On Tue, 2009-10-20 at 13:24 +0000, jonathon wrote: > On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 11:31, Ian wrote: > > >> Is it cost-effective to spend US$100 for a bluetooth keyboard and mouse > >> for a US$250 smarrtphone/PDA? > > > A USB keyboard is around $5 and a USB Mouse $2 and the G-phone has a USB > > port so the cost to get a basic set up is minimal. > > http://www.n1wireless.com/Bluetooth_Keyboard-I_Tech_Virtual_Keyboard.html > US$109.99
Point is I can buy a USB keyboard for a fraction of that price - I'm not really prepared to pay $100 just for wireless when the cable makes almost no difference to the way I work. The snag with the G-phone is that the USB port is not set up for keyboards. I'm sure it could be hacked :-) But I'll wait until one of the manufacturers provides it. > http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00142C4O8 US$149.99 > http://www.jr.com/golan-technology/pe/GOC_VKB/ US$149.99 > > The N900, which is probably Nokia's current premier phone offers > Bluetooth connectivity, but not a USB port. (KOffice is available for > this system.) G-phone has USB, just not currently supporting a keyboard but I'm thinking more about the future. It rather amazes me that Google haven't provided a standard USB keyboard driver. I can't see it putting the price up and typing on a cheap but full sized keyboard would be a lot easier eg when I'm at home at my desk with my phone which is actually quite a lot of the time. A VGA out would be handy too even if the resolution is not that good. > Currently available Smartphones/PDAs which offer USB connectivity, > usually do so using weird/proprietary connectors on the device end. I connect my g-phone to my netbook with a standard USB cable and a cheap mini adapter on the phone end. It then charges off the netbook (battery life on the G-phone is its main weakness) and I can transfer files that way too. Bluetooth works but its a bit fiddly and slower than a cable I need anyway for battery charging so personally I don't use it much. > > If Koffice gets to be the de facto standard on Smartphones OOo (and > MSO for that matter) will be confined to future niche markets. > > There are roughly half a dozen operating systems for > Smartphones/PDAs/etc. At the moment. There were half a dozen Micro computer OSs about until the open architecture PC came along and anyone could build one. Then it rapidly went to DOS then Windows. I reckon that is what Google is trying to do with Android. Why do you think Nokia is rushing to open source Symbian? Open Systems architecture is what made the PC. Apple did nice stuff but all proprietary and got confined to a niche. Deja vu :-) > _If_ QT ports the Koffice libraries to all of > those operating systems, then KOffice might well become the dominant > office suite. > > Between what is best described as outright fraud, de facto swindling, > and telling its partners flat out lies, Microsoft is headed to > ensuring that nobody in the mobile device market works with them. > Microsoft Mobile Office won't make it in that market.(It doesn't help > that Microsoft Mobile Office is incompatible with MS2k7, and MSO2k3.) Yes, MS seems very unlikely to compete in this market, they had their chance and they blew it. I suspect Apple is currently at its height as it was in the mid 80s before Windows. > The problems with OOo and Go-OO are too deep seated for it to make any > impact on the mobile device market. Probably - again the project priority should have been mobiles 5 years ago when it was obvious that this would eventually take over from desktops as the dominant computer market. > It is theoretically possible for an office suite, other than KOffice, > that produces ODF compatible documents to become the dominant player > in the mobile device market. But probably not practically because the development lead in time is too great unless there is a product just about ready now. Since Koffice is FOSS, there is nothing to stop Google putting it in Android which I'm sure they will do if they think it is going to give Symbian an advantage. -- Ian Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications A new approach to assessment for learning www.theINGOTs.org - 01827 305940 You have received this email from the following company: The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@marketing.openoffice.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@marketing.openoffice.org
