Bulletin Bulletin Battery Friendly Battery Friendly Battery

Battery Friendly ™ Bulletin The Newsletter for Resellers, Partners and Users of Socket Communications Volume 2, Issue 1 THE WORLD IS YOUR WEB TM Spring 2000 FUTURE PRODUCT Socket demonstrates world’s first CompactFlash Bluetooth card for Windows PDAs At the CTIA Wireless 2000 trade show in New Orleans and the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany, Socket demonstrated the world’s first CompactFlash Bluetooth plug-in card for Windows-powered PDAs. Expected to be available in the second half of this year, the Personal Network Card™ supports the Bluetooth short-range wireless interconnect standard for personal area networking. In the demonstrations, two handheld PCs (Continued on page 6) Socket’s Bluetooth Breakthrough Highlights • Socket’s Bluetooth card for Windows PDAs • Socket outlines wireless web strategy • 5 Stars for Digital Phone Card from PC Magazine • Kelley Blue Book likes the In-Hand Scan Card • AirTrade offers wireless securities trading with the Digital Phone Card • Wireless Internet faxing and inking added to BSQUARE’s bFAX Pro 5.0 Socket presents wireless vision at Credit Suisse First Boston Devices Conference 2000 Socket’s founder Mike Gifford was invited to speak at the Devices 2000 Conference held on March 20 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco and sponsored by Credit Suisse First Boston. This report is a summary of the presentation, which describes Socket’s wireless Internet strategy. Socket Communications is far from being a household word, but among companies involved in bringing wireless Internet access to PDAs, Socket is considered an impact player. Socket worked with IBM and Microsoft to invent DEVICES 2000 the CompactFlash I/O CONFERENCE standard. Socket wrote the CompactFlash CF+ specification, which added I/O capability to what was formerly a memory-only medium, and Socket was elected to the CompactFlash Association Board of Directors. Today, CompactFlash cards are the only cross-platform standard for expanding (Continued on page 5) Strategy Socket’s Wireless Web Strategy MOBILE TECHNOLOGY Inside this issue: New Technology Conference Report Product News Wireless Applications Bar Code Applications Events Reseller Resources 1 1 2 4 7 8 8 PC Magazine gives top marks to Socket’s wireless Internet solution 5-Star Rating for Digital Phone Card REVIEWS “We successfully used it to check multiple pages in Yahoo! and even to replicate our Lotus Notes e-mail via the Internet and a virtual tunnel connection on the Dell notebook, all on battery power.” — Bruce Brown, PC Magazine, 1/11/00 For more Digital Phone Card reviews, visit Socket’s web at www.socketcom.com/dpcnews.htm PAGE 2 BATTERY FRIENDLY VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 Wireless Connection Kit for Palm-size PCs and Siemens S25 mobile phone unveiled at CeBIT trade show CeBIT PalmThe Digital Phone Card wireless connectivity kit now supports the popular Siemens S25 mobile phone for GSM wireless networks in Europe and Asia. Socket's Digital Phone Card is a universal, lowpower plug-in card that makes it easy to connect any Windowsbased PDA or notebook to data-capable mobile phones made by Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Siemens and others, and to use these phones as wireless modems for location-independent Internet access. Socket unveiled the new connection kit for the S25 handset at the CeBIT trade show in Hannover, Germany. The kit is available today through Socket's international distribution network. "The worldwide infrastructure that supports mobile phones is a vast resource that offers mobile computer users instant, wireless access to the web, to e-mail and to corporate information," said Peter Phillips, director of product marketing for Socket. "The popularity of the Siemens S25 handset in international markets makes this device an important part of our efforts to offer wireless web access to mobile professionals everywhere." For more information about the Digital Phone Card, visit www.DigitalPhoneCard.com Digital Phone Card Supports Siemens Phone PRODUCT NEWS Digital Phone Card users can now download free PowerBook installation software from Socket’s web Socket’s Digital Phone Card connection kit. The PowerBook must run MacOS 8.5.1 or greater with Open Transport 2.0.3 or greater. The new installation software is available for free to all registered Digital Phone Card users. To download the software, visit Socket’s web at www.socketcom.com/phone.htm Apple PowerBooks Go Wireless with the DPC PRODUCT NEWS Digital Phone Card users will get updated version for free Socket will offer Digital Phone Card users the initial production release of Ansyr Technology Corporation’s Primer™ the first PDF Primer™, reader for handheld and palm-sized Windows–powered devices. Primer is designed to optimize your ability to view PDF files on the small screen of a PDA. The production version of Primer will support most PDF image formats, as well as bookmarks, hyperlinks, table-of-contents and scalable fonts. Socket expects the software to be available in April and will provide it for free to registered users of the Digital Phone Card. For information about Ansyr and Primer, visit www.ansyr.com www.ansyr.com Pocket PDF Viewer NEW SOFTWARE Macintosh PowerBook users can now plug into data-capable mobile phones for anywhere, any time wireless Internet access thanks to the release of new AppleScript installation software for the Digital Phone Card. The free software allows users to install the Digital Card Phone Card on Macintosh PowerBook notebooks that have an available PC Card Slot. To insert the card into the PowerBook requires the CompactFlash-to-PC Card adapter included with all versions of the VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 BATTERY FRIENDLY PAGE 3 Digital Phone Card users get a discount on slick new version of faxing software for Windows-powered PDAs dowsWindows bFax Pro 5.0 from BSQUARE puts the power of mobile faxing in the palm of your hand. With the Digital Card, Phone Card you can use bFax Pro to send and receive faxes wirelessly to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Through April 30, 2000, Socket and BSQUARE are offering Digital Phone Card users a 50% discount off the regular purchase price of bFAX Pro 5. For details about this special deal, visit www.bsquare.com/socketpromo You can use bFax Pro on your Palm-size or Handheld PC to: • Send and receive faxes wirelessly with Socket’s Digital Phone Card and a mobile phone • Sign or annotate documents right on the screen with the new inking feature (described at right) • Save cost with the new offline rendering feature • Send multiple documents to multiple recipients • Fax Pocket Excel, Pocket Word, and text documents • Send contacts, bitmap, even tiff files — as long as the file type supports printing • Customize your cover page with a logo and information • Easily send a fax to an international destination • Save connection costs by batch faxing in a single session • Create and manage recurring faxes • Avoid costly mistakes by previewing final faxes before sending with the BSQUARE VIEW technology • Effortlessly send a fax to someone in your contacts database just by tapping the screen Inking Features in bFax Pro 5.0 One of the new features in bFax Pro 5.0 is inking. Using a stylus, you can simply open the document to be faxed and, by writing on the touchscreen, add "handwritten" notes on a document, or even sign a document, as shown here: Wireless Faxing from BSQUARE and Socket NEW SOFTWARE You can use the tools shown in the toolbar to add lines, circles, squares, even text to the fax image. The recipient of the fax will be able to view the notes exactly as written on the document. With this feature, mobile professionals can fax signed documents immediately from a Windows-powered PC Companion. Coming in April: free Windows 2000 driver software In April, Windows 2000 compatible drivers will be available for Socket’s PC Card and CompactFlash I/O products. Supported product lines will include Digital Phone Cards, the In-Hand Scan Card, Bar Code Laser Scanner Cards, Bar Code Wand Cards, Serial I/O Cards, Dual Serial I/O Cards, and Low Power Ethernet Cards. Socket’s CompactFlash I/O products require a PC Card adapter to work with Windows 2000 notebooks. These adapters are included with Socket’s Digital Phone Cards and are available at extra cost for Socket’s other CompactFlash I/O products. To download Socket’s free Windows 2000 driver software, please check Socket’s web. The software will be available at www.socketcom.com/download.htm Windows 2000 SOFTWARE UPDATES PAGE 4 BATTERY FRIENDLY VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 Maker of Internet trading products is bullish on the Digital Phone Card’s low power and broad compatibility power If eTrading is the next big thing in the wireless Internet market, then Advanced Trading Solutions, Inc. (ATS) is on the fast track. ATS supplies specialized brokerage automation products as well as full-scale Internet trading products to the brokerage community. ATS’s AirTrader™ software for Windows-powered PDAs allows mobile users with Internet access to enter and modify equity and option orders, or download account information such as balances, positions, trade history and order status. In addition, the software lets users obtain real-time quotes and quote lists. In order to provide a high level of security, the Internet-based solution incorporates elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) from Certicom, a leading supplier of encryption technology. ATS expects AirTrader to be available soon through one the largest discount brokers in the U.S. For wireless Windows-based Internet access on PDAs, ATS likes Socket’s Digital Phone Card. Sam Gabor, president and CEO of AdCard vanced Trading Solutions, says “Socket’s connection kit hooks up easily to any Windows PDA, doesn’t require a special cradle, and draws very little power. It’s a great mobile solution.” For more information about ATS and AirTrader, visit www.advanced-trading.com www.advanced- AirTrader Aims at Wireless Securities Trading APPLICATION STORY Socket’s partners continue to gain accolades and media coverage for wireless streaming video technology streaming PacketVideo, a partner of Socket whose technology can deliver full motion video and audio over existing wireless networks to PDAs via mobile phones, has proven to be a true media hound. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PacketVideo used Socket's Digital Phone Card in a demonstration that won the prestigious Innovations 2000 award in the Wireless Communications Products category for its PacketVideo Software and PV Player. In addition, the TV show Good Morning, America dedicated several minutes to a Packet Video application that used the Digital Phone Card for remotely monitoring a child care center. For more info, visit www.PacketVideo.com PacketVideo Rides Digital Phone Card to Fame PARTNER NEWS If you spend a lot of time on the road, these tips can help you use your PDA to stay in touch If you use the Digital Phone Card (DPC) for wireless e-mail, these tips may help you save time and money. For more tips and details about configuring your e-mail, visit www.socketcom.com/dpctips.htm • Be sure to enable Disconnect after services are performed This will minimize connect time, and it will allow you to start a long e-mail process and then do something else, like take a shower • Enable Display messages for the last X days This will minimize the number of messages stored on your system and keep your mail box manageable • Bring a small power strip so you can recharge multiple batteries • Enable Get message headers only, include 160 lines This will capture most messages, eliminate downloading large attachments, speed up downloads, and reduce connect time • When you travel overseas, make sure your mobile phone account is enabled for International roaming • On international trips, use the DPC with a GSM phone to avoid the hassle of packing the right phone connectors for various countries • For international travel, consider renting a phone or a SIM card, or purchasing a pre-paid SIM card for your own phone (US carriers have rental phones available for international travel) ETips for Mobile E-mail TIPS AND TRICKS VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 BATTERY FRIENDLY PAGE 5 Single-body solutions, two-body solutions, and Socket’s solution for mobile Internet access Singletwo(Continued from page 1) Socket’s Wireless Internet Strategy memory and I/O on PDAs and notebooks. Socket’s Digital Phone Card, Card for example, works on Windows-powered devices, Apple PowerBooks, TRG’s Palm OS-based PDA, PSION’s EPOC-based Series 7, and other platforms to be announced. Socket’s patent-pending technology for adding removable MultiMediaCard and Secure Digital memory will add even more capability to the CompactFlash standard. The ideal solution for wireless Internet access is the so-called “single-body” solution. This means combining a computer and a wireless transceiver in a single device. Unfortunately, today’s single-body solutions are unsatisfactory. Popular PDAs have big screens but tiny batteries because thin is in. Mobile phones have enormous batteries which supply power to transmitters that have a two-mile range, but their screens and keyboards are too small for serious computing. Wireless PDAs and web-enabled mobile phones sacrifice features that are important to mobile users accustomed to dedicated devices. Socket believes that two-body solutions make the most sense today, and that the Digital Phone Card offers the best two-body solution. This CompactFlash card attaches your favorite mobile computer to your favorite mobile phone, and the Battery Friendly card draws only 10 milliwatts vs. 1,500 milliwatts for a phone-on-a-card. S I N G L E B O D Y S O L U T I O N S MOBILE TECHNOLOGY SingleThe Virtual Single-body Solution Socket’s Personal Network Card (PNC), demonstrated in April and due Q4 2000, will offer the best of both worlds. The PNC will use a low-power, short-range Bluetooth radio to make a cordless connection between a PDA and a phone up to 30 feet away. Bluetoothenabled mobile phones should become available at the end of 2000. Shown above is “the briefcase trick,” where a Bluetooth enabled PDA takes advantage of a mobile phone’s big battery for wireless Internet access, while the phone sits out of sight. Because Bluetooth allows the PDA user to focus on the PDA but still use the mobile phone, Socket calls this the “virtual single-body solution.” Wireless PDA • Big color screen • Pen input • Full browser and PIM • Slim — fits in pocket But … • Small battery • Awkward for voice calls WebWeb-enabled Mobile Phone • Big battery (takes up to 65% of the device’s mass) • Great for voice calls But … • Small screen, keyboard • Pee wee browser and PIM • Fat — won’t fit in pocket TwoSocket’s Two-body Solution: DPC Mates PDA to Phone • Battery Friendly • Works with Windows PDAs and notebooks, Apple PowerBooks, Palm OS (TRG Pro), EPOC (PSION Series 7) CompactFlash is central to Socket’s connectivity strategy. The cards fit in low-cost PC Card adapters, so they work in the PCMCIA slot found in Windows and Apple notebooks and many handheld PDAs. Socket’s proprietary technology for adding removable memory to a removable CompactFlash card will add even more value in the future. Subscribe to the Battery Friendly Bulletin SUBSCRIBE! The Battery Friendly Bulletin is published quarterly. An e-mail index to the web version of the newsletter is sent to subscribers as soon as the web version is posted. Printed versions of the newsletter are available on request. The web version of the newsletter often contains extra material including Tips and Tricks as well as additional new product announcements. To be put on the distribution list for the e-mail index to this newsletter, send e-mail to: BatteryFriendly@socketcom.com PAGE 6 BATTERY FRIENDLY VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 Socket is a hit at the CES show in Las Vegas, CeBIT in Hannover, and CTIA Wireless 2000 iin New Orleans n Here are highlights from trade shows Socket attended this quarter: • At the CES show in Las Vegas, Packet Video’s streaming video demo with Socket’s Digital Phone Card won the Innovations 2000 award in the Wireless Communications Products category • At the CeBIT 2000 trade show in Hannover, Germany, Socket and HP showed the world’s first demonstration of a CompactFlash Blue Bluetooth card working with Windows-powered PDAs • In his keynote speech at the CTIA Wireless 2000 show in New Orleans, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates plugged CompactFlash and Bluetooth when he said “… these devices are going to come with these CompactFlash Bluetooth cards that allow me, again, to share information between these devices.“ CES, CeBIT 2000 and CTIA Wireless 2000 TRADE SHOW REPORT Socket Previews Personal Network Card (Continued from page 1) FUTURE PRODUCT Bluetooth technology expected to open up a world of possibilities for cordless connectivity and ad hoc networking connectivity from Hewlett-Packard’s Jornada product family used Personal Network Cards to exchange files and conduct chat sessions wirelessly. The production version of Socket’s Personal Network Card will enable users to connect mobile computers cordlessly to a variety of Bluetooth-enabled devices including mobile phones for wireless web browsing, e-mail, or remote access to corporate networks. “A great advantage of using Bluetooth to connect mobile computers to mobile phones is that it will take advantage of the phone’s big battery and powerful transmitter without adding to the bulk or power consumption of the mobile computer,” said Mike Gifford, founder and executive vice president of business development for Socket Communications. “We call this the virtual one-body solution for wireless web access because the phone can be stashed away in a coat pocket or purse while the user focuses exclusively on the mobile computer.” Socket’s partners are upbeat as well. “We are excited that Socket's Personal Network Card is bringing Bluetooth wireless technology to Windows-powered Pocket PCs,” said Rogers Weed, director of marketing for Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft Corp. “HP and Socket are working together to combine our market-leading HP Jornada range of handheld PCs and Pocket PCs with the power of ubiquitous wireless connectivity to mobile phones and other peripherals,” said Helen Chan, marketing manager of Hewlett-Packard's Asia Pacific PC Division. “The strong partnership between the two companies will allow us to lead the market in offering a broad range of exciting applications for our products.” LAN Access Point Mobile Phone Scanner Desktop PC or notebook Digital Camera Cash Register Auto PC Personal Network Card Vending Machine Pocket PC Web TV Printer Bluetooth is a worldwide technology standard that uses short-range radio signals to connect multiple intelligent devices that can be up to 10 meters (30 feet) apart, enabling ad hoc cordless connectivity among a potentially limitless variety of devices including computers, peripherals, smart appliances, mobile phones, kiosks, etc. Socket is a member of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which currently has more than 1600 member companies. For more information on Bluetooth, visit the Bluetooth SIG’s web at www.bluetooth.com www.bluetooth.com VOLUM E 2, I S S UE 1 BATTERY FRIENDLY PAGE 7 Socket’s scanner-on-a-card promises to streamline car quotes for users of Kelley’s KARPOWER software scanner-onKARPOWER The Kelley Blue Book has the most popular automotive web site in the US, generating millions of pricing reports for new and used cars every month. Car dealers who subscribe to Kelley’s KARPOWER® software for Windows desktops can book vehicles by year-makemodel or by the unique VIN code and then print Blue Book quotes and windows stickers, and even publish vehicle inventory on the Internet. Pocket KARPOWER automates the automobile trade even further by allowing a dealer with a Windows-powered PDA to accompany a customer to a vehicle, enter information on menu-based electronic forms, give an on-the-spot quote, and then download the data to the office network to print a formal quotation. As a further refinement, Kelley now supports Socket's In-Hand Scan Card, a CompactFlash InCard bar code laser scanner card for PDAs. A VIN code can be 17 characters long, so manual entry on a PDA takes time and is prone to entry errors. The In-Hand Scan Card is a state-of-the-art solution to this problem. Charlie Vogelheim, editor of the Kelley Blue Book, says “A PDA with Socket’s card can instantly and accurately capture a vehicle’s VIN code. It makes a dealers job easier and improves a customer’s experience.” Kelley’s web is at www.kbb.com InKelley Blue Book Supports In-Hand Scan Card APPLICATION STORY Field data collection application takes advantage of HP’s 690 handheld PC and Socket’s In-Hand Scan Card Socket’s InMCI, Pfizer, Coca-Cola Company, Gerber Foods, United States Postal Service, Johnson & Johnson, and Pillsbury. FMI uses Socket’s In-Hand Scan Card with HP 690 handheld PCs to Inaudit stores for a major electronics chain. The scanner captures the bar codes on CDs, video tapes and games to verify that a section is correctly maintained. FMI can then tell their client exactly which section was audited so that client headquarters can discuss FMI’s findings with the store manager. FMI uses CasioSoft’s MobileLink™ field MobileLink™ data collection software (see the sample screen) on the handheld PC. Field Marketing, Inc. (FMI) is one of the largest marketing services companies in North America. FMI provides customized in-field merchandising and promotion services to Fortune 500 and other consumer packaged goods companies. FMI’s clients include Kellogg, Mort Hart, FMI’s VP of MIS, says “Socket’s In-Hand Scan Card makes field data collection fast and easy. It’s a great fit with CasioSoft’s MobileLink software.” For more information on FMI, visit their web site at www.fieldmktg.com. You can find out more about CasioSoft at www.casiosoft.com InIn-Hand Scan Card Helps Field Marketing, Inc. APPLICATION STORY Electronic forms software for PDAs works with Socket’s wireless Internet and bar code scanning solutions code Form™ JetForm Pocket Form™ allows mobile professionals to perform data capture or initiate e-business workflow using a Windows-powered handheld computer. The software also lets mobile users populate a form with data stored remotely in client/server databases. Combined with Socket’s Digital Phone Card and bar code scanning products for Windows-powered mobile computers, JetForm enables wireless, enterprise-wide workflow applications for a variety of markets including point-of-care healthcare management, delivery, sales force automation, field service, inspection and market research. A global leader in workflow and eprocess solutions, JetForm also offers software for creating custom forms. To find out more, visit their web at www.jetform.com EJetForm Pocket Form for E-Business Workflow NEW APPLICATION SOCKET COMMUNICATION S 37400 CENTRAL COURT NEWARK, CA 94560 Phone: 510-744-2700 Fax: 510-744-2727 E-mail: info@socketcom.com Web: www.socketcom.com The World Is Your Web T hi s newsletter i s available on - line at: www.socketcom.com/nlsprn0.htm Trade Show Schedule When: April 19, 2000 Where: Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY EVENTS Helpful Web Pages Resellers Web Kit RESOURCES Pocket PC Launch Socket will join Microsoft, HP, Casio, Compaq and other partners to launch the next generation of Windows powered PDAs. Socket has updated the downloadable “web kit” designed to help resellers and partners incorporate images and descriptions of Socket's products into web pages. Visit the Resellers section of Socket’s web for download instructions. WinHEC 2000 When: April 24-27, 2000 Where: Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA Booth: Microsoft Bluetooth Pavilion Industry decision makers can meet Socket’s designers and planners. If you want to look a little deeper into the technical aspects of Socket's products, check out the Detailed Technical Specifications Detailed datasheets. These documents are available on Socket's web next to the Features and Benefits datasheets. Technical Data Sheets TechMicrosoft Tech-Ed 2000 Socket maintains a web site dedicated to the Digital Phone Card. This includes information about compatibility, coverage, and wireless technology. Visit www.DigitalPhoneCard.com Digital Phone Card Web Site When: June 5-8, 2000 Where: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL Socket will join over 250 Microsoft developer partners who attend this show to help you develop information technology solutions and build The Business Internet. Socket regularly updates compatibility charts for Battery Friendly plug-in cards, Windows computers, Windows operating systems, and mobile phones. Visit the Products section of Socket’s web. Product Compatibility Charts