HandEra Releases AutoCard Beta

This version of AutoCard will not work on non-Handera devices. However, we will release a version that does work on the Palm and Sony devices in a few weeks. I do not have pricing at this time, but AutoCard will remain free for TRGpro and HandEra 330 owners.

Mike Walter
VP Software Engineering
HandEra, Inc.

What will be the difference between using this and
MsMount?
Will it be able to trick the Sony so that the
memory usage is correct? (with MsMount, apparently
the Clie sometimes still thinks the memory is in use even for files copied to the memory stick).

If you could access files on the Memory Stick just like they were in memory, then you could play MP3s off the Memory Stick. Sony doesn't want that.

Sadly for Sony, consumers do want that, so their Memory Stick is not exactly setting the world on fire.

Jon Acheson

Once they release AutoCard for Palm and Sony models, HandEra will become redundant as a PDA manufacturer. Their whole raison d'etre was seamless access of large amounts of data. MSMount and PowerRUN have succeeded in making this a reality for the new VFS PDAs like the m505 and CLIE, but currently lack the simplicity of AutoCard/AutoCF. Since MSMount and PowerRUN will be mature programs in a few months, HandEra probably had no other alternative but to release a version for Palm and Sony and hope to earn some money from software sales.

I'm sure they realize that once AutoCard (or mature versions of MSMount or PowerRUN) are available, they have essentially lost their main advantage over other PDA manufacturers. HandEra's previous PDA, the TRGPro found a niche with power users like physicians and sales professionals who needed to access large files and maintain backups of databases. I can't speak for the sales types, but I can say it will be hard for HandEra to convince physicians to purchase the bulky, gaudy HandEra 330 instead of a color CLIE or sleek m505. HandEra will likely be seeing their share of this market quickly diminish over the next few months.

HandEra: please realize that small size, attractive styling and a good color display would have sold you more PDAs than all of you engineering marvels put together. SoftGrafitti, dual expansion cards, voice recorder, dual batery, jog dial, etc. are all nice, but your company still has no concept of what it takes to sell PDAs to typical users.

(Of course, HandEra defenders will say that the company isn't targeting typical users, blah, blah, blah...)

Unfortunately for HandEra, if you're a small company and big companies swallow up your niche - almost overnight - it leaves you in a very difficult position. Competing based on price will be difficult for HandEra. They apparently are having the 330 made in the Far East to save on costs, but loss over production control may (has?) cost them in the long run.

HandEra probably won't be able to release a new unit for almost a year, based on their prior performance. It seems unlikely that the 330 will be able to even maintain the tiny market share that the TRGPro once had. They should IMMEDIATELY look into the feasibility of using a CLIE N710C screen in a modified 330. This would be the kind of PDA that might allow HandEra to survive.

You know where you're going...

They won't have a version for your m505 until July.

It downloaded fine for me using the link above.

Previous poster:
"Isn't program storage in Flash Memory irrelevant for any Palm (clone) which has CF/MMC/Memory Stick? As I understand it, putting a program in Flash lets it suvive a hard reset or similar diasaster - which about describes what it can do when stored on a CF/MMC/Memory Stick.
Or have I missed something fundamental here?"

Well, let me see if I can "enlighten" you. FlashPro allows the user to load applications and read-only databases the extra space in Flash ROM that the OS isn't using. This memory wouldn't ordinarily be available for user applications, but with FlashPro, you have effecvtively gained an additional chunk of application space... here's a chart from their website, listing the addtional useable space this application frees up on various devices:

Palm OS release / Device Available User
Flash Memory
3.0 on Symbol 1500 696KB
3.0 on Palm III, IBM Workpad 20x 824KB
3.1 on Palm IIIx, V, Workpad 30x, c3 824KB
3.2 on Symbol 1700/1740 504KB
3.3 on TRGpro 568KB
3.3 on Palm V/Vx/III/IIIx 696KB
3.3 on IBM Workpad 20x/30x/c3 696KB
3.5 on TRGpro 440KB
3.5 on Palm V/Vx/III/IIIx/IIIxe/IIIc 568KB
3.5 on IBM Workpad 20x/30x/c3/50u 568KB

As you can see, this is a SUBSTANTIAL amount of additional memory, with the addtional benefit that any data stored there will survive a hard reset. This may not be quite as useful on a Palm OS unit with removable storage, but it's certainly nothing to sniff at... and the newer Palm OS units (m500/505, Sony, HandEra 330) are all shipping with 4 MB of Flash ROM, so they should have even MORE available space, once HandEra updates this application.
So, to sum it all up...

* For a very resonable price, you get ~512K of
addtional memory--even more than that on newer Palm
OS devices. Just TRY to find a MemoryStick or MMC
(even 8MB) for even twice the price!

* 99% of applications--and most read-only
databases--can use this memory space without any
addtional utilities and no performance hit, since
the data doesn't have to be swappeded into RAM
before it can be accessed.

* Unlike MMC, CompactFlash, etc. you won't have to
worry about misplacing the data unless you lose your
whole PDA, in which case you'd be screwed even WITH
a memory card, and if you need to do a hard reset,
you won't have to reload the data--it will still be
there and accessible.

I had a reply from Handera support regarding FlashPro for M50x machines.

Basically it is finished and ready for release, but the web master has been off, I was informed thatt he update should be available from their site Monday 25 June.

Jonathan Lane

To uninstall a panel application such as autocard you must make a soft reset while holding the up button. This prevent the panel apps from starting. You can the delete the program the normal way. This is explained in AutoCF documentation and works: I uninstalled and reinstalled autocf 3 times already.