Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 109

I just read a ZDNet article discussing movies on the Palm and Pocket PC.

"Palm?!?!" I thought? Sure enough, ActiveSky's product page lists a Palm player as "coming soon".

Though I hardly see how a movie would be entertaining on the Palm (MTIMoviePlayer could've been better, but still...), my interested is peaked.

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Trinition ([email protected])

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 81

I saw this article as well. I think that it will go a ways towards refuting the argument from the PPC crowd that the Palm can't do multimedia. While the current Visors/Palms aren't really ready for streaming video, the next wave will be and the software will be there already!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 109

I wanted to submit this as a news topic for Visor Central to consider posting on the home page, but I couldn't find a way to submit it to them. Are they open to the ./ style of story submission?

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Trinition ([email protected])

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

This is clearly an added benefit to the Palm platform, but I think Palm is moving in the wrong direction. Instead of concentrating on video, they should be integrating digital audio (MP3 playback) and ebooks. These are two features that make the Pocket PC worth its weight in gold. I've used the ActiveSky player on my new Jornada, and while it is somewhat entertaining, its not very usefull. The Windows Media Player, on the other hand, is awesome, it sounds as good as a Diamond Rio or Creative Nomad! Ebooks are great as well. The MS Reader application makes text appear almost as good as print.

This is clearly the direction that Palm should be moving to. Simply put, If Palm would build an MP3 player and a *true* ebook reader into their handhels, it would kill the Pocket PC outright!

For me, that day can't come soon enough!

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 109

This if off topic for this particular thred, but why isn't there a goood e-book reader for PalmOS? Or is there? It's just software, right? Granted the 'sepcial technocology' that Microsoft uses to enhance appearances of the fonts can't be used on Palms, btu I bet with some sneaky gray-scale anti-aliasing, you could have very readable fonts on PalmOS.

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Trinition ([email protected])

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

Thanks for the link! You can either submit a link using the around the web, and if it is good enough, I'll make it a main news item. You can also email me any news items as well.

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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Valparaiso, IN
Posts: 146

foo,

don't forget, Palms do have e-books. See www.peanutpress.com as an example. In addition, QED, TealDoc, iSilo, AportisDoc, etc. all have e-book ability.

That just leaves MP3 and a few other enhacements lacking. Plus, Palm has it's own advantages. Then again, I think we've all pretty much covered that, so I'll stop here. I don't want to be the instigator of another Palm vs. CE debate.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NJ
Posts: 517

How much space do these movies take up on your pocket pc? MP3's take up quite a bit and until Handspring and Palm start making devices with 64 MB+ what use will we have for an MP3 player? I don't care to listen to just one or two songs. On the other hand, streaming music, or movies (when cheap wireless access is available) would be fantastic! I think that both video and audio will be equally important once you can watch streaming media from the internet. What the Palm OS needs is a fully functional media player, like Quicktime. Hey, maybe that's what Apple and Palm are working on. Well, until there is a Palm OS version of Quicktime this Active Sky program looks pretty neat.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

Video? MP3s? Aren't we missing a huge factor here...namely STORAGE?

Yea...it'd be great to have an MP3 player and full video built into the Visor, but where would you store all of this information?

I think the first obstacle is to develop affordable flash storage, and/or get the small hard-drive technologies encased into a springboard.

I'm sure that screen technology is going to be improved, and using the strong-arm processor will certainly enable better media playback, but until we can actually store this media, I don't see the use of wishing for the features yet.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: NY, USA
Posts: 18

The trgpro would be the best device for this use. They take flash cards, use the palm os and have a better speaker.....who knows?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 109

Is there going to be a CompactFlash SpringBoard for the Visor?

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

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Originally posted by Hawkeye:
don't forget, Palms do have e-books. See www.peanutpress.com as an example. In addition, QED, TealDoc, iSilo, AportisDoc, etc. all have e-book ability.

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Registered: Apr 2000
Location: Inglewood, CA, USA
Posts: 390

quote:

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Originally posted by foo fighter:
...these are technically not true ebooks. These are merely large Palm docs. The term ebook is used to describe the layer of technologies for font rendering technologies that improve text quality on an LCD display. In short, ebook technology tries to make text on a handheld device as readable as printed text. This is an area where the PalmOS falls very short! Quite frankly, there is no comparison to reading a book on a Palm as apposed to a Pocket PC. Needless to say, Palm had better come up with something, and soon!

iSilo and TealDoc are excellent readers, but it's the text quality that counts here.

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I've seen the text on a Pocket PC � yes, it is impressive � no argument from me on that point... But I�m not overly concerned about how pretty the text is - as a �I just want to read all the time person�, I just want the text! As long as I can read it, I�m a happy camper.

This is what a ebook author told a friend of mine: �One day we'll have books �with built-in dictionaries/encyclopedias that illustrate unfamiliar terms, have soundtracks, give you pictures of the main characters and backgrounds/histories of important pieces of the stories. Presently, ebooks are usually just simple text with cover illustrations��

Until ebooks get this advanced, my Visor meets my needs just fine. (Besides, I can�t do anything with a paper book now, except read the text � not many pictures in my books.) Plus, on my 8mb module, I have 19 novels so far (avg 300 pgs ea.) and I still have room. (For the ebooks from sites other than peanutpress, I just converted them to the Peanut Reader format since I like their reader�) For my money, you just can�t beat carrying around over 20 books in a device that fits in the Palm of your hand.

p.s. A "CompactFlash SpringBoard for the Visor" would be SO cool...


[This message has been edited by narnia_77 (edited 06-07-2000).]

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Texan in Calgary for a while
Posts: 1361

quote:

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Originally posted by foo fighter:
Hawkeye, these are technically not true ebooks. These are merely large Palm docs. The term ebook is used to describe the layer of technologies for font rendering technologies that improve text quality on an LCD display. In short, ebook technology tries to make text on a handheld device as readable as printed text. This is an area where the PalmOS falls very short! Quite frankly, there is no comparison to reading a book on a Palm as apposed to a Pocket PC. Needless to say, Palm had better come up with something, and soon!

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Just becuse the eBooks in PalmOS don't have font rendering doesn't mean that they're not eBooks. That's similar to saying that Windows 95 wasn't a true operating system because it required DOS. It's all semantics. I do agree that the Palm readers ( ) can be improved, but the DOC files they read are still eBooks.



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James Hromadka
VisorCentral.com
Personal Website: http://www.Hromadka.com

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

quote:

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The term ebook is used to describe the layer of technologies for font rendering technologies that improve text quality on an LCD display.

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 105

The real difference is the color screen, black on white is a lot easier to see compared to black on whatever color the Visor screen is.

I've seen the color Palm at my local CompUSA and I really liked it, I'll buy Handspring's the day it comes out.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

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Originally posted by Matt Nichols:
...I'll buy Handspring's the day it comes out.

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 3

You say that this is first site to offer movie clips, and that redlight.com is the first to offer "adult" content, well, does anyone here remember the Pilot Entertainment Zone (PEZ) ?
That site had mature content. It was shut down a while ago, but was very popular while online.

also, there was a program that can play quicktime movies that are encoded for the palm (4 shades of gray). I downloaded a 5 minute clip from the simpsons, and it fit into a palm III's 2 Mb RAM, with sound !

Registered: Dec 1999
Location:
Posts: 119

Foo said:
"I wouldn't purchase any color Palm based device with the current pixel resolution...their aweful! The Palm IIIc display is horribly pixelated! It looks like color mosaic tiles. As the color issue stands now, the Pocket PC is far superior with a res of 320x240, while the Palm OS runs at only 160x160."

As a caveat to those reading this board who are unfamiliar with that poster, he is a Pocket PC advocate who lurks on this board trashing the Palm OS. As they say, "consider the source."

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: I'm not sure, but I see lots of lights everywhere.
Posts: 1287

quote:

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Originally posted by SherylKing:
As a caveat to those reading this board who are unfamiliar with that poster, he is a Pocket PC advocate who lurks on this board trashing the Palm OS. As they say, "consider the source."

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