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JVC Announces Media-Centric Pocket PCs
An anonymous reader writes "infoSync World writes about two new high-end Pocket PC models from JVC, the MP-PV131 and MP-PV331. Running on Windows Mobile 2003, the Pocket PCs boast 128 MB SDRAM, built-in Wi-Fi and MPEG4 video and audio streaming and capture capabilities. The new devices are also equipped with software for use along with JVC camcorders. The new models will be available in the U.S. in September at $499.95 US and $599.95 US respectively"
All PDA development seems to be geared toward media and organization.
Some of us (geeks/coders) just want a portable UNIX system. I wish the Debian/Zaurus port wasn't abandoned. X11 on such a thing would kick some serious ass.
Anyways, if you want more than a gameboy/organizer, check out the Sharp Zaurus SL-5500. The 5600 really skimps on RAM, so ignore it.
You can't judge a book by the way it wears its hair.
Well, when the specs of PDAs aren't "creeping up and up" but rather increasing exponentially, it takes time for the prices to settle. The fact that nearly all the chips are coming from Intel can't help lower prices any.
This, and a lack of demand in the handheld market has kept prices high. Everybody already has a Palm--a IIIxe or older--and most everyone feels that they have enough.
The Political Programmer
Of course, the battery will only last an hour if you do anything intensive like that.
I don't see any reason to buy a PDA if the battery only lasts a few hours under heavy load, and that's what I've seen of most PDAs these days. I remember when people would run their PDAs on AA batteries and they didn't need to replace them more than once a month.
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
Besides, you can't lug a cheap 233mhz Pentium system around in your pocket. You pay for convienence.
I smell something less savory.
Even consumer DV cameras use 25 Mbit/s video streams. You might (might!) get one channel of video over an 802.11g link. To do multiple angles means multiple access points - that's a separate ethernet run over to the access point, which has to be fairly close to the camera... and trust me: even relatively inexpensive camera cables are more durable than Ethernet.
This is all assuming that the Pocket PC is capable of actually taking the DV stream in and firing it back out over WiFi - presumably 802.11b, which can't handle the datastream anyway.
I'm betting (having been there, thanks) that very few small TV stations are willing to trust multicamera setups to DV and Windows of any stripe.
It's a nice thought, though. Maybe in 5 or 10 years, OK?
Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
Seriously, unless it's just me, I sense a general malaise about the whole PDA thing. Companies keep launching the "next greatest thing in pocket PCs", but I just don't see mass numbers of people adopting/using them.
Basically, they still feel like "toys for the man who has everything" and "nifty prizes to win in a contest" more than "must have" items.
I'm still using a Kyocera 6035 combo cellphone/PalmPilot, and I really don't find myself needing such things as "128 megs. of RAM" or streaming video in it. I simply keep a few important addresses and phone numbers in it, use an applet every once in a blue moon that turns the phone into an alarm clock, and regularly read news items on it via "AvantGo" software.
As people keep saying (but the manufacturers don't seem to be listening), long battery life is more useful than thousands of colors and tons of storage space. When I need a computer, I want a full-size keyboard to type on and a screen large enough to read easily. I'll deal with the extra size of a slim laptop. When I don't, I just want something with the basics in it - and no extra flash.
I don't have a PDA (I still keep a spiral bound small calendar, nothing I've seen beats it so far, though I keep hoping) but if I did, it'd be more for scheduling/calendar and keeping track of phone numbers.
IAAL
Belive it or not, Pocket PC prices have been falling steadily over the last few years. The JVC device costs less that $500 and includes 802.11b and several card slots, but a first generation iPaq cost upwards of $550 before you bought the expansion sled. To spend that kind of money on a Pocket PC now, you'd need to buy a Phone Edition version, and even that's getting pretty hard.
This is because of the economics of the device market more than anything else. Customers will pay a premium for useful features like 802.11b, but the BOM cost is heavily driven by the screen, the battery, and the CPU. It's more profitable to take a sloppy but reliable reference design and simply slap a few premium features on it than it is to do the extensive optimization of circuit board layout and power supply to make a profit at the low end.