CutMeLoose.com

Have you been looking for a way to get the 2lb NEC tablet pc only available from Japan? Look no further....

FYI: it only comes with the Japanese os on it. so, if you want the English os, you would have to own an MSDN subscription.

Tablet PC Buzz.com - Forum

Be sure to listen in to The Tablet PC Show on The Podcast Network. Great job, James!

Tablet PC Show #1 Program Notes: "

Welcome to the first crack at The Tablet PC Show. The Tablet PC Show will be bringing you useful information about the ink-enabled devices and sparkling conversations with people in the Tablet PC community. In future shows we will bring developers of great Tablet PC programs onto the show to discuss their software and let listeners know the direction their development is heading.

This show is intended as a way to get to know me and what we will be doing over future shows and share a little bit of information about the Tablet PC (of course).

I Ink Therefore I Am

This from Jeremy Allaire's (co-founder of Allaire - later sold to Macromedia) weblog

Brightcove Launched: "

As noted on PaidContent, we're launching Brightcove, a company I started last summer and have been stealth until now.  While we're not getting into too much detail about what we're actually doing, we are starting to talk about the themes and ideas behind the company, which one can clearly use to deduce what we might be up to. 

The theme of the "democratization of media" is one that goes all the way back to my origin interests in the Internet, and to some of the important ideas that framed and drove ColdFusion, and Allaire's other software franchises.  We're onto the next phase of experiences on the Internet, and the much richer and expressive medium of video. 

There's a narrated animation on our website that gives a good view into what we see happening and how we hope to help producers and publishers of video take us into the emerging era of Internet Television.

We've also published a company blog that is a rollup of news, announcements, blogsphere references and suggested reading.  Keep it in your RSS readers!
  

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:58 PM 0 comments

If you attend Microsoft Windows Anywhere, let Frank Gocinski know your thoughts:

MWA was a ton of fun: "

Wow, the three weeks leading up to MWA were incredibly busy and full of last minute details (and I logged over 10K air miles), issues and concerns, it was fun to see how well our first tablet and mobile pc application development focused conference went. Great execution, lots or hard work, excited customers, great press and news about tablet and mobile pc. Great hardware reviews and announcements and excellent opportunities for the OEMs to talk with the developer and ISVs.

 

I’ll compile a list of the external news and post that shortly, I’d encourage you to read some of the timely data posted on the Tablet focused sites and newsgroups.

 

So many people from Microsoft, Fawcette, Matt from Wagged, our MVPs, Tablet Influentials and many more played a critical role in making this event happen. Two folks who really kicked it up a notch to make this event a success were Tina and Lora – you ladies rock!

 

We however are not done, in fact we’ve just started.  Should we do this again? Do you think MWA in Orlando with VS Live Orlando makes sense, should we merge with MEDC and start to build an end to end mobile message for our customers?

Some interesting thoughts from Michael Hyatt on his official switch from the Tablet PC to the Powerbook.

I Finally Took the Plunge: "

I am now officially a Mac PowerBook user. I bought one of the new 15“ models, which has 40% more screen space than the more compact 12” model. It also has a faster processor (1.67 GHz), bigger hard drive (80 GB), faster FireWire port (800 Mb/sec), a SuperDrive (CD-RW, DVD-RW), s-video port (for playing DVDs on a TV or external monitor), and 1 GB of RAM.

Eight Essentials of Tablet User Interface Success

TabletPCTalk.com has a good review and great pictures of the Sahara i213 iTablet Tablet PC.
Sahara i213 Review

I'd love to see a fix where the floating TIP for the Tablet PC wouldn't cover up buttons - like the run button in the start menu, or drop down lists, etc.

Great review by Jame Kendrick on Onfolio. I'm quickly getting addicted to it as well. As an RSS feed aggregator and information management tool, it really rocks! I highly recommend you read James review.

jkOnTheRun: Onfolio- can it replace my current tools?

We found out this morning that one of our best friends' brother was diagnosed with a brain tumor this morning. His name is Scottie.

He is 3 years married and his wife is 5 months pregnant. He is 3 years out of med school.

The tumor is completely incapsulated, but it is sitting on his brain stem. After removing the tumor, the right side of his face will be completely paralyzed, his right ear will be completely void of hearing, and only 40% learn how to walk again. They find out next Friday about surgery.

This is one of the doctors that helped with my daughters brain tumor diagnosis.

Here is Robert Scoble giving a great demonstration of his Toshiba Tablet PC and its' array microphones. Gives some good background info into the recording of the G'Day Podcast.

Eric Rice :: Robert Scoble shows the Tablet PC from Toshiba

I've got the Treo 650 and absolutely love it. Overall, one of the best smartphones I've used yet. The biggest negatives in my book: lack of memory, voice tags are only supported with Parrot bluetooth headsets, and bluetooth dial-up networking is turned off. For $449, none of those should be issues. To do dial-up networking, I had to purchase PDANet.

Irregardless, I still love the phone and would encourage you to check out this Business 2.0 review.

Business 2.0 :: Online Article :: What's Cool :: A Month With the Treo 650

Thomas Nelson press release (2/23/05):

Thomas Nelson Publishers and Zoe Technologies recently announced the creation of a new product designed specifically for the emerging Tablet PC market and featuring the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible. In the short period of time since the NKJV Tablet PC Bible went live on TabletBible.com, there has been a flurry of activity with other companies getting on the bandwagon as well, including Agilix.

Since becoming available on January 10th there have been over 20,000 hits with nearly 75% of those visitors being unique. Due in part to the brisk traffic generated at TabletBible.com through this download, Agilix, the company that offers GoBinder, one of the programs needed to view the NKJV bible on a Tablet PC, is offering a discount when you buy GoBinder and download the NKJV Tablet PC Bible through February 28, 2005. As well as being promoted on TabletBible.com, the NKJV Tablet PC Bible is being cross-promoted on tabletpcpost.com and tabletpcbuzz.com, the premier user site for Tablet PC users and will also be promoted through grassroots efforts on the internet.

“The NKJV Tablet PC Bible is generating a great deal of excitement amongst the Tablet PC market,” says Wayne Kinde, Vice President & Publisher for Nelson Reference & Electronic. “When other companies recognize the momentum you’ve achieved and want to team with you to reach the Tablet PC market, you know you’ve got a winning product – and our impressive traffic and download stats support that.”

Tablet PC and Home Schooling: "

Rob Bushway asked an interesting question in a comment responding to my Tablet PCs and Personal Freedom to Learn. He wonders about uses of a Tablet PC in home schooling. I am planning future posts on this important topic. Thanks, Rob.

"

In my review of the Motion Bluetooth Keyboard, I talked about a much needed accessory: a prop in the back of the tablet, that when folded out, it would prop the tablet up like a picture frame

Well, after talking with Trevor Claiborne (a felllow Tablet PC MVP), I became aware of the SlateGlove. Its’ designed to work with Motion Computings’ M1200, M1300, and M1400 – with or without a docking station. The SlateGlove is primarily designed to make it easier for highly mobile users (doctors, nurses, auto technicians, etc) to carry the tablet and keep a hold of it. I really like that aspect of the accessory, but the part that intrigued me the most was being able to use it as a prop.

The installation of the SlateGlove was a breeze. What really helped was the documentation. Simply put, it was the most exhaustive piece of documentation I’ve ever read for something so simple to install. You can tell that an engineer wrote it. They covered just about everything that could go wrong. I have two recommendations on improving the documentation:
1) Create some steps. It sort reads like a book and you can easily get lost in it.
2) Create a template for installating the Velcro strips. Once they are on there, they are difficult to remove. If you place them wrong, you can call them and get some replacement Velcro strips, though.

The most striking thing about the SlateGlove is how well designed and engineered it is. The SlateGlove attaches to the tablet via existing screw holes. To show the extent of how well this is designed, there are two holes in the hinge that also hold the original OEM screws, just in case you need to remove the SlateGlove later and reattach the original screws. That’s thinking ahead. Even with the SlateGlove attached to the back of the tablet, you can still easily get to the battery to do a hot swap.

There are three Velcro pads that attach to the back of the tablet. These pads keep the SlateGlove attached to the tablet so it doesn’t flop around. They are not meant to keep the Tablet attached to the SlateGlove. When you want to either dock the computer, remove the battery, or place in the display sland, you just separate the Velcro pads.

The SlateGlove was originally designed for the automotive technician, so its’ built to withstand a lot of wear and tear. If I were highly mobile, I could really see myself using it. My arm and hand felt very snug while holding the tablet. The glove part is made of neoprene and leather. It felt very secure. At no point did I feel like I would drop the Tablet PC.

What do you use to prop your slate tablet up against when you want to start typing with a wireless keyboard? Unless you have a tablet with wide viewing angles, it gets a bit tricky. What I liked most about the SlateGlove was being able to use it as a prop, either in landscape or portrait mode. To keep the tablet from slipping when being used in landscape mode they enclosed two very thin friction pads that attach to the rubber bumpers. They even designed them to match the color of the rubber bumper! Having a prop built-in to the slate, made the slate much more versatile and flexible. Although propping up the tablet wasn’t the main design for the SlateGlove, it would be nice for it be a little thinner.

I’ve only seen a couple of mentions on TabletPCBuzz.com about the SlateGlove. I don’t know why more people don’t know about it. Its’ a fantastic accessory, especially for those who are highly mobile. For something as well designed and engineered as this, $59.85 is not a bad price. I’d love to see the SlateGlove with other slate Tablet PC’s.

http://www.slateglove.com

Pictures below:

Message: the Channel 9 Guy I won at Windows Anywhere.

This from Loren Heiny on his dad's new blog on Tablet PC's and Education. Way to go!

New Tablet Educators Blog: "

Wow. My Dad's trying out his own blog. It's called "The Tablet PC Education Blog" and will focus on what else, but Education and Tablet PCs :-). As a long-term educator and increasingly heavy Tablet user, it makes sense that he's picked a focus like this. It'll be interesting to see where he takes it. From the outset I imagine it will be a great complement to The Student Tablet PC Blog and the other Tablet community sites.

The Tablet PC Education blog is only a couple days old, but already it has a couple great posts:

* Barbie goes digital at the Internation Toy Fair. Tablet sold separately.
* Southampton Computer Science students are using Tablet PCs
* ABC News segment shows a young boy with autism using a Tablet PC with an assistive communication software program.

I get a kick out of pushing technology as far as I can--particularly when things are new and undefined. However, now that my 69-year old father launches his own blog covering Tablets, I'm coming to the realization that not only are blogs coming into the mainstream, but Tablets are too. Hmm. How long will it be before he starts Podcasting? Heh.

"

This book was the inspiration for the TabletBible.com project. Highly recommended reading.

Amazon.com: Books: How to Study Your Bible : The Lasting Reward of the Inductive Approach

Yahoo! News - Couple Build Startup Into Blog Powerhouse

From the TabletPCPace.com

The photo below shows what the whole idea of mobile computing is all about - I have my trusty tablet PC, my TC1100, with a Sierra Wireless Aircard GPRS card in the PC-card slot; then there is the fabulous ThinkOutside Bluetooth (BT) Keyboard and Mouse combo; and finally (resting on the detachable stand) my i-mate sp3i smartphone, also communicating via BT with the TPC and and GPRS with the rest of the world. The TC1100 then connects to my 802.11b wireless network - of course! With this portable desktop the possibilities are endless ...

Tablet PC Place

Interesting read from Scoble:

No RSS? No downloads? No interaction? Fake content? You're fired!:

The iPod Bluetooth?: "

Think you can handle one more iPod rumor? No? Well, this might be a good time to discover the scroll wheel on your mouse. Ok, for everyone still reading this, Mac4Ever is reporting that a Motorola product manager in France has “accidentally” confirmed that Apple is going to introduce an iPod with built-in Bluetooth (ostensibly for wirelessly streaming audio to your car stereo or something along those lines). This comes in addition to all the other gossip lately that Apple is going to unveil a new 5GB or 6GB iPod mini (possibly with a color LCD screen) and may or may not be rolling out new versions of the 20GB and 40GB iPods that come in the iPod mini colors. Not sure we’re feeling this latest one (as much as we’d love to see more MP3 players with Bluetooth), but the one thing we do know is that whenever the Apple rumor mill starts grinding ‘em out all fast and furious like this it usually means that there is something big on the way.

"

Gotta love ThinkSecret.com

ThinkSecret: Apple iPod mini with Color Screens: "

ThinkSecret is reporting that the next update to the iPod mini will include a 5 ot 6GB hard drive and full-color screens. The price will remain the same, at $250. Expect an announcement within the next two weeks, they say.

There's no word about new case colors for the mini, which were previously rumored to be updated around the time we first saw the iPod photo.

iPod mini moves to color screen with pending updatee [ThinkSecret]

"

Big milestone passed yesterday: Over 10,000 downloaded books and Bibles for the Tablet PC on TabletBible.com since June 2004!

Hope everyone is enjoying their new books. If you can think of other books or resources send me an email: rob at zoeinc.com

Considering a Tablet PC? You can now rent them before buying:

Tablet PCs Now Available to Rent From Rentacomputer.com: "

If you are considering buying Tablet PCs for your company, try renting one first from Rentacomputer.com. Evaluate the usefulness of Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition. New models from HP Compaq are now available! [PRWEB Feb 18, 2005]

"

I spent most of the day visiting various customer sites - meetings, contract wrap-ups, and then a last minute emergency.

I've really come to appreciate using a device as mobile as the TC1100 Tablet PC during days like this. I was inking in GoBinder all day long. My only problem was running out of battery juice. Fortunately, one of my customers had a spare TC1100 battery and let me use it for the rest of the day.

Longer running batteries, such as those sold by Electrovaya, are much needed for the mobile professional. I'd love to see Electrovaya license their technology to other OEM's. I remember sitting in a Windows Anywhere conference session with Josh Einstein. I was looking for an outlet while he still had 4 - 5 hours left on his Scribber SC2100. I was getting really envious.

From 3Leafs' Sean Campbell:

The Starbucks and Tablet PC sales connection: "

Dateline.....Starbucks....

I work a lot out at Starbucks throughout the day and I only wish I could get a commision for the number of Tablet PC's I've sold just from letting someone see one.

A short two minute demo and I have most folks hooked.

Just got a pysch prof and some other guy hooked on one a few minutes ago.

I think the Tablet PC folks should station MVP's and enthusiasts out at Starbucks with a Tablet in hand. Or maybe that should be the OEM's. OEM's are you listening?

"

I'm going to be heads down in projects for the next month and half, so my time on TabletPCBuzz.com will be quite limited. Others on the Buzz Team will be posting news and carrying on with moderation, reviews, etc.

In addition, we have several trips coming up, primarily a Make A Wish Foundation trip for my daughter, Maggie. We are going to Chicago to the American Girl Place. Its' pretty sobering to think that your daughter qualifies for a wish. It has really given her a well needed boost, something to look forward to. We are so grateful for everything Make A Wish is doing.

I'll still be posting on my blog and following general news. In addition, I'll be finishing up the HCSB Bible for the Tablet PC.

Some blunt, but honest, talk from Josh Einstein:

The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one: "

Yet another article dooming pen computing. http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000667031704/

You know at Windows Anywhere, I was surprised (actually... was I?) that the OEM's and MS still don't realize the huge marketing problem with Tablet PC's right now. Yeah yeah everyone's drinking the kool-aid and thinking that everything is roses. Well the vast majority out there either doesn't give a shit about the Tablet PC or doesn't like it. To me, that's a problem.

This slow and steady growth thing isn't going to change on its own. Laptops are growing too. Tablet PC is not growing in proportion to other mobile technology. How is this ever going to get mainstream? How are you going to get people to care? Of the 7 or so people I've convinced to buy a Tablet PC, none of them use the digitizer anymore. It's just a laptop to them.

When is something going to happen?

"

Good news on the ink enabling bible front for Tablet Pcs; a plug-in for Libronix based systems; open source based as well.

"Tablet PC Extensions for *Libronix DLS":

Bernd Helzer from Agilix is asking for feature request input into the next version of GoBinder - a fantastic application for Tablet PC notetaking for both the student and professional. As is typical for Agilix, they continue to reach out the community for input into their product.

If you use GoBinder, here is your opportunity to influence the next version.

Agilix Support Forum on TabletPCBuzz.com

From Robert Scoble's blog:

Major News: Internet Explorer 7.0 announced by Bill Gates: "

Major Microsoft announcement: Bill Gates just announced there will be Internet Explorer 7.0.

Read the IE Blog for the news.

Looks like the blog is getting slammed. So, here's a mirror of what Dean Hachamovitch just posted:

Today at RSA, Bill Gates talked about Internet Explorer 7. As the guy responsible for IE, I wanted to say a couple of things about it.

First, some basics: we’re committing to deliver a new version of Internet Explorer for Windows XP customers. Betas of IE7 will be available this summer. This new release will build on the work we did in Windows XP SP2 and (among other things) go further to defend users from phishing as well as deceptive or malicious software.

Why? Because we listened to customers, analysts, and business partners. We heard a clear message: “Yes, XP SP2 makes the situation better. We want more, sooner. We want security on top of the compatibility and extensibility IE gives us, and we want it on XP. Microsoft, show us your commitment.”

I think of today’s announcement as a clear statement back to our customers: “Hey, Microsoft heard you. We’re committing.”

"

I've been using the OnFolio 2.0 for the last several weeks. I love it. The newspaper view is simply fantastic - much better than NewsGator.

The Collection tab is really good as well, as you create your own notes, store webpages, store selected text and emails from Outlook, and annotate those collections. My biggest disappointment with OnFolio is their lack of ink support for annotating using Tablet PC. I really hope they will incorporate inking as an annotation feature. After annotating using ink and the Tablet PC, it really feels more awkward to annotate using a keyboard - much less personal and custom.

Come on OnFolio - give us ink annotation!

From Loren Heiny's blog about his time at DEMO (wish I was there):

Tablet networking: "

What's so great about DEMO is the people you meet--press (like Walt Mossberg), CEOs, analysts, "technology bird dogs" (a title one attendee gave himself--he assess technology for a large company), and many others.

For instance at lunch I sat at a table with a VC, an analyst, and three technology "assessors"--all from large companies.

We all compared notes on what demo we thought was the most interesting so far. MDA and its 3D scene modelling technology pulled the most votes.

The other company they were interested in? MindJet. The MindJet demo hasn't been given yet, but one person was sharing the flyer they'd picked up for the MindManager product. There appears to be lots of interest in the collaboration possibilities with products like this.

And it wasn't long before the table was querying me about the state of Tablets. How many Tablets have been sold? (More than a million). What's the growth rate like? (Projected to be 40% this next year.) Who is purchasing Tablets? (Healthcare, Govn't, Educators, early adopters, and on and on.) Do Tablets steal customers from laptops or do they create new markets? (Both, but I see lots of Tablet owners migrate from laptops wanting more mobility.)

"

Here is a CNN.com followup on the Mark Jen story.
Blogging is all fun and games, until the boss finds out - Feb. 14, 2005

I met Buzz Bruggerman at Windows Anywhere last week. He turned me on to his product: ActiveWords. I’ve slowly been adapting the program to my work flow and can really see how this tool can enhance productivity. I’m especially looking forward to the new ink-enabled version of ActiveWords – the ability to launch apps with a few ink strokes and a gesture.

For those of you who don’t know, ActiveWords captures your keystrokes before the application you are typing into does. So, no matter where you are typing, you can activate an application, an email, a google search, etc all with just a few keytrokes. The biggest hurdle for me to get over was that it wouldn’t interfere with my regular typing. The activewords are launched after a double space. Some of the add-ins really help as well. I just downloaded the capitalizations and contractions add-on for free, and they have already saved me several times a day.

I’d highly encourage you to download a trial of this application: www.ActiveWords.com

James Kendrick will be hosting the Tablet PC Show on The Podcast Network, The first dedicated Podcast to Tablet PC's.

jkOnTheRun: jkOnTheRun joins The Podcast Network

This from Marc Orchant, who is live at DEMO!

bloggingdemo.com is now online!: "

Check out bloggingdemo.com for the latest from the DEMO conference. We had some serious WiFi issues but we’re now online so watch for a series of posts showing some seriously cool gear.

"

Chris Carrol (aka Aussie Blue Boy) has compiled a really good tablet pc character and letter writing guide. I really love the community of TabletPCBuzz.com . A really great group of resourceful and helpful folks.

Tablet PC Buzz.com - Forum

Great review by James Kendrick.

jkOnTheRun: Using ritePen on a Tablet PC

For those in the legal profession, this looks to be a great series by fellow Tablet PC MVP, Tom Bishop:

This article is first in a series exploring the opportunities the Tablet PC platform brings to the practice of law (1). Many of the profession’s habits are the result of the inherent limitations of our legacy tools and the length of time we’ve been using those tools. It will be helpful to start with a brief overview of those tools.

Law and Tablets: The Series

I totally agree with Julie in her assessment of Josh Einstein's TE0. It totally rocks!

Thinking about mass market appeal for tablet pcs: "

I don't use my tablet on an everyday basis and I am hardly a tablet power user. I am a programmer who is curious about the tablet as a way to extend my user's relationship with their applications.*

However, for mass market ink appeal, I don't understand why Josh Einstein's extension to Outlook isn't getting people more excited. Everyone uses Outlook (please don't take that literally). The market is already there. This may not be the killer app that will drive people to purchase tablets, but once they are using them, they should be damned glad to have a tool like this.

Eventually people won't be choosing between tablet and not tablet. They'll just be buying their mobile pc and one of the common features will be ink. And don't forget, another will be speech recognition. Believe me, Josh is thinking about this too!

*If you have ever had to do tech support for your applications, you probably know why "relationship" is an appropriate term here. :-)

http://www.AcehAid.org

"

Winning people over one at a time: "

When someone sees a Tablet PC in action, they just "get it" immediately.

Online, we continually see examples of Tablet PCs winning the hearts of people one at a time.

I enjoy working with Tablet PCs because of the personal elements that impact and result from the product. Tablet PCs are about people and the way people work. This is best told through stories.

The thing about stories is that where there is one good example that someone shares, there are many others who may have had the same experience and just didn't share it publicly (through article, blogging, newsgroup post, at conferences, etc.). I'm glad that Tablet PCs being talked about more and more, and you can find bits and pieces of these stories through resources like Technorati, Feedster, Google, and MSN Search.

Blogger for Fragments of my existence has a series of blog posts about his Tablet PC. He's tracked the arrival to learning how to use it.

The Promise of a TabletPC

Life with my TabletPC

More Tablet PC / iBook

The best part about these posts is that his emphasis is on how valuable the Tablet PC is as a tool, and it's not about brand preference.

"

Saw this over on Julie Lerman's blog.

The Economist Magazine, Robert Scoble and tablet pcs: "

Very cool to see Robert in mainstream media!!

The author mentions tablet pc's in passing:

[At NEC,] Mr Scoble's area of expertise was tablet PCs—laptop computers that allow users to handwrite their notes, and that have been mostly a dud, both then and now.

http://www.AcehAid.org

"

Information technology leaders increasingly believe that the ubiquitous PDA will be eclipsed by other mobile hardware, according to respondents to the Health Data Management 2005 CIO Survey.

Asked which mobile computing device will have the greatest impact on health care, 43% of the I.T. leaders surveyed picked the Tablet PC. In addition, 21% chose smart phones as the mobile hardware likely to have the biggest impact, followed by subnotebooks (20%) and PDAs (14%.).



Mobile Health Data | The Hand-held Health Care Authority

Talks between Verizon and MCI advance: "

Merger talks between Verizon Communications and MCI Inc. have advanced, and the two companies could announce a deal in the next few days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

"

Good Microsoft Windows Anywhere wrap up from Lora Heiny. Lora was the engine behind the scenes getting the conversations to happen.

Microsoft Windows Anywhere Wrap-Up: "

MWA Day 3

Yesterday was jam-packed with conversation about how to grow the Tablet PC ecosystem, so by the time night rolled around people were ready to crash. Instead, we trooped to Midnight Madness and later to an art alley for night–time entertainment. I’m not exactly sure how many people were at the Tablet PC MVP party. My guess is there were over 100 people. I saw Julie Leman, Stan Leszynski, Robert Scoble, Mary Jo Foley, Rob Bushway, Trevor Claiborne, Nancy Lush, Linda A. Epstein, Jim Louderback, Mac McCarthy, Josh Einstein, Tom Clarkson, Buzz Bruggeman"

Great stuff from Loren on OEMs, ISVs, and Tablet PCs.

Thinking in the box: "

One of the best panels in the Business Track at MWA was the OEM Panel led by Robert Scoble.

I imagine there are a lot of Tablet ISVs that would like to have their software bundled with Tablets, or have flyers included in their boxes, or possibly go on a sales call with the hardware teams. And the panel went a long way to "answer" this question. The take away? Don't count on it.

Here's the underlying issue. For the majority of Tablet hardware folks, their sales forces are quota driven and they're going to sell to their existing customer base. Period. They need large sales. They need sales they know they can get. Plus, Tablets are only a small portion of their entire business so they get a proportionate amount of attention.

Now it's not all that bad. If you have a Tablet product that targets enterprises and complements Oracle, Siebel, and other existing enterprise products and you have existing customers that overlap their customers, then they might work with you. To get in the door, one suggestion is to work with a regional sales force first, build an experience base with them, and then hopefully increase the volume enough and then attention (from customers) so that your product is on their radar.

So one tip: If you have a customer that like"

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:59 AM 0 comments

Here is some more from Jason Mark and his Mac to Tablet PC switch:

More Tablet PC / iBook: "

I wasn't surprised to see some interesting feedback on my post yesterday.  While not entirely unexpected, I thought I'd add a bit more insight based on a few questions I was asked.....

First of all...did I do away with my Macs?  Heavens no.  However do I carry one with me wherever I go?  Not anymore.  My Tablet however does go with me.  Is it because of Windows?  Not necessarily.  I am a huge fan of Mac OS X, however I also think Windows is getting better all the time.  As someone pointed out from one of my earlier posts, I make my living developing for Windows so my switching to a Tablet as my primary personal computer may not be considered a "true" switch.  Even so, in my opinion it is still significant.  Obviously I've used a Mac as my "personal" machine for some time despite my working in a Windows world.  My personal switch to a Tablet isn't about "giving in" to my surroundings, it's about what better fits into my life.  If I could grab the screen on my iBook, flip it around, lay it down, and use it like my Tablet, then maybe I'd have not had a need for a new Tablet -- but in case anyone hasn't noticed, my iBook can't do that!

That being said....here are some more thoughts"

Congratulations to Trevor and Tracy. Great job you guys are doing!

50,000! Spectacular!: "

Hey all. Today we broke 50,000 hits. The Student Tablet PC opened up officially on December 1st, 2004, so we're very excited that so many people come to read our site.

I'm thinking of offering a contest to celebrate. I'm unsure of the prize at the moment, but I can get a copy of most any software you guys might be interested in winning. I've also got a cross pen that I could give away. Post some comments on what you might be interested in winning and I'll see what I can scrounge up. Ideas for the contest are appreciated as well.

Thank you all, I never thought this blog would do as well as it has, and we owe that to you.

"

Great article by Michael Hyatt.

The Master Task List: "

For several years now, I have profited from using a “Master Task List.” This is a way to group your work-related activities so that you do what you were hired to do and keep from getting side-tracked by “trivial pursuits.”

I first learned this technique from Todd Duncan, whose book, Time Traps, is a must read. (In the interest of full disclosure, my company, Thomas Nelson, publishes the book.) It is subtitled, “Proven Strategies for Swamped Salespeople,” but don’t let this put you off. Even if you aren’t in sales, this book has news you can use. Every page is loaded with time-saving tips and techniques for managing your workflow.

“Master Tasking” is the process of identifying your five to seven most productive, most important work-related tasks. A Master Task List is similar to a job description but more useful. It answers the question, “What was I really hired to do?” Here are some characteristics of master tasks:

They are usually important but not urgent.
They spell the difference between success and failure.
You have a hard time getting to them.
They are things you usually do on your own.

"

Marc Orchant has posted about the preview release of Onfolio being available. He's been actively doing work on this version and has some good feedback on hit. Link to the preview release is on his blog.

Onfolio 2.0 Preview Release - The Tablet PCs Weblog - tabletpcs.weblogsinc.com

I'm working with Crossway to possibly develop the English Standard Bible (ESV) for the Tablet PC and available for download only on TabletBible.com . For those of you who may not know, the ESV is quickly becoming the translation of choice for many pastors. I'll let you know more as it develops.

That will become 3 major, private label translations that are / will be freely available. That is fantastic news. Does this say anything about the publishers thoughts on where the Tablet PC is going? I think so.

Nelson Bible's New King James Version
Broadman & Holman's Holman Christian Standard Bible
Crossway's English Standard Version

Rob

Fragments of My Existence: Life with my TabletPC

Linda Epstein has some great reviews of Fujitsu's ST5020 and Otterbox's Tablet PC case.

Fujitsu 5020 Tablet PC

Otterbox

Windows Anywhere has been a great conference. This has been one of the better trips I've taken lately. Several highlights:

1) Hanging out with Josh Einstein.
2) Meeting many of the developers who are excited and jazzed about developing for the Tablet PC. Their excitement is contagious.
3) Attending Julie Lerman's web development / inking session.
4) Meeting and hanging out with the developers from Agilix. What a solid group of guys.
5) Hanging out with Lora and Loren Heiny. Solid people who are more excited about Tablet PC's than anybody I know. Their minds are always working.

This conference was all about networking for me, so I can do a better job of evangelizing the Tablet PC and helping the users at www.TabletPCBuzz.com . I'm not a big Tablet PC developer, but would like to learn more. I'm already thinking of ways to reengineer my TabletBible stuff using the new GoBinder SDK.

I'm in San Francisco attending Windows Anywhere. Apple has a store just around the corner from my hotel, so I decided to visit. After reading about Robert Scoble's Apple store visits, I knew I would be in for a treat.

The place was packed! There were young and old inside. Almost every computer was being used, and people were waiting in line just to try a Powerbook out. Lots of folks trying out the Shuffle and iPod. I've never seen so many people in a computer store as I have in this one.

I talked to the security guard and asked him if it was always like this. He replied "Always ". The excitement level I sensed in that store can't be described.

With HP probably going to retool their business now that Carly Fiornia is out, the press is speculating that HP will sell off their server and PC business to Dell. With that goes their tablet pc. Should be interesting to see what happens.

Good intro to Tablet PC's:

What Tablet PCs Can Do for You: "What Tablet PCs Can Do For You"

Dennis Rice is a great friend of mine and a fellow MVP. He has a great mind for application design / architecture and desperately wants to move from network support to developing, but can't seem to make the transition.

BlogBlogBlog: To dev or not to dev ...

MSNBC - Hewlett-Packard chairwoman, CEO ousted

Don't know about Apple upstaging Microsoft at VSLive, but still a good wrap-up on VSLive! Who cares if IPOD's were in use or used as give-aways - they are great products.

Apple upstages Microsoft at VSLive? Tech News on ZDNet

Spencer Goad has a new photo Blog Up. Great photos.

Spencer's Lens

I was at a Tablet PC party tonight and ran into Shawn Van Ness. Shawn is the developer of the Snipping Tool for the Tablet PC. He told me that the new version was just released this afternoon.

I checked the power toy page at TabletPC.com and its' not listed yet, but I don't think it will be long. So, be on the look out for it soon.

I played with it on the TC4200 today and it is great. Some really good enhancements, like Radial Menu and faster load times.

Loren Heiny has a great wrap-up of day 1 at Windows Anywhere. I have to tell you, Lora and Loren are two top knotch people. I first met them at CES, and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to them more while at Windows Anywhere.

Incremental Blogger: Windows Anywhere day 1

Ok...I'm sitting in Arin Goldberg's session on the Real Time Stylus for the Tablet PC at Windows Anywhere. Arin's doing a great job. They have done some amazing things with the Tablet PC API. However, I feel like I am way over my head on this topic.

I've discovered that my comfort level in Tablet PC programming is using the Infinotes and GoBinder SDK. Thank you Microsoft and Agilix for developing this for higher level programmers like myself.

I didn't get a date from Ben Thacker, of HP, but he did tell me that the current TC1100 is on the 2005 roadmap - not dead at all. Just a concentrated vertical product. The next TC1100 will have a 1.2ghz processor. They are working on the 2006 roadmap for both the TC1100 and the TC4200.

Incremental processor changes are seen for the TC1100.

The Tablet PC team is giving away free Wacom digitizers to all who complete a hands-on developers lab. Yesterday they had 500 digitizers, at the end of the day, they only had 100 left.

Developers are getting very interested in developing apps for the Tablet PC.

Oh, forgot to mention that they are also giving away a Tablet PC every day.

This is the place to be to see Tablet PC's, talk Tablet PC's, network with OEM's and ISV's, and learn how you can ink-enable your own applications. Great times for Tablet PC's!

During the Design Considerations session at the Windows Anywhere Conference, David Hale was talking about the need for developers to support the Ink Standard Format so users could copy and paste ink across multiple apps, and ink could be read by other applications that supported that standard.

One of the common complaints among Tablet PC OneNote users is that ink is not ink within OneNote - they don't support the Ink Standard Format in use by Journal, GoBinder, and what Microsoft encourages ISV's to develop their apps in. Pasting selected ink from Journal into OneNote and vice versa, results in the the ink being treated as image.

After the session, I questioned David Hale about this. He did not know that ink pasted into OneNote as an image and was actually really surprised to find this out. He said he would get back to me with an answer.

Just got out of Robert Scoble's talk at Windows Anywhere conference on blogging. Very good info that all ISV's and OEM's need to integrate into their marketing. I was astounded at the power of a link.

Here is a picture of Buzz Bruggerman and Robert Scoble.


Some other great info that came out off the talk were some growth numbers for tablet pc's:
400,000 shipped in 2003
800,000 shipped in 2004
1.6m - 2m estimated to ship in 2005.
Those are great numbers that ISV's should be pleased to read.

The two sessions I've been in so far have been very well attended. Lots of tablet pc's in use. Observation: OThe overall type of tablet in use: convertible. Brand: Toshiba M200.

Windows Anywhere has been great so far, and its' only been 2 days.

Check out www.TabletPCBuzz.com for a complete overview so far.

I met Tom Clarkson yesterday - what a great guy and an innovative product he has in Orange Guava. I also got to meet and have dinner with Buzz Bruggerman tonight. What a guy! He is the man behind ActiveWords. I met for 2 seconds and he was already telling me about ActiveWords - we could all learn a great deal from Buzz. Tom and Buzz are working together to ink-enable ActiveWords.

I went out after dinner with Trevor Clairborne, Tom Clarkson, and Josh Einstein (Tablet Enhancements for Outlook). What a great time. I've really enjoyed getting to know Josh over the past year and it was great to meet him face to face. Thanks for the beers, Josh!

Saw this linked from Scoble - Yahoo execs using HP Tablet PC's

Tablet PCs at Yahoo! (by Jeremy Zawodny)

Having a great time with Lora and Loren Heiny. Ran into Tom Clarkson from Orange Guava, spent half of the day in Agilix sdk session. I have to tell you, those folks at Agilix are some great folks. They are doing some fantastic work and have set the bar for tablet pc development. Pictures at the TabletPCBuzz.com link below.

There are tablets everywhere at this conference - and its' not a Windows Anywhere is just co-locating with the VSLive! conference.

Some good stuff being announced tomorrow.

Tablet PC Buzz.com - Forum

I'll be at the VS Live / Windows Anywhere conference 2/6 - 2/10. I'll report back on OEM news, releases, etc as I learn them and get a chance to post. Check my blog and www.TabletPCBuzz.com for the latest news.

In addition, Robert Scoble will be having an OEM panel and blog panel on Tuesday. I'

One of my customers is Focus on the Family, simply a wonderful organization.

One of the brands that I frequently work with is Whits End - Adventures In Odyssey (www.whitsend.org), a site that I have been working on for over 5 years.

Well, I just launched a new area on the WhitsEnd.org site, and while I can't tell you what is happening, I can tell you it is BIG.

Be sure to check out www.whitsend.org/somethingbig each week for a new clue and then listen to your favorite local radiostation on April 2 for the big finale.

I can't give any details yet (coming Monday), but I am sooo excited about some new stuff that will be announced next week.

Watch TabletPCBuzz.com, my blog, and other press releases.

I've spent the last 4 months with 2 or more computers. It gets to be quite the hassel keeping everything in synch, moving files over, etc.

Getting back down to one computer, my TC1100, has been a tremendous productivity saver.

Thought you would like to be the first to know that I've signed an agreement with Broadman & Holman to produce their Holman Christian Standard Bible for use on the Tablet PC. As with all of the other resources available on www.TabletBible.com, it will be free.

I expect it be done in early March

I received my PC Magazine today and it contained a great article on the marketing problems of Microsoft. I think he hit the nail on the head on several items. I'd like to hear what you think.

Here is the article . snipped summary below

This is the problem with pen-based machines. Cut to a speech that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave at the Executives' Club in Chicago last November. Noticing the video camera there, he said:

Why is that video not being broadcast over the wireless network in this room? Why don't you all have [tablet PCs] so that my PowerPoint slides ... the video, the audio is ... captured and you can write a note that says, "Boy, it got a little bit thick here, he wasn't making any sense" and e-mail it to one of your people and they just click on it and it takes them exactly to the PowerPoint and exactly to what I was saying and talking about at the time.

Great vision. Ballmer actually managed to describe a new market. But since when does complaining about something qualify as marketing? Who is to blame for the lack of the pen machines used as Ballmer describes? Microsoft is the current torchbearer for the technology, but as far as marketing is concerned, we are seeing the "do nothing and hope for the best" approach again. I should temper this a bit, since the company is adept at PR. But PR is not marketing, either. It just draws attention to the failures.

In this, the 15th “On the Pod” interview, we chat with Marc Orchant. Marc is the blogger behind some of the best blogs on the topics of Office (at Office Zealot and Weblogs Inc), personal productivity and TabletPC’s.

G'day World Podcast � On the Pod with Marc Orchant

HP unveiled 10 new mobile computers, one of them being their new TC4200. Personally, it looks like a great tablet. If I were in the market for a convertible, I'd seriously consider it. The press apparently likes it, too. Its' getting good reviews from all the online mags.

Now the question: If all laptops will one day have tablet functionality, why didn't HP introduce more convertibles? Its' been over two years since the launch of the Tablet PC, and out of the 10 mobile computers that got announced (for the enterprise business, mind you), they made 1 of them a convertible Tablet PC. It feels like HP's foot is still testing the Tablet PC waters.

Does something seem wrong with that picture?

Based on the comments on the 'buzz, the TC4200 is a big miss.

Hompage post

HP post

Checkout my post on TabletPCbuzz.com