Think-Tank

[ballistic]

I'm starting this thread (again, original lost during Black Monday) as a place for Clie users to discuss what type of features and capabilities they would like to see in their Clie.

Personal Digital Assistants are supposed to make our lives easier. They should be intuitive to use and intelligent. I think now that the NX/NZ series has some serious processing power, we should start seeing some type of artificial intelligence built into our devices.

I recently acquired a mint Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 in my quest to find the most intelligent PDA (and to satisfy my curiosity about the Newt). Although I appreciate all of the mulitmedia capabilities that my NX70V has, I crave some of the 5 year old technology and intelligent features that made the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 legendary.

I do not want to see my Clie become some sort of half-breed/mongrel device, like the path Sony is taking us down with the introduction of the NZ90. I want my PDA to make me more productive, help me organize my personal/professional life, store information, and do all of this with minimal user input. It should have the ability to recognize what I want to accomplish and carry it out on its own.

Here's a few things I'd like to be able to do with my NX70V. All of these ideas use current technology. Please post with ideas on how you would like to use your NX to make you more productive, and how you'd like to see your NX become more intelligent.


Handwriting Recognition
I have used Graffiti for the past 5+ years, since my first Palm device, the Palm Pilot. It has become second nature to me. When I got my Newton MP2100, I was instantly amazed at the HWR. It also made me realize how unnatural Graffiti is. Your device should learn the way that you write. The user should not have to learn a proprietary, unnatural input method in order to use their device. Lawsuits happen. Now we're faced with Graffiti 2, and many of the penstrokes that we do subconsciously will no longer work in future Palm OS devices. Time to learn a new 'writing' style. True HWR on the Palm OS is long overdue.

Text to Speech
My same 5 year old MP2100 can read text to me in a computerized voice (not a 'built-in' feature though). I'd like my NX to read my email, webclips, ebooks to me while I'm driving to work (using some type of cradle, and my car's speakers). This would make much better use of my commute than listening to Stern or Imus. The Newton does it with a 161MHz processor and 4MB of 'heap' memory. My NX's processing power should be able to handle the task without breaking a sweat.

Voice Recognition
If a cell phone can voice dial, why can't my NX recognize a limited dictionary of voice commands so that I can control my NX hands-free during my commute? I'd like to be able to tell my NX to read my email, ebooks, webclips, etc. How about having the NX read me an email message, then I can say, "Clie, Reply to Message." The NX could open a new voice memo and I could dictate my reply. When I get home or to work, I could put my NX in the cradle, the voice memo would get imported into a program such as Dragon Naturally Speaking on the desktop. Using the desktop's superior processing power for voice recognition, my voice memo would be converted to text, and I could then preview and edit my reply. When I'm satisfied, I hit SEND and my email reply is sent.

Let's get this Think-Tank going, open to any and all ideas. Let's try to keep it realistic and within the constraints of currently available technology and the hardware specs of the NX/NZ. What other ways can desktop<<>>Clie interaction be used?


Edited for typos.

[ballistic]

Anyone? Beuller? No "Dangerous Minds" out there? Everyone's 100% satisfied with their PDA's capabilites?

[dmale7]

I agree with u Ballistic. Voice recognition and handwriting recognition would be awesome. I wish I were able to write programs myself.

[*Jive Turkey*]

Well here goes
Voice Recognition
32 MG Ram
No Clamshell - I dont use the Keyboard anyway
HiRes+
Virtual Graffitti
CF Compatible!!
MP3 Player
Digital Camera
Nothing else that I can think if right now....

[Sieve]

I would like:

1: Reading capabilities... meaning it would read text to me...

2: Custom alarm PER event... I.E. Meeting, Lab Time, Doc appt ect...

3: Not to beat a dead horse but CF DRIVERS!!!@!@!!@
-Cell phone card
-Memory
-BlueTooth
-More than one WIFI vendor
-External Battery???
-Flashlight (why not...)
-GPS

4: Hot swap batteries

5: Configurable Virtual Graffiti area... add buttons, change look etc

6: MORE INTERNAL MEMORY!!!!

I must make a point here... I believe that the NX & NZ series to-date carry with them the most potential of any other palm device... however being witness to Sony's obvious desire to limit these abilities willingly is depressing...

[ballistic]

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to just concentrate on hardware specs and features. I want to hear what you want your Clie to be able to do, using some type of AI.

How about saying (or writing a ToDo), "Pay Mortgage Bill." (or any other bill) to your Clie. The Clie then links up with your electronic bill payment program/account on your desktop during the next hotsync and reminds you or asks you to approve the electronic payment, or makes the transfer automatically???

This would truly make your Clie a Personal Digital Assistant.

[St. Magnum]

I have to agree with Sieve on two points in particular. I'd like to see an external, easily replaceable battery like on my cellphone. I understand the NZ is supposed to have this. Also, I'd like to see more internal memory. Why can't we have 512 MB internal RAM? Or at least 128??

As far as The Next Level... I'd like to be able to run two or more apps at the same time (a la Windows).

Wouldn't it be cool if you could somehow use the internal camera as a biometrics security device? Retina Scanning software? Outlandish, I know. Sometimes we have to look elsewhere for ideas to take it to The Next Level. For example, what about Vincent the wristcomp in John Stith's "Memory Blank?" Vincent was an AI PDA worn on the wrist of our hero. He acted as phone, web browser, calendar, video camera, and psychologist. Yesterday's science fiction is tomorrow's reality.

[ballistic]

Originally posted by St. Magnum
I have to agree with Sieve on two points in particular. I'd like to see an external, easily replaceable battery like on my cellphone. I understand the NZ is supposed to have this. Also, I'd like to see more internal memory. Why can't we have 512 MB internal RAM? Or at least 128??

As far as The Next Level... I'd like to be able to run two or more apps at the same time (a la Windows).

Wouldn't it be cool if you could somehow use the internal camera as a biometrics security device? Retina Scanning software? Outlandish, I know. Sometimes we have to look elsewhere for ideas to take it to The Next Level. For example, what about Vincent the wristcomp in John Stith's "Memory Blank?" Vincent was an AI PDA worn on the wrist of our hero. He acted as phone, web browser, calendar, video camera, and psychologist. Yesterday's science fiction is tomorrow's reality.

I think the battery issue is the Clie's weakest link. Sony is trying to address this issue in the NZ with the removeable Lithium-Ion battery, and I wouldn't be suprised to see the same thing on all or most future Clies. Until battery technology advances or fuel cells are adapted for electronic devices (I've read it's in the works), we're stuck with what we have now.

As far as biometric security goes, the NX/NZ has three hardware features that can be used for security; the camera for facial recognition, the voice recorder (My voice is my password.)for voice print analysis, and signature verification using the digitizer and stylus. Sony also had prototyped a fingerprint scanning MS, but it has yet to make it into production.

[ballistic]

bump ;).

It's been a while, let's hear more ideas!

[KongK]

I'll have a go ...


1.) Using the builtin camera as a web cam


2.) Using PC keyboard as an alternate data entry method when connected to cradle


Speech to Text will be useful as well.

[benixau]

dork repellent for those people who actualy do drool on your PDA when 100 odd people are huddled in a group looking at you use it.
thank g-d i have a friend who isnt a dork and has a cricket bat ....

[dmale7]

I'm still on the voice recognition and activation thing. I even started a thread about it: http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14235

[lal2707]

More internal RAM

Webcam

[ballistic]

Originally posted by dmale7
I'm still on the voice recognition and activation thing. I even started a thread about it: http://www.cliesource.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14235

saw your thread dmale7, I'm with you 100%. That's one reason I bumped/revived this old thread. I'd like to see more discussions and ideas about innovation and productivity, not just hardware specs.

To me, it's all about what it can do, and how intuitively it can do it.

[keesercc]

how about when you go to record a voice memo , you dictate when and it will convert your speech to text and input it into your date book. say "wensday at 3:00, check financial aid office." and then looking in you planner and seeing a appt. for 3:00 on wednesdsay to check the financial aid office. this would save so much time inputting schedule info. push a button and speak, as opposed to turn on, flip clamshell, find datebook, graffiti or type in appt at specified time....

[reactor18]

My biggest issues are the 'ruggedness' of the Clie (I use the NX70) and input. To have speech or even handwriting recognition would be a god-send. Learning graffitti (sorry if that is spelled wrong) was a challenge because I am dysgraphic. The inclusion of speech reconition would go a long way with me, even if it was the only improvement.

Then there are the usual items; more memory, better battery life, more intuitive interface (how about making the touch screen MORE finger-point friendly?!? why do you have to use the stylus for EVERYthing? even pointing and selecting).

Often the first mistake a designer makes when developing a new product is to design the product around a methodology and assumption of how the product will be used instead of how it is ACTUALLY used by the consumer. I think in this arena, Sony could push the envelope ALOT more.

*sigh* other than these quick observations, I too miss the Apple Newton... and it's astounding innovation and design.

[ksjenkins]

1. Voice recogition would be great!! - Tho even in a Desktop running 3GHz processors with lots o RAM it isn't working that well!

2. I agree that having a little tougher Clie would be nice. Dropping a pda from 4 ft is usually catastrophic. :(

3. How about OCR via the built in camera. I don't know how many times I read something and say "boy I'd like a copy of this, electronically"

4. Since we are dreaming - How about a broadband sensor - DC to 2.4GHz - like a tricorder:D

[n2ifp]

It would be nice if Sony would share it's API's, then we could have all kinds of cool add-ons!

[Flash-57]

Well, we will get all those things eventually. I suppose it's really a matter of what people will use today.

For example, I don't think most people would use voice recognition very often today. What kind of things would you like to "tell" your PDA? Frankly, I wouldn't trust it. Suppose I say, "Add doctor's appointment, Tuesday at two thirty." I'd be really screwed if it put it on Thursday or NEXT Tuesday, so I'd want to call up the appointment and look it over before saving it.

Plus, I'd be afraid that my PDA would "hear" random conversations and start adding things to my address book or calendar.

The only thing I might ever use it for would be if I had some long paragraphs to dictate. And, that would be rare.

[Vidge]

Originally posted by n2ifp
It would be nice if Sony would share it's API's, then we could have all kinds of cool add-ons!

Exactly:cool:

[ballistic]

Thanks for reviving the thread!

We're going to see limited text-to-speech soon with the car cradle, which will read out your emails and schedule/appointments. I hope Sony takes it even further and offers the capability without the cradle. I'd love to have my Handstory clips (or ebooks, memos, whatever) read to me during my commute.

I'm still waiting for limited voice navigation. Again, if cell phones can voice dial, then why not some limited voice commands on the Clie? This would work great with the car cradle, allowing simple commands without having to take your eyes off the road and keep both hand on the wheel. Look at how many luxury cars have voice commands/recognition for controlling the sound system, in-car navigation, etc.

This would allow you to use your Clie during your commute to do productive things.

[kjbad]

I think the device's strong point is its simplicity. That said, here's my wish list :

1) A Nextel-like communications system. I should be able to select my certain few recipients, just like Nextel's walkie-talkie feature, "chirp" them to let them know I want to talk, and have at it.

2) A master/slave feature that lets you use a Clie as a real-time digital camera (still or video) with the images shown on your monitor/LCD TV while you film. The unit could store on your Clie or directly on your PC or MS-equipped TV - no downloading.

3) Create a multimedia link for using your PDA with a home theater system. Again, the Clie links wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled home theater. Using the remote control functions in the PDA, you can play music or video from your PDA through the home theater system WIRELESSLY. Same for your PC - you can use your Clie to play video/audio files stored in your PDA on your PC from across the room, no wires.

That would be cool...

[madmaxmedia]

1. A video out jack plus support for 640 x 480 or 800 x 600 resolution. This coupled with keyboard would make it a real replacement for notebook computers (yet still be very pocketable for general usage).

2. Integrated HD for real storage space (even if it's just 8 or 10 Gig). Since iPods and other music devices have'em and still have good battery life, PDA's potentially could too.

3. I'd like a USB jack so you could potentially expand peripherals (although I guess you would need specific drivers which would limit you from using most available peripherals.)

These are notebook-centric features, but the difference is that they don't make the PDA much larger, and still retains the ease of use when you're just using the unit itself. I am already pretty content with basic PIM usage, so would like to expand beyond that. You could have a docking station for example, that instantly connected you to a monitor, keyboard, and speakers when you come home to your desk.

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings!

If I were head of Sony's CLIE division, and could have any design I wanted, this is what I would ask for:

Something about the size of an NX80, but with no moving parts - and no clamshell. A fixed 2Mpixel camera at the end of the device, with no swivel - just recessed and "pointed" forward - off the end of the device. The device would have NO external communications or charging ports of any kind, it would communicate through integrated WiFi, Infrared, and Bluetooth. It would charge the battery using a small solar cell panel, which would be on the back of the unit.

The device would be rubber armored on all 8 corners, and would be waterproof to 200 feet. It would be able to withstand a 200G shock. It would have a memory stick slot, but it would be recessed internally with a small watertight sealed rubber "plug" cover. This cover would also cover a headphone jack, speaker and microphone for the audio functions, and a video output port for connecting the device to a television or VCR.

There would be a built in LED camera light / flashlight just like on the NX80, but it would also be pointed forward next to the camera lens - at the end of the unit. Next to this would be a laser pointer which would double as a distance measuring device (laser tape-measure). Built in IR functions would be the same as current Clie devices.

There would be a built in lighted keyboard for the unit, but it would be on the BACK of the unit next to the solar cell array. There would be a small single line LCD display on the back next to the keypad so you could see what you are typing, but only 1 line of text at a time.

The screen would be hires+, backlit, and have a digitizer that would allow resolution of "finger press" input in case the stylus is too inconvenient to grab at the moment. The stylus would be a full length early CLIE type design, held in it's channel magnetically.

Standard memory would be 512MB, with all commonly used applications embedded in a separate ROM area. The screen would have a thin sliding "cover" made of titanium, which would slide into place to protect the screen when not in use. This "cover" would slide onto the back of the unit when the main front screen is in use. It would be held magnetically (with a small section of steel integrated into the titanium) so there is not "catch" or "clasp" to manually adjust.

Hey, while we are dreaming, it might as well have a 3 day battery life between chargings at full processing speed!

Best wishes,
Bawko

[Atomic Chicken]

Site Moderator,
2nd time today!!!! Please remove the "unregistered" posting. For some reason, your site is logging me out before I hit the "post reply" button - cookie problem? I don't know.
Please remove this posting too....
Best wishes,
Bawko

[Atomic Chicken]

Greetings again!

I forgot to mention two important features of my dream Clie - a vibrating alert, and an FM radio tuner with MP3 recording.

Best regards,
Bawko

[Brokken]

For a while, I've been mentioning that instead of focusing on putting what is IMHO a pretty limited-use keyboard on Clie models, they should focus more on things like virtual graffiti that can actually be configured to resemble something like a keyboard as well as adding VoRec (voice recognition) capabilities. The ideal Palm device should be intelligent enough to be able to process voice and transcribe it to text, much the same way the Newton broke ground with its text recognition system so many years ago. I remember how intuitive it was. Not only did it recognize text on the fly, but you could open up the equivalent of our Memopad and then jot down text as bitmap graphics for subsequent recognition and conversion into text. It wasn't perfect (I'm reminded of the Simpsons episode where "Beat up Martin" gets translated into "Eat up Martha") but neither is graffiti for that matter. In addition to that, you could embed simple graphics into your documents. These were stored as separate objects from the text and could be moved around and edited after the fact. The AI was intelligent enough that if it sensed you were trying to draw a circle or a square, or some other type of primitive, it would take your hand-drawn scribble and clean it up for you. Truly amazing feats for its time!
The AI didn't stop there. Say for example, you jutted down something like "Dinner on Thursday at 8 with Hannibal Lecter". It would automatically look up "Hannibal Lecter" in your address book and create an entry in your scheduler containing all the contact information for the appropriate date and time. Nothing on the Palm matches those features EVEN to this day!
I took my Newton with me everywhere! Even if it meant carrying a fanny pack at all times.
I'd like to see Palm take a similar approach with sound. Have VoRec capabilities that would make keyboard entry look positively archaic. Where you can simply press a button that would put your Palm device in 'listen' mode and you'd give it a command like "Pull up Hannibal" and have it look up all relevant databases for matches and be able to scroll through the choices by using voice commands.
So let me reiterate my opinion about keyboards: They look high-techie - but they belie a philosophy that is anticuated and in the case of portable devices - counter intuitive. We should be striving for better biometrics and designs that mold to us, rather than giving us the PDA equivalent of a swiss army knife.

[Hannibal]

Originally posted by Atomic Chicken
Greetings again!

I forgot to mention two important features of my dream Clie - a vibrating alert, and an FM radio tuner with MP3 recording.

Yes, especially the vibrating alert for me.

[mvfrancisco]

i think this is pretty out there, but i'm going to combine ideas from two articles i read recently (and i'm sure some of you have too): 1) the idea of a digital camera as a general "data collection" device, and 2) data storage as "intuitive digital memory". It's all dependent on 1) much more processing power, and 2) huge amounts of cheap storage.

Rather than writing things down, people sometimes use cameras to record visual data... like taking a picture of a poster or sign for something they want to look up later. If you can expand that to include GPS, voice recording, temperature measurements, etc. you can have a data recording device to comprehensively document events or parts of your life that you'd like to remember later.

For retrieval, a smart data storage solution would be able to index the material intuitively via metrics like GPS and timestamps along with algorithims for facial recognition and photo analysis... all without you needing to tag them.

Then when you want to bring up all the information from a certain event or memory like "going to yankee stadium with my dad", from the analysis and indexing it'll pop up a selection of media, notes, game schedules, or anything that's related to the trips you took with your dad, for as long as you've been recording them.

Planning-wise, you could also use it to.... "make reservations at that restaurant we went to for jenna's last birthday". it would really make the pda an extension of yourself... kind of like a back-up brain.

[Brokken]

Originally posted by mvfrancisco
Planning-wise, you could also use it to.... "make reservations at that restaurant we went to for jenna's last birthday". it would really make the pda an extension of yourself... kind of like a back-up brain.

That's actually a pretty nifty idea. If you had a PDA with integrated GPS, you could have an address book where instead of entering that person's address manually, you could just hit a button called "Locate" provided you were at that person's house. The PDA would ascertain your exact location and enter it for you in the Address Book. If you wanted to find that place again, the address book not only would show you the address, but could give you the option of showing you the way there.
Very nice! :)

[kp*]

Originally posted by Hannibal


Yes, especially the vibrating alert for me.
That's the one thing I missed when I left my m500 for the NR. I've gotten over it because there are plenty of other reasons to want an NR over the m500, but it would be great if that were also included in Clies.

[quintuss]

I would love to see a VGA output in combination with a retina projection device or glasses with hud. I could be lying in bed totally relaxed an let the ebooks scroll along right in fron of my eyes. :D

Another idea, would be an infrared mode for the camera, it would give our clies a tricorder like touch. Nightvision would also be cool.