New Clie Handhelds 226
Carthis writes "Sony has officially released their newest Clié handheld, the PEG-NR70, in the USA. This one has a clamshell design, a high resolution 480 x 320 screen (half VGA), Sony's MemoryStick slot, built in MP3 player, enhanced IR port (like the Sony 'T' series), and a REAL SPEAKER for once, instead of the typical piezo buzzer. I want this to have my children. PalmInfoCenter has this story about this tasty new handheld.
Following past trends of Sony, this handheld probably won't be available for at least 6 months for us Canadians *grumbles*."
All things considered... (Score:1, Funny)
Sony Style (Score:1)
Re:Sony Style (Score:1)
Re:Sony Style (Score:1)
Re:Sony Style (Score:2)
Believe it or not, the very first link [sonystyle.com] in the story to Sony's site shows the NR70 at $499 and the NR70V (with camera) for $599.
Re:Sony Style (Score:1)
Re:Sony Style (Score:1)
Re:All things considered... (Score:3, Interesting)
Any company that decides they know what I should and should not have access to, will not have access to any of my cash ;)
Re:All things considered... (Score:1)
I just think their products are neat looking but not neat functioning. I have yet to see a sony dvd player play a vcd. (I have a relatively small control set of that (only about 3 machines one is SUPPOSED to play them).
I had not seen that article, thanks. More fuel for the fire.
Excellent! (Score:4, Funny)
You want what? (Score:1, Offtopic)
I knew geeks had trouble getting girls, but god damn, you're pathetic!
power (Score:1)
Is there a good market for these? (Score:2)
Re:Is there a good market for these? (Score:2, Interesting)
Wow...Tres Futuristique (Score:3, Insightful)
This is the kind of thing that Popular Science told us that we'd all have in The Year 2000[tm]. Turns out that they were just a couple of years ahead of things.
-Waldo Jaquith
Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique (Score:1)
Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Wow...Tres Futuristique (Score:3, Funny)
>>predicted that we'd be using zero emmisions
>>vehicles by now too.
>We do. They're called bicycles.
I dunno what YOUR diet consists of, but I've never been accused of being zero-emission regardless of my mode of transportation.
Then again, if I could harness those emissions for powering an engine that runs on methane...
Or maybe I've said too much.
-l
The resolution of the screen... (Score:3, Funny)
just thought someone might want to know the truth...
Re:The resolution of the screen... (Score:1)
Re:The resolution of the screen... (Score:1)
Re:The resolution of the screen... (Score:1)
IMO this is the best PalmOS handheld available, even though it's not color. Awesome piece of hardware.
Officially released? Is this early May? (Score:4, Informative)
Wireless (Score:2)
Re:Wireless (Score:1)
Stroll around palminfocenter.com for the info.
Re:Wireless (Score:1)
Re:Wireless (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.handspring.com/products/Product.jhtml?
d.
Re:Wireless (Score:2)
Re:Wireless (Score:1)
It'd be cool if they released a memory stick-slot using 802.11b addon. I'd get it for my Clie in a second. Of course, then i'd have to buy another wireless base station for browsing while at school.
Re:Wireless (Score:2)
Couple things... (Score:2, Interesting)
Memory Sticks
Re:Couple things... (Score:1)
Re:Couple things... (Score:2)
no longer PDA (Score:1)
Re:no longer PDA (Score:1)
Canada. (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but just think of how organized your hockey equipment will be in six short months.
--saint
(Who has lots of family in Canada.)
Re:Canada. (Score:2)
So for those two hours that the battery works, you can be as productive as you wanna be! You go, girl!
sharp is shipping the Zaurus now too (Score:2)
and I can get a camera for it too.
Re:sharp is shipping the Zaurus now too (Score:1)
http://www.sharpplace.com/
Did Sony actually innovate? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Did Sony actually innovate? (Score:1)
Re:Did Sony actually innovate? (Score:2)
You have thumbs that small? I mean, you do realize that the thing measures only 2 7/8 inches wide...that would allow a maximum width of 0.2875 inches per button, without any space between them (which a close look at the pix on Sony's site reveals to be a generous assumption.) Now that's a tiny thumb and quite a mutation!
So, yeah, my point really is not to make jokes about our poor "mutated" children, teens and young adults but rather point out that such as small keyboard actually may be more of a hinderance and waste of space than it is a help or value-added feature. I think there are better solutions to the problem of rapid/efficient input for such small devices. Two examples that jump to mind are both the systems used by Nokia in many (all?) of their cell phones.
First is the predictive input where the user simply presses the number corresponding to the desired letter (standard 3 letter per numbered button phone configuration) for each letter and the phone uses its internal dictionary and word frequencies to 'guess' what word the user is trying to input.
The second, more simple system is the one that uses multiple presses of a particular number to select from the 3 corresponding letters. While it takes a little more effort to press the button multiple times it is very intuitive and the size of the buttons are still managable. For reference, Nokia's super small 8290 and 8260 series phones use both those systems and their buttons are approx. 3/8ths of an inch wide and they're almost too small to use accurately.
Re:Did Sony actually innovate? (Score:2)
Trust me, the 3 letter per numbered pad thing sucks. I have a cell phone that can send/recieve email, and I ended up buying a little keyboard on it. It is sooo much nicer, despite not being very big.
Yes, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
It certainly looks very polished, in the SONY style of doing things, but how well does it work in every day life?
The magnesium case is a plus, but how long do the pivot mechanisms last, and how solidly-built are they? Is the keyboard adequate for "thumb typing" or is it going to be limited to a "hunt-and-peck" style?
How compatible is it with existing peripherals and software? One of the things I that annoys me about my Palm III and Palm V is that the peripherals are not interchangeable. Separate cradles, chargers, external keyboards, stylii, and so forth. Does buying a PEG-NR70V mean having to re-purchase all the accessories? I noticed that SONY has separate Memory Sticks for music and data. Which does the PEG-NR70V require to play MP3s? And does it actually play MP3s or require them to be converted to SONY's own ATRAC3 format?
Also, I know it is hard to make comparisons between PalmOS and Windows CE devices, but does a 66MHz CPU have enough cycles to play MP3s and run an application in the foreground?
With my Compaq Ipaq, I at least know there is a decent amount of expandability available via PC Cards. This device, while intriguing, seems to be lacking in backwards-compatibility and expandability.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Re:Yes, but... (Score:5, Informative)
There's a seperate DSP to handle MP3 playback, so the processor won't be handling that.
Re:Yes, but... (Score:1)
If the pivot/hinge is anything like a hinge on a Sony laptop I wouldn't give it more than a month before breaking.
Broken hinge or not, I'll have to admit that this is one of the coolest gadgets around.
Re:Yes, but... (Score:1)
Pivot mechanism? Have no idea until I see one in person. Should be in retail stores in about 30 days.
Existing periphs and software: Full compatibility with everything Palm as far as software goes, as far as hardware goes, yeah, you still have to get it from Sony, but the spiffy digicam you might have picked up for a N760C will work with anything else.
IIRC, MP3's can be played using any Mem Stick media, doesn't have to be MagicGate (the SD version) Yes, native playing is supported.
Processor question was already answered.
Yeah, I agree with you there, the expandibility of the Sony is limited to the Memory Stick media. Be nice to have some sort of PC card or CF additions, but what can you do.
Re:Yes, but... (Score:3, Informative)
When will PalmOS run on faster CPU:s? (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm working on Speech Recognition on StrongARM, and there are some really neat things that can be done on StrongARM-based PDA:s, but the Dragonball is out of the question.
Personally, although I like PalmOS, I would rather go with something like the Linux-based Sharp Zaurus today, than buy a new PalmOS PDA with slow processors.
Re:Yes, but... (Score:4, Informative)
Most of the accessories listed on sonystyle are also compatible with the T-series. Unfortunately, T- and NR-series accessories are not interchangeable with the N- or S-series. Rather like pre- and post-Universal Connector Palm devices.
In reality, it's separate sticks for ATRAC3 and (World + Dog - ATRAC3). I believe the NR-series is like the N-series, which means it will will work with both ATRAC3 on MagicGate and MP3 on Memory Stick, with no conversion necessary. Interestingly enough, sonystyle always listed both MagicGate and Memory Stick as accessories for the N-series, but only list Memory Stick for the NR. The only other devices that ever required MagicGate were their Network Walkman ATRAC3 players. Maybe they've finally realized that nobody will voluntarily choose Digital Rights Management when given an unencumbered alternative.
No. That's why N- and NR-series Clies use a separate DSP for audio and gMovie playback.
Expansion, GPS, Wireless Internet...? (Score:2)
Does anyone know if Sony is planning to introduce a GPS add-on or a wireless Internet add-on? That would really make it worth the $600+!
Re:Expansion, GPS, Wireless Internet...? (Score:1)
Re:Expansion, GPS, Wireless Internet...? (Score:1, Informative)
Real speakers? (Score:2, Insightful)
Given the dimensions of the PDA, it is just not possible to get good sound out from any speakers in it, whether real or not.
Although it would have been cool to see people walking in the streets with their PDAs against their ears listening to mp3s. Sort of like the good old transistor radio days...
I want one! (Score:2, Funny)
about 5 hours (Score:1)
"I want this to have my children" (Score:1)
Re:"I want this to have my children" (Score:1)
How do you say the name? (Score:1)
Why doesn't it have 802.11b network support? I can't spend my whole life beaming IR, that's way too inconvenient.
And assuming that they did build 802.11b support for this clee-thingie, is there a Citrix client for Palm OS? Because then it would really be useful. Otherwise I will stick with iPAQ Pocket PC's tiny little 320x240 screen. I hate that little screen but it's more of a business tool and less of a digital camera / mp3 player / way to impress your friends. Especially if you need to run your Windows application on wireless handheld devices using 128-bit SSL over MetaFrame.
Re:How do you say the name? (Score:2, Informative)
Yeah, yeah, yeah... (Score:1)
Re:Yeah, yeah, yeah... (Score:1)
I do still drool over my friends IPaq though.
Jaysyn
"I want this to have my children" (Score:2, Offtopic)
- A.P.
Re:"I want this to have my children" (Score:2)
I don't know, kinda depends on the dimensions of the user, doesn't it? Maybe the memory stick slot is big enough for the article's submitter.
Palm IIIc (Score:1)
Re:Palm IIIc (Score:2)
Still this new Clie sure is tempting. With the camera, keyboard, virtual Graffiti, hi-res screen, and MP3 support, it could come in really handy during the day even if I'm not using it as my primary organizer. Snapping quick pictures, light typing, music, games, and document handling -- it's almost like carrying around a bunch of devices in one box.
I could probably duplicate most of this machine's functionality with Handspring Visor Prism and several Springboards. But in that case, we're talking about one small box and several tiny boxes that need to be accounted for when they are not snapped into the main box. I wonder if a memory stick can be kept in this new Clie all of the time.
Sony is too Proprietary (Score:2, Redundant)
Some companies think it's slick marketing. But only Sony could get away with it. IBM couldn't with their Microchannel Architecture.
Open standards (like XML and other markup languages), like Open Source, should be high on the list for most
Re:Sony is too Proprietary (Score:2)
reads Memory Stick, Compach Flash, SDM, Smart Media.
Is not produced by SONY.
Also Memory stick is proprietaty. They are produced
by other companies, like Lexar.
Re:Sony is too Proprietary (Score:1)
Remember, ISA was "proprietary", IBM controlled the definition. It's just that they didn't charge royalties to use it. MCA wasn't any different in the "proprietariness" standpoint, it's just that IBM wanted to force manufacturers to pay a royalty, hence the defection and creation of EISA.
Re:Sony is too Proprietary (Score:1)
Camera as disappointing as expected (Score:3, Informative)
Phillip.
Re:Camera as disappointing as expected (Score:2)
[OT] Re:Camera as disappointing as expected (Score:1)
Just sign here... (Score:1)
However, Sony understands [sonystyle.com].
Just pay twice the price spread out over a couple years. You'll be thanking yourself when you're making that final $30 payment on a PDA that was useless two years ago.
Sony Financing services... I'll finance you!
Why not just order one from the USA instead? (Score:2)
It's not like the CLIE handheld is a export restricted item, you know?
Re:Why not just order one from the USA instead? (Score:2)
Yeah, that Dragonball processor could be used to design Weapons of Mass Destruction... NOT!
Do remember that this is the same Sony (Score:1, Troll)
They would need to turn out a truly incredibly good product before I would either consider or recommend them. I don't think that this is good enough.
Re:Do remember that this is the same Sony (Score:1)
Speed + Portability (Score:1)
Storage (Score:2, Redundant)
Memory
16 MB (DRAM)
8 MB (Flash)
With 8 megs of memory I guess can take one photo and play one mp3 without purchasing sony's propreitary memory stick(cough.. cough.. remember beta guys)? I would be much more excited about this device if it had a substantial amount of built in storage or had a CF reader.
Re:Storage (Score:2)
Screen (Score:1)
My Clie's screen has become scratched to HELL from everyday (very light) use, and the screen is not covered under the warranty.
clie and linux? (Score:2)
palm info center prepared for slashdotting! (Score:2)
This is SWEET! (Score:5, Interesting)
It has everything you could possible want. You can use it as a regular looking pda or as a flip open communicator with a keyboard on the bottom. The screen looks amazing compared to regular palms.
Graffitti area could be turned into a click keyboard too (meaning that it was part of the screen) and the videos were actually worth watching. Sound was decent and of course it came with a sony style headphone plug(with the remote pins too) for when you actually want to listen to music.
I did not have too much time to stay there(how much can you do in a day and a half in tokyo) but the immediate impression (and for an aibo too) was that I want one! If only half of the programs on the display model hadn't been in japanese I might have been able to play with it a little more extensively..
Yeah but .... (Score:1)
funny thought - you can use the 'V' model to take snappies of the clueless sales droids while you download M$ Offal X
Wireless Connectivity and Mac OS X support (Score:2)
I wish for the day I don't need to lug my TiBook around except when I'm coding...
Winton
I want one with... (Score:1)
And thank you Sony for taking back the lead in the over-$500-handheld market.
Nice, but... (Score:1)
But its missing some things (Score:2)
Re:Canada (Score:1)
Or you Canuckers could just order it online and... receive it exactly when us Yanks do.
Re:Half VGA? (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:Half VGA? (Score:1)
In the specs in Sony's website
they say the resolution is 320x480.
That's half VGA. I am looking forward to try one of these toys, they look so sweet...
Re:320 x 480 at 65,000 colors ? (Score:2)
Ah, yes, 1 of 3 reasons why I have a dual boot (Score:1)
Quicken
Topo Maps
Re:Ah, yes, 1 of 3 reasons why I have a dual boot (Score:1)
What OS doesn't support the Palm Pilot? If you have a serial cradle, I think you can run palm-sync utilities on just about any OS - well, any OS that supports serial port hardware, which is pretty much any OS. If you have a USB cradle, you're probably stuck with Linux or some species of Windows.
Re:Ah, yes, 1 of 3 reasons why I have a dual boot (Score:1)
Re:lame (Score:2)
Re:lame (Score:1)