CutMeLoose.com

I have 4 Windows Live Messenger invites available….first 4 to respond get them.

Include your email address

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:29 PM 5 comments

I had the pleasure of riding with Steve Hoffman of Active Ink Software. We had some really good discussions about the tablet pc market place, his software, and the “ink” marketplace. He confirmed my feelings that the tablet market place is taking off.

Active Ink’s software lets you build ink-enabled forms utilizing your existing printed or Word based forms and tie the results of the forms to a database in the background. If you are a company wanting to ink-enable your forms, you need to check them out.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:13 PM 0 comments

For a great list of mobile software, hardware, and accessories, checkout the 2006 Mobile Trax awards.

A couple of highlights:

• Lenovo X41 Tablet PC – Intel Pentium M 758 (1.5GHz), 12.1” display, 512MB of RAM, 3.2 lbs.  No built-in optical drive, however.  Lightest convertible on the market.
• Motion Computing LS800 - Approximately half the size of most tablet PCs, the LS800 slate system has an 8.4-inch display, is less than 1 inch thick and weighs 2.2 lbs.  Great for vertical markets in which people stand or walk around.
• SoundDock by Bose - Sound system accessory for the Apple iPod (all models).  Provides classic Bose tabletop speaker system to play music from your Apple iPod.
• Sling Box by Sling Media - Allows you to view your TV (and TiVo) anywhere remotely using any PC or your notebook or a handheld (certain models).
• iGo everywhere130 by Mobility Electronics – One power adapter with different connectors for your notebook, cell phone or iPod.  It can also can access power on airplanes via custom power connectors.
• Palm Treo 650 Wireless Headset – Model 3206WW, lightweight, adjustable Bluetooth-compatible headset offers cordless, convenient, hands-free communication.   Easy set up for the Treo 650.
• Palm GPS Navigator - Bluetooth GPS Receiver, TomTom Navigator 5 software and maps of the United States and Canada, vehicle device cradle with windshield mounting bracket and suction cup pad, USB charging cable for GPS Receiver, vehicle power adapter for your Palm handheld or Treo SmartPhone and GPS Receiver.  Adding navigation to wireless handhelds allows user to take navigation into any vehicle in which they are riding. 

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:47 PM 0 comments

I’m sitting in the Colorado Springs airport on my way to the Mobile / Tablet PC Partner Briefing at Microsoft.

Looking around, I see 8 Laptops, 1 12" powerbook, and 1 ThinkPad tablet PC - mine. None of the laptops are convertibles. 3 of the laptops are 14" Thinkpads. 1 of the laptops is a 12" ThinkPad.

5 ThinkPads out of 10 devices spotted. 1 out of 10 is a tablet PC. 4 out of 10 are 12" devices.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:24 PM 0 comments

 Eric Mack and Tracy Hooten have posted part 2 of their Paperless Challenge podcast. Take a listen.

These paperless challenge podcasts are must have resources for mobile professionals and tablet pc users....especially those entering my docupen contest.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:26 AM 0 comments

Marc Orchant has just posted on tabletpcs.weblogsinc.com that he will be moving on to posting at ZDNet. The following post will be his last on the weblogsinc.com website (click to read more):

Congratulations, Marc. You will do very well over there. Be sure to check him out at his new blog.

This will be my last post here at The Office Weblog. I've been invited to contribute at ZDNet where I will be writing under the title "Office Evolution". Don't click just yet - I'll be back online sometime in the next few days, once the wires get twisted together and the lights start blinking.

I've had an incredible time writing here at Weblogs, Inc. I jumped when Jason Calacanis invited me to join a handful of other bloggers. Back then, the promise of this network was just that - tons of potential and and a lot of big dreams. These past two years I've had the great fortune to work with some fantastically talented people, make more than a few good friends, and have had a chance to speak with, interview, and pick the brains of a number of scary smart people.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:59 PM 1 comments

Here is another notetaking application for Table PCs: MyScript Notes by Vision Objects. What stands out to me?  the conversion of the notes and keeping bold, colors, and styles with the text that was handwritten.  Cost: around $72 (49.94 EUR)

While you are there, check out their SDK products for building your own ink enabled. forms

Via HPClean

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:07 AM 0 comments

James Kendrick asks “what would you change on your Tablet PC?” What one thing would I change? the video output. Without using extended display I want to rotate my tablet into landscape mode and have the output stay the same way on the external monitor. Major usability problem.

If you had a magic wand what one thing would you change about your Tablet, either the hardware or the software? My wish is simple and may be addressed already by Vista- I wish the floating TIP icon would not constantly get in my way when I'm working. Let me know what you would change and when we get enough responses we'll take a look at what we know about Vista and see which ones are already addressed.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:37 PM 0 comments

These entries that are being submitted are sooooo good. You are guys are making my job very difficult.

In those posts contain some of the best scenarios for mobile computing – students, teachers, doctors, people traveling – all using tablet pcs and wanting to get the most out of them by taking advantage of a great device like the RC800.

Keep up the good work. I’m looking forward to reading more.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:58 AM 0 comments

I’m sitting here watching the Home Shopping Network ( don’t ask ).  Gateway and the HSN rep are demoing the M280 Tablet PC.

They are doing a pretty decent job of demoing actual tablet usage, spending a lot of time on the Experience Pack, Journal, Sticky Notes, and Equation Writer.

Gateway is really hitting the masses with the M280. Great job, Gateway!

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:50 PM 1 comments

SnagIt 8. has just been released by TechSmith. SnagIt has become my new screen capture program, replacing the snipping tool. What’s new?

• Capture webpages with links
• Add interactivity to the captures
• Save as PDF
• Redesigned UI

Check out the video: Watch What's New in SnagIt 8 video

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:22 PM 0 comments

Our local Krispy Kreme is closing...

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:40 PM 2 comments

 Looks like Tracy and I have something in common – dropping GoBinder 2006  in leiu of OneNote and the promise of OneNote 12 .

With the public beta of OneNote 12 coming up soon, this is a good time, Tracy. I’m LOVING OneNote 12!!!!!!!!

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:55 PM 6 comments

Ready for a contest every mobile professional will love?

I’m giving away a brand new DocuPen RC800 pen based scanner worth $299!

I just landed a very nice contract and was able to order my own RC800. So I was thinking, why not bless someone else who might not otherwise be able to afford one.

Answer this question as a reply to this thread: How would a pen based scanner like the RC800 impact your digital lifestyle?

A few guidelines on this contest.

• I won’t award a winner unless I receive a minimum of 50 entries. That means that if you post an entry and would like to see a winner awarded, then get the word out on this contest. I’m not looking for link love, I’m looking for great content for my readers that will benefit other readers and help us all with mobile computing.
• This contest will run until February 3. Any entries after Feb 3 will not count.
• I’ll pick a winner based on my own judgment.
• The winner gets to pick their own color pen, but if they want an expansion card, then I will ask the winner to pick up that additional cost.
• Leave your email address in the post.
• 1 entry per person
• I’ll throw in a copy of Michael Linenberger’s book “Total WorkDay Control using Outlook” and a copy of his interactive training CD.

UPDATE: The minimum of 50 entries has been met, but the contest doesn't end until 2/3. So, keep the entries coming. A winner will be awarded! Lets' get as many entries as possible.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:37 PM 156 comments

Great article at Excalibur Online on taking notes using OneNote and using the tablet pc functionality built-in. Wait until the author uses OneNote 12!

Its ‘write anywhere' capability takes some time to master for those of us who are accustomed to using a word processor.  Each time you write on a page, you create a new ‘ink box' to hold your input, and until you get used to writing in this way, these boxes can become confusingly overlapped. Even so, you can write, draw and annotate.
    I found OneNote to be very useful in group meetings. You can type anywhere on the screen, which is a freedom not afforded by typically more  structured word processors. It is as flexible as writing on a piece of paper, but with features that can only be expected on a computer.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:35 PM 0 comments

 Pete Wright continues his great blogging of using Vista and the LE1600 Tablet PC. He also some good screen shots of the tablet pc functionality and a good account of the big bumps in the road.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:28 PM 0 comments

 Very cool homepage for the Windows With Ink blog. Can’t wait to see what else he does with it. I love the simple notepage look.

Via Loren.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:23 PM 0 comments

Jensen Harris blogs about the story behind the ribbon in Office 12 and how one of the features made it in. Thank you, Bob!

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:51 AM 0 comments

Eric Mack and Tracy Hooten. have recorded part one of the Paperless Challenge. Take a listen. I’m downloading it right now.

These will probably be must have resources for Tablet PC and mobile professionals.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:22 AM 0 comments

Be sure to checkout Hugo Ortega’s new Tablet PC blog, courtesy of  Dr. Neil, a fellow Tablet PC MVP.

Dr. Neil successfully evangelized the Tablet PC to Hugo, and now Hugo has taken off on his own. From his profile:

Hugo 'poogie' Ortega is one very misguided geek. Knowing that Tablet PC take up in Australia has been very unimpressive, to say the least, he has single-mindedly begun preaching to anyone, willing or unwilling to listen, about the merits of Tablet PC.

In UberTablet.blogspot.com we will share our Tablet related experiences and thoughts. With your input we'll make talk'n Tablet a daily occurrence.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:13 AM 0 comments

I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to link to Chad Essley’s ArtRage 2.0 review. He does some comparisons to Alias Sketchbook as well. This is the first time I’ve seen these two products reviewed, and Chad does a great job.

Does ArtRage 2 stand up to Sketchbook Pro in 2 terms of quality / features? In the following review, I do a side by side comparison between the two products, and a highlight of some of ArtRage 2.0's new features.

Via The Buzz

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:09 AM 0 comments

Good article at Tom’s Hardware on battery life and the new Dual Core processors:

According to vendor reports, the battery life for the new dual core platforms in notebooks using Intel's integrated graphics core isn't supposed to decline at all, when compared with the previous generation (Sonoma). Our first measurements on a prototype device with a dedicated graphics chip (ATI X1600) paint a completely different picture, however, and this detracts from the positive impression that the new technology's improved performance creates. We can only guess whether the relatively modest battery lifetimes we observed in our test system are due to the graphics subsystem, the chipset itself, or a combination of these elements. That said, as we'll prove later in this article, this new CPU is definitely no energy hog.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:53 PM 0 comments

Well, it has been almost a month and I’m still using the X41 as my only computer. I turned on my T42 last week because it has some compiler programs that I had yet to install on the X41 and that has been my only need to use the other computer.

Honestly, this thing is performing like a champ. I have not noticed any performance issues at all. I can’t recommend this tablet pc more. Having looked and played with the X60 notebook at CES, I can’t wait for the X41 to be refreshed into that model.

What is the only upgrade I would even consider? A faster harddrive. Not necessary, but it would be nice.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:49 PM 1 comments

If you were buying a media center pc today, which would you buy? I’m currently looking at the HP Z555 on eBay as strongly encouraged by my good friend Dennis Rice.

Being a total newbie to Media Center PC, I’m a bit behind the curve in regards to this technology. I know I could get a tower pc much cheaper, but asthetics is very important to my wife and it must look like a DVD or else it is not going in our cabinet.

Your input would be most appreciated.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:52 PM 1 comments

Well, I’m starting to save my money for my latest gadget – the Docupen RC800. It is a pen based scanner that will scan up to 400dpi, a full page at a time. I’ve tried using my camera phone as to take care of portable scanning issues, but the clarity just isn’t there. I still run into a lot of paper situations even though I use a tablet pc, and my goal is to touch the paper one time and store it directly into OneNote for indexing. I love how the device can charge itself using the USB of my tablet. After I get it and use it for a while, I’ll post a review.

Cost: $299. Some more specs:

Pen Size	8.9" X 0.5" X 0.5" -200mm x 20mm x 227mm
Weight	2 oz. (56 grams)
Scan Width	8” (205 mm)
Resolution	100-400 dpi
Memory	8 MB Flash Memory Upgradeable with optional MicroSD memory cards to 128MB, 256MB
Batteries	Lithium Ion: Rechargeable Battery through USB cable
Battery Life	Virtually Perpetually Charged and ample to scan and fill 8 MB Flash memory
Charge Time	50 minutes to full charge
Scan Speed	4-8 seconds per page
Interface	Twain
Connectivity	USB 1.1 and 2.0 through integrated USB connector cable
Scan Mode	24 Bit, 12 Bit Color, Greyscale, Monochrome

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:04 PM 2 comments

I’ve been heads down programming for the past week wrapping some some VB projects and web projects. I am soooo exhausted. I got to the point yesterday that I just couldn’t think anymore. That said, I love it when I’m in that groove.

I’m headed off to Redmond next week for the Microsoft Mobile Platforms Division Partner Briefing. Much of the meeting will be NDA, but I’ll pass on whatever I can.

The mobile tablet scape is getting very exciting. 2006 will be a good year.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:10 PM 0 comments

Dennis Rice, a Microsoft Tablet PC MVP, has started a new blog: Travelin' with Tablet Guy! 

If you follow Tablet PC news, this will be a blog that you will want to follow and subscribe to.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:47 PM 0 comments

If you want to follow Office 12 developments, then you need add Jensen Harris’ blog to your reader. As beta testers, we are not really allowed to talk about Office 12 and its features. However, you can follow Jensen’s blog to get just about everything you ever wanted to know about Office 12 and its new UI.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:38 PM 0 comments

Engadget has spotted the iX104 Xplore Tablet PC with built-in EV-DO at the FCC site.
Built-in EV-DO is such a welcome addition to new Tablet PCs. Look for more OEMs to do the same as the year rolls on. (picture via Engadget)

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 3:53 PM 0 comments

If you have Word set as your email editor for Outlook, Ink Gestures will work within Outlook as you write email….pretty cool. Be sure to download version 1.09 for it to work correctly. Version 1.09 was just uploaded last night.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:42 PM 0 comments

I really believe that Loren’s Ink Gestures is going to sell extremely well and be very successful. Loren is the kind of developer and person who will pour a lot of effort in this product and work tirelessly at bringing together the rough edges. It’ll be successful because of Loren and because he has a great idea.

Who are potential customers? Teachers, students, paralegals, editors, and those who are doing editing / correcting without a keyboard or when mobile.

Having more apps like Ink Gestures really helps push the tablet pc concept and helps users be more productive when in slate mode. ActiveWords and its’ InkPad module, TEO, and now Ink Gestures for Word 2003. Kudos to these ISVs.

I think Microsoft is smart by not addressing the above apps (primarily TEO and InkGestures) in their applications. Why? They help create the development community by not killing off the small guy and it shows off what can be done, thus stirring the pot for other developers to do stuff. At some point, though, Microsoft is going to address gesturing markup support in Word, and inking functionality in Outlook, and I hope that they treat Loren and Josh well. Be sure to put a lot of zeroes in those checks!

I thought it would be in Office 12, but obviously not – good for Loren and Josh.

Where else could this gesturing support be used? OneNote and GoBinder.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:00 PM 0 comments

I picked the following links up from a MindJet newsletter. I thought my readers might find them useful:

(http://www.mindjet.com/images/us/newsletter/012006/Mindjet_Goals_and_Targets.mmap)

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:53 PM 0 comments

5 Year Anniversary Xbox 360 Giveaway - Jake Ludington's MediaBlab.

I don’t have much of a chance at winning Jake’s Xbox 360 giveaway, but I’m on the top 20 list of link referrals to Jake’s site and I’m in the running – the contest is pretty wide open. So, I’m going to shamelessly ask you check out the following links on Jake’s site and give me a chance to win a brand new Xbox 360! I figure if my 800 readers each checked out the articles below, I’m going to have a pretty good chance, although that Lockergnome guy is going to give everyone a run for his money.

You might like the following articles

Digital Lifestyle Tutorials

Homebrew Tetris for PSP 2.6
PGR3 In Game Realism
4GB and 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
ZVUE 400 and ZVUE 500
29MP4 Video Store
ZVUE adds TotalVid Sports Videos
5 Reasons to Choose PSP over Xbox 360
iPod Video Not All That
Free Does Not Equal Piracy
Simple PSP Copy

EarThumps
Fujitsu LifeBook P1500D Tablet PC
Sony GVD-1000 Mini DV Walkman
Buying A Digital Video Camera
GotVoice
CALIBUG HDTV
Logitech PlayGear Pocket
Jackson Armor Card
Behringer Shark DSP110
Cell Phone to Landline Converter

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:46 PM 1 comments

Loren has done a fantastic job with the InkGestures add-in for Word 2003.

I’ve been playing with it for about an hour and it is much further along than I originally thought, even more so than when Loren talked to me about it at CES. The gestures are very intuitive and well thought out. It is beta software.

I immediately tried to use it in Outlook with Word set as the editor. The option shows up on the toolbar, but gesturing will not start up. I’m not sure if it is actually supported in Outlook. Would be great if it were.

Highly recommend the download.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:14 PM 0 comments

I have a customer that I set up with TC1100’s about 2 + years ago. They are ready to upgrade to some new stuff, we’ve been reevaluating what to get based on how they have used the TC1100. My biggest finding: they hardly ever used the tablet functionality. They are highly mobile, but they almost always used the TC1100 as a laptop. Prior to learning this, I was leaning toward getting them the X41T tablet, but since they hardly use tablet functionality and I can get a much higher end notebook for the same money now, I’m looking at the Lenovo X60 notebook.

Which brings me to my main point: we are hitting the point where companies who initially deployed tablet pcs two to three years ago are going to be redeploying new hardware. I wonder how many will choose to go with a tablet pc again vs a regular notebook.

Faced with buying a dual core notebook vs a pentium m tablet pc, is the choice very difficult? OEMs who are serious about tablet pcs need to begin rolling out dual core tablet pcs at the same time they roll out their dual core notebooks. Otherwise, the choice will go toward the dual core.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:11 PM 2 comments

The previous winner of the fingerprint reader never contacted me, so I’m doing another contest to give it away. The prize: a pc card based Billionton Finger Print reader and software.

Post an answer to the following question: What do you struggle with most as a mobile professional?

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:11 PM 1 comments

Philip Copeland won copy of Michael Linenberger’s book Total Workday Control and an interactive training CD.

Send me an email, Philip, with your address and I’ll get the book and the CD (when I get the CD from Michael) out to you.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:29 AM 1 comments

Eric Mack  will be doing a podcast about his paperless challenge and is looking for a co-host.

Eric is also looking for questions that people might have about going paperless. Head on over to his blog .

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:16 AM 0 comments

Pete Wright is running a great series on installing Vista. A must read if you are interested in taking the plunge.

His next step - the LE1600 Tablet PC

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:08 AM 0 comments

Symbility Solutions to Demonstrate the Power of 'Insurance Mobility': Financial News - Yahoo! Finance.

Symbility Solutions Inc. (http://www.symbilitysolutions.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Automated Benefits Corp. (TSX VENTURE: AUT - News), will join Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Sprint to promote wireless communications in demonstrating mobile applications for insurance executives and analysts at the Insurance Mobility Tour, a three-city event kicking off in Chicago on January 31, 2006.

The tour will feature a panel of industry experts discussing the timely issues of mobility in today's insurance industry. Specific sessions will deal with the challenges of implementing the latest technologies now, as well as the vision for these platforms in the future. After the presentation in Chicago, where the Tour makes its first stop at the Palmer House Hotel, the series will head to New York City at the Marriott Marquis on February 13 and it will conclude in Boston at the Tremont Courtyard by Marriott on April 14.

"This Tour represents a fantastic opportunity to reach a wider audience in the insurance space and explain the immense values associated with mobile applications," said James Swayze, CEO of Symbility. "Symbility is constantly looking for the most progressive ways to use mobile technology to benefit the insurance industry and its consumers."

Symbility recently signed on for the Microsoft Insurance Value Chain (IVC) partner program, which allows the company to avail itself of Microsoft's sales and support forces, as well as a greater level of integration with Windows software as it continues to evolve. In addition to joining the Microsoft IVC partner program, Symbility Solutions is also a member of the Microsoft's Mobility Partner Advisory Council (MPAC), Microsoft Tablet PC Partner Program and continues to work closely with Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices Division.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:03 AM 0 comments

The Student Tablet PC now features a tip of the day that you can subscribe to via RSS or by simply visiting their website. Great idea, Tracy. subscribed. Whether you are a student or not, we can all benefit from those tips.

Subscribe by visiting the link above and then add the Tip of the Day RSS to your news aggregator.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:55 AM 0 comments

I have a total of 5 Windows Live Messenger invites available. The first 5 that respond to this post and provide your email address like name at address dot com , I’ll send you an invite.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:36 PM 7 comments

I linked to Jake’s blog last week regarding his Fujitsu P1510D. Until today, I didn’t realize what a tremendous amount of helpful tips Jake’s site had until I started really looking about. I’ve already found a couple of really helpful tips that used to have me stumped. Check it out…

Some highlights:

• How to Backup Your iPod
• How to Buy an HDTV

For those of you who have a Cingular Aircard, you might find this one interesting. Although I'm on the Verizon network, I've found that when I sit next to a window, it helps connectivity a whole lot. His post also contains some good, general broadband connectivity tips.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:11 PM 0 comments

One of the things I’ve really appreciated about Robert Scoble’s blog is when he posts about how he involves his son, Patrick, in his work life. Granted, he doesn’t bring him to work everyday, but when he is out and about, meeting folks, etc, his son is right there with him. He is actively involving Patrick in the technology world, broadening his world, and letting him find his own way.

Now, Robert’s world is a little different than the normal person (ie – you and I), but there is something there that we all can learn – involve your kids in your world. As mobile professionals, we are all over the place. We go to customer sites, trade shows, we meet with people who are impacting the world and making decisions regarding the technology that ultimately ends up in our homes and businesses. By including our kids in our work world, they are making good contacts, they learn how to properly behave in meetings, they are seeing technology at work, and they are gaining an insight that most kids won’t get until they get out of college. Now here is the real gain – it gives you and your kids something to talk about. “Say, Dad, were you able to fix that problem we were working on a ABC company? How did you fix it?”

Practically, how can you and I do this? Take your kid to a customer site and let him sit with you while you work. Explain to him what you are doing and why. Allow him (with your customer’s permission) to sit in on your meetings. When going to a conference, check in to minimum age requirements and take one of your kids along. Walk the trade show floor together, sit in on tech talks, etc. When the day is over, take him to dinner with your friends. What better way to train up your child in the business world!

In my opinion, I think your child needs to be at least 11 or 12.

Dax is already asking me to take him to CES next year. I need to find out the age issues, but I’m going to work hard to find a way. I have an NDA meeting next month in Redmond that I can’t take him to, but if it were not NDA and it were ok to bring him, I’d bring him in a heartbeat.

In the 1800’s, farmers involved their kids in all aspects of the work – they had to for labor purposes and it was the way they trained their kids to take over the farm. What is so different today that we can’t we cannot do the same.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:06 PM 1 comments

Post your biggest struggle with Outlook in terms of productivity. I’ll pick a random winner and award Michael Linenberger Total WorkDay Control book and a training CD that Michael only has available for folks who order the book from his website.

I’ve not seen the training cd’s yet, but knowing Michael’s indepth work on the book, I can assume that they will be an excellent resource.

Want to know my biggest struggle? Not spreading the sync process too thin across multiple applications. I want to the use task and calendar data in multiple apps (onenote, mindmanager, etc), but I find the process of keeping the sync process up to date and active pretty painful. I find that I’m the most successful if I limit the spread of tasks, appointments, etc to only 1 outside application (not counting my pda).

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:34 PM 7 comments

Great tips from James on the 700W

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:00 PM 0 comments

I think this is safe to post about since Chris Pratley posted a comment on my blog on how to link to an individual paragraph or page within a onenote section from MindManager. I tried out his tip last night and I had a lot of trouble getting to work, until I started investigating MindManager a bit further and found the arguments option. I’ve outlined the correct process to make page and paragraph linking work. What Chris has pointed out has made my decision to switch completely to OneNote 12 even more exciting.

1. Within OneNote 12, find the page or paragraph that you would like to link to. If it is a paragraph, then right click the paragraph handle and choose Copy Hyperlink. If it is a page, just right click the page and choose Copy Hyperlink.

2. Go to MindManager and click on the topic you wish to create the hyperlink for. Then click the hyperlink button.

3. In the Hyperlink screen, navigate to the section that contains the page or paragraph you want to link to. Do not paste the hyperlink that was copied in OneNote in to this field. MindManager won’t accept it.

4. Then click on Options and go to the Arguments field. Paste the hyperlink that was created in that field. Then go to the beginning of the field (ctl home) and remove everything up until the # after the section name. For example, my hyperlink looks like: (the bold part contains the text that you will remove, the italicized part contains the part you will keep.

onenote://C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/rob/My%20Documents/OneNote%20Business/Business/DC/Punch%20list.one#1/14/2006&section-id={7B6AF8A8-5048-4F23-8B36-2FEC4E353F28}&page-id={C40EF86C-19CC-437E-A072-EA3FCA1B1C39}&object-id={569D97CB-BC67-0CE4-13C7-1D5536C0BB80}&17

The part you keep serves as the command line arguments that get passed in to the section that you linked to step 3.

If you are only hyperlinking to a section, you don’t need to mess with the argument stuff.

Now you can create a hyperlink from MindManager to a section, page, or a paragraph within OneNote 12. If you are beta testing OneNote 12, give it try.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:29 PM 1 comments

I had wayyyy too much coffee this evening – having a tad bit of trouble sleeping.

I thought I’d update everyone on my qwest to use my x41 tablet pc as my sole computer. It has been two weeks since I began this effort, and I have not used my t42 thinkpad for much of anything except for grabbing a few files that I forgot to pull over to the x41. I’ve been very pleased with the performance. I’ve been doing flash work, dreamweaver, sql server, outlook, mindmanager, and the occasional word processing. I have not experienced any hiccups along the way. I’d highly recommend upgrading to 1.5gb. For some reason, I’m finding the need to defrag more often. Every Friday night I check my disk, Windows advises me that it should defrag - so I do.

I went to a client site yesterday afternoon from 9:00 – 1:00. When I left, I still had 2 hours of battery remaining on the 8 cell. The computer was on the whole time, brightness at 3, wireless on. I was not using the extended wedge battery ( highly recommend it, though).

BTW: my wife is using the Gateway M280 convertible notebook tablet pc and really likes it. She has yet to use the pen. ;-)

My kids on the hand love their tc1x00s and frequently use the pen. My two youngest love their “tablet pcs” as well: Leapsters :-)

What I didn’t see at CES – I didn’t see anyone using a Gateway M280. If they were in use, it was in a booth on display. I also didn’t see any Tecra M4s being used. Otherwise, people were using m200s, x41s, tc1100s, and le1600s. Makes sense when you consider how they are built, but it begs the question as to the usability of such devices if you can’t use them when mobile.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:09 AM 0 comments

I picked this up from Kent Newsome who had a link to the best blone joke ever…. pretty good stuff! Sadly, my son is 11 years old and has some of the worst jokes ever. This one is pretty good.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:33 AM 1 comments

The Neek Talk girls interview good friend Ken Collura and Cia, of Bishop Hartley Schools. Bishop Hartley was one of the first schools to implement Tablet PCs ( TC1000s)  when they first came out in an HP pilot project. Apparently, they are still using Tablet PCs 3 years later.

I first met Ken at CES in 2004. Then, several months ago, he showed up in Colorado Springs for a conference and had a special “Bishop Hartley” gift for Maggie. Ken is a great guy and does a lot of the Tablet PC community.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:31 AM 0 comments

After using the X41 Tablet PC for several months, Dave Taylor has decided that he won’t buy one – why? Performance and battery.

I have not experienced any of the problems that Dave has, but I can certainly understand his frustrations. I’ve actually been quite pleased with the overall performance of the x41.

He is not totally jaded on Tablet PC, though. He closes with this comment.

In the end, I am not impressed with the usability of the X41 Tablet PC and am not going to buy a unit for my office after all. I am quite impressed with Windows for Tablet PC, however, and will try to find another ultralightweight unit that has better battery life and higher performance, but until then, I'll have to go back to my trusty Apple PowerBook. And dream of when the MacBook Pro has a Tablet option.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:03 AM 0 comments

ContextExplorer for MindManager and Word ( by Model Technologies) is something every MindManager user has to check out. They feature a 90 day trial of the Word app that I am just starting tonight. It looks very promising. I'd love to see a ContextExplorer for MindManager and OneNote developed.

Update: The MindManager integration is currently underdevelopment. I've been playing with the Word aspect of it. Quite a piece of software there. I'd highly recommend reading the overview of the product.

MindJet’s Hobie Swan shared this with me from Chuck Frey's blog:

Model Technologies is working on a new plug-in for MindManager that can review a Word document, extract the key topics and phrases, rank them in order of importance, and can insert the results into a MindManager map.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

I’ve officially switched over from GoBinder to OneNote 12 beta for my free form notetaking and storage of printed documents. In addition, when I need to do free form notetaking within MindManager, I create a hyperlink from a topic to the OneNote section where I am storing that note.

I’ve printed all of my GoBinder notes into OneNote 12 – note that GoBinder 2006 currently has a bug printing to OneNote 12 using the MDI option, so I printed them using GoBinder 2005. I’m also in the process of printing all of my Bible stuff into OneNote 12. All of my books and Bibles will be available for OneNote 12 within a month or so of OneNote 12 going in to public beta.

The main reasons for making the jump are as follows:

1) I can’t talk about features of OneNote 12 beta, but suffice it to say it is really stable. You can read Chris Pratley’s blog for more info.

2) I really like doing all of my project planning and task management within MindManager. However, the free form noteaking in MindManager leaves a lot to be desired. I can, however, link to individual OneNote sections. Because everything in GoBinder is stored in a single database, I can’t link from MindManager topics to anything within GoBinder. Having that ability to have file level access to my notes is very important now.

3) Note flag summaries are in OneNote 2003 and 12, not in GoBinder 2006.

4) linking internally to other notes ( a great feature!!!!)

I’ll still support all of my Bible text in GoBinder 2005, 2006 and future releases. In fact, I’m working on something with Agilix that will make it even easier to implement. I can’t, however, use GoBinder on a day to day basis any longer. The way I work has changed over the past year, and GoBinder no longer fits.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:21 PM 16 comments

Tracy   has got a fantastic post on how to scan a book. Very well documented.

A must read for those of you going paperless with or without a tablet PC.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:51 PM 0 comments

I’m finding it hard to not blog today (heads down programming), but I couldn’t pass this up. The Register has posted a link to www.ThePlaceForItAll.com who are taking auctions on custom built iTablets modded from iBooks. A lot of caveats to this auction, so you want to read it thoroughly, but based on all of their language, etc, it appears to be on the up and up. This isn’t the iTablet from Apple that we have all been waiting for, but looks pretty interesting to say the least.

The are only making up to 100 per series and they are individually numbered and signed by the modders. No handwriting recognition

via The Register, via TabletPCBuzz.com

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:23 PM 0 comments

I couldn’t pass this one up. Samsung has an LCD that you can write on. I’m not sure if it the computer is running the Tablet PC os or not, but the article indicates that it works within Photoshop. Check it out on Engadget and then the article they point to at PC World

Samsung plans to release the 720TD later in the year. Cost: $800.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:46 AM 0 comments

I’m taking a little break blogging over the next several weeks as I head into “lock down” on several projects that I’m working on.

I’ll post a little here and there, but it will be very sporadic. Catch you in a couple of weeks.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 4:22 PM 0 comments

relentless…

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:34 PM 0 comments

Gotta love those Engadget guys – they are running a great transcript of Steve Jobs keynote – the powerbook now has Core Duo processors and is renamed MacBook Pro….they say it screams….

1:31 PM - "It's a new name because we're kinda done with power, and we want the name the Mac name in our products." The same dual-processor as the iMac in every model. This is hard to believe: 4-5x faster than the PowerBook G5. These things are screamers."

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:42 AM 0 comments

Commsoft, from a TabletPCBuzz.com thread, has some pictures of the new R1F tablet pc from Asus along with specs.

• 13.3” wide screen
• Intel Yonah, 2mb On-Die L2 cache up to 2.33ghz
• 5400 rpm harddrive (80gb, 100, gb, 120gb
• fingerprint reader

More pictures….

http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Spec%20Sheet.jpg

http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Open%20Slate.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Open%20with%20KB.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Back.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Front.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Top%20Closed.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/Bottom.JPG
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/RHS.jpg
http://www.commsoft.com/R1F/LHS.jpg

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:09 PM 1 comments

Jake posts some pretty good thoughts on the P1510D Tablet PC. I really like the feel of that tablet pc, but it needs some work with the touch screen sensitivity. I had a lot of ink appearing just from pressing on the screen ever so slightly. If they could get those issues addressed, it would be a great ultra mobile solution.

I found that when I didn’t rest my hand on the screen, it wrote very well, but I’ve grown to accustomed to resting my hand comfortably.

From Jake ( read his blog for more info )

All through the CES show I've been drooling over the compact size of the convertible LifeBook P1500D Notebook. The 8.9-inch screen might seem small in the age of desktop replacements, but I travel frequently and want to eliminate some pounds from my travel bag. There's enough horsepower to handle the live audio stream for the radio show, the hard drive is big enough to transport my travel needs. By eliminating a DVD drive, there's less wasted space (I never install anything to my current laptop from a shiny disk). The screen offers both stylus and touch screen sensitivity for the best of both worlds.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:00 PM 0 comments

Andy Gray is the second winner to the Outlook Productivity Contest. Here was his entry:

Simplify email reference and archiving:

Don't go overboard trying to construct a complex hierarchy of folders for saving messages you want to keep, then spending a lot of time to file each message into the correct folder by topic. This significantly increases the number of places that something _isn't_ when you go to look for it later.

Instead, simply create a separate .pst file for each calendar year (e.g. 2005.pst). Create a very simple hierarchy (perhaps just a single Reference folder) into which to drag messages you want to keep. Change the AutoArchive settings for your Sent Items and Deleted Items folders to archive into this file, and you'll automatically get a dated archive of your sent and deleted mail also.

Then when you want to find something, either sort the Reference or Sent Items folder by recipient or by sender, and/or use search tools to find a keyword in the appropriate folder. More often than not, you'll find what you're looking for with a minimum of fuss.

At the end of the year, burn a copy of the .pst file to CD for archiving.

Andy has a copy of Michael Linenberger’s book, Total Workday Control, coming as well.

Congratulations to Steve and Andy. I’ll have a couple more contests coming in the next few weeks.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:32 PM 0 comments

James Kendrick agrees with me that HP was a huge disappointment, Motion was no where to be seen or heard of (disspite a lot of requests from folks), and Toshiba stole the show. I posted my own thoughts, but James gives a good summary in what was missing as well.

HP was abysmal without even bringing the one Tablet PC model they still sell to the show. No Tablets at all from them. Motion Computing did not have a booth again, something I frankly don't understand. I was asked countless times for directions to the Motion booth and I had to tell them to take a flight to Austin and visit them personally because they were not at CES. I think that is a major mistake on their part.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:42 AM 0 comments

Reign won the favorite TabletPCBuzz.com post contest with this entry:

My favorite is http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24523
WHat Do You Hope the new Version of OneNote will do?

This LONG thread not only is full of good suggestions and insight from board members, Chris Pratley (MS) provided feedback and input on the suggestions. This thread is an a good example of TabletPCBuzz acting as a serious resource for users and developers.

I picked this entry because 1) it is really good, and 2) shows how serious Microsoft and other OEMs take the community feedback (they really do read this stuff). Reign won a Billonton Fingerprint Reader. Please contact me, Reign, with your email address and shipping info.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:19 AM 0 comments

Steve Beller won the Outlook Productivity tip contest and is getting his own copy of Michael Linenberger’s book “Total Workday Control”

I love being able to drag and drop an email onto the calendar to make a new appointment, tasks to create a new task, contacts to make a new contact, or notes/journal to make a new entry there with all of the email content there.

Congratulations, Steve.

BTW: be sure to checkout the good collection of tips posted on the contest entry.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:11 AM 3 comments

Looks like Toshiba had Tracy Hooten’s original glass damaged M200 Tablet PC on display as an encouragement to buy service plans. – sorry Tracy, I couldn’t resist!!!

BTW: we took the opportunity to talk to their service rep about the bad image Toshiba has in regards to their support programs.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:24 PM 2 comments

It is not often that two teenagers get to interview Chris Barry, group manager for XP and Tablet PC at Microsoft. I don’t even think that James Kendrick and Marc Orchant have posted an interview with Chris Barry yet. Great job. Take a listen. and subscribe.

Although we had other Neek Talk podcasts planned, while we were wandering around the CES 2006 showroom floor we had the opportunity to interview Chris Barry, group manager of XP, Tablet PC, x64 marketing. So, we decided to postpone our other podcasts and post our interview with him instead.

We asked him what he thought about the Tablet PC, what he would change about the Tablet PC…. In my opinion, it was a really interesting interview, and we hope you enjoy it just as much as we did creating it.

Neek Talk : Neek Talk: An Interview with Chris Barry.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:34 PM 0 comments

TechSmith and a bunch of Tablet PC MVP’s met with Betsy Weber – TechSmith’s Technical Evangelist. They are doing some really good stuff with SnagIt and Camtasia.

The question was asked about Tablet PC functionality and SnagIt – what can be done to make SnagIt more Tablet PC and Ink friendly.

I told Betsy I would ask the readers of my blog for their suggestions. If you have not done so, be sure to download a trial copy of SnagIt and give it a try on your Tablet PC, then post your suggestions. It is the Snipping Tool on steriods and, in my opinion, should be considered your first tool of choice for screen capture utilities.

In addition, be sure to subscribe to the TechSmith blog - a good way of keeping up to date with TechSmith and their products. You'll see a pretty good picture of the MVP's on that link. On the TechSmith blog, Betsy is also asking SnagIt users to chime in on Tablet PC support.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:17 PM 0 comments

Toshiba definitely stood out with their focus on tablet PCs at CES. Not only did they have their consumer and business oriented tablet PCs there, they also soft launched the M400 tablet pc.

Now, here is how they really racked up the knotch – they had a caricature artist who was doing free caricatures using a Tecra M4 and Alias Sketchbook. Everytime we went by the booth, there was at least 4 – 6 people in line waiting to get their picture done. Well done, Toshiba.

I’ll post my cariature when they email it to me.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:56 PM 1 comments

Dennis and I stopped by the CaseLogic booth. They make all kinds of cases, from laptops to ipods, to cameras, etc. They make some great sleeves, but all geared toward notebooks and powerbooks.

We talked to one of the product managers about cases specific for Tablet PCs. He said they had no plans to make cases specific for tablet PCs (like carrying sleeves with the tablet part open for writing, etc), because they don’t see a need in the retail market. He didn’t know that retail establishments were selling tablet PCs (M200, Gateway M280, Averatec, etc). They mainly sell their cases in Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot, CompUSA – exactly where the M200 is being sold.

We didn’t seem to make any headway with him, but it was apparent that folks at CaseLogic are not familiar with the surge in retail demand for tablet PCs brought on by the Gateway M280. I would encourage the folks at CaseLogic to do some usability case studies with slate users and find out how unique their needs are – then address them and come out with products that throw their competitors for a loop. The good thing about CaseLogic products is that they are normally very light and thin.

To be fair to CaseLogic, overall, there were very few accessory booths with tablet pc specific products. Dennis and I did run across a vendor, CellFan.com who made skins for cell phones, notebooks, and tablet PCS. They had a little kiosk in the Toshiba booth. They sought us out because they saw Dennis and I demoing the M400 to prospective Toshiba customers in the Toshiba booth. We spent a good hour talking to them about what they were doing. They plan on putting up a request page for customers to request their tablet pc models and they will make a skin pattern to fit your model if there is enough demand – hello Slate users! The only tablet pc model they support right now is the M200, but they said they would add more tablets if people put requests in. Otterbox also had a booth at CES

Not much has changed from last year to this year in regards to accessories and tablet PCs. Vendors just don’t see the demand and consequently are not developing product. Either the message is not getting out or the demand is really not there. The good news is that many of the notebook specific accessories work perfectly with a tablet pc. Where the need comes in is optimizing the accessory for use with a tablet pc, particularly when it comes to operating in slate / portrait mode.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:54 PM 0 comments

I continue to be disappointed, but not surprised, with HP. HP at a HUGE booth area at CES. Dennis and I made our way to their portable computer section – no sign of the TC4200 Tablet PC.

We talked to a couple of the reps about why the TC4200 was not on display, especially considering that Toshiba was displaying all three of their tablet PCs, Microsoft had a great display of a multitude of Tablet PCs, Fujitsu was their with their Tablet PCs, OQO was there, etc.

Their lousy excuses:

• The TC4200 is a business computer and CES is a consumer event. Hogwash. It might be named Consumer Electronics Show, but it has become more than a consumer event.
• They had to be mindful of booth real estate. Simply no room to display it.

Planning to fail…

Another notable miss at CES was Motion Computing. I understand that somebody from Motion was attending, but nobody knew they were there. I met with a major tablet pc software rep on Friday and he asked me where Motion was. They did the same thing last year. They are totally focused on the business sector, but the folks that attend CES are not just consumer oriented. Why would Toshiba choose to soft launch the M400? Why display the Tecra M4 if it didn’t feel there would be benefit to business market attending CES.

CES has become THE major trade show for technology focused professionals to attend. Scouting the products, learning where things are headed helps us get leg up on how we can help our customers make better technology decisions. There is not another major trade show happening where you can get your hands on so much technology at one time. Motion needs to be a visible player in 2007.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:54 PM 1 comments

When you navigate the floors of CES, you need to travel light, but with plenty of juice.

The first day, I used the roll bag that CES gave all the press. It was very nice, but still a little too much.

The second day, all I carried was my Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC in its carrying case sleeve, along with a very light XM trade show bag for carrying swag. When I wanted to take notes, I simply brought the tablet pc out of standby, tilted the device toward me in landscape mode and wrote. I carried my camera in my jacket pocket.

When I was ready to post my blog entries, I plugged in my Verizon EVDO card and posted my entries – very seamless.

What do I consider the essentials for navigating a conference like that?

• Extended battery support – all I used was my 8 cell extended battery. I used my thinkpad on and off throughout the day (from 9:00 am – 10:00pm) and when I got back to the hotel, I still had 1.5 hours of battery left. Be sure to turn wireless off and bump your brightness all the way down.
• Get a good carrying case sleeve so you can write easily on tablet.
• Get an AirCard. There were countless reports of wireless connectivity issues at the hotel and conference. Using my AirCard, I never experience one. I posted from the bus, from meeting rooms, aiport shuttle, etc.
• A very thin and light weight camera / camera phone. You need a camera that can fit in your pocket. It helps a tremendous amount if your camera and tablet both support the same digital media. If not be sure to bring an adapter.
• Good notetaking software that autosaves – GoBinder and OneNote both do that.
• Tennis shoes with good arch supports
• Lots of coffee

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:53 PM 0 comments

James Kendrick has the best coverage and specs on the new DualCor PC announced at CES. His article is a must read for those of you interested in this groundbreaking device.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:52 AM 0 comments

Went over to the Targus booth and really liked these two carrying cases:

• Convertible Element Notebook case
• Sling Monogram notebook – my favorite

Pretty cool portable notebook stand from Targus: Mobile X Notebook Stand

I looked for links on http://www.targus.com/ website, but did not find them listed

Over at the SanDisk booth, I saw the Ultra II Plus SD Plus 2 GB card that folds out a usb plug. Very cool

Played with the new Treo 700W Pocket PC phone. I think I might be picking up one of those new phones. Nicely done.

Saw Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes – pretty short guy.

Had a fabulous time at the Tablet PC / Blogger meetup tonight. Great conversations. There was probably close to 50 folks there. Here is a sampling:

• Kevin White of Agilix
• Fritz Switzer ( Ablet Factory)
• Betsy Weber from TechSmith (SnagIt)
• Trevor Claiborne
• Chris Pirillo
• Robert Scoble
• Ken Collura
• All of the Heinys (Lora, Loren, Layne (his daughters), Bob and his wife
• Dennis Rice
• Arjay
• Steve Beller
• James Kendrick
• Chris DeHerra
• Linda Epstein
• Buzz Bruggerman
• Renee Roberts
• Rick Segal
• Sierra
• and many others…

The cost was picked up by a mix of vendors: Ablet Factory, Microsoft, OQO, Provo Labs, Monster Cable, Chris Pirillo. Thanks to all the vendors for picking up the cost

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:10 PM 1 comments

I met with Jeff Samitt, with Lenovo, today. Jeff is the conceptual designer for the X series notebooks and tablets. Jeff said that demand for the X40 tablet pc has drastically exceeded their initial forcasts.

They announced the new x60 notebooks yesterday. the future x60 tablet can be found in the new X60 notebook

• 2.5" 7200 RPM drives, sata
• Dual Core processor support
• 4 GB of RAM
• 3 USB Ports
• Firewire
• integrated EVDO

No word on when the X60 tablet will come out, but I'd look for it in the next 6 months to a year. No current plans for a alternate tablet sizes - 12" only for now

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 4:32 PM 0 comments

Josh Einstein. on the status of TEO 3.0 D I've seen screen shots - great stuff going on

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:32 AM 0 comments

This is a picture taken of Dennis and me by Robert Scoble (hosted on Robert’s flickr blog). We are standing in front of the Microsoft booth – can you see my Thinkpad X41 in my hand?

I’m having a great time with Dennis, one of my best friends in the world. Dennis is also a Tablet PC MVP and a moderator and now Managing Editor of http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ He and I go way back. Everytime we get together, we pick up where we left off last time. Good stuff

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:29 PM 0 comments

A couple of reps told me that the “Official” announcement would come in a couple of days and other reps have told me that it will come in early February (8th?).

The issue with the removable CD-ROM and replacement with a battery could be addressed in a refresh later this year. As it stands right now, though, the only other periperals you could put in there would be extra harddrive or different ROM drives. I was told that the decision to go Intel on the graphics chipset was due to the included CD ROM. They weighed their options and decided to forego Nvidia in favor of optional CD-ROM. Big mistake in my opinion and several of the Toshiba reps I spoke with did not like the decision either.

I think that one will come back to bite them. Nvidia was the ace in their hand and they let it go.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:14 PM 1 comments

As most of you know, HP relisted the TC1100 Tablet PC on the US site and many of us have questioned about what HP might be doing.

I asked one of my contacts at HP, Ben Thacker, if he knew what was going on. He told me that HP will list the TC1100 until supply is exhausted from all the channels. Production on the TC1100 has indeed stopped. Ben added that HP will of course have a lot of parts and products to support warranty obligations.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:56 PM 0 comments

-Troy Aikman and Tony Labonte signed my Tablet PC

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:02 PM 0 comments

Spent some good time talking to the former Toshiba Tablet PC Product Manager , Brian Forrester.

• The removable cd drive on the M400 does not support a replaceable battery, just an extra hard drive.
• there is a thin extended battery that fits on the bottom on the M400 .
• No plans for making the R200 in to Tablet PC. They don't think it will sell. That R200 is so thin and light- under 3 lbs - and screams to be a Tablet PC

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 4:58 PM 1 comments

Toshiba will announce the successor to the M200 Tablet PC in two days with February shipping times – the M400 Tablet PC, which will become the fastest Tablet PC on the market.

Dual Core
Available with a choice of display – 1400 x 1050 or 1024 x 768
Intel GM945 integrated graphics - major Mistake
removable CD / DVD ( supports extra hard drive, not battery)
Support for thin extended battery on bottom of tablet
Built in finger print

It looks and feels thicker, but is surprisingly light. Viewing angles are really good

Picures with some comparisons to the X41 Tablet PC

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 2:02 PM 8 comments

• I played with a prototype Motion Computing 12” Tablet PC that supported both touch and pen (Vista required) – very cool. It alternates between pen and touch based on whether you are using the pen or not. It looks just like the LE1600. Responds very well to touch. It was a very nice surprise to see that prototype being demoed publicly
• I played with the LS800 – I’d use it as a car device when it supports both touch and pen
• Future Toshiba release – think R200 and M300. video card? shakes head ----
• I played with the OQO Tablet PC Edition – nice, but still too slow. I’d prefer the LS800 as a portable device.
• The Acer C200 has a beautiful device. Before seeing it, I didn’t think I would like it, but I actually liked it a lot. A little thick, but still nice.
• I played with the Fujitsu P1510D – It felt very nice to hold. Very light. I had a lot of inking problems due to resting my hand on the screen even slightly too hard. Wouldn’t buy one.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 12:12 PM 1 comments

Great news from OQO. They now support Tablet PC. I'm headed over to their booth at CES for sure now.

( via http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ )

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:52 PM 0 comments

Neek Talk #2 is live. . From Layne:

Elizabeth and Sarah walk the listerners through the making of their first podcast, specifically the duo used OneNote 2003 shared sessions and audacity. The neek talk duo used the Toshiba M200 and HP Tablet PCs to create their second podcast.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:28 AM 0 comments

It it Jan 4 2006, and look what is still available.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:10 AM 0 comments

Trevor continues his great articles by answering some of the common Tablet PC questions that arise for the naysayers and uninformed. Good screenshots, especially in regards to the natural use of the tablet; and he does a good job of dealing with Tablet PC myths

I agree with Trevor, most of the time, I leave my handwriting as ink. The only converting I do is via the TIP. Why convert when you can search the ink?

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:44 AM 0 comments

HPClean, fellow Tablet PC MVP, does another great job in reviewing the Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC – lots of close up pictures, etc. It is in French, so use your favorite translator.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:33 AM 0 comments

I don’t know what to make of this press release (I’ll try to find out later), but it looks like that FranklinCovey has released PlanPlus for XP 5.0. I find this a bit strange because Agilix is still working on GoBinder 2006 which still has a tremendous amount of performance issues and bugs to the foundational part of the system. In addition, all of the screen shots on FranklinCovey.com are of 4.0. I’ve posted a thread to the Agilix public beta forum inquiring to the status. You can follow it here.

FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC)
announces the launch of PlanPlus for Windows XP 5.0, the company's latest
release of planning software. PlanPlus for Windows XP 5.0 has a customizable user interface, FranklinCovey applications for the Palm(R) OS, full category support, improved task organization and enhanced note-taking features.

FranklinCovey Releases PlanPlus(TM) for Windows(R) XP 5.0.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 5:00 AM 1 comments

It seems everyone is having some trouble solving the TabletPCBuzz.com riddle that I posted last night. Here is a clue that should provide some help –

Look at my profile on http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ – something is a little different with it that stands out from the others. It (and many others) appeared at some point in the last couple of years. That should provide enough to help solve the other parts. It definitely helps to have a little history on the Buzz to solve this one, though.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 9:14 PM 0 comments

Given that many of the business-oriented details of the new operating system — such as its Restart Manager — have already been discussed by Microsoft, Gates may instead focus on Vista's Media Center capabilities, or outline its Tablet PC functionality.

Businesses might find tablet PC talk of interest. Tablet PCs, which use pen input and a special Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system, have generally been slow sellers compared to standard notebooks. However, tablets have found homes in areas such as health care and education.

Meanwhile, some firms have also begun to show interest in Media Center PCs for audiovisual duties in showing presentations in boardrooms or sales meetings, some PC makers say.

FOXNews.com - Technology - Lots of Business Products at Consumer Electronics Show.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 8:54 PM 1 comments

I’ve blogged about this in the past, but MindManager really needs to fix their ink notes module and make it Tablet PC friendlier. They are getting there, but they have a ways to go.

1) Scrolling notes goofs up the ink to the point that you have to close the note and relaunch it just to get the ink lined up again.

2) The pen doesn’t hold its’ width selection when the eraser is used

3) ink and text can’t be used together.

4) Cannot paginate the notes

5) Can’t have more than one note per topic

6) Can’t select and copy paste into another ink app, or paste ink from another ink app

7) Can’t search the ink in the notes (text is searchable, but not the ink)

I’d encourage MindJet to look at the Infinotes API and consider using it for their notes module. As it is right now, I’m having to do my ink notes in a separate application and hyperlink to the note, which is disjointed.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:49 AM 0 comments

Add Len's Blog to your reader. Good stuff, especially the PDA / Tablet PC post.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:19 AM 0 comments

 Len, of LenToGo, gives a really good and detailed review of the LE 1600 extended battery.

I'd have the following to add to his very detailed review: if You forego the extended battery route and get extra standard batteries instead, seriously consider buying a charging unit. It will make your life easier by not having to use your slate as the charging mechanism for those extra batteries.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 6:10 AM 0 comments

I’ll give a Michael Linenberger “Total Workday Control, using Microsoft Outlook” to the first person who can solve the following. It’ll take a little bit of sleuth work, but it can be figured out. Provide the links as well…

1) My Profile on www.TabletPCBuzz.com

2) Month and Day of importance to my profile

3) Lora?

5) Warner?

6) The Date

7) The podcaster

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:58 PM 4 comments

Lora  has posted the CES Tablet PC meetup info for Friday, January 6 at 4:00 pm at the Cheese Burger at the Oasis at Aladdin’s Desert Passage.

More info at Lora’s blog. Hope to see you there!

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 11:19 PM 0 comments

For the next several weeks, I’m going to attempt to use my X41 Tablet PC as my only computer.

I’ll be at CES later this week. I’m trying to travel as light as possible and want to use this opportunity to put X41 throught its paces as my only system. I’ll be doing some development work with SQL Server, Dreamweaver, Flash, and Visual Basic. Performance wise, this tablet is doing really, really well. I’ve been very impressed.

The only thing I can forsee is the extended display issues. The M200 with the NVidia certainly has the X41 with the Intel graphic chipset beat on that end. I’ll also end up having to purchase a docking station, which I have put off.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 10:50 AM 3 comments

omar gives a great tip making the Outlook task view easier to read.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:34 AM 0 comments

Trevor has posted one of the best articles on ActiveWords that I have ever read. I picked up a great deal of tips from that post. Great job Trevor.

Now that Buzz has essentially made activewords free to all tablet users (link), now's the time to check it out. I also figured that there would be a lot of new activeword users, and I wanted to help get them up to speed and introduce them to some of the more powerful functions of activewords.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

The Tablet PC Show on TPN  is back, with host Perry.  Looking forward to it. Check it out.

# posted by Rob Bushway @ 1:30 AM 1 comments