Hitachi ePlate

Hitachi's unique ePlate H/PC Pro is a
pen-entry only tablet—it has no keyboard!

by Rich Hall

I watched an episode of the science fiction series Star Trek last year in which the crew of the starship Voyager went back in time, from the 22nd century to the late 1990s. For some reason they had to access data on an "old" desktop PC. When presented with a keyboard, the main character said something like, "I'm not very good with ancient methods of interfacing with computers." Apparently, the designers of Hitachi's new ePlate agree with this sentiment.

Hitachi's new ePlate Handheld PC Pro looks a little like a Palm-size PC on steroids. It measures 8.7 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches and weights just under two pounds—well over twice the size of the largest Palm-size PC. What is different about this H/PC Pro, and what makes it similar to the Palm-size PCs (and computers of the 22nd Century) is that it doesn't have a keyboard. You access and enter all your data using the large color touchscreen.

Designed as a tablet

The ePlate was designed to be used as a tablet or notepad. In fact, it's about the size of a standard 9 x 5 inch memo pad, though it's over an inch thick. The point is that you hold the ePlate in one hand and use a pen-like stylus in the other to tap on the screen to open applications and access features. More importantly, you use the stylus to "write" on the screen to enter data. Handwriting recognition software translates your writing into text and characters.

All of the Handheld PCs and most of the newer H/PC Pros come with touchscreens, and handwriting recognition software can be installed on all of them. But I've always found it awkward to use handwriting recognition on a Handheld PC or H/PC Pro because the keyboard gets in the way. This is not the case with the Hitachi ePlate.

An H/PC Pro without the keyboard

The Hitachi ePlate is a traditional Handheld PC Pro, but without a keyboard. It has a fast, 128 MHz SH4 processor, a large and readable color touchscreen display, and a host of I/O interfaces. These include a 56 Kbps modem; and serial, USB, VGA and IrDA ports. It has one PC Card and one CompactFlash Card slot, and a mono headphone jack. The USB allows you to connect an external keyboard to this device. I think this will prove to be an important feature.

The ePlate comes with the Windows CE 2.11 operating system and the H/PC Pro class of "Pocket" applications built into ROM. The Pocket applications are versions of popular Microsoft software optimized for the smaller computers. They include Pocket Outlook (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, InBox), Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket Powerpoint, Pocket Access, Pocket Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer. Also built into the ePlate from Microsoft are setup and communications utilities, World Clock, a simple calculator program, the game Solitaire, and InkWriter. The final application supplied by Microsoft is the Voice Recorder, which works with the built-in microphone and speaker to let you record and play back short voice memos.

The unit I tested also had JotPro pre-installed (but not built into the unit). JotPro is CIC's handwriting recognition program. CIC is listed as one of Hitachi's partners in this project, and I assume that means that JotPro is the program that ships with the ePlate.

Handwriting recognition a must

Without a keyboard, you have to have a good handwriting recognition program to enter data on the ePlate. As I mentioned, the ePlate Hitachi loaned me for this review came with CIC's JotPro handwriting recognition software pre-installed (more information at www.cic.com). JotPro is the full version of the Jot program that comes built into the Palm-size PCs. JotPro recognizes printed handwriting a character at a time. When you lift the stylus off the touchscreen, JotPro "figures" that you're finished entering the character and processes it. There are some exceptions to this—JotPro will let you lift the stylus up to dot your I's and cross your T's. (JotPro is similar to the Grafitti program built into the popular PalmPilot and other Palm computers. In fact, it recognizes most Grafitti characters.)

JotPro is a simple and serviceable program, well suited for limited text entry. It processes the text quickly and relatively accurately. But you occasionally have to adapt your printing style to the way it recognizes characters. If you're going to enter a quick note, an appointment, or jot down a quick answer to an e-mail, JotPro works fine. Because of this it was an excellent choice for the smaller Palm-size PCs. And it's probably a pretty good choice for the ePlate. However, it's a little slow and awkward if you have to enter a lot of text.

I'm a writer and editor and probably not the user Hitachi had in mind. I do a lot of text entry and keyboards are great for that. If I was going to use ePlate on a regular basis, I'd probably use it for editing and rewriting, for answering e-mail, and for composing short documents. Even so, I'm not sure I'd be satisfied with JotPro.

I decided to test out Paragraph's handwriting recognition program, CalliGrapher (more information at www.paragraph.com). Unfortunately, the newest version (5.3) doesn't work with the ePlate yet. I downloaded a free evaluation copy of Calligrapher 5.1 and installed it on the ePlate.

CalliGrapher uses "fuzzy logic and neural net techniques" to recognize all styles of handwriting—cursive, printed or mixed. It also includes a comprehensive spell checker for all Windows CE applications. I have very inconsistent handwriting, mixing cursive and printing regularly. CalliGrapher was able to figure out what I was writing almost all of the time. I had to put a little extra attention on differentiating between small and capital letters. Also, I had to spend a little time learning how to select and delete words and sentences.

CalliGrapher's translation process takes a few seconds, I assume because the sophisticated handwriting recognition program takes longer to "read" your script. It was not uncommon to find myself a whole sentence ahead of CalliGrapher. Most of the time it would do nothing until I'd pause for a second or two. Then it would process my writing. The program was remarkably good at figuring out what I was writing.

Another handwriting recognition program worth mentioning is smARTwriter from Advanced Recognition Technologies (www.artcomp.com). smARTwriter adapts to your style of writing. You begin with a 5-10 minute training session to "teach" smARTwriter how you write. It learns to recognize your printed handwriting and lets you define "gesture macros," written symbols or groups of letters that can open applications or insert boilerplate text (CalliGrapher has a similar macro feature). The big advantage smARTwriter has over CalliGrapher is that you teach it how you make your characters. Because of this, it doesn't have to do as much processing as CalliGrapher and can translate characters and words faster—it keeps up with you as you write.

I fiddled with all three programs and frankly, I still wouldn't give up my keyboard. However, CalliGrapher was the program that suited my inconsistent style of handwriting the best. I've listed some other handwriting recognition programs in the sidebar on the previous page.

Great for accessing data

I did use the ePlate for reading and responding to e-mail, accessing Calendar and Contact information, viewing data on spreadsheets, and playing a few games. It was great for accessing and viewing data, and for anything that did not involve a lot of data entry. I ended up appreciating its limitations when dealing with e-mail. The lack of a keyboard forced me to keep my responses short—a good habit to develop when you get up to 50 e-mails a day.

It's much easier to use handwriting recognition on the ePlate than it is on any of the Handheld PCs or H/PC Pros with keyboards. The only exception to this is Vadem Clio. I looked at the ePlate more from the perspective of a traditional end user. That is why I tested CalliGrapher on it. The truth is, as an end user, I'd still want an H/PC Pro with a keyboard.

But that probably doesn't concern Hitachi too much. They're positioning the ePlate as a vertical market solution for the sales, healthcare, and other service industries. It's well suited for specific, mobile, vertical applications like checking inventory, filling out an order form, making short notes, etc. But the fact that it also comes with the H/PC Pro applications built in, along with an internal modem, means that Hitachi must be targeting higher-level mobile workers. I wouldn't see this being used by a physician's assistant to fill out a patient history form in the office. Nor would I expect to see it in the hands of a factory worker doing an inventory.

I could see the ePlate being used by a physician as she travels to different hospitals, to update patient records, occasionally check her e-mail, or write short memos. I could also see a mid-level manager in a service industry using it while traveling, to access his companies network, communicate with his peers, and use custom applications to accomplish his work.

However, I don't think either of these hypothetical individuals would be satisfied without a keyboard. We're not quite ready for the 22nd Century yet. Check out the Travelboard 634 (Genovation, www.genovation.com)—a sleek, portable external keyboard compatible with Windows CE PC Companions as well as Windows 95/98/2000 notebook PCs and Palm computers.

Hitachi has positioned the ePlate primarily as a vertical market solution and expects independent VARs (Value-Added Resellers) to customize it for specific niches. However, individual units are available through the MobilePlanet online store (www.mobileplanet.com). The ePlate with 16 MB RAM sells for $1,199.95 and the 32 MB version for $1,299.95. Both are listed (as of 11/10/99) as being in stock.

 

Handwriting Recognition Handwriting recognition is a must on the Hitachi ePlate. Fortunately, there are a number of programs that add this capability to the ePlate or any PC Companion. BijiEditor—a NoteTaker-like editor able to process handwriting characters. Windows CE and Win95/98/NT versions are available. Shareware: $10; Use with: H/PC; P/PC; Demo or download available; Contact: Biji Technology; http://come.to/bijitech. ARTrecognition Professional Edition—combines ART's handwriting and voice recognition software products. smARTwriter is a trainable handwriting recognition program that lets you write in your own style. You can create custom symbols or gestures to open applications or insert boilerplate text. $79.95; Use with: H/PC; H/PC Pro; P/PC; Contact: ART Advanced Recognition; www.artcomp.com. ArtSPen—a handwriting recognition tool with a single-character input style. ArtSPen has free style handwriting with self-learning and full customization capability, full non-English character input support, and text macro support for speed writing in shorthand. Shareware: $15; Use with: H/PC; H/PC Pro; P/PC; Demo or download available; Contact: ArtSoft; www.artsoft.ru/eng/artsghpc.htm. CalliGrapher 5.3 ­adds handwriting recognition for all styles—cursive, print or mixed. An on-screen pop-up keyboard to give users additional input flexibility and the built-in editor can be used for custom user-defined vocabularies. CalliGrapher also has a comprehensive spelling checker for all Windows CE applications. H/PC version has the option of turning the keyboard off. $49.95; Use with: H/PC; H/PC Pro; P/PC; Demo or download available; Contact: ParaGraph International Inc; www.paragraph.com. Jot Pro—a simple handwriting recognition program that combines a natural character set with a patented user interface for accurate and rapid single-character input. Jot supports both U.S. and Western European characters. $59 (upgrade for Palm-size PCs is $29); Use with H/PC; H/PC Pro; P/PC; Palm; Contact: CIC; www.cic.com. PenReader—a handwriting recognition utility that recognizes English, Russian and the Extended Latin character set, which is widely used in many European languages, such as German, French, Spain, Czech, Polish, Dutch, Scandinavian and others. PenReader supports 27 European languages. $19.95; Use with: H/PC; P/PC; Paragon Software; www.penreader.com/index.htm. WerdIt—transcribes single-characters as they are written. Once transcribed, you can copy the text into another application or save and load files from within WerdIt. Shareware: $7; Use with: H/PC; P/PC; Demo or download available; Ewerd, Inc; www.ewerd.com.