Friday, August 16, 2002
The Multi-Function LifeView FlyJacket
Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 10:00 AM
I first heard about the LifeView FlyJacket last year, and the news floored me – how could they possibly cram so much multimedia technology into an iPAQ sleeve?
Well, they did, and there’s nothing on the market like the LifeView FlyJacket - but what about the rough edges? Read on.
Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 21st, 2002.
The LifeView FlyJacket will turn your iPAQ into a multimedia Pocket PC
Device Requirements
The LifeView FlyJacket will work with any 3600, 3700, or 3800 series iPAQ Pocket PC. I tested it with an iPAQ 3870.
What’s Hot
The LifeView FlyJacket is unlike any other iPAQ sleeve on the market today – it offers features that no other sleeve does.
Where to Buy
The LifeView FlyJacket is a little difficult to get a hold of, even for review purposes. The manufacturer was unable to get me a review unit in time, so I turned to a local company: Handheld Canada. They carry the FlyJacket for around US $199 ($309 Canadian).
Packed full of multimedia goodness
Figure 1: The LifeView FlyJacket
The LifeView FlyJacket is an iPAQ sleeve – a big iPAQ sleeve (Figure 1)! The dimensions measure 12.8cm (W) x 8.6cm (H) x 1.7cm (D) and it weighs in at 159.4 grams (5.6 ounces). How much bulk does it add to your iPAQ? Figure 2 shows the comparison between an iPAQ in the FlyJacket, and a naked one. Be prepared to put up with some serious bulk for the options the FlyJacket gives you! One benefit of that bulk is the extra 1400 mAh battery that comes with the sleeve – you can expect significant power drain while using the FlyJacket, so the extra battery is a welcome addition.
Figure 2: The FlyJacket doubles the thickness of your iPAQ
So what can the FlyJacket do exactly? A great deal – the list below has its capabilities:
Figure 3: VGA output to a monitor
VGA Output: The FlyJacket supports VGA output to an external monitor or projector. Resolutions and colour depths supported are VGA 640*480 / 64k colors, SVGA 800*600 / 64k colors, and XVGA 1024*768 / 256 colors. Figure 3 shows the VGA output of the Pocket PC screen to an external monitor. You’ll notice there are two screens being shown – the IA Screen Mirror software allows you to show multiple Pocket PC screens at the same time, and switch between them. This is an excellent feature for demonstrations, and the software is fairly intuitive to use (Figure 4).
Figure 4: IA Style Screen Mirror
Video Output: Output video signal to an S-Video or composite video signal in PAL or NTSC format. This allows you to use a TV set for your presentations. Figure 5 shows this in action – I hooked up the iPAQ and FlyJacket to a 50” Hitachi television set and was able to use the Pocket PC and have the screen mirrored on the big TV.
Figure 5: S-Video output to a 50” Hitachi TV set
Video Input: Input from S-Video or composite video. You can hook it up to a VCR, DVD player, or even an Xbox with the right cables – then take snapshots of the video stream. Figure 6 shows a snapshot from a VHS tape. You can configure the size of the screen shot, but it will only take stills – no video. The quality of the capture is only average however – there was a great deal of distortion in the image (see below).
Figure 6: A screen capture from a VHS signal
Built-in CF slot: The FlyJacket has a CompactFlash slot so you can have a memory card to store your presentations on, a wireless data card for demos, etc. This is an excellent benefit, but I found it odd that the CompactFlash cards aren’t flush when inserted. As Figure 7 shows, the card sticks up a fair bit. This problem is compounded by cards that already stick out a little, like the Symbol 802.11b card.
Figure 7: The CF card sticks out a little
Remote Control/Pointer: A remote to control the advancement from slide to slide, and a laser pointer.
Figure 8: The hardware & software bundle
What does it come with? The FlyJacket itself, a CD-ROM with drivers and software, the remote/laser pointer, a dual-charger cable, the multimedia cable with S-Video and composite video inputs and outputs, and an S-Video extension cable. Almost everything you need except for a composite video cable if you want to connect to a TV or VCR that’s not equipped with S-Video.
Included Software
• LifeView® Shadow
• LifeView® PowerShow
• IA Style® PowerMedia Suite
o IA Presenter 2.0
o IA Image Capture
o IA Album 2.0
o IA Screen Mirror 2.0
The included software bundle is quite rich, with most of the functionality coming from the IA Style software. It would take a complete review to cover the IA Style products alone. I’ll give you some of the highlights instead.
IA Presenter includes a desktop component that will help you convert your presentations from desktop to Pocket PC format. As Figure 9 shows, you have a great deal of control over the resolution of the exported presentation.
Figure 9: IA Presenter conversion options
IA Album is a complete photo viewing application that offers some interesting features like rich ink support – Figure 10 shows an image that I’ve marked up with ink. I found it odd, however, that when you advanced to the next slide, and went back to the previous one, that the rich ink was gone. What if you were making notes and wanted to keep them?
Figure 10: IA Album rich ink in action
Gotchas
There were a few things I noticed in my testing of the LifeView FlyJacket:
• My infrared remote control didn’t work. I double-checked the batteries, and I believe they’re installed correctly, but it wouldn’t advance the slides
• When the LifeView Shadow application is running, the iPAQ slows to a crawl. It requires patience to use the device for anything while the Shadow app is running. This limits its usefulness during demos.
• The documentation on the FlyJacket is very scant – there weren’t any instructions on how to view incoming video signals in the manual, yet the documentation on the IA Style PowerMedia Suite is very impressive – over 90 pages worth! Improved documentation would allow users to take advantage of its features more fully.
• Rather than doing one thing really well, the FlyJacket does many things with only adequate results. As a VGA out presentation unit, the FlyJacket falls short of what the MARGI Presenter-to-Go product can do, for instance.
Conclusion
The LifeView FlyJacket is truly a unique device – there’s nothing like it on the market, and while it has some rough edges, it’s a powerful solution if you’re looking to push the boundaries what can be done with a Pocket PC.
Well, they did, and there’s nothing on the market like the LifeView FlyJacket - but what about the rough edges? Read on.
Un-published PocketPC.com article originally written April 21st, 2002.
The LifeView FlyJacket will turn your iPAQ into a multimedia Pocket PC
Device Requirements
The LifeView FlyJacket will work with any 3600, 3700, or 3800 series iPAQ Pocket PC. I tested it with an iPAQ 3870.
What’s Hot
The LifeView FlyJacket is unlike any other iPAQ sleeve on the market today – it offers features that no other sleeve does.
Where to Buy
The LifeView FlyJacket is a little difficult to get a hold of, even for review purposes. The manufacturer was unable to get me a review unit in time, so I turned to a local company: Handheld Canada. They carry the FlyJacket for around US $199 ($309 Canadian).
Packed full of multimedia goodness
Figure 1: The LifeView FlyJacket
The LifeView FlyJacket is an iPAQ sleeve – a big iPAQ sleeve (Figure 1)! The dimensions measure 12.8cm (W) x 8.6cm (H) x 1.7cm (D) and it weighs in at 159.4 grams (5.6 ounces). How much bulk does it add to your iPAQ? Figure 2 shows the comparison between an iPAQ in the FlyJacket, and a naked one. Be prepared to put up with some serious bulk for the options the FlyJacket gives you! One benefit of that bulk is the extra 1400 mAh battery that comes with the sleeve – you can expect significant power drain while using the FlyJacket, so the extra battery is a welcome addition.
Figure 2: The FlyJacket doubles the thickness of your iPAQ
So what can the FlyJacket do exactly? A great deal – the list below has its capabilities:
Figure 3: VGA output to a monitor
VGA Output: The FlyJacket supports VGA output to an external monitor or projector. Resolutions and colour depths supported are VGA 640*480 / 64k colors, SVGA 800*600 / 64k colors, and XVGA 1024*768 / 256 colors. Figure 3 shows the VGA output of the Pocket PC screen to an external monitor. You’ll notice there are two screens being shown – the IA Screen Mirror software allows you to show multiple Pocket PC screens at the same time, and switch between them. This is an excellent feature for demonstrations, and the software is fairly intuitive to use (Figure 4).
Figure 4: IA Style Screen Mirror
Video Output: Output video signal to an S-Video or composite video signal in PAL or NTSC format. This allows you to use a TV set for your presentations. Figure 5 shows this in action – I hooked up the iPAQ and FlyJacket to a 50” Hitachi television set and was able to use the Pocket PC and have the screen mirrored on the big TV.
Figure 5: S-Video output to a 50” Hitachi TV set
Video Input: Input from S-Video or composite video. You can hook it up to a VCR, DVD player, or even an Xbox with the right cables – then take snapshots of the video stream. Figure 6 shows a snapshot from a VHS tape. You can configure the size of the screen shot, but it will only take stills – no video. The quality of the capture is only average however – there was a great deal of distortion in the image (see below).
Figure 6: A screen capture from a VHS signal
Built-in CF slot: The FlyJacket has a CompactFlash slot so you can have a memory card to store your presentations on, a wireless data card for demos, etc. This is an excellent benefit, but I found it odd that the CompactFlash cards aren’t flush when inserted. As Figure 7 shows, the card sticks up a fair bit. This problem is compounded by cards that already stick out a little, like the Symbol 802.11b card.
Figure 7: The CF card sticks out a little
Remote Control/Pointer: A remote to control the advancement from slide to slide, and a laser pointer.
Figure 8: The hardware & software bundle
What does it come with? The FlyJacket itself, a CD-ROM with drivers and software, the remote/laser pointer, a dual-charger cable, the multimedia cable with S-Video and composite video inputs and outputs, and an S-Video extension cable. Almost everything you need except for a composite video cable if you want to connect to a TV or VCR that’s not equipped with S-Video.
Included Software
• LifeView® Shadow
• LifeView® PowerShow
• IA Style® PowerMedia Suite
o IA Presenter 2.0
o IA Image Capture
o IA Album 2.0
o IA Screen Mirror 2.0
The included software bundle is quite rich, with most of the functionality coming from the IA Style software. It would take a complete review to cover the IA Style products alone. I’ll give you some of the highlights instead.
IA Presenter includes a desktop component that will help you convert your presentations from desktop to Pocket PC format. As Figure 9 shows, you have a great deal of control over the resolution of the exported presentation.
Figure 9: IA Presenter conversion options
IA Album is a complete photo viewing application that offers some interesting features like rich ink support – Figure 10 shows an image that I’ve marked up with ink. I found it odd, however, that when you advanced to the next slide, and went back to the previous one, that the rich ink was gone. What if you were making notes and wanted to keep them?
Figure 10: IA Album rich ink in action
Gotchas
There were a few things I noticed in my testing of the LifeView FlyJacket:
• My infrared remote control didn’t work. I double-checked the batteries, and I believe they’re installed correctly, but it wouldn’t advance the slides
• When the LifeView Shadow application is running, the iPAQ slows to a crawl. It requires patience to use the device for anything while the Shadow app is running. This limits its usefulness during demos.
• The documentation on the FlyJacket is very scant – there weren’t any instructions on how to view incoming video signals in the manual, yet the documentation on the IA Style PowerMedia Suite is very impressive – over 90 pages worth! Improved documentation would allow users to take advantage of its features more fully.
• Rather than doing one thing really well, the FlyJacket does many things with only adequate results. As a VGA out presentation unit, the FlyJacket falls short of what the MARGI Presenter-to-Go product can do, for instance.
Conclusion
The LifeView FlyJacket is truly a unique device – there’s nothing like it on the market, and while it has some rough edges, it’s a powerful solution if you’re looking to push the boundaries what can be done with a Pocket PC.
