Wi-Fi SDIO Card Under Development

I am more skeptical about the battery life. I'll see how a PDA with this card performs before buying it.

Doesn't have to be an issue. Symbol's 802.11b CF card only adds an addition 11mA draw on a HandEra in max power saving. Another 30-40mA with moderate power saving, and 100 mA with no power saving.

I'll second that. My HE330 with a Symbol 802.11b and the backlight on will run for a long time... I've had it going in excess of several hours at a time.

We NEED an 802.11b Memory Stick!!!

Yep, SD & MS users keep waiting...........
CF users have had the option for a while now:
www.handera.com/accessories/symbol80211.asp

That would be a PCMCIA card in the link above, not an SDIO card wich is much smaller.

Guyver's a piece of junk. The drivers for a limited number of cards are built-in and you can't add new ones - however RealVision will write a driver for you if you cough up bucks.

The other scary thing is that Guyver uses a magnetic attachment method! Yup, and big honkin' magnet attaches it to your Palm... who else carries credit cards with their Palm?!?!

"Guyver's a piece of junk. The drivers for a limited number of cards are built-in and you can't add new ones - however RealVision will write a driver for you if you cough up bucks."

I think it is a great idea to have different drivers from a company point of view because you pay for what you require rather than to have everything in one and pay for it. If I want GPRS and Wlan, I will just pay for the price of these 2 drivers and not anything else.

This makes business sense as it is cost saving to the company if my users (technicians) need only 2 such wireless connection.

Ref - The other scary thing is that Guyver uses a magnetic attachment method! Yup, and big honkin' magnet attaches it to your Palm... who else carries credit cards with their Palm?!?!

From my experience on the one that our law firm are using, the magnet is not as strong as you mentioned that will "kill off" your credit cards. It is a simple flat strip that attached to the back of the palm so that the connectors are connected. Xircom Wireless Lan attachment is too huge and only for one type of connection.

Guvyer user

Could you give us a source for this info?

Xircom/Intel have had an 802.11 solution for Palm for quite some time. Have a look here: http://makeashorterlink.com/?E20E30B01

It's a bit bulky, but it works.

This new SDIO solution is interesting, but I, too, would like to see how the battery life plays out.

Chris Scullion

The new Toshiba e740 Pocket PC has 802.11b already integrated in the handheld.

Not to mention these 5 options for TrgPro's and 330's:
http://www.handera.com/solutions/acc_exp_wireless.asp

And on current PalmOS hardware(33Mhz/4), it's much less than that.
Of course if you're using the xircom sled, it's 115Kbps...

I used the Xircom WiFi module on my m515 and it does not consume much power (well, it has its own battery). I think SDIO WiFi won't consume much power since it won't operate on full 11mbps, or even half of it.

well you could post on PalmInfoCenter 24/7!

I'd know some businesses who would like it, such as Schools where teachers use pdas during roll calls and inter-teacher/student communication, and also allowing them to hold onto their units throughout the school without constantly having to visit the office for hotsyncing. They could just patch the palm through to the existing wireless network system. Another use would be for workers who need immediate update on demand data such as big spreadsheets while running between offices - some might not have the time to stick it on a cradle and wait for it to finish hotsyncing.

If you actually owned a Palm, you'd know that there has never been a model made by any Palm OS licensee with a 240 x 240 screen.

You'd also know there are a half a dozen web browsers available for the Palm OS. Go back to your bridge, troll.

"Can't watch video,"

Sure you can, I've streamed DVD content into a palmOS viewer over a 14.4K cellphone connection to the internet, WiFi only improves on that.

"can't visit web sites"

I do it daily. Mind you I don't have much use for graphical browsers on the PalmOS. I have yet to find anything as fast as Eudora for my use. I have tons of news and information sites bookmarked which makes for speedy info retrivial. Plus you need a non-proxy browser like eudora to activate 802.11b in cafe's and airports which charge for service. HTTP requests are redirected to the payment portal until you MAC address is validated.

"So besides email what will I do?"

Email is good. Besides that, WiFi network hotsync is very speedy on a HE330. Server administration with VNC and Telnet. FTP non-palm content direct to/from a second card. Many businesses and medical environs use it to connect to backend databases. Some Symbol PalmOS devices have 802.11b built in and are often used in warehouses, factories, and hospitals.

I've also made VPN connections and browsed Network Shares, though there's isn't yet software to let you
802.11b can also be used in AdHoc mode (PDA to PDA). There's a lot of untapped potential there, but I notice Palm touting improved OS support of 802.11b in OS5...

Actually, without the virtual graffiti area shrunk down, apps are displayed 240x240 on a HE330. Only High-res apps can optionally make use of the 240x320. Though technically so can non-high res ones with HEFontmapper.

Yah, you are SO RIGHT. I totally AGREE. Palm OS 5 is totally vaporware. That was the best post this week!

PPC troll...why don't you hand around your own message boards.

Actually it should be feasible. Even without supplemental antenna, when I put my HE330 in discover mode to peek at the networks nearby, I can pick up 4-5 unsecured networks from almost a block away (through my walls/windows and theirs), by matching Access Point names to Company names and their known location.