TamsPPC - the PocketPC Blog

Nowadays, most PocketPC’s have a bluetooth transmitter - and all of them have memory cards. Thus, accessing a PocketPC’s memory card via Bluetooth sounds like a cool idea(no need for that sync cable). And indeed, the OBEX protocol allows you to access the My Documents folder of your PocketPC wirelessly - but not the memory card.

However, configuring your PocketPC to share its memory card is easy(sorry for German screenshots as always)!

Step 1: open settings, click bluetooth

Step 2: click services, choose Data transfer, click Settings

Step 3: choose the path you want to share

In the picture above, I chose the root folder of my hp ipaq rx4240 so that I can access both RAM and the memory card wirelessly from my PC and my Treo 680. However, you can choose other folders as needed - for example, your memory card or your Windows folder!

From now on, other handhelds and PC’s can access the ’share’ you created! Have fun with it!

When Dell’s last Axim was axed for good, many commentators in the PocketPC arena wondered themselves why this series was ended - after all, it was very successful, scored rave reviews and also was popular with developers(it was the top device from a sales perspective for Resco in the last TamsPalm interview). No reason to kill the series - but Dell still did. IMHO, they didn’t do so because they wanted though…they did because they had no other choice. Sounds mad? Yep, but it isn’t - please follow along…

Lets begin our journey with a visit to the Axim’s source - HTC. The Dell Axim essentially is a design by HTC(which, according to some industry insiders was rejected by HP); Dell just stamps its brand logo onto it and manages the distribution. So, HTC produces and Dell makes the big margins… . This combination stands behind many PocketPC smartphones(with a carrier instead of Dell) for sale in Austria and has worked well so far…

However, HTC is not dumb. Why should others make the big money if they can do it themselves? This kind of thinking has become prevalent there - an industry insider I met at the CeBit(by ill luck in a press taxi :)) working for a major distributor told me that HTC is on a ’sort of ego-trip’, wanting to promote its own brand. Palm’s Treo 750 manufacturer swap is an example of that new policy.

With Dell loosing HTC, it essentially had nothing. Nada. Zilch. No hardware design, no PCB layouts, no nothing. A lot of the applications on the Axim series were written by HTC(just check the About sections…), and lets not forget all the drivers and other custom stuff. So, Dell would have needed an enormous amount of R&D cash to get their Axims rolling again - cash that they didn’t want to spend for one reason or the other…

Of course, this is all just speculation - but with the raising market share of PocketPC’s and Dells classically good market shares, it looks very plausible. There still is money in high-end PDA’s…not the kind of money other companies made years ago on a funky device called Vx; but still good enough money. Essentially, the only one who knows more is Dell - but they prolly wont tell. And since Austrians say that stuff that rhymes is good…what do you think?

The hp ipaq rx4240 is sold/advertised as a mediacentric handheld. However, its included photo viewer never really worked for me(a source of endless frustration)… . Resco’s Photo Viewer for Palm OS scored a rave review at TamsPalm’s - so my expectations for the PocketPC version of the program were high. Can it stack up?

After installing Resco Photo Viewer, the program asks for permission to become default viewer for a variety of file types. The screenshot below shows all supported file types:

Navigating around the memory card is easy - the program allows you to either switch to a folder-only view or displays a folder bar on top of the images:

A feature called albums allows you to group together pictures from various sources for more comfortable viewing. You can, for example, create an Album of the best pictures on a memory card:

Images are shown in four different view modes(list, three iconic modes). The program transparently creates thumbnails in the background - you first get a small version, which is then resized for optimal fit:

Multiple images can be selected by either tapping and dragging or activating multiselection mode explicitly. These images can then be moved and sent as a group:

Tapping on an image opens it for viewing. Images can be zoomed, rotated and panned freely in real-time:

Images can be cropped, resized and color-corrected on the handheld:

Resco Photo Viewer also allows you to convert images to JPG, BMP or PNG types. This can be very handy for compressing screenshots on the go and is a feature I have never ever seen before in a handheld image viewer…kudos to Resco on that one, if only it supported GIF.

Handwritten notes and doodles can be scribbled onto an open image(and saved into a new image). Unfortunately, the color selector didn’t work on my ipaq - I was limited to black:

Resco’s image viewers have always had an outstanding slideshow module that can be used to show images. The transition effects are really well-done - try them out yourself!

Last but not least, Resco Photo Viewer ships with a cool screenshot program that will be covered in a seperate review!

Overall, I am shocked and awed by Resco Photo Viewer - this product is truly insane! I have seen a lot of image viewers, but none has offered so much flexibility when image processing and editing is concerned. Combined with Resco’s traditionally well-done image viewing and slideshow modules, we have yet another must-have product for every PocketPC… Tune in soon for a look at the screenshot tool that ships along as a free bonus!