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Old School: Processing in the Pocket PC

New School: Processing in the Pitch hardware

    Because the Pitch hardware is actually doing the work to display the images, you can use a relatively slow connection to download the presentation and to control it once its downloaded.  Even with a slow connection, the transition from slide to slide is nearly instantaneous.  Furthermore, once you've downloaded the presentation, you can use the Pitch hardware, without a Pocket PC connected, to run the downloaded presentation.
    There are other versions of the Pitch hardware for various uses, but for this review, we'll be looking at the Pitch Duo.  It's called the Duo because there are two ways to connect it to your handheld:  First, it has a USB port to which you can connect your USB sync cradle or cable.  As far as I know, the Pitch Duo is the only hardware that uses a USB sync connector this way.  Second, it has a Bluetooth module that supports the Serial Port Protocol that's supported by every Pocket PC Bluetooth implementation I'm aware of.
    The Bluetooth connection offers another plus:  You can actually roam around while giving the presentation from your Pocket PC, unencumbered by a physical connection to the presentation hardware.  The Pitch Duo allows you to present without the tether.

SETUP

Once you find the Pitch Duo module, set up a connection with the Generic Serial Port protocol.  (This should be your only option).

You should also find out which COM port your Bluetooth radio uses for outgoing serial information.  You'll need this information for setting up Quickpoint to use Bluetooth.

    If you see a "Default device" option like the one above, make sure you select the option to display the device selection screen.  That way, you'll be able to select your Pitch Duo connection instead of the default device.  If you leave the default device connection intact, Bluetooth will try to connect to that device instead of the Pitch Duo Bluetooth module.
    Depending on your Bluetooth implementation, you may have to manually make the connection before starting Quickpoint.  Some implementations will make the connection, without your help, once you've set it up.
    Now, start Quickpoint and select "Bluetooth..." from the File menu.  You'll get the dialog below:

    Select the COM port that your Bluetooth implementation uses for outgoing serial data and check the "[x] Connect with Bluetooth" option.  Press [OK] and you're ready to begin using the program.

PRODUCT FEATURES

In addition, iGo has included a handy carrying case that holds the Pitch Duo, the AC adapter, the Bluetooth Module and could also carry cables or other small pieces you might need:

The Hardware

    The Pitch Duo hardware front panel contains a large dark red plastic inset.  That's actually the cover for the infra-red transceiver built into the Pitch Duo.  The IR transceiver doesn't allow you to download presentations, but it will allow you to control them in an environment where Bluetooth and USB aren't preferable.

The back of the Pitch Duo contains a VGA connector and two "PS2" connectors:

    The PS2 connectors allow you to attach a mouse and keyboard to the Pitch Duo.  These will allow you to move a cursor around on the presentation and to type notes onto the presentation as well.
    The VGA connector is what you use to connect to an external display or projector.  The Pitch Duo doesn't have either S-Video or Composite output.  That's unfortunate for those presentation you might have to do where a TV is more readily available than a monitor or projector.
    You'll also see the cooling vents.  The processor on the Pitch Duo runs hot.  The unit is designed to stand upright when connected to allow maximum air flow.

The left side of the Pitch Duo contains the power adapter socket and one USB connector:

The right side of the unit contains another USB connector:

    The USB connectors can be used to connect the included Bluetooth adapter or a sync cable or cradle.  Oddly enough, you can't fit the Bluetooth adapter into the left side USB connector with the power cord in place.

All connected, the Pitch Duo looks like this:

The Desktop Software

    The Quickpoint software that comes with the Pitch Duo has two components.  There's a desktop component that allows you to convert PowerPoint presentation into Quickpoint format and to transfer that format to the Pocket PC.

    The desktop program will either let you browse for a PowerPoint presentation or drag-and-drop it onto the window.  You have options for three resolutions (VGA, SVGA, and XVGA) and three options for compressing the images.  PNG and jpg offer better text quality at the expense of storage space and smaller storage space at the expense of text quality respectively.  Intelligent sensing tries to choose the best compression for the presentation's contents.
    Once you've selected a file, the program attempts to start ActiveSync so you'll need to have your Pocket PC connected when you run the program.  You'll see the status and progress indicators change as the conversion process proceeds.  When it's complete, you'll get a file save dialog:

    The save dialog initially indicate the contents of \My Documents on your Pocket PC.  You can use the up button () and clicking on folders to navigate to another location.  You can also use the PC button () to store the converted file on your desktop.  That second option is useful if you have a storage card reader attached to your desktop system.  You can store the presentations, at higher speed than ActiveSync, directly to a card.  This option would be even more useful if the program didn't insist on starting ActiveSync before the conversion process is done.  Because it does, even if you're storing the converted presentation directly to a storage card, you still have to have your Pocket PC synchronizing to get to the point where you can do that.
    After you tell the conversion program where you want to save the converted presentation, the program will save the file.  This process takes quite some time to save over ActiveSync for some reason.

The Pocket PC Software -- Quickpoint

    The other half of the Quickpoint software resides on your Pocket PC.  As I noted before, this software doesn't drive the display or even calculate the displayed images.  It downloads the presentation to the Pitch Duo hardware and it controls the Pitch Duo's embedded presentation software.
    When you start Quickpoint on your Pocket PC, you'll get a screen like the one below:

    At the top of the screen is a windows that lists the available presentations.  Just above the list is a drop-down folder navigator that will allow you to select any location on your Pocket PC, including storage cards.
    At the bottom of the screen is the menu bar which includes the File Menu and some icons.  The Open icon () opens the currently selected presentation file.  The Delete icon () removes the currently selected presentation from your Pocket PC.  The Remote Display icon () starts and stops the Remote Display function.  We'll look at that in a moment.  The Exit icon () leaves the program.  This is a true exit.  It shuts down the program while leaving.  If you tap the (X) in the top right corner, Quickpoint simply drops into background, still running.
    The File Menu contains the following options:

    The "Bluetooth..." option we saw in the Setup section.  The "Remote Background..." option allows you to select a graphic backdrop for the Remote Display function.  The next two options allow you to start and stop the Remote Display.  We'll look at that in a moment.
    The "Delete" option will remove the currently selected presentation from your Pocket PC.  The "Browse" option will open the standard Open File dialog to allow you to open a presentation.  This differs from the drop-down navigation in that the standard Open File dialog will only look in My Documents folders in main memory or on storage cards or File Stores (and then only one sub-folder level deep).  The drop-down navigation will let you find a presentation anywhere in the file system.  If you're used to keeping your files in the My Documents folders, you may find them faster using the Browse option.  The "Open" option simply opens the selected presentation.  You can also do this by double-clicking on the presentation in the list.  Once you do this, the screen changes to the presentation mode:

    At the top of the screen you'll see a list of the slides in the presentation.  You can quickly move to any slide in the presentation by scrolling and tapping on the slide title.  Below the slide list, the Menu bar has changed to presentation controls and the Options menu.
    The Up and Down icons () move one slide forward or one slide backward in the presentation.  The Present icon () downloads the presentation to the Pitch Duo and starts it.  Tapping the icon again will shut down the presentation.  The Slide Mode icon () allows you to toggle between four views of the slides.  We'll see these views in a moment.  Finally, the Exit icon () will shut down the presentation (if it's running) and exit the presentation mode back to the presentation selection screen.
    The Options menu has four options.  The first displays the View menu:

The View menu lets you select from the four slide views I mentioned earlier.  In the order they appear on the menu, they are...

...the Notes view...

...the Text view...

...the Slide view...

...and the Slide List view

The next option in the Options menu calls up the Slide menu:

The Slide menu allows you to reorder slides using the dialog below:

    Simply change the number to where you want the slide to occur and the slide that occupies that space will appear after the one you just moved.
    The Slide menu also has options to Hide or Unhide the currently selected slide and to go to the Next or Previous slide in the presentation.

The next option calls up the Pres(entation) menu:

    The Pres menu allows you to restore the original slide order.  You can also start and stop "IR Mode," which allows you to control the presentation using the IR port on your Pocket PC.  Because IR is not always reliable, If the last IR command didn't go through, you can resend it.
    The "Auto Run" option calls up the dialog below:

    This dialog lets you choose the time delay between switching slides and whether the presentation loops continuously and/or operates in "Standalone" mode.  Standalone mode allows you to disconnect your Pocket PC while the presentation remains running.  Ordinarily, that will shut down the presentation process.

    The final two options in the Pres menu let you start and stop the presentation in the same way the Present icon works.

    The final option in the Options menu Exits the presentation mode, returning you to the presentation selection screen.

So, how does a presentation actually look when running on the Pitch Duo?  Here's a photograph of a presentation in progress:

    The actual image is on par with or better than other Pocket PC-based presentation hardware.  The speed of the presentation is much better, especially if you don't have the latest and fastest of Pocket PCs.

The Pocket PC Software -- Remote Display

I've mentioned the Remote Display option a few times now.  This is what it looks like:

    Remote Display is currently programmed for QVGA-resolution screens only.  That doesn't mean it won't render a HiDPI (VGA-resolution) screen, but it renders it only in QVGA.  Sadly, the HiDPI text is all but unreadable.

    The Remote display function would still be useful for demonstrations and such, but it is quite slow in responding to screen changes.  It takes between 10 and 15 seconds to fully redraw the screen.  Certainly that's due to the mass of information that has to pass over the relatively slow Bluetooth connection but it is a bit dissapointing.

HELP SUPPORT

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

BUGS AND WISHES

PURCHASING

PROS

• Bluetooth connection allows roaming while presenting
• Bluetooth connection leaves slots free for other uses
• Hardware can connect with either Bluetooth or USB sync-cable
• Hardware doesn't require an additional driver
• PS2 Ports allow pointer and text input
• User can "download" a slide show for unconnected presentation
• Hardware provides very good presentation speeds
• Software allows re-ordering, annotating, and hiding slides
• Software allows editing slide notes

CONS

• Remote Display changes are very processor speed-dependant
• Presentation converter only works over ActiveSync
• Presentation converter takes a long time to process
• IR Mode lacks configuration to set the IR COM port
• Hardware doesn't include S-Video and Composite output
• Embedded presentation software doesn't do slide transitions or animations
• Pocket PC software can't edit slide content (other than notes)

OVERALL IMPRESSION