donkeyontheedge
10-30-2003, 10:55 AM
Would a Symbian option for the Pro be feasible? I'm not talking technically, but more from a practical point of view.
We are all used to having our favourite apps on our ER5 machines, but none of these would work on a newer version of the OS. We would have to hope that companies/individuals would re-release ER7 ports of their software - except that in a lot of cases these companies/individuals no longer exist or want to do so.
Even TomTom has been recently spotted removing all references to Psions from it website.
Could it be made to work? Would YOU buy a Pro if there was hardly any software for it?
How about asking PT nicely if they could write an ER5 emulator for ER7 while they are at it... ;)
John
MartinMaxwell
10-30-2003, 07:59 PM
Would a Symbian option for the Pro be feasible? I'm not talking technically, but more from a practical point of view.
Yes without doubt!
We are all used to having our favourite apps on our ER5 machines, but none of these would work on a newer version of the OS. We would have to hope that companies/individuals would re-release ER7 ports of their software - except that in a lot of cases these companies/individuals no longer exist or want to do so.
The practical point of view is:
1. There is more software developed and being developed for ER7 than there ever was for ER5.
2. The likelihood of your ER5 applications to be available on ER7, or at least have good alternative replacements, is very high. In many cases they are already there. There is very high likelihood that OPL would be made available for a netBook Pro Symbian running ER7. Java already is. Quite likely, Visual Basic, through AppForge MobileVB, would also be available.
3. Since the release of Nokia 7700, we now know that Symbian Word and Symbian Sheet are available for ER7. This is a very important step forward for the netBook Pro Symbian.
Even TomTom has been recently spotted removing all references to Psions from it website.
Apparently they have not. They just moved it to another page.
Would YOU buy a Pro if there was hardly any software for it?
There are now 6 (!!!) ER7 machines on the market: P800, P900, 7700, 6600, A920, P30. The 7700 has a 640x320 screen - almost like a netBook Classic screen. Most of them have touch screen. The amount of software coming out is awesome. If you design the netBook Pro Symbian user interface smartly, there is a chance that many of these would run straight off, others would run with minor changes.
How about asking PT nicely if they could write an ER5 emulator for ER7 while they are at it... ;)
This has been asked. And it would of course be lovely if possible at all. But at this juncture, not really knowing, I question the feasibility. In laymans terms, you can run ER5 WINS emulator on a PC because the environments are totally different. Ironically, emulation can be much more difficult if the two environments are similar, and ER5 and ER7 are, regardless of whether you call them EPOC or Symbian OS, slightly different versions of the same basic OS. In any case, I do not think PT ever would do it. Rather some 3rd party.
cheers
Martin
donkeyontheedge
10-31-2003, 04:51 AM
Oh good. It's nice to get a knowledgeable, positive answer :)
That was what I was hoping for, but I just had to ask. I'm actually feeling much more positive about it myself since news of the 7700 surfaced.
John
MartinMaxwell
10-31-2003, 10:55 PM
BTW:
Symbian archeologists and historians, kindly take note that the Nokia 7700 has exactly the same screen resolution as the Geofox One running ER4....640 x 320 pixels.
cheers
Martin