Slashdot Mirror
New Clie Handhelds
Carthis writes "Sony has officially released their newest Clié handheld, the PEG-NR70, in the USA. This one has a clamshell design, a high resolution 480 x 320 screen (half VGA), Sony's MemoryStick slot, built in MP3 player, enhanced IR port (like the Sony 'T' series), and a REAL SPEAKER for once, instead of the typical piezo buzzer. I want this to have my children. PalmInfoCenter has this story about this tasty new handheld.
Following past trends of Sony, this handheld probably won't be available for at least 6 months for us Canadians *grumbles*."
but does a 66MHz CPU have enough cycles to play MP3s and run an application in the foreground?
There's a seperate DSP to handle MP3 playback, so the processor won't be handling that.
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
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As with the original Slashdot announcement of exactly the same story, it's a shame to see the camera with a poor 320x240 resolution. Even the tiny Nokia 7650 phone can manage 640x480. Huge disappointment in something I would otherwise consider as a purchase.
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
I have to agree as to the CPU's questionable capabilities. I can't speak for the Dragonball, but I know under PocketPC OS on my Casio EM-500 running the MIPS CPU at 200MHz (hardware overclocked), I really couldn't expect MPEG1 to decode at a reasonable framerate at any resolution higher than 320x200, even at a lower bitrate. At 150MHz (standard), there wasn't much point even trying. That's under either Casio's built-in MPEG app or PocketTV. Even IPAQ users have to tweak a bit to get adequate video playing (and they've got it easy, cause they have a software overclocker). I find it hard to believe that the Dragonball is going to be able to do it better at one third the clock rate, MHz Myth notwithstanding. I know, I know. Playing The Matrix in your pocket isn't everything (I can fit the whole thing on a 128MB SD Card at an adequate res to watch), but if that isn't what these devices are about, what are they about? If I wanted a Palm III, I'd use the one I have. I'm getting one of these machines because I want to play Pocketquake and music videos. But is my now ancient Casio going to be significantly more capable than this new technology, cause EM-500s sell on ebay for $180 at the moment.
Its "klee-ay."
"Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers." -- JRockway
There already is a GPS addon. It may only be available in Japan though, I'm not sure.
Most of the accessories listed on sonystyle are also compatible with the T-series. Unfortunately, T- and NR-series accessories are not interchangeable with the N- or S-series. Rather like pre- and post-Universal Connector Palm devices.
In reality, it's separate sticks for ATRAC3 and (World + Dog - ATRAC3). I believe the NR-series is like the N-series, which means it will will work with both ATRAC3 on MagicGate and MP3 on Memory Stick, with no conversion necessary. Interestingly enough, sonystyle always listed both MagicGate and Memory Stick as accessories for the N-series, but only list Memory Stick for the NR. The only other devices that ever required MagicGate were their Network Walkman ATRAC3 players. Maybe they've finally realized that nobody will voluntarily choose Digital Rights Management when given an unencumbered alternative.
No. That's why N- and NR-series Clies use a separate DSP for audio and gMovie playback.
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Not true. Handspring's springboard accepts an 802.11 b card from Xircom. It's pricey ($299) but it's available.
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http://www.handspring.com/products/Product.jhtml?
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I hate the fact that you people don't salute me