Sanyoon has been asking some relevant questions about the scope of the microtango project. Here's how I see it... For the year ending at the end of March, we have a specific project going for the ERDC MSRC. The specific goal is to demonstrate connectivity between handheld devices and fixed resource on the Internet in the context of the Tango collaboration tool. In the coming year of ERDC's contract, I expect that instead of the one microtango effort, we'll formally have a technology tracking effort and a "focused effort" project where we work in more detail with a given technology. We've started the technology tracking part a bit early. The technology tracking effort involves trying to understand the capabilities of handheld devices and their potential for use in areas of interest to our DoD sponsors. This means mostly uses at the edges of, or entirely outside of the usual commercial market for the devices. For example, we're not interested in a personal digital assistant (Palm or WinCE device) because it has an appointment calendar, addressbook, etc. We're interested in what it can be programmed to do that the Dept. of Defense might find interesting. This includes (but is not limited to) linking to complex fixed information systems (web services), accessing high performance computers, use in education/training, collaboration, etc. Likewise, we're not interested in an electronic book because it allows you to read books, but maybe it is a good way to distribute technical information at meetings, or get access to computer/software manuals on demand. We should think broadly and creatively about possible applications of handheld devices. The devices we're interested in cover a pretty broad range. I gave you all copies of the presentation by Louis Turcotte, which gives you a pretty good idea. That's not to say we're going to buy one of everything, but we will buy some when they look particularly interesting (from a functionality standpoint) or when we have a particular application for them. We'll evaluate them and use them in projects as appropriate. It is important to recognize that this is a fast-moving area, and the devices you see today are not likely to be the same two years from now. We're not interested in specific devices (i.e. should you buy a Palm IIIx or a Casio E-100) so much as understanding the general capabilities and programming models, etc. (i.e. should we ignore any device that requires a custom communications protocol instead of TCP/IP, or is there something special we can do with a device that has a PCMCIA slot or audio capabilites that makes these features worth paying for). We're interested in what can be done with one kind of device versus another (i.e. I can get a kind of ebook reading software for Palm, but when am I better off to use a real ebook, or perhaps a laptop instead). Right now, as a starting point, we're looking at the PalmOS vs WinCE personal digital assistants, trying to compare and see if there are particular advantages/disadvantages to one or the other operating system (in the context of linking to collaborative software, at the moment). There are also organizers frmo Psion which run an operating system called EPOCH. EPOCH sounds interesting because it already has a Java VM integrated into the OS. Unfortunately, these devices are too expensive at the moment for us to buy one to evaluate. We're also interested in the technological environments in which these devices work -- standards like WAP; advances in wireless data connectivity; availability of Java VMs for various platforms, etc. These need to be monitored, and from time to time it will be worth evaluating things. For example, WAP has clearly reached a level of importance already that we need to understand what it can and can't do. Please let me know if you have any questions. -- David E. Bernholdt | Email: bernhold@npac.syr.edu Northeast Parallel Architectures Center | Phone: +1 315 443 3857 111 College Place, Syracuse University | Fax: +1 315 443 1973 Syracuse, NY 13244-4100 | URL: http://www.npac.syr.edu