Palmtop computers have long been crying out to be taken seriously as a corporate tool. The more sophisticated models have many of the functions found on laptops and PCs, but while their gadget factor has attracted technophiles, they have, until recently, failed to convince the mainstream business world of their capabilities.
The reason for this is, in part, their difficulty in shaking off the sins of the past - the design flaws that plagued earlier models. Unusable keyboards, blurry screens and handwriting recognition that simply did not work were only some of the problems. And while superior designs and improved processing power has done much to restore palmtop credibility, there is still a sense that it is a much misunderstood machine.
However researchers are currently working on new and exciting uses for the palmtop which will take it out of the shade of the laptop and thrust it in a completely new direction.
A team in UCD's Computer Science Department is working on one such project, funded by the EU. According to Gregory O'Hare, director of UCD's PRISM laboratory which is working on the HIPS (Hyper Interaction in Physical Spaces) project, tourists should be able to use the palmtop as the ultimate tour guide in five years' time. A prototype handheld tour guide has already been developed for the 300-acre UCD campus.
"This will enable the user to navigate the campus . . . using Global Positioning System [GPS] technology which will locate the device appropriately and present information relating to the adjacent building," he said. "When fully developed a tourist will be presented with personalised information relating to the building or monument or artifact they are interested in."
Early models will probably take the form of a museum or art gallery tour guide which will give all the information the tourist needs to know about the Jack Yeats, the Matisse, the Caravaggio or whatever they are viewing and will customise the text to their interests, age and expertise.
Shareware author Steve Litchfield has already created a moving-map display system called Psi-Mapper for Psion 3a and 3c palmtops, allowing them to hook up to a small GPS unit. The display shows the user's position and bearing on a map of Ireland, Britain, London or France. The more powerful handhelds have many of the functions of PC, in slimmed down version although interestingly, the best-selling palmtop at the moment is also one of the most basic - the 3Com Palm Pilot sold 1.6 million worldwide last year. A pocket-sized 2MB personal organiser, it uses a stylus for all functions instead of a keyboard. So does the popularity of the Palm Pilot indicate that less is more when it comes to handhelds?
Well, not necessarily. Unrealistic expectations of what a palmtop should actually do have been a problem. The small size of the keyboard and screen may not be conducive to belting out a novel or that lengthy business report, but the pocket computer is quite useful if you want to jot down a few lines on the train or bus. It is also useful as an editing tool as documents can be downloaded from a home or work PC via a docking station and amended on the device's screen.
Intel training systems analyst Sean Tobin uses his Philips Velo 1 to keep track of his own tasks and those of his team. "I use it to create to-do lists and to deal with my mail on the move," he says.
"When I bought it first I wondered if I was buying a bit of a gimmick and I'm still not sure it was worth the price tag of £500, but when Intel changes its computer system and my palmtop can talk to it, then it will really come into its own. I don't do any serious documents on the WP function but the handwriting recognition is quite good on it so I might scribble a few notes. A problem with it though is that is has a very short battery life. It only lasts a couple of days and I constantly have to recharge it."
It appears that the Palmtop is at last about to graduate from the realms of gadgetry and is finally finding its niche as a business tool. Gregory O'Hare predicts that the palmtop will become all pervasive in the society of the future. "It is my belief that mobile computing represents the next major development in computing technology. There is a rapid convergence between mobile telephone and palmtop computing functionality and this will continue."
Edel Morgan: edelmorgan@cybergal.com