My Apple Newton

Newton Connection (NCX) version 2 released

2013-06-19T15:36:00.002+12:00

NCX version 1 (Click to enlarge)

NCX 2 (Click to enlarge)

Newton Connection for Mac OS X (NCX) is a utility for backing up, moving information and installing packages from a Mac desktop to both Newton NOS 1.x and NOS 2.x devices.

NCX 2.0:

Has a revamped user interface
Has incremental backup support
Allows backed up soups to be viewed
Allows soup entries to be exported by dragging them onto Finder
Allows screenshots to be taken
Type on the Newton with your Mac keyboard while connected
Allows backups to be viewed while not connected

Fantastic to see Newton software still being maintained and updated.

NCX is freeware and you can download it from here.

Thanks Simon.

Catamount Founder Passes Away

2013-05-21T17:42:00.002+12:00

Sadly, Hardy Macia, best known to Newton users as the founder of Catamount Software has passed away after being diagnosed with Cancer in 2012. Catamount was one of the most prolific Newton software houses providing a wide repertoire of utilities as well as some prominent applications:

PocketMoney: A personal finance program
MPG: A car logger for preparing expense claims
Writer's Calc: A program that allowed simple math to be carried out using handwriting recognition

After the Newton's discontinuation, he focused his company on producing Palm OS applications. Today, the company continues to publish PocketMoney for both the iOS and Android platforms. His Newton applications can still be purchased here.

Hardy was actively engaged in libertarian politics and once ran for the Governor of Vermont in 2004.

He is survived by his wife Heidi and two children.

PC Connectivity: Tether your Newton via Android Phone

2013-04-30T11:24:00.000+12:00

Connecting your Newton to a PC is important for backing up your precious data and for loading content for subsequent viewing.

The usual approaches include a serial connection or WiFi. Apple users have to use a DIN to USB adapter and few PCs come standard with a serial port anymore. For PC Desktops they can use one of their unused expansion slots to install a serial port.

Over on NewtonTalk, Woody Smith has worked out a way to access his G5 Leopard Mac via his Android phone:

I had lately resigned myself to using serial for connecting to my G5 Leopard Mac, but today I tried a different approach. I use an Android phone with T-mobile which permits me to use it as a wifi router. I set the phones prefs to Open set my Lucent silver/gold card to connect to my phones SSID. Connected mac to phone and launched NCX. Newt connected with no problems, did backup of 2mb internal and 12 mb on card in less than 4 minutes. and no problem installing 3mb newton book.

Obviously there is some small risk of turning off encryption but for a short session I feel safe enough.

The setup is quick as is turning it off.

Mike Culbert: Thanks for the memories

2013-04-22T18:18:00.000+12:00

MessagePad innards by Urban Ape

Mike Culbert was an engineer for Apple and had a lot of input to the design of the Apple Newton. Sadly he recently passed away after a battle with cancer.

We mark his passing with drawing your attention to this interview which reveals a lot of the design thinking behind the MessagePad 2x00: Click Here.

You may also see video of him talking about the Newton in the launch video.

Alan Kay on the Apple Newton

2013-04-08T21:12:00.000+12:00

Alan Kay

Alan Kay is one of the giants that pioneered the thinking that presaged modern mobile computing and communications. He was influential in leading Steve Jobs to maintain Apple's dual focus on hardware and software development. While the Newton was being developed, Kay was a research fellow at Apple.

You may not have heard of him but you may have come across some of his maxims:

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

"People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."

"If you don't fail 90% of the time you're not trying hard enough."

Kay was recently interviewed and had this to say about the Newton:

"I had many grazing encounters with the Newton (this was a very complicated project and politics on all fronts). Back in the Dynabook design days I had determined pretty carefully that, while you could do a very good character recognizer (the GRAIL project at RAND had one in the '60s), you still needed a keyboard. Apple Marketing did not want a keyboard because they feared it would then compete with the Mac. Then there was the siren's song of trying to recognize handwriting rather than printing — and they plunged (this was a terrible decision). And so on and so forth. One of the heroes of the Newton was [PARC and Mac veteran] Larry Tesler who took over the project at the end and made it happen."

Interestingly, Kay has also said that Microsoft's Tablet PC design was :

"...the first Dynabook-like computer good enough to criticize."

Read the entire interview.
-------
Handwritten on an X-Series ThinkPad Tablet.

New Version of Movie Converter Released

2013-04-04T00:25:00.000+13:00

Who says Apple Newton Development is dead?

Vlad Korotnev certainly hasn't given up on the Newton. He pulled out Eric Schneck's Newton Movie Converter and unhappy with its performance, rewrote some of it, giving it better stability.

The Newton Movie Converter converts Quick Time movies into Newton Movie format.

Here is a demo of the new version's output:

The new version can be downloaded from here and here.

-------
Handwritten on an X-Series ThinkPad Tablet

Note-taking on iOS provokes hankering for the Newton

2013-03-24T00:36:00.000+13:00

This week Vern Seward takes a look at iOS note-taking apps and along the way takes a nostalgic look at the Apple Newton, whose note-taking capability was legendary:

. . . the Newton was a device that was light years ahead of its time. In fact, I'd wager several real American dollars that if the Newton were revamped to include the latest processors, graphics, memory, and screen technologies, but kept much of its original "let's get busy" attitude and usefulness, it would be a bigger hit than the iPhone and iPad combined. Yeah, I know that's a tall statement, but hear me out.

What the Newton did that made it such a great device was that it focused on performing a small set of tasks very well. One such task was note taking.

When the Newton MessagePad 100 was first offered in 1993 (1993!!!) the ideology behind it was to bring computing to people instead of the other way around, which was the way we dealt with our digital world back then. To make using computers more accessible Apple tried to get these devices to act as translators, taking our input and converting it into something meaningful in our digital world.

The first Newtons had the ability to turn our horrible handwriting into neat, clean text, and it did so with amazing accuracy and without being connected to the Internet. That's a feat even Apple's wonderful iPad can't match.

Handwriting recognition is still a feature I believe should be a mainstay in our mobile environment and it puzzles me to no end why it is absent or treated like a bend penny. It could be the lingering affect of Jobs' not so hidden dislike for all things Newton, but I refuse to believe it has anything to do with hardware. If the Newton, running a 20MHz ARM 610 processor and about 5mb (5!!!) of total memory could provide decent write-to-text conversion, an iPad should be able to do the same thing as a side process and still be pretty darn quick about it too.

Ah well, maybe that's a feature future iPads will offer. In the meantime the need to make computing more accessible remains even as the Newton's progeny take over the computing world. Taking notes still requires us to type in our text, or does it?

Print your own battery tray: Part 2

2013-03-20T15:06:00.003+13:00


Davis Remmel's printed battery tray

With battery trays for an MP2x00 getting harder to come by, Newton users have been exploring how to roll their own tray using rapid prototyping printer technologies.

Davis Remmel has been pioneering this idea and developed an Adobe Inventor file. Unfortunately most people who have sent it through to Shapeways for fabrication have had the project returned. Shapeway cite that the part has areas that are too thin.

Davis has managed it and shares some tips:

Since I released that first model, I've been contacted several times by people wanting their own 'copy' of the tray. Most of them tried to order it through Shapeways, with the same luck as you: there are extremely thin areas of the tray (as with many injection-molded parts) which don't print *super* well. Not only that, but the tolerances need to be super tight, so the tray can slide into the Newton's battery compartment and eject with the weak internal spring.

It is possible to print this part yourself, though. A friend who found my project offered to print a couple of models to get a closer fit, and they fit pretty darn well.

Don't worry about being, "too thin to print." Just be sure to print it radially (vertical) and *not* axially, otherwise it spills over the tolerances and doesn't fit at all.

Pretty much any commercial rapid prototyping machine should be able to produce the part -- my best advice is to find a local business (or school) with one, and ask them really nicely.

Click here for the Autodesk Inventor file.

Handwriting recognition: The unsung hero of the Surface Pro

2013-03-01T19:10:00.000+13:00

Handwriting Recognition has always been a function close to an Apple Newton User's heart. Russell Holly takes stock of input mechanisms for computing devices/appliances and doing a shout out for handwriting recognition:

There are a lot of people out there who don’t “get” the Surface Pro. This isn’t their fault, or their problem, it’s up to Microsoft to help them understand the product. So far the team from Redmond hasn’t delivered on that. One of the biggest points that Microsoft should be focusing on, in my opinion, is the Pro’s absolutely stellar handwriting recognition driven by the combination of Windows 8 and the Wacom stylus.

We’ve reached a strange point, technologically, with input mechanisms. Every part of the ecosystem desperately wants to kill off the physical keyboard, but no one has really figured out what to replace it with. Most on-screen keyboards are relatively terrible, but they offer more screen real estate for other activities so we deal with them in the hopes that it will get better. Voice-to-text has made massive leaps in the last few years, but no one wants to be “that guy” walking around in public talking to their phone or computer. Microsoft made some improvements on this front with Windows Phone 8, but none of them made their way to Windows 8.

Spicer: Putting an iPad Mini inside an eMate

2013-02-25T22:32:00.000+13:00

Over on Monochromatic Outlook, Spicer explores the idea of retrofitting an iPod Mini into an eMate:

But what if instead of a monochrome LCD screen, the eMate could house, say, an iOS device? It wouldn't take a lot of disassembly and reassembly, assuming it would be possible to do a non-destructive teardown of an iPad Mini and successfully replace the guts of the eMate keyboard with a bluetooth model.

Read more.

Hackett: On the eMate 300

2013-02-22T22:18:00.000+13:00

Stephen Hackett has written a nice retrospective on the Apple eMate:

Anyone who has been following technology since before the Dawn of the Smartphone should remember the Apple Newton. The handheld device was sold from 1993 to 1998, and is regarded as being ahead of its time.

The family of devices all came equipped with (eventually) decent battery life, handwriting recognition and a pen-based UI, and all ran the NewtonOS.

Apple didn’t just keep NewtonOS confined to glowing green handheld devices, however. In November 1997, just. . .

Read more.

Get Ripped Off! Get a holster

2013-02-05T21:39:00.000+13:00

The size of an Apple Newton is both a blessing and a curse. Most pockets won't fit them. Cases don't usually jit in a pocket either. Putting them in a back pocket can result in a catastrophe. Holsters clipped to a belt could be a practical alternative.

Lord Groundhog over at Newtontalk has found one that works because it can accommodate the bulk of a MessagePad 2x00:

There's a really good company in Pennsylvania called Rip-Off (rather inappropriately considering what a great product they make at very reasonable prices). They make all kinds of holsters including one that fits my MP2100 like they were made for each other. When your clothes let your Newt down, your holster will take over!

In fact, they do a couple of variations that fit the MP2x00 but my absolute favourite is this one:

http://www.ripoffs.com/datasheets/co58/co58.html

When I was buying mine (2008) they were doing with or without auxiliary pockets, and a choice of clip-on or belt-loop. Having used the clip-on I can tell you this is by far the best-designed, best-constructed clip system it's been my pleasure to use. I like the pockets for extra odds and ends (the large pocket will take PCMCIA cards including a wifi or ethernet card and some cable, OR my HTC Sensation, for example, and the smaller one carries smaller stuff I like to have, OR will carry my Sony Ericsson K810). But if you hunt for it, there's another version without the pockets.

Also, those pockets create 2 places for carrying a pen as long as you're sensible about it. I always have a fine point permanent marker with me and that's where it rides, but if I want to carry my multi-point pen (with 2 colours plus pencil plus extra stylus) it goes in the other one.

So go to that page and make sure to click on "Styles" and "Features" to see everything.

And if you need to clarify anything before you order, feel free to phone them. They are THE most helpful people you could ask for. I had to phone first, to clarify how to order (I can be a little "thick" when using websites) and second because I had a special request because I was travelling and the window for receiving delivery was so small. They were great!

When they say lifetime warranty they mean it; in the rare event something goes wrong, they really take care of you. But mainly, they make sure you're opening a parcel and taking out a superbly designed and constructed holster that puts a smile on your face and on your Newt's face for years to come.

And to confirm what Larry said, I've worn this one day in and day out for over 5 years with maybe a total of 6 weeks (when I was using the other one instead) and it still looks great -- no fraying, no wear spots, no shredding inside, no weakening of the clip. One day I'll go to Lancaster just so I can acknowledge their commitment to quality in person.

Yeah, I'm gushing. Can't help it. In general, I love quality when I can find it. In particular, I LOVE my Newts, and I consider these holsters absolutely worthy of my Newts.

One favour I'd ask if you don't mind: if you do buy, make a point of telling them you were recommended through someone on NewtonTalk. You don't have to mention "Lord Groundhog" unless you want to tell them I say hi, but mention the group. I always think that when people stick with serving us even though our need is considered "obsolete" by some, it's not a bad idea to let them know we're here and we appreciate them.

(Disclaimer: I have NO connection to this company except as a very happy owner of their holsters -- yes, that's plural.)

The Indestructible eMate

2013-01-29T11:15:00.000+13:00

Over on Newtontalk, James Fraser brought our attention to a lovely anecdote from the eMate's past. Back in 2002 Tom Murray shared:

I remember going to a demo showing that Apple threw (no pun intended) before the Emate became available.  To make a long story short, they literally
threw the  demo unit across the room, approx. 15 feet.  The guy then picked it up, picked up the stylus that popped out, turned the unit on,
watched it reset (guess the throw woke it up), and he started writing away. It worked perfectly.  I was most impressed.  At the time I was wondering how
many school kids would be using these new tools to bash each other over the heads with.

To which, Chris Smolyk followed up with:

Yes, indeedy. When OS 8 was being introduced, I attended a big presentation at a local hotel (Edmonton, Canada). My favorite demo was the eMate guy.
I asked him for his real bottom line....and he said the Apple folks asked him not to do it at that show, but from demoing to a lot of parents, he liked
to have them play with it a bit, and then take it out of their hands and throw it at the wall. When they picked it up, they knew it was fairly kid-proof. Pretty cool.

Pretty cool, indeed.

Translucent Clear Apple Newtons

2013-01-25T12:02:00.003+13:00

A clear MP 110

There's been a bit of a buzz recently following the sale of a "clear" translucent MessagePad 110 for US $1,350 on eBay (http://tinyurl.com/aaao56a). Following that relatively high profile sale someone else has been motivated to sell a similar unit too (http://tinyurl.com/b4trf8d).

According to Mickey Sattler, there were two versions of the clear MessagePad 110s. One version head a "quick tips" label stuck to the inside of the translucent cover. The second version has a grid of rectangular shapes moulded into the cover.

Over on Newtontalk, Maurice Sharp who was a DTS Engineer at Apple shares his recollections:

If memory serves there were a few different types of clear 110's produced (in fact of any device).

At that time, we went through a few different stages that resulted in units:

pre-prod/concept:
- Sometimes clear sometimes not.
- These units were effectively alpha units.
- They may or may not have logos or names.
- Have a black piece (sticker, label, ...) on the back that identifies the codename, build, etc.

DVT
- Sometimes clear sometimes not (usually clear units were for mechanical validation)
- Effectively beta units
- More likely to have logos and unit names (though may not be final)
- Have a black piece (sticker, label, ...) on the back that identifies it as a DVT unit

PVT
- Rarely clear
- Effectively golden master (production evaluation testing)
- Should have final logos
- May have the black sticker

For MP 110, there was a clear batch produced with incorrect ROMs (i.e., they are not "real" MP110's.) These were all clear and where handed out to employees. They come with the word Lindy (codename for the 110) and some other writing on the back of the screen protecting surface stuck to the flip cover. If memory serves, the writing shows through the cover when it is closed.

The rarest unit I know of is probably not on the open market. It is a hand built prototype of a Newton device built inside of one of the Palm Pilot series.

Apparently less than 400 of the clear MessagePad 110s were ever produced. Maybe as time passes and as working units become increasingly scarce, the value of all Newton MessagePads might appreciate. A long term investment? [wink & nudge].

To read more about the MessagePad and its specifications click here.

Qualcomm: The Newton could have been the first smartphone

2013-01-12T23:49:00.000+13:00

Apparently Qualcomm suggested to Apple that a radio could be added to the Newton but the idea was quickly rejected. Instead Qualcomm pitched the idea to Palm and the Qualcomm PDQ was the final result. Apple might have rejected it on the basis that

Users could already upgrade the phone with cellular technology at the time through its PCMCIA slots.
The unit was already big and heavy. Putting a baked-in cellular solution would have added more bulk and weight. The Apple team had already considered it but cellular technology was expensive then, bulky and power hungry. Other licensees had attempted it.
Newton sales were already taking sales from Macintosh, a dynamic that presaged the trend today where Smartphones and Tablets are taking sales from PCs and Macs.

Eventually the Qualcomm PDQ morphed into the Kyocera 6035.

Apple Newton Emulator: New version of Einstein for Android released [updated]

2013-01-05T23:05:00.000+13:00

Matthias Melcher has given everybody a wonderful holiday gift (26 Dec 2012): a new version of Einstein for Android. The new version is much quicker and from his account, once loaded, it could be almost as fast as a native Newton!

I plunged into the Android docs and mailing lists to finally understand what the heck I was doing when I first implemented this port. And buy did I find out a lot about my mistaken assumptions. I guess it is the fate of being a programmer for 30 years to simply assume things - because they have always been that way. And then this newfangled language named Java. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, this version is now much much faster thanks to a better compiler and better optimization.

When launching multiple apps, Einstein is sent into the background as a service. That way, it will no longer reboot every time. This was also a severe bug wasting megabytes of resources. Ah well.

So, if you are using a Samsung Note for example, you will get a pretty good Newton experience. The HWR works, the apps run at almost full speed, and even adding the Y10K patch should work.

Install the APK, upload the ROM (717006.rom) and the REX (Einstein.rex) into the directory "/sdcard/Downloads/Einstein/" and launch the Einstein App. It may crash the first time around, but should work the second time and from then on. Booting takes less than a minute on my phone, but may take longer on slower CPUs. A dual core CPU is highly recommended.

Should you try to get this running, please send me a quick note, which phone/tablet, and if it worked for you.

Download it from here. Feedback can be sent to mm at matthiasm dot com

Early feedback:

Tried it in my Samsung Galaxy note II, it boots in 5-6 seconds. And the speed feels like 95 % of a real Newton. Using the S-pen with its airview function is awesome, as it disables hand touch when the pen is near the display. It almost feels like using a modern hardware Newton. Really impresive job. --Daniel on NewtonTalk

Einstein works on my Note. It is fast. Perfect! Thanks, Matthias. --John on NewtonTalk

Happy Holidays.

Update: He's on a roll! New version released 3 Jan 2012.

Happy New Year, folks.

I have uploaded a new version of Einstein for Android. You can just install it over the old version - your Flash RAM data should not be deleted and all installed software should remain.

The changes are based on the EMails to this list:

1:

The context menu is no longer supported by newer device. You can now reach a similar menu by going into Nthe Notifications bar (pull the top bar down) and tapping on the Einstein logo. The hardware menu button also works.

2:

Installing packages now works on al apps by putting new .pkg files into "/Download/EInstein/" and selection "Install New Packages" for the Action menu.

3:

Clicking on "Insert Network Card" now actually inserts the network card. But this only works if all drivers were previously installed in the correct order :-/

4:

Clicking on the Action "Quit" will quit the Service, making Einstein a regular app again that will be cleared whenever Android feels like it.

5:

Little Cliffhanger: in the next version, to install a package, you can simply click the .pkg file in an internet browser to install it.

Enjoy

- Matthias

Update: 5 January 2012

Hi folks,

isn't vacation time a wonderful time? I really got a hang of Java and Android over the last days. What a wonderful system! Anyway, here we are:

Changes:

* change screen resolution (requires Newton reboot)

* enable/disable status bar

* change screen refresh rate (now very fluid at 30fps on fast machines)

* change NewtonID (if you already have licensed software, you can move your ID with your device)

* install from file (start file browser and tap on any package (*.pkg))

* install form web (start web browser, got to inna.org or similar, tap on any package)

* fixed background light

http://code.google.com/p/einstein/downloads/list

As usual, your comments and suggestions are welcome, good and bad ;-)

Todo:

* rebooting the emulated Newton does not work reliably, the pen/touch interface does not reconnect. Going to the home screen and tapping Einstein again is a temp fix

* Einstein sometimes hangs after the first welcome sequence. After a reboot, it usually never hangs again

* Options missing for the various resets and reboots, clear Flash, etc.

* Network support may actually work, but must be tested (will allow syncing)

* keep network card connected - option

* install ROM and REX the same way we install packages

* sound support

* interface to Android API

* screen rotation?

* keyboard support

* if network support is not enough, a serial port?

* more icons in the Android UI

* alerts and alarms while in the background

- Matthias

Video with Einstein in action available

2013-01-03T22:58:00.001+13:00

Matthias Melcher has got the Newton Community excited with his recent work on the Einstein emulator. Over the last couple of weeks he has released two new updates for Android.

Matthias has made considerable progress in speeding up the emulator. To get some gauge of how fast the latest version has become, Steven Frank has uploaded a 1-minute video showing Einstein in action on his Nexus 7. Download and watch it from here.

There are a few bugs to iron out and no word yet on Ethernet or WLAN support but heartening stuff nonetheless.

New Newton resource releases & developments in 2012

2012-12-31T09:00:00.000+13:00

Folks

Here are the new Newton software, hardware and other resources released in 2012:

Grant Hutchinson moves Newton FAQ to Github.
Sundry apps preserved on UNNA.
Frank Gruendel publishes years of NewtonTalk digests in one downloadable file.
Matej Horvat releases his proxy server for Pocket Web, a browser for NOS 1.x.
Matthias Melcher releases new version of Einstein the Newton OS emulator for OS X and Windows here.
Matthias Melcher releases details on his Newton OS simulator project.
Eckhart Koppen releases cDCL,an experimental distribution of the DCL and K libraries. To find out what they are click here.
Matthias Melcher releases new version of Einstein for Android.

2011

2010
2009
2008
2007
2006

Apple Newton 1-Page Beginners Guide: updated December 2012

2012-12-17T11:00:00.000+13:00

A recent comment by another blogger suggested the need for a 1-page beginners guide to the Newton.

So you want to buy a Newton and get it going? I have a PC so this beginner's guide is going to focus on Windows users. If you're a Mac user and you're an experienced Newton user then write a Mac version of a beginners guide, and I'll link this blog to it.

The pricing for this blog was last updated December 2012 Since this blog entry was first written in August 2010, its noticeable that the number of Newtons and Newton accessories coming to eBay has fallen. The proportion of auctions for Original MessagePads (OMPs) and at the same time, MessagePad 100, 110, 120 and 130s (MP1x0s) seems to have risen. J&K Sales has closed down but Gem Enterprises is still offering an albeit slowly diminishing range of units and accessories at reasonable prices. Fewer individual units are being offered for sale, and it seems like more units are available as a package as users sell their entire collection of Newton units and accessories. This makes it much harder to value individual components.

BUYING A NEWTON

There were eight different models of Newton and two versions of the Newton Operating System (NOS). From a user's point of view the biggest benefits that NOS 2.x brings over NOS 1.x are:

* a greatly improved handwriting recognition;

* an improved user interface
* support for internet and bluetooth networking

For most people connecting to the Internet or to another computer are important requirements, therefore NOS 2.x's improved networking capabilities makes models using this operating much more desirable. Only some of the Messagepad 120's, and all of the 130, 2000 and 2100 models came with NOS 2.x. The Messagepad (MP)100, 110 and 120 cannot be upgraded to NOS 2.x. AFAIK all GPS and Wifi applications developed for the Newton require NOS 2.x.

Newtons only have a serial port for built in connectivity. A proprietary modem can be connected to it. Ethernet and Internet communications require PCMCIA card interface cards. Newtons don't have a lot of internal memory so any application that requires much storage such as email will need additional storage. The MP 2x00's came with two PCMCIA card slots so that a communications card can be used without having to remove a memory card. See also http://tinyurl.com/2by3hqe for more background on PCMCIA standards.

Put together: if you just want to get a taste of why people rave about the Newton user interface and don't need to use it for GPS applications, email, connect to a LAN or the Internet then an MP 1x0 or an eMate, will do. At the moment, there seems to be an abundance of eMates on eBay which has driven the price down. Otherwise get one of the MP 2x00 models. The only difference between an MP2000 and an MP 2100 is an extra 3 MB of internal memory. The extra memory improves speed and stability when using the Internet related software.

Newtons were discontinued in 1998 so new or unused ones are rare. Second hand ones can be purchased on Craigs List, eBay or local garage sales. A list of vendors can be found on the sidebar of this site. Make sure that the unit you want to buy doesn't have the dreaded Jaggies.

Typical pricing excluding postage and packaging:

MP OMP ($10-$120)
MP 100 ($10-$130)
MP 110 ($80-$160)
MP 120 ($40-$150)
MP 130 ($100-$120)
eMate ($30-$120)
MP 2000 ($20-$80)
MP 2100 ($75-$160)

Higher prices can be encountered but these prices tend to be outliers. For example I have seen an eMate being offered for $8,500!

PREPARING FOR SETTING IT UP
The Newton does things differently and an understanding of how it works and stores its information is essential. It comes with its own jargon. Instead of files, databases, records and fields; it has soups, frames and slots. Packages or .pkg files are analogous to .exe files. Extensions are packages that add some functionality to NOS or another package. You can find a glossary here or here.

Packages are transferred to the Newton using a web browser or Newton Connection Kit (which is installed on a PC for connecting to NOS 1.x devices) or Newton Connection Utilities (installed on a PC for NOS 2.x devices). They can then be found in the inbox of IN/OUT where they are "put away" or installed. This inbox is also where emails are received and processed. You can find the "Getting Started" and Users Manuals here: http://tinyurl.com/2bvh6gf. They are essential reading.

Most Newtons will have been taken back to their factory new state to ensure that all confidential information has been removed.

As part of its initial setup the Newton will ask for the Owner's details. The majority of Newton software is protected from piracy using registration codes based on the name entered as the Owner. They won't work if the Owner's name is changed.

The software required for GPS applications, email, and bluetooth or Internet networking have all been written by members of the user community and need to be loaded. You can find the software on UNNA or here. No matter how you choose to connect you will need some accessories, such as a compatible PCMCIA Network Interface Card or a compatible GPS receiver. Unless your Newton came with these accessories you will have to buy them. Read the next two sections before deciding what connection to use.

BUYING ACCESSORIES
Estimated costs at time of writing excluding postage and packaging in USD are included.

MEMORY: We have already spoken about the need for additional memory storage. You can find out about what kind of memory cards the Newton uses at http://tinyurl.com/2gx9wng. Est. cost: Linear 2MB, $5-$10; 4MB $16-$25; 16MB $30-$50; 20MB $25-$55; 24MB $40-$65; 32MB $100-$180; ATA CF 32MB $10-$20; ATA SD 2GB $5-$10; SRAM 1MB $90-$200; 2MB $570-$1,200; 6MB $75+;

SERIAL CONNECTION: You're going to need the following:
* A dongle ($20-$40); quite rare now and optional see notes below.
* A serial to USB adapter ($20-$50) or a PCI or PCI-E serial port adapter since most PC Motherboards don't have built in serial ports anymore. ($10-$20)
* A serial cable with a DIN-8 connector at one end and a DB9 connector at the other end. ($20-$40); or
* A serial cable with a DB9 connector at one end and an Interconnect Port connector at the other end. ($10-$70); with this cable the dongle is not required.

LAN ETHERNET CONNECTION: you'll need
* A compatible PCMCIA ethernet network interface card. You can find a list of compatible cards here: http://tinyurl.com/24sjh3p. ($10-$20)
* A suitable LAN cable ($5-$10)

WIRELESS WIFI LAN CONNECTION: you will need a
* A wireless router ($40-$60) or
* A wireless access point ($15-$30) and
* A PCMCIA Wifi network interface card ($10-$50)

ORIGINAL APPLE NEWTON FAX MODEM ($5-$15)

You can find a list of compatible equipment at http://tinyurl.com/2eavdvt

I use a Lucent Orinoco WiFi adapter card. You can find out more about it here.

* AA battery tray for MP 2x00: $25-$40; See http://tinyurl.com/2efh2a6 for why you might want this.

REPLACEMENT STYLI: $10-$15
REPLACEMENT POWER BRICK: $15-$30

SETTING IT UP
If you can't connect to a desktop using a serial connection then you're stuck. This is called the bootstrapping problem. Maybe your desktop or laptop no longer has a serial port. Read http://tinyurl.com/22tlkss to find out how to overcome it.

* You can find out how to create a serial connection at http://tinyurl.com/2fxxk2t.

* Setting up an Ethernet connection is a prerequisite to establishing a wireless connection the entire process is described and discussed at http://tinyurl.com/mk22zl. You can stop at step 4 if you only want an Ethernet connection.

NOS 2.x has a Y2010 bug. You can find out what it is from here. For NOS 2.0 Newtons find out how to fix it here. NOS 2.1 Newtons may be fixed with Koppen's patch. If you're lucky the unit you bought might have already had the necessary patches pre-installed.

FINDING SOFTWARE
The Newton comes with some good PIM applications, Notepad and Calculators. NOS 2.x devices were also bundled with a productivity suite: Works. Works included a word processor and a spreadsheet. Now that your Newton has been set up with a connection to either your desktop or the Internet you are ready to download and install some additional applications. A vast number of little tweaks and additional applications have been developed. The top 20 essential tweaks and apps are listed here.

Apple discontinued the Newton in 1998. Consequently most of the software written for it is abandonware and nearly all of it is unsupported. The original developers having moved on long ago. A small number of volunteers have done wonders in allowing the Newton to support technologies introduced since then. A short directory of the most popular download sites is on the sidebar of this site .

This site has a lot of software sorted into whether or not it is compatible with NOS 1.x, NOS 2.x or both: http://tinyurl.com/27jn4bx.

Much of the Newton software has been compressed into archive files with .hqx or .sit extensions. These are uncommon in the PC world. A freeware utility called Stuffit Expander can be used to decompress these archives: http://tinyurl.com/68zx7y.

SUPPORT

Places you can find support are also listed in the sidebar of this site.

CAVEAT EMPTOR
The dongle is really rare and therefore expensive. It is unnecessary since serial cables with the Interconnect Port connector are more economically available from Gem Enterprises.
Some vendors are breaking up Newtons into parts and charging exorbitant prices. Check that your MP 2x00 has a door, a stylus, blanks to block out dust from unused PCMCIA ports and a port door.

Many accessories can be purchased more economically as a package.

Beware of vendors selling software on eBay that is in fact available on UNNA or Genghis' repository on 4Share as freeware (see sidebar). Some of the titles recently offered that fit in this category include Digital Gourmet, SmallTalk language translation software and Virtual Intern.

Flash memory cards have finite lives: they can only allow a limited number of read/write cycles. Used linear flash memory cards are often sourced from routers. Unfortunately routers are heavy users of linear flash memory cards. Avoid cards sourced from old routers.

WEAR AND TEAR
All devices will suffer from wear and tear. Be sure to check for these issues before buying:

* All models of the Newton can suffer from the jaggies.

* Over (a long) time the spring at the back of the battery compartment loses its elasticity and when the latch is used, the battery tray or battery doesn't pop out as it should. This has never happened to me and I've been using mine everyday for over five years.

* The power switch can also fail with considerable use. This has never happened to me and I've been using mine everyday for over five years.

* Over time the spring in the hinge of the eMate will work its way loose. Unfortunately the sharp end of the spring can then cut into the ribbon cable that connects the screen to the motherboard. It is difficult to fix but it is much easier to prevent. There is an excellent guide on this site.

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Sent from an Apple Newton MP2100

Apple Newton Replacement Candidate: Samsung Galaxy Note 2?

2012-12-09T02:22:00.000+13:00

Ever since it was discontinued in 1998, Apple Newton users have been on the look out for a worthy successor. Following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note in October 2011, and its larger sibling, the Note 10.1 in January 2012, our expectations were raised but only to be dashed as reports came in criticizing its "half baked" handwriting recognition system. Samsung released its Notes successor, the Note 2 in August 2012. Has the new model overcome the weaknesses of the original Note? The first reviews have drifted in. Since I'm writing for Newton users, I'll focus on the HWR portions:

CNET:

Unfortunately, there's no spell-checker, and mistakes require manual correction. This oversight bothers me on all Samsung phones, but with the Note 2 being so focused on writing, the lack of a default spell checker is really inexcusable. I'm also put out that there's no one-touch way to insert commas and question marks.

...the Note 2's stylus has four distinct surfaces and squared-off sides. Its button is ridged so you can click by feel. Compared with the Note's round, thin twig of a wand, this stylus is more comfortable, less likely to roll away, and less prone to accidental button presses. Of course, I mistakenly pressed it anyway, which led to its own set of issues while using the device.
Samsung licenses Wacom's technology to brings its S Pen 1,024 levels of pen-pressure sensitivity, which means you can press lightly or hard for different results. Like the Note tablet, the Note 2 smartphone merges pen-and-paper sensibilities with a healthy dose of cursor-and-mouse functionality.

Take air view, a cursor/mouse combo that reveals tool tips and drop-down menus when you hover, and also pops up thumbnail previews for photo and video. You can also scroll up and down, and from side to side.

Manipulating the S Pen Zoom also zooms in and out, takes a screen shot, and opens a new, blank memo on any screen. You can also highlight text and lasso objects to capture them.

...The S Pen is a natural, comfortable extension of your own hand, and using it gives your fingers a break. Dig a little, and you'll find quick commands and gestures of all sorts. Gestures can be faster and more efficient; other times not. You can also create some of your own.

...Any time a keyboard pops up, you'll be able to use the S Pen to hunt-and-peck, swipe words, or handwrite them. After tinkering with some settings, you'll also be able to handwrite directly into apps like Gmail, and virtually flip over photos to jot on the back.

No matter which app I'm in, the S Pen renders my already questionable penmanship even more scrawling [sic], which can throw off the mostly impressive handwriting recognition software. The Note 2 even recognizes cursive script for some languages.

...Still, to rely on the handwriting software day in and out, recognition must be consistently accurate, reliable, and fast. The Note's isn't quite there yet, which leads to frustrating moments defined by pauses, corrections, and rewrites.

...Samsung's S Note app is both one of the best arguments for the S Pen, and also one of the phone's weak points. I'm a natural note-taker, so I scribbled lists aplenty during my testing period. I also sketched pictures to entertain some bored kids.

I liked the flexibility and naturalness of using my own note-taking style and work flow with arrows and underlines and all the rest. I found that my penmanship improved when I used the fine-point pen tip on the smallest setting, but erasing and rewriting scrawls took time. My style is simple, but you can also use the S Pen to enter typed text, and adjust the size and colors of each digital pen stroke.

...S Note also supports voice dictation and photo and video inserts, and can record your actions. It'll transform your sketches into math formulas or shapes, insert clip art, and pull up extra art images based on your keyword search.

One of my favorite settings makes S Note sensitive to the S Pen only. In other words, if you hit the screen with your finger or the heel of your hand, you won't leave unwanted marks. However, pen strokes sometimes spontaneously halt, and accidentally hitting the S Pen button can toggle on the eraser or switch pen types as you write. Handwriting-to-text is rife with usability snags.

In addition, S Note has problems clearly organizing your notes, you can't intuitively create templates, and you can't open a blank document by default.

What I really see in Samsung's second Note is an attempt to make phones more active tools than ever before, with help from the S Pen stylus, multimode, and a few new software extras. The S Pen and apps are ambitious, and mostly useful, but as I said before, usability sometimes stutters in small but constant and frustrating ways.

IT Pro:

With S Pen handwriting recognition you may find yourself using the space key rather more often than you wished for. Because the handwriting pad is only a certain size, only a couple of words will fit on it. After a few seconds of writing a couple of words, they will disappear, clearing space for you to scribe the next words. However, whenever the words clear, you’ll have to tap the space key otherwise the sentence will all merge together.

Tapping the space bar isn’t a huge chore, but it does ruin the flow of writing. We also found that unless every letter is exactly the same size, the recognition will wrongly detect a capital letter. Although we enjoyed the novelty of handwriting recognition, we preferred to use that large keyboard – unless you have incredibly neat handwriting.

The screen will detect the pen is close and responds to every stroke, however light they may be. This is refreshing in comparison to older stylus/touchscreen combinations where you had to press hard to garner a response. The only issue we found was that the S Pen is only effective when you’re using the tip of the pen. If you angle more than 45 degrees, the screen will struggle to pick up contact.

Pocket Lint:

...The pen on the note is interesting. We have mixed feelings about it, to be honest. The most exciting idea is to use it for handwriting recognition, but there are a few little bugs that prevent it being entirely practical. We've done a lot of tweeting and text messaging using the system, and while it can work brilliantly, there are times when it just gets things wrong.

We noticed that getting the software to detect spaces was difficult at times. The problem was that there was a lack of consistency. If it never got spacing right, you could work around it, but it did get it right about 50 per cent of the time, meaning you'd assume it had done its job, then look over your message and discover it hadn't.

Capital letters were also a problem. The phone doesn't seem to apply any logic to this, so sometimes words would have a random initial cap. This is obviously because of how we wrote the letters on the screen, but it's fairly easy to remove caps through autocorrect, so we're amazed the Samsung doesn't seem to.

Other than that, the recognition itself is pretty brilliant. Its accuracy is very good, as long as you don't write like an idiot and the screen/pen combination works really well. It's arguably a little too small for much writing, but it works for short notes.

Of course, the pen does other things. You can use it as a finger, if you wish, meaning you don't need to get grease all over your phone screen. It can be used to draw too, as you'd expect, and there are some note-taking apps that allow you to record your writing

Wired:

Big it may be, but in truth, it's not hugely bigger than Samsung's hero handset, the Galaxy S3. But what makes the difference, and distinguishes this phone from virtually all the others, is the S-Pen. Using technology bought in from drawing pad aficionados Wacom, this latest version is a marked improvement over the original. Yes, the pressure-sensitive stylus lets you do doodles and drawings with a selection of different pen nibs and colours. But now it also translates handwriting to text fast enough for it not to seem like a gimmick -- it's a practical tool. You can make notes of course -- usefully, the notes page pops up as soon as you remove the S-Pen from its dock -- but also add captions and annotations to documents, pictures and web pages.

Handwriting recognition is really very impressive overall, and it did a sterling job of translating our handwritten scrawl. Even when it isn't sure, it offers a selection of similar words to choose from, predictive text-style, so you can simply tap on the one you want and keep writing.

There are handy drawing tools too, like Shape Match, which corrects outlines and makes them straight. You can record your sketches or notes and play them back to show how they took shape and automatically search for items you've written.

Samsung's new "Air View" feature allows you hover the S-Pen over items like emails, calendar appointments and gallery pictures, as well as menu icons to give you a quick preview without having to open them.

LaptopMag:

Thanks to a new pen design and the same Wacom digitizer used inside the Galaxy Note 10.1, the Note II offers a vastly superior pen input experience compared with the original Note. There's no lag when writing, and the flatter and larger pen feels more ergonomic, complete with a textured button for performing shortcuts. Having 1,024 levels of sensitivity makes for a smoother experience and gives users a lot more control when using drawing apps.

Samsung automatically launches a special home screen when you take the stylus out of its slot that displays your most recent notes and templates for starting a new one. (You can turn this setting off.)

Like the Note 10.1, the S Note app itself is smart enough to create crisp shapes from your sketches and even look up formulas. In addition, handwriting recognition has improved. You can choose from a Palm Pilot-like window on the bottom of the screen or let the Note II translate on the fly. Oddly enough, the S Note app often doesn't insert a space between words, so we mostly stuck with handwritten notes. At least palm rejection is no longer an issue.

Samsung has found clever new ways to leverage pen input beyond digital ink. The Air View feature lets you hover the S Pen over content to preview it, whether it's the first sentence of an email or photos in the Gallery app. We especially like how you can skim through a video in the timeline via Air View. However we discovered that Air View doesn't work with Gmail.

After a while, we actually enjoyed navigating the Note II with a pen, though sometimes we had to repeat our taps. We also wish the pen worked with the back and menu buttons beneath the screen; you have to use your finger.

So what about pen-enabled apps? The collection is growing, but there's not a ton to write home about. The bundles Paper Artist app on our Note II lets us import photos to create sketches, and we found SignnDoc Mobile (for signing documents) and Draw Mania under the Best S Pen Apps section of the Samsung Apps store.

The fact that these were the only two choices listed is pretty sad, but there are others available in the Google Play store. TouchRetouch, for example, helps remove unwanted objects for photos. There's also Zen Brush and Omni Sketch for aspiring artists, iAnnotate PDF for annotating PDFs and Touchnote Postcards for sending personalized postcards.

Slashgear:

Ever since the iPhone launched, we’ve seen attempts to pair capacitive touchscreens with styli, but Samsung looked beyond dreary finger-mimicry with the Note’s digital pen. Instead, it turned to digitizer expert Wacom – known for its high-quality graphics tablets – for the active digitizer that accompanies the Note II’s capacitive screen. It means you can use the Note II with your finger, as you’d expect, but also whip out its pen and get far more precise input as well as pressure sensitivity, useful if you’re sketching or using handwriting recognition.

For the new Note II, the stylus itself has had an overhaul. It’s now thicker and longer than the previous version (though still fits snugly inside the body of the phone) and the tip has a new coating that’s kinder to the screen and feels more like a ballpoint pen when you’re writing. The difference in barrel width does make a difference to comfort, now less like pinching a pen refill between your fingertips, though the button on the side – which can be used to call up sub-menus of commands, app depending – still takes a little getting used to.

Samsung now supports hover with the pen, the display recognizing that the nib is floating a half-centimeter or so above the display. It gives the Note II a second degree of input: like positioning your computer cursor over an icon or control, but not actually clicking it. In Samsung’s case, the actual functionality varies depending on the app, though it means you can see things like calendar event details without having to actually tap into the appointment, preview the content of a message from the inbox list, or look inside a gallery album. You can also use hover to scroll through lists, holding the nib near the end to automatically slide through the options.

New is Quick Command, summoned by holding down the barrel button and swiping up the display; it works no matter what app you’re currently in, and brings up a floating dialog for pen-triggered shortcuts. Write a question mark, for instance, followed by “weather” and you’ll get a browser search for the current weather; write “@” and a name, and a new email will open up with suggestions as to the recipient from your contacts (if you’ve only one contact with that name, they’ll automatically be selected). Somewhat annoyingly, given the excellent Gmail app is one of the boons of Android, Quick Command’s email composer only works with the customized regular email application. Samsung preconfigures a number of shortcuts, but you can also train it to recognize your own.

Mobile Burn:

The corners of the device curve smoothly, and a hard silver-colored rim accents the edges of a glossy plastic finish that's available in Marble white or Titanium gray. The key differentiator, and what may be the best ally in justifying the handset's dimensions, is the S Pen housed in the bottom-right corner of the Galaxy Note II. The S Pen is a special stylus that enables several software features and enables handwriting and drawing that makes the Galaxy Note II so unique. The pressure-sensitive Wacom digitizer is incredibly light and easy to handle when used with the larger Galaxy Note II screen. It then safely tucks back into the rear of the device when the device is no longer necessary.

The one thing that few devices have, and even fewer do well, is the S Pen. The digital stylus device enables unique use cases for pressure-sensitive drawing or intricate note taking. The bundled S Note application can mix photos with handwritten notes that can provide clarity on an idea or aid memory. Creative types can capture ideas in notes that combine text, voice recordings, photo, or handwritten notes. Whether mapping out a proposed layout for an apartment or taking notes in a meeting, the tablet-like screen and S Pen prove to be a good combination.

The S Pen also holds its weight in standard applications. The S Pen can trigger actions just as a finger would, and the tip is more precise. The default keyboard is large and has plenty of room for two-finger tapping, but the S Pen can work with Swype to glide from letter to letter and instantly recognize words from gestures. The handwriting and input technology are incredibly responsive and fluid, though the handwriting to text conversion tool struggles to distinguish between punctuation like commas, periods, and apostrophes. The pen also has a clever AirView feature that can hover over items to reveal Mouse Over effects on the web, larger thumbnails in the gallery, or a preview of the action when seeking a specific time in a video file.

...Samsung has held multiple developer contests to encourage stylus-friendly apps, but those efforts have so far produced only a few drawing apps. The Galaxy Note II ships with the necessary basics, but a few inventive third-party apps would add the finishing touches to unlock the S Pen's full potential.

PC Advisor:

It includes a touch stylus, which slides into its own slot underneath when not required. Pulling the stylus out and bringing it close to the screen (sometimes) lets the Note II know that you’re about to do some sketching, scribbling or doodling, and will bring up an area at the bottom of the screen for stylus input.

It’s recognition of cursive joined-up English handwriting was quite impressive. We found its handwriting recognition overall to be very good, almost usable as a full-time text input option. But we were still frustrated by transcription errors, which take more time to correct than just tapping all our text in through a virtual Qwerty keyboard in the first place.

But beyond text, there’s plenty of scope to draw and sketch, helped by the use of technology licensed from Wacom, a pressure-sensitive stylus that Samsung calls the S Pen.

You can hover above the screen and click a stylus button for added functions. This Air View feature needs some practice to make it work effectively for you.

In fact practice is what’s required to use many of the Note II’s features. At one end of the user-friendly scale lies the iPhone and iPad, while Samsung’s Note II is more of an Othello device. To coin the old board game’s catchphrase, it’s something like a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master.

Based on these reviews we can draw the following conclusions:

The HWR system has a way to go. It sounds like it still has a few annoyances to iron out. Yet even though PCA thought the system was impressive, they didn't think it was good enough for a full time text input option.
HWR is not imposed across the system. As a consequence not all apps support it.
Notwithstanding these issues, no reviewer believes the system is unusable.
After all these years, Samsung is still catching up.

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Handwritten on a ThinkPad X60 Tablet

eMate 300 design

2012-12-01T20:25:00.000+13:00

The Translucent eMate (Photo by Newtc_UK)

Over at MacWorld, Benjamin Edwards has written a great piece on the history of translucent design at Apple. His piece has a fascinating section on the eMate:

Development on the eMate 300 began in 1996—prior to Steve Jobs’ return to Apple—as an extension of Apple’s Newton PDA platform. Unlike the Newton MessagePad products before it, the eMate shipped in a laptop-like clamshell form factor with an integrated keyboard.

Apple intended the eMate as a rugged, low-cost portable computer for students. Accordingly, Apple kept the eMate’s technical capabilities low and retained the user-friendly touch screen features common to the Newton line.

The eMate immediately stood apart from Apple’s usual products due to its translucent dark green enclosure, which resembled no other desktop PC or laptop at the time. It was Apple’s first product with prominent and purposeful translucent design features—especially in colored plastics—and it would set the stage for later translucent products like the iMac.

I spoke with Thomas Meyerhoffer, a former Apple Senior Designer who led the design of the eMate 300. Citing his desire not to rock the boat with Apple or to steal glory away from the Apple Industrial Design Group (which, with the exception of Jonathan Ive, uniformly shares achievements as part of company policy) he would not take credit for the introduction of translucent plastics at Apple (although this author thinks, due to certain patents, that Meyerhoffer is likely the originator of the trend).

Meyerhoffer did, however, mention that the transparency found in the eMate was meant to invoke a sense of accessibility and to differentiate the product from the uniformly drab laptops and beige desktop PCs of the day. He also confirmed that the use of translucent plastics originated in Apple’s Design Group before Steve Jobs returned to the company.

The end of the Newton line in 1998 spelled an early end for the eMate 300 as a product. But its impact lasted much longer: aside from inspiring an all-translucent desktop machine like the iMac, many feel that the eMate also foreshadowed the colorful clamshell iBook released in 1999.

Apple Newton Einstein Simulator: Update

2012-11-24T21:29:00.000+13:00

Over on NewtonTalk Matthias Melcher has given a quick update on the Newton Simulator project. He's aiming to write one new function a day. Along the way he gave some interesting background on the Simulator's architecture:

The simulator has five functional parts:

One part is a collection of native functions as they are implemented. There need not be a particular order because we can jump back and forth between simulation and emulation, but it makes sense for performance resons to start with an existing code segment and work either down the call tree to the functions called directly, or up the tree to the callers.

Part two contains interfaces from simulator to emulator. Whenever a natively implemented function calls a function that is not native yet, it falls back into emulation mode. To do that, every function called needs a little (three liner) stub that provides a correct C/C++ declaration, but executes the ROM code via emulation. BTW: if you feel like giving this a try, implement one of these functions!

Part three contains the opposite of part two. Here we have a stub (a short function) that patches the ROM and makes the emulator call a native (simulated) function. These stubs (as the ones in part two) are smart: only if the C/C++ module is linked in, the patches will be applied. This makes it easy to disable one or all patches by simply not linking that source file.

Part four is a called the Glue. The Glue is a collection of macros and classes that will make the life of the simulator author a lot easier. The simulator has two run modes: in mixed mode, the simulator uses the emulator RAM so that we can jump back and forth between simulator and emulator. In native mode however, all the smartypants macros replace the emulator RAM access with simple original and full-speed C/C++ code. By using the macros, all simulator code will run in mixed mode *and* in native mode.

Part five deals with native mode alone. It is not yet implemented, but as soon as we have a sufficient number of native calls, I will add test modules that will run meaningful code without the need of the ROM, the Emulator, or, heck, anything of Einstein. The code will run full speed and on our own license, but it can only ever be a subset of NewtonOS.

Any help is as usual greatly appreciated.

If you can help, then head on over to his website and introduce yourself: http://www.matthiasm.com/

Apple Newton Replacement Candidate: Lenovo ThinkPad X-Series Tablet

2012-11-17T01:50:00.000+13:00

Over on NewtonTalk there has been a thread about trying to find replacements for applications that served us so well on the Apple Newton. Everyone bemoans that despite several iterations of iOS and Android devices, there is still no device that matches the Newton.

Reading about the search for replacements for our most cherished Newton apps got me thinking. For me, the top two are Notes and MoreInfo 5.
Dare I say it? The closest thing I’ve found so far to a Newton experience is…

A laptop convertible Windows Tablet PC.

OK, don’t slam down the lid of your Mac Book Pro just yet.

When MS Outlook is teamed with handwriting recognition it is remarkably like MoreInfo. The ability to link Tasks, Meetings, Appointments and Calls to individual and multiple Contacts is there. A little awkward to be sure. But it works. Setting appointments by dragging the stylus across a Calendar brings a sense of Déjà vu.

For note taking, there are two ways to go, as there was for the Newton: One can write and have your handwriting recognized almost instantaneously. The other option is to record everything as e-ink only and transcribe everything later. AFAIK there is no delayed HWR as there is with the Newton. To get that capability third party apps like EverNote or One Note are required.

If instantaneous handwriting is the preferred mode, then it can be done in MS Word (!). Its Outline view is remarkably like Notes. Demoting, Promoting, Nesting and Hoisting is all there. Searching within notes is supported and for searching multiple notes there is Windows Search or if that doesn’t work for you, there is a multitude of third party utilities to choose from.

For e-inking, I found an app called PDF Annotator which allowed free form drawings to be done. Great for mind mapping. Oh, and I can mark up PDF documents too.

What is immensely gratifying is the pleasure of reviewing MS Office and PDF documents and being able to mark it up with a stylus, leaving red e-ink behind for the writer to go through. Handwriting is so personal. It feels like I'm conveying a sense of humanity while working.

With the Newton, I felt I had connected with a machine. But I felt isolated with everyone else because it couldn’t receive files that I could open or send files that others could easily open. Surprisingly, I found that a Windows Tablet PC allowed me to connect with both machine and society.

Having said that, I feel that my comments need some riders. As good as a Lenovo Think Pad X-Series tablet is, it’s weight and comparatively (with the Newton) short battery life really let it down. Over 3.5 lbs is just too heavy to hold comfortably in one hand for more than 5-10 minutes. I usually get around 5 hours of battery life, not quite long enough for an all day board meeting. The other thing is that Windows 8 HWR support has regressed rather than progressed.One reviewer put it this way:

[Many] Pen, Ink and Touch Input Desktop features, including [some from] the The Tablet Input Panel (TIP) are no longer included. Some buttons ('num', 'sym' and 'web) are removed from the Handwriting input panel and UI changes to it require more clicks for example to switch from handwriting to keyboard, or access the editing commands (join, split, delete). It is now touch-friendly but no longer stylus-friendly. Desktop tablet features are replaced by a "simplified" touch keyboard.

                        Rating out of 5
          (0=non-existent, 5=Excellent)
Attribute      Apple          Windows
               Newton          Tablet
               MP2100          PC
----------------------------------------
Portability       4               3
UI Design         5               3
HWR system        5               4
Internet Support 2               4
MS Office Compat. 0               5
PDF Compat.       0               5
Ecosystem         2               4
Battery life      4               3
Connectivity      2               4
----------------------------------------

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Handwritten on a ThinkPad X-Series Tablet

My Apple Newton: Makeover

2012-11-09T10:04:00.000+13:00

A few months ago, My Apple Newton shifted over to Blogger's Dynamic Views. Since then many readers have applauded the new layout and site traffic has significantly increased. On the other hand, some readers have had difficulties with the new layout and others have requested that My Apple Newton shift back to the old layout.

Unfortunately, probably due to pilot error (every prospective pilot should undergo training before going solo!) attempts to try out the process for reverting to the original layout resulted in the loss of most of the historical posts. A rather alarming prospect. But until the "Civil Aviation" authorities figure out what went wrong the cause is a mystery, though the pilot survived.

For those readers who are struggling to see where the usual features such as search and comments, Blogger has this to say:

Since Dynamic Views uses the latest software technology, they require the latest version of the most popular browsers, such as Internet Explorer 8+, Firefox 3.5+, Chrome or Safari. In all views, search is available in the upper right hand corner.

Personally, I found the layout quite refreshing. I like the endless roll up of previous entries, the use of white space drawing the eye's focus to the text. What I didn't like was the slidout sidebar. For a start, there's no cue there for readers to even know that it's there. The second annoyance is that it only supports 10 items. On the old layout, that second sidebar was a great repository for links to the rest of what remained of the Apple Newton's Internet presence.

Drooling for a 20th Anniversary Mac

2012-10-30T13:12:00.000+13:00

Along with an Apple Newton Executive briefcase, I have added another item on my bucket list, an ideal accessory to go along with any Apple Newton, a 20th Anniversary Macintosh (TAM). This year it will be 15 years since it was released to celebrate Apple's 20th birthday. At the time, TAM epitomized Apple's values: beauty in design with a decent dose of hedonism. In a world of beige boxes, TAM stood out. A flat LCD screen, leather coverings, cloth covers, a subwoofer that was supposed to be looked at and admired. All for a mere $7,500. Only 12,000 were ever made.

It came with an award winning advertising campaign:

The legendary Jonathan Ive was the creative genius behind the design and here he gives his thoughts on the concept:

Today you can still buy them from eBay for around USD 1,000.