Get a FREE Copy of Forms2Base Pro – The Tablet PC eForms Solution

Today we are announcing our new eForms library (not much to look at, yet) which allows our Forms2Base Pro and Litecustomers to share and download eForms.  We thought this would be a great way to let folks get a jumpstart on using Tablet PCs and eForms, and also show off all the great forms they’ve created.  Users will be able to search and sort forms by industry and topic.

The holidays are coming a bit early – As a way to help ‘stock’ our new library, we have decided to provide an incentive for people to upload forms: We will give anyone who creates and uploads a form a FREE copy of Forms2Base Pro (Retail value $499)!   So download your free forms designer software, and get going – you have until January 31, 2007.

Please see the official details below.  I can’t wait to see all the great submissions I know we’ll get!

Get a FREE copy of Forms2Base Pro!

Submit a Form to the new eForms Library

Want to earn a free copy of Forms2Base Pro (retail value of $499)?  Simply submit a form to our eForms library by January 31, 2007 and you will get one free copy of Forms2Base Pro.  Submitted forms are made available to the Forms2Base user community at http://eformslibrary.com/.

Forms2Base has established an eForms library where Forms2Base users can download already designed forms for immediate use in their Forms2Base application.  Forms will be organized by industry and topic, and will consist of both Forms2Base Lite and Forms2Base Pro forms.  All forms in the eForms library are FREE for users to download and use.  Any downloaded eForm can be modified as necessary to support a user’s specific needs.

Help us build our library and get a free copy of Forms2Base Pro!

How to participate?

If not already using our Forms Designer software, download it FREE it at http://www.forms2base.com/download.html and design your forms.

Send an email to support@forms2base.com and attach your designed eForm to be included in the library.   Remember:  Any form submitted to the library is immediately available to others for their use.  All submitted forms will be made available at http://eformslibrary.com/.

After acceptance of your form you will be contacted via email with instructions for activating your free copy of Forms2Base Pro.

For a form to be accepted into the library, and to receive a free copy of Forms2Base it must meet the following simple criteria:

1) Form must be a complete, usable form that will provide value to others

2) Form must not contain any logos, proprietary information, or other material that may infringe on a copyright or trademark.

3) User understands that upon form submission, they are providing Field2Base, Inc a non-exclusive right to distribute the form via www.eFormsLibrary.com

4) Form may not duplicate an existing form in the library

5) Limit one free copy per user

Any questions on this promotion or with on the Forms2Base eForms library may be sent to support@forms2base.com.

Ink Search Tool for Tablet PCs & UMPCs Updated!! (Beta 2 release)

I’ve made many significant improvements and bug fixes to the Ink Search Tool, and publicly released Beta 2 today!  This release is much faster, and has many new features – Including Desktop Search! WooHoo!

For those unfamiliar with the Ink Search tool, this is a Tablet PC application that lets you write (‘ink’) search terms on your screen rather than typing or using the Tablet Input Panel (TIP).  A more general background can be found here.

Now for the good stuff….  New in this release:

  • Much faster with a lighter footprint
  • Full Windows Vista support (as well as Win XP)
  • Enhanced GUI updates (Very Vista / Office 2007 look, even on Windows XP)
  • Ability to search Google Maps
  • Google Desktop Search!!!
  • Wikipedia Search
  • Slight tweaking in the handwriting recognition
  • And of course, regular Google Search is still in here too

All of the new searches are enabled with a button called, More Searches, selecting that will give you a drop down with the additional searches.  Note: If you do not have Google Desktop Search (GDS) Installed, you will not see the Search Desktop option.

One really cool feature with searching Google Maps is that once you set your default location (via Google) you can enter a business name or type (ex: Computer Stores) and the search will show you the closest matches on the map.  Very neat!

Get the FREE Download Here

(Please uninstall Beta 1 first if you have it installed)

I’ll be adding some additional features soon!!  Keep Watching!

As always, I’d love to hear your input, feedback, and feature requests. Please get in touch here.

Announcing Ink Search Tool for Tablet PCs & UMPCs!!

[UPDATE: A newer version is now available.  More Info Here]

I’ve just completed a neat little Tablet PC utility that I have wanted for a long time.  The tool lets you write search terms on a small form, and instantly send the terms to a Google search inside your default browser with one tap (or a gesture).  No more awkward use of the Tablet Input Panel (TIP) inside a web page!!

The tool uses the new InkAnalysis API, and so far I have been very impressed with the recognition accuracy.  Some of the beta testers have told me they are seeing better accuracy here than with TIP.

The recognition will automatically add the best result to the query, but you can also select close matches from the lower button bar.  For really difficult words, there is also a character correction screen for quick entry and correction.  I really think you’ll enjoy using this for your searches.

This is a beta version, so there may be a few grinding sounds every now and then, but I think most of them were worked out in the private beta.  Right now the tool just does Google searches (via the Custom Search engine – this is why you’ll see the URL as TabletPCTools.com), but I may expand this to other engines and desktop searches soon.

If you find any problems, have suggestions, feedback or features you’d like to see, please get in touch.

The app does require the Microsoft .NET framework 2.0 to run.  You can get this from Windows Updates.

Download the Tablet Ink Search Tool Free Here!!

Main Screen:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Character Correction:

 

 

 

Launch from the windows Quick Launch Bar:

Fujitsu 1610 vs Lenovo X41 – Battle of the Tablets!

Here’s a snapshot I took of the 1610 on top of my X41 Tablet PC.  The X41 is a pretty small unit, but it sure looks big compared to the 1610!

Fujitsu 1610 Tablet PC – Hands on Preview

I had the chance to spend a few minutes with a (pre-production) Fujitsu 1610 Tablet PC this morning.  One word – Awesome!

It has a similar (if not the same) feel and form factor as the 1510, with updated hardware AND a PC-Card slot (a MUST have for EVDO/EDGE, and a big issue for the 1510).

I had a chance to run our application on the unit, and the performance was snappy and just as good as any full size tablets.  I was a little concerned about the screen-size and and passive/touch input, but things ran great and were very usable.  I also tried to play a full screen HD video to get a feel for graphics performance, that was good as well, with a few minor jumps and skips – but I’m told this will be much better with the final software drivers.  I should have an eval unit soon, and will be sure to do more testing, and photos.

If you are in the market for a small form-factor convertible tablet you will definitely want to check out the 1610 when they become available(very soon).

For more specs and details on the 1610 (and eveything else mobile), be sure to check out the coverage at GottaBeMobile.com 

Tablet PCs, Ink Blogs, and Education

I had a nice note yesterday from an Ink Blog user who is using it as an education tool.  She teaches a graphic communication class, and has been creating blog entries, in ink, showing various page layoutsfor her students to review online.

When I wrote the plug in, I would have never imagined it being used for education, but after seeing Romy’s use it just makes perfect sense!  What a great way for educators to quickly and easily post information for students to review – a picture is worth (at least) 1000 words!

Forums Go Live at GottaBeMobile.com

The crew over at GottaBeMobile.com has just launched their latest site edition, Forums.  They’ve got some great categories setup, and I’m sure it will soon be your one stop source for any Tablet/UMPC/Mobile computing questions.

Great job guys!

Testing Ink Blog Plugin From Vista RC1

I had a blog comment today wondering if the Ink Blog Plugin runs under Vista.  Oddly enough, I had not yet tried it from a Tablet, so i thought I’d give it a whirl.  Yup, looks like it will work.

Please note, you’ll likely need to follow the instructions here after installing the plugin to get things going.  Make sure to restart Live Writer after applying the update.

Ink Generated with Ink Blog Plugin - http://www.edholloway.com

New Windows Live Gallery for Writer Plugins

 Charles Teague from the MS Live Writer Team just emailed me to let me know the Live Gallery is now, well, live, for Writer Plugins.  This is a Microsoft sponsored site that allows developers to upload their Writer Plugins into a central repository, where users can search them by tags, rating, category, etc..  There is also a verification process involved, where Microsoft ensures that the plugin is safe and stable.

Another great site to find Writer plugins is WLW Plugins.

Ink Blog Plugin goes Gold!

Version 1.0 of the Ink Blog Plugin for Windows Live Writer is now available!  You may download it free here

The self installer will overwrite any previous beta versions, just make sure WLW is not running when you install (or you may be required to reboot).

Most of the changes from Beta 2 to v1.0 were minor bug fixes, tweaks, and the October 1, 2006 expiration was removed.  (NOTE: If you are using Beta 2, please upgrade ASAP, since it will quit working soon).

There were two features I really wanted to get in, but couldn’t (A Call for Help):

  • Ability to show / hide recognized text on the blog pages
  • Ability to hyperlink inside the ink

I was able to get both of these working inside my test blog, but as soon as I tested on other blog service/software everything broke.  It seems that many blog packages strip out certain HTML, JS and CSS tags inside the post, presumably for security, which makes sense.  So finding the right combination that will work on the major blogs, without being stripped out, seems to be difficult.

I’m sure there is a HTML/CSS guru out there who could whip this up quickly, but unfortunately this is not an area of expertise for me (though it’s been a lot of fun learning!) and I did just not have the time to get it in V1.  If you are an expert, and would like to help here, please get in touch.  Since this is a free product, the only pay will be the joy of knowing thousands of people are using (or at least downloading) something you helped create.  You do not need to be a .NET or plugin programmer to help here, you would just need to supply the sample HTML etc.. in a text document, and I can integrate it into the code.

That’s all for now folks, please keep the great feedback and suggestions coming!