I read this interesting article on the
Brighthand site
I think higher resolution (landscape oriented) screens would be a boon for the educational application of handheld computers. Dave whyley from Wolverhampton was demonstrating some applications and web browsing using a high res Toshiba handheld at BETT and it looked superb.
Palm is definitely lacking in the screen resolution front at the moment and needs to pick up the slack.
Here's the article:
There's Still Room for the Palm OS to Take the Lead in VGA
A Brighthand Editorial
By Ed Hardy | Editor-in-Chief
Jan 14, 2005
There's no doubt that, at this point anyway, Pocket PCs have the lead in VGA screen. The first Pocket PC with a 640-by-480 pixel display came out in late 2003, and Microsoft made VGA a standard part of Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition last spring. Since then, a number of Pocket PCs with VGA screens have hit the market.
However, the race is far from over. The Pocket PC's implementation leaves much to be desired, so there's plenty of room for the Palm OS to come out with a better implementation of VGA.
The Microsoft Way
Microsoft seems to have emphasized making what's on the screen look better, rather than having more information appear.
It doesn't matter if you are using the Default Layout or the Desktop Layout; a handheld running Windows Mobile 2003 SE doesn't display much more than a QVGA Pocket PC does on the same setting.
Even with the global text size on the same setting on both machines, when I open the same spreadsheet in Pocket Excel, a QVGA Axim X30 actually shows more rows and columns than the VGA iPAQ hx4700 does. The text on the iPAQ is much, much clearer, but there's definitely slightly more info displayed on the Axim. This despite the fact that the hx4700 should be able to display four times as much as the X30, as it has four times the resolution.
This is especially irritating in Pocket Internet Explorer. You can change the font size, but this doesn't change the picture size. So while a VGA Pocket PC should be able to display most of the Brighthand home page, in actually it can't show much more an older QVGA Pocket PC.
I'm not saying everything in Windows Mobile SE should be in teeny tiny type. But I'd like the option of displaying things that way, and Microsoft hasn't given it to me.
A Better Way
The latest version of Palm OS Cobalt has support for VGA built into it. Full support for VGA was only added a few months ago, and no handhelds have been released running Cobalt, so exactly how well VGA has been implemented isn't clear yet.
What I'm hoping is that Cobalt devices will come with a web browser that has a "true" VGA mode. I want a browser that shows a web page as it would appear on a PC if it had a 640-by-480 pixel display. This sounds simple, but it isn't available in Windows Mobile SE.
The same is true for a lot of other applications. There's lots of software that would be improved by having full support for VGA. I realize this means that the fonts will be tiny, but I'm not saying that everything should always be in a true VGA mode. As I said before, I just want the option.
Rather than forcing third-party developers to do all the work themselves, maybe PalmSource should implement some standard display modes. In one, fonts and graphics would be larger and easier to see, and in another, true VGA would allow the user to see an entire web page in tiny type. Of course, switching between the two needs to be seamless.
This doesn't sound difficult, and it amazes me that it didn't occur to Microsoft. But it leaves the door open for PalmSource. By putting superior support for VGA into Cobalt, PalmSource could once again take the lead in displays.
I realize there are some applications available for VGA Pocket PCs that will put them into "true" VGA mode, but these require the handheld to undergo a soft reset, which is a hassle. Having this feature built into the Palm OS would be a significant advantage over its rival.
But From Whom?
Of course, for this to happen, a Palm OS licensee has to actually release a model with a VGA screen.
Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but palmOne seems a little too focused on the Treo line of smartphones to come up with a cutting-edge handheld.
I'm pinning my hopes on Tapwave. Its Zodiac line of gaming-oriented handhelds debuted about a year and a half ago, and will have to be revamped before too much longer. A VGA screen would be a very nice addition... if done right.
Community 
FORUM 
