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MemPlug


Fri Mar 16, 2001 - 12:33 PM EST - By Scott Hanselman

Product Info
Details

»	Name MemPlug Smart Media
»	Company Portable Innovation Technology
»	Fact Sheet & User Opinions

Availability

»	Unknown

Pricing

»	$39.88

The Software

The MemPlug is a true SpringBoard module; it has the software you need to use it built-in. These apps reside in Flash memory that is inside the module, they don't use any memory on your SmartMedia card. The MemPlug includes these very cool software applications:

PiMover: Complete file management for the removable SmartMedia card as well as internal memory. Create up to 25 levels of sub-directories on the SmartMedia card. The applications included with CompactFlash solutions only support 1 level deep of sub-dirs. The interface for the PiMover is very intuitive and easy to use. I prefer it to the typical Flash FileMover applications that we see elsewhere. [screenshot]
PiBackup: Simple, one tap backup of the entire Visor memory onto the removable SmartMedia card. This software is very similar to the HandSpring Backup Module's software. It doesn't include a lot of options (any) but it's an excellent app, and works as advertised. This is a must-have app for a Memory Adapter and is a great value - it's almost worth the cost of the adapter! [screenshot]
PiViewer: Direct decoding and viewing of JPEG images from removable SmartMedia cards in 16 bit color or 16 grey scale display. This is where the MemPlug really shines. If you have a Visor and a Digital Camera that uses SmartMedia, this app allows you to preview all your JPEGs - even LARGE ones! I'm so used to looking at 30K images on my Visor, but when I saw a 400K JPEG being decoded and viewed on my Visor, I was impressed. [screenshot]
PiPrefs: Quick formatting of SmartMedia cards, and manages other preferences. [screenshot]
gMovie Player: Easily playback rich media, including video and animation directly from SmartMedia cards. When you see a Movie running on a Visor, you realize how we've subconciously bought into the "superiority" of the PocketPCs with their 150+ Mhz Processors. I was amazed. The quality of the image and frame rate isn't as good as TealMovie, but gMovie allows you to play movies directly from the memory card! I was able to play a number of 12meg+ Movie Trailers that lasted several minutes in full color. The gMovie Player also runs on my black and white Visor Deluxe! That's impressive. There is no sound yet, but it's a start. Let's hope that products like TealMovie are extended to support play directly from a SmartMedia card!
gMovie Maker for Windows: Create gMovie video and animation directly from industrial standard sources. The gMovie software is the same software that was released in Japan with the Sony Clie. They also include the gMovie maker that lets you make your OWN movies from AVIs and QuickTime Movies.

Portable Innovation Technology, Ltd. has chosen to bundle Generic Media's leading rich media creation and playback tools for the Palm OS with the MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor. Together, these two leading edge technologies allow users to play up to 1 hour of video using a standard 64MB SmartMedia card. The gMovie Maker, also included with the MemPlug SmartMedia Adaptor allows users to easily convert video, animation and still images into the gMovie format using Macintosh or Windows-based computers.

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