jal@artemis.cs.wayne.edu (Jason Leigh) (06/13/91)
Just when you thought this discussion about CDTV and CDI is beginning to die out... In a brief segment in the new issue of Fortune, there is a description of Sony's portable CD-ROM player. It's about the size of an old Sony Discman and unfolds to reveal a small QWERTY keyboard, joystick and LCD screen. It uses 3 inch disks and is said to be compatible with the larger CD-ROM disks (they didn't say whose CDROMs they were compatible with). It's a handsome little unit in an ergonomic gray casing and currently the Japanese version sells for about $450 with a couple of disks included. Interesting... would be really interesting if the put a color LCD display on the unit and made it even smaller... Jason Leigh -- :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) :^) ;^) O^: (^: (^: (^: (^: (^: (^: (^: :^) Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. (^: :v) Which of the two has the grander view? - Victor Hugo (v: :v) :v) :v) :v) :v) :v) :v) :v) :v( $v: (v: (v: (v: (v: (v: (v: (v:
kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (06/13/91)
jal@artemis.cs.wayne.edu (Jason Leigh) writes: > > In a brief segment in the new issue of Fortune, there is a description > of Sony's portable CD-ROM player. It's about the size of an old Sony > Discman and unfolds to reveal a small QWERTY keyboard, joystick and > LCD screen. Oops. Did you mean about the size of an old Sony _Walkman_? :-) Sounds neat. What'd they say the purpose of it was? Originally the Discman was for books and so on. I guess for reading manuals tho, a keyboard would be handy for getting at the index or navigation. > Interesting... would be really interesting if the put a color LCD display > on the unit and made it even smaller... No connection really, but if you want to see what a CD-I handheld looks like, see page 41 of the Jan '91 Popular Science. Thx for the interesting issue tip! best - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>
masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Masaru Sugai) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun13.020127.28269@ncsu.edu> kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) writes: >jal@artemis.cs.wayne.edu (Jason Leigh) writes: >> >> In a brief segment in the new issue of Fortune, there is a description >> of Sony's portable CD-ROM player. It's about the size of an old Sony >> Discman and unfolds to reveal a small QWERTY keyboard, joystick and >> LCD screen. I played with the first DiscMan nearly one year ago when they showed off at Tokyo Business Show. I didn't pay much attention to it as they demoed only several dictionary software. I looked like a palmtop webster and one of dictinaries was an non-abbridged English/Japanese dictionary with original illustrations. As far as I remeber, there was no joystick though You might be talking about the latest version or paddle switches. >Oops. Did you mean about the size of an old Sony _Walkman_? :-) It's much thicker than Disc WalkMan, and heavier than DAT WalkMan. BTW, I thought they were called WalkPerson in USA :) >Sounds neat. What'd they say the purpose of it was? Originally the >Discman was for books and so on. I guess for reading manuals tho, >a keyboard would be handy for getting at the index or navigation. I had no idea who used such gadgets as it was quite cumbersome to browse over entire dictinary with a small LCD screen. Also I could not put any scribbles nor earmarks on dictionaries :) >> Interesting... would be really interesting if the put a color LCD display >> on the unit and made it even smaller... > I am really amazed at high density mount technology these days, but dynabook is still a decade ahead, i guess. >No connection really, but if you want to see what a CD-I handheld looks >like, see page 41 of the Jan '91 Popular Science. I'm also throwing in an unrelated issue. I believe wireless LAN and packet broadcasting/simulecasting is the way to go for portable data archiver in 90s. Even if you could get GIGA dictonaries handy, world is changing quickly. For the interest readers, I suggest you to take a look at PenPoint and an experimental car navigation system in Japan. -- -- Masaru Sugai:Use disclaimer. CIS 72050,2141:NeXT + A3000 = money-eater NEC Corporation:sugai@ccs.mt.nec.co.jp DORMANT:hardwired logic,machine language MIT R.Affiliate:masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu: "Silicon on Sapphire" by CLASH
kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (06/13/91)
masaru@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Masaru Sugai) writes: > > It's much thicker than Disc WalkMan, and heavier than DAT WalkMan. >BTW, I thought they were called WalkPerson in USA :) Heh! Not yet, but as you may have heard, some cities are ceasing the use of the word "manhole" for those street openings :-) > I'm also throwing in an unrelated issue. I believe wireless LAN and >packet broadcasting/simulecasting is the way to go for portable data >archiver in 90s. Even if you could get GIGA dictonaries handy, world is >changing quickly. For the interest readers, I suggest you to take a >look at PenPoint and an experimental car navigation system in Japan. I think you're right, especially in the case of non-static data. And just so I'm true to form <wide grin>... there's an article in an old (1988?) Philips technology review on a CD-I based navigation/map system for autos. cheers - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>
rehrauer@apollo.hp.com (Steve Rehrauer) (06/13/91)
In article <1991Jun12.195305.27625@cs.wayne.edu> jal@artemis.cs.wayne.edu (Jason Leigh) writes: >Just when you thought this discussion about CDTV and CDI is beginning to >die out... To add a bit more noise on this topic, I noticed a brief blurb in the latest issue of COINage magazine about CD-I. COINage was interested because one of the planned discs is apparently an interactive rare coins catalog. Very little in the way of facts, though, and no mention of "other" interactive CD-ROM technologies. Walter Breen, of the (to collectors) ubiquitous "Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins", is said to be advising on the development (this is, in the numismatic world, roughly as receiving the Pope's blessing is to Catholicism). I see also a CD-ROM / CD-I blurb in the June 10th issue of EE Times. Phillips is said to have chosen a particular chip implementation (C-Cube Microsystems') of the MPEG (Motion Pictures Expert Group) compression technology for CD-I. The article quotes Phillips sources as saying that initial CD-I players, without the full-motion compression capabilities, will ship in October of 1991 for "about $1400", and that the full-motion systems will be available in "mid-1992" for "about $1600". The article does mention CDTV ("list $995") as being a possible beneficiary of this pricing, and then goes on to talk about CD-I's compatibility with Kodak's PhotoCD system, previous Sony "CD-I-like" prototypes, and possible tweaks (such as blue-light laser diodes) that could result Real Soon Now in "quad-density" CD-ROMs that could offer "hours of MPEG [compressed] video". Just the facts, m'am. -- -- "The goons are riding motorcycles, but WE'VE | (Steve) rehrauer@apollo.hp.com got a whole big metal car! This will be like | Hewlett-Packard stepping on ants..." -- Freelance Police | Massachusetts Languages Lab