HandEra Calls 240 by 320 Resolution an 'Emerging Standard'
HandEra has released a statement that calls QVGA an "emerging standard for Palm Powered devices". QVGA is HandEra's name for screens with 240 by 320 pixel resolution, additional display fonts, and a collapsible virtual Graffiti area. So far the only device that supports QVGA is the HandEra 330 but Mike Walter, vice president of software development for the company, said there is a "strong interest within the industry in licensing HandEra's technology," implying that we can expect to see other, non-HandEra, QVGA devices in the future. HandEra's statement says that these can be expected within the coming year.
For developers wanting to get a jump start on this, HandEra offers its new QVGA Compatibility Testing Process, which ensures that an application supports the high-resolution screen, properly implements the QVGA extension APIs, and meets basic Palm specifications. Developers who pass these test will be listed on the HandEra web site and receive the QVGA logo as proof of certification.
Thanks to Craig Ganoe for the tip. -Ed
Related Information:
Article Comments
(65 comments)
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.
Comments Closed
This article is no longer accepting new comments.
RE:
To Palm: Please make VG(Virtual Graffiti) a standard!
I'd rather have VG be a standard before they start cramming more pixels into the same screen area.
Easy
Handera took a cheaper, easier and more universal (in my opinion) approach. Applications must be written to use the hi-res features. Old apps will continue to run, but only part of the screen is used.
I'm a Clie owner, and I especially love the hi-res screen. Personally, I really don't like Handera's "awkward" resolution and virtual graffiti is really something that doesn't appeal to me. However I do see this technology winning out in the long run, since it's the easiest and more universal method to implement. Unless Sony bullies their tech into the market, of course.
RE:
RE:
RE: 320X320 and Vitual Graffiti
Not slow.
RE: Handera desperate
RE: the one desperate CLIE owner
RE:
I think Samsung makes part of the HE330 so maybe Mr. Walter is referring to some new Samsung model aside from the phone or he's marketing department is smoking something silly.
As for the virtual graffiti, I read that one of the drawbacks is that hacks which use launch strokes (app to upper graffiti area) don't work. Can someone verify? HandEra + Pop! or McPhiling?
RE:
As for hacks, most hacks that use the screen and were written for the old resolution won't work, not as much because of the virtual graffiti but because of the different resolution. But they CAN be updated, like any other program. McPhling has already been updated, and was one of the developer contest winners. I've been using it on my 330 for a while now, and it works great!
Why are people so short sighted
1) What is there to prevent from Handera putting in a custom graphics accelerator (ala Clie) as well? I think this is very likely with a QVGA colour screen due to the processing needed.
2) The next step up from QVGA is full VGA, which is a mere doubling of QVGA. This is a very real development in the Pocket PC world. Getting into QVGA now will make the next step so much easier and open up the possibilities of doing great multimedia on the Palm (did I hear you say Be).
3) Enough bickering amongst Palm users. Getting parity with the Pocket PC crowd with their screen resolution will be a plus for the Palm platform.
4) A VGA screen in landscape format allows you to watch movie at normal film aspect ratio. Does Sony make a square TV?
RE: 320X320 and Vitual Graffiti
WinCE or Pocket PC already have 240x320 resolution. Why would Palm go with the same resolution when 320x320 would offer Palm the advantage of having the best resolution in the PDA business. I know people who were set to buy PocketPC until they saw 320x320 vs. 320x240.
RE:
RE: Sony
So 240x320 may well become the standard for everyone else, since Handera's willing to share, while Sony sits on its 320x320 screens and proclaims superiority.
"Standard," after all, refers to the minimums adhered to by the industry as a whole, not the top-of-the-line that may be available.
--rueyeet the semantic nitpicker
virtual graffiti
Try it, you'll like it!
Viewable area has been the one area that the WinCE/PocketPC has always had an advantage in. This is the first step in erasing that difference.
Handera has to front of the line for innovation with the 330. The screen is superior to any Palm OS PDA out there. I think color is currently more gimick than necessity.
As more color apps and QVGA apps come out and the 66Mhz DragonBall is implemented I can easliy see a Handera with a QVGA Color screen that makes the PocketPC crowd say "WOW!"
RE: size vs. resolution
Beg to differ. DO squish more pixels into the *same* size, until you get at least 200 ppi. A Palm Vx is about 75 ppi, just like a typical monitor: about 0.3mm pitch. For anything viewed at typical paper or book distances, about 0.1 mm pitch is preferable. One minute of arc would be good; 30 seconds of arc would be better. What we have now is typically about 3 minutes of arc resolution, whether on a Palm or a monitor, or from an LCD projector.
RE:
> Why would Palm go with the same resolution when
> 320x320 would offer Palm the advantage of having the
> best resolution in the PDA business.
Because 240x320 is a standard size of screens like these. They are used in a lot of PDA's, and they're much cheaper than making your own custom screens.
RE: BOTH
on the other hand (no pun in tended) Handeras virtual graffiti thing makes sense for the reason mention above. they double the horizontal pixels only (reletive to the top 'square') and then extend to the graffiti area. What if they also doubled on the vertical? That would mean 320 x 480!! THAT I'D LIKE TO SEE. It would give all above advantages and completely kill CE in the graphics deptarment.
Re: 2nd post
RE: 2nd post
A dedicated PIC visitor
RE: 2nd post
- Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive comments may be moderated/deleted.
- Want to talk about something other than this story? Try the Forums.
"I posted first" is always off topic.
For every complaint I get from someone that I deleted their flame, I get a compliment that these forums actually contain useful information. If all you want to do is carry out flame wars, there are plenty of other sites available.
---
News Editor
RE: Re: 2nd post
On the forums, there tends to be a lot more constructive discussion going on. Part of it is that people are unable to hide behind an anonymous name, and the other part is the strong ddedication of the visitors to this site.
If you want to post something completely un-pda related, go to the forums where people have discussed tons of different things in a civil matter. And, if you want to hold a debate, theres plenty of people who are willing to present and listen to the facts in a friendly/informative manor. Who knows, they might even change your mind!
RE: Re: 2nd post
RE: Re: 2nd post
Any resolution is the future.
either way, the future is not 160*160 or 240*320, but Any resolution that user find it fits to use.
RE: Any resolution is the future.
RE: Any resolution is the future.
RE: Any resolution is the future.
Now if the Palm-powered machines could add in the hi-res color, and the multimedia support, without sacrificing the simplicity and ease-of-use of the Palm OS, that trade-off would disappear....since a Palm machine can share Microsoft apps just as well as a PPC, and that's the only remaining inducement to deal with WinCE's foibles.
So screen resolution will be important, as far as the great brand war of Palm-Powered vs. PPC goes.
Resolution
Standards?
320 x 320: 2 Succesful Color Clies
320 x 240: Handera 330
160 x 160: Every Palm from the Palm 1000 to the m505 (at least 20 Palm models, including specialty Vx's). Every Visor (6 models). And the Sony Clie 300 and 320.
Emerging Standard? Hey Satansism's an emerging standard if you look at it like this.
RE: Standards?
Look at these issues.
1) Most would agree a "soft" graffiti area is a desirable and likely future of Palm OS.
2) Pocket PC screens are 240 x 320
3) 320x320 is cool. But 320 x 320 with soft graffiti would be 320 x 480. That's probably too expensive.
The convergance of #1 and #2 make 240 x 320 actually something plausable. There would be economies of scale by matching the screen resolution of the Pocket PC screens.
It would, also, match the one thing that Pocket PC types point to as an advantage over Palm -- bigger screens.
So, as much as I think the current HandEra implementation is "cludgey" (Sony pixel doubling obviously is more elegant) - I do think that this might happen.
It all depends on what Palm thinks...
RE: Standards?
The way HandEra did it, you may have less pixels, but you get more use out of the pixels you have, in more programs. It seems more elegant to me than looking at programs on a 320x320 screen emulating a 160x160 screen. :S
I woulden't push too hard for 320x320 as a standard, personally - I believe that Sony makes those screens themselves - I can't imagine them giving good pricing to Handspring, or Palm, for that matter.
For those of you who've never heard that funny german-ish word before, take a look at http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/kludge.html
RE: Standards?
Actually, since Sony's agreement with Palm allows Palm to get all the OS extensions, etc. that Sony makes, while HandEra's agreement would require Palm to negotiate a license agreement from HandEra, it really depends on what Sony thinks. Why would Palm license something from HandEra they could get for free from Sony?
RE: Standards?
That's why the term used was "emerging standard" rather than "current standard." And I can't see anyone hoping that the current low-res standard for Palm's machines will stick around for long.
in reply to the rest of the thread:
Again, trade-offs: throw hardware at it, and it takes no software overhead, but becomes hardware-specific; do it with software, and it could be adapted to any hardware, but takes up software overhead.
I do favor the software solution, though, since it could be adapted to various hardware....consider what use landscape and virtual Graffiti capability would be if more units were developed with the Treo k180 thumb keyboard.
RE: Standards?
HandEra's API seems more flexible in that it mainly uses the existing Palm drawing/windowing APIs, but expects programmers to check and use what size the window/screen actually is. So it's not really fixed to 240x320 either, except that they provide functions to scale up legacy screens up to the new resolution. Probably more of a pain for some developers porting old apps, but more flexable in the long run.
a real standard or just another option?
1) adopted by at least either Palm or Handspring
2) come out in a color version
3) offer true backward compatability with 160X160 apps without distortion
Sony already has 2) and 3) and will probably get 1) as well because of that
RE: a real standard or just another option?
Click here for the full story discussion page...
Latest Comments
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
- My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
"Emerging standard"?