Portsmith Developing Presentation Tool

Posted By: Ed Friday, May 17, 2002 12:22:22 PM

Portsmith plans to introduce a device that allows users to make PowerPoint presentations with their Palm-branded handhelds. It will be a clip-on peripheral that use Palm's Universal Connector. It can make presentations after being connected to a video projector or computer monitor. Users can view slides and notes on their Palm while making the presentation. It will be available sometime this summer. Pricing is not yet known.

At this early stage, few details on the presentation tool are known, not even its product name.

After creating the presentation in PowerPoint on a desktop, it will be copied over onto the handheld. It is not yet known if changes will be possible on the handheld or what PowerPoint features will be supported.

"Our product offers superior software and features that will satisfy even the most discriminating user. It's truly the power tool for PowerPoint on Palm handhelds," said Holmes Lundt, President of Portsmith.

It will have its own battery that can also charge the handheld. In addition, the product will come with a travel kit, which includes a case for both the handheld and the presentation tool, and a travel charger.

Margi Systems makes the Presenter-to-Go, which allows presentations to be made from a handheld, too. It has several versions, including a Springboard module and CompactFlash card.

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Finally a reason to leave my laptop home

hikescdnrckys @ 5/17/2002 12:40:14 PM #
If this new product allows you to maintain the animations while presenting, it will be a killer app for a lot of road warriors and finally a good reason to leave my laptop home.

When this is released, I would love to see a review.

RE: Finally a reason to leave my laptop home
Altema @ 5/17/2002 1:51:03 PM #
Ditto here... and for several other people I know.

Needs more than Powerpoint

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 12:56:47 PM #
Margi's Presenter-to-Go is more functional for me because it allows presentation of more than simply ppt files you can show html, word, and excel files, too.

As for animations, I'm less concerned. My experience is that animations take up memory but don't really add anything to the presentation. If I were presenting something more graphics-heavy, I might be interested in animations, although I tend to think the memory requirements of these would be more than a Palm could handle.

I'm looking forward to seeing Margi support Palm--this should be helped along by the impending demise of the Springboard module.

A better method

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 1:12:16 PM #
It would be cool to have an internal mini projecter.(well, ... maybe not internal, a module will do) Like the one on R2D2.(but not 3D, not in 20 years) Then you can project your screen on a wall. The immage dosen't have to be as big as one projected by an OHP. just about 10cm x 17cm will do. So that when you want to show something to a group people, they don't have to cramp all around the palm and you.
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 1:23:49 PM #
And yes, I'm dreaming :)
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 2:14:53 PM #
R2D2? Are you serious?

Or, perhaps some sort of internal chip that will allow one to use "the force" to make the handheld fly through the air to their hand...

RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 2:19:09 PM #
> R2D2? Are you serious?

No, he's not. His follow up comment made that clear But if you paid attention to that, you'd miss an opportunity to be snide, wouldn't you? And your day probably isn't complete unless you've been a jerk to someone at least once.

RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 2:29:46 PM #
Actually, I quite like the idea of a chip that will enable any palm device to fly directly to its owner's hand. In fact, this technology already exists. Simply strap a large magnet to your watchband and *ta-da* the force is yours! I'm going to market this under the name "red-tooth" in honour of all the bloody mouths that have been experienced during beta-testing by wearers of orthodontic appliances.

Oh and before the previous poster flies off the handle (so to speak), I'd remind you that your path is the way to the dark side.

RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 3:05:44 PM #
LOL :)
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 3:13:52 PM #
Re. R2D2? Are you serious?

Or, perhaps some sort of internal chip that will allow one to use "the force" to make the handheld fly through the air to their hand...
----------------------------------------------------

He is talking about the projector on R2D2!
The 3D projector which projected out the princess at the begining of the movie.

RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 3:20:59 PM #
and that it is not in 3D but a normal projector projecting a 10 x 17cm immage on a wall!
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 3:53:25 PM #
Hey! Has anyone created alarms that do the R2D2 pop'n'squeak? If you couldn't play imbeeded WAV files with your powerpoint, you could at least entertain with a little robo-gibberish...
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 6:55:08 PM #
R2d2? Where is the innovation?
RE: A better method
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/18/2002 12:45:32 PM #
I totally agree that the projector on R2D2 was very cool and could be a viable solution in the near future. The people who make fun of this type of concept must be someone who clearly don't understand the future of technology and it's direction and the Palm OS's capabilities. You must have been some kind of low-intelligence boat tender or something. Welcome to technology.

SD Card Version of Margi Presenter-to-Go?

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/17/2002 4:54:10 PM #
I found this link at Tech Depot which indicates that there is an SD version of Presenter-to-Go available, but it's not on the Margi System's website yet.

Only $169.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?W571134E

RE: SD Card Version of Margi Presenter-to-Go?
c_blue @ 5/17/2002 5:19:39 PM #
at Margi system I got:

http://www.margi.com/products/presenter-to-go/sd_registration.html

don't bother

I.M. Anonymous @ 5/18/2002 3:50:53 PM #
I have used these kinds of devices and they are not all that convenient. They come with special software to convert PPT to whatever odd format they use internally that means that once you can't get new software upgrades, it's useless. And, you know, not everybody is user PowerPoint. Some people present PDF, some people present JPEG files, videos, and other content. The devices are not very fast when switching slides. And, worst of all, you usually can't edit your presentation on the handheld.

PDAs should just have a VGA and/or video output, supported by standard dual-screen operating system interfaces. That would also let you use the PDA as a tiny portable computer when you plug in a keyboard.

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