Last week I post a story squall Tapwave closes room access . I ’m meritless to see them go , but at least my record is consistent : Just about every personal organiser I ’ve ever advocate has been orphan .

Tapwave , in case you ’re unfamiliar , was a Palm OS licensee that built a really cool PDA called the Zodiac . What separated the Zodiac from other Palm PDAs was its robustness for gambling — it incorporate an analog thumbstick with rumble support and an ATI Imageon computer graphic throttle . You held it sideways , compared to most Palm PDA , emphasise the wide , high - Re screen .

At the clip Tapwave ’s Zodiac debuted in 2003 , it was the best solution for someone see for a good gambling organization with flock of additional functionality — which give it a lot of collection for me and a small group of other gamers , apparently . The Zodiac include two SDIO visiting card slots and build - in Bluetooth connectivity . It eschewed the useful Palm port for a bully interface that made good exercise of that thumbstick . Tapwave went on to cook up two models : a silvery 32 MB version , and the Zodiac2 , which was identical , except it come in black and included 128 MB RAM .

Even though the Zodiac did n’t come with Macintosh financial support out of the loge , Mark / Space Inc. rapidly stepped up to the plate with a version of its Missing Sync software that supported the Zodiac . That ’s when I started using the gimmick . Mark / Space later rolled that living into their universal Missing Sync mathematical product , which is where it remains to this day .

The Tapwave Zodiac was actually the first Bluetooth peripheral I get down using with my Mac . I ’m not a huge cell sound user — working from base in an area without ubiquitous third - generation cell phone coverage , I mostly depend on a landline . I ’m further hampered by my manipulation of Verizon Wireless — a cell phone service provider that offer a dearth of Bluetooth - equipped sound models , and further limits their connectivity to preclude them from from synchronize data point to a Mac or PC . So as soon as I started using the Zodiac I discovered the joys of wireless data sync and download and register Salling Clicker .

For a bootstrap troupe with a brand new platform like Tapwave , a bad quandary comes from trying to figure out how to get third party developers to support it . Incorporating the X - Forge 3D graphics railway locomotive , the Zodiac promptly organise a small cadre of developer around it who created games specifically for it . But the Zodiac ’s roots as a Palm PDA also made it ideally fit for a passel of existing games that already run on Palm OS 5 . And there are wads of Palm secret plan developers who descend up with some really cagey rubric .

amiss place , wrong time

unluckily , the Zodiac came on the scene at on the dot the wrong clip . The PDA market has been transitioning from established information input gadget to “ smartphones ” like the Treo 650 , which a few of myMacworldcolleagues have receive — gadget that coalesce the serviceableness of a Palm gadget with cell earphone , Wi - Fi and wireless eastward - mail connectivity .

There really is n’t elbow room for a machine that combines the feature of speech of a PDA with a game console , especially now that Sony and Nintendo are pitched in a battle for mastery of the handheld gaming mart with their PlayStation Portable ( PSP ) and DS , respectively .

You ’d have to have quite a marketing budget and dispersion reach to effectively battle with Sony and Nintendo , and Tapwave sure enough did n’t . Even people who might have picked up a Zodiac rarely had get a line of them . I even got some strange looks and queries when I ’d drag my Tapwave Zodiac at E3 , the large gathering of video game buyers , newsman and enthusiasts in the man — and these are the elite few who would have get a line of Tapwave before anyone else .

Versus the PSP

I allow it — I bought a PSP the day they were first uncommitted in the United States , and my Zodiac moderately quickly start gather dust . It made me recognize how much I had depend on my Zodiac as a gambling system , rather than as a PDA . Unlike my married woman , for deterrent example , I ’m not a listing - custodian — she ’s stern in her use of an old Handspring Visor to keep track of clobber she has to do .

And the PSP is such a better gaming system than any Palm PDA could be , including the Zodiac . The graphics quality is almost as good as a PlayStation 2 . The PSP incorporates built - in Wi - Fi for “ ad hoc ” gaming at your local Starbucks , or infrastructure - found on-line play from home or work . And The PSP sold tons of units since it debuted in Japan last twilight — enough to delineate up plenteousness of third - company software package support . A new 2.0 firmware update that ’s just been release in Japan and should be coming to the U.S. Real before long Now will add a built - in Web web browser app and other swell features .

With USB 2.0 connectivity built in good order in , the PSP can jolly easily connect to a Mac so you’re able to channelize movies , digital euphony and photos flat to its Memory Stick Pro Duo identity card ( though I ’d urgently choose some way of managing this over Wi - Fi , which is also built - in ) . A phone number of third - company Mac software system developer have create utility to simplify this mental process , as well — iPSP , PSPWare , PocketMac for PSP , and even Kinoma Producer — an app I first got to recognise on my Zodiac that ’s useful for movie conversion , specifically ( Tapwave include the Kinoma instrumentalist app on the Zodiac ) .

That compounding of better game play , unspoilt multimedia support , and easygoing connectivity rang a death knell for the Zodiac , a intersection whose manufacturing business was already in fuss . In April , Tapwave ’s VP of marketing articulate in an consultation that his company would transition from making its own brand hardware to licensing the Zodiac brand to other hardware Maker . That did n’t in reality happen , near as I can tell .

While I love the PSP as a play machine and even as a portable media witness , it has some trenchant shortcomings compare to the Zodiac . As a Palm gadget , the Zodiac included a stylus and touching - raw filmdom , so it was useful for collecting data and update records , not just playing game , music and movies .

Missing Sync made it a cinch to sync data with Address Book , iCal and other program — though I must accommodate that third - party livelihood for the Zodiac was flawed : I could never get it look right with AvantGo , even though Mark / Space supported that conduit , for illustration , and some games did n’t track down right on it either .

While PocketMac for PSP has the ability to export the subject of your address Koran as digital image files — a crafty cab , I must say — the PSP is n’t intended to duplicate the features or functions of a PDA . It has no data entry capability ( and hammer out missive on an on - silver screen keyboard using the PSP ’s control does n’t weigh , in my opinion ) . Cell smartphones are a market Sony already participates in , thanks to its partnership with Ericsson , so I doubt we ’ll be seeing a cell headphone bond for the PSP any time presently . Besides , it ’s way too great to use as a telephone set — bigger even than a Nokia ’s plot - centric N - Gage phone , which some liken to maintain a taco to your head to make a call .

Batting 1.000

As an old Newton drug user ( I have an original MessagePad and an eMate 300 in my assemblage ) , I ’m resigned to include my Zodiac in my ever - growing collection of orphan PDA . At least my book is consistent .

Well , I ’m still using my Zodiac at the present moment — I throw it in my haversack with my PSP and my PowerBook and take it with me almost everywhere I go . If Verizon Wireless ever gets around to offer a smartphone I can live with , I ’ll probably replace the Zodiac . But eventually , one way or the other , I ’ll set the Zodiac apart and let it originate one-time gracefully with my other disused hardware . Maybe some twenty-four hours I ’ll open up a museum .