Toshiba Releases SD Bluetooth Card in Japan

and have you seen the specs on the MS cam? it's pretty worthless.

honestly, I don't care for the flame wars between MS/SD or Sony/Palm. It uses the same damn OS, and the models are built for different needs for different people. Anyone who things thinks one model fits all should put down the crack pipe and drive a Model T.

The fact that SD is an open standard and Memorystick requires a license fee to Sony is a definite advantage for SD to be sure.

However, contrary to the comment previously posted, this does not prevent competition. I can come out with a memorystick device for $x and someone else can come out with a similar memorystick device. They can charge more and offer more, charge less and offer the same, etc. Also, just how much is the licensing fee? You state that they have to pay Sony "a lot" of money. I tend to doubt this, but I'm curious to know just how much money Sony does charge.

Keep in mind also that Handspring, Sony, etc. all pay Palm, Inc. a licensing fee for using the Palm OS. Has this stifled competition? Hardly.

Scott

Dude,

So Toshiba has released a bluetooth card in Japan, woohooo!!! I guess this is quite a coup for Palm Inc. I guess this will finally turn the tide in favor of the Sony vs. Palm PDA flame-war.

Oh wait a minute...TOSHIBA released the bluetooth NOT Palm.

Palm has not done jack crap. Except loose money, got kicked off the NASDAQ-100, lost the graffi case to Xerox, oh did I mention loosing money?

While Sony is kicking out new models left and right, with real INNOVATION (check out the T-615), Palm still has the m505, oooo the dim screen, the low 160x160 resolution. Yeah, Palm is really moving ahead...

Again, Palm has not done jack crap!!

http://www.memorystick.org

I'd like to make the point that if the screen is off, the MP3 player can supply audio for up to 10 hours. And this isn't some figure arbitrarily being regurgitated from the Sony website, I read a couple months ago that a site did a battery test and ran the MP3 player for like some 9 hours and 40 minutes. So claiming that the MP3 player eats up batteries isn't really justified. And if you use the handheld during the time that you're listening to music, that's fine, just take the thing home after a day of listening to music and playing games and charge the Clie while you're asleep. Or plug the travel charger (don't need to move the cradle) into the wall next to the bed and listen to music while you're sleeping.

As for the Jog Dial, I'm a IIIc user so I don't have one. But my dad got himself a N610 and I've been able to use the Jog Dial just fine as a left handed user. I may not be able to use it as adeptly as a right hander, but how many companies out there release products out there for both right handed and left handers aside from can openers? I plan to get a Sony model sometime in the future when the Bluetooth module comes out or when OS5 comes out and I'd like the Jog Dial on the device on there, even if I can't use it as easily. If I'm reading a book I'd like to be able scroll one handed and it doesn't matter if I'm able to scroll as fast as someone using their thumb because I'll be reading. If I'm trying to use my cell phone, I'd be grateful for a one handed option on my PDA when trying to pull up a number in the address book.

Granted, I am a Sony fan and I am nitpicking your arguement, but I don't want these features that Sony has implemented to be scarred by stereotypical and erroneous data. Even though the MP3 players on a PocketPC suck up their already strained batteries and the Jog Dial may not be as ergonomic for left handers doesn't mean that these features are terrible and should never be seen on another PalmOS device ever again. Hey, I realize the camera that Sony has come out with for Clie's is a piece of crap, but what other company hasn't stumbled? If Apple hadn't stumbled, we all would be using Newtons today.

Just some food for thought...

This new SD card looks great.

Any one heard anything recently about the proposed SD modem?

That is especially cool if I can chat (ICQ, IRC or yahoo messenger) and listen to music.

>I believe the Bluetooth SD card was completely concealed within the device.
>The picture here of the SD Bluetooth card seems long. Does this stick out of the device?

Yes, it does. All of the Palm mocks I've seen, including the one at SynchFest, have indicated it would stick out.

>If so, this creates big problems. It will likely get snagged,
>make it difficult to use in the case you currently own, and
>will probably be uncomfortable to use on an M125
>(since it'll stick out on the side).

True, true, and true. OTOH the m125 probably is targeted at a market of users who probably don't care much for Bluetooth at this time (unlike the business-oriented m500 series).

The best part would be Bluetooth built into the device. Releasing a card, despite the drawbacks you mentioned, is still a good thing on Palm/Toshiba's part. Somebody has to get the SD IO ball rolling!

Expect the price to go down a lot as the year progresses.

-Kevin Crossman

i have a bluetooth SD card and an M125. It does stick out. With the SD slot being on the side instead of on the top like on the M500/505, it gets in the way a little. The card is 2.0" in length and inside the device the head sticks out 5/8".

Dont forget that the bluetooth card is a radio and an antenna. Having it stick out of the device lets the antenna function much better than if it were hid behind plastic.

Get an IR equip'd phone and skip the cable too...

Now THIS guy, he's just trying to start a flamewar.

ebooks on SD cards might not be too bad. Id like to see the harry potter books and the lord of the rings books. Or you could just get them off the internet and put them on a memory SD card.

I think the point is that they are all "applications/ebooks" deployed on the SD and not really a hardware addon. Since the SDIO standard has only just been ratified by their standards committee, this is hardly surprising. Standards by committee will always take longer while people debate the merits of X over Y. This is one area that Sony's MS technology has it over the SD consortium - the MS licensees get the standard dictated to them by a company with a vesed interest in the success of the products.

I just ordered the 3Com Bluetooth USB dongle online, so that I can sync my phone (Ericsson T68) to my PC without a cable. Eagerly awaiting the day Palm/Sony/Handspring/whoever *integrate* bluetooth into their PDA.

hey mike, where did you hear that? I never heard of that, and i post news as a hobby!
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Where on the Palm-site did you see any Bluetoth SD-card?

There were rumors that a memplug that supported SD cards would be comming out soon. If you check the article about the memplug for Memory Sticks, it think one of the comments talked about the idea. Now I don't think that the memplugs support anything other than memory. I have the Compact Flash memplug, and I would be wary of putting in an 802.11b CF card. I've never heard of anyone trying that, but I don't want to risk my Visor/Springboard on a test like that!

Acutally, there already is an 802.11b springboard out by Xircom. From what I hear it works fine. Just like all new wireless toys though, it costs quite a bit.

The question I was asking was if the memplug compact flash springboard might be able to support the 802.llb CF card. Perhaps that implementation of 802.11b does draw too much power. There are however, other solutions for the springboard slot that don't.