Sharp's Zaurus SL-5500 is official
By: Jørgen Sundgot, 03.12.01 16:53
Not long ago, we showed you the pictures of Sharp's developer unit; now, the consumer version designated Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 has been announced with bells and whistles.
While getting to see a developer unit is all good and well and gives a good clue as to what kind of device will be offered to consumers, you can never be sure what the differences will be. Not long ago, we uncovered the first pictures of what is to be Sharp's first real entry into the larger PDA market outside Asia - although that was only the developer's unit. This time around, we'll show you the official consumer device.
Sharp's new Zaurus Linux PDA is finally official - and it certainly stands out in a crowd with its original thumbboard With no difference in looks, there's only a few minor things that differentiate the SL-5000D developers' version of the new Zaurus Linux PDA and the SL-5500 for consumers and other mere mortals. It still has the same 240 x 320 pixel resolution 16-bit reflective LCD screen technology, a rather unusual implementation of a QWERTY thumbboard with a sliding cover, dual expansion with a Compact Flash and Secure Digital card slot and Intel StrongARM 206MHz processor - but unlike the developer's version 32 MB, the SL-5500 has 64MB of RAM.
On the software side, there's a MP3 and MPEG1 multimedia player and several PIM applications (with address book, calendar, calculator, text editor, to do list and clock with a built-in stopwatch), a POP3/IMAP4/SMTP-capable email client, an Internet browser (displaying pages in HTML format), and the operating system is equipped with handwriting recognition and an on-screen keyboard feature as well.
According to Sharp, several wired and wireless modems, 802.11b network cards and Bluetooth connectivity cards are compatible with the SL-5500, although the company did not provide a list of just which cards Sharp also promised that by 2002, users will be able to choose from CDPD, as well as 1xRTT and GPRS modems.
"The Zaurus SL-5500 demonstrates Sharp's ability to stay ahead of the pack," said Steve Petix, Associate Vice President of Mobile Solutions and IT Group. "By combining state-of-the-art Sharp hardware technology and a powerful operating system in one compact device, this new PDA is one of the most versatile and flexible mobile communications and multimedia solutions on the market."
If you'd like to see a couple of hi-res pictures portraying what the new Sharp SL-5500 looks like, you'll find them on the following pages. Enjoy :)
infosync.no
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I recommend checking out the photos. |
