New Handhelds For Apple Store Employees

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So I was in the Apple Store last night to pick up some stuff and the woman that was helping us offered to check us out. I said sure, thinking we would walk up to the register with her, but she then pulls out a handheld device that was manufactured by Symbol. She had a big holster and the device was kinda tall. Maybe about 3" X 5.5".



The intriguing thing here though is that the OS was one completely created by Apple and it had the same kinda blue color scheme and interface elements that all Apple software has. Well, I say OS but it may have been just one big application for all I know because I really didn't get to see enoughof it to know. But one would think they might rehash some of the old Newton stuff.



I didn't get to look at it for any lengthy period of time because the screen didn't have a wide viewing angle, but I did see what she was working through on screen several times for about 4 or 5 seconds at a time. She even stopped to show me the progress bar after she was done entering some information ? presumably we were waiting for it to wirelessly send the info to the main system.



So, Apple is back in the handheld business ? in some capacity anyway.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Interesting, but if I had to guess I would assume that they're running the same custom POS application that Apple developed for its store "cash registers".



    Just a simple GUI front end for the database, so it was probably trivial for Apple to make something that could run on a handheld.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    Symbol makes Palm and Pocket PC devices. It could've easily been a custom app built on those platforms.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    This isn't conclusive at all. Symbol makes PocketPCs that run WinCE, and they have provided WinCE drivers for a great many customer peripherals (such as bar code scanners). I can't see that Apple would devote so much energy to write a whole PDA OS and driver suite -- for a relatively esoteric set of drivers -- all while having them run on someone else's hardware.



    It's just a portable POS application, with an Apple face, that runs on WinCE.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    It's just a portable POS application, with an Apple face, that runs on WinCE.



    Yeah, like FileMaker Mobile.



    Ummm... by the way, what "isn't conclusive at all." ?
  • Reply 5 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rongold

    Yeah, like FileMaker Mobile.

    Ummm... by the way, what "isn't conclusive at all." ?




    That it's an Apple OS running on the PocketPC, as you noted originally. I very much doubt that Apple wrote an OS for PocketPC. I sounds like they just made a pretty face to their app.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    I've made quite a few custom apps for symbol handhelds... it's doubtful that apple would write an entire OS when a simple app would suffice.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    That it's an Apple OS running on the PocketPC, as you noted originally. I very much doubt that Apple wrote an OS for PocketPC. I sounds like they just made a pretty face to their app.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by dfiler

    I've made quite a few custom apps for symbol handhelds... it's doubtful that apple would write an entire OS when a simple app would suffice.



    Going back to the original post, I said...

    Quote:

    Originally posted by rongold

    Well, I say OS but it may have been just one big application...



    I can see where the confusion would come in if you didn't read past my first sentence.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    You said it was an OS and then hedged that maybe it wasn't.

    We're asserting it clearly wasn't an OS.



    No confusion here.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    Excellent, NOW we are all on the same page. Thank you.









    So... I just have one question. How can you declare that it clearly was not an OS? Did you design it? Do you work for the Apple Store? Do you know for sure it is even a Microsoft OS? Did you even see it?



    edit addition:OK, I have more than one question.



    I've written a database for the Palm OS 3 years ago, that doesn't mean that Apple can't possibly have an operating system for a handheld other than the iPod. Your correlation makes as much sense as tying your shoe then declaring the president's socks must be on fire.



    By the way Symbol also licenses the Palm OS and makes hardware for that.



    What if Apple is making the next OS for Palm products? While we are jumping to conclusions and making wild declarations.



    OH! Almost forgot, Symbol Technologies is an Original Equipment Manufacturer so it is entirely possible that Apple had these things specifically manufactured for them. Just saying...



    Still, I honestly would like to know what makes you think... what you think.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Nearly every major retailer on the planet uses similar devices. None of them write their own OS.



    Apple could also have secret mines and ore processing fascilities for producing their own copper...
  • Reply 11 of 13
    Let's just put it this way. . . Symbol is not exactly the most forward thinking of high-tech companies. From what I've learned, they kind of just operate in cruise control and rely on their large presence as a marketing point for encouraging smaller integrators to make their own stuff work with Symbol. By "stuff" I am referring to both companion software and hardware.



    It's remotely possible that Apple is using it's own OS and application suite. . . and this would be entirely without Symbol's co-operation because they don't care. This would mean that the business case of PDAs in Apple Stores is big enough to merit the development of all that software. Unfortunately, I just don't see this as the case.



    It's conceivable that Apple found a way to get Linux on the Symbols and ported over an Aqua-eque X Server. But that's still a lot of work.



    It's likely that Apple wrote a WinCE app that does what they need to do. Hell, they've written Windows apps before. This is by far the cheapest of the three mentioned options, and it's not really any worse other than the fact that it involves Microsoft.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    regreg Posts: 832member
    They are most likely running FileMaker Mobile . The PDA must have WIFI and this would make it easy to sync.



    reg
  • Reply 13 of 13
    sebseb Posts: 676member
    They are running a custom app on top of WinCE. I promise.



    Don't believe me? Just go on down to the Apple Store and ask. Pretty easy.
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