Recently PC Magazine published an article about the different processors used by smartphones, and how difficult it is to compare the performance of one device to another.  Although the focus of this article is consumer-grade phones, it got me wondering about data collection devices.  After all, Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices use ARM processors too.

What I've discovered is that it is just as difficult to compare data collections devices against each other as it is to compare phones.  For example, the Motorola PC9500 runs a Marvell PXA320 at 806 MHz.  Is that faster than the Intermec CN50 (the Spec Sheet simply says 'Main Processor ARM11 at 528 MHz)?  Not necessarily - what instruction set does the PXA320 have?  It's difficult to tell.  How about the new Honeywell Dolphin 6100, which has a Marvell XScale PXA300 at 624 MHz?

For further confusion, check out this chart on Wikipedia which attempts to group the various processor families.  Most Xscale processors are listed as ARMV5TE, but the PXA3xx series are not listed.

Another performance bottleneck to keep in mind is the speed of the Flash Memory store.  Not all memory architectures perform the same, and there can be a significant difference in the speed (particularly the Write speed) from one device family to another.  You won't find this information in a spec sheet.

What is the conclusion?  Like the author of the original article, we find that you can not use the manufacturers specifications to compare the performance of one device to another very easily.  For now you will have to rely on more subjective measurements.

One of the new features in ITScriptNet 3.1a is the ability to automatically format grid cells. You can specify the color to use for a cell based on a comparison to a value or another cell.  You can also specify the number of decimal points to use for numeric data, and the format to use for negative numbers.

Here is an example of a program using grid auto-formatting. 

This Physical Inventory program shows the count of items.  Any items with a zero quantity are displayed in yellow, and negative quantities are red.  In adition, the Value field is set to use 2 decimal places and a $ currency prefix.  The source data looks like this:

Here is the Grid Cell definition screen in the ITScriptNet program designer.  You can see that the Automatic Formatting for the cell, and the Automatic Coloring.  Two coloring criteria can be specified for the cell.

These automatic cell formatting options allow you to make your data collection programs more effective through the use of color and formatting, without needing any complicated programming.

Motorola has introduced the MC3100 series of devices.  These devices are the successor to the MC3000 series, with the same 320x320 square display.   These units feature Windows Mobile 6 or Windows CE 6.  Since they are EMDK compatible, our ITScriptNet client for Motorola will work on them.

One of the new features in ITScriptNet 3.1 is what we call Override INI files.  This is a mechanism that you can use to help ease deployment of your ITScriptNet solutions.  Actually, these files have been around for awhile, but were never documented before now.

Here is a simple example of the kind of problem that you could run into.  Let's say you are developing an ITScriptNet program that collects data to SQL Server.  You are developing against your corporate server, and you setup a connection string on the Configure Receive screen, and configure Validation Files are are autogenerated from your database.  Everything works great in your testing, but when you want to deploy the program to your customer you run into the problem.  You customer has a different SQL Server, or maybe SQL Express, or maybe they are using some other database entirely.  How can you deploy your program without having to change all of the connection strings?

The answer is an Override INI file.  When ITScriptNet is going to make a connection to the database (either to generate a Validation File or for Collected Data), it looks for this file first.  If there is an INI file with the same name as the ITB program, ITScriptNet reads the file to see if there is a different connection string specified.  If there is, it uses that one instead of the one that was set in the Program Designer.

This allows you to easily change the database at every customer without having to rework your programs.  You can simply use Notepad or any text editor to change the connection string parameters and put the INI file in the same directory as the ITB program.

There are a handful of other parameters that you can change with an Override INI file besides just the connection string.  For example, you can change the data base type (from ODBC to SQL Server to SQL Compact Edition), you can override the field names of collected data, change the auto-generation mode of a validation file, and more.  For all of the details, check the User Guide where all of the parameters are documented.

Over the next few weeks we are going to spotlight some of the new features in ITScriptNet V3.1.

Integration with Vangard Voice Systems AccuSpeech Mobile.
Many applications can take advantage of voice-enabled data collection, which typically falls into two categories: voice prompting, and voice data collection. 

Voice Prompting is where the device speaks to the user with a text-to-speech converter.  This eliminates the need for the operator to look at the screen to see which data field is next to be collected.

Voice Data Collection is where the operator speaks the data to be collected, and the device recognizes it and performs the appropriate action.  Voice prompts can be Actions, such as pressing buttons or selecting a choice from a drop down list, or general speech such as speaking a part number or word that can be recoginized.

ITScriptNet's integration with AccuSpeech supports both Voice Prompting and Voice Data Collection.  We can assist you in voice-enabling any ITScriptNet application.  Then, the AccuSpeech engine can be deployed to your devices along with the ITScriptNet client to allow your users to take advantage of the increase productivity that voice enabling and provide!  Contact us for more information on how Voice Enabling works, and how it can help you.

The October ITScriptNet News is published! Read all about the release of the Asset Tracking Solution Pack, our new Ready-To-Go Applications, and ITScriptNet 3.1a.

Honeywell has announced that the Dolphin 7600 will be available with built-in GPS.  This is great news for customers looking for a low-cost, integrated device with GPS location ability for Delivery, Route Accounting, Pre-Sale, Asset Tracking, and many other applications.  ITScriptNet supports the GPS hardware through the Windows Mobile GPS Intermediate Driver, so no software changes are required to make it work.

More information on the Doplhin 7600 is available on Honewell's website.

Our third ITScriptNet Solution Pack has been released.  Asset Tracking is now available!  This Solution Pack is built with ITScriptNet 3.1a and includes everything needed to track assets across your organization: the Data Collection Program, the PC Program, database, and Reports!

ITScriptNet V3.1a is now available for download!  This is a major update of ITScriptNet, with numerous new features and new clients.  Here is just a sampling of the new features available.

New Clients:

• Added support for the Honeywell Dolphin 6x00 client.
• Added support for the Unitech PA968 Client.
• Added support for the Datalogic Skorpio WM6 and Memor WM6. 
• Added support for the Intermec CN4 and CN50.
• Added support for the Janam XG100.
• Added support for the Janam XM60+ and XM66 devices.

New Features:

• Added integration with Vangard Voice's AccuSPEECH Studio for Voice Enabling data collection.
• Added a new button style - Rounded buttons.  This is a flat rectangular button with rounded corners.
• Added automatic formatting of grid cells based on the data in the cell.
• Added multiple filters for Grids, Listboxes and Comboboxes.
• Many Generic Windows CE 5 devices can now be device licensed.
• Added documentation for the Override INI File parameters used to override database settings at runtime.

New Functions

• SetPromptBackground and FlashPromptBackground.
• ListCount
• SumValidation and CountValidation
• SetWaitCursor
• GetActiveSyncStatus
• MonthName and DayOfWeekName
• SetBacklight
• Zip file management functions UnzipFile, UnzipArchive, ZipFile.

This is just a small taste of the many updates in ITScriptNet V3.1a.  For more information, see the Knowledge Base article about the release.  You can download this new version right now!

Motorola has announce the successor to the 9000 series devices, called the MC9500.  This new device features Windows Mobile 6.1, but no CE version is listed.  It also has both barcode scanner and 3 megapixel camera options, a VGA (640x480) display, and both GPRS and CMDA radios.

The device family also features field-swappable modules, including the keypad and WAN radios.  This also marks the introduction of a Universal Accessory System, which appears to mean that common batteries and cradles will be used across devices.  We'll be interested to learn more about this.

We presume this new device will be supported in Motorola's EMDK, and if so the ITScriptNet client should run on it as-is.  We will test and confirm this as soon as we can.

Janam has announced two new devices in the XM product line.  The XM60+ is the next generation of the XM60, and the XM66 replaces the XM65.  The XM60+ is Windows CE while the XM66 is Windows Mobile 6.1.  We are adding support for both of these devices to ITScriptNet.

Have you seen this list of Vertical Devices on Microsoft's Windows Mobile site?  This is what they call portable data collection devices.  How many of these devices are supported by ITScriptNet?

All of them, either directly with a manufacturer-specific client, or indirectly with the generic Windows Mobile 5/6 client.

In fact, we even support many devices not on this list, including Unitech, Opticon, and Bluebird.  Check out our ever-expanding Supported Devices list for more information

The first consumer phones with Windows Mobile 6.5 will start to appear on Oct 6th, according to the Windows Mobile team.  However, considering that many data collection device manufacturers are only now starting to ship Windows Mobile 6.1, it could be awhile before any of them upgrade to WM 6.5.  We are waiting to see if any of the new WM 6.5 features will be useful for data collection devices anyway - it appears this is an upgrade aimed at making the consumer phone better, with a more finger-friendly home screen and the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

Here is a nice write up of a system Baxtek deployed for Beverage Control using Unitech PA600 devices.  This system is based on our Route Accounting Solution Pack, which has been customized to meet Beverage Control's specific needs.  The system integrates with back-end systems, and provides the driver everything he needs to collect delivery information throughout the day, including receipt printing with a Bluetooth portable printer.

We've been testing ITScriptNet on the Dolphin 9900 with Windows Mobile 6.1, and everything is working fine.  You can install the same Dolphin 9900 client that worked with Windows Mobile 6.