Otterbox & HP iPAQ Drop Test

Question - What does MobileDataforce do with old HP iPAQs?

Answer - We place them in a variety of rugged Otterbox cases and drop them to see if they will break.

Details: We dropped the HP iPAQ many times from 8 feet. We used 2 different Otterboxs and we could not break the iPAQ inside. We then used a rugged iPAQ case from HP. The rugged case shattered, but not the iPAQ. So if you had a large number of HP cases, the iPAQ would be fine.

SoMo 650 Socket's New PDA

Here is an interesting development in the world of PDAs and bluetooth barcode scanners - Socket, a company that traditionally manufacturers accessories and add-ons for other company's PDAs and handheld computers, has just announced their own PDA called the SoMo 650.

This is an interesting development since sales of stand alone PDAs (those without phone capabilities) have been dropping year-over-year in favor of PDA Phones and Smart Phones (PDAs running on Windows Mobile and other powerful operating systems that included integrated phone capabilities). It will be interesting to see how a new PDA without phone capabilities will sell these days.

I also wonder how this will impact Socket's sales of their bluetooth barcode scanners and other accessories. Other PDA manufacturers will naturally want to avoid referring customers to them out of fear that Socket will sell them the SoMo 650 rather than their iPAQ, XDA, MC35, MC50 or MC75.

Symbol Technologies, Intermec Technologies and many other handheld computer makers are rapidly downsizing handheld computers and releasing smaller versions, but most have integrated phones. These companies have often referred business or resold Socket products...hummmm. They will be very wary of Socket going forward.

Socket must believe they can make more profits by selling PDAs than not. So let the games begin!

Handheld PDAs in the Kitchen

I took a brief holiday with my wife this week and somehow ended up in a kitchen products store. As I was rummaging through the various over priced multi-colored utensils from around the world, I noticed a Symbol Handheld PDA on a nearby kiosk. This was something interesting in a kitchen store, who would have thought it?

I walked over to the kiosk and noticed a synchronization cradle sitting next to a connected desktop computer with a flat panel monitor. I noted that the Symbol PDA had a built-in barcode scanner, monochrome screen and was running the Palm OS. I walked slowly around the kiosk, pretending to be captivated by the flexible cutting boards, but I was really trying to determine the purpose of the handheld computer. I noted that the Symbol PDA was their low-end ruggedized device, and that it seemed to be positioned for the use of their customers, not for their own internal inventory purposes. I imagined I was Sherlock Holmes out to solve a case and reached for my pipe.

I nonchalantly picked up a wooden spoon with a price tag of $49 and pretended to be fascinated by its craftsmanship. I looked closer at the kiosk and noted a sign mentioning the registration of gifts. That's IT! The Symbol PDA was used by people wishing to create lists of over-priced gifts, they would never think to buy for themselves. They would scan the barcodes on all the exotic wooden spoons and then synchronize the list to the kiosk computer. Once the products were in the database application, anyone could access this list over the internet. Wow! So much technical ingenuity from a kitchen supply store!

I best finish blogging and return to carving wooden spoons.

Airlines and PDAs

NEW YORK (CNN) -- From cell phone use to high-speed Internet access, the connected life is spreading to the skies.

In January, Emirates airline plans to launch mobile phone usage in its planes, making it the first airline to allow passengers to make cell phone calls on its flights. And Australian carrier Qantas plans to start evaluating technology that lets fliers use their cell phones and PDAs during flight early next year.