Old Gadget - Back To The Past

Ten Uses For Your Old PDA

2009-10-15T02:13:00.000-07:00

If you have an old PDA laying around at home, this post is just for you. I’ve found myself trying to come up with some creative idea’s over the past couple of weeks as to what to use my old Audiovox Maestro PocketPC for. In the process, here are the top 10 idea’s that I’ve found either the most entertaining or the most productive.

10. GPS Navigation:
This one is great for anyone out there like me who always gets jealous when they see someone driving around with one of those fancy GPS units in their vehicle. You know you can’t afford one because you’re living on a college students budget (even though you’re long out of college), but you realize that if you don’t do something soon, the next time that it gets dark, you’re going to end up driving around in the ocean. The solution to this is to turn your old PDA into a car based GPS nav system. This is actually fairly simple to do, all it requires is a PDA with either a Compact Flash card slot, or a proper port for a “serial” connection to a GPS receiver, a receiver, some navigation software, and a place to put a bunch of digital maps (an SD card is preferred). While these setups wont always be as fast or efficient as an actual GPS system, they do work pretty well, especially for the price.

9. MP3 Player
Don’t feel like spending two or three hundred dollars on one of those fancy Ipods? Turn your old PDA into an MP3 player, one that will actually use software you’ve heard of, such as Windows Media Player. Pocket PC’s are great for this. Toss a 2 or 4 Gigabyte card in, and you’re all set. Thinks of how jealous your Apple loving friends will be as they walk around showing off how they can play Tetris on their Ipods, when out of no where, you walk up and start playing SimCity 2000, while listening to your favorite tunes on your old PDA! Even better yet, when your battery dies, it doesn’t display a fun sad face on the screen, it just goes out like a champ and erases all your data! Who wouldn’t want a PDA MP3 Player!

8. All inclusive, touch screen automotive entertainment center
Basically, this incorporates all of the items above, with the addition of one more. Video! With the proper tools and accessories you can easily mount your old PDA in your car to allow for maximum entertainment efficiency. Navigate when the roads get rough, use it as a touch screen “head unit” when you just want to relax with your tunes, or let the kids watch a movie from the backseat. If you use your creative side, you can come up with all sorts of ways to incorporate your device into your vehicle. Just remember, you’ll probably need a way to power it and a way to hear it (both, very easy to accomplish).

7. Roadside flashlight
That’s right, get yourself a car adapter, hook it up, crank up the brightness and go!. Don’t get stuck in the cold with Ralphie holding your lug-nuts…give him your PDA to hold instead, then you’ll be able to find them when they fall to the ground and scatter all over the icey road surface.

6. College budget laptop
Sometimes I think the PDA is overlooked as a replacement or at least supplement to a laptop. You can buy some pretty nice foldup keyboards for PDA’s that will allow you to do all the typing you want in Pocket Word. If you’re looking for a cheap, lightweight way to take notes in class, theres nothing better than the PDA/Keyboard combination! Personally, I would have to recommend the Targus Universal Wireless Keyboard. A review for this can be found at http://www.pocketmatrix.com/reviews/targus_wireless/

5. Universal Remote
You’ve probably seen those fancy universal remote controls before that can basically control any IR based device in your house. Well, your PDA is somewhat capable of doing this as well…maybe. Depending on what kind of PDA you have, you may be able to download certain software, such as TV Remote Controller by PDAWin that will allow you to sit back and control all of your devices from one convenient location, your couch.

4. Wireless Skype Phone
If you have a wireless network setup in your house, and you have a Skype account, that this could very well work out for you. Using the Pocket PC version of Skype, you can log in, connect via your wireless network and talk all you want using the mic and speaker on your Pocket PC.

3. Remote Desktop Spy Device
What better way to pass the time than sitting in your room with your PDA using VNC to connect wireless to the other computers in your house to mess with whomever may be using them at any given time. Think of how much fun you could have randomly moving the mouse all over the screen, and listening from the other room as your computer illiterate family members try and determine why it’s happening. The best part is, they’ll never suspect you because as far as they can tell, you’re no where near a computer, at least not one capable of making their mouse move or drawing strange designs in paint while they’re not looking.

2. NES in your pocket anyone?
If carrying around your old Nintendo in your cargo pants pockets just isn’t working out for you anymore, than this maybe a solution for you. There are at least two good NES emulators available for the Pocket PC, and a couple more for Palm, so if you’re lucky enough to have a device with an easy to use button configuration, than give this a try. This can be a really great waste of time, however I must add that it is unlawful to download ROMs that are still protected under copyright laws.

1. Digital Picture Frame/Paperweight
If all else has failed you than this is probably the best bet for your old PDA. While you could attempt to sell it on Ebay or at a garage sale, why not atleast keep it around to look pretty?

The First PDA

2009-03-15T00:54:00.001-07:00

This bulky device is the Apple Newton MessagePad. Introduced in 1993, it was the first Personal Digital Assistant.

The Newton was very ambitious for its time, featuring full Handwriting Recognition, plug-in memory cards, fax and email (with optional modem), IR communications, and a degree of intelligence we still have to see in later PDA's. For example: the user could write on the screen "Lunch with Jeff tomorrow", tap the Assist icon, and the Newton would interpret the phrase and open a meeting form already filled out with the last-accessed person named Jeff and tomorrow's date!

Unfortunately, the first version of the handwriting recognition engine was notoriously poor; mis-recognized phrases could be quite funny and led to many jokes (Q: How many Apple Newton users does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A: Only one, tharks to the extnq-producilve handwritling processcr). This led to a lot of bad publicity and impacted sales even after the bugs have been fixed in subsequent models. The Newton had (and still has today!) a loyal user base, but it never made it to the masses. When the Palm Pilot was introduced in 1996, Newton just couldn't compete, and in early 1998 Apple discontinued its production. The Palm was far less ambitious technologically, but it was cheaper, smaller, and simpler. Sometimes Vision isn't enough...

Here we see the Newton next to a Palm V PDA from around 1999. You can see what I mean by "smaller"... the Newton was advanced, but it was limited to work with the technology available in its time. It was powered by an ARM 610 20MHz processor with 4MB of ROM and 640KB of RAM, and had a large 320x248 pixels screen. Its plug-in memory cards were actually full-sized PCMCIA cards. It would never fit in a shirt pocket like today's PDA's. But it was a pioneering product with a lot of pluck, and deserves our respect for that.

Exhibit provenance:

This item was donated to my collection by my brother, who got it from a friend of his. Neither of us managed to get it to work... maybe one day I'll give it a more serious try.

Sony SL-C7 : The Legendary Betamax Player

2009-03-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, whenever most people consider home video, there is only one format - VHS. In fact, those three letters have become almost synonymous with home video recorders and pre-recorded movies. But it wasn't always so.

In the late 1970s / early 1980s, a myriad of confusing and incompatible video formats were on the marketplace. Philips offered VCR and VCR Long Play, Grundig offered SV (Super Video) and both companies later got together to make Video2000. Toshiba developed LVR (Longitudinal video recording) that worked in a similar way to 8-track audio tapes. Most of these obscure formats disappeared very quickly. The only early systems that had a lasting impact were VHS (invented by JVC) and Betamax, invented by Sony.

Betamax is technically superior to VHS yet surprisingly it lost the battle in an intensely competitive market. The reasons for this are many and varied; you can read about them in some of the links but it basically boils down to marketing mistakes and bad luck on Sony's part.

Most people assume that Betamax is dead, but it isn't. New Beta-format VCRs are still on sale in Japan. In the U.K. no new machines or pre-recorded tapes have been available for the last few years but Beta is far from useless. Blank tapes and essential spares like belt kits and video heads can still be bought. With an ever-growing choice of TV channels to record from, who needs pre-recorded tapes anyway?

I got all my Beta machines secondhand when the format was losing popularity. At first they were being sold off cheaply in 2nd hand shops and junk sales. Later on, I salvaged large numbers of (usually faulty) machines and used cassettes from dealers and people who no longer wanted them. I learned to repair broken Betas by cannibalizing others for spares and hence ended up with superior-quality home video equipment for a fraction of the price.

Some people thought I was crazy for collecting this 'old junk', but I could say the same about those who threw out top-quality Betamax equipment only to replace it with inferior VHS gear. Although the public no longer favours Beta, TV broadcasting stations still use an enhanced form of Beta in preference to anything VHS has to offer. That should tell you something about the quality and performance of the format.

Introduced in Spring 1980, the C7 was hailed as being "so advanced, it has features you've never even heard of". Some of these features are taken for granted nowadays, but were innovative in 1980. Like Picture Search, for instance. At that time, it was unique to Betamax. In the early stages of the video format war, Beta was one step ahead, forcing VHS to catch up. I wonder what features VCRs might have today, if all the resources were put into developing Beta.

Some of the C7's other features included still / slow motion, Index Search (APS) and an alarm (audible beep) that sounded when the tape ran out.

Perhaps one of the most unusual Beta VCR accessories is the "BetaStack" tape autochanger. I have the German version, the Wega CW-M1, pictured above, attached to the C7 VCR. This unit can automatically remove a tape and insert another - and even press the function button on the VCR (play or record - you can decide which) enabling it to carry on where it left off. Over 13 hours of continuous unattended recording is possible, with no loss of quality (unlike slow-speed VHS). The only drawback is a 15-second interruption when the unit changes tapes.

The BetaStack never caught on, although autochangers are still used today in videotape duplicating factories. Another thing was that the 'feature-packed' C7 and its mechanical autochanger were astronomically complex, expensive to make and very unreliable, due to the large number of components. Mine still works (just about) but is no longer reliable enough for everyday use, so it stays in the cupboard.

Analogue Cellular Techonolgy

2009-03-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

AMPS : Advanced Mobile Phone System. Developed by Bell Labs in the 1970s and first used commercially in the United States in 1983. It operates in the 800 MHz band and is currently the world's largest cellular standard.
C-450 : Installed in South Africa during the 1980's. Uses 450Mhz band. Much like C-Netz. : Now known as Motorphone and run by Vodacom SA.
C-Netz : Older cellular technology found mainly in Germany and Austria. Uses 450 MHz.
Comvik : Launched in Sweden in August 1981 by the Comvik network.
N-AMPS : Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone System. Developed by Motorola as an interim technology between analogue and digital. It has some three times greater capacity than AMPS and operates in the 800 MHz range.
NMT450 : Nordic Mobile Telephones/450. Developed specially by Ericsson and Nokia to service the rugged terrain that characterises the Nordic countries. Range 25km. Operates at 450 MHz. Uses FDD FDMA.
NMT900 : Nordic Mobile Telephones/900. The 900 MHz upgrade to NMT 450 developed by the Nordic countries to accommodate higher capacities and handheld portables. Range 25km. Uses FDD FDMA technology.
NMT-F : French version of NMT900
NTT : Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. The old Japanese analogue standard. A high-capacity version is called HICAP.
RC2000 : Radiocom 2000. French system launched November 1985
TACS : Total Access Communications System. Developed by Motorola. and is similar to AMPS : It was first used in the United Kingdom in 1985, although in Japan it is called JTAC. It operates in the 900 MHz frequency range.

Installing Very Old Windows 1.0 at Your PC

2009-03-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

How amazing the first Windows had launch. Get ready to try this legend at you PC? Using Virtual Machine to install Win 1.0.
Download Virtual Machine HERE
Download MS Windows 1.0 HERE

This the tutorial

The Older Mobile Phone : Motorola Dynatac

2009-03-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

History
Bell Labs first came out with the idea of a cellular system in 1947, and continued to petition the FCC for channels through the 1950s and 1960s. During 1968-1983, Bell Labs worked on the system called AMPS, which became the first cellular system in the US, but did not design cell phones. Motorola and others designed cell phones for that and other cellular systems. Most were large and heavy, and were installed in the trunks of cars. Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola led a team that produced the DynaTAC, first cell phone small enough to be easily carried. He is widely credited for making the first private handheld mobile phone call in history.

On Oct. 13, 1983, Bob Barnett, former president of Ameritech Mobile Communications placed the first commercial wireless call on a DynaTAC from inside a Chrysler convertible to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell who was in Germany at the time. The call, made at Soldier Field in Chicago, is considered by many as a major turning point in communications. Later Richard Frenkel, the head of system development at Bell Laboratories, said about the DynaTAC: "It was a triumph"

Description
Several prototypes were made between 1973 and 1983. The product accepted by the FCC weighed 28 ounces (793g) and was 10 inches (25cm) high, not including its flexible "rubber duck" whip antenna. In addition to the typical 12-key telephone keypad, it had nine additional special keys:
* Rcl (Recall)
* Clr (Clear)
* Snd (Send)
* Sto (Store)
* Fcn (Function)
* End (End)
* Pwr (Power)
* Lock (Lock)
* Vol (Volume)

The display utilized red LEDs, and was severely limited in what information it could show. The battery allowed for a call up to 60 minutes, after which it was necessary to charge the phone up to 10 hours in a trickle charger or 1 hour in a fast charger which was a separate accessory.[3] The DynaTAC was succeeded by the Motorola MicroTAC in 1989.

Portability
While it might be considered extremely unwieldy by today's standards, at the time it was considered revolutionary, because mobile telephones were bulky affairs installed in vehicles. The DynaTAC 8000X was truly the first mobile telephone which could connect to the telephone network without the assistance of a mobile operator and could be carried about by the user.

Model list

* 1983 DynaTAC 8000x
* 1985 DynaTAC 8000s
* 1987 DynaTAC 8000m, 8500x, 8800x
* 1987 DynaTAC 6000XL (car phone)
* 1989 DynaTAC 8900x
* 1992 America series
* 1994 International 3200/3300 (GSM)
* 1994 Ultra Classic/II

Accessories
In Singapore, a swivel antenna was one of the after-market accessories then available. It was revived by Henry Thia in the film Money No Enough, when he made a call on a DynaTAC complete with swivel antenna.

The Motorola company also sold a 1 hour desktop charger, though the battery could get quite hot while charging at this accelerated rate.

In popular culture
DynaTAC models have taken on the nickname "Zack Morris Phones" because of their heavy usage by the central character of the early 1990s sitcom "Saved by the Bell". In Reservoir Dogs Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn) uses the same model of the cell phone

Source : Wikipedia

Ericsson GA 318 - My first Phone priced Rp 4 million

2009-03-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

Ericsson GA 318 Highlights
STATUS : Discontinued
INTRODUCED : December 1994
FORM FACTOR : Block
NETWORKS : 2G/GSM 900
BATTERY : Ni-Mh, 1200 mAh

Ericsson GA 318 Technical Specifications
Status : Discontinued
Introduced : December 1994
Network (2G) : GSM 900
Form factor : Block
Antenna type : External

Weight : 248 g (with battery)
Dimensions : 130 x 49 x 32 mm
Display Type : Alphanumeric
Coloured : Yes
- Fixed icons

Numbers in phone : 100

Ringtones : Monophonic
Vibration : No
SMS : Receive
Interface languages : Yes, 12
- Scratchpad
Standard Battery
Type : Ni-Mh
Amperage : 1200 mAh
Standby time : 67h
Talk time : 3h 20m

Walkman, The Legendary Begin....

2009-03-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

It was a music player first and foremost; it had no record function.

The concept was a winner. Since its introduction, Sony has produced dozens of Walkman models and has sold them to hundreds of millions of consumers.
Walkman Prehistory

The first affordable portable radios were introduced in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were made possible because of the transistor, invented several years before at Bell Labs. The transistor gave them cleaner sound than vacuum tube models, and transistors rarely wore out or overheated. They also made radios much less fragile and also allowed them to be a lot smaller.

There were some cassette recorders available at the time, although they were not designed for the general public. Sony called theirs Pressman and marketed it exclusively to reporters. These recorders lacked stereo sound and were very expensive. They also used (typically) microcassettes, which had no support from record companies (and were expensive to boot).

With the limited choices presented to consumers, the most popular cassette tape players were either home stereos or car players.
Sony Enters the Market

Sony's first stab at the personal tape player market came in 1978, with the TC-D5. It had excellent quality sound (surpassing most desktop players) and was easy to operate. Unfortunately for most potential customers, the price was around $1,000 (¥300,000), and it was hardly portable.

One regular user was Ibuka, then Sony's honorary chairman. He used the player on airplane trips, but he found the player too heavy for everyday use. He instructed the tape recorder division to create a smaller version for his personal use.

The division, led by Kozo Ohsone, modified a Pressman to do the job. They removed the record function and added stereophonic sound. Ibuka was immediately impressed and suggested that they bring a similar item to market.

By 1979, Sony's tape recorder division was flagging. There was little demand for their high-end products, while products from competing lines succeeded (boom boxes, etc.). In February, 1979, Morita, the company's chairman, encouraged the engineers to develop a player similar to the one they had developed for Ibuka. But this one had to cost less than ¥40,000 yet provide the same sound quality. He wanted the product by June 21, 1979.

Though he was skeptical that the division could create a player so quickly, Kozo Ohsone was eager to avoid having the division consolidated into another division (Sony was going through a reorganization at the time) and quickly designed a portable tape player based on Ibuka's modified Pressman player. They used lower end components to bring the price down and encased it in a small, stylish enclosure.
The Right Name

There was a problem: The device didn't have a name. Ohsone suggested that they use the name "Walkman", a play on the Pressman, but the company's leadership was skeptical. The name sounded like a straight Japanese translation, and they feared it would not catch on in the US and Europe.

Several other names were suggested. Walky was the most popular, but none were as memorable as Walkman, so the name stayed.

Morita was worried that the device wouldn't appeal to the young or active because of the headphones. They were far larger than the player (they weighed more than 400 grams) and were more like earmuffs than today's headphones.

Three years before, Sony engineers in another division had designed a lightweight pair of headphones. They eliminated the large, enclosed earpiece and in its place put soft foam. Ueyema decided that he could make the Walkman more of a personal player by including these smaller headphones. A listener could now use a tape player while in motion without disturbing those around him or her. The new headphones weighed around 50 grams.
Enter the Walkman

The original Sony WalkmanOn June 21, 1979 the Walkman was announced to the public.

Before the new player was available to the public, the press lampooned it. Some claimed that nobody would be interested in a tape player without a record function. Others pointed out that the most popular tape recorder of the time had sold less than 15,000 units, and Sony had produced 30,000.

The company was unfazed by such criticism and pushed on with promotion. Sony distributed the player to young people and celebrities around Japan, generating demand.

To promote the device amongst younger Japanese, Sony hired young people to walk through the Ginza, offering passersby to listen to the Walkman's excellent audio quality.

Instead of having a conventional introduction to the press, Sony arranged a bus tour with actors throughout Tokyo posing with the Walkman while the reporters listened to a recorded tour.

A month after the Walkman became available in Japanese stores, it was sold out. The device was popular amongst all consumers, not just those under 20. Sony had succeeded at creating a personal audio player, and it prepared to launch the product in Europe and North America.

Earlier apprehensions about the name reappeared, and the marketing department decided to rename the product Freestyle in Sweden, Storaway in the UK, and Soundabout in the US. However, during a visit to Sony employees in Paris, Morita was asked by employee's children when they could get their Walkman, and the Japanese name stuck.

In ten years Sony sold 50 million units, and competitors had sold countless knockoffs. The term "Walkman" even entered our language, used to describe any cassette player, and it's listed as such in the Oxford English Dictionary.

The brand lives on today, as Sony attempts (unsuccessfully so far) to translate their brand recognition into MP3 player sales.

Camouflage Your iPod with an Ancient Walkman

2009-03-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Unless your neighborhood thief has a hankering for vintage small electronics, disguising your iPod inside an old Sony Walkman might be a worthy diversion. The clever ruse even reveals a fake cassette tape through its window, completing the illusion.

Problem is, the first thing a robber sees from blocks away are those telltale white earbuds, so you might want to modify an old pair of black headphones to completely trick those miscreants looking for a five-finger discount on your stuff.

But wait. Isn't a classic Walkman player (in especially good condition such as this one) a collector's item? Not really, but they're not completely worthless, either — some are selling for upwards of $100, but we saw one recently sold on eBay for $20. It's too cool for this purpose. Just get the oldest, most beat-up player you can find, and you're good to go.

Ancient PDA: Alcatel One Touch Com

2009-03-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

Alcatel One Touch Com Highlights

STATUS : Discontinued
INTRODUCED : December 1997
FORM FACTOR : Block
NETWORKS : 2G/GSM 900
BATTERY : 880 mAh

Alcatel One Touch Com Technical Specifications

Status : Discontinued
Introduced : December 1997
Network (2G) : GSM 900
Form factor : Block
Antenna type : External

Weight : 230 g
Dimensions : 151 x 62 x 24 mm
Display Type : Graphical
Coloured : No
Size : 160 x 239 pixels

Received calls : 20
Outgoing calls : 20
Lost calls : 20
- 512 KB memory total
Ringtones Number : 15
Polyphonic ringtones : No

DATA : Yes, 9600 bps
Infrared : Yes
Email client : Yes

Vibration : Yes
SMS : Send / Receive
Games : Yes, 3
Clock : Yes
Alarm : Yes
Calculator : Yes
Calendar : Yes
To-do list : Yes
Interface languages : Yes, 4
- Used to also draw the digit buttons
- Notepad
Standard Battery Amperage : 880 mAh
Standby time : 60h
Talk time : 2h

FEATURE SET:
Weighing less than 240g, the One Touch COM™ is an integrated GSM mobile phone and personal organizer that serves as a phone and address book, a calendar, a notepad, an internet / e-mail access tool, a PC companion, a personal assistant and more.

STYLUS PEN EASE OF USE
You simply use the stylus pen to add names and addresses to your phone books, send and receive messages with the Short Message Service (SMS) or access your Internet E-Mail account from anywhere. And there's no more searching for a pen and paper in the middle of a call with the One Touch COM™. With the stylus pen, you can actually jot down and save on the screen while you talk using the notepad function.

REAL TIME AGENDA
The One Touch COM™ allows real-time updating of agendas. Messages* (SMS) sent to the One Touch COM™ in a specific format automatically update the agenda with the new appointments, scheduling modifications or other changes. No matter where you are travelling, you can finally be sure that your agenda is completly and constantly co-ordinated with your secretary's appointment calendar.

SENDING E-MAIL
Sending e-mail on your One Touch COM™ is simple. To make it even easier to send messages, there's an integrated a programable selection of messages forms with pre-defined content. You simply touch and select the form you'd prefer, complete your message and send.

RECEIVING E-MAIL
E-mail addressed to your PC mailbox will reach you, wherever you are. You simply use the stylus pen to access the mailbox, and a "preview index" will appear, showing you which messages are waiting to be retrieved and what time they arrived at.

SYNCHRONISING YOUR AGENDA
Synchronising data such as the appointments, names and address book you enter your One Touch COM™ with those already entered in your PC is a simple matter. Using the Alcatel PC Synchronisation Pack accessory, you simply select the "PC link" icon on your One Touch COM™ and connect the handset to your PC docking station. The One Touch COM™ is programmed to link with the Personal Information Management software applications, such as Microsoft Outlook™.

The History of PDA

2009-03-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Do you know the history of your PDA? Here is...

Ancient Computer Brochure

2009-03-14T09:03:00.000-07:00

Do you already have a computer in the decades 80an? If you have, now time for the computer that you use first. If you have not yet at that time, this is the greatest computer brochure at the time.

The Old Mice

2009-03-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

Are you living in 1980 era? Do you already know the computer with the GUI at that time? If you have, do you remember with the mouse you use?