HP Quicklook lives!

If you have been a long-time visitor to jkOnTheRun you might remember my coverage of the HP Quicklook utility on the tc1100.  Quicklook enabled me to access my Outlook data on the tc1100 even when the device was turned off or in standby.  I was playing around with the HP 2710p the other night and noticed that the HP Software utility listed HP Quicklook as an installable option so of course I went for it.  Quicklook installed two icons in my Outlook toolbar, one for configuring the utility and the other to force an update.  Quicklook can do its magic by importing your Outlook information into the Quicklook environment so that Outlook doesn't have to be running (nor does the Tablet) when you use Quicklook.

Once Quicklook has done an initial sync, which only took 10 seconds, I gave it a try.  I put the 2710p in sleep mode without Outlook running and when it was sound asleep I pressed the Info key on the side of the screen.  In about two seconds Quicklook fired up with the Today screen showing (screen shot from the HP website since the Tablet is not really running at this point):

As you can see Quicklook offers the traditional Outlook views, Today, Calendar, Contacts, Email, and Tasks.  The strength and beauty of Quicklook comes into play on the 2710p as it runs correctly in either landscape or portrait mode, and the sole method of interaction with it is via the pen.  That's right, you tap on an item in the calendar above, for example, and you'll get the details for that appointment in the gray preview pane on the right.  Email can be viewed in this way too, so Quicklook is an excellent way to get to particular Outlook information very quickly, even if the device is in sleep or hibernate mode.  This updated version is much more powerful and very quick compared to the original version on the tc1100.  Installing HP Quicklook installs a Quicklook viewer app that can be run in Vista like any other application.  This makes it very fast to check an Outlook item in the event Outlook is not already running.  We all know how long Outlook takes to fire up so if you're in a big hurry this is an excellent way to reference something on the run.  Very well done, HP.

Comments

[Michael Greene]

Cool, but I would rather they implement side show.

[Gonzalo]

is there anything like this for umpcs or other tablets?

[JKK]

This sounds really usefull!

Is it booting a dos/bios like app from sd card or how does it work?

[James Kendrick]

It uses a BIOS setting from Vista that allows programs to hotstart. I don't know if it works on other devices but I doubt it, and HP is the only one I've ever heard who has done this.

Sideshow requires a dedicated hardware display, this uses the existing Tablet screen which allows more detail.

[lsbeller]

Has HP added the ability to add an item while in QuickLook mode yet or is it still just view only?

Steve

[James Kendrick]

It's view only, which I believe is appropriate. I don't think the overhead for allowing data entry would be worth it.

[JKK]

would be nice to get that to all umpcs ..
... but htc shift has similar feature with wm6 so that's ok to me...

[JDM]

So no chance of getting this on my old TC1000 then? I love the old QL, but would sure like to take advantage of the newer version.

[Karl L. Gechlik]

Is this still available? I would love to load this up on my 2710p. But I can not find it nor is it listed on my download page from HP.

Great site. Keep up the awesome work.

[Arshia]

I would also like to know if QL is still available. I need it for my 2710p, but haven't been able to find it anywhere. Thanks.