For the third year in a row, VisorCentral managed to fool many of its readers into believing in a fake product on April 1st. Previous years we announced the TwoPac, and Newton X module.
This year it was the Springtooth which made its debut to the world.
The Springtooth is an interesting product which enables
almost Springboard modules to work with any Palm OS based, Bluetooth capable PDA
(Clie, Palm, Visor). It is great for users who have amassed a collection of
springboard modules, yet want to move on to a handheld that doesn't have a
Springboard slot.
So did some VC readers fall for it? You bet.
"All I can say is WOW! I thought I was stuck with my
Prism/Minstrel S combo. 8 more months of service with $150 early cancellation
fee was making me keep this heavy, bulky set up. I was thinking of getting the
m515 with the Minstrel m500 but the module itself is roughly 300 bucks! I paid
30 for my Minstrel S! But soon, soon I shall say goodbye to my Prism, and hello
to a nice new Sony or Palm with the wireless connection. I can even leave the
darn thing next to my window where I get service, and IM or browse from my bed!
Thanks VisorCentral for posting this information about Springtooth, you guys
made my day!" - Drakion
"Will this Springtooth work with the Omni Remote springboard? If it does,
then you could set the springboard down so that it was pointing at your TV and
then use the PalmOS device to control it. I'd be interested to hear if it works
with this, very hardware oriented, springboard." - Scott
"I am making a foray into a new marketing job that may incorporate
springboards on PDAs (for a healthcare application) this month and would LOVE
more info on this product when it hits!" - Rick.
"This looks great! I would seriously think about getting it if I had the
money :( The price quoted I would think would be reasonable, but I am not able
to foot the bill for the springtooth and a bluetooth module. Perhaps some
retailer would be selling bundles.... I have a Visor presently and can see it
being useful even though I have a springboard slot. My question is can you
receive from more then one source at the same time? (two springtooth, one PDA)
and Visa versa (one Springtooth several PDAs)?" - Aaron
"Congratulations the undisclosed company, I only wish I could have found
them a year and a half ago, since that's about how long I've had notes on a
similar product, but never able to catch an ear. Although on the surface, I have
a couple more features. To say the least, I think it will strengthen the
Springboard module market, which I think was beginning to weaken" - Al
"An interesting concept whose time has come, I think. I'd love to be able
to get more information about this device to feature in an upcoming lecture on
handhelds that I will be doing in October ... Handhelds are becoming more and
more popular in health care, and the Springtooth sounds like something that
could make them even more useful. I've been a Visor user for over 2 years now
and I've been wondering what to do with my Springboard modules if the need to
switch devices ever presents itself. This certainly sounds like a viable
alternative." - John
"What would be an incredible boost for this product would be if Handspring
incorporated Bluetooth into the Treo. My only reservations about the Treo to
date have been the lack of a Springboard. Having this option by use of the
Springtooth would cause me to purchase one of each without hesitation. Just a
thought, but Handspring might want to get into that game quickly before other
Bluetooth enabled phones take away potential market share." - Chris
Others discovered the horrible truth
"Now I feel stupid.....!@$!@$!!!!!!!!!!!! *throws prism against the wall*
NOW I HAVE A GOOD REASON TO GET RID OF YOU! damn...you guys got me good...real
fricken good!" - Drakion
"You guys get me every year, good job! By the time a new year rolls around
I forget about last years prank" - kenneth_here
"You should work in R&D, the products you come up with are creative and
have a high 'coolness' factor. I'll take two! :-)" - Tom
"Too
bad it’s a joke. That really would be a good idea for a product. You might also
consider reviewing Adobe Photoshop for the Palm OS and the Final Cut Pro
Springboard module." - Bill
"You guys really had me until about 2/3 of the way through the article. I
was stoked, but then I realized the date." - VTL
"You know for those that have really invested in the modules something
like this would be wonderful.....so this being an April Fool's spoof really
Stinks!" - David
"Huh? So, this is just a April Fools' joke??? When i was reading the
article on the train, I thought it was FOR REAL!!!!" - Zip-Zilla
"I smell an April Fool's joke! Nice try,
though!" - Jeff
"I completely bought it. This'll teach me to read the whole article before
jumping to conclusions." - bookrats
"Hrm…I was just about to write an e-mail with some actual feedback on this
new product, but then I noticed the e-mail address to which I am writing. It
reminded me of the April Fool's Day article from last year. And the year before.
It's a shame, because it was going to be excellent feedback, too. At this point,
I don't even know why I'm continuing to write, because this is probably the 3rd
annual VisorCentral April Fool's joke. Heh, heh. Pretty good. It's actually an
excellent idea for a product though. You should try for a patent even if you
don't develop it. In the event that it is an actual product however, I think it
would definitely sell. And if they need any beta testers, I'm their man!!!"
- Danny
"Boy you had me going. Even knowing the date, I didn't catch on until I
saw the email address on the feedback link. A Springtooth module would actually
be a dream come true. It would help me to break the SpringBoard shackles and
migrate to a more innovative organizer manufacturer (sure the treo is neat, but
I need an organizer, not a smartphone). I am thoroughly disgusted with
HandSpring's dead-in-the-water color PDA line. I have been waiting for a year
for a Prism2. The only thing that has kept me from upgrading is my LARGE
investment in springboard modules. Thanks for the fun!" - HindeR
"I bought for a little bit. Then I thought, wait a second, just as Dave
said, there are no Springboard APIs. A- though for Miradu." - volcanopele
Is the Springtooth even technically possible? Not according to Dave Kessler,
our resident Springboard expert:
"There is no API for accessing Springboard modules. Springboard
modules are memory mapped into the Dragonball's address space and driver
software reads and writes to them directly without going through any OS
functions. With no OS functions to hook into and no memory management unit in
the Dragonball processor, there's no way for a Bluetooth driver to intercept
traffic to and from the module. The only way this could be done is if someone
created replacements for module driver software for each module you wanted to
use. For example, we could theoretically create a new version of the
FlashAdapter software that talked to the Bluetooth drivers instead of talking
directly to the module. But without support from module vendors to create
compatible driver software, the basic concept is infeasible"
However, Dave argues that Handspring could develop a similar solution.
"If Handspring really wanted to be clever (which clearly they don't)
what they'd do is take the guts of a VDX and replace the display with a
Bluetooth chip and a little custom logic that would package up all the data that
goes to the screen and send it out over the air. Likewise, it would recieve data
via Bluetooth and convert it to touchscreen and button inputs. Then all you need
is a Bluetooth enabled PDA (wouldn't even have to be PalmOS) with "Virtual
Visor" client software (a pretty easy app to write) and you would have something
not unlike the mythical Springtooth. In fact, this would even provide a way to
use PalmOS apps on non-PalmOS devices (the apps actually run on the Springtooth
but the output shows up on your PDA). Unfortunately, only Handspring would have
the ability to do the hardware side of this (since the guts would actually be a
complete Visor - sans display) so that means zero chance of it actually
happening. Too bad, 'cause it would be a cool toy."
Thanks everyone that e-mailed us or posted in the discussion boards. We hope
there are no hard feelings - after all, it was April 1st.