This isn’t a Craigslist personal ad, or a plea for someone to beat me into shape (I have one already, though sometimes I think he despairs of me!)

What I’m looking for is a handy bit of technology that can come with me to the gym and help keep me on track and motivated by recording what I do, telling me where I’m improving, suggesting ways to improve where I’m losing ground and – for those long hours on the elliptical – keep me entertained.

There are a new generation of small tablet devices coming on the market. Better battery life and performance than my rather lackluster Samsung Q1U. Some running Windows 7, others running embedded operating systems such as Android. Hopefully they will spur the development of niche variations (though an important factor for a Gym Buddy would be resilience ... perhaps Panasonic need another model in their ToughBook range!)

The other thing we’ll need is folks like Life Fitness, Nautilus, Precor etc to be happy to agree a standard for two way communications between equipment and Gym Buddies and accessories like Polar heart monitors and pedometers etc need to get in on the game as well. Something like ANT or another low cost, low power radio and a simple pairing mechanism is all that’s needed.

Once paired the Gym Buddy can share your personal details (weight, age, gender) and required program parameters with the device and during the exercise record your performance (both from the machine but also accessories such as your pedometer or heart rate monitor).

While you’re exercising your Gym Buddy could keep you entertained – don’t forget it’s a fully fledged computing device. Your music (tempo synchronized to your exercise routine of course) or a video (both could be sourced via a service like Zune Pass so there’s always a mix of fresh and familiar content). Email, an RSS reader, the Web, New York Times or an eBook reader or simple mind games so you can multi-task… exercise your brain at the same time as your body. As long as they have simple on-screen controls (or voice command assuming you’re not huffing and puffing too much) – much like an in-car GPS or the Origami / Centrafuse type of interface. If you have wifi and a VoIP client I guess you could even take calls… but is that socially acceptable (fine if you’re working out at home of course)

Sure, there’s a lot of equipment in a gym that doesn’t have a brain in it that can talk wirelessly to the Gym Buddy but a Tag or a QR code on the device to identify it and a camera on the Gym Buddy and we’re all set… wave the camera at the Leg Curl machine, load up the suggested weight, watch the technique video and then record reps and sets (or confirm you hit the suggested goals).

Some exercise you won’t want to lug even a rugged ultra portable with you so the ability to sync devices (eg Polar FT80 Heart Rate Monitor watch, S1 pedometer or G1 GPS) back to the Gym Buddy when you finish would be a must. It could even create opportunities for new devices – swim lap timers etc. that can communicate wirelessly to the Gym Buddy.

For gyms and personal trainers there’s a business model here – they would be able to deliver personalized programs that their clients subscribe to. By getting better information about exercise and eating habits etc they would be able to further optimize those programs and add more value.

All this data needs to go somewhere… luckily with services like Health Vault it’s now possible to upload and store your exercise history just in case you drop a 20Lb weight on your Gym Buddy for suggesting just one more set of sit-ups and one less frosty beverage after your workout.

On a small scale I’ve been doing this for a while. My pedometer records steps to Health Vault, and I record my Elliptical sessions via Twitter to GtFtr.com but these are all discrete systems and require me to keep motivated.

Isn’t that a pretty important job for a Gym Buddy…. (oh, and if anyone is developing something like this and wants a willing victim to try it out please get in touch!)

Meantime… can someone tell me why my pedometer has a battery? Surely these things could be self winding from the kinetic motion I generate during the day?!

Not a notebook or a netbook or a UMPC (or any of the other variants). I’ve come to realize over the years that the current classifications and niche computing devices are missing out on one form factor and the current attempts to fill it are pretty horrible.

Current devices like the iPhone or the Touch Pro are limited – they are too small to be “computer” replacements yet they don’t work really well as phones either. They are a compromise and perhaps the solution is to pair a more basic featurephone with a very portable device that’s actually useful.

What I want is something the size of an A5 notepad with a touch screen covering the whole of the front of the device – no need for a keyboard or extraneous buttons (they would be flush in the bevel or on the edges along with any ports) that I can interface with using a pen (similar to my UMPC) but with enough battery power to easily last a full day and enough processing power to deal with handwriting recognition and speech recognition.

This device would need WiFi and Bluetooth to enable it to pair seamlessly with my Cellphone and a headset. The headset would ideally be able to connect to both the notepad and the phone – so I can dictate to the device, break off and answer a call and the continue to control the notepad while listening to music from it, all seamlessly.

The connection to the phone would be ideally be more synergistic than just being available as a modem. Ideally transition from WiFi to the phones 3G data would be seamless (let me set preferences but it should be smart enough to take the optimal data path) so I can always stay connected. Beyond that the phone and the notepad should be aware of each others status so when the phone rings my music pauses, caller ID information is displayed on the device and I can hit and answer button on the screen or the phone and route the call to my headset, the phone or speakerphone on the notepad, and text/MMS messages could be composed and read on either. The notepad should be able to access the phones camera to record images or video (as well as having a built in one) and via a standard USB connection they should be able to share power as needed.

There’s no reason the phone shouldn’t have limited internet capabilities (web browsing, email, a social networking client, GPS mapping) and, of course, some games so it’s a useful device in it’s own right but it’s primarily a phone. At the weekend for instance people might not want to take both devices but a smart-enough phone to keep them in contact would be the right balance.

Using software that has learnt lessons from the iPhone UI and Microsoft’s Origami Project and InkSeine the device would need to work with pen (both for tapping as well as handwriting recognition), finger (gesture control) and spoken input. Applications like Outlook and OneNote would need optimizing for maximum usability on a screen this size and layout with these input methods but simpler cut down versions would help performance and battery life.

Accelerometer, light sensor and on-board GPS would open up other possibilities for control, and of course being able to use a dedicated Bluetooth keyboard (or the phone keypad or an on-screen keypad) to extend the ways you can interact with the device.

Not only would this device offer a more practical replacement to the iPhone and N80x type devices it would also be a platform for Amazon to extend the eBook capabilities to – much like they have extended the Kindle Reader to the iPhone.

Coupling a device like this with a service like Mesh and Exchange Active Sync to ensure your data is always available (and offload processing of things like search indexing to the cloud) and live updates (weather, stocks, traffic for mapping etc) and you have an ideal personal companion device.

In fact, with a standardized mount / connector architecture you could check your schedule on it over breakfast, slot it into you car and use the GPS to route you to your appointment (with live traffic updates) and via the connector have it monitor ODB-II information to remind you you’re running low on fuel and suggest the cheapest gas station or remind you that you’re due a service soon (maybe add a task to your to-do- list!)

In William Gibson’s Virtual Light Yamazaki takes his notebook for granted. I just want one now ;) Maybe it’ll need a kinetic charger to keep going as long as I want, but the rest shouldn’t be too hard…

One of the problems with using most smartphones or UMPCs is that while the form factor is ideally suited to portability they are not exactly the best form factor for composing an essay on.

A while ago I ordered a USB roll up keyboard for the Q1U but it was too big and the keypad layout was weird (and the action was terrible). The backlight was the coolest thing about it (but it made a buzzing noise). Needless to say it wasn’t a hit (and as the Q1U only has 2 USB sockets it was a bit of a nuisance).

I’d asked around a bit and folks said great things about the iGo Stowaway keyboard but sadly while it is still available it’s been discontinued – mainly because developing new drivers wasn’t cost effective for iGo. While that meant I could get one today and it would probably work with any of my phones and my Vista / WinXP machines there was no guarantee it would stay current as new devices and operating systems appeared on the horizon.

So I went hunting again and found a great little bluetooth keyboard from Freedom (the same folks who make my current GPS dongle). It supports both HID and SPP profiles which means it can be paired with Windows PCs, Windows Mobile smartphones and professional (touch) devices as well as Blackberry, Nokia and Palm phones.

Installation on the PC was easy – like pairing with any other device (though typing in the pass key “blind” was funny!). Pairing on the phone was a little harder as it requires downloading a driver and then generating an unlock key (I understand that they do that to ensure people only use their drivers with keyboards from Freedom but the process wasn’t fool-proof for me… I’d like the driver to include the smarts to negotiate the connection and guide me through verification) – but it works perfectly.

The keyboard, although folding, has a great layout (apart from the /? key being to the right of the shift, and the spacebar being in two parts), great action on the keys but having 5 rows (including a full number row), Windows key, function key (Fn+number) and a physical on/off switch (toggles on, HID or SPP profiles) makes this a great option for both UMPC or smartphone users fed up with cramped (or missing) keyboards.

It’s not tiny. Folded it’s about the size of two SGH-i780s side by side (see here for comparisons) but it’s lightweight, and takes standard AA batteries. Unfolded and locked it’s stable and feels solid. It even includes an integrated stand for your phone – can double as a notes holder.

The only thing I’d like to see is a pointing-stick style mouse to avoid reaching for the stylus or having to tap the screen on the Q1U but even that omission doesn’t distract from using this (as any bluetooth mouse could also be paired to complement the setup)

And yes. I wrote this review on my UMPC using the Freedom keyboard. I would have used my i780 but I don’t have a blogging app on there that I really like.

One of the coolest things about my new job seems to be the number of toys that have gone rushing over my desk in the last few weeks.

Most folks assume that they just get “given” to us, and for some devices (such as the TyTN II and the Mirage) they are – but only for a very short time then they have to go back to the Mobile Demo team or their real owners because my excuse to play with them is over.

Most however have been paid for out of my very own pocket. Not expensed and not donated. I really must do something about that.

So… what is in the picture this month?

At the top is my UMPC. It’s a Samsung Q1U and I like it very much. It’s recently had some surgery to give it more RAM and it’s now very much more usable. I’m not a fan of the split keyboard though and to be a really useful machine it needs a better battery and a faster CPU (and a faster hard drive!)

Below that is the telephony suspects. My Shadow, then a BlackJack II, the TyTN II we used for the Silverlight demo at Advance08 and finally the Samsung Mirage (SGH-i780).

Because all of these phones apart from the Shadow have GPS I bought myself a tiny (keyring sized) Freedom GPS 200 bluetooth device (it’s going to have to share with the Q1U though!).

Last but not least is the answer to the keyboard woes of the Q1U. A Freedom Universal folding bluetooth keyboard. This device claims compatibility with both Windows/Vista devices and smartphones. Well, I had no problem what-so-ever pairing it with the Q1U and so I’m really happy with that.

The bad news is that at this point in time I am totally unable to get it working with any of the phones in the list above. First of all the driver install from the PC doesn’t work in Vista (you have to manually copy the files across and install it), the over-the-air installer doesn’t recognize any of the devices and for good measure even when I get the driver installed it wants to generate a unique unlock code for each device before it’ll let me pair… the website fell over when I tried to go it for the first device, and as you can see… I get through devices at a fair rate so locking me to one isn’t going to make me a fan.

I’ve logged a couple of support requests… when they get back to me I’ll have another look at the keyboard and report back.

Oh, and the neat little bag with “Windows Mobile” written on it… invaluable for lugging around chargers, USB cables, spare batteries, microSD cards and USB adapters and whatever else!

A while ago I got myself a Samsung Q1U Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) which I’ve really enjoyed using for RSS reading, basic browsing, and as a glorified remote control for my SlimServer. I’ve been lucky enough to be using the Origami Experience v2 which you can read about here which really rocks (though I must get it set up for speech so I can yell “next” at it when I’m on the elliptical!)

One problem though is that the UMPC devices are, by their very nature, a little underpowered. With an 800Mhz Intel A110 processor and only 1GB of RAM trying to do a lot of things was a bit painful.

Luckily Hugo Ortega (who I’d been lucky enough to get some advice from before buying my Q1U) had posted some very clear instructions on doubling the RAM in the Q1U to 2GB.

With a couple of hours free on Sunday I headed down to Frys and grabbed a Crucial 2GB 667Mhz 200 pin SoDIMM (less than $50 from Amazon or your local electronics store). As it turned out it took longer to get to Frys and back than it did to actually complete the installation!

The machine certainly feels a lot quicker and more stable. The HDD is spending less time thrashing which in turn I hope will help battery life. The addition of a 2GB Readyboost SD card will also help keep things smooth and fun.

The lesson I’ve learnt from this … along with last weeks flattening of my day-to-day Vaio to install a slipstreamed SP1 build and get rid of all the cruft … RAM *really* matters to Vista. Even on a low power processor it can be the difference between usable and painful for anything other than really simple tasks.

I’ve played with speech recognition in Vista on and off since it was released and while I like it I do get funny looks – at work I share and office and at home the dog thinks I’m talking to him. But sometimes when it’s just me I turn it back on and play (it’s particularly good on my UMPC which has a very small keyboard)

But it’s not that quick to do some thing. As a user who grew up with keyboard shortcuts (I started using computers before mice were common so cut me some slack) I still hit Ctrl-V instead of right-click, select paste. So having to go through the somewhat laborious process of talking my computer through navigating menus in Outlook is occasionally frustrating.

So I was really pleased to see the arrival of Speech Macros – or more properly “Windows Speech Recognition Macros tool” aka WSRMacros. It means I can now create a macro that is triggered by a spoken comment. The macros can be a single action (eg “insert signature”) or more complex (eg selecting a particular playlist and playing it)

<speechMacros>

<!-- Play Artist Command -->

<command>

<listenFor>play ?the ?artist [Artists]</listenFor>

<listenFor>play ?the band [Artists]</listenFor>

<listenFor>play ?the group [Artists]</listenFor>

<disambiguate title="Which artist do you want to play?" prompt="Choose an Artist" timeout="25" propname="Artist"/>

<wmpMediaControl command="pause"/>

<speak>Playing Artist {[Artist]}</speak>

<wmpMediaPlay attrname="WM/AlbumArtist" attrvalue="{[Artist]}"/>

</command>

</speechMacros>

So go on… next time you’re alone in your office give it a try. Fire up Vista speech recognition and give it a go. If your accent is like mine be prepared to spend a little while on training but you can work with the WSRMacros with minimal preparation.

While it’s great on a desktop or laptop, try it out on a UMPC with constrained keyboard to really see the power of being able to talk to your computer.

Now all we need is a Live Gallery to share macros….

A couple of months ago I finally took the plunge and got a new toy - a Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) running Windows Vista.

I'd been looking for a better solution for a lightweight device that was easy to take on the road with me but that would do a better job of email than my phone, and could also connect to the corporate network and allow me to demonstrate Silverlight apps and other things that I often need to do when I'm out of the office.

As a bonus I wanted something that I could use to read ebooks and catch up on RSS feeds as well as email, but I didn't want to have to carry a whole slew of devices.

The tipping point that got me to go and get one wasn't a huge frustration with the current tools I had available but rather a sneak preview of the next generation of the Origami Experience that was announced yesterday at CES.

While the original was pretty good the integrated RSS reader in the new version was enough to push me over the edge. The added bonus of the Picture Password app helped clinch the deal as I'm not convinced fingerprints are the way to go and hated the thought of entering my password on the Q1U's dinky little keyboard.

While I love the Q1U I think it's a second generation device of a platform that's going to need to get to third or maybe fourth to be really fantastic.

The complaints aren't big things, it's mostly down to horsepower and stamina.

My machine is configured with Vista and, as everyone knows, it does take more resources to run smoothly. The fairly low spec CPU does an okay job of basic apps but in conjunction with only 1GB of RAM and a 4800rpm HDD it's quite easy to get it thrashing. I'm wondering if I dare brave opening the case up and trying to fit extra RAM and/or upgrade to a SSD... maybe one day!

Even with the underpowered processor the battery life isn't stellar. I suspect a lot of that might be (ironically) down to the disk thrashing that goes on but I'm starting to think I need a bigger battery.

My other gripe is the keyboard. Although it seems like a great idea the keys are actually harder to use than on my Wizard - I'd much prefer a slide-out keyboard or similar (in fact I think I'll end up getting a fold-up bluetooth keyboard... which will drain the battery as well!).

That does lead me on the the hidden peril of UMPCs.... on their own they are small and lightweight, but throw the power brick, and a spare keyboard and maybe a mouse and a USB hub and whatever else into the bag as well and it does take up a fair about of packing room!

That said, the Origami Experience is pretty fantastic and inking in Vista opens up a whole new dimension in ways to get things done.

Hopefully with the interest that Nokia, Intel and Cononical (Moblin project), and even apparently Apple are showing in this space we're going to see rapid steps to the next generation of devices.

For now if you're thinking about a UMPC I recommend checking out sites like jkOnTheRun, UberTablet or UMPC Buzz as well as the Origami Project site.