Active Ink Software Blog

Capturing a Signature and a Finger Print

Below is an example of how we were able to capture an ink signature and a finger print scan into a single document.  This is just a sample document and does not reflect a particular customer.

Incorporate Drawings into your Electronic Form

One of the “cool” things about the tablet PC is its ability to draw on the screen.  Active Ink supports this functionality by incorporating a drawing grid on top of an Active Ink form.

Tablet PC and Active Ink Software Replaces the Scanner

 

1stLine Oncology has gone paperless by replacing their scanner with a tablet PC and Active Ink Software.  Previously they would fill out the paper document and then scan it later on.  The scanned image would be saved as a PDF document and then stored on their file server as a permanent archived document.  Now, the paper document has become an Active Ink document (see above), filled out on the tablet PC and saved as a PDF just like the scanned image.

Active Ink’s Service Manager Supports Microsoft’s Outlook Scheduling Capability

Active Ink’s Service Manager automates the dispatching and scheduling of electronic forms to field personnel.  The forms are dispatched via Microsoft’s Outlook email application and then stored in the Outlook Calendar.  The forms can then be opened via the Calendar, filled out and then emailed back to the Office.

TabletKiosk Announces two new 7-inch Tablet PCs

TabletKiosk® introduced two new 7-inch tablet PCs today powered by Intel® Atom™ Processors: the eo™ a7330D Ultra-Mobile PC and the eo TufTab® a7230XD Rugged Ultra-Mobile PC.  Both of these tablet PCs feature the Wacom® auto-switching dual mode active digitizer/resistive touch screen panel for highly accurate handwriting recognition and finger touch control.

eo™ a7330D Ultra-Mobile PC
The eo™ a7330D is a 7-inch tablet PC featuring an auto-switching dual mode active digitizer/resistive touch screen panel. The eo a7330D includes dual, hot swappable battery packs; integrated wireless connectivity; a "fit-in-your-hand" design; and a new modular expansion system. By attaching one of the interchangeable expansion modules, the device can be customized for specific business applications including scanning bar codes, swiping credit cards and even connecting to enhanced 3G/3.5G wireless wide area networks. Based on high-speed USB Bus technology, these modules are hot swappable and can be removed or switched out without powering down the system.

The eo a7330D is powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z530P processor and comes standard with 1.0 GB RAM, a 1.8" 80 GB HDD (SSD optional), sunlight viewable screen, dual hot swappable batteries, built-in wireless capabilities including GPS, 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Channel WiFi and Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR.  It’s priced at $1,495.00

eo TufTab® a7230XD Rugged Ultra-Mobile PC

The new eo TufTab a7230XD is a rugged Ultra-Mobile PC that surpasses MIL-SPEC-810F specifications and is rated IP54 to provide a lightweight and durable solution for on-the-go professionals working in harsher than normal environments. Featuring the same auto-switching active digitizer/passive touch screen as the eo a7330D, this rugged tablet is suited for outdoor fieldwork, data collection, warehousing, mobile point of sale and other work functions which endure extreme handling.

Also powered by the Intel® Atom™ Z530P processor, the eo TufTab a7230XD comes standard with 1.0GB RAM, 80GB HDD (SSD optional), 802.11a/b/g/n Dual Channel WiFi, 2.0 Mpixel Still/Video camera with auto focus, dual hot swappable batteries, integrated RFID reader, built-in 1D/2D barcode scanner, 1Gb Ethernet, RS-232 Serial port, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, and TPM v1.2.  Built-in 3G/3.5G WWAN module is optional.  It’s priced at $2,195.00

Why the pen isn’t mightier than the keyboard

Michael Gartenberg with Entelligence writes an interesting article why pen-based computing has not taken off.  My only disagreement with him is with the assumption that the pen would replace the keyboard for navigation and entering information.  The pen, keyboard, mouse, touch screen and voice all have their place as navigation and data input devices.  We should never have to view this functionality as an either or choice when tablet PCs support all of these capabilities.  Tablets are the ultimate pen-based computing device.

When it comes to futuristic concepts, few ideas have captured the imagination like pen-based computing. The idea of doing away with a cumbersome keyboard for navigating and entering information has been a Holy Grail ever since Captain Kirk signed his first digital clipboard in space, but here in our century the concept has met with little success. Most recently, Microsoft's Tablet PC operating system has failed to take the world by storm, and lots of platforms, from the Momenta PC and Pen Windows, to the Newton and the PalmPilot, have come and gone while failing to shift the masses from their keyboards. Even smart phones, led by the iPhone, have shifted from being poster children for pen-based platforms to adopting finger touch and virtual keyboards for text entry.

Several factors have slowed or doomed pen-based platforms, but perhaps they can be overcome. First, handwriting recognition has never lived up to its hype, nor can it. From the outset, the notion of pen-based systems has been linked with the concept of handwriting recognition, which hasn't served the market well. It's really not the fault of the technology, though. As I've said before, if you can't read your own handwriting, then it isn't reasonable to expect a computer to be able to. The pinnacle of the handwriting-recognition disaster came shortly after the introduction of Apple's Newton, when the device and its handwriting software were ridiculed in the comic strip Doonesbury. The concept never really recovered, although the Palm OS's Graffiti recognition software cleverly shifted the burden of error from the device to the user, a brilliant move that reset expectations. The key to overcoming the shortcomings of handwriting recognition is to emphasize the other aspects of a pen based user interface, such as electronic ink for note taking, and to use the pen for things like consuming and basic editing of information.

Second, most hardware has been inadequate, even when the software was mostly good enough. Pen computing loses much of its powerful allure when too many trade-offs are needed in order to gain the pen-based functions. This is precisely the problem that has plagued the generations of tablet PCs.

Too often, users are forced to deal with shortcomings when it comes to weight (tablets should be light enough to use comfortably in tablet mode), battery life and keyboards. A good tablet PC would have to be portable enough to deliver a good pen experience while not compromising on screen, keyboard or battery so that it can deliver a good notebook experience as well.

Pen computing isn't totally dead, but it is becoming stagnant. Even Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform looks more and more like it's being optimized for touch and not for pen, which is a little ironic -- for small devices where browsing is more important than content creation, the pen is an ideal navigation tool. The PC is a different riff on the same story. Despite Microsoft's best efforts, tablet PCs haven't really caught on. Still, with vendors like Lenovo still creating some pretty interesting pen based hardware, perhaps we'll see a resurgence of the pen with Windows 7. There are a lot of places where the pen is mightier than the keyboard, but it seems the market is less enamored with pens than fingers.

I personally stopped using a tablet as a daily machine a while ago and switched to a lightweight laptop that gets me close to nine hours of battery life. I tried switching back to a tablet while working on a report about the technology but ultimately gave up again. Here's what I would do if I were Microsoft and trying to jump start the pen once more:

• Raise awareness. Most consumers/end-users simply do not know this thing exists, especially when Apple's message is that pens aren't relevant.. You can't build excitement without awareness. And where there is some excitement around touch screens, it's all related to finger use and not pens. Apple has done a great job changing the conversation from pen to finger. As I've said, even Microsoft's pen-based phones are being re-tooled to optimize for fingers over stylii.
• Evangelize the easiest markets. For me that's not business but education. Students are a great market. They notes in class with pens, can record lectures with software like OneNote, and do research. In short, it's the ideal instrument for a student at a time when more students need a laptop and NEED the features of a tablet. Where's the courseware for educators? How about evangelizing the teachers and principals and getting these devices in their hands?
• Get in the channel. I used to have a few really cool pen devices here here. If you're in the area, come over and I'll show them to you, since you aren't going to see them in a store near you anytime soon. Even the few models that are actually in the retail channel are locked down with the pen removed. This might be a little hard for some folks to believe, but if you can't pick up the computer and use the pen, you might have a hard time convincing people to purchase one.

This isn't a case of poor software or bad handwriting recognition or any of the other things that have doomed pen based computing in the past. This is simply a weak job of evangelizing developers, confused marketing and ignorant buyers. So, do you think the pen is dead? Has touch and virtual keyboards become the default for mobile or will Windows 7 breath new life into an old concept?

Touch Screens versus Active Digitizers

There are two types of tablet screens: touch screens and active digitizers. Touch screens respond to the touch of your finger or stylus and the cursor jumps to whatever point is touched on the display.  Active digitizers sense the tip of the stylus as it approaches the screen surface and display a pen/mouse cursor.

The advantage of the touch screen is that you can use your finger or any pen device for data input.  The disadvantage is that there is no "cursor tracking" which can make it difficult to work with applications where precise cursor placement is needed. The advantage of the active digitizer is that it makes for very precise cursor placement, but if you lose the pen you're out of luck as the display does not respond to touch of any kind.

This is why Tablet PC manufacturers are now moving to displays that combine both touch and active digitizer capability. These displays are referred to as Dual Mode screens.  They work like a touch screen until they sense the proximity of a digitizer stylus. When the stylus approaches, touch input ceases and and the pen cursor starts. When the pen is pulled away, the screen once again responds to touch.

Motion Computing Launches the J3400 Rugged Tablet PC

Motion Computing has launched a new rugged tablet PC that supports all day battery life.  It's called the Motion J3400 and is the ultimate tablet PC for field professionals in service, sales, government and healthcare who need a robust device for both indoors and outdoors.  The unit comes with the following features and optional accessories:

• 3.6 lbs with rubberized coating for shock dampening.
• Outdoor sunlight readable 12.1” wide screen with active digitizer.
• 3-foot drop test compliant to MIL-STD-810F
• Hot-swappable dual battery capability.
• Optional SSD for extreme shock and vibration protection.
• Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth® wireless connectivity and optional mobile broadband (WWAN).
• Integrated digital camera/video with illuminator light and image software.
• GPS (with WWAN option) supports geo-tagging and date stamp of camera captured images.
• Work Anywhere Kit, FlexDock and attachable, spill-resistant Mobile Keyboard.
• One-year field-ready warranty protection.
• Integrated smart card reader.
• Natural pen/speech input.

Information technology holds promise for advancing healthcare

Below is a picture of a story the La Times reported on showing how Dr. Dennis Saver is using his PC and electronic medical software to improve patient care.  I'm not sure carrying a laptop is the best choice. I would have preferred to see him carrying a tablet PC, but at least he is using information technology to manage the patient chart and all the associated documentation that goes along with it.

Dr. Dennis Saver and medical student Carolyn Johnstone take their laptops into exam rooms.

Via the La Times

Which Operating System Does Samsung Recommend?

Samsung has announced a new version of their UMPC called the Q1EX-71G.  What's weird about this screen shot is on the left side of the screen, they recommend Windows Vista but on the right side under "key specifications", the product ships with Windows XP Tablet Edition.