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Handhelds Hardware

Visor Phone Released 137

Posted by CmdrTaco from the thats-pretty-cool dept.
Tihstae writes "Since this hasn't been mentioned yet, I figured I would bring it to everyone's attention. Of course I did ordered mine before the slashdot effect. You can get yours visorphone here " This looks a lot nicer then the clunky Qualcomm/Palm III version that was available for awhile, but I still think its a bit large. I'm still waiting for the handhelp PDA/Phone with a nice built in game system, and enough memory for a few days of MP3s tho. Oh, and 802.11 networking, and the ability to remotely display X11 apps. And it should cook rice perfectly every time.
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Visor Phone Released More

Visor Phone Released

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  • Several of the pages in that site state that it is a 1900MHz GSM phone interface. SMS is supported. A "14.4Kbps modem" is mentioned, but the phrasing makes it sound as if it is an analog modem, not GSM digital data. Odd, as usually access to SMS also means support for digital data in a phone. I could get GSM digital data in my cell phone with my carrier's $40/month "unlimited Internet" service.
  • And given the price, it might even be said to have very large teeth.
    You know, taking a big bite out of your wallet... Ah, never mind, it's early yet for humor. ;)

    -J

  • Now, how do I stop my Visor getting full of sweat and grease every time I make a phone call? Women will have a harder time, with all their makeup.

    Fh

  • Coverage is going to suck in the US, and likely all of north America. It uses (only) GSM, whereas TDMA/CDMA is all the rage in the States, and Canada (I believe).

    True - my "wunderPDA" would combine a Palm Vx with CDPD data (an AMPS service, I believe) and a TDMA or CDMA phone - preferably able to do both CDPD data (uses TCP) and CDMA voice (uses "Huh, what did you say?" for error correction :) at the same time.

    I love my combination Palm Vx and OmniSky - can do Web browsing, telnet/ssh, email, etc. nationwide on AT&T CDPD network. (OK, Slashdot articles usually are too long to load into memory, I'll have to set up a separate account that only looks at 20 messages per page). But I have to carry a dang cellphone as well.
  • CDMA 1900 and GSM don't work well inside the buildings (or windowless cubicle-filled caves like the one I'm in now).
  • You get a modem -- think internet connection from your pocket. It's at least as useful as the OmniSky or Palm VII, both of which are very cool

    OmniSky is far cooler than Palm VII because it is basically full Internet over CDPD, as opposed to email/web clipping.

    Also I'm sure that if the Visor Phone is a cell modem, there are probably connection time charges (OmniSky uses a flat rate nationwide AT&T CDPD network.)

    Of course, where you have 128kbps Ricochet, one would prefer that.
  • Perhaps then you should maybe backup the data in your phone, Einstein?
  • VoiceStream expects to have GSM up and running in southeastern Wisconsin, all the way down to Chicago, on March 1st. I've made successful calls thru 8 sites so far, but recent weather and glitches suggest that the target date may mean a lot of overtime in February.

  • Yah, I noticed that after the fact. I even used the Preview button! ;) I got a general sense of wrongness looking at my post, but...

    My brain is muddled from too many Palm sites and too flaming many acronyms with "P."

    -J
  • READ stu72's remarks!!! It's absolutely true! You can read them here [slashdot.org]

  • I dunno about that. What i do know is i've never had a time when my cell phone (Verizon Wireless) didn't work. Except a few cases inside buildings when the signal gets weak. I travel from the san francisco/san jose area, to central california, down to other areas, and while i hardly leave the high ways or citys, coverage has always been just fine.

    Journey
  • No actualy, handspring gets the same ammount either way. The difference is your paying part, and the provider is paying the other part of your phone. If you dont like it talk the GSM providers in YOUR area into partialy-subsidising the phone.

    Journey

  • Cost? (Score:3)

    by Shotgun ( 30919 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:43AM (#546646)
    This thing is $299. You have to buy the Visor PDA seperately, another $150 to $250.

    $500 plus somewhere around $30/month for the service to be able to talk on the PHONE?!! Isn't the price/benefit ratio lacking just a little here?

    It seems that there are a LOT of people with more dollars than cents out there.

  • Re:I still don't get it (Score:4)

    by plover ( 150551 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:43AM (#546647) Homepage Journal
    You get a modem -- think internet connection from your pocket. It's at least as useful as the OmniSky or Palm VII, both of which are very cool (my coworkers use them almost every lunch hour.)

    You get a phone, while adding only 2.9 oz to your pocket (and that includes the LIon battery.) And you get the full functionality of dialing straight out of the address book application.

    The three reasons I don't have a cell phone on me 24x7 are the weight, size and subsequent wrangling of an additional device. I'm thinking I can even ditch my alphanumeric pager if the SMS thing pans out. (Of course, that won't happen until GSM coverage becomes more widespread around here.) The only drawback I can see is it won't do analog dual-mode (for those times when GSM just ain't gonna happen.)

    John

  • Programming info (Score:5)

    by maddogsparky ( 202296 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:44AM (#546648)
    Below is a reply received on December 3rd to some questions I submitted on their developer site [handspring.com] a while back.

    Is there any technical information available to facilitate creating 3rd party apps for the VisorPhone?

    Specifically, I'm interested in possibilities involving the microphone, speaker and headset. Also, is there any memory available for apps in the module?

    Hi xxxxx,

    Sorry for the long delay in getting back to you.

    We will be making an API for VisorPhone available that will allow you to manipulate the phone. I believe we'll be publishing the APIs later in the month. The microphone is passed up from the handheld to the Springboard slot directly. The speaker and headset are part of the module electronics. I mention this because some developers are interested in manipulating these features with software running on the handheld which isn't possible outside the phone. For example, the APIs will allow you to establish a call from software. They won't include functionality to utilize the mic or speaker directly though.

    Data is handled by using the phone just like a circuit switched modem.

    The space in the Flash module is likely to be pretty tight. App space on the module memory is a great idea, but I don't think we were able to do that this time around.

    Business related inquires can also be directed to DevInfo@Handspring.com if you'd like to discuss the commercial aspects of this product.

    Mike, DTS

  • Wrong... It's just a GSM phone. It works wherever GSM is available, and GSM is available in our nations capitol. (You may be paying higher rates, but thats why you get a company visor phone).
  • But it hadn't been available for purchase. I know, I've been checking their website almost daily.

    John

    Pardon, is my obsession showing?

  • Are you not getting enough to eat, Taco? Yesterday it was stromboli, now its rice. Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters, and great deli sandwitches.
  • So when can we expect them to start selling the visor/phone combo for $50 and a one year service contract? Or better yet, 1 cent, one year contract @ $39.99/month with 1500 minutes/month, no roaming or long distance charges, and basic cell phone wap or internet service...

    -Adam

    Failed products:
    Jalepeno Toilet Paper
  • According to the GSM spec (and the VisorPhone FAQ [handspring.com]) - there is a SIM card you can switch between a normal phone and a VisorPhone. Now, if they only had the coverage...
  • Me, I'm waiting for 802.11 as well. The wireless network on campus uses it, and I'm too cheap to get a decent laptop to use with it. I have, however, seen an alternative solution: a Compaq iPaq handheld, a PC Card sleeve, and any WaveLAN/Orinoco PC Card. The total cost will run you around $850, and all the added hardware makes it very clunky to hold. I'm hoping for a somewhat smaller solution before I leave here in 2003.
  • What is with the americans and GMS? The rest of the world seems to love it

    I won't claim to speek for the other amaricans, but I had GSM service for about two years, until Sprint changed the wasington area from GSM to CDMA. The switch was a botch from a customer relations point of view (bad choice of free replacment phones, accessory upgrade only if you took the free phone, tight deadlines, phone shortages; going to the local stores and talking nice seemed to help alot though).

    The new CDMA service is slightly nicer then the old GSM-1900 service. It sounds a little better. It has somewhat better covrage, the phone was smaller and lighter (well, that would have been true if I had traded my old GSM phone for a new one). I lost the ability to send text messages from the phone (can still recieve them), but got the wireless web stuff... ...the wireless web stuff is just a cut above crap, but not by a lot.

    So from my point of view it was a modest improvment, but an improvment none the less.

    From their point of view it in thery lets them get more calls in the same bandwidth (I think original projections were for 40x analog usage while GSM is about 8x or 12x; I think the estimates have come down to far less then 40x, but still a bit above GSM's).

    That doesn't really do much for me, unless a cellular price war forces prices down to close to costs (or if I had FON or AWE stock). Prices are coming down, so maybe that is happening.

    When I had a GSM (at 1900Mhz) phone, Sprint didn't have roaming agreements with the UK. That was about the only place I went outside the USA, and no covrage from orange or vodaphone, or anyone. I was even willing to rent a phone for my SIMM, but no dice.

    So I don't really miss GSM much. Maybe the visor phone will come out in a CDMA version. Who knows. I'm not sure I would want to pay $200 for it, my existing phone is pretty small...

  • and I can't wait to see it under the tree!
  • ... in fact, I'd even settle for one that makes perfect p0pc0rn every time... it has to be buttered tho, and none of this 'lite' trash either...

    *sheepish grin*

    /* ever wonder why they call it a sheepish grin? */

    /* baaaaaaaaaaa */

  • I haven't been able to find any information about whether the VisorPhone is simply a cellphone with a PDA, or whether the Visor can use the VisorPhone for wireless communication.

    Has anyone else managed to get any information about it? Sales personnel at Handspring don't seem to have that information available...

  • I thought that was standard practice for any cellular phone deal. Back when I used to sell them, there would be a $300 "non-activation fee" for any customer that wanted to buy the phone and take it to another state. It's like buying direct without the benefit -- the service provider isn't getting you for your yearly contract, so why should they help buy your phone? Remember when they were giving away analog cell phones? The phones weren't really free, they usually cost the store US$150-200; the stores would be reimbursed that amount from the service provider for each new contract signed.

  • So now when will /. post some encryption news like H.R.46 that congress is trying to sneak in or something other than most of this commercialistic stuff swelling my eyeballs to oblivion

    H.R. 46 [cryptome.org]

    Home Sweet Home [antioffline.com]
  • This sounds like a job for...the Iridium satelite!
    The worlds first orbiting paper weight could be put to work!!

    "comedy is my career but pornograpgy is my passion"---a subtle use of aliteration!




  • It looks like a hippo! It's big, and grey, and even has a tail.
  • In general, GSM works fine inside buildings, but of course you need a decent amount of transmitter stations spread around... well we have that here in Europe *smiles*

    BTW, no need for a springboard module here, I just need to line up my cellphone (Nokia 8210) and my PDA (Palm Vx) and off ya' go... IRDA is cool (though of course BlueTooth would be even cooler, as I wouldn't have to align the IR sensors on the two devices anymore).

  • $299! (Score:1)

    by topeka ( 57768 )
    A bit steep don't ya think. How is it going to compete with existing service if its 100x more expensive.
  • The Visor continues to function normally while the phone conversation continues. So, the question then is: do you continue your hand-held phone conversation while Graffitiing notes, or looking up addresses, or do you set the phone down while you trot out the memopad?

    Yes, it's a compromise, but it may not be as bad as you're thinking.

    John

  • I have had a visor deluxe for almost a year. I have broken it twice. First time, the little app buttons with the metal backs got smashed in. Second time the screen cracked. (I only carry it in my front pocket.)

    I also have a cell phone, I carry it on my hip and beat the hell out of it all day. It hasn't broken yet.

    I don't think I could ever treat my visor half as rough as I do my cell phone. The visor would break in a few weeks.

    (Or I may just be clumsy)

  • The Visorphone uses the GSM network and SIM cards. Wouldn't be nice if the Irish could stop being stupid wankers... And invent cool stuff... and stop killing each other....
  • They angled the speaker at a 45 bevel from the top of the device. It's an attempt to get you to try to "stick it in your ear," which (theory says) will make you want to hold it away from your face.

    John

  • Indeed. This goes even if you're getting a regular cell phone. Certainly check with someone who's actually employed by the provider.

    A friend of mine was told by a salesperson (for a 'middleman' store) that he'd be able to get service both in Savannah and Atlanta, and that he'd be able to set it up so that he could call 'locally' to Atlanta. He found out, months later, that his his particular phone provider only covers the eastern seaboard. Roaming -and- long distance charges should he actually wish to use his phone in Atlanta.

    ---
  • Bluetooth modules are available.

  • Re:Nice, but... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Gahh, it does take a SIM card. However it uses that damn awkward US-only frequency (GSM1900) and so isn't much use in Europe for the moment. They say that there will be a European (GSM1800) model out next year(I think?).

    Duncan
  • fack... http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c106:5:./tem p/~c106lx1Z3K::
  • I must say, I am often quite disappointed with Engineers....it seems they always miss the obvious. I think we are all waiting for the following. We all want a palm/PDA that supports the non-proprietary formats that already exist. Handspring did better than 3Com with their expansion slot. But why re-invent the wheel and from talking to 3Com at the Internet Expo, it sounds like they're going to re-invent it a third time as they too are coming out with Palms that have expandability ports. When will this proprietariness stop? All I am asking for is a Palm unit that has a flash memory card port on the side (come on I got one in my Diamond Rio, think of all the memory and expandability you can add to your Palm unit with such). And then in top, kill the slot give me 1 or preferbly two PCMCIA slots. The format already exists as a fairly common standard. (Laptops anyone) it just seems to make sense to me. Plug in a PC Card modem (or better yet, cell phone module) and a 325meg IBM micro drive. Slide in a 64meg Flash card. And my Palm unit is ready to rock, MP3, photo-camera, cellular browser, etc. Oh yeah, give me a small AC adapter jack for when I am using it at my desk. =) I just think a Flash memory slot and a PCMCIA slot would make a palm unit killer. =) And is it reall
  • Neither the VisorPhone nor the pdQ2 would be The Way To Go for this power user :-) because they both use circuit-switched data connections = SLOW connection times of around 30 seconds.

    I tried the VisorPhone at an FTC-sponsored wireless conference last week in DC. The sales rep (from Handspring) had received the unit the night before and couldn't get it to complete a call, even though the screen showed that there was an active call. The software didn't even know the VisorPhone was turned off!!!! We tried a couple of different SIM chips, used the unit in different Visors. No dice. Even so, the whole unit seemed a bit bulky to me.

    Would rather use a packet-based solution like CDPD (which you can get for the Visor [novatelwireless.com]) or GPRS, and even then, for me these would be integrated with the telephony portion of the phone.

    I just don't see any reason not to have a PDA/Phone combo that doesn't do both circuit-switched and packet-based connections. The success of the Ericsson R280LX is clear evidence that such a combination is a good idea. If Ericsson can pack dual-band TDMA, AMPS and CDPD into that little phone, why can't somebody come out with a Springboard that does GSM900, GSM1900 and GPRS?

    Besides, you won't get circuit-switched data speeds of 14.4 unless the network is setup for it. I don't think any of the USA GSM networks are running that fast.

  • there didn't seem to be much in stating if it would work with other Palm style units or not

    It won't. The Visorphone connects using the proprietary "Springboard Module" interface on the back of the unit - this feature is essentially what distinguishes Visors from Palms.

    I'm not familiar with the pdQ device, but the Visor does have some pretty cool stuff going for it. In addition to running the vast majority of PalmOS software out there, it's... well, it's a phone, so even though you might not like the shape of the thing, you'd be able to play Dopewars while you talked to your mom.

    The thing that bothers me about the Visorphone is the coverage, but plenty of people have mentioned that on /. already, so I'll leave it to them to discuss.

  • Maybe they are sticking to proprietary so THEY can sell you the expansions instead of everyone else.
  • Yup. If only the US telcos had had the foresight to standardize on GSM! If you've ever been to Europe or Australia and experienced how good and easy cell phones should be, you'll know that relatively speaking, the US sucks in this regard.
  • BTW, can anyone explain why Visor chose not to make its OS upgradable other than via RAM-resident patches?

    Sure. A ROM memory (Read Only Memory, programmed once (either when it is made, as in a mask rom, or later, as in a prom - programmable)) is significantly less expensive than flash memory, and requires less interface circuitry. Flash generally requires a 12v programming voltage (provided by voltage converters, adds an extra 20 cents to the design or so).

    And given that the palm os is mature, RAM patches are not a bad idea. The visor will be obsolete before a new os would be required to run newer programs that will be produced several years from now.

    -Adam

    Failed Products:
    Helicopter ejection seat.
  • The VisorPhone does use SIM cards (and so it's a GSM phone according to their FAQ)
  • I'm continuing the conversation offcourse. Esp. when you're trying to tell the one you are calling with some names or numbers. I can read them while talking, reread them while the other person repeats it to prevent mistakes, etc.

    I have my PDA for a very good reason and that is to store and retrieve information. It would not be the first time that I'm looking up stuff while talking with someone to either check their story, look up and double check my own notes, or even when planning a meeting. That is kinda impossible with this device as far as I can see.

  • If you fix the cable, we just have remove the phone's display, keyboard and battery, then we can make our own PalmPhone.

    - Bush and Dick's homepages will never penetrate any censor-ware
  • Well, the pdQ looked like a phone, worked like a phone, weighed like a brick.

    They were missing the old "human factors testing" that went into the original Palm (and made it such a success) like carrying around a chunk of wood in a shirt pocket, determining max weight and size empirically. A friend of mine who owns one carries it around in his briefcase! Hardly usable.

    John

  • You're thinking of sprint PCS ($35 for 1500 mionutes, no long distance, no roaming, free wireless web... ;)

    God I love my PCS phone :)

  • While GSM may be the standard in Europe, GSM is rare in the US. Even at the maximum possible rollout (All GSM providers support the thing), that still isn't much coverage.

    CDMA is the way to go. Either in the old 900 MHz cell band or the 1900 MHz band.

    The pdQ's main drawbacks were price and the fact that it's single-band, single-mode. I wouldn't be surprised if its successor, the Kyocera QCP-6035, is much better.

    Oh, just checked Kyocera's site: http://www.kyocera-wireless.com/showroom/showcase/ coming_soon_6000.htm

    It IS better. 8M memory, dual-band/trimode. Digital in both bands, and analog fallback for the phone part. This will work with many providers. (Well, actually at this point I think Verizon encompasses all of the non-Sprint CDMA providers. So it'll work with Verizon and Sprint.) Highly unlikely it'll ever work with any provider that uses TDMA anytime soon - Kyocera's wireless division was just bought from Qualcomm, which means CDMA only for a while at least.)
  • It's a matter of priorities.

    The trouble with your analysis is that you're looking at it from a cell-phone-junkie perspective. I'm looking at it from a PDA-junkie perspective. I carry a PDA because I can't function without it. I carry a pager because my job causes me to. I do not carry a cell phone because I don't want to have another device drooping my pants pocket or hanging around my belt like some high-tech albatross.

    Would I like a cell phone? Yes. Do I use a cell phone when my on-call rotation week comes up? Yes. Is it annoying to carry a cell phone? Hell yes!

    I'm not a cell phone junkie, nor a constant traveller -- if I were, I'd want the tiniest little triple-band tri-mode phone out there. The VisorPhone will give me the opportunity to carry a cell phone for the few occassions when I need one, without the hassle of physically carrying a separate cell phone. It has the added benefit of wirelessly networking my Visor.

    If you need both a high performance cell phone AND a PDA, you already own both, and don't need VisorPhone. But, if you need a modest usage cell phone and already own a Visor, it fits the niche perfectly. And I suspect more than ten of us are waiting in this niche.

    John

  • My sentiment's exactly. I'm in a similar situation such as yourself. Currently, I don't own or carry a phone, though my company wants me to carry a blackberry [blackberry.net] pager. While it is cool to be able to read my email on the train, I find that the unit itself is usless for anything else. (The paging service doesn't even work!) And now my visor doesn't get as much use as a result. I do plan to get the visorphone although I am troubled somewhat by the fact that the phone won't work in europe. Handspring does imply that later generation phones may be able to work in the EU as well as the US. I may get the phone regardless depending on what people have to say about the service

  • $500 plus somewhere around $30/month for the service to be able to talk on the PHONE?!!

    No, you see, it's $299 for the phone. That's what lets you talk on the phone. I saw plenty of $300 phones out there a year ago, and even some now at the high end. Then you've got $150 to $250 for the Visor, which is much more than a phone.

    Now, if you combine them together, the total cost is $500, but as anyone can see, you can do much more than just "talk on the PHONE."
  • Shheeesh, when are we going to have a 'real choice' with cell phones? I hate this BS of annual contracts for
    - cell phones
    - DSL

    The sole reason I am with SPrint is
    - no annual contract
    - better coverage (I live in Silicon Valley)
    - decent PCS phones with WAP (when are you going to learn Verizon? 149.99 for a vanilla Nokia phone..Phullese!)
    - some what okay customer service, but I use their web account mangement, so I don't give a rat.

    I think cell phones should come like buying a home phone. You just go out and buy the model you like & afford (even in Safeway), you plug it in (or call the 1800 number) and wham, you are set. But knowing US 'corporate consumer policies' that would be the day....

    I would rather wait for NEOPOINT 2000 (http://www.neopoint.com). IT is basically PDA+phone for $300 bucks. (Visor phone alone is 300 !)

    Well, wireless access in US sucks anyway :-)

    LinuxLover
  • .....yeah, doesn't it suck when a pioneering release of a new and pretty damn cool technology comes out, and it's not dirt cheap, doesn't talk to everything under the sun, work in every God-forsaken corner of the globe, and stand up to all of your wild, pie in the sky expectations? I mean...the rat bastards, how dare they! All initial releases of cutting edge prices must be perfect in every way, and be given out in little plastic bags burried in cereal boxes, right? Personally, I'm not going to buy it, but it's a pretty damn nice try on the part of Handspring.

    Sure, it's expensive....most new technology is expensive (not like research and development costs anything, afterall). And maybe it doesn't speak bluetooth or make rice, but it does what it does in a pretty small package.

    Do what I'm going to do...wait for Handspring to see how this does, and pick up the next version in a year or so. They should work out most of the kinks, and it most likely won't cost too much. Same goes for the Prism...it's nice, but it's expensive, and it has a few quirks.

  • In January, when it will hit the shops, I gonna get a Mitsubishi Trium Mondo (http://www.trium.net/products.asp?action=getMore& id=61). This phone, which I think will be available initially only in Europe, is a PDA with Phone, supporting WAP and GPRS standards for Internet browsing. It's really cool, and it comes with headphones and a MP3 player.
  • This is why you would use the earbud/headset.

    Hold the visor in your hands while jotting down notes, and talk into the headset. You get better sound quality than talking into it directly, and the convenience of being able to take notes and talk at the same time.
  • That *is* odd. If it were GSM-data compliant, it would be immensely more useful to me than if it emulates an analog modem.
  • well if your willing to pay out the a$$ for it you can have it. Get a Visor Prism to play 16 bit color games ($400), a Phone Springboard for wireless connectivity ($250). Use PalmVnc to run your X apps, and Pick up a MiniJam mp3 Springboard... Damn now where is that rice cooker Springboard I wanted for X-Mass
  • So are you gonna "did ordered" yours today?
  • One word.

    Headset.

    And that way, it doesn't cook your brain with microwaves either.

  • The GSM standard appears to require SIM cards. I have never heard of a GSM phone that didn't use a SIM card. I have also never heard of a non-GSM phone that had a SIM card.

    Too bad really, SIM cards are a good idea, and there is no technical reason why you couldn't design a (for example) CDMA phone that took a SIM card so that you could use a GSM phone in Europe and then in the US switch to a more popular CDMA system.

  • Yeah but the service area and provider SUCKS! Why put out such a cool gadget with a shitty provider and without the ability to switch to diffrent Cell phone providers. I for one will hold off for a while. Besides I just bought Motoroal timeport and it's working perfect.
  • This is close to what I want. Basically I'm looking for a system that is composed of two parts:

    1 - A Visor/Palm with Cell-phone capacity

    2 - A wireless "hearing-aid" type earpiece that communicates with my visor/palm.

    The earpiece would have a button on it that you hit to make the visor "listen" to you, and uses speech recognition to know who to call, and would also use speech synthesis to tell you (via CallerID/ANI) who is calling you. To receive a call you would merely tap your earpiece.

    It's so elegant it's not even funny.

    To all palm/visor/cell companies, if you make this I WILL BUY ONE! Even if it's $700-$1200.

  • Good point on the flash v. ROM case, but your helicopter idea is in production. For a full demo, just check out the Bond flick Goldeneye, chapter 31 on your DVD. Bond and his hottie escape the copter they're trapped in by hitting the "eject" button and the entire cockpit goes flying (with a nifty parachute landing) after the blades are blown off. And no, I don't believe that everything I see in the movies is real.
  • I'm drooling over the Visor Phone, but I have two concerns (the same ones everyone else has I'm sure)

    Sometimes I want to leave the Visor at home but still have my cell phone with me

    There are some situations where I wouldn't be caught dead talking into one.

    The simple solution is to let me have a regular cell phone, in addition to the Visor Phone, on the same plan. Hopefully somebody will provide this option.
  • It would not be the first time that I'm looking up stuff while talking with someone to either check their story, look up and double check my own notes, or even when planning a meeting. That is kinda impossible with this device as far as I can see.

    If you look at the web page, I think it's on the Shockwave "tour" of the phone, they do something very subtle. When they mention the ability to use your Visor for taking notes while you're on the phone, they juxtapose that text opposite a picture of a hands-free unit. So there is your solution - you plug a headset into the Visorphone, and then you can use the full functionality of the Visor while you are using it as a phone.

  • Isn't the whole point of having GSM so that you can talk anywhere in the world? It's the only reason I would have bought one...not that I leave North America that often. One more thing. Why no Sprint coverage? I know smart ass, sprint uses PCS but that's not what I'm getting at. Sprint has decent coverage but cheap rates. I currently use them AND have a visor, it would have been great if I could ditch the phone and just carry the Visor.

    I'm in exactly the same boat: I've got a Visor and a Sprint PCS plan ($50/mo. for 1500 minutes nationwide). I'd get the VisorPhone in a New York minute, but the Pac Bell plans in my area aren't worth it ($150 for 1500 min./mo. nationwide -- yes, three times as much). One option is to wait for AirPrime to ship their CDMA VisorPhone, the SB1000 [airprime.com], to their OEMs -- which I believe includes Sprint -- this summer.

  • Rice! (Score:2)

    by Bud ( 1705 )
    Cooking rice is easy. Just measure the right amount of water and salt and let it boil (under a cover). Add the rice, wait for a minute and stir it a little so it doesn't get cloggy. Then turn off the stove and go do something else. Within 30 minutes, the rice will be ready.

    You can also do this in a large frying pan. Then you can start by frying some base ingredient, e.g. chicken or vegetables (chili is a vegetable, right?). Then add the water and rice, cover the pan and let it be on a low temperature until the rice is done. Add seasoning. Easy, fast and a minimum of washing up.

    --Bud
  • Of course the people at handspring did a GSM phone first, this is where the majority of the mobile market is. GSM is used by 150 countries, 447 networks, and more customers than all other standards put together: 300 million (55 per cent of the total world cellular market), the Japanese PHS system has more customers than CDMA.

    This is one market where the US tendency to ignore world standards has seriously backfired and the future is also bleak as they have set up their own standard for UMTS (3GPP2) [3gpp2.org] rather than participate in 3GPP [http]

  • Nokia has had it's 9000 Communicator out for a few years now.. rather bulky and nowhere near as elegant in design as the new phones, but it was apparently not a bad gadget.
    Looks just like an ordinary mobile phone (except for the odd wedge-shaped flip-out antenna), then you press a little button on the side and open it like a book to reveal a palmtop-sized LCD screen and qwerty keyboard.
  • I've had the VisorPhone since Tuesday morning... god love FedEx. That afternoon I went and bought some WriteRight screen protectors. Works great, especially since I find myself using my fingers to dial instead of the stylus. BTW: The headset it funky, too much ambient noise back into the earpiece. But otherwise much more slick than using IR to my Nokia 8890.
  • Since I've searched through the feedback and haven't found a review here's mine: Background, I'm a long time palm user with too much money. Hence I got a Pilot 5000 when it came out, a III, V, IIIc. I finally decided to pick up a Visor Prism so I could get color with the OmniSky. Long story short, get the Prism, Minstrel S outta stock. Sunday evening surf over to handspring and.... "Whoa!" I've been a customer of PacBell Mobile for several years (too many handsets to mention) so I figure, 'what the hell' and shell out the $540 for it. (Yeah, yeah, I know) Mister FedEx drops it off Tuesday. My first impression, was cool but awkward to use, after carrying a tiny Nokia 8290 for the last couple months. Then it was, this thing sucks.... but now that I've got all the numbers transferred from my SIM and AddressBook integrated... this is slick. Fav Feature: The SMS, hands down. Grafiti is faster than any predictive text input on any phone. Especially when I break out the StowAway KB. Killer feature: Data calls. Yeah it's only 9600, but email flows, and SSH is passable. Rather than a cell phone and a $40/mo. CDPD solution. I've got the advantages of both without the extra device and cost. Bonus Points: Unified charging. Just drop it in the cradle and it charges the Prism and the phone battery. Fire and Forget. Downsides: Somewhat awkward to put to your ear, but the speaker is _damn_ loud. (I've been using it speakerphone style in front of me, as the seperation between mic and speaker eliminates feedback) The Ear piece's microphone is highly succeptable to background noise (which is routed back into the earpiece (OUTCH!)) The screen gets greasy from fingers and the face, so I threw a WriteRight screen protector on, and that resolved the issue. A note on Price: Price is a matter of opinion, so I don't count it as a Pro or Con. You have to evaluate if that $$ will simplify your life in the most efficient manner. Closing: All I can say is this thing is slick and well thought out. I personally can't wait to see what people come up with once the API is released. I'm only 2 days into this eval, but I see great things.

  • $500 plus somewhere around $30/month for the service to be able to talk on the PHONE?!!

    First of all, talking on the phone is hardly the only thing you can do with the Visor, which makes your statement seem kind of silly. Second, most people interested in the phone have already bought a Visor. Third, while the phone may be a bit pricy, it's also quite small, light, and integrates nicely with the Visor. I'm sure that's worth something.

  • Coverage is going to suck in the US, and likely all of north America. It uses (only) GSM, whereas TDMA/CDMA is all the rage in the States, and Canada (I believe).

    There is a version of GSM in the States, called GSM1900, which eats into the UMTS bands, and represents less than about 10% of the total market traffic. It is that small fraction of the wireless traffic that this module will support.

    For me, to buy a product at a 200% increase to the most expensive phones in common service, which only supports a tiny market segment, is ludicrous.

    Also, to answer the guy who asked why Handspring chose to only allow upgrades via RAM-resident patches, the answer is blindingly obvious: It costs less to burn ROMs than to install flash RAM in the Visors.

    --*> Some of this is opinion. Some of it is fact. /You/ figure it out for yourself. *--

  • I was actually interested in posting a similar article today, but I knew it wasn't much of a post...I'm x-mas geek shopping and a cell phone with pda features is at the top of my list. Unfortunately it looks I'm going to be out of luck for x-mas. I've ruled out the handspring phone as being too expensive and too bulky. Plus as mentioned before it's not going to be available across the country. I think CDMA is a better option in the US at least for now.

    Here's what I'm interested in: the Kyocera Smartphone Series - QCP 6035 that is supposed to be available early next year. It's CDMA with palm 3.5 with 8 mb.

    Here are some articles about it:

    News article about it here [cnet.com] and here [palminfocenter.com] (with some pics) and here [palmstation.com].

    Here's what they filed with the FCC here [fcc.gov]. The FCC has some nice pics of the guts of the pda phone. (Side note: I figured all you hardware geeks would like this)

    Ok, here's what I want: a cell phone with PDA, pager features, 8 mb of ram for under 600 bucks and is small.

    I'm not going to get that with the handspring phone. It's going to cost me 800 plus after taxes to get that and Kyocera says they are going to be selling theirs for under 800 and it's going to be smaller.

    If you don't know about Kyocera, they bought Qualcomm CDMA phone business which included the out of date PDQ phone. Here's a link to their site [kyocera-wireless.com]

    Ok...that's all I know....does anyone on /. know of a palm OS cell phone deal that is or is going to be better?

  • According to the site it is a GSM phone. This means that it'll use any SIM card that you care to stick into it. The reason that you can't use it in Ireland is that it's not a triple band phone. In Europe and much of the rest of the world GSM operates in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands. In North America moblie phones operate at 800 and 1900 MHz with GSM being used only in the 1900 MHz band. It's a bit unfortunate that this happened. The Europeans tend to turn their noses up at the North Americans as if this incompatability were somehow their fault despite the fact that the frequency bands were allocated in North America before they were in Europe.

    This problem can be overcome by getting a triple mode phone [ericsson.com] or borrowing a phone (putting in your own SIM) when you cross the pond. The site also indicates that Handspring is working on a triple-band phone module that will be avaliable for those who live in !North America or frequently travel around the world.

    As for the SIM cards, why would you expect them to be provider independant? They are your means of authenticating yourself to the network. Seems kind of silly to think that they would be provided by someone other than the network operator.
    _____________

  • While GSM may be the standard in Europe, GSM is rare in the US.

    GSM is the standard pretty much everywhere in the whole world except the USA.

  • Get a Rhinoskin case (www.rhinoskin.com). I've got the ShockSuit Sport Case...durable as hell. I've only managed to break the case once since I had it, and all that happened was the belt clip came apart. Rhinoskin sent me a replacement clip, no questions asked.

  • but no service in the nation's capitol yet.

    BTW, can anyone explain why Visor chose not to make its OS upgradable other than via RAM-resident patches?
    ----------------------------------
  • "And it should cook rice perfectly every time."

    with or without the boil-in bag?

  • Yes, well... (Score:3)

    by Ravagin ( 100668 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:24AM (#546729)
    Yes, it does look nicer than the old PQA. Though the new PQA actually looks pretty nice [pdabuzz.com]. Very cleverly designed, if naught else. And cooler, form-factor-wise, than the Visor+VisorPhone.
    I'm not a huge admirer of the Visor (I fear that's due to loyalty to my Palm IIIxe), but this is a great application of the Springboard. However, read the discusison threads on the Visorphone on any handheld site (like Palmstation [palmstation.com]) and you'll see the problems. Cost, coverage, compatibility, etc. I won't rehash each of those issues here.

    For the disposable-income-laden power user, this looks like The Way To Go. But otherwise... I'm not so sure. This seems partially to be a "because we can" feat that will need time to become perfected.

    -J
  • That's funny: I don't live in the US. Why would you suppose that I do. Oh ya, you must be an american.
  • Uhm, not really. The last two cellular phones that I bought were $325 (Nokia 5120) and $300 (Motorola Timeport, which BTW sucks ass). Having all of the functionality of a PDA and internet on a screen that you can actually use, plus the pen interface is WELL worth the extra $200.

    Rami
    --
  • And given that the palm os is mature, RAM patches are not a bad idea. The visor will be obsolete before a new os would be required to run newer programs that will be produced several years from now.

    Only one problem with that theory: there are already products out there (mostly Springboard modules) that only work with the two new Visors (Prism and Platinum) because they've got Palm OS 3.5 instead of 3.1. Handspring hasn't said anything about bringing out a 3.5 RAM patch for the older Visors, and even if they do, nobody knows if that will make these new Springboard modules work.

    Don't get me wrong, my Visor is wonderful and does everything I bought it for and then some, but I don't believe that there will never be a need for an OS upgrade.

    BTW: There are helicopters with ejection seats, all designed for the Soviet military. They blow the helicopter blades off with explosives before firing the seat.
  • Actually, $499 without a service plan is pretty standard. The provider cannot guarantee the phone will only be used on his/her network, so they cannot guarantee any residual income from selling you a phone. If they sold it far, far, far, below cost, as most phones are sold, you could walk across the street (or the border) and use your phone on someone else's network.

    All those fancy PCS phones you can get for anywhere from $0 to $100 are actually worth many hundreds more, but the provider is counting on the phone to be used on their network. That's why the phones (gsm or not) are locked in some way to the network. If you buy an unlocked phone, you can use it anywhere, so it's not going to be sold below cost. And if you have service with a company that subsidizes the purchase price of your phone (aka all of the cell co.'s) then if you don't upgrade your phone every year to the most outrageous model, the air-time rates you pay are subsidizing those who do!

  • The only really cool feature about these handheld phones is that you can sync your addressbook. Right now, if I were to lose my cellphone, I would lose quite a few contacts.
  • "You got your Cell Phone in my Visor"
    "You got your Visor in my Cell Phone"

    "Two great tastes that taste great together"
  • Xircom is rolling out [xircom.com] both 802.11 and Bluetooth Springboard modules next year.

  • www.adbusters.org (Score:3)

    by SubtleNuance ( 184325 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @08:42AM (#546749) Journal
    I'm still waiting for the handhelD PDA/Phone with a nice built in game system, and enough memory for a few days of MP3s tho ugh . Oh, and 802.11 networking, and the ability to remotely display X11 apps. And it should cook rice perfectly every time

    You can get this with a iPAQ or Casio E1XX and the right array of CF cards. None of this 'springboard' proprietary interface stuff. Ive got a CF 56K modem, 10/100NIC & (2pcs) 96MB CF mem for my E100. Of course the E100 runs WinCE - but with alittle more maturity Pocket Linux [pocketlinux.com] will be a nice alternative.

    What the HandHeld industry needs is a separation between OS and hardware - Ive said this before on /. - I hope the Handheld industry 'goes the way of the IBM PC' vs the 'Apple way' that it is now... I would much rather have an opportunity to choose the OS independently of the Hardware for my Handheld. If you have a look at your 'Palm' hardware vs your average 'WinCE' hardware I think you'll understand my frustration - I would like a more elegant OS with a more open 'attitude' but Im not willing to hobble myself with under-powered/under-capable hardware.

    Does anyone know if someone is developing a CF Phone with WinCE

  • Re:Interfaces? (Score:3)

    by plover ( 150551 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:27AM (#546753) Homepage Journal
    This web page [handspring.com] says that it'll act as a modem. It'll also do SMS messaging. [handspring.com]

    John

  • For many years PDA and cell-phones have been cheap, light and full of fancy features.

    Concerning hardware all you need to make such a PDAPhone-gizmo, is a cell-phone and a PDA. Remove the phones keyboard and display and connect the remaining transmitter/receiver-pieces to the PDA. Then cook some nice source and you are up running.

    Why have this taken so big companies so long? I wonder!!!

  • Watch out for coverage! (Score:5)

    by RebornData ( 25811 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:30AM (#546756)
    Coverage for the service plan is really weak. Although "Georgia" is listed in the quote below from the Visor website, I live 5 miles from downtown Atlanta, and my zipcode isn't covered. What's the point of rolling out a device like this with such weak coverage? So many of the people that need something like this travel extensively.

    From the visor website [handspring.com]:

    Regional Rollout
    Handspring will be rolling out service coverage on a regional basis over the next several months, beginning with Pacific Bell Wireless and BellSouth Mobility. We currently have coverage in California, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. We expect to be adding both VoiceStream and Powertel in the new year.

  • What additional Visor functionality do I get by having a phone attached to it?

    What additional phone capacity do I get by having a Visor attached to it?

    Modulo some really compelling synergies I'll stick with my seperate devices.

    --

  • The editors ignored my original mention of this (oh well), but Handspring auctioned the first "official production" model Visor phone with the one-millionth Visor (Prism) on eBay starting about two weeks ago.

    The auction finished last week. The product page itself is already off the system [ebay.com], but the auction ended at $4550.

    Of course, that price didn't include service activation, which is required.

  • What is with the americans and GMS? The rest of the world seems to love it. My phone has no line rental, cheap calls and i can't remember when i last had a poor qualilty line. The UK coverage seems to be almost total and with several phone companys all at each others throats for customers, the price of phones and calls are falling each month. EG last month my phone company (orange) asked me at which time in the day i would like my offpeek calls! The americans should patch up there coverage, tell the army to give up the radio bands for GSM (the europe frequencys) and disband the analog network. The analog network in the uk was turnd off two months ago.

  • Special Slashdot Offer! (Score:3)

    by rich22 ( 156003 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:32AM (#546765) Journal
    For the first thousand nerds who think this is really cool, Handspring will jack the price up [handspring.com] if you dare take advantage of another service provider.

  • PalmVNC (Score:4)

    by Col. Klink (retired) ( 11632 ) on Wednesday December 20, 2000 @06:35AM (#546769)
    the ability to remotely display X11 apps

    Get the PalmVNC [btinternet.co.uk] vncviewer to display your X11 stuff.

  • ... because it looked and felt more like a phone. Don't get me wrong, from what I saw looking at their site, that's a really really nice device for the Handspring units, but unfortunately there didn't seem to be much in stating if it would work with other Palm style units or not (granted, I didn't comb the entire site for every page, but nothing stood out). I have and old Pilot 5000, and I seriously doubt something like this would work, and I wonder if it would work on any of the other non-Handspring models. At least the pdQ Smartphone was it's own PDA in addition to the phone, with all the nifty features like a hotsync, IR, address/phone book, etc. and still had that flip down cover for protection from the elements, and I think that it had a dial-keypad on it to make it useful without ever getting out a stylus (but I could be wrong, it's been a while since I looked at it). I wish the pdQ Smartphone had taken off, I'd have liked to have seen it like, in stores or something...

    "Titanic was 3hr and 17min long. They could have lost 3hr and 17min from that."

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