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New Clie Handhelds

Posted by michael on from the things-to-break dept.

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*."

50 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Excellent! by Loki_1929 · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is wonderful news! It'll give me another expensive product tiny enough to be lost in hours having not yet been in my possession long enough to me to get my full use (playing with it) out of it.

    --
    -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  2. Is there a good market for these? by e1en0r · · Score: 2

    Wow. That thing is sweet. It's unfortunate that I already have a decent functioning PDA otherwise I'd think about getting one. I wonder how many other people feel the same way? Upgrading your computer is one thing, but upgrading handhelds seems less of a priority for people. Most people who want PDAs have them, and most who don't probably aren't going to jump for a $600 one. Are they hoping that geeks and rich folk will find this too good to pass up? Are these killer new PDAs selling well? Just wondering.

    1. Re:Is there a good market for these? by CheechBG · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I work for a major retail chain that sells these, and your answer is: kinda. Lots of people grill me asking what a US$600 PDA like a iPaq actually does for you, I go through the normal speil, that's about it. The color Palm's, OTOH, sell very well. Priced at US$399, they have better percieved value than even the iPaq, not everyone is savvy enough to load QNX or have the income to afford a iPaq with a microdrive to download their MP3 collections.

  3. Wow...Tres Futuristique by waldoj · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This thing is crazy. It takes pictures, communicates wirelessly, stores information little gumstick-sized cards, has a remote control, recognizes handwriting...can you imagine seeing one of these things 5, 10, 20, maybe 50 years ago? Even just 5 years ago this would have been quite tremendous, but 10 or 20? It would have boggled the mind.

    This is the kind of thing that Popular Science told us that we'd all have in The Year 2000[tm]. Turns out that they were just a couple of years ahead of things.

    -Waldo Jaquith

    1. Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique by Mononoke · · Score: 5, Funny
      Popular science is the same magazine that predicted that we'd be using zero emmisions vehicles by now too.
      We do. They're called bicycles.

      --
      NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
    2. Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique by jandrese · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hmm, I don't know if even Bicycles would count. They seem to help produce increased levels of CO2 and increase the saline content of the local groundwater.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    3. Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique by Loligo · · Score: 3, Funny

      >>Popular science is the same magazine that
      >>predicted that we'd be using zero emmisions
      >>vehicles by now too.

      >We do. They're called bicycles.

      I dunno what YOUR diet consists of, but I've never been accused of being zero-emission regardless of my mode of transportation.

      Then again, if I could harness those emissions for powering an engine that runs on methane...

      Or maybe I've said too much.

      -l

  4. The resolution of the screen... by yobbo · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is 320*480

    just thought someone might want to know the truth...

  5. Officially released? Is this early May? by Software · · Score: 4, Informative
    The site says it's available early May, not now.
    Preorder today & receive FREE overnight shipping!
    ...
    Shipping early May
  6. Wireless by SCHecklerX · · Score: 2

    All I want is 802.11 so I can put my clie on the home lan.

    1. Re:Wireless by SCHecklerX · · Score: 2

      Because I already own a palm and can't justify spending the money. All I really need is the ability to telnet to my mailserver and jukebox, and I can do that once I figure out how to hack a serial cable for the clie.

    2. Re:Wireless by evil_one · · Score: 2

      That's why I love my Visor. I've got a springboard module for that.

      --
      Desperation is a stinky cologne
    3. Re:Wireless by rtstyk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not true. Handspring's springboard accepts an 802.11 b card from Xircom. It's pricey ($299) but it's available.

      http://www.handspring.com/products/Product.jhtml?i d=250018&cat=170003

      d.

      --
      I hate the fact that you people don't salute me
  7. Couple things... by l810c · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The resolution is better, but is the screen actually larger?

    Memory Sticks :( I wish they would lose these to make sharing between devices better. Sony being Sony I guess.

    1. Re:Couple things... by biglig2 · · Score: 2

      Surprisingly it turns out the Memory Sticks are more common than SD cards... of course CF as the mature technology has the most toys, and SD is more open, but if you'r elike my neighbour and have a house full of Sony stuff then it everything does talk to everything else.

      --
      ~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
  8. Re:320 x 480 at 65,000 colors ? by A+Commentor · · Score: 2

    No, mix that with MAME and you can play all the old classic Arcade games....

    --

    Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com

  9. Canada. by saintlupus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Following past trends of Sony, this handheld probably won't be available for at least 6 months for us Canadians *grumbles*.

    Yeah, but just think of how organized your hockey equipment will be in six short months.

    --saint
    (Who has lots of family in Canada.)

    1. Re:Canada. by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 2

      Fortunately for around the same price you can buy the iPaq 3835 and it's available even in Canada - even in Australia!

      So for those two hours that the battery works, you can be as productive as you wanna be! You go, girl!

      --
      by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  10. sharp is shipping the Zaurus now too by gonar · · Score: 2

    sorry, I relly love the half-VGA but the zaurus better fit's my wants/needs.

    and I can get a camera for it too.

    --
    The difference between Theory and Practice is greater in Practice than in Theory.
  11. Did Sony actually innovate? by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm stunned! I like the swivel job they did with the screen. That's the type of feature this device needs. One thing I hate about my PocketPC is having to lug a seperate keyboard around. With this device, it nicely integrates the two and even gives the unit an extra usability mode. I wasn't expecting this from Sony, they usually put their money into marketing instead of research. Just look at the Playstation 2. *YuCk*

    --
    "Derp de derp."
    1. Re:Did Sony actually innovate? by Incongruity · · Score: 2
      That keyboard is definitely going to come in handy. Especially since my thumbs have been "mutated" [slashdot.org] [slashdot.org] from several years of playing Tetris on my Gameboy.

      You have thumbs that small? I mean, you do realize that the thing measures only 2 7/8 inches wide...that would allow a maximum width of 0.2875 inches per button, without any space between them (which a close look at the pix on Sony's site reveals to be a generous assumption.) Now that's a tiny thumb and quite a mutation!

      So, yeah, my point really is not to make jokes about our poor "mutated" children, teens and young adults but rather point out that such as small keyboard actually may be more of a hinderance and waste of space than it is a help or value-added feature. I think there are better solutions to the problem of rapid/efficient input for such small devices. Two examples that jump to mind are both the systems used by Nokia in many (all?) of their cell phones.

      First is the predictive input where the user simply presses the number corresponding to the desired letter (standard 3 letter per numbered button phone configuration) for each letter and the phone uses its internal dictionary and word frequencies to 'guess' what word the user is trying to input.

      The second, more simple system is the one that uses multiple presses of a particular number to select from the 3 corresponding letters. While it takes a little more effort to press the button multiple times it is very intuitive and the size of the buttons are still managable. For reference, Nokia's super small 8290 and 8260 series phones use both those systems and their buttons are approx. 3/8ths of an inch wide and they're almost too small to use accurately.

    2. Re:Did Sony actually innovate? by NanoGator · · Score: 2

      Out of curiosity, did you actually use one of these? It's called a thumb-board. And my 'mutated thumbs' do pretty good on small keyboards like that. My gf has a pager that's roughly the dimensions you said and it works out really well.

      Trust me, the 3 letter per numbered pad thing sucks. I have a cell phone that can send/recieve email, and I ended up buying a little keyboard on it. It is sooo much nicer, despite not being very big.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
  12. Yes, but... by Aryeh+Goretsky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hello,

    It certainly looks very polished, in the SONY style of doing things, but how well does it work in every day life?

    The magnesium case is a plus, but how long do the pivot mechanisms last, and how solidly-built are they? Is the keyboard adequate for "thumb typing" or is it going to be limited to a "hunt-and-peck" style?

    How compatible is it with existing peripherals and software? One of the things I that annoys me about my Palm III and Palm V is that the peripherals are not interchangeable. Separate cradles, chargers, external keyboards, stylii, and so forth. Does buying a PEG-NR70V mean having to re-purchase all the accessories? I noticed that SONY has separate Memory Sticks for music and data. Which does the PEG-NR70V require to play MP3s? And does it actually play MP3s or require them to be converted to SONY's own ATRAC3 format?

    Also, I know it is hard to make comparisons between PalmOS and Windows CE devices, but does a 66MHz CPU have enough cycles to play MP3s and run an application in the foreground?

    With my Compaq Ipaq, I at least know there is a decent amount of expandability available via PC Cards. This device, while intriguing, seems to be lacking in backwards-compatibility and expandability.

    Regards,

    Aryeh Goretsky

    --
    Dexter is a good dog.
    1. Re:Yes, but... by k_187 · · Score: 5, Informative

      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
      1111 Race
      12112
    2. Re:Yes, but... by screwballicus · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.

    3. Re:Yes, but... by Keith+Russell · · Score: 4, Informative
      Does buying a PEG-NR70V mean having to re-purchase all the accessories?

      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.

      I noticed that SONY has separate Memory Sticks for music and data. Which does the PEG-NR70V require to play MP3s? And does it actually play MP3s or require them to be converted to SONY's own ATRAC3 format?

      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.

      ...does a 66MHz CPU have enough cycles to play MP3s and run an application in the foreground?

      No. That's why N- and NR-series Clies use a separate DSP for audio and gMovie playback.

      --
      This sig intentionally left blank.
  13. Expansion, GPS, Wireless Internet...? by SlashChick · · Score: 2

    Hmm, it seems to have everything I want except for expansion opportunities (sniff, no CompactFlash, just proprietary Memory Stick...)

    Does anyone know if Sony is planning to introduce a GPS add-on or a wireless Internet add-on? That would really make it worth the $600+!

    --
    Simpli - Your source for San Jose dedicated servers and colocation!
  14. Re:Sony Style by RedX · · Score: 2
    Anyone know how much it's going to cost?

    Believe it or not, the very first link in the story to Sony's site shows the NR70 at $499 and the NR70V (with camera) for $599.

  15. Real speakers? by ckkoh · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "a REAL SPEAKER for once, instead of the typical piezo buzzer"

    Given the dimensions of the PDA, it is just not possible to get good sound out from any speakers in it, whether real or not.
    Although it would have been cool to see people walking in the streets with their PDAs against their ears listening to mp3s. Sort of like the good old transistor radio days...

  16. I want one! by Hoo00 · · Score: 2, Funny

    But with current battery technology and my habits of listening to mp3, recording video, and running countless of background applications all at once, I wonder how many seconds I can unplug clie from the wall. They should make a wearable power generator an accessory.

  17. "I want this to have my children" by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    Unfortunately, the sony Memory Stick Vagina is about 6 months late to market.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  18. Sony is too Proprietary by puppetman · · Score: 2, Redundant

    Sony is horrible for implementing proprietary standards. Once you have their mp3 player with the memory stick, then you need a Vaio (some of which have a slot for the memory stick), their digital camera and MP3 player.

    Some companies think it's slick marketing. But only Sony could get away with it. IBM couldn't with their Microchannel Architecture.

    Open standards (like XML and other markup languages), like Open Source, should be high on the list for most /. readers.

    1. Re:Sony is too Proprietary by krokodil · · Score: 2

      I've purchased in local store $30 USB reader which
      reads Memory Stick, Compach Flash, SDM, Smart Media.
      Is not produced by SONY.

      Also Memory stick is proprietaty. They are produced
      by other companies, like Lexar.

  19. Camera as disappointing as expected by horza · · Score: 3, Informative

    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
    1. Re:Camera as disappointing as expected by Chairboy · · Score: 2

      Agreed, so why not save $100 and get the version w/o the camera? It's listed right there at $499.

  20. Why not just order one from the USA instead? by Ryu2 · · Score: 2
    following past trends of Sony, this handheld probably won't be available for at least 6 months for us Canadians *grumbles*.


    It's not like the CLIE handheld is a export restricted item, you know?

    --
    There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
    1. Re:Why not just order one from the USA instead? by sql*kitten · · Score: 2

      It's not like the CLIE handheld is a export restricted item, you know?

      Yeah, that Dragonball processor could be used to design Weapons of Mass Destruction... NOT!

  21. Re:lame by technomancerX · · Score: 2

    Are you trolling or just uninformed? If it was a Pocket PC device the stats would be unimpressive because Pocket PC is a hog. However, for a Palm OS device that's some seriouse power. Palm OS is designed to run on lower power hardware.

    --
    .technomancer
  22. Storage by asv108 · · Score: 2, Redundant
    I was excited when I saw that the NR70V was an mp3 player and had a digicam, but was sceptical about storage since it wasn't listed on the main page so I clicked on the specs page

    Memory
    16 MB (DRAM)
    8 MB (Flash)

    With 8 megs of memory I guess can take one photo and play one mp3 without purchasing sony's propreitary memory stick(cough.. cough.. remember beta guys)? I would be much more excited about this device if it had a substantial amount of built in storage or had a CF reader.

    1. Re:Storage by evil_one · · Score: 2

      Um, DRAM is what it uses for storage, the Flash holds the OS... sheesh

      --
      Desperation is a stinky cologne
  23. Re:All things considered... by Yorrike · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I'll agree it does look rather cool. Pity I've boycotted Sony products outright, though, due to these comments made by (at the time) Sony Pictures Entertainment US senior VP Steve Heckler.

    Any company that decides they know what I should and should not have access to, will not have access to any of my cash ;)

    --

    Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

  24. Re:How do you say the name? by zaffir · · Score: 2, Informative

    Its "klee-ay."

    --
    "Upon attaching the waterblock to my penis, I began to notice that I know nothing about computers." -- JRockway
  25. clie and linux? by blonde+rser · · Score: 2

    Since this clie comes only with the usb cradle I'm curious how well it'll work with linux. Has anybody experimented the the usb support in pilot-link. Is it stable? What about getting mp3s on? Does anybody out there know?

  26. palm info center prepared for slashdotting! by mikeee · · Score: 2

    Amusingly, after following the palminfocenter link, you see a web page with a banner at the top saying, "Hello, Slashdot reader! You have been redirected to this low-bandwidth version of the story so as not to hose us." (Well, I'm paraphrasing.) Wonder when they set that up?

  27. This is SWEET! by inburito · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just came back from tokyo and happened to visit the sony building where they had a ton of these to play with(aside new aibos and lot's of other cool stuff that they didn't even have in japanese electornics stores yet)... and it is SWEET!

    It has everything you could possible want. You can use it as a regular looking pda or as a flip open communicator with a keyboard on the bottom. The screen looks amazing compared to regular palms.

    Graffitti area could be turned into a click keyboard too (meaning that it was part of the screen) and the videos were actually worth watching. Sound was decent and of course it came with a sony style headphone plug(with the remote pins too) for when you actually want to listen to music.

    I did not have too much time to stay there(how much can you do in a day and a half in tokyo) but the immediate impression (and for an aibo too) was that I want one! If only half of the programs on the display model hadn't been in japanese I might have been able to play with it a little more extensively..

  28. Wireless Connectivity and Mac OS X support by wdavies · · Score: 2

    are missing as far as I can tell. The camera resolution is a little low as well, but I probably wouldn't be playing games on it, so the CPU speed isn't important.

    I wish for the day I don't need to lug my TiBook around except when I'm coding...

    Winton

  29. Re:Palm IIIc by IHateEverybody · · Score: 2

    I'm pretty much in the same boat except that I've really enjoyed using my Palm IIIc during the past year and a half. But I just got a Handspring Treo, so this wouldn't be my primary PDA, since the Treo can do double duty as my cell phone does a great job at Internet access.

    Still this new Clie sure is tempting. With the camera, keyboard, virtual Graffiti, hi-res screen, and MP3 support, it could come in really handy during the day even if I'm not using it as my primary organizer. Snapping quick pictures, light typing, music, games, and document handling -- it's almost like carrying around a bunch of devices in one box.

    I could probably duplicate most of this machine's functionality with Handspring Visor Prism and several Springboards. But in that case, we're talking about one small box and several tiny boxes that need to be accounted for when they are not snapped into the main box. I wonder if a memory stick can be kept in this new Clie all of the time.

    --
    Does this .sig make my butt look big?
  30. When will PalmOS run on faster CPU:s? by erl · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I agree that a key question is when Palm-based PDA:s will run on faster CPU:s, such as 200 MHz StrongARM:s.
    I'm working on Speech Recognition on StrongARM, and there are some really neat things that can be done on StrongARM-based PDA:s, but the Dragonball is out of the question.
    Personally, although I like PalmOS, I would rather go with something like the Linux-based Sharp Zaurus today, than buy a new PalmOS PDA with slow processors.

  31. But its missing some things by Richthofen80 · · Score: 2

    If its not also a cell-phone, then screw it. Thats the one thing its missing. If i could flip it open and put it against my ear and talk to my friends, or use its built in cellphone-ness to access the internet remotely, now there's something to me worth $600. True convergence means only one device, i'm tired of my motorola startac.

    --
    Reason, free market capitalism, and individualism
  32. Re:"I want this to have my children" by Chelloveck · · Score: 2

    I don't know, kinda depends on the dimensions of the user, doesn't it? Maybe the memory stick slot is big enough for the article's submitter.

    --
    Chelloveck
    I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.