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Why you should wait for Dell’s handhelds

Unless you need a handheld device tomorrow, my advice to those who are looking for a PDA is to wait and see what Dell comes up with. While scant details are available, Dell officials have indeed confirmed that the company is about to dive into that market and that units could appear in time for the holiday buying season.

How can I recommend something that makes vaporware look like a shipping product? It’s simple. Not counting printers, Dell has a very straight-forward model for doing business: It takes the same, relatively standard off-the-shelf parts (Intel processors, Microsoft operating systems, memory, displays, etc.) that its competition is using, integrates those parts into something that works well, puts that something in a cardboard box, and sells the same system everyone else sells–but for a lot less money.”

Source:Zdnet
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“CHIBA, JAPAN - Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. has unveiled a working prototype of a SD (Secure Digital) memory card with a 1G byte capacity, at the Ceatec 2002 exhibition.

The company, which is better known by its Panasonic brand name, said the card is not expected to go on sale until around one year from now when a larger market for such a capacity card exists and production costs have fallen. The card will be the first SD memory card to take advantage of a higher speed interface that will be able to shift data between the card and device at up to 20M bps (bytes per second) — double the speed of current 256M-byte and 512M-byte cards and 10 times the speed of cards that are up to 128M byte capacity.

Matsushita’s current SD memory card road map calls for a 2G-byte card to follow the planned 1G-byte version sometime in 2004 and then cards in 4G-byte, 8G-byte and 16G-byte capacities to follow from 2005.

Alongside the new memory card, the company was also demonstrating prototypes of new products based around the SD system, including a media storage device. It accepts both an SD memory card and PC Card hard disk drive and is capable of transferring images from the card to the hard disk, enabling it to be used to back up a card. At 250 grams, it is also light enough to be taken on vacation to back up cards when they become full, removing the need to buy many cards.

The device also has a TV mode which users can use to drive a slideshow of stored digital images when connected to a television set. ”

Source:IDG.com
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Thanks to PDAfrance for the image.

Specs on the device are below:

- 185 Grammes

- 130 x 80 x 17 mm

- JogDial

- Intel Xscale PXA250 400Mhz or 300 Mhz (Depends on model)

- 64MB RAM, 48MB Rom (or 32MB RAM & 32MB ROM)

- 1 Compact Flash type II slot

- 1 SD Slot

- Removable Li-Ion Battery 1440 mAh

Source:PdaFrance
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A computer’s screen is its window to the world. It’s the place where man meets machine face to face, or face to interface, to be exact. This is true for desktop computers as well as their pint-size siblings, handheld computers. But that’s where the commonality ends, because while desktop and handheld computer screens have many similarities, they also have several significant differences, such as size and power draw. But there are also key distinctions between the types of screens used in the various handheld computers; distinctions that could ultimately influence which PDA may be best for you……

Read article @ Brighthand
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“Imagine a CD with a storage capacity not of 650 MB but 650 million MB. Such a storage capacity is theoretically possible because of experiments using individual atoms to store data.

But do not expect it soon; the gap between theory and practice is wide.

In 1959, physicist Richard Feynman pointed out that all the words written in the history of the world could be contained in a cube of material one tenth of a millimetre wide - provided those words were written with atoms.

Now, scientists have done just that, creating an atomic-scale memory by using atoms of silicon in place of the 1s and 0s that computers use to store data.

Proof of concept ”

Full story @ Twomobile.com

Source:MyPDAcafe.com
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DataPlay, a start-up that developed a secure new media format it expected would replace the CD, has shut down at least temporarily as it looks for new funding.

Todd Oseth, the Boulder, Colo.-based company’s senior vice president of business and marketing, confirmed that all employees were furloughed last week after DataPlay ran out of money.

DataPlay’s discs are about the size of a quarter and can hold up to 500MB of data, or 11 hours of music, and include security features to prevent unauthorized copying of music. Major record labels have supported the format, and DataPlay expected to have discs featuring artists such as Britney Spears and N’Sync on the market by the end of this month.

The company, which has raised $120 million to date, needs $40 million to $50 million to complete the next phase of operations, Oseth said. Numerous funding sources have expressed interest, but not enough to fill out the round, he said.

“In general, whenever you’re raising money, people want to see a plan, and they want to make sure the total amount of money is available,” Oseth said. “If you don’t have the last little bit, nobody’s going to commit.”

Oseth added that this is a financially demanding time for the company, as it moves from research and development to putting finished products on the market. “It’s kind of sad,” he said. “It’s like having a race car come to the start line without any fuel.”

The company’s 120 workers–down from 240 after a round of layoffs in July–were notified of the furlough last week. Workers with vacation time or sick leave are using that in the interim, while others are on unpaid leave. Oseth said the company hopes to be able to tell employees by the end of the week when they can return to work.

Source: News.com
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Hewlett Packard plans to release two new iPaq handhelds for the holidays, including its slimmest model yet and a high-end model with built-in wireless networking.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company will use the low-end model to go after the $200 to $400 midrange market, which accounts for half of all handheld shipments, according to Cindy Box, a marketing director for handhelds at HP. Like its predecessors, the device has four buttons, a brushed-metal case and a color screen. However, the new device is far thinner and smaller, and also includes a Secure Digital expansion slot. In an interview, Box briefly demonstrated the device. However she declined to provide specifications and pricing for the new models.

HP is also aiming at corporate users with the high-end device, which includes built-in 802.11b wireless and Bluetooth capabilities along with a built-in fingerprint reader that can be used to give a device owner exclusive access to the machine. The high-end unit will be priced in the $400 to $650 range, a niche that Box said accounts for a third of all handheld shipments.

Future versions of the high-end unit will include the built-in ability to connect with cellular networks, starting with the GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) network.

“We’re broadening our market reach and will address a range of price bands…we want to continue to innovate as we have in the past,” said Box.

On Monday, display company ViewSonic announced its first Pocket PC 2002-based handheld, which will be available Nov. 1, priced at $299. The midrange market is one Microsoft and its Pocket PC 2002 OS hardware partners will pursue aggressively in hopes of growing the market and their share of it.

“As our market base grows, we have to move into different price bands to grow the market and offer a complete portfolio of products to customers,” said Ed Suwanjindar, a spokesman for Microsoft. “Attacking the low- and midrange tiers is absolutely a priority for us.

Suwanjindar added that with its 29 licensees, Microsoft will seek to address all market niches with several different partners in each.

In addition, Dell Computer has announced its intention of selling a handheld and is said to be targeting the low-end of the device market. Palm is also moving to address lower segments of the market with a $99 device, expected to debut Oct. 7.

“With more price points, more people are likely to use Pocket PC devices, which will help to grow the market,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with research firm Jupiter Research. “Pocket PC (devices) have not really been able to play in the midrange in the past, so this should help them to compete better.”

Gartenberg added that as more niches appear, the high-end is not likely to be affected dramatically. The situation will instead gives manufacturers the option to build more high-end features into devices, such as fingerprint and other biometric readers.

“Security on handhelds is a particularly big issue, as is getting people to use the security features,” said Gartenberg. The easier security features are to put to work, the more likely business workers are to protect their devices with them, Gartenberg added.

Source:News.com

Specs are below. There is no mention of processor but I would guess Xscale 400mhz!! No pictures yet but I am sure they won’t be long. If anyone has any more info on this device please e-mail ronan@ppczone.net

Weight: 185g

Thickness: 0.7″ thin

Look: Silver with rubber sides, jog dial

Display: 240×320 pixel screen

Memory: 64Mb

Expansion: CF and SD slots

Connectivity: IRDA, Bluetooth and WiFI via CF slot

Music: MP3 player and universal remote control software

Energy: Removable battery (hi capacity option)

Holder: USB cradle (with spare battery charging slot)

Batteries: Batteries are 1440mwh and 3400mwh

Source:The inquirer

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MobileWise is a fabless semiconductor company that revolutionizes electric power delivery to mobile devices with the introduction of the first safe wire-free electric power transfer technology.

Mobility has been hindered by the Last Wire problem - the dependency on plugging in mobile devices for electric power. The MobileWise technology and its associated family of products finally deliver the freedom to be fully mobile. No more wires, no more cords, no plugs! The company has multiple worldwide patent applications for its groundbreaking wire-free electric power transfer technologies.

MobileWise sells its customers chipsets and reference designs for:

Wire-free Electricity Bases, and

Enabling mobile devices to draw electric power from these Electricity Bases

The Wire-free Electricity Base chipset enables sophisticated power delivery management to multiple devices with a variety of power needs. A complementary adapter chipset resides within the mobile device, enabling it to draw power from the Wire-free Electricity Base.

MobileWise customer base include leading mobile, networking and power accessories OEMs.

MobileWise technology was designed from the ground up, and is now offering a user the following benefits:

• User Safety

  The MobileWise Wire-free Electricity Base is safe for users, meeting and exceeding domestic and international safety standards.

• Power Delivery

  The Wire-free Electricity Base provides full power, enough to simultaneously operate and charge laptops, PDAs and mobile phones.

• Electromagnetic Compatibility

  Power is transferred using DC currents; the MobileWise Wire-free Electricity Base does not utilize electromagnetic or RF fields.

• Data & Equipment Safety

  Since the Wire-free Electricity Base does not utilize magnetic fields, the technology is safe for magnetic media, such as hard drives, and does not interfere with the operation of electronic equipment.

• Low-Cost Integration

  The MobileWise Wire-free Electricity Base can be integrated with existing mobile devices via minimal electronic and mechanical changes.

Source:Mobilewise.com

This sounds very interesting. Wirefree power. Comments???
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