Apple Evolves Newton, Offers One Surprise

Company Introduces MessagePad 2000 and eMate 300

For an industry that has been proclaimed as all but dead by many industry watchers, the PDA and handheld market has demonstrated itself to be surprisingly dynamic. It’s character is somewhat reminiscent of the film in which Debbie Reynolds jumps up in a lifeboat following the sinking of the Titanic and declaring to the world “I’m Molly Brown and I’m unsinkable!” Unsinkable indeed.

As we come to Fall COMDEX in Las Vegas, we expect to see a number of new handheld devices, most notably a new class of keyboard-based and pen-enabled handheld PCs (HPCs) based on the new Windows CE platform developed by Microsoft. With all the attention directed at this powerful upstart, Apple jumped up a month ahead of Microsoft’s partners introducing its new line of personal digital assistants directed at the mobile professional and educational markets.

The MessagePad 2000

At first glance, both devices feature an innovative and fresh design, especially the education-oriented eMate 300. Still, both devices represent more of an evolutionary step than anything very revolutionary. This is understandable at one level as Newton has clearly established itself as a platform and cannot drift too far from the anchor it has set with hundreds of developers. The MP2000 directly addresses perhaps the most important current concern, namely performance. By employing a 160 MHz (161.9 MHz actually) StrongARM RISC processor, co-developed by Digital Equipment Corp. and Advanced RISC Machines, the MP2000 finally delivers on its promise of offering information and applications in an instant. As one source at Apple put it: “you now have a mid-range Pentium system that you can hold in your hand.”

The MP 2000 also features a larger display than its predecessor, offering half-VGA resolution with a 480 x 320 pixel backlit screen capable of displaying 16-level gray at 100 dpi. Updated too is the amount of memory available in the device with 5 MB of RAM and 8 MB of ROM. This has two important implications, both of which are critical to the MP2000’s target audience of mobile business professionals. First, the device can leverage the additional memory to better support the fast processor for completing complex tasks such as handwriting recognition and sophisticated data manipulation.

“The MP2000 is now much better equipped to provide access to the Internet, including rich support for the World Wide Web.”

Second, and increasingly more important, the MP2000 is now much better equipped to provide access to the Internet, including rich support for the World Wide Web. In fact, the MP2000 features not only an integrated TCP/IP stack, the backbone of the Internet protocol suite, but also NetHopper, the graphical Web browser developed by Los Gatos, California-based AllPen Software.

Aside from a faster processor and larger display, most people will most likely next notice that the MP2000 finally features two PC Card slots. While a single slot has enabled Apple to keep the size of the device smaller in previous MessagePads, many users complained about the lack of flexibility such a system imposed. For example, you were forced to forgo your PC storage card if you wanted to use a PCMCIA-based fax modem. Likewise, if you wanted to use a sophisticated communication program, such as NetHopper, with an internal modem, you were stretched to try to load the application in the Newton’s internal store – not always a viable option. The MP2000 changes all that and offers a flexible solution to many of these people.

A feature built into the MessagePad 2000, but somewhat less obvious, is the microphone-speaker combination. Earlier MessagePads featured a speaker, of course, but the MP2000 integrates this with a built-in microphone and system software that is capable of recording (but not recognizing as was earlier rumored) up to one hour of voice on a 4 MB Flash storage card. According to sources at Apple, third-parties will be responsible for delivering the voice recognition features and multiple vendors are already at work on this problem.

“While the MP2000 would make a rather clumsy Internet phone, the possibilities are nonetheless staggering. Could this be the real PDA killer application?”

Even less obvious is the way the speaker and microphone are positioned on the device. Sources note that the separation is conspicuously close to the distance between the ear and the mouth, suggesting that the Newton, coupled with a bit of Internet telephony software, could conceivably be made into an Internet telephone capable of completing long distance telephone calls anywhere in the world for free! Sources expect that some resourceful shareware developer may already be at work creating a freeware/shareware version of such a program.

While the MP2000 would make a rather clumsy Internet phone, the possibilities are nonetheless staggering. Could this be the real PDA killer application? We believe so – together with all the other information access capabilities facilitated by the Internet and the Web.

Another notable feature of the MessagePad 2000 is its optional rechargeable NiMH battery pack. Apple claims that their internal tests show that this enables the MP2000 to be used continuously for over 24 hours, making it an attractive alternative to the laptop for long international flights and other situations, especially when you consider the larger screen that the new device offers.

The MessagePad 2000 also includes an incremental update to the Newton 2.0 operating system, dubbed Newton OS 2.1. The software includes several enhancements to the user interface including a customizable task bar that enables you to drag and drop your most popular applications for quick access. In addition, you can now rotate the screen in any direction, including 180-degrees if you prefer to hold your Newton in your other hand, for example. The MP2000 comes with the Newton Connection Utilities as a standard feature enabling you to connect your handheld to Windows and Macintosh-based desktop PCs.

Introducing the eMate 300

The education-oriented eMate 300 represents an interesting new track for the Newton platform. Apple sources describe this as the first product to illustrate Apple’s attitude of thinking of Newton as more of a technology base rather than a single product image. It also represents Apple’s first step at broadening out the Newton platform to include other devices while still sharing the common characteristic of being focused on mobile computing.

Designed around the concept of distributed education, which Apple assures us is an education term and not a computing term, the eMate 300 is intended to be sold to the K-12 market. In fact, Apple will initially sell the device only to schools – it doesn’t intend to offer the eMate 300 through normal reseller and retail channels, meaning that you won’t be able to walk into you local electronics shop and buy one there. Developed over the past two years, Apple suggests that the eMate is potentially capable of “stitching together a community” which may not necessarily be in the same physical or geographic area.

Interestingly, Apple staged a significant trial program for the eMate 300 immersing the device in a couple of San Jose, California schools where parents and educators, but not the children, were required to sign nondisclosure agreements. Most surprising of all was that no one in the local Silicon Valley media found out about it.

Just by looking at it, you can tell that the eMate 300 is like no other Newton. Still, it shares many characteristics while introducing several new ones. The device features a clamshell design similar to a notebook computer. Designed for kids, the eMate is based on a sturdy chassis and is encased in strong molded plastic with rounded corners developed to withstand bumps and drops. The clamshell opens to reveal a near-full size keyboard which, to prevent problems from liquids and other spills, has no electronics underneath the keys. The unit also turns on and off when you open and close the lid.

As with the MP2000, the eMate 300 features a speaker and headphone, though this is clearly intended to be employed for private use, not as some future generation Internet walkie-talkie. The device includes software to perform Macintosh-quality text-to-speech synthesis but, unlike the MP2000, does not feature built-in software to allow Web browsing. Of course, since the eMate is a Newton, Apple assures us that you are free to load any Newton 2.0 compatible application without a hitch. However, don’t expect the same performance as the MP2000 – the eMate uses the much more conventional and considerably less exciting ARM710 processor running at 25 MHz.

The eMate 300 also breaks from several of the Newton user interface conventions or, perhaps put another way, adds new interface standards to the Newton repertoire. Most notably, the user interface features several menus that presents the user with a distinctly more Macintosh-like feel, though it is much closer in spirit to Newton than to its distant desktop sibling. Using a 2 MB Flash storage card, Apple expects students to be able to store about 1600 pages of lessons, information, and whatever else for instant access.

In terms of maintainability – an important issue for schools – the eMate features a user replaceable ROM that ensures that the device remains up-to-date for a little while anyway. By user replaceable, Apple doesn’t mean that teachers or students will be digging inside the device; instead it is intended to be serviced by the school’s IT specialist.

Watching kids play with the eMate, it’s clear that they are ready for more computers in the classroom. But even at the reasonable cost of $800 per unit, how “distributed” are schools willing to be with these expensive resources. A source at Apple pointed out that schools already face this issue when they allow students to borrow expensive musical instruments, to which one observer quickly noted: “but there’s less of a market for tubas on the street”.

What are the Implications?

It’s comforting to see Apple continue its firm commitment to the Newton platform, especially following its muchreported recent difficulties which put several programs into varying degrees of question. While some vendors talked, and other developers balked, Apple put its feet squarely in the fire and spent the last three years building its experience base with customers and developers, while at the same time pushing the platform forward. When the MessagePad 2000 becomes available in the first quarter of 1997 for under $1000 (initially English version only), it will represent the current state of the art in terms of processing power and advanced handwriting recognition capabilities. Meanwhile, the current high-end MP130 will assume the position of entry level device for the consumer and professional markets.

The eMate 300, on the other hand, represents a bold new direction for the platform and could be an important step in making the system more applicable to a broader range of uses including consumer electronics and entertainment.

Is the MP2000 the TFT color-based Newton that many have been waiting for? No. Is it the go-anywhere wallet-sized PDA that Steve Capps used to talk about before leaving Apple to join Microsoft? No. Instead, the MP2000 represents another segment of the market – certain adventurous mobile professionals who are willing to sacrifice a large color display and Windows compatibility for a device that fits in a coat pocket and can be used non-stop on a round-trip flight between San Francisco and Tokyo. How large a market does this represent? Large enough to be interesting but not large enough to quell the onslaught of Windows CE devices that will appear in time for COMDEX.

Kudos to the Newton Systems Group for two innovative devices, addressing the most pressing concerns of their existing users. Now let’s see a TFT color Newton to impress the crowd that’s been standing on the sidelines waiting to be wow-ed.