Sharp To Ship New HD-equipped Zaurus In Japan

ctid writes "On 10th November, Sharp will release its new Zaurus PDA. The SL-C3000 includes a 4GB hard drive, a 416MHz Intel XScale PXA270 CPU and 64MB of RAM. All of that in a package weighing 298g! There is no news as to whether Sharp will release this ludicrously desirable toy in the West, but I'm not hopeful personally. Maybe we can rely on suppliers like dynamism.com (in the USA) or shirtpocket.co.uk (in the UK) to help us out?"

Comments

no wifi? Bummer. But 10.5 ounces! Woo!

[garcia]

Unlike Sony's PDAs, there's no wireless on the Sharp model, only infra-red. There's an SD and a CompactFlash card slot for expansion, so there's scope to add Bluetooth or Wi-Fi later on. There's also the usual USB port for connecting the device to a PC, and an earphones socket.

I don't understand their decision not to include wireless into the device. Yeah you could add it with a CF card but that's an added expense and something else to carry w/you. Plenty of businesses now offer wireless service (Old Chicago, Kinkos, coffee houses, and a bunch of bars come to mind) and I would certainly think that most people would consider wifi a necessary feature.

The base of the unit above the keyboard looks a bit thick. I wonder if it is meant to be held in your hands and you type w/your thumbs or if it is to sit on a surface and you type normally. Personally I prefer holding a device in my hands and typing but that's just me.

I am now, more than ever, interested in some sort of "palm top" device for use in my home. I love being able to walk around and do what I need to do online from wherever. Even a laptop seems too bulky for me these days. At a little over 10.5 ounces this would be the perfect device for that purpose.

Welcome to 2002!

[VE3ECM]

Okay, while I love Linux as much as the next guy, seriously:

"...416MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor backed by 64MB of SDRAM and 16MB of Flash ROM."

64 ram and 16 rom??? No Wi-fi or Bluetooth built in? How many of us actually use infrared on a regular basis?

Sorry, Sharp; you're doing all of us a disservice by not promoting Linux as a device that can compete with comparable Windows Mobile-based devices.

Re:Welcome to 2002!

[Michael Spencer Jr.]

Sharp Japan is doing the American market a disservice by not including WiFi, and also by not selling the device in the USA AT ALL.

Sharp Japan is doing the Japanese market a big service by not including WiFi, allowing Japanese users to buy their own cellular data cards (AirH, PHS, etc, with data rates at something like $20/month for 128 kbit) which are already subscribed to a cellular service.

Sharp USA will probably make different decisions. Sharp Japan has the Japanese market to think about. Please respect them for that.

Not everyone Wants Wifi

[randyflood]

Not *everyone* wants wifi.

Most people do. But there are some people who work in enviornments where they are prohibited from bringing wifi devices. So, there is a tradeoff there. Also, some people want a lower cost, and would like Wifi, but also want a lower cost device as well, and would be willing to buy the device now, and add wifi later.

From a manufacturer's perspective, it is better to have that customer buy your product, and then purchase Wifi later, then it is to lose that customer to some other manufacturer based on them having a lower cost device. If people really want Wifi, then, simply create a bundle that lets people purchase your PDA along with the CF card that gives them WIFI, and then the problem is solved. That way, you can market your product to both sets of people and straddle the two segments of customers.

It's a little kludgy. But, I don't think it's such a horrible strategy.

Randy