Danger Device Reviewed

Andonyx writes "There's already a review out on Zdnet regarding Danger's Hiptop PDA / Phone device. It looks very interesting and the review is mostly positive. It has some minor niggles, but concludes that it is a compelling and polished first gen offering."

errr,

same article here [thinkmobile.com] as far as i can tell, that link is 404. anyone have the right one?

Funny...

When I hit Reply to post this comment about a broken link there is a little tag line that reads (Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs! Don't forget the http://!). Just an observation =)

Check your Links

Link is bad.

If the editors keep neglecting to check these, someday we'll end up with one that points to goatse.cx .

Danger

Danger, Danger, link is broken. Return to your homes, pray to your dieties, and cower for your life in the looming danger of the great 404.

Try a correct link:

to the story. [zdnet.com]

Hiptop??? HIPTOP????

Pardon moi, but isn't that the same damn thing as a laptop? Granted it's smaller, but my laptop also rests on my hips... unless we're talking the sides of your upper legs, in which case, I imagine using this contraption would be quite uncomfortable.

Mike.

Working Link

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-948497.html [com.com]

Is this it?

Try Here [zdnet.com]

Almost got it...went XDA instead

I've been a voicestream user for over a year, working with the ultimately too-buggy and breakable Motorola V.100. The Pocket PC Phone XDA had come out, so I was in between buying a full fledged PDA to replace my 2nd Ipaq (first one screen broke), or going with this device.

I'm glad I went with the XDA. One week now and I've had no problems that the reviewers all had. I've installed all my old ipaq software, downloaded a crapload of MP3's (to a 256MB SD card), even downloaded an mpeg movie which is quite watchable even on the smaller screen.

This pseudo-useful device definitely has its place, but it looked way too similiar to my v.100 in many ways, and I wanted a color screen with a useable resolution. For a few hundred bucks more ($300 or so) I was able to get a fully fledged PDA (albeit running MS OS) and a great phone, all in one.

No unlimited data on my end, though. Voicestream's data packages are ludicrously expensive... 5MB of data for $20 a month, ouch.

What's in a name...

Now there's a PDA that Steve Irwin [crocodilehunter.com] would be happy to use.

Danger, danger, danger!

ZDnet today

What does it tell you about ZDnet, when the advertisement in the middle of the article is five times bigger than the picture of the item in question?

Checked Link

I always do my posts in a text editor to check spelling, and then cut and paste into the submission form. According to my saved copy, that link works correctly. And actually if I click on it now, on the slashdot page, it works also.

The editors reformatted this post to fit the link into the text, so my guess is, if something went wrong it was at that stage, otherwise I don't know what to tell you.

Sorry for any incovenience.

Crotchtop PDA

That's right. You heard it there first © 2002

A small device attaches itself to your genitals. The early concept model is still in development, hence I cannot release the full feature details. But I must stress the fact that it uses recycled energy whenever there is friction involved. It comes standard with Anu-Tooth, which is the modified version of blootooth module and plugs right into the crack.

Whateeeeeeever...

Whatever. It uses a frikkin keyboard -- how innovative is that? What's worse, it uses a QWERTY keyboard. C'mon! When are these manufacturers going to define something really useful. The Wall Street Personal Journal has a review [wsj.com] as well and they point out that Danger Inc. (great name) is staffed by people from Apple and General Magic. Obviously, Danger Inc. got stuck with the lame-os who were unwilling to persue handwriting recognition. (or voice recognition, or a b.a.t. keypad, or even DVORAK keyboard.)

The screen turns around. Yay.
_______________________

Imagine a beo... but seriously folks

from the article

"I was very impressed with the speed of the AOL IM client, but was disappointed that it was the only IM option offered pre-loaded on the device. While I expect that MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger will be supported in the future, for now, you're out of luck if you use either of them."

I hope they move to something more extensible like jabber or trillian. However AIM is the de-facto standard so it isn't such a big loss.

Also, in another section of the article he comments negatively on the camera add on... ITS A FREAKIN PHONE! IMHO the communications should come first (which they apparently do) and the nifty stuff that you wouldn't use much (camera) second. However, adding a quality digital camera to one of these PDA/Phone things would be extremely useful... enough that i might actually get one!

But then again there is the constant tradeoff between battery, cost, and quality. In mobile devices you have to pay for every little bit, so you better make sure its worth putting in.

The article doesn't say anything about the hackability of this gadget. Does anyone have any knowledge of that?

Picture?

Would it kill them to put a larger-than-thumbnail picture of the thing up with the review?

Re:Picture?

Pictures at http://danger.com/products.php [danger.com]

How to get one for free!

For "testing" of course. Go here [danger.com].

24-bit color

"Wow," I though, "that's pretty good," until I noticed that it applied not to the PDA's screen, but rather to it's "illuminated LED push-wheel." Please tell me why I need a scroll wheel capable of blinking in 16.7 million different colors.

It needs...

More memory (16 megs is pathetic) and an ogg player. Even if it had that, I'd wait for the color version.

Nothing special

It was a nice presentation on their website, here [danger.com]. The thing does not have anything special, and it is not sold now. Most main cell/pda makers will publish similar things within 6 months, I believe. Danger, I quess, just has to go public sooner.

Or was there anything else fancy, than the market speech, that I missed?

The real Danger Device

Makes me think of Zaphod's sunglasses that went opaque when he was in danger. Much more useful I think.

zerg

Hiptop wowed Tycho from Penny Arcade.

That should be all the press it needs.

Is this that guerilla marketing /. was referring to earlier?

Sprint just launched their 3G phone

It sends and receives still color pictures [sprintpcs.com] (although the camera is not built into the phone). But data transmission is $20 per megabyte. Ulp.

Danger has flat-rate data pricing. Still, I wonder what Danger does if you plug in a camera and use it as a webcam, saturating the network.

The integrated phone/camera has interesting potential if the data cost problem can be overcome.

wtf

It has some minor niggles...

Niggles? Wtf does that mean? Should I be offended?

Give me More!

That's right, I want more, more devices to carry around, wouldn't feel like a proper geek without lugging around more, a Huge watch, a Big Multipurpose Controller for Tv's, Vcrs, DVds, etc. (Hey you won't get stuck watching anything you don't want to now!), A Very Large Palm pilot, A 22lb Laptop, and a few misc. other devices that weight quite a bit, but make me look more geeky.

NOT 3G wireless == useless in 6 months?

It's not 3G wirless if they're with T-mobile.

Also, dollars to doughnuts that the cellular aspect is T-mobile and EVERYTHING else (web, email, spyware...oops!) is their proprietary network.

How useful and cool is that going to be if I can't run my webserver from my hip?

I think getting a device compatible with Sprint's Vision [pcsvision.com] (their 3G wireless solution) would be a much better deal.

Delays, delays, delays

Danger started releasing info on this device last year, and they've had nothing but delays since. It looked like a very promising device at the time, but it has been caught and passed by other mobile devices since. Had they met their original launch date of April, they'd have been early to market and wouldn't have had the egg on their face that they have today. It was then pushed to June, then to July, then was an early-August release up until a week or two ago when it was again delayed at the last minute. So it now supposedly comes out in September, while in the meantime customers who have been waiting for the device have likely moved on to non-vapor devices.

any possibility...

any possibility of telnet or ssh (preferably the latter) on one of these things?

You really shouldn't niggle so much

I think it's high time some /. readers got used to hearing this word more often, considering definition #2.

From Merriam-Webster Online [m-w.com]:

Main Entry: 1niggle
Pronunciation: 'ni-g&l
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): niggled; niggling /-g(&-)li[ng]/
Etymology: origin unknown
Date: circa 1616
intransitive senses
1 a : TRIFLE b : to spend too much effort on minor details
2 : to find fault constantly in a petty way : CARP
3 : GNAW transitive senses : to give stingily or in tiny portions
- niggler /-g(&-)l&r/ noun

T-Mobile link

If you want to check the availability of the device in the USA the link to T-Mobile is here [t-mobile.com] or here. [t-mobile.com]
Cliff

It's the server arch that matters

Danger's real contribution is the Java-based server architecture for managing 3G devices (the first of which is the Hiptop/Sidekick; they keep saying their not in it for the handhelds -- right). This is the necessary complement to a high-speed infrastructure. You still can't do much with a slightly faster WAP phone.

This guy [igmus.org] has more tech.

And it runs Linux and Ascii Doom! (kidding)

Cognition, Relevance and Mobility

It seems from the demo [danger.com] this device comes closest to a way of accessing information and communication while being on the move. Vendors don't seem to understand that I don't want to do *everything* on a mobile device. And with PocketPC all developers can think of is porting desktop applications to a smaller form factor. Clearly the issues of human cognition and ergonomics is neglected by developers who are only concerned with enablement. Enablement is so often misunderstood for actual benefit or relevance. The Mac in 1984 understood this, including the one button mouse. The hardware wasn't exactly efficient as far as raw computing is concerned but it was efficient for human use. The QWERTY keyboard in Hiptop is example of this. Sure it is familiar. Sure it extends what is already out there. But is it useful. I recall anecdotaly that the QWERTY keyboard was designed to slow down typists. In any case it is meant for typing by a set of ten fingers than two thumbs.

That keyboard issue aside, the device screen shots look quite efficient in the manner they get the user from one function to other. The FAQ [danger.com] mention that they have their own virtual machine. This is important. A container environment, I think, is the best way to deploy applications (or rather applets) in a small device. A system of applets should surround data and provide "chaining" just like the Unix shells' filter/redirection rather than the desktop idea of apps/data. This might be a good way to approach mobile devices rather than the standalone app and file format crud.

Wait a minute...

Is this the same Danger, Inc. that I walk past every time I venture out to University Avenue in Palo Alto from my dorm here at Stanford?

I always wondered what the hell they did. Plus I got a kick out of the name. I mean, what would you think if you walked by the offices of some place called "Danger, Inc."?

Is Slashdot paid to show this stuff?

Are you being paid to show product releases like this? I know that traditional news outlets are paid to show stuff like this all the time. Has this practice spread to slashdot?

Because of the closed, proprietary nature of this device, it is of almost no interest to me (or most long-term slashdot readers) whatsoever. If you are paid to do releases of this nature, please come clean and start a new topic heading.

Broken Link

www.danger.com for product info http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10 738,2877183,00.html for the review

Re:Uh yeah.

Just because Slashdot happened to report the same story doesn't mean that it was 'shamelessly stolen'.

Re:What?

and i though niggles were the cousins of lemmings

Re:How does this compare to the Nokia Communicator

Definitely. Until you realize that the Danger Device is MSRP $200USD, and the Noia 9290 is MSRP $599USD.

Re:A "Hip-Hop" PDA?

> our common heritage as children of God

I'm not a child of God, unless you can pull some birth records or DNA tests that proove otherwise.

BTW, how on earth can you deride identity politics and then participate in them in the very next sentance? I hope you can spot the irony.

I also hope you can spot that its "HipTop" and not "HipHop".