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The only actually useful pda was REX, which was credit-card size and so quite portable. Most versions were read-only indeed, which was a good thing, since paper seems to be a better solution for writing...

It's nice to finally see a PDA with a screen covering the whole display area. I've always been a little tuned off by the Palm (-like) devices becuase of the graffiti writing area. If the screen was just extended to that area as well, developers would have that much more real-estate to work with.

For now, I'm using a Xircom REX 6000. The PCMCIA form factor and touch screen make it the perfect companion to my laptop, carrying names, numbers, notes, etc. It doesn't run every application ever written, but I can't complain becuase the size simply rocks.

Speaking of real-estate, what's the purpose of putting buttons on the units anyway? Every PDA I've ever seen (iPaq, Cassio, Palm, REX, etc.) has buttons - several. Why? Doesn't a touch screen provide the same functionality (even soft-power...) as the buttons, and if you did need a button, why couldn't it be an edge button like the Nokia 82?0 phones or the m505's power button? A PDA the size of a large post-it note (and as thick as a pad of them) with a full-touch-screen would be dandy. As long as the "normal" applications are supported (read email, addresses, calculator, notes, yadda yadda yadda), that's just about the right form factor.

</RANT>
I'll get back to work now.

They are quoting $10 each, using standard margins, it means they cost about $3.33 each to make... If the Chip and batery cost less than $3 I could believe it.

Or the flip side is they cost close to $10 to make, but plan on making the money back by selling addition minutes. Kinda like ink-jet printers and single use camera's.

The thing will fit nicely in my wallet next to my REX. A PCIMIA Sized PDA...

TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken

Why Palm?
Try Something smaller like a true REX palm top. My goodness you might as well be carrying arround an ENIAC.

And why use such a large virtual machine, last time I looked the FORTH compiler was only 4K, not the 191K of storage / 64K heap of PALM Python.

Ok, the REX6000 was just released a few days ago. Its the size of a PCMCIA card (a credit card), and it has touch screen input, 2MB of memory, a 4Mhz CPU, a larger screen resolution than a PalmPilot, and it runs off of tiny batteries for 6 months!

The new REX 6000 has 2MBs of memory, a touch screen for data entry, all useful PIM apps (like memo pad, date book, calculator, etc), and is still the size of the original REX's. That is roughly 1/4 the size of a PalmV (about the size of a business card). The thing is small enough to fit inside your wallet!

Last but not least, the batteries last for 6 months of normal day to day use.