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Gadgeteer time machine – Remembering the PalmPilot and its spinoffs

ARTICLE – For those of you who are new here, The Gadgeteer will be 22 years old this summer. That’s a long time to be writing about gadgets and as you can imagine, I’ve amassed quite a collection of devices over the years which I keep in a special drawer down in my Gadgeteer lair.

The other day I opened that drawer of gadgets-from-days-gone-by (yes, that’s the drawer’s name) and started sifting through the contents and ended up taking everything out to create the group shot that you see above.

There are a lot of great memories connected to these devices and I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and bring all of you along with me for the trip. So let’s go!

PalmPilot and friends

I consider the USRobotics PalmPilot to be the first real PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). I know there were Casio and Sharp databank style devices before the PalmPilot came on the scene, but they weren’t real PDAs in the way I/we think of them today. When I think of a PDA, I think of a touch screen, with a stylus, a selection of core apps like a calendar, task manager, address book, memo pad, etc., and the ability to install other apps to extend its capabilities.




The PalmPilot with its grey plastic housing, matching “toothpick” stylus, and iconic black on green non-back lit LCD display is the device that you can really thank for the Gadgeteer website.  This device is what originally fueled my excitement for reviewing products. I had so much fun with that little device, testing and writing about 100’s of cases, styluses, programs, and all the crazy accessories.

Do you remember The Bridge from Midwest PCB Designs? This little adapter would let you use a case with the PalmPilot’s HotSync cradle and was actually inspired by me. Go read the review for more on that back story.

Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, and Ed Colligan were the inventors of the PalmPilot and ended up leaving USRobotics/3Com/Palm Computing to start their own company called Handspring. They developed the Handspring Visor devices which also ran the Palm operating system. I had (and still do) several Visors which were exciting devices because they had a Springboard slot which allowed 3rd parties to create special accessories like modems, remote controls, etc.

But Handspring wasn’t the only company who made PDAs powered by the Palm operating system. Sony’s line of Clie devices was also popular. Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Palm, Sony, and Handspring were popping out new devices with stunning frequency. Sony was one of the best innovators of the time with their devices that had rotating displays and other unique features.

The image above is the Sony Clie PEG-N710C. It’s funny to read my review of this device from 2001 and see how excited I was about the fact that this device had a 320 x 320 resolution display back when 160 x 160 was the norm. My how times have changed. 😉

My first smartphone

The Palm Treo 650 was my first smartphone and as luck would have it, I still have this 15-year-old device and was able to find a charging cable that works with it. When I plugged it in, I was really surprised when it powered up. I thought it would be fun to see if it might still work as a phone, but when I checked for the SIM card slot, I didn’t find one because it was a Sprint phone. Those were the days when Sprint and Verizon didn’t use SIM cards and phone batteries lasted for days instead of hours.

Here’s an interesting tidbit… I “hacked” that Sprint branded Treo 650 to work on the Verizon network. The Treo was high tech then, but we are talking 2G speeds (if that). So it wasn’t that great as a web surfing device, but it worked if you had an unlimited supply of patience. Those were the good old days.

The Palm Centro was another favorite smartphone of mine mainly because it was so cute. I still had one in my drawer and was able to charge it up too and was very surprised to find a bunch of old text messages and a few old emails still saved on it.

Today Apple, Samsung, and even Sony could learn a thing or two by revisiting these devices from 15 – 20 years ago. Then Palm, Handspring, and Sony were in a pseudo “arms race” to see who could come up with the most featured packed devices. It was like they threw everything but the kitchen sink into each new model just to see which features would stick. Now, they only seem to throw in extra cameras and consider that to be the pinnacle of innovative.

Did you enjoy this quick stroll down nostalgia lane? What was your favorite device from 10 – 20 years ago? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. And also be sure to check out our new Gadgeteer Time Machine widget in the right sidebar towards the top of the page. It shows Gadgeteer reviews from 1, 5, 10, and even 20 years ago each day.

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Gadgeteer time machine – Remembering the PalmPilot and its spinoffs originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on February 6, 2019 at 7:55 am.

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The Cosmo Communicator is every mobile device you will need in one compact package

NEWS – As a self-confessed nerd, everyone that reads my news stories knows that I am a sucker for gadgets. I am also pretty much “tied” to my smartphone and tablet, and my entire home runs on some sort of technology for most tasks that can be handled by technology. Every day on my commute back and forth to work, I carry my iPhone and iPad in my backpack and during the commute, I am on one or the other. While the apple environment does integrate devices and allows you to answer a phone call on the iPad, I wonder if there is a newer technology device that marries both devices into one much like a device I once saw called a Phablet.

The Cosmo Communicator is touted as the complete mobile communication tool that provides a pocket computer, mobile phone, and camera all in one compact device. It features a keyboard, a world-wide dual-SIM mobile phone and can be used for emails, messaging, editing documents, making calls and taking photos. Its specifications include a dual-display: an external 2″ touchscreen when the device is closed and large 6″ touchscreen when the device is open, a high-resolution 24MP camera, 6GB of ram and 128G of flash storage, along with NFC for payments, a fingerprint sensor and a smart toggle button for security and control.

The crowdfunding for the Cosmo Communicator ended on December 6th, 2018, and managed to raise 453% of the intended fundraising goal. You can read more about this device on their Indiegogo page. It should start shipping in June of this year(2019) and should retail for around $570.

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The Cosmo Communicator is every mobile device you will need in one compact package originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 30, 2019 at 12:00 pm.

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Zanco Smart Pen review

REVIEW – Zanco, the folks behind the Tiny T1 phone are back with another Kickstarter campaign for a unique phone called the Smart Pen. You can use this device by itself as a 2G phone or you can use it paired with your existing smartphone as a multi-function accessory. Either way, people are going to notice it and you when they see it. They sent me a pre-production sample, so let’s take a closer look.

What is it?

The Zanco Smart Pen is a stand-alone 2G GSM phone or when paired via Bluetooth with your iOS or Android smartphone, it becomes a wireless handset with lots of built-in features like a camera, laser pointer, voice changer, a stylus, and more.

What’s in the box?

  • Zanco Smart Pen
  • micro USB charging cable
  • SIM card tool

Hardware specifications

Frequency – GSM900/1800 or GSM850/100
Display – TFT .96in color, 80 x 160 resolution
Camera – Front 0.3MP, Back 0.3MP
Bluetooth – V3.0
Battery – 400mAh

Design and features

The Zanco Smart Pen is shaped like a large pen but the name is a misnomer because the Zanco Smart Pen really doesn’t have a built-in pen. However, it does have a built-in stylus that you can use on your tablet or smartphone display. The Smart Pen has a small color display with a camera and speaker above it and a panel of function buttons and a phone keypad below it along with a microphone down towards the stylus tip.

On the back of the Smart Pen, you’ll find the back facing camera and a speaker.

On one the side is an attachment for a lanyard, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a micro USB charging port, and a cover for the micro SD card slot and SIM card slot.

One thing I noticed was that the micro SD card slot is not spring loaded, which means it’s a little tough to remove the card once it’s inserted. I actually had to use a sharp pin to pick the edge of the card so I could slide it out of the slot. The SIM card slot, on the other hand, is spring loaded, which confused me even more since included with the Smart Pen is a SIM removal tool which you don’t need.

The top edge of the Smart Pen has a laser pointer which you can toggle on and off by pressing and holding the round multi-function button on the front center of the device.

As a stylus, the Smart Pen works as well as any other capacitive stylus. That said, I would have rather had an actual pen built into the Smart Pen instead of a stylus. Of course, having a pen would mean that they would need to offer refills as well, so I can see why they went with a stylus.

Size-wise, the Zanco Smart Pen is the right length to use as a stylus and the right length to hold up to your ear as a phone.

People will wonder what the heck you’re talking into when they see you using this device as a phone, but it’s actually quite comfortable to use that way.

Built-in features

First of all, the Zanco Smart Pen can be used as a cell phone as long as you have a SIM card for a GSM carrier such as T-Mobile, AT&T, etc. I tested this device with a Mint SIM, which uses T-Mobile. With the SIM installed, pressing any button on the device will wake up the display to show the carrier, signal strength, battery capacity, other status icons, in addition to the date and time. As far as the time and time stamp goes, the device shows the wrong date and the wrong time but you can go into the settings to customize it. I’m not sure why it doesn’t get that info from the carrier.




Other features include a phonebook where you can store your favorite contacts, an MP3 audio player, a sound recorder, voice changer, an FM radio, and a text message app. For texting, you’ll have to brush up on the old school text message typing where you have to press each key multiple times to get the letter you want. For example, if you needed the letter C, you would have to press the 2 key 3 times as the first time would be A and the second press would give you a B.

The Smart Pen also has 2 cameras. One on the front for selfies, and one on the back for everything else. Don’t get too excited though because the image quality will take you back a decade or so. Here are a few example images.



No, these pics aren’t thumbnails that you can click to see the full size. They are full size. Yep, they are 80×160 pixels. There are settings that will let you switch to 640×480 but the setting doesn’t stick. I’m guessing they are still working on the software.

What I like

  • Fun novelty standalone phone or Bluetooth handset for your existing phone
  • Multi-functional
  • Can be used as a real cell phone to make and receive calls or text messages

What needs to be improved

  • Camera quality needs to be improved

Final thoughts

Yes, you can make and receive calls with this phone as long as you have a SIM for a compatible carrier. I used it on the T-Mobile network and it worked fine for my test calls. Would I want to use the Smart Pen as my primary phone? Ummmm, no. Sure it works fine in a pinch, but it ain’t no smartphone. On the other hand, it doesn’t offer all the distractions of a smartphone AND the battery can last for up to 6 days on a charge which is something no smartphone can do. When it’s all said and done, the Zanco Smart Pen is a novelty phone just like their Tiny T1 phone. It’s a fun little conversation starter with a few useful tools built in like the stylus, laser pointer, and the ability to be used as a stand-alone phone or a Bluetooth handset for your existing smartphone.

Price: $49.00
Where to buy: Kickstarter with rewards set to ship in April
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Zanco.

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Zanco Smart Pen review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 10, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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The Zanco S Pen can replace your phone, your camera, and your stylus

NEWS – Do you remember the Gi Joe sized Zanco Tiny T1 phone that I reviewed a couple months ago? Well, I’m excited to let you know that Zanco is back with a Kickstarter project that launched today for something even more awesome than that tiny phone. It’s the S Pen (I wonder how long it will take for Samsung to contact them about that name choice?) and it’s a phone in the form factor of a stylus. No, I’m not kidding. But that’s not all this multi-functional wonder can do.

The S Pen packs a GSM phone, a Bluetooth headset, an FM radio, a camera, voice recorder, laser pointer, music player, and…

…a stylus, and more into a pen-shaped device that’s not really meant to replace your smartphone, but can be used as an accessory to it.

The Zanco S Pen campaign launched today on Kickstarter and they’ve already met their funding goal of $10,000. You can pre-order an S Pen starting at $49 for their super early-bird pricing which is still available. After the S Pen campaign ends on 1/18/19, rewards are estimated to start shipping in April 2019. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details. They plan to send me one of the first test units, so stay tuned for my review coming in a few weeks.

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The Zanco S Pen can replace your phone, your camera, and your stylus originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on December 4, 2018 at 4:57 pm.

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LG V40 ThinQ smartphone review

REVIEW – It’s been a while since I reviewed an LG smartphone and the new LG V40 ThinQ is a good one to break that dry streak. This phone features 5 built-in cameras if you can believe that! If you’re asking yourself why anyone needs a phone with 5 cameras, you would be asking yourself the same question I did when this phone was first announced. Are 5 cameras better than 2 or 3 cameras which seems to be the norm these days? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The V40 ThinQ is a smartphone from LG that runs on Android v8.1 Oreo.

What’s in the box?

LG V40 ThinQ
Travel Adapter & USB Cable
Quick Reference Guide

Hardware specs

Processor: 2.8 GHz Octa-Core (Qualcomm®Snapdragon™SDM845)
Operating System: Android 8.1
Memory: Internal: 64 GB RAM: 6 GB, microSDXC support (up to 2 TB2)
Display: 6.4” QHD+ OLED FullVision™ Display 3120 x 1440, including notch
Network: CDMA, GSM, UMTS, LTE Frequencies: 1.9 GHz CDMA PCS, 800 MHz CDMA; GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS850/900/1900/2100 MHz; LTE Bands 2/3/4/5/7/13/20/28/46/66 Data Transmission: LTE, EVDO Rev
Camera (rear): 12MP Telephoto Zoom, 16MP Super Wide-Angle, 12MP Standard
Camera (front): 5MP Wide, 8MP Standard
Connectivity: Bluetooth: 5.0, 802.11 b/g/n/ac
Battery: 3,300 mAh Lithium Ion, quick charging and wireless charging compatible
Dimensions: 6.25H x 2.98W inches
Weight: 5.96 oz

Design and features

At first glance, the LG V40 ThinQ looks like all the other smartphones that are currently on the market. It has a display with a notch (love it or hate it) at the top and virtual buttons at the bottom of the display. There are no physical buttons on the front of the phone.

At the top of the phone are two front-facing cameras. One is the standard lens and another one is a wide angle lens so you can show more in your selfies.

Flip the phone over and you’ll be greeted with 3 camera lenses, an LED flash, and a fingerprint sensor.

The left side of the phone has individual volume buttons and a Bixby… I mean Google assistant button below it. And just like Samsung’s Bixby button, this button is kind of annoying. I always seem to press it by mistake when I’ve meant to press the volume buttons while in a call.

On the opposite side of the LG V40 ThinQ, you’ll find the power button and the SIM card tray.

The SIM card tray holds the SIM and a microSD card for expanding the phone’s file storage.

Along the bottom edge of the phone, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, a USB-C connector, and a speaker.

On the top edge, you will find another microphone.

The LG V40 ThinQ is a solid phone and didn’t cave in to my Gadgeteer squeeze test. Nope, no flexing, creaking, or cracking was observed.

Display

The V40 ThinQ has a bright, crisp display with vibrant colors. I have no complaints at all about the quality of the display and as far as the notch goes…

I think it’s time for people to get over the “stigma” of the notch. It’s here to stay folks, get used to it. I never really could understand why some people hate it in the first place. It doesn’t bother me in the least.

But if you’re someone who just can’t accept the notch, you can hide it by changing the color scheme of what LG is calling the “second screen” in the settings.

LG lets you squeeze as much info as possible on the display by allowing you to hide the virtual nav buttons at the bottom of the display. See that little dot on the left side of the nav bar? If you tap it twice…

You can see that the buttons are gone. Need to get them back? Just swipe up from the bottom of the display and tap the dot again.

The LG V40 ThinQ has of my “must have” features in a phone which is an always on display. What does that mean? It means that you can use your phone as your clock/watch because it displays the time of day and some notification icons on the screen when the phone is idle.

You can even customize the clock face style, add 2 clocks if you like to keep track of 2 time zones, or even add a picture. Turning on the always-on display feature will use more battery life, but I think it’s worth it.

Fingerprint scanner

My alien DNA must be getting weaker because the last few phones that I’ve tested with fingerprint scanners have all worked great for me. If you’ve been following my smartphone reviews over the years, you’ll remember that I had trouble using them until I bought the Pixel 2 XL. That seemed to be the turning point. Since then I’ve had really good luck with scanners. The one of the V40 ThinQ is placed in the perfect location – on the back of the phone, and it works consistently for me.

If you have probs with fingerprint scanners like I used to, you can always switch to typing a passcode, pattern, or even using face recognition which works without even pressing a button, just pick up the phone, look at it, and it will unlock. It’s a bit slower than the iPhone XS Max though.

Camera

More is always better right? That must be what LG was thinking when they decided to put 5 separate camera lenses in the V40 ThinQ. There are 3 camera lenses on the back and 2 on the front. Check out these sample pics using the standard lens on the back. Click to see the full-sized image.




I think the colors are true to life and the macro capability and sharpness really excite me.

I also love the wide angle and telephoto lenses. Here are some more samples.



I’m standing in the same location to take all 3 pics.



Same with the images above.

Then there are the front lenses.


By default, the built-in software softens your features because my skin isn’t that flawless in real life. You can also change settings to make your face look thinner. The software does do a decent job blurring the background for selfies.




You can also choose to change the style and color of the portrait background. The software does have a little trouble making a perfect cutout of your head sometimes. Check out the right side of my cheek in the first pic to see what I mean.

Software and user interface

LG has their own “skin” called UX 7.1 on top of Google’s stock Android user interface. The differences over stock Android Oreo interface aren’t too different though. There’s the virtual button hide feature we already talked about above, the ability to have scrolling home screens that list your apps instead of an app drawer.

You can also add a pop-out sidebar that can have a quick access panel of your favorite contacts, screen capture tools, media controller, and app shortcuts.

Audio quality

The LG’s down firing speaker sounds good when listening to music or watching videos without using headphones. Even at full volume, audio sounds clear and crisp.

Using the LG V40 ThinQ for phone calls

For the most part, I’ve had no issues making and receiving calls on the Verizon network with this phone except when I’m in the basement of my house. For some reason, this phone seems to have issues holding on to the cell signal down there and on several occasions, people have tried to call me and have gotten my voice mail.

As far as call audio quality, the volume level and clarity on both sides of conversations have been just fine.

Overall performance and battery life using the LG V40 ThinQ for day to day tasks

When it comes to performance, I think the LG V40 ThinQ does very well and felt comparable to other phones I’ve reviewed recently. That’s not a huge surprise since most phones are all running with the same Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 845 processor.

This phone has a 3300mAh battery that easily kept it running for a full work day of normal use and with wireless charging, it is convenient to keep it topped off. With my typical usage level, I had no problems with battery life.

What I like

  • Multiple camera lenses for wide angle, telephoto, etc.
  • Always on display
  • Headphone jack
  • Free 2nd year warranty

What needs to be improved

  • Runs on an older version of Android instead of the latest version

Final thoughts

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the LG V40 ThinQ, but I have to say that I’ve been impressed with this phone. It has every feature I want and need in my daily smartphone. It has snappy performance, good battery life, nice display, and an excellent camera(s) for the types of images I take. My only knock on this phone is that it didn’t come with Android v9 (Pie). But without the latest and greatest version of Android, I still think the LG V40 ThinQ is a great phone and one I would seriously consider if I were in the market to replace my current Android smartphone.

Price: $979.99
Where to buy: Verizon Wireless
Source: The loaner sample for this review was provided by Verizon Wireless.

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LG V40 ThinQ smartphone review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 29, 2018 at 8:06 am.

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