Blake's Nino Info Page!
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This page is meant to be a resource to those with an interest in the Windows CE 2.0-based
Nino 300 series Palm-size PC from Philips. (You can hear a little about me and my interest in
this technology here!) Since this page came online back in mid-January, I've
become aware, through e-mail, newsgroups, and chat forums, of the large degree of interest that this
little unit has generated. Now that the Nino has been released and users have started to get them
in their hands (I've got two!), I intend to continue reporting items of interest and relevance
to those that care to hear about them. I am very pleased with what Philips has brought to market with the Nino
and have no doubt that, down the road, the next incarnation of the Nino will again be the superior
device in that arena--and I will be here to cover it. If anyone discovers any news of interest out
there that might have a place on this page, please e-mail me, Blake Patterson, at bpatters@mindspring.com and let me know.
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Ok, the first review is on-line on my new Review Page, and more will soon follow. I'm taking
a fairly informal and conversational tone in these reviews, and I hope that agrees with everyone.
Please check the link every couple of days or so -- I'm going to try to get a lot of products on
that page for everyone, so do take a look.
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I just wanted to drop a quick note here to let everyone know that I've just added The
Review Page (see icon above) where I'll be reviewing as many Nino-compatible products as I'm
sent by developers out there. Keep any eye on it--there's a number of reviews that I'm
currently working on and will be placing on-line over the next few days / weeks. I also wanted
to let everyone know that my brief hiatus is not indicative of my having lost interest in the
platform. I've been very busy unpacking into my new house and trying to find an attractive
job in the DC area. Today, the latter concern was taken care of. So...I'll have WAY more time
to put into the page, with updates coming at the frequency my long-time web-watchers are used
to. I'm also going to be doing a few new things with the page to make it a bit more interesting
as well, over the next few weeks (and getting back to regular attendance with the on-line
chats every Sunday and Wednesday). Please stay tuned--there's a lot happening out there now, and
it's only going to get more interesting!
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Ok...I should have my Click-On Modem by Monday or Tuesday and will post a
full report of its ease of use, performance, etc. soon thereafter. In fact, I'm about
to put a Review page on-line that will hold this and all future software / hardware
reviews (which I plan to spend much more time doing, starting this week). Judging from the e-mails I've
been receiving, a large number of people have theirs (lots of people receiving the
320's they ordered way back when) and seem to be using them without incident. Also, Philips
has informed me that one should allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of a Click-On Modem purchased using the Nino 312 Special Modem Offer ticket.
I'm also
determined to get my Nino working with local PCS digital, wireless service. I've
had notable difficulty in determining the exact level of interoperability between a WinCE
device, IR-equipped digital wireless phones, and local service providers (largely due to
providers' customer support reps not knowing anything about what protocols they are using
and/or the fact that they usually make you buy one of a very small number of phones that
they sell, which invariably have a featureset too basic for the needs of that which I'm attempting
here). When I get it all worked out, I'll let everyone know how it was done. (Digital, wireless
communication on the Nino would not require the Click-On Modem.)
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I just saw a report that a Nino was being used on the Sci-Fi Channel's new show
"Paradox." They were using it as some sort of high-tech PIM device. I suppose that's not
far from the truth! Thanks to Jeremy Daughhetee for that report. (Perhaps I'll take witness
to this show if ever I am able to coax my local cable company to actually begin the process of
laying the cable from the street box to my house! ARGH!!)
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I just got a report that a user has received a Nino 320 that was ordered a while back
from a well-known mailorder house. If this report is true, then it looks like the 320's and click-on
modems that we've all been waiting for are finally starting to hit the shelves. Time to whip out
that $50-off coupon, all you 312 owners!
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Well, we're moved (note I did not say unpacked). I've hooked up with a local ISP for
dialup access while I wait for both ADSL and cable modem service to become available here (sometime
this fall). So I'm cruisin' at a majestic 28.8Kbps until then. :-( At any rate, I am
about to add a new section to the page and will soon be moving the site and getting my own domain
name. Until then, the site stays where it has been all along but my e-mail address has changed
to bpatters@mindspring.com. My old mail account will soon be forwarding into this one, but
it might be a better idea to go ahead and start using that new address. I had hoped to keep using
my old mailbox until the move to the new domain name but several mailserver issues have made this
impossible. At any rate, I just thought I'd give everyone an update.
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I'm afraid that since a friend has agreed to come take my
current computer desk / shelf-system off my hands, I will be dismantling my PC system a day early in
preparation for our big move to the DC area on Tuesday. It will be Thursday or Friday before I have
my system back in one piece. It is likely that I will check my e-mail a few times with my Newton
(hey, I'm waiting on that click-on modem too!), but I will not be updating my page, following
nesgroups, or participating in on-line chats until the end of the week.
The Palm-size PC Chats will still happen Sunday and Wednesday at 9pm EDT
(6pm PDT), so please
stop in and chat a while.
Soon after arriving in Alexandria, I will be relocating this page to a new webhosting service
(which I've not yet chosen) and acquiring a domain name all my own (if you've got any especially
clever ideas for a domain name--and I do mean clever, drop me a line!) which will make the URL of
this page much easier to remember. Also, it appears that in October or thereabouts I will be able to
choose between a full-duplex cable modem system and an ADSL modem system. Until that time I will
need to setup with a local, dialup ISP in the Alexandria/Northern VA area. (It is going to be
PAINFUL to leave my half-duplex cable modem behind for a 28.8Kbps dialup connection!!) If anyone knows of a decent ISP in the 703 or 202 area code, please let me know.
Anyway, I'm assuming we'll survive the move, so talk to you in a week, everybody.
Cheers!
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I just realized, as I was updating my links page, that in all my travels here and there on the
web and in the newsgroups in search of handheld / palmtop information, I've encountred a significant
number of pages dealing with Palm-size PC's running WinCE 2.0. I'm quite confident I've got a
bookmark for just about every one out there right now. Of all these page, there are more focusing
on the Nino in particular than on any other Palm-size PC specifically. There are a number of pages
that focus the Palm-size PC in general, but of those that do spotlight a single unit--the Nino definitely comes
out on top. I think that makes an interesting statement about the machine, especially considering
that of the current "big 3" devices (Philips, Casio, and Everex), the Nino was released, by a notable
margin, latest.
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I just confirmed that RhinoSkin, makers of several nice
PDA cases including the unique Titanium Hardcase for the Pilot, are going to offer a similar Titanium
case for Palm-size PC's. Just which Palm-size PC's are going to be supported is still a bit up in
the air apparently. I am told that in a month's time the picture will be more clear. This could
definitely be good news for those wanting to stop a bullet with their Palm-size PC's! I'll keep you
posted.
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I've decided that there is an application floating around in the great purgatory of
as-yet-unwritten applications that needs to be brought into reality. While the START menu,
a key component of all current versions of Microsoft's operating systems, is a very quick
way to get apps loaded, even allowing for a menu folder heirarchy, sometimes it would be nice
to work with an icon-based, file-management shell. I think the coding of such a "user inerface application" would
be quite simplistic. First, the large and small icons for WinCE applications are already there, so it's
not as though someone would have to strap generalized icons to each executeable, etc. And second,
there's enough of a toolset there to the programmer that it would not necessarily be a behemoth
task to undertake, and it could be small enough that it could always be loaded without any real
memory hit. I don't think that it should be a clone of an HPC's desktop
(or Windows 95/98/NT), as standard components such as a text-filled menu bar on each
window would take an unreasonable amount of space on a Palm-size PC's 240x320 screen. I do
feel, however, that the PPC's screen is large enough to allow moveable windows, unlike the "windowed" GUI
of many other palmtops. A great deal
of artistic license could be taken in the construction of such a shell. Ideally, most Windows
Explorer / File Manager tasks could be performed under this interface, allowing the user a large deal
of file management flexibility. This would, indeed, go against part of Microsoft's vision for
the Palm-size PC, as it would expose the user to the file system, but I think this
is what most "power users" want anyway.
Happily, it seems quite likely that such an applications would eventually be developed.
Applian's QuickLaunch and EZOS' PalmExplorer are not worlds apart from this concept. I'd
be interested to hear if anyone else would fancy such an application. With the degree of interaction I have with the directory structure on my Nino and its 30mb CF card, I would certainly,
quickly, purchase such a program. Perhaps after posting this I'll hear from a developer that
such an interface is already under development. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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I mentioned it was coming a long while back in my news archives, and XT-CE for the
Palm-size PC is finally here. XT-CE is a program for HPC's and PPC's that allows
DOS applications to be run under 80186 emulation. According to the author, a 75MHz
WinCE device emulates an 8MHz 80186. Not too shabby. I've been playing with it for a little
bit on my Nino and have not had any problems with it. My personal goal here is to be able
to play Rogue/Moria/Hack on the Nino (I love that game), but I imagine that users coming
from the HP 200LX palmtop, for example, would have more utilitarian uses for this emulator.
Whatever your plans, do visit
the XT-CE web page, and download
the demo!
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Thanks go to Shane Stec who, on the newsgroups, informed us of the web page at
which Op/Tech USA can be reached. Click here for
the page that describes the pouch mentioned below, with which I am rather pleased. I
have the "Soft Pouch - Photo/Electronics," medium size.
Thanks, Shane!
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I've got lots of e-mail from people who are looking for a nice belt-clip case for their Nino. I
do not believe that Philips is going to offer such a case (I don't think the Premier Travelling Case,
the foldover case due at some point in the future--no date on that one, has a belt clip). With that
in mind, I've kept my eyes open for a case that might work well in this capacity and a few days ago
I found one. It was a Ritz Camera shop in a mall in Roanoke, VA that stocked a belt-clip case which
I presume was intended for use with a cell phone or small
camera. The case is made by Op/Tech USA (I found their phone number listed on a toll-free search
engine to be (800) 251-7815) of Belgrade, Montana and set me back about $13. It is made of a thick
material that seems to be neoprene and would likely offer a safe degree of padding were the case fall
to the ground with a Nino inside. (I've dropped my rather weighty Newton 2100 several times onto
concrete in a neoprene case that was much thinner with no damage whatsoever.) It's important to note
that there are several sizes of this case available, the one that fits best appears to be just a wee
bit too small for the Nino sitting there on the rack. When you actually go to put the Nino in the case,
its elasticity proves it to be a perfect fit. At any rate, this
looks like one good solution for those wanting to carry their Nino "Old West" style... :-)
(Click the photo below for a larger collage.)
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