Hitachi shows CDMA Pocket PC - Infospace w/ photos
By: Jørgen Sundgot, Tuesday, 07.01.03 17:01 GMT
Following Samsung's lead, Hitachi joins the brand new category of CDMA Pocket PC Phone Edition devices - adding an integrated thumbboard and a digital camera to the mix.
Short on the heels of Samsung's announcement of its new i700 CDMA Pocket PC Phone Edition device, Hitachi joins ranks with its Multimedia Communicator - also based on Pocket PC Phone Edition, and supporting tri-band-CDMA and CDMA2000 1xRTT. Like the Samsung i700, the Hitachi Multimedia Communicator sports an integrated digital camera, but also adds stands out in its own right; it's the first Pocket PC with an integrated thumbboard.
To be available from Sprint by June 30, the Multimedia Communicator will be powered by a 400 MHz Intel XScale processor, which is on par with most high-end, non-connected devices available today. Competing connected devices, however, such as the O2 XDA, T-Mobile MDA and Siemens SX56 all use more conventional 206 MHz Intel StrongARM processors. Samsung has yet to announce any of the technical specifications of the i700.
Like the i700, the Multimedia Communicator comes with an integrated digital camera, following up on the trend which has been increasing in the U.S. mobile phone market over the past few months. Signaling even further diversification, though, is the integrated thumbboard of the unit - the first of its kind among Pocket PCs.
Whether Microsoft has loosened the strict regulations manufacturers have had to adhere to in the past is still too early to say, but the two new CDMA Pocket PC Phone Edition devices do at least stand apart from what has recently become a crowd of more or less similar devices.
Hitachi said the company is working closely with mobile operators toward not only retail availability but also enterprise availability of the Hitachi Multimedia Communicator in the United States, giving slightly confusing signals as the company also said the Multimedia Communicator would be available exclusively through Sprint.
An additional hi-res picture of the Hitachi Multimedia Communicator is available on the following page.
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