Comments on: Two Handy Portable Apps http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/ armchair rebel and cheerful raconteur Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:59:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Kenny http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/comment-page-1/#comment-124 Kenny Tue, 17 Oct 2006 18:59:52 +0000 http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/#comment-124 I = most people :D I = most people :D

]]> By: Robert http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/comment-page-1/#comment-92 Robert Sun, 27 Aug 2006 19:04:58 +0000 http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/#comment-92 Indeed. I've heard good things about Opera for the DS -- overview on one screen, 'zoomed' area on the other. Gestures for navigation et al would work very nicely with the touch screen. Pretty clever. Mind you, Opera is a decent PC browser as well. As for the handheld internet browser... well, the trouble (as I would guess it) would be the price. It's going to be expensive to produce, and people will expect PDA-functionality from a handheld device of reasonable expense. I do see something akin to that (or perhaps PDAs in a more powerful form) taking hold in 2-5 years, when [free] Wifi networks will be more ubiquitous. I have Wifi avaliable on just about all my portable electonics devices -- phone (N80), PDA (an old Palm Treo) and handheld console (PSP) -- but I rarely get to use it because there is either no free wifi or it is locked down / paid for. Speaking of L'il Bill (but briefly lest Nickelodeon sue me for character infringement) perhaps his Zune - which has Wifi capability - will sport a browser. Of course, it would be IE-based, but most people seem to be able to live with it. Indeed. I’ve heard good things about Opera for the DS — overview on one screen, ‘zoomed’ area on the other. Gestures for navigation et al would work very nicely with the touch screen. Pretty clever. Mind you, Opera is a decent PC browser as well.

As for the handheld internet browser… well, the trouble (as I would guess it) would be the price. It’s going to be expensive to produce, and people will expect PDA-functionality from a handheld device of reasonable expense.

I do see something akin to that (or perhaps PDAs in a more powerful form) taking hold in 2-5 years, when [free] Wifi networks will be more ubiquitous. I have Wifi avaliable on just about all my portable electonics devices — phone (N80), PDA (an old Palm Treo) and handheld console (PSP) — but I rarely get to use it because there is either no free wifi or it is locked down / paid for.

Speaking of L’il Bill (but briefly lest Nickelodeon sue me for character infringement) perhaps his Zune – which has Wifi capability – will sport a browser. Of course, it would be IE-based, but most people seem to be able to live with it.

]]> By: Michael Hanretty http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/comment-page-1/#comment-91 Michael Hanretty Sun, 27 Aug 2006 16:58:27 +0000 http://blog.roberthallam.org/2006/08/portable-apps/#comment-91 Interesting. Actually, speaking of portable browsers, a friend currently staying in Hong Kong has picked up the (Asia-only) Opera cart for DS. It's all very nice, and thanks to the touch-screen considerably more intuitive than the (also rather smashing) PSP browser. A bit kanji-intensive I'm told, but it supports an English virtual keyboard. Why Microsoft - or any electronics-based company for that matter - haven't marketed a handheld internet browser is beyond me. Strip a PDA of everything but the touch-screen and word processor (making sure the firmware itself is updateable) and bam! Holy sales success, Batman. Or not. But hell, it's not as if L'il Tiny Bill doesn't have the cash to fund even the most ill-fated venture. Interesting. Actually, speaking of portable browsers, a friend currently staying in Hong Kong has picked up the (Asia-only) Opera cart for DS. It’s all very nice, and thanks to the touch-screen considerably more intuitive than the (also rather smashing) PSP browser. A bit kanji-intensive I’m told, but it supports an English virtual keyboard.

Why Microsoft – or any electronics-based company for that matter – haven’t marketed a handheld internet browser is beyond me. Strip a PDA of everything but the touch-screen and word processor (making sure the firmware itself is updateable) and bam! Holy sales success, Batman.

Or not. But hell, it’s not as if L’il Tiny Bill doesn’t have the cash to fund even the most ill-fated venture.

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