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Sony Announces Superslim T415
atomic212 writes: "Sony has announced a new mid-range handheld today, the PEG-T415, a 320 by 320 monochrome model that is, according to Sony, the world's thinnest PDA. Though only .41 inches thick, it has a Jog Dial and a Memory Stick slot and includes remote control software."
The entire PC industry is based on that concept. I didn't really need my first pc, but I had to have it. : )
It tries to strike a balance between serious and fun. For business users, it is the first Sony model to come bundled with Documents to Go for compatibility with Microsoft Office. For fun, its infrared port has been enhanced to let it be used as a TV/VCR remote and it has an improved speaker and audio abilities.
It will be available near the end of November for $300.
It runs Palm OS 4.1 and has 8 MB of RAM and 4 MB of Flash ROM. It uses the 33 MHz Dragonball processor from Motorola.
The T415 is 4.75 by 2.88 by
It comes with a flip cover but there don't appear to be any photos of it. A Memory Stick is not included.
It has the Jog Dial that has become a standard on Sony models. It includes a small back button that works like the back button on the N series.
As mentioned earlier, it is bundled with DataViz's Documents to Go Standard, which means that it users can use Microsoft Word and Excel documents and spreadsheets on their handheld.
But it isn't all business. The T415 comes with an application called the Clié Remote Commander which lets it be used as a remote control for TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and other such electronics. The infrared port has been strengthened to give it a range of up to 15 feet.
The T415 also has an improved speaker and audio capabilities compared with most Palm OS handhelds. MIDI and WAV files on a PC can be converted and played on the palmtop. This means alarms don't have to be just beeps, they can almost any sound the user would like.
The T415 also has a built-in vibrating alert.
It runs on an internal lithium-ion polymer rechargeable battery which Sony estimates will last for about 15 days with normal use.
The T415's smaller size means that it can't use other Clié peripherals designed to attach to the serial port. Therefore, Sony has announced they will be selling a special version of their clip-on Audio Player just for this model.
With the inclusion of this midrange model into Sony's lineup of handhelds, the company feels they have a product to fit almost almost everyone's needs.
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So when are they going to focus their efforts on an Arm or Transmeta based handheld with TFT Color Reflective screen and CF slot?
I used to have a Visor, and while it was useful for holding contacts and appointments (and playing SFCave), it really cannot compare to an Ipaq, espcially if you like gadgets and toys. $300 for a palm, or an extra $100 for an Ipaq which is faster, has a CF slot, and has color....
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it's available at http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-7589931.html? tag=mn_hd.
Unfortunately for Sony, they're still firewalled at my wallet, due to the article at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/08/23/021223 2
Wake me when some other company starts selling these.
The T415 also has a built-in vibrating alert.
For great justice!
I have been asking, pleading, begging palm for a model that's a little more "industry friendly" which I would certainly pay a pretty penny for. I guess being able to "hear" this thing go off while trying to program a machine that is stamping out oil filters will be enough to get that old palm up on Ebay.
My only question now is when are they going to make one that vibrates, is in a mil-spec casing, and will make a small fire if I'm trapped in the wilderness?
I apparently forgot that sig != uptime...
Sony is not the only one with a jog dial. Handera has a great product. 240X320 display, 8MB, jog dial, digital audio recorder, 33MHz Dragonball, 2MB Flash, and it supports Compact Flash and Secure Digital. I've had mine since July, and love it! Handera used to be called TRGPro for those of you who haven't heard of them.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
I am not sure I like this thing, I think it is still way to expensive, $300? The palm IIIc is less expensive nowadays.
I think this one is nice for people that don't really need a palmtop... It's a nice marketing stunt, but my guess is that it's that and not much more.
Spend an extra $100-$200 and buy a real one (that's what I think)
Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity
You need to meet more people who have a Sony fetish. I'm on a college campus with many folks who love everything Sony, and I have seen a few Clies in use already. The low-cost monochrome models seem to be more popular than the high-res color ones, but the Sony name alone is a nice selling point.
Also, unlike Palm and Handspring, Sony can diversify itself. Even though the Clie is not the #1 handheld, Sony still has many other high-margin products to make up the difference.
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I once bought a device that was encased in a solid piece of aluminium, for "strength"... I had it sitting on a pillow on my bed, and i accidentally dropped a book (a reasonably light one) on it, and BAM- huge dent in the aluminium, and it doesn't close properly now. How durable is this device going to be? How resistant to impact will it be?
... .41" thick certainly can't leave much room for padding
I wouldn't want to have one, and then have the lcd shatter or the casing bend because i dropped it by accident
er...
ìì!
0.41 in = 10.414 mm
thank you very much.
Rather than upgrade to a new model from a different, or even the same, manufacturer, people will hang on to their current model for longer than before.
And why is this bad? Are you in favor of planned obsolescence?
No thank you. I still love my Palm VIIx. I don't need to get rid of it just because something cool came out.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
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Woah! I'm totally impressed by the looks! That's by far the coolest looking PDA so far. Too bad it runs Palm OS, which unfortunately sucks. That's not flaimbait, it's a real observation based on facts. As much as we all hate Microsoft, the fact is that at the moment, Pocket PC (in particular now with Pocket PC 2002) is *YEARS* ahead of Palm OS.
I was in Japan two weeks ago and an interesting note from there was that Pocket PC wasn't in as strong a position there as it's here. The two most common PDA's were Sony CLIE's and Sharp Zaurus devices. The new Zauruses will run Linux and Tao Group's Java VM.. Looks like the Japanese are putting up a pretty good fight against Pocket PC. Let's hope that helps the innovation on all fronts in that arena!
i don't care about the thickness of my PDA. after seeing the sony clie 750 (i think that's the number) at best buy, i now care about the resolution. the color model with 320x320 is the first PDA i've seen where you could actually conceivably use it to read books on. comparing it to the prism was laughable- and it looked better than any of the pocket pc's.
by my reckoning, it is 144 dpi. if handspring would come out with color at 144dpi, i'd buy it in a heartbeat.
stored on computers from birth to the grave
thinnest at .41 inches?
.4 inches as well, and it's been out for ages...
The Palm V is
ObMetric: 0.41 inches = 10.4 mm. It never seems right to me to split inches into 100ths. It just doesn't seem to fit into the whole Imperial system. Shouldn't it be split into 24ths, or something similarly incomprehensible?
I'm sporting a Palm V + Hard Case right now, and it is a very nice combination. I had several palms of different flavors before that. I broke the screens or get them wet. I still have nightmares of jumping in water and realizing my palm is in my pocket. I guess a waterproof version would be nice.
IMHO, the smaller the better. I use my palm A LOT. For astronomy (app=planetarium) and finding satillite passes (pocket sat, or avantgo+heavens-above.com). I also use it as a log, keeping track of when we did what on trips and hiking. I used to use it for Phish-setlists, so I had the exact length of each song. Alas, that is on hiatus. I also use the typical things, phone numbers (if I hear a phone number, it goes in the palm, cause I almost always need it again). I write names of songs in it when I hear them so I remember to get them later. I've also read quite a few books on it (www.peanutpress.com) and it's far far better than a book. Backlit and always in my pocket. Best is reading books while waiting in line.
But the FORM FACTOR has been key. I always have it with me. The PalmIII I destroyed was just too bulky. That 1/4inch made a big difference.
M@
Krispy Cream is people
They have apparently forgotten the Franklin / Xircom / etc. "Rex". It's the size of a PCMCIA
card. It isn't as powerful as the handhelds,
but it sure seems like a PDA to me.
If you only expect to be able to hold a few thousand bytes of information a single sheet of paper is useful. Fact of the matter is I need more than that. Carrying around notepads, books or other. 8MBs of information printed off into a book is a shitload of paper with excessive weight -- assumming its of an easily readable size.
Paper lacks grep, ease in editing, simple deletion (gotta find a recycling bin), and doesn't hold up well when wet... well, neither do palms for that last point.
I can assure you, my Thinkpad is much thinner than the stack of paper it replaced. Those 500 page Requirement Docs get damn heavy if you need more than a few at a time and I can fit them on a palm (in text) quite easily. But yes, I'll stick with my Thinkpad for the readable screen.
Rod Taylor
It would be really cool to see Sony or some other company come up with a thin, flexible PDA. The technology is already there, save for the touch screen part of it.
Two companies, Flexible Circuits and E-Ink have the circuits and display parts down. All we need now is a flexible processor and flexible memory, and we'll have a Palm FleX which you'd be able to fold up or roll up and put in your briefcase.
If anyone knows of a vendor of flexible memory or processors, I'd love to hear of it.
The Dopester
"Yes, I'm a Karma Whore, but I'm doing it to pay my way through school."
Webserver on your PDA is not useless. I run NPDS on my Newton 2100 all the time and it's one of the most convenient ways of interacting with your PDA while you're at your desk. I got it a static IP and got it put in the DNS.
Now, when I need to get at some information that's in the device while I'm at my PC, I don't have to pull the PDA out and pen-tap through things, I just point the browser (usually already running) to:
http://newton.xyz.com
From there I can search my contacts, get at my notes, use my datebook etc. Data can be entered this way as well.
Webserver-in-a-PDA: Don't knock it until you've tried it...
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
DRM: Sony sells both MagicGate DRM (white) and non-DRM (purple) sticks. AFAIK, only Sony's digital walkman line restricts you to MagicGate sticks. (Which makes me wonder why anyone would buy one.) Other devices, including Clies, can use either white or purple. The MagicGate stick's only purpose in life is to play ATRAC3-format files on digital walkmen and Clies. MP3s on purple sticks work just fine.
Cost: Have you priced one lately? The DRM code makes MagicGate sticks rather expensive. But Sony recently dropped prices on purple sticks, and other companies are now selling in Memory Stick format. eCost has Lexar 128MB Memory Sticks for $99. Right now, there's not as much price competition, because it's only Sony and Lexar. But SanDisk is coming. And Lexar's presence alone is creating competition within the format. That's bringing the price down relative to other formats, like CF or SM.
This sig intentionally left blank.
Isn't Sony a member of the RIAA and MPAA?
I really couldn't care less about this gadget. I was upset last night when I rented Snatch for the first time, only to find out the Screen Gems (who distributed the movie) is a Sony company.
The hypocracy of this site is maddening at times. Especially when the news really isn't news at all, and seems to hype a company that most of the readership has denounced time and again.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
Strange as it may seem, pocket calculators are a relatively recent invention. Before that time, it made a lot of sense to use divisions that were divisible by 2 and 3, to simplify mental calculations. Even with calculators, life is complicated by having everything a multiple of 2 * 5. Ever try to split a $10 parking fee 3 ways?
The same French reformers who gave us the metric system also wanted to decimalize the clock. Imagine trying to schedule 3 shifts per day with such a system!
As the failure of the decimal clock (and the decimal calendar, and don't forget geographic coordinates) indicates, the metric system didn't succeed because it was "better" than the systems it replaced. It succeeded because the existing hodge-podge was impractical. Every country, every province, even every profession had a different system of measurements. The U.S. gets away with having it's own system because it has a large user base. You know, like Windows.
Is it just me, or do the photos of that device resemble something out of Star Trek? I'm thinking of ST:VOY, specifically, since this device looks quite streamlined, and ST:VOY had nearly everything look 'streamlined' - from tables to bulkheads.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
in a few years, PalmOS and WinCE will be dead and embedded linux will be running all PDA's.
/. sotry a few months ago about the researchers slowing down light...
We'll see, I suppose. What's most important to a device like a PalmOS device is the UI and so far, Linux ain't doing so hot in that particular category.
I run an Ipaq with Linux on it now and it isn't anywhere close to being as useful as PalmOS. I could see running PalmOS (which really is just an applications api on a licensed kernel) running on top of a Linux kernel, if the kernel can be pared down to a non-humongous footprint.
There's an element of Real Time with the handhelds, too. Nothing is more annoying than waiting for an application to fire off in wince. It amazes me how slow Microsoft can make a StrongArm processor run. It reminds me of that
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.