 128Mo CF cards for 25 euros. I'd rather like a bigger one, because I already have a Sandisk 128Mo, but for that price... the Sandisk can go in the camera.

A big surprise: the Apacer is much faster than the Sandisk. So much for the A-brand Sandisk...

It is to my surprise that the *whole* Malaybook now reacts faster:

- Opening Contacts and E-mail goes faster

- There are no "hickups" (the MBook seems to wait for a redraw action) when I browse c: in the system screen.

What I don't get: these actions do not need the CF. Why do they also benefit from its higher speed?

Yours truly,

Thomas van der Zijden

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

Date: 19 Aug 2003 01:02:25 +0000

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: Ethernet, Netbook Pro, Revo Battery Solution,

Answer to: Thomas F. Van der Zijden

Re.: Ethernet - i understand you want to use it wireless if you surf the internet with your Psion. I only connect to the PC to use the fast ADSL for emailing which is not more than 1 to 2 minutes connection, after that I can take my S7 all over the house too. I find surfing the web with a Psion still too slow and rather difficult, not all sites can be opened and the screen is always the "wrong" size.

Answer to: Rolf Brunsting

Re. Netbook Pro - Hi Rolf, I think you are right on this one. First of all the netBook Pro will not be a replacement of our machines at all, lacking apparently all the usual software, and will be geared for a totally different market. Secondly I think EPOC / Symbian have been out of the development of this platform for too long to catch up again, and oculd only enter again by designing a totally new machine / concept, which would need major investment as well as an appeal to the mass-market instead of "just" enthousiasts like us. We can only try and keep our machines and platform alive as long as possible, with some people continue to develop and write software (like Martin, 3 cheers).

Answer to: Rolf Brunsting

Re. Revo Battery Solution - Right and wrong. When my T610 or S7 battery is 75% full I can recharge both back to 100% capacity, with the REVO you can charge only once down to 15% otherwise you can get problems. With the S7 I have a spare battery which will give me 10 to 12 hours of constant usage, even more than needed for that very long flight, while the telephone will easily hold out for 2 days (I don't use it that heavily). Furthermore both are rechargeable in a car as well.

Best regards,

Itamar Engelsman

London, UK

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

Date: 19 Aug 2003 08:27:34 +0000

From: Gordon Thompson

Subject: Repairing Ericsson MC218

I note that POS Ltd does not repair the MC218. Do you know anyone who does?

Gordon Thompson

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

Date: 19 Aug 2003 14:52:54 +0000

From: Philip Carlisle

Subject: CURIOUS FAILURE NBook/Belkin Serial to USB is OK

Hi Everybody

Left my NBook in my briefcase over last weekend. Got to work to find, on opening it, a blank screen that turned out to be the result of a flat battery and flat back up battery.

However, I had recharged the battery on the Friday, and my preferences included switch off on closing lid and switch off after 12 minutes of inactivity if no external power present.

Since Monday, NBook has held its charge and switched off in accordance with my preferences (although they all had to be redone as a consequence of the enforced hard reset).

Can anybody offer an explanation - and please include anything insultingly simple, because I usually do the stupid, or don't do the obviously correct, thing!

A couple of digests ago I was linked with saying that the Belkin serial to USB converter was a problem. Can I just emphasise that the contrary is true - it works *perfectly* for me.

Regards to all

Philip Carlisle

London

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

Date: 19 Aug 2003 22:13:59 +0000

From: John Morris

Subject: Sony Ericsson P800

With the news that details of a successor to the Sony Ericsson P800 are emerging (see http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/32400.html for details) I feel that we have not had sufficient comment about the original P800 itself.

I am interested in acquiring one, to maybe replace my Mako & Nokia 6210e. The review (see http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/30929.html) in The Register was broadly complimentary, but I wonder if anyone else has an opinion.