Thursday, December 4, 2003
BSQUARE and Vodafone Deliver a New Handheld Device
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 10:26 AM
"BSQUARE announced that Vodafone is the first wireless operator selling BSQUARE Power Handheld devices. Power Handheld devices are now available in limited quantity to enterprise customers and mobile professionals through select Vodafone stores in the U.K. market. The device was developed under the code name "Maui".
BSQUARE's Power Handheld is a turnkey solution enabling wireless operators and OEMs to bring highly differentiated mobile devices to market. The very small handheld form factor allows for great portability with powerful functionality. In addition, Power Handheld is a platform allowing wireless operators and OEMs to grow their customer base by providing line of business applications and messaging solutions leveraging email, SMS and voice.
...It comes with two options of memory: 64 MB or 128MB RAM, 32 MB / 64MB FLASH and a removable storage SD memory slot (up to 1GB). The display has a viewing size of 4.0”, it's capable of showing 65,536 colours and resolution of 640 x 480 (VGA - Landascape). It's a GSM/GPRS device, capable of 120 hours standby, 4 hours talk time and 3 hours of GPRS usage. The device is SD IO enabled and supports wi-fi SDIO and Bluetooth SDIO."
8O Normally I frown on these "let's build a platform all by ourself" types of devices (i.e.: Nexio), but in looking at the screen shots, it seems that they've really put some effort into making the device useful right out of the gate. It would have been nice to have Bluetooth and/or WiFi, but as a communications device this looks like it would be highly useful. And the form-factor and specs show an agressive creativity that we often bemoan as lacking in the Pocket PC world. The biggest hurdle I see for this is software: there's no developer/enthusiast ecosystem around Windows CE .Net device as of yet, so what will you install on it? :?
BSQUARE's Power Handheld is a turnkey solution enabling wireless operators and OEMs to bring highly differentiated mobile devices to market. The very small handheld form factor allows for great portability with powerful functionality. In addition, Power Handheld is a platform allowing wireless operators and OEMs to grow their customer base by providing line of business applications and messaging solutions leveraging email, SMS and voice.
...It comes with two options of memory: 64 MB or 128MB RAM, 32 MB / 64MB FLASH and a removable storage SD memory slot (up to 1GB). The display has a viewing size of 4.0”, it's capable of showing 65,536 colours and resolution of 640 x 480 (VGA - Landascape). It's a GSM/GPRS device, capable of 120 hours standby, 4 hours talk time and 3 hours of GPRS usage. The device is SD IO enabled and supports wi-fi SDIO and Bluetooth SDIO."
8O Normally I frown on these "let's build a platform all by ourself" types of devices (i.e.: Nexio), but in looking at the screen shots, it seems that they've really put some effort into making the device useful right out of the gate. It would have been nice to have Bluetooth and/or WiFi, but as a communications device this looks like it would be highly useful. And the form-factor and specs show an agressive creativity that we often bemoan as lacking in the Pocket PC world. The biggest hurdle I see for this is software: there's no developer/enthusiast ecosystem around Windows CE .Net device as of yet, so what will you install on it? :?
