WirelessDoc

Foleo fallout & the killer app on the horizon

On a WSJ video, Ed Colligan of Palm says that "sometimes you want simplified computing" in providing a raison d'être for the Foleo. On the Palm.com Web site it says something such as the Foleo is made for that 2-day business trip to Boston, the conference across town, or the meeting down the hall. This seems to suggest that you will buy this in addition to your heavier laptop computer.

He also states that "...you'll see very quickly thousands of applications..." produced by the developer community. This might suggest that this product is a "mobile companion" looking to grow into a simplified laptop computer, if all this vaporware should actually become realized. Has this can be applied to a vertical market such as healthcare is hard to predict. The flavor of Linux the Foleo supports is not mentioned.

Since reports say that the Documents To Go software installed on the Foleo allows you to create (I don't think this applies to PowerPoint), view and edit Office documents which you can access as an e-mail attachment, from the Treo's memory via Bluetooth, or from an SD card, this seems like a workable solution for a student who doesn't have a big budget for a portable notetaking device. As a device for a business professional, or blogger, or really anyone else who is used to the functionality of a Mac or a PC, I think the shortcomings of this device will quickly become apparent, overshadowing it's instant on/off feature.

If the intent is to begin the process of creating a simplified, Linux notebook computer, it's an admirable one, but requires a big commitment from the users and developers that isn't as yet apparent.

BTW, the smartphone meme is not dead, and most Treo fans are waiting for the new, improved version. The keyboard problem is not a universal one.

The killer app to come will be speech recognition on a handheld device which will solve the keyboard, not the large screen problem. Right now you can dictate into a voice recorder and then have it automatically transcribe when you dock it on your sufficiently powered PC (at least 2 GB of RAM and fast processor). If the OQO2, the FlipStart, the HTC Shift ever become this powerful, you'll have a most impressive most device, or you can buy a $70 Bluetooth portable keyboard to add to your $1800 UMPC.

Foleo revealed

Here's the demo.

Tim Bajarin of PCMag.com has a hands-ons with the Foleo. It's instant on with a Bluetooth connection with our Treo (other phones?). You can edit MS Office documents. It can't do Web video, but it can do Flash. It doesn't have a hard drive but it has 256 MB (not GBs?) of built-in RAM, and you can add CompactFlash or SD memory.

It has VGA out, so that you can use it for PowerPoint presentations, but you can't build them from scratch.

UPDATE: Ryan Block of Engadget does a hands-on evaluation. He wants either a better Treo or something that will replace it, eliminating the need for 2 devices.

Foleo: 10.2 inch screen & Wi-Fi

According to ComputerWorld:

Foleo will feature a 10.2-in. screen and weigh just over 2 lbs., according to the release. It will also provide Wi-Fi connectivity.

Doesn't look like this will be pocketable, unless they've found a way to fold the screen.

Possible form factor of the Foleo?

Could this be the form factor Palm's purported new Treo accessory Foleo?

I took the Palm folding keyboard which is 10 inches wide. I guess a full size keyboard should be just about an inch wider. If the Foleo folds, you would have to deal with the hinge breaking up the space key into two keys as you see here.

In this mockup, the screen size would be about 3.5 x 5 inches.

Foleo: Palm's Treo companion with a full-sized keyboard

This is the leaked product that Jeff Hawkins supposedly will be announcing at the WSJ's D conference. This Linux machine with it's "full size keyboard" and "large screen" is supposed to be the UMPC killer. This press release specifically mentions that it "turns on and off instantly" which has been a complaint about the UMPC.

The next question you have to ask is if this will also be a notebook killer. It's battery life is reportedly 5 hours. But, will it play video files, MP3s, or this product strictly an ergonomic e-mail machine? Since it's depending on the Treo for connectivity...NO WI-FI.

Smartphone fan boys and girls might not be impressed with this device, and it might make the imminent release of the iPhone even that more anticipated. From reading the comments on Endgadget, it seems that they want a better Treo, not a souped-up PDA. I wonder if it will have the design chops, like something that you want to pull out in public.

This could be useful if you're doing research in a library, or writing while on the move, though. But I tend to believe that the next big thing will be a smartphone with enough processing power and RAM to handle speech recognition. That's what I want.

Medical wireless devices promoted by chip makers

Chip Makers to Personalize Health Care - WSJ.com

Although their products are at different stages of development, semiconductor companies including Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Texas Instruments Inc. and Qualcomm Corp. are looking to the Internet, wireless technology and chips requiring less power to help spawn new devices. Examples include smart cards containing medical records and powered by radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology; in-home heart monitors that send data to a doctor's computer or cellphone; and wireless-enabled monitors that take vital signs and heart rates.

This article notes that Qualcomm "is starting a mobile network called Lifecomm that will meld a cellphone with medical devices like a glucose meter."

This brings up many questions such as the involvement of the FDA or compliance with HIPAA regulations for privacy (see story below).

Technorati Tags: Qualcomm, Intel, RFID, medical wireless, AMD, Texas Instruments, wireless monitoring, medical cellphone

Medical records exposed on the Web

Minnesota Public Radios' (MPR) wavLength: Private medical records of Colorado residents exposed on Internet

This is the story of tipster who found that these medical records were freely available on a Web server maintained by Beacon Medical Services, Aurora, CO.

The medical records resided on an FTP server. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It’s a means by which users send and receive computer files over the Internet or private networks. In Beacon’s case - and this is typical of the industry - health care providers sent encrypted data to the server for Beacon to access so it could bill patients and insurance companies. The data was unencrypted on Beacon’s end, and the FTP server was not supposed to be accessible to the public. But in this case it was. No username or password was required to view the records.

It points to the need that any system that generates and stores data needs to be constantly evaluated by the netadmins because the chances are that someone else will stumble upon a breech in the system. The luxury that automation appears to provide is sometimes fleeting.

Technorati Tags: EHR, medical records, identity theft, privacy, security, electronic health record

Featured post: medical wireless technology topics

This will be a sticky post that will remain at the top, and the daily posts will follow underneath. I'll be developing a list of hot topics that I think are important and that I'm researching.

Failing grades for computer security among gov't agencies

John Paczkowski has a video describing some of the gov't computer security problems, namely losing laptops and hard drives, on his Digital Daily blog which is part of the new WSJ All Things Digital group blog.

Being a video, it's hard to quote and comment, but he did say that in a recent reportcard on federal computer security, the Dept. of Homeland Security scored a "D." Actually, it scored an "F" along with some other agencies. (see link below) "D+" was the grade for the federal gov't overall for the past 2 years.

Federal agencies due for information security report cards

Last year, the federal government scored an overall grade of D+ for the second year in a row. Eight of the 24 agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, State, Energy and the Interior, received failing grades. Among the seven agencies that got at least an A- were the U.S. Department of Labor, the Social Security Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency.

WaPo has the complete reportcard for 2001-2005 in the form of a table.

Technorati Tags: DHS, computer security, All Things Digital, Digital Daily, John Paczkowski

Bermuda mandates RFID tags for every motor vehicle

Bermuda to RFID tag every motor vehicle - Engadget

No mention is made of the cost but it is expected to recoup some $11 million in fines lost over a five-year period.


Technorati Tags: Bermuda, RFID