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Tim Tyler

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May 2, 2002, 4:16:10 PM5/2/02
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Sharp seems to have come up with a pretty cool Java-enabled PDA.

It is not too expensive, is well spec'd and runs Java on Linux.

It has an illuminated colour touch-sensitive screen, compact flash,
and secure digital card slots, 64 meg of RAM, a > 200Mhz StrongArm,
a removable battery, USB syncing - and a minature keyboard.

Software includes Opera, MP3 player, mail client, address book, editor,
calendar - and a mobile office suite, including a word processor,
spreadsheet and presentation viewer.

More information:

http://www.myzaurus.com/
http://more.sbc.co.jp/slj/index.asp
http://zaurus.loveslinux.com/
http://zaurus.sourceforge.net/
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/zaurus-faq/
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5326761307.html
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/sharpzaurus/
--
__________
|im |yler http://timtyler.org/ t...@tt1.org

Phil Earnhardt

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May 3, 2002, 2:05:59 AM5/3/02
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On Thu, 2 May 2002 20:16:10 GMT, Tim Tyler <t...@tt1.org> wrote:

>Sharp seems to have come up with a pretty cool Java-enabled PDA.
>
>It is not too expensive, is well spec'd and runs Java on Linux.

A friend who got one has a web server and a web browser. He connected
to his own server and downloaded and ran a small applet.

>It has an illuminated colour touch-sensitive screen, compact flash,
>and secure digital card slots, 64 meg of RAM, a > 200Mhz StrongArm,
>a removable battery, USB syncing - and a minature keyboard.

He had gotten a wireless ethernet card for his.

I don't like the keyboard. On the old Zaurus units, Sharp had some
really great keyboards. This one doesn't seem nearly as nice as the
various thumbboards available for the Palms.

I like the color display...

--phil

Tim Tyler

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May 3, 2002, 11:33:13 AM5/3/02
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Phil Earnhardt <p...@dim.com> wrote:

: I don't like the keyboard. On the old Zaurus units, Sharp had some


: really great keyboards. This one doesn't seem nearly as nice as the
: various thumbboards available for the Palms.

It's true - but then it's built in - and you *can't* make a decent
keyboard that size.

Most people seem to think it's a big advance over pecking at an on-screen
keyboard or handwriting recognition, AFAICS.

I'm used to Psion mobile keyboards - which are hard to improve on.

I expect you'll be able to plug in larger keyboards if you so choose.

AlecB

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May 3, 2002, 11:50:44 PM5/3/02
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"Tim Tyler" <t...@tt1.org> wrote in message news:GvI2y...@bath.ac.uk...

> Sharp seems to have come up with a pretty cool Java-enabled PDA.
>
> It is not too expensive, is well spec'd and runs Java on Linux.
>
> It has an illuminated colour touch-sensitive screen, compact flash,
> and secure digital card slots, 64 meg of RAM, a > 200Mhz StrongArm,
> a removable battery, USB syncing - and a minature keyboard.
>

I saw a contact manager-type app written in Java running on one that was
very fast. Quite impressive.


Andrew V. Kispert, Jr.

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May 3, 2002, 11:54:00 PM5/3/02
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Phil Earnhardt wrote:
>

> I don't like the keyboard. On the old Zaurus units, Sharp had some
> really great keyboards. This one doesn't seem nearly as nice as the
> various thumbboards available for the Palms.

On the subject of keyboards for PDA's, has anyone had any experience
with the infrared keyboards I've seen advertised. I think the concept
is pretty innovative to project onto any smooth surface a keyboard
that you can use to type with.

--Andy

Andrew V. Kispert, Jr.

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May 4, 2002, 2:34:15 AM5/4/02
to

Do you happen to know whether this Java app was a J2ME application ?
I'm
curious as a lot of vendors supporting J2ME offer their own UI toolkits
in addition to what spec'd to come in the J2ME MidP/Personal Java
profiles...

Andy

anonc...@my-deja.com

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May 4, 2002, 2:42:59 AM5/4/02
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"Andrew V. Kispert, Jr." wrote:

> Do you happen to know whether this Java app was a J2ME application ?

I didn't think the Zaurus is J2ME at the moment.

Tim Tyler

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May 4, 2002, 4:24:56 AM5/4/02
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Andrew V. Kispert, Jr. <a...@oz.net> wrote:

: Do you happen to know whether this Java app was a J2ME application ?

: I'm curious as a lot of vendors supporting J2ME offer their own UI toolkits
: in addition to what spec'd to come in the J2ME MidP/Personal Java
: profiles...

It's the "Personal Java" Jeode JVM from Insignia Solutions - some blurb:

``the Jeode EVM™ runtime engine, a "Sun Authorized Virtual Machine" that
is fully compatible with the PersonalJava™ specification, and supports
all PersonalJava 1.2 class libraries, including optional classes. As
with all Insignia products, Jeode PDA Edition leverages the company's
dynamic adaptive compilation (DAC™) and precise, concurrent garbage
collection technologies to deliver superior performance, and responsive
and robust Java application behavior.''

- http://www.insignia.com/content/about/releases/release_011203.shtml

Sun's PJ page:
http://java.sun.com/products/personaljava/

Reportedly, you can run things like Jython - if you copy the JDK 1.1
classes.zip file to your classpath.

Sharp are also reported to be working with Tao group over their JVM.

Tim Tyler

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May 4, 2002, 4:30:32 AM5/4/02
to
Andrew V. Kispert, Jr. <a...@oz.net> wrote:

: On the subject of keyboards for PDA's, has anyone had any experience


: with the infrared keyboards I've seen advertised. I think the concept
: is pretty innovative to project onto any smooth surface a keyboard
: that you can use to type with.

I don't think you'd see much in infra red ;-)

I expect you are thinking of:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020319/168/19xte.html

Tactile feedback is important for keying - this will be a hunt-n-peck device.

asj

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May 4, 2002, 9:48:08 PM5/4/02
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PersonalJava is allegedly being integrated into J2ME by replacing it
with something called the Foundation Profile in the CDC (Connected
Device Configuration). Targetted for devices a bit more high-powered
than the typical MIDP/CLDC device (pagers, cellphones)


Andrew V. Kispert, Jr. wrote:

luke

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May 5, 2002, 2:26:48 AM5/5/02
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Just FYI:

I use a PALM Vx, and the MIDP for Palm OS devices came out around Jan
2002. I just tried it out using apps I had been using for my mobile
phone, and it is SO cool to be running the program both on the palm
and the cell phone.

http://wireless.java.sun.com/midp/articles/palm/

I had been thinking of dabbling in Palm programming as a hobby, but
with this release I'll stick to java on palm, thank you very much. I
believe there are also ports to pocketpc devices.


"Andrew V. Kispert, Jr." <a...@oz.net> wrote in message news:<aavvd7$68u$1...@216.39.147.96>...

Andrew V. Kispert, Jr.

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May 5, 2002, 3:52:49 AM5/5/02
to
Tim Tyler wrote:
>
> Andrew V. Kispert, Jr. <a...@oz.net> wrote:
>
> : On the subject of keyboards for PDA's, has anyone had any experience
> : with the infrared keyboards I've seen advertised. I think the concept
> : is pretty innovative to project onto any smooth surface a keyboard
> : that you can use to type with.
>
> I don't think you'd see much in infra red ;-)

Ahh... yeah, I think you're right!


>
> I expect you are thinking of:
>
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020319/168/19xte.html

This is what I saw in one of the trade papers. I hadn't heard much
about how user friendly this type of keyboard would be..


--Andy

Dan MacKenzie

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May 5, 2002, 8:48:18 PM5/5/02
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Somebody who was not impressed:

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20020404.html

--
"AlecB" <ab300...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:oUIA8.169$oa6.22...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...

Alec B

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May 6, 2002, 4:25:44 PM5/6/02
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>
> Do you happen to know whether this Java app was a J2ME application ?
> I'm
> curious as a lot of vendors supporting J2ME offer their own UI toolkits
> in addition to what spec'd to come in the J2ME MidP/Personal Java
> profiles...
>
> Andy

IIRC it was using Insignia's Jeode VM. I believe the Zaurus is a CDC device
rather than MIDP/CLDC.

Alec

asj

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May 6, 2002, 6:06:08 PM5/6/02
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accg to tim, it's personaljava, so yep, it's CDC.

None

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May 6, 2002, 9:52:50 PM5/6/02
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The keyboard is a cool feature.

But Linux PDAs aren't exactly selling like hotcakes.

And $499? What's that about? I thought computing devices would be
much MUCH cheaper if you didn't have to pay the Micro$oft Tax. For
$499 I can get an iPaq.

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anonc...@my-deja.com

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May 6, 2002, 11:39:41 PM5/6/02
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None wrote:

> The keyboard is a cool feature.
>
> But Linux PDAs aren't exactly selling like hotcakes.
>
> And $499? What's that about? I thought computing devices would be
> much MUCH cheaper if you didn't have to pay the Micro$oft Tax. For
> $499 I can get an iPaq.

An iPaq with the same specs as the Zaurus? I don't think so.
$499
http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?product_id=280111&SourceID=k16743

$499 crap LCD, no compact flash, no keyboard.
http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/showcase/productdetail.asp?product_id=262940&vendor=Compaq

$649 - no Compact Flash, no keyboard
http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/showcase/productdetail.asp?product_id=262943&vendor=Compaq

I guess the $150 difference is the Microsoft tax, as you say?

Tim Tyler

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May 7, 2002, 3:22:57 AM5/7/02
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None <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:

: The keyboard is a cool feature.

: But Linux PDAs aren't exactly selling like hotcakes.

: And $499? What's that about? I thought computing devices would be
: much MUCH cheaper if you didn't have to pay the Micro$oft Tax. For
: $499 I can get an iPaq.

Not one with the same specs as the Zaurus, I think.

Tim Tyler

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May 10, 2002, 4:11:26 AM5/10/02
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Tim Tyler <t...@tt1.org> wrote:
: None <no...@nowhere.com> wrote:

: : And $499? What's that about? I thought computing devices would be


: : much MUCH cheaper if you didn't have to pay the Micro$oft Tax.
: : For $499 I can get an iPaq.

: Not one with the same specs as the Zaurus, I think.

Also, see:

http://www.buydig.com/cgi-local/shop/web_store.cgi?details=yes&pro_id=SHARPSL550

New Sharp Zaurus SL-5500s: $428.

If you wanted a cheap one it sounds like the place to get one was JavaOne:

http://java.sun.com/javaone/techshowcase/

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