PenPower to release Chinese Handwriting for Mac in October (unverified!)
gjerlov
I have recently gotten an e-mail from a reseller of PenPower's
"Chinese Handwriting for Mac". They wrote me:
"PenPower will be releasing a brand new version of Chinese Handwriting
for
Mac this October. We do not know the price for the product until is
ready
to be shipped from overseas. We will notify you as soon as the
information
is available."
This might be of interest I guess ;)
Best!
Anders
TenThousandThings
reliable than promises from developers. Developers mean well, but then
it turns out to be harder than they thought, or costs more than they
thought, or something else takes priority, or whatever. So it is
probably a good sign that this rumor comes from a reseller.
Anyhow, the timing seems to make sense -- "October" would mean
PenPower is waiting for Leopard (Mac OS 10.5), and testing for it. So
it will be delayed if Leopard is delayed, but only until then?
Eric
Kerim Friedman
kerim
Etienne de la Vaissière
on the Iphone ?
Etienne
Le 16 sept. 07 à 14:53, Kerim Friedman a écrit :
Tom Gewecke
On Sep 16, 2007, at 9:03 AM, Etienne de la Vaissière wrote:
>
> But what about Chinese
> on the Iphone ?
I don't have a the device, but my best info is:
The iPhone is English only for input and user interface so far.
There web apps that let you input Japanese and Korean for email now,
but not Chinese yet.
The Safari browser can display Chinese, but there is no way to change
the encoding for pages that are not done right.
The Mail program can display Chinese, but I have seen reports than it
may only work with UTF-8 encoded mail.
Vinko
multiple keyboard layout and input method engines (IME), but
unfortunately, Chinese is not going to be one of the languages, but
Japanese IME will be. May be one of the reason is that the "official"
release of iPhone in Chinese speaking countries is still at least six
months away.
Edward
My father can't input chinese by typing, he needs some sort of input
pen. He's simply too old to re-learn how to type chinese characters
using an english keyboard. He recently bought a mac... what's the
current input method that is reliable? I searched extensively for
penpower but can't find a retailer. Are there any other products out
there? Or is waiting til Oct for the next penpower the only option
for him?
Thanks for reading and or replying,
Eric Rasmussen
release of PenPower for Mac. The old version does not run on Intel
machines.
Another option that exists is Wenlin, which has a mouse-based
handwriting input system. Most tablets (e.g., Wacom) can be set up so
that they have the same effect as a mouse. Wenlin does not distinguish
one pointing device from another.
I don't know if Wenlin's handwriting input is as advanced as
PenPower's. Probably not. But it works -- set the options so that
"list characters to choose" is turned on. The other options can also
be helpful, depending on the user. The only trick is teaching the user
how to select-copy-paste their Chinese text from the Wenlin
environment to whatever other application they want to use it in.
ER
Yang2 Gui3zi 洋鬼子
On Sep 19, 12:36 am, "Eric Rasmussen" <hello.ras...@gmail.com> wrote:
> With a recent Intel-based Mac, you must wait for the (rumored) new
> release of PenPower for Mac. The old version does not run on Intel
> machines.
Say, Eric, do you know something I don't? Has the retailer or
developer said that the new PenPower for Mac version will, indeed,
support Intel-based Macs? I have an Intel-based MacBook Pro.
By the way, I heard a rumour on the Webstream "Tech Talk with Hawke"
that Apple has been working for years on a version of OS X that will
run on IBM-PC compatibles -- and is close to releasing it. Wonder
whether that version will support the sort of Chinese programs we've
been running on Mac hardware. Actually I rather doubt that Apple
would release an IBM-PC-compatible version of OS X that would compete
with OS X on Mac hardware, because it would erode the demand for
overpriced Mac hardware -- unless, of course, the IBM-PC-compatible
version were priced so high that Apple would not care about the
forgone sales of hardware.
The "Tech Talk with Hawke" Webstream can be played from http://66.165.236.124:6800
Eric Rasmussen
> Say, Eric, do you know something I don't? Has the retailer or
> developer said that the new PenPower for Mac version will, indeed,
No, but I think it's a safe assumption, for obvious reasons -- every
Mac sold since January 2006 is an Intel-based machine.
What I would not assume is that the new version exists at all. As the
original poster noted, the report is "unverified." We haven't heard
anything from the developer or anyone else.
> By the way, I heard a rumour on the Webstream "Tech Talk with Hawke"
> that Apple has been working for years on a version of OS X that will
> run on IBM-PC compatibles -- and is close to releasing it. ...
My understanding of the x86 version of Mac OS X is that it was
maintained from the start in parallel with the PowerPC version as the
basis for a possible switch to Intel processors in Macintosh machines.
When you run Tiger on your MacBook Pro, you're running that software.
But I've never heard anything about them planning to license it for
use on non-Apple hardware. Are you sure you understood him correctly?
It's something Apple could do, but it's not something they are likely
to do.
Andrew Main
> Actually I rather doubt that Apple
> would release an IBM-PC-compatible version of OS X that would compete
> with OS X on Mac hardware...
As has been noted many times, Apple is a hardware company; there'd be
no real profit (and a LOT of support headaches -- the driver mess is
a main reason why Linux can't make much headway) in making a version
of OS X to run on other manufacturers' computers. Licensing was tried
a decade ago, and it hurt Apple.
> because it would erode the demand for
> overpriced Mac hardware....
Overpriced? Is a Mercedes Benz automobile "overpriced" because it
costs more than a Chevrolet? Mercedes buyers don't seem to think so.
I still remember almost 50 years ago in high school, the first time I
rode in a wealthy friend's (I grew up in Santa Barbara) Mercedes, how
it *felt* so different from the cars I was used to. Sure, all the
parts are basically the same on paper -- wheels, engine, drive shaft,
doors, windows, seats -- but there is a real difference in the final
product, and that's what sells Mercedes. And Macintosh.
Andrew Main
TenThousandThings
On Sep 23, 11:46 am, Andrew Main <homohabi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Overpriced?
The bottom line is that Apple's current hardware is competitively
priced, at least if we're comparing it with high-quality Intel PC
manufacturers like Dell and Sony.
Note: It is true that Apple's additional RAM is ridiculously
overpriced, but it is possible to buy high-quality RAM for Apple
machines at competitive prices (e.g., Ramjet, Crucial).
Let's consider the iMac. The closest thing to it in Dell's line is the
XPS 210 slim tower. The 20" iMac configurations, for example, match up
well, especially if you get the Dell "UltraSharp" display. If you buy
the additional 1 GB of RAM needed to match the Dell's standard 2 GB
from Ramjet (currently $50, instead of $150 from Apple) the iMac is
about $1,550. The Dell is about $1,450 without the higher-end display,
and about $1,600 with it. [Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4 Ghz), 320 GB hard
drive, 8x DVD+/-RW optical drive.]
The Dell M2010 isn't a direct comparison because it has a TV tuner and
a laptop processor in it, but it is priced well beyond the 20" iMac
range, starting at $3000 for a 20" display with a Core 2 Duo T5600
(1.8 Ghz), 1 GB RAM, 120 GB hard drive. Compare that to $1500 for the
20" iMac with a Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4 Ghz), 1 GB RAM, 320 GB hard
drive. Is it really worth $1500 more to get a TV tuner in a slower,
slightly more portable computer with a smaller hard drive?
The fairest comparison with Sony is the upcoming (October) LT series,
which includes a TV tuner and has a laptop processor. If the TV issue
is set aside, then the Apple machine is a better computer at a lower
price. The 22" LT-series display is the same resolution as the 20"
iMac. The Sony LT18E has a Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2 Ghz), 2 GB RAM, 320
GB hard drive at $2050. That's $500 more than the comparable iMac (see
above), so you're paying for that TV tuner, while getting a slower
processor.
The point here is not to dismiss the Sony machines, which are nicely
designed and have a lot going for them. The point is that they are
priced in the same ballpark as the iMac. Indeed, Apple's machines are
probably a better deal, all things considered.
Similar things occur when you start comparing other lines. Take Dell's
17" XPS 1710 laptop and compare it to Apple's 17" MacBook Pro:
Apple: Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4 Ghz), 2 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, etc. =
$2800
Dell: Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.3 Ghz), 2 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, other
components configured as close as possible to the MBP = $3150
Note: The above PC prices are all with Vista Home Premium -- add $150
for Vista Ultimate!
My point here, again, is not to trash Dell. The point is that the
difference between Apple and Dell is not price -- if anything, Apple's
machines are a better value. What Dell offers is a much wider range of
hardware, configuration, and upgrade options. Dell has always excelled
at that, and that's why they've been so successful in the marketplace.
The current Sony 17" AR570 laptop does seem to be a much better deal:
Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4 Ghz), 2 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, Vista
Ultimate = $2300, but it lacks some key features of the MacBook Pro
(the camera, for example). A better comparison will be the upcoming
(October) Sony AR600 series. The custom configuration options are not
yet available, so they are hard to compare at this point. But judging
from the pre-order prices, the older MBP will hold its own.
ER