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Sony Announces Excellent New Handhelds
PalmAddict writes "Sony Japan has announced what was only supposed to be a non-working mockup at Palm Source just a few short weeks ago, as reality. Palminfocenter has the scoop on the PEG-NR70, a thin, folding, half VGA, built-in digital camera picture taking, MP3 playing powerhouse." Nothing I can say except wow.
But does it run Linux?
ISTR that Linux on Palms is kinda primitive ATM.
-- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
Wow! Looks like I'll be able to save up plenty between now and the time it'll probably be released in the UK, say, Christmas 2010.. :-(
pictures from sony's japanese language site: http://www.jp.sonystyle.com/peg/Store/Clie/index.h tml
Sony Introduces Two Models with Keyboards, MP3 Players
.65 inches. They weigh 7 ounces, including the stylus.
Posted by: Ed on Monday, March 11, 200212:06:43 AM
Sony Japan has just introduced two new cutting-edge handhelds. The PEG-NR70 and PEG-NR70V both have built-in keyboards and 320 by 480 color screens. They also have built-in MP3 and ATRAC3 audio players. In addition, the PEG-NR70V has a built-in camera.
These have a clamshell design, with the keyboard on one side and the screen on the other. However, the screen can pivot around and then close again, this time with the screen facing out, allowing these to be used like a traditional handheld, with text entry done through a virtual Graffiti area.
The screen doesn not flip all the way around like a note pad does. It opens, the screen rotates on an axis located just above the hinge, then closes back over the keypad. When the screen rotates, it's image automatically flips over so it is still upright to the user.
Frequent readers will recognize the NR70V as the one a Sony executive briefly showed off at PalmSource last month.
The 16-bit color Backlit TFT screen is 3.8 inches tall. When closed, both of these models are 5.4 by 2.8 by
They are the first Palm OS models to use Motorola's 66 MHz Dragonball SuperVZ processor. They run Palm OS 4.1 and have 16 MB of RAM and 10 MB of Flash ROM.
Of course they have a built-in Memory Stick slot. They also have a Jog Dial and a Back button.
These have a built-in Lithium Polymer battery, which Sony estimates will last for 10 days, based on 30 minutes of use a day. They have an additional DSP chip for handling audio and this drains significant power. The company says these will last for 7 hours of music playback with the display off.
The PNR70V's camera is also on the hinge. It can take images with 100,000 pixels. It has a 1/6 inch CMOS Image Sensor and it can take pictures between 0.3 meters from the lens all the way to infinity. it saves images in PG Pocket format in sizes of 320x240, 160x120, or 88x88.
These models have the enhanced IR port from the T-series. They have other things in common with the T-series, sharing the same styli and HotSync port. This means the NR series should be able to use many of the same peripherals designed for the T series.
They also comes with ear-bud speakers and an audio control wand similar to previous Clié models with built-in audio players. Also like previous Sony models, the screen can be turned off while playing music. Because they use a separate DSP, the user can listen to music while using other applications.
In addition to software necessary to use the audio player and camera, they come with Documents To Go 4.0 Standard Edition to allow the user to access Microsoft Office files and Intellisync Lite for the Clié to synchronize with Outlook.
These handhelds have been introduced only in Japan. The NR70 will be available on March 23. The NR70V will be out April 13. There is no word yet on when they will be available in other countries.
The NR70V will sell for 59,800 Yen, or about $465. The NR70 will sell for 49,800 Yen, or $385. Again, these are the prices in Japan. They may or may not indicate what these will sell for in other countries.
Sony has also introduced the PEG-MSB1 Memory Stick Bluetooth module.
Thanks to SaxonMan for the tip and Eugene for his translations. -Ed
Related Information:
* ClieClub: Lots of Pictures of the new models
* PIC: Sony to Announce New Handheld in Japan Next Week
* PIC: Sony Prototype Pics
* PIC: Bluetooth Memory Stick Gets SIG Approval
* PIC: Sony Forum
for those too lazy to copy & paste :)
here's a link
Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.
It seems that Sony has a hard time focusing on consumer products in the IT sphere. They tend to hit or miss. The VAIO line was a pretty tepid offering up until the previous iteration. The Playstation I & II were tremendously successful in their markets. The CLIEs were good(great?). Their MP3 players and MD players had terrible connectivity to PCs or Macs.
The new PDA looks good though. Maybe this will be a hit.
So that's why I can't get onto PalmInfoCenter today. Anyone looking for more info on this might want to try PDABuzz, another pretty good Palm site.
It hurts when I pee.
Here's the CNET Story
Is their server running off one of these or something? That was quite the fast slashdotting...
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
[semi-flame]
it doesn't support multitasking - because of CPU
very low upgradabillity of low quality CPU
is not document based based - means no documents you can open with different applications
doesn't have unix compatibillity - means no simple command line apps that make your live easier
[/semi-flame]
Sig you!
Nothing I can say except wow.
Yeah, that's about the same thing palminfocenter.com is saying right now...
"...eleven-thousand hits in HOW LONG??!!"
... have any specs regarding connecting the unit to PCs and MACs to copy the software from inside various compusa stores?
Stuff a cell phone into this thing, and I'd think it was perfect.
Lots of pictures of the new models
It's not much besides pictures, but that's the first thing you want to know, right? That, and that they have a 66 MHz Dragonball SuperVZ processor, run Palm OS 4.1 and have 16 MB of RAM and 10 MB of Flash ROM. They also come memory stick slot and a jog dial. Battery life is 10 days, used for half an hour each day. Guess that means 5 hours.
:Peter
I'd pay for the new Slashdot subscription service if I got posts say 30 minutes before non-subscribers. That way I would half a chance to see the site befor it's slashdot-ed.
"Failure is not an option, it's part of the standard package"
do i get to say 'we beat you to it,' even though i'm from skokie? :)
Katsuyo Mori
I bet it'll suck when it ships. Invariably, Sony will insist on sticking in their content protection and proprietary MemoryStick technologies. Likely, they'll make it as flimsy as some of the Vaios (life time of ~6 months on many of the models before the hinges or something similar breaks). Leave it to Sony to engineer something beautiful and kill it in the details.
"Excellent"? says who?
I see it was a comment of the submiter, but isn't
it a bad-thing to slip-in product endorsement into
article submissions?
I am afraid of covert ad tactics. You can never
notice them, for they disguise as a personal opinion.
Most of you will probably dismiss me as a troll or
flame bait, or even mod me as such, but some of you
will notice the subliminal impact of a header like
that.
First impression counts, and hidden presuppositions influence our choices later.
It is called "nesting" if you are not familiar with
propaganda.
--
Is it just me, or do you guys think that this thing would have been 500% better if they had turned the keyboard sideways... so that it could have been made large enough for human hands?
-Evil
"Now with quick-swap battery packs, so having to change batteries every seventeen seconds during use won't seem like such a chore..."
...stop trying to shove DRM down our throats. I love my PEG-760 as a PDA, but I can't get it to play *regular* MP3s off a standard MemoryStick because of the DRM in the music player. Anyone have any luck with getting around their DRM?
"SONY Japan" ? I didn't know SONY opened an office in Japan lately
There aren't any compusa stores in japan, therefore the compusa-theft-protocol is not legal to implement on a japan device do to export regulations.
Companies are planning to create a mod-chip for the device, but because it's fair use, sony will sue them according to the DMCA.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
great idea including that cmos camera! i dont think its big deal such as 7 mpixels cameras available today but it sure adds lots of value to the handheld!!! being a cmos camera i believe it will be able to easily achieve resolutions of 320x320! One main problem is ambient light as it has no built-in flash... damn i want one of that!! :)))
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
Palminfocenter has the scoop on the PEG-NR70, a thin, folding, half VGA, built-in digital camera picture taking, MP3 playing powerhouse. Nothing I can say except wow.
/.ed) but I can only imagine that it's no more than 1.3 megapixels.
:: We Kill Trolls. We Worship Penguins.
Is this really what people want?
I'm not trying to flame here, but I personally would much prefer a small MP3 player that I could take with me on a jog or to the gym (or use in a business situation if necessary).
As for the digital cam feature -- again, I would rather have a more versitile and quite frankly, better quality, digital camera with 3.3 megapixels or something. I can't get to the specs page for this particular PDA (it's
Perhaps I'm out of the loop, but is the PDA as a tech Swiss Army knife practical (aside from the "gee-wiz" factor and showing it off to your friends, of course)?
monolinux.com
They give me all these new toys and they seriously only expect me to use it 30 minutes a day? I'm guessing I'm going to need a new battery pack for mine about every 6 months.
Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
(I know, it's off topic)
Did you get a load of some of the comments at the bottom of that page? You thought WE were guilty of not reading articles. It was on the same fscking PAGE, and these idiots were reposting the full text of the article, and then asking questions THAT WAS IN the crap they had pasted from higher up in the page! After this, I swear I will never tell another troll to read the article first!
Back on topic, sweet, and only the cost of an Athlon 1800 complete system with 512 MB of RAM! (Pricewatch @ $490). I'll stick with my IIIxe.
Jobs please bring back the Newton! I want a PDA with the iPod HD!
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
They also seem to move away from the standard 'square' resolutions (160x160 or 320x320) of previous PalmOS devices. According to Sony's homepage these two new models run at 320x480.
--Ives
"Nothing I can say except wow."
(disregarding the screen for a moment)
All of these things have been done before by... guess who... Pocket PC. MP3, Digital Camera, high-resolution screen, etc. These are all standard features on Pocket PCs.
Still, Sony is taking the right direction by adding these fatures to their devices. Some people don't like to play MP3s or Videos, I find that it's a great way to pass the time on the long train ride to work every morning (I could drive but the traffic is really bad in my suburb).
What it looks like open and closed (from the Japanese site)
It looks like they have a Bluetooth card accessory coming out and a GPS card. There is also what looks like a wireless modem and another type of wireless adapter, but I'm not sure if it's 802.11b, or not.
a couple more views
It can also be used to transfer map/location data back and forth with your Sony Car Navigator (in Japan). And it can function as a programmable remote control for your home theater gear (TV, DVD, VCR, etc). It looks like the camera uses Picture Gear Pocket edition, so the photos are probably compatible with most of Sony's DV and digital still cams (and transferrable by Memory Stick).
It's surprising they didn't put a phone in, but I guess Japanese hipsters wouldn't be caught dead talking into a giant PDA when they have such amazing "keitai" cell phones.
my network is 100Baset T wired in the basement and 1st floor, I am 802.11b to the 2nd floor and whatever other 802.11b device I want to use (Company assigned laptop, hacked Compaq IA-1 on second floor, tuxbot robot I am building in basement). This $465.0 does not support 802.11
yet? Gee If I was going to use it to access my servers or the internet I'd want 802.11b capability.
Show me a pocket PC I can program to work as my Bike computer Multivoltage tester Pedometer with only 15$ in parts and I'll concede that palm is dead (and yes you can with just a few parts, a used serial cable and a soldering iron). Similarly, in audio, a lot of people said that XLR and RCA jacks would be succeded by digital and optical feeds by now. Guess what? They haven't. They're reliable (read, microsoft had nothing to do with them) relatively low cost, support a flexibility of implementation, and more importantly have a massive catalogue of products that works with them (ever looked at the available software for a palm vs a PocketPC?) I'm not saying that Pocket PC doesn't have it's place. But just like digital audio and optical feeds, it's a high end market that's so far seen much more limited penetration and will never be able to appeal on a pricepoint to those that are using a PDA as an organizer and general assistant (and not a mulitmedia wizbang toy not that I don't own one myself).
Find out about my new childrens book: SS Death Camp Criminal Batallion Go To Monte Carlo For The Massacre
You know what they say about small hands....
The thing looks like a tricorder. Very cool design.
I don't want another Palm-like PDA that is too big.
They're all too big. I hardly use my Palm because I can't stick it in my pocket.
We need credit-card size devices or smaller (think watch size, without the band).
They can do it, it's just no one does. I need something I can stick it my pocket and forget about, so I always have it with me. These large PDA's do nothing for me because they are a PITA to carry around and protect.
nokia are doing this with the symbian OS and thats shipping soon
http://www.nokia.com/phones/7650/
regards
john jones
Keep that in mind before buying a Sony product.
That thing is sweeter than my last 2 cars. Next, Sony to announce revolutionary new product with 17" screen, DVD, CD-Burner, dual 300W power supply, 80GB hard drive, etc. Weighing only 36 pounds, this revolutionary... Oh wait, that's a desktop. Never mind.
-------------------------------------------
Saving baby carrots around the globe.
dang¦it!¦now¦i¦have¦to¦go¦burn¦my¦eyes..¦dont¦clic k¦the¦link!
CEO: "Let's put a really cool device on our web site that geeks will like to drool over!"
IT Tech: "/. will post it and consume our bandwidth. We can't handle that."
CEO: "Bandwidth Schmandwidth. I want pretty geek pictures!"
IT Tech: "The pictures make it worse."
CEO: "Nonsense. Let's post it anyway!"
IT Tech: "Ok, I warned you......"
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
I agree that the 320x240 camera is very poor. Even the next Nokia mobile phone has 640x480 cam built in, as does the Sony/Ericsson T68i just released (though the cam is a plug-on). What on earth were Sony thinking?
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
Lately, Sony has been reviving the Palm OS by creating pimp devices like this. On the verge of Palm OS die out (Palm's devices suck in sales, and Handspring is going away from handhelds and into the mobile phone arena), Sony seems to be the only one still believing in Palm OS capabilities - and making better and better devices. (I just got one from Sony by the way)
It good looking and has a camera or what looks like a camera. Sony sure knows industrial design.
First the battery life:
-10 days with 30 minutes a day = 5 hours. 7 days, if used with music and screen off = 3.5 hours. Ok, do the maths. This thing will less than 2 continuous hours with music and screen on.
- MP3: I've given before. DRM means special app on windows to convert your MP3 to Sony homebrew format with copy protection. So it's not really MP3. First you need another OS to do the conversion with their crappy app (Jukebox if I remember correctly), next you can't transfer more than once and in one direction.
- Memory Stick: Ok: Sony still doesn't get it. The most expensive format per MB. I still refuse to go this route. What is the point of adopting this format over other proven and more economic ones?
- Special keyboard rotation and cool design: Here too, I've given in this trap already. If I need a keyboad, I get a laptop. Graffiti doesn't cut it for me. Cool factor: I already have an iBook and an iPaq. I'll still with that.
The Sharp Zaurus Linux PDA is way more powerful and appealing to me than this new Sony model.
PPA, the girl next door.
-- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
Looks neat!
I'm a 2000 man.
There are a lot of posts saying "but all of this stuff has been done before by other PDAs..."
While this is true, the 320x480 resolution with a full-tablet mode has only been done by one PDA, the Apple Newton 2000/2100, now discontinued for five years.
A screen resolution of 320x480 makes a HUGE difference when working with information, text, graphics, etc. With a resolution of 320x480 and a virtual graffiti area (which could conceivably be left hidden and replaced with a 3rd-party natural handwriting recognition system?!) we could FINALLY have a near-Newton-killer on our hands...
Of course, it is still lacking in some areas... Only a 66MHz Dragonball CPU vs. the 162MHz StrongARM in the Newton 2x00, PalmOS vs. NewtonOS (which is still a decade ahead of its time), no PCMCIA slot(s), no 3rd party natural handwriting recognizers yet available for PalmOS, etc.
Still, wow. For a long time, I've thought that since nobody would ever make another PDA with a 320x480 display, nobody would ever even begin to come close to Newton. But this does! In fact, get me that natural handwriting recognizer and a nice "natural" database like Notion for Newton and you could see me switch... Maybe... Well, okay, probably not.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Is it just me, or do these all-in-one gadgets fly in the face of the UNIX idea of compartmentalized utilities that do one specific function, and that's it?
Imagine if all apps had to be statically linked to a large library. Then the UNIX idea of compartmentalized utilities at 4 KB a piece breaks down. Under the current design conventions for handheld devices, every device has to be "statically linked" to at least a memory card slot, a display, and a case.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Then we'd see too one-minded posts at the top of all the comments. I guess it would be fair if the story wasn't open to comments before the general audience reads it.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
The interesting thing is, Japanese manufacturers already are selling Japanese-market phones with all these features (and those of the new Clie). The only difference is a bigger screen (and no phone functionality in the Clie's case). There already are Java phones with built-in still cameras, email, web browsers, MP3 and downloadable gameboy-type games. The pricey FOMA phones even stream live full motion video (which the Clie camera cannot).
You almost have to wonder if these PDAs are really only targeted at the US market, since they're so redundant in Japan.
I'll admit, Sony (and the Nokia Phone that someone else linked to) are on the right path to my "dream device". I would like a gadget that combines my cell phone, my digital camera, and my digital music player. PDA functionality doesn't interest me too much.
The challenge is to do everything as well as the individual devices. Sony's and Nokia's attempts aren't there yet. For example, the resolution of the photos that these devices can take is pathetic compared to "real" digital cameras.
It will take a lot of work and experimentation before integrating devices in this fashion will work well. It will be hard to figure out the user interface, and to pack all those digital components into a small container. I am convinced it will happen eventually, but for now, I'm willing to pack around my three toys everywhere I go.
Evan Jones http://evanjones.ca/
yeah only your newton is about 4 times bigger than palm handhelds, and it weighs a whole pound.
The newton was way ahead of its time, too much for its own good.
Y'know, that is a really really good idea - subscribers given opportunity to post before regular users.
Another feature I'd like to see is a freaking cache of pages linked-to offsite, to relieve the /. effect. Have a /. cache for subscribers, google cache link for non-subs maybe? Whatever the cache solution, I like to see editors post google cache links (or other mirrors) with every story.
In the interests of conserving disk space for slashdot cached stuff, the cache of pages can be purged after 24 or so hours and the links to them redirected to the original site.
Granted, not every story will be found in Google's cache or other online caches, but most will be. By the time I see most stories, the site is already been hammered. I know I'm not alone in this, which is why we have so many +5, Informative moderations for copy & paste jobs - which brings up copyright issues.
Check out the key hanger Clie or the necklace Clie pictures. Weird...
--Ives
Thet would depend on what you (or Nokia) understand to be "soon".
The 6310 was announced last CeBIT, and Nokia only managed to start shipping a couple of weeks back...
Granted I had some trouble figuring out how to get mp3 files onto the device, I have had not one problem with playing 'standard' mp3 files.
I just wish there were more apps that were made for the 320x320 screen.
Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a01a8'
Object required: ''
/view_Story.asp, line 16
Won't there be compatibility issues, considering older Palm apps don't use the SuperVZ processor? Or are the instruction sets between the newer and older chips similar enough? If there are applications written for the SuperVZ processor, will there be issues with running these programs on older Palms?
slashdot!=valid HTML
I'm looking at buying a Clie T415. How bad's the display, really? Most monochrome displays are horrible by anyone's standards, so, relative to my Palm III, how is it? I've heard lots of bad reviews, and a couple of good ones, but I really don't trust hardware review sites that can spend 10+ pages "reviewing" the life, the universe, and lo! the actual hardware around half-way through the article.
Michael C. Hollinger
If the main processor is a Motorola, perhaps the DSP is Motorola also. If the DSP is a 56K derivative, well, that would be most excellent, as this is somewhat of an industry standard in the audio industry (Motorola 56K-compatible processors are used by Eventide, Digidesign, TC Electronics, the XBOX, etc.).
http://www.gweep.net/~shifty/ is the homepage of a project to hook a Palm Pilot up to an ADI DSP dev kit for music DSP. Maybe the new Sony would allow you to do the same thing without the external DSP.
If you want just an MP3 player, then buy one (I hear those iPods are cool, and oh so versatile). If you want a digital camera, then buy one. The Clie is a PDA, that happens to play music (saving from having to have two devices if you want both sets of functionality). I think the music playing bit is an obvious addition to a PDA. Just look, people are trying to make PDA's out of iPods.
Now the camera, I think people are just totally missing the point here. Do you honestly believe that Sony thinks that someone will say, "dude, I don't need to buy a digital cam now that Sony has this". Uh WRONG. No, it's Sony having a decent grasp of their home market, one in which such gadgetry sells. (i.e. Now take your NR70V, stick in the blue tooth module and start communicating with other similarly equiped individuals, including sending pix.)
Also, what's the big deal. If they sold it ONLY with a camera, then I could see some people getting a bit miffed, but hey, you don't like it, save some bucks and just buy the model without it, duh.
It i quite obvious why they persists.
Memory stick is Sony technology so it is Sony that earns money if somebody buys a memory stick.
If you have a Sony Vaio and wants a MP3 player (almost mp3...) would not memory stick player seem tempting??
If you you have a Sony DV-camcorder, would not other a Sony laptop with memory stick reader be tempting...
If you have a Sony digital camera would not...
If you have a Sony...
And suddendly Sony, if Sony succeeds with the scheme, they will sell lots of memory sticks (the most expensive format per MB) and probably more importantly if a person has bought something from Sony he/she/it will be more likely to buy from Sony again so the equipment can interact easily.
Sony does not get it? I think the question is if they can succeed. Personly I think it would be a wise move from their side to dump the memory stick price for a while, to get more people hooked...
The one thing that I'd be a bit concerned about is how durable the device is. The rotating screen seems like something that's begging to just snap off at the slightest collision. Granted, I haven't actually held one of these things and seen how durable they are, but it sounds flimsy.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Take my statement in context.
On my 486dx2/66 with 16mb ram, a 2mb trident video card, and 420mb or so hard disk (which was average hardware) at the time Windows '95 operated considerably slower then Windows 3.1/3.11 in regards to startup time, launching applications, and performing actions within applications.
Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of THESE!!!
Is this the first Palm OS device with a 320@480 screen? Now that they have a decent screen, when will they get decent HWR? I suppose for decent HWR, they'd need a decent CPU. When will we see 320@480 Palm OS devices with a 206 MHz StrongARM running CalliGrapher?
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Memory Stick prices have dropped enormously in price over the last six months to a year - they're still more expensive than CF, but they're no longer insanely expensive for what you get.
fencepost
just a little off
Are we for or against Sony this week?
For businesses, there are lots of things where a picture is needed but high resolution isn't important - I ran into someone the other day who has one of those wristwatch digital cameras and is quite happy with it for basic assessment use.
fencepost
just a little off
But will the T615 drop in price? If so I only have a few days to get mine back to Best Buy :)
Seriously, With the release of Palm's newest the T615 was equally priced with the m515. If Sony's new model drives the price down on the T615 Palm is stuck again with a sub-par highend color device. I would prefer to see the T615 get closer to the m130's price of $279.
I think a price of suggested retail $325-$345 (street ~$300) would be wonderful. Sony would definitely steal the thunder from Palm on their newest releases.
All those features are great, but still no single PDA/PocketPC/whatever has the one feature I really want: a build in modem with a port that is flush with the outer surface and accepts a standard phone cable. I don't care about color and a way too small keyboard. I just want a device that I can plug into any phone, dump all my email into the sucker and go on with life. The Palm modem and the plug in cards are nice, but it's stuff to carry around/loose/buy batteries for.
PLEASE add wireless to these devices Sony. PLEASE. Don't leave us stranded with Palm's i705.
;-)
It doesn't have to be high speed internet access, just throw some of that i705 wireless capability on one of these models.
And while you're at it, add a phone
Live web cams
Bluetooth is cool, but I want to be able to use the wireless network here at work when I'm at meetings and such, as well as mt airport network at home when I'm relaxing on the couch watching bikes, booze and bimbos when I want to look up the specs on the latest harley. For that I need 802.11b, not bluetooth.
--- What?
I admit this handheld looks sexy, but I find it a shame that sony didn't find a way to cram a phone like Handspring did w/ the Treo... :o( Sony does make mobile phones too after all, so it's not like they'd get out of their market.
This is what I'm waiting for to upgrade from my trustee Palm IIIe. Except for the lack of RAM, I just don't feel the need to upgrade yet, as none (but the Treo) enable me to consolidate my devices/toys. The treo's just too "young", waiting for generation 2.
Put a wireless interface (802.11? or telco) on this device and the camera begins to make sense: a few FPS of the surroundings, or the owner.
a garage door opener and car door opener. Really, I am not kidding. If this thing can send and receive radio and infrared signals and has learning capability. Wouldn't it be cool to go home and open your garage door, lock the car, turn on the light, turn on the Microwave, turn on the TV and play your play station without touching anything but your CLIE?
Due to the way PalmOS is licenced to the Sony and HandEra, you see radically diffrent innovation.
:(
HandEra's licence allows them to modify the OS and sell the modifications to third parties.
Sony's licence forces them to fold back their OS modifications into PalmOS proper.
As a result, the TRGPro comes out with Compact Flash capability long before Sony looked into the market, or Palm released the SecureDigital-capable models. (m500 & m505?) - They already had an full-fledged API and even a fairly capable seamless-integration program (AutoCF/AutoCard, that mapped remote storage to Palm RAM). They enjoyed limited success, despite using industry-standard peripherals, and having what's fairly widely regarded as exellent support.
When Sony introduced their propriatary MemoryStick interface, they handed the MemoryStick code over to Palm, and it formed the base of the new Memory API's that Palm placed in OS4 - Not because it was better, or more developed, but because Sony GAVE it to them. HandEra promptly added these APIs into the TRGPro, and also into the HE330 - Free of charge. Sony's track record for OS upgrades is kind of spotty at best - At one point, they wanted to charge $50/unit.
Likewise, when Sony and HandEra took a stab at new screen resolutions, it was very similar.
The HE330 has what I've heard called a 'QVGA' screen - 1/4 of a 640x480 screen. It's allegedly a fairly common format. The Dragonball EZ is capable of running it out of the box, and all the translation/extrapolation is done directly with the processor, in the OS. From what I'm lead to understand, HE's system extensions for screen drawing are very flexable, and allow authors to write (relatively) resolution-independant applications. I have a friend who owns one, and he says that it handles just about everything he throws at it just fine.
Sony went for an almost totally hardware-based solution, using a propriatary 320x320 screen, and (again!) hard-coded resolutions. And, of course, that screen hardware is made by a Sony subsidiary - So even if they DO give their hacked-up Screen API to PalmSource, it only works with Sony screen hardware.
So, will Palm go with the already supported, well written solution, or the free one?
Or will it all be shoved to the side in the mad dash for OS 5?
Last time I looked, the Symbian OS was leaps and bounds ahead of Palms. I evaluated, and decided on a Psion 5mx over a Palm 5. 32bit, pre-emptive multitasking, Java support. Take away the froth, and how do the guts compare now?
...looked somewhat familiar...
:)
Not implying anything of course, it was just one of those "I've seen that somewhere before" moments.
SIGFEH
The Clie will play mp3's straight off the memory stick, no copy protection built in if you use the purple memory stick.
If, however, you do not know, and buy the white memory stick, copy protection is built in and you can only play their proprietary format, not mp3's. However, their software will convert your music to their own format. Personally, I will convert the music to Sony's format because you can get equal sound as mp3 but with lower bit rates.
I've never seen the white memory stick for sale in stores or on any online stores, so I'm not even sure if they are sold anymore. I have seen them offereed with Clies for sale on Ebay, however. So if you want mp3, just make sure you get the purple memory stick.
puck
Wake me up when I-Mode comes to the States. Or at least when you can play games on the damn things!
Who knows of any companies that import fun Japanese campters and PDAs and stuff like that?
Any hints would be appreciated!
I'm glad Sony is working hard to innovate. It's seemed that Palm has been pretty content at just releasing hardware that's a lot less innovative...
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http://www.aikiweb.com - AikiWeb Aikido Information
This got a redundant moderation 14 days after it was posted. Wow....
Wouldn't want those people reading comments on two week old stories to have to see a "redundant" comment like this... Flamebait I could understand, even troll. I mean, it is a dumb comment. But Redundant?
Despite having hit the Karma Kap long ago, I've never been given mod points - I'd like to think that I could help the discussion more than whoever modded this....
.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...