Discussion > Other Areas of Interest > All Handhelds > Handsprings's new device
What slots will be included in Handspring's new device?
You do not have permission to vote on this poll. |
| Just SpringBoard |
   |
15 |
45.45% |
| SD/MMC |
   |
9 |
27.27% |
| CF |
   |
3 |
9.09% |
| SD/MMC and CF |
   |
6 |
18.18% |
| Total: |
33 votes |
100% |
|
Post a Reply | Pages (2): [1] 2 »
By: slotmachine @ 11:46 AM
I vote for SD/MMC. There are so many SB modules out there now, that a dedicated slot for memeory just makes sense. Does anyone know how SD/MMC power consumption compares to CF?
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By: bradhaak @ 04:32 PM
I hate to say it, but why not Sony Memory Stick.
DON'T FLAME ME 'TIL YOU READ MY REASONS.
It is good for memory expansion (It should be with that name), and Motorola recently announced that there would be direct dupport for it in the next generation of the GragonBall. Sony contributed the code to support it in VFS back to Palm for the base OEM OS.
This means that all HandSpring needs to do to support it is add a connector - no messy controller chips or glue logic to take up space in an already crowded design.
Let the flames begin...
Maybe?
By: RSGMOOSE @ 04:52 PM
bradhaak,
You may be right however, Handspring would then be liscensing both the Palm OS and the Sony memory stick. I'm not certain that Donna wants to be beholding to two other manufacturers for Handspring's hardware stuff.
Personally, I don't believe that SD/MMC technology is liscensed or owned by any Palm manufacturer. I might be wrong on this point. But, if that's so, then it would probably be more prudent to have SD technology on the next HS device because the Sony memory stick is very proprietary. Few manufacturers are using it. Since the SD technology seems to becoming the VHS relative to the Betamax of Sony's (memory stick) Handspring may be wise to remember the history of Video tape.
With HS's financial annoucement this week - I forsee a closer relationship in the future between HS and Palm to avoid this price war that they are currently in. Sony's not yet THE player compared to the other's. Donna D needs to re-establish the warm relationship with Palm to avoid these 50% reductions in revenues. And if Palm is going to hold more than 50% of the market share of the Palm OS devices then HS needs to mirror them more closely to try and stay in the same market category.
The annoucement of the bluetooth SD card - will make HS listen carefully.
The decision may though just boil down to how much the liscensing fee is for the Memory Stick vs. the SD card.
My 2cents.
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By: bradhaak @ 05:33 PM
It also works out to cost of goods for MMC/SD. You still need to add the interfacing circuits and glue logic. This also takes space. What is the extra cost in cash and space to add SD/MMC.
I don't know about any licensing fees for SD or MMC, but would be surprised if there wasn't some fee involved. I do know that SD was developed jointly by Matsu****a, Toshiba and SanDisk. They are all companies that are looking to make a profit.
By: creole @ 06:06 PM
LOL...it blanked out the word Matsushi ta
By: Matthew Nichols @ 06:30 PM
I would personally like to see Memory Stick, for something that has to accomadate both a Springboard slot AND a memory slot, the stick's dimensions seem like it would be best (Probably have to move the IR port again though!). And as was mentioned, since the stuff is now built into the Dragonball it would be a thinner/smaller solution.
Right now I'd say Memory Stick has a lot more market penetration than MMC/SD, and if Handspring were to support it as well as some other manufacturers it could be succesful.
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By: ThirdMan @ 06:59 PM
Allow me to interrupt this otherwise intelligent discussion with a bit of low-brow humor:
http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/.../df20010608.jpg
Please forgive me...
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By: bradhaak @ 07:27 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bradhaak
Matsu****a
I am so sorry. I didn't mean to bring any subliminal swearing to the board (I am so ashamed).
I am just glad that the board software does such an incredible job of filtering out these occurences.
By: gbgood @ 07:50 PM
I'm with 'Fido'.
No memory card! I do not wish to be held captive by a specific brand.
SMC, ok due to size/cost.
CF, ok due to speed/cost.
MMC, ok due to size, fer' sure!
***All of these can be used on many products with many brands.
Not so Sony ****stick.
Cost/size is not comparable.
And neither is the array of products, especially when you consider choice of brands.
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By: dshorter @ 07:56 PM
Is the next generation Dragonball going to be ARM-based? Or is the new ARM chip a complete departure from the dragonball?
In other wrods, is this correct?
OS 5 + Dragonball + ARM + mem stick support
By: Gameboy70 @ 09:35 PM
I don't see any incentive on Handspring's part to include anything other than the Springboard slot. With Springboard adaptors either available or imminent for other expansion technologies, there's no point to paying licensing fees for the Memory Stick, diluting developer momentum on the Springboard standard, weakening plug-n-play functionality, or compromising the form factor with an additional slot (the Prism is densely packed right now as it is).
Moreover, as I wrote in another thread:
quote:
The cheapest 64mb MS I've come across is $81.12, with $11 shipping; a 64mb SM card (for use with the MemPlug) is $47.00, with free shipping. For any size, I have yet to see any MS that comes close to $1 per megabyte, where CF and SM cards, more often than not, are under $1/MB. And I remain skeptical of Sony's ability to produce affordable I/O MS modules, even though it's technically feasible.
It's interesting that people once complained about the proprietary nature of the Springboard slot, even though the technology is being used for non-propriety memory solutions like CF, MMC and SM -- and possibly even MS. I'll stick to the Prism and keep my expansion options open.
By: slotmachine @ 09:54 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Gameboy70
I don't see any incentive on Handspring's part to include anything other than the Springboard slot
As more SB become availible, choosing between memory and devices in your SB will become harder and harder. Of course, there's nothing to stop a SB adapter that supports both SD and CF ala Handera
Anybody know the ETA for SD Bluetooth, MemSt Bluetooth, or the finalized SD I/O standard?
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By: bradhaak @ 10:47 PM
quote:
Originally posted by slotmachine
As more SB become availible, choosing between memory and devices in your SB will become harder and harder. Of course, there's nothing to stop a SB adapter that supports both SD and CF ala Handera
Anybody know the ETA for SD Bluetooth, MemSt Bluetooth, or the finalized SD I/O standard?
Sony's memstick Bluetooth is supposed to be available in early Q3 (next month) for $125. This week, Palm announced a SD bluetooth module with Q4 availability for $150.
By: bradhaak @ 10:59 PM
quote:
Originally posted by dshorter
Is the next generation Dragonball going to be ARM-based? Or is the new ARM chip a complete departure from the dragonball?
In other wrods, is this correct?
OS 5 + Dragonball + ARM + mem stick support
According to the Motorola press release
quote:
The Memory Stick interface is being incorporated into the new members of the DragonBall family that are scheduled for introduction throughout 2001, including the 68K-based and ARM-core media-ready, high-performance DragonBall platforms.
So Memory Dtick will be part of the newest 68K (M68SZ328) based DragonBall that will be available later this year.
By: slotmachine @ 11:45 PM
quote:
Originally posted by bradhaak
According to the Motorola press release
So Memory Dtick will be part of the newest 68K (M68SZ328) based DragonBall that will be available later this year.
So the new DBall supports mem stick, which shares thw VFS with SD. But that doesn't help the the interface circuits and logic issue, right?
Mem stick for HS = lic fee
SD/MMC for HS = lic fee (probably) + interface circuits + glue logic
hmmm....
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By: bradhaak @ 11:52 PM
quote:
Originally posted by slotmachine
So the new DBall supports mem stick, which shares thw VFS with SD. But that doesn't help the the interface circuits and logic issue, right?
Mem stick for HS = lic fee
SD/MMC for HS = lic fee (probably) + interface circuits + glue logic
hmmm....
That's where my thoughts keep running. Mem stick is not my favorite (I prefer SD), but it's starting to look like a cheap and simple solution for OEMs.
By: slotmachine @ 12:08 AM
SD sales 250,000; Mem Stick, 10,000,000
Mem sticks have been out 2 yrs though
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That IS a Palm III form-factor in my pocket, AND I'm happy to see you.
Why not just make an SD/MMC/MS springboard.
By: beaker @ 01:43 AM
One of you extremely intellegent and knowledgable technical types can probably answer this, but why not just build a springboard module that allows you to plug in SD/MMC/MS cards? Then the Visor would be compatible with just about everything?
Maybe this is already happening.
Re: Why not just make an SD/MMC/MS springboard.
By: bradhaak @ 02:37 AM
quote:
Originally posted by beaker
One of you extremely intellegent and knowledgable technical types can probably answer this, but why not just build a springboard module that allows you to plug in SD/MMC/MS cards? Then the Visor would be compatible with just about everything?
Maybe this is already happening.
You absolutely can do this. There are currently solutions for SmartMedia and CompactFlash. SD/MMC and Memory Stick are supposedly on the way. InnoGrear's MP3 player uses MMC to store files and a lot of people are hoping that they will open up the device so that you can store data on the MMCs. Actually this may have happened by now.
The point of this discussion is for a second port on future Visors. The thought is that it would be way cool to be able to have expansion memory available while still having a SpringBoard plugged in. There is no sign from HandSpring that this would ever happen - just fun supposition on our part.
This is kind of like the HandEra 330 that has a CompactFlash port that could hold a modem, camera, network card, etc., while the SD/MMC can hold expansion memory. You can than use the expansion memory with the plugged in peripheral.
This is one of those great discussions where everybody is right (especially me) and everybody is wrong (except me).
Re: Why not just make an SD/MMC/MS springboard.
By: slotmachine @ 03:47 AM
quote:
Originally posted by beaker
One of you extremely intellegent and knowledgable technical types can probably answer this, but why not just build a springboard module that allows you to plug in SD/MMC/MS cards? Then the Visor would be compatible with just about everything?
Maybe this is already happening.
I already brought that up. Scroll up a few.....
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