By Peter Rand
Note: this article originally appeared in German in Palmtop Pro, Edition 6/98, pp. 74-79. Figures show German version of Newt's Cape; GIFs do not convert well in Newt's Cape, even Res. 16-gray.
There are currently three web browsers available for the Apple Newton MessagePad: Allpen's NetHopper (which generally comes pre-installed on new MessagePads), LunaSuite by LunaTech and Newt's Cape, a brilliant shareware program by Steve Weyer and Greg Simon.
Newt's Cape is the smallest and most stable of the 3 Newton web browsers. It is an extremely compact, tightly integrated package which actually functions as three different programs in one. Newt's Cape can be used:
The package, which takes less than 200k (compared to NetHopper's 400k and LunaSuite's whopping 900k to 1.2 MB), installs easily and requires no special configuring or complicated installation procedures. We used NCU to transfer the package from our desktop to the MP2K+, and simply tapped "yes" to install the package. The package worked flawlessly the first time we tried it.
Newt's Cape can be started from either the Extras drawer or the button bar, as well from the Notepad (via the routing button) and NewtWorks (via Tools). This gives the program a lot of flexibility, since it allows users to start the program from wherever they may be at the moment. The user interface is very small and doesn't block other programs: it appears as an extension of a book's control panel. It can be expanded to provide a longer URL area or status info, or be hidden to get it out of the way for reading books, and quickly reopened from the book control bar.
Figure: The "file" menu with the different document sources. Note the book control bar at the bottom.
We used Newt's Cape primarily for its web-browsing capabilities. After starting the program, one either enters a new URL or simply selects an existing bookmark. Newt's Cape then connects to the Internet and loads the requested web page. Users can specify whether they wish to view documents in portrait or landscape format, with or without images, and whether they wish to save the documents directly to cache memory without viewing them online first (to minimize phone time). We generally loaded web pages without images: this is faster and allows one to concentrate on the text, however, one can also choose to load some or all of the images which are linked to the web page. Busy with other tasks while Newt's Cape is loading a document? No problem, just select the appropriate option and Newt's Cape will give a gentle alarm once the document has been successfully loaded.
Figure: a web page in portrait orientation with images.
Figure: a web page in portrait landscape without images.
Web information is stored very efficiently as raw (compressed) HTML files, and optionally as Newton books. This is an important feature for serious net-surfers, since it allows them to store large numbers of documents without putting a drain on the Newton's available memory. While the storage method used by NetHopper eliminates the need for parsing and allows stored documents to be viewed more quickly, it also doubles the amount of storage space required per document. In our case, this meant when using NetHopper we were constantly confronted with out-of-memory error messages, and frequently forced to do a reset. Newt's Cape gives users the freedom to store an incredible number of documents without provoking an out-of-memory message. That was actually the initial reason why we decided to try Newt's Cape.
Figure: Palmtop's main page in landscape mode with images, also showing Newt's Cape General Options.
HTML documents and images are stored in separate soups contained in the storage drawer. This is an elegant approach which makes it very easy to manage downloaded HTML documents and images, since users can specify whether cached documents are stored to card or internally, and then delete such documents and images individually or all at once by simply deleting the soups.
The interface is so unobtrusive that it is inviting to use other applications while online with Newt's Cape. We often sent/retrieved email while online, jotted notes in the NotePad, and then returned again to the web page. This reduces phone charges, since users can browse and send/retrieve email during the same call, eliminating repeated connect fees.
One frustrating aspect of NetHopper is its inability to easily convert web pages to normal word-processing documents which can then be faxed or emailed to others as needed. Newt's Cape allows users to store documents as HTML text in Notes or NewtWorks, or as formatted documents in NewtWorks. Thus anything captured by Newt's Cape can be easily faxed or emailed to others, meaning that users can actually USE (and not just look at) information they've found on the Web. Images can be also be copied to Notes or NewtWorks, and can be used, for example, to create your own custom stationary. Users can also use Newt's Cape in reverse - and convert Newton books into NewtWorks documents, which can then be revised, faxed, emailed, or even used for text-to-speech.
Newt's Cape is able to load HTML documents directly from the Inbox and from NewtWorks. Documents which are emailed in HTML format, such as CNN's daily news summary, can be opened using Newt's Cape, and viewed as a Web document complete with hyperlinks. These documents can then be stored as text to a desktop, as a formatted document in NewtWorks, or saved as a package. This kind of flexibility is what Newt's Cape is all about. In addition, version 1.5-2 allows users to save their bookmarks to Notepad in outline form.
Newt's Cape allows users to download a variety of (but not all) packages directly from the Internet, which eliminates the hassle of downloading .zip or .hqx files to desktop, converting them, and then transferring them to the Newton.
With NewtPack, a plugin included for registered users, HTML documents can also be stored in Newton book format. Books open much more quickly than HTML documents, and are a convenient way to share information with other users. Newton books can be created in different screen sizes: portrait or help (>=1.x), landscape (>=2.0), and full (2.1). In addition, it is also possible to combine several smaller books into a single large book.
Developers can use Newt's Cape to create forms with text fields, radio buttons, check boxes, images, pickers and buttons, and customize form behavior and objects (e.g., sliders, date pickers) via NewtonScript. The ability to customize objects and links is one of most significant advanced features in Newt's Cape.
Figure: Newt's Cape can include Newton specific graphical interface objects to fill in forms. Here selected items are filled into the text field of a form.
For users looking for a powerful web-browser which takes a minimum amount of space and which allows documents to be used for a broad variety of purposes, Newt's Cape is definitely worth a closer look. Its ease of use, flexibility and ability to manipulate documents make it both an exceptional value and an extremely useful tool for browsing the Web, manipulating documents, creating packages and, for advanced users, generating applications and forms.
There has been a constant flow of beta and public releases, bug fixes and new features. Upgrades will continue as long as there is enough public interest in (and support of) Newt's Cape.
Newt's Cape can be downloaded directly from the web at: http://communicrossings.com/html/newton/index.htm
If you have questions, send email to authors: Steve Weyer or Greg Simon.