We’ve obtained pictures of a device that we’re told is the “Onyx,” a 3G-enabled GSM BlackBerry that looks like a slightly sexier, smaller version of the Bold with some Niagara / Tour genes thrown in for good measure. We’d previously heard that this phone is ultimately destined for AT&T (while a UMA-enabled version might come to T-Mobile as the Driftwood), which definitely takes the edge off of the impending 8900launch over there — but then again, this is a prototype, and it’ll be many moons (at best) before this thing gets launched. Every time we look at the Bold, it looks more out of proportion — and sexy beasts like this one certainly aren’t helping matters. Keep on keepin’ on, RIM.

Gallery: BlackBerry “Onyx” in the wild

From engadget

We’ve got a VAIO P in the house, and we thought it’d only be fitting to put the quintessential “it’s not a netbook, we swear!” up against the quintessential netbook, ASUS’s Eee PC (in convenient 7-inch and 10-inch flavors). Stand by for further impressions, but boy is that screen densely packed with pixels.

Gallery: VAIO P vs Eee PC… fight!

From engadget

While we got some early time with Dell’s super-secret Adamo prototype, it looks like we weren’t the only ones — and it also looks like we didn’t get the whole enchilada: there’s a wicked-sexy white version hiding in the Palms as well. Still no more details than before, but bub.blicio.us was also allowed to boot the aluminum ultraportable, so at least we know that there’s chips in that box. We’re actually headed back to check out the Mini 10, so we’ll dig for even more (and try to get pictures in a better-lit room), but for now check these latest Adamo pictures in the gallery.

Gallery: More Adamo Images

From engadget

The dust has begun to settle around Palm’s event yesterday, and we’re still sorting through all the news. Palm certainly packed a lot of “New-ness” (yet weirdly, no actual “New-ness”) into its announcements yesterday, and it’s pretty easy to get lost among all the Palm Pre / webOS related news. Lucky for you, we’ve consolidated the goods below, so feel free to experience all the Palm-related bliss you can handle.

The liveblog

Live from Palm’s CES press conference

Impressions / hands-on coverage

Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates!
Palm Pre in-depth impressions, video, and huge hands-on gallery
Palm Pre interface tour

Product announcements

The Palm Pre
Palm announces webOS platform
Palm Pre’s wireless charger, the Touchstone

In depth / details

There will be a GSM-friendly 3G Palm Pre
Palm stock on a rocket to recovery
Palm’s Pre gets its own spot on Sprint’s website
Palm Pre website now live with official images, video
Palm’s the master of its own domain, the king of its own Castle
Palm’s Pre boxed
Palm Pre’s “New-ness” event video now viewable
Palm Pre ads appear on Engadget

From engadget

Video from Vimeo:

Palm’s 2009 CES Keynote from DevilsRejection on Vimeo.

We hit up Dell for a few more minutes with the sleek new Studio XPS 13 and 16, and our positive early impressions just got better with time. We’re really digging the leather panel on the lid, and while the machines are total fingerprint magnets, when they’re cleaned up they’re pretty eye-catching — particularly the light-up circles on the hinges and the backlit keyboard and mouse buttons. Even the bottom is slick — it’s nicely detailed and the whole things lifts off (Dell calls it a “garage door”) for easy access to the RAM and hard drive. We nabbed a ton of shots, check it out in the gallery!

Gallery: Dell Studio XPS 13 and 16 hands-on

from engadget

Viliv’s S7 “productivity MID” got announced in August at the Intel Developer Forum, and, while we were impressed by the form factor and the promise, it’s always hard to get too excited without a full spec sheet and an MSRP. Now at CES we’re still in the dark about price (and availability), but are finally hearing just what’s going on under the keyboard; Atom processors in 1.3GHz and 1.6GHz flavors, a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 screen, 1GB of RAM, and either 16GB worth of SSD or 60GB served up on platters. Wireless connectivity is handled over 802.11b/g, WiMAX, and HSDPA, and the device promises “blueray HD video playback” — which we’re taking to mean it can display 1080p footage without completely choking, but we’re not sure just where that video would come from given the lack of optical drive. But, hey, look at that sexy picture! Rest assured we’ll prop this up against a VAIO P as soon as we can get our hands on one.

[Via UMPC Portal]
more info
from engadget

This isn’t a Palm-branded party favor, a paperweight, or a doorstop. Actually, sure, it could be any of those things if you really wanted it to be — but Palm’s Touchstone is mainly about charging your Pre and making sure it looks pretty while it’s getting juiced. It’s a pretty wild product (and the first accessory purchase for many a would-be Pre owner, we’d bet), so we wanted to spend a little quality time with it. We weren’t allowed to do much charging on our own, but the magnets buried in the Pre certainly seemed to do their job of keeping it glued to the base in portrait and landscape orientations. Oh, and just to validate what we know you’re thinking right now, yes: we overheard several Palm employees call it “the puck,” so you should, too.

Gallery: Palm Pre Touchstone eyes-on

From engadget

We just caught up with the Dell Mini 10, and while it’s not as crazy hot as the white Adamo, it’s still pretty sweet — much nicer looking than the Mini 9, and more compact than the Mini 12. No wonder Dell’s calling it a “perfect 10.” The multitouch trackpad is really similar to the one on the newest Macbooks, but it’s a little less intuitive — the buttons are pushed into the corners, so a middle press doesn’t do a lot. On the other hand, it’s a little more useful — not only can you do the usual zooming and scrolling, laying three fingers on the pad brings up a slick little launcher screen. Too bad we don’t have pricing or availabilty — if this thing comes in at a reasonable number, it’s going to be our favorite netbook. We stacked the 10 up against the 9, the 12, and a MacBook Air, check it all out in the gallery below!

Gallery: Dell Mini 10 hands-on

From engadget

First stop at CES Unveiled tonight was MSI’s booth to check out the new X320. Always good to us, MSI gave us some exclusive time with the very slim and affordable ultraportable (the video below gives a good glimpse of the hardware). When MSI first told us about the notebook (then called the U300) they said we would be “shocked” by its ultra-thin stature. Indeed we were  pretty damn shocked when we laid eyes on the thinner than a rail 13-inch notebook.   Think MacBook Air (those clever guys at SlashGear even grabbed some shots of it next to an Air). More impressive is that even despite its thinness it packs a good amount of ports, including 3 USB, Ethernet, VGA Out and a mic and headphone. It also has a card reader. As for weight, we sure believe the 2.9 pound claim since the notebook was very light. Like the Wind, the X320 has a minimalist design and is available in champagne, black and white.  The glossy champagne lid wasn’t flashy and we appreciated how the MSI logo centered on the lid was backlit (stealing yet another design cue from the Air). Under the lid is a 13.4 inch glossy display surrounded by a fairly thick, glossy black bezel. The X320 has a full-size keyboard with a similar feel to the one on the Wind. While the trackpad is large and spacious, there is that same single mouse button that we didn’t exactly love on the original Wind.

Did we mention that this system will retail between $700 and $900? No longer will you have to pay top dollar for one of the thinnest laptops on the market and Intel’s Atom Z520 processor receives the thanks for that. The pre-production model that we saw packed 2GB of RAM and was running Microsoft Vista Basic. Of course, we can’t really judge the performance from the brief hands-on, but we did test application open times and they were nowhere near as sluggish as we saw on the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 with the same processor and Vista, but only 1GB of RAM. Let’s hope that extra memory really pushes performance a notch above what we saw on the Mini 12. According to MSI, the flush with the system battery will provide 10 hours of battery life in its ECO mode. We look forward to testing that. Shocked is definitely our reaction to the X320. Not only because it is so slender, but also because this type of ultraportable notebook will be more affordable than ever at a price point between $700 and $900. We plan to check out the system more at the show. MSI plans to ship this notebook in April.

from laptopmag and crunchgear

We just bumped into LG’s X120, a barely-differentiated followup to the X110 that’s floating around the show floor. There’s still a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, Windows XP and a 10-inch WSVGA screen, but what’s new is the Splashtop-powered “LG Smart On” OS, which does the quick boot thing we’ve come to know and love on many ASUS products, the Voodoo Envy 133 and elsewhere. The effect, as always, is pretty stunning, and the OS should be helpful for a quick look at the web or to hop on IM over the laptop’s WiFi connectivity. The netbook itself seems to have been tweaked a tad on aesthetics, but it’s still a bit thicker than we’d like at this point for the netbook market. We’re short on further details, but since the X110 did 3G, there’s a good chance that’ll be in play as well — we’re still waiting on PR from LG. In the meantime, you can check out a video of the startup after the break.

Gallery: LG’s new X120 netbook with Splashtop-powered instant on

From engadget

Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today unveiled its groundbreaking Palm(R) webOS(TM) mobile platform, built from the ground up to be constantly connected to the web, and the new Palm Pre(TM), the first phone based on the new platform.(1) Pre is scheduled to be available exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009.

Palm webOS is a brand-new kind of platform, invented exclusively for mobile use. webOS recognizes that you want your people, calendars and information to move with you, wherever you are, wirelessly, as opposed to being bound to a personal computer. Palm webOS is the first mobile platform to automatically bring your information from the many places it resides - on your phone, at your work or on the web - into one simple, integrated view.(1) The new Palm Pre and webOS are designed to be so in sync with your needs that it feels like Pre is thinking ahead for you.

“Palm products have always been about simplifying lives and delivering great user experiences,” said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. “webOS and Pre bring game-changing simplicity to an increasingly mobile world by dissolving the barriers that surround your information. It’s technology that seems like it’s thinking ahead to bring you what you care about most - your people, your time, and your information - in the easiest and most seamless way.”

“Pre continues Sprint’s leadership in open access to the content customers want for a great web-connected experience,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint chief executive officer. “We look forward to bringing this remarkably innovative device to our customers on America’s most dependable 3G network.”(2)
Palm’s new OS is the first mobile platform to be built from the ground up to combine standard technology, innovation and integration. At its core, webOS leverages several industry-standard technologies, including web technologies such as CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. On top of that, Palm has included creative and innovative advancements to enhance the overall user experience and provided a deep integration of all elements within the platform.

The new platform was designed to allow a vast ecosystem of partners, including developers, hardware suppliers, and accessories manufacturers, to develop core solutions to complement the platform and product line. For developers, webOS shatters traditional barriers to mobile-application development by offering a rich open development environment that’s familiar to tens of millions of web developers. More people can develop for the platform and can do it faster than ever before. The platform’s flexible environment will also allow developers to distribute their applications over-the-air via an on-device Palm application store.

Your Life, Brought Together

The new platform introduces Palm Synergy(TM), a key feature of webOS that brings your information from all the places it resides into one logical view. You don’t have to worry about tracking multiple calendars, contacts and messaging applications - Synergy brings it to you for a more comprehensive and truly representative view of your life.

• Linked contacts - With Synergy, you have a single view that links your contacts from a variety of sources, so accessing them is easier than ever. For example, if you have the same contact listed in your Outlook(3), Google and Facebook accounts, Synergy recognizes that they’re the same person and links the information, presenting it to you as one listing. And if you update a contact on your webOS device, it also will be updated in your various accounts, whether on a personal computer or on the web.

• Layered calendars - Your calendars can be seen on their own or layered together in a single view, combining work, family, friends, sports teams, or other interests. You can toggle to look at one calendar at a time, or see them all at a glance.

• Combined messaging - Synergy lets you see all your conversations with the same person in a chat-style view, even if it started in IM and you want to reply with text messaging. You can also see who’s active in a buddy list right from contacts, and start a new conversation with just one touch.
Your Information, Effortlessly

By smartly integrating your information, webOS is designed to think ahead for you and keep you on top of the things that happen in your life, but that’s just the first step. The platform’s unique interface brings your information to you with the ease that only Palm can offer.

• Web-connected applications - Applications are seamlessly connected to the web and always active(4), ensuring you have the most up-to-date information.

• Run multiple applications at the same time - Palm’s revolutionary webOS lets you manage multiple activities more effectively than any other mobile platform today. It lets you keep multiple applications open and instantly flip from one to another.(4)

• Instinctive user interface - With its multi-touch interface, webOS lets you move easily between activities like flipping through a deck of cards and rearrange items simply by dragging them; when you are done with something, just throw it away. And finding what you need is easy with universal search - as you type what you’re looking for, the OS narrows your search and offers results from both your device and the web.(5)

• Intuitive and unobtrusive notifications - When important things come up or new updates arrive, you’ll receive notifications with a diplomacy that’s a radical departure from other mobile platforms. For example, if you receive a text message or email, a scrolling notifications bar at the bottom of your screen lets you address it right away or leave until later. webOS alerts are one step ahead, ensuring that you never miss a thing, but never lose your place or train of thought.

Palm Pre: The First webOS Phone

Pre has a breakthrough interface and hardware design that makes it the most integrated and user-friendly phone for mobile users. Featuring a smooth, rounded ergonomic design and a physical keyboard that slides out only when needed, Pre is engineered to feel natural in the hand and comfortably small in the pocket. When closed, the phone is ideal for phone calls, web browsing, music, photos and videos; when open, Pre is optimized for email and text messaging. With its curved slider and gesture-controlled touch interface, Pre fuses exquisite design with the revolutionary webOS software for fast access to anything on the device or web. It’s an instinctive user experience that seems to anticipate your needs.

“As our lives revolve more and more around the web, devices like Palm Pre that transform how we interact with the web will lead the way,” said Hesse. “We are focused on bringing our customers a superior experience that includes easy-to-use devices, simple pricing and value with Simply Everything all-inclusive offerings, plus Ready Now, our exclusive retail program that helps customers leave the store feeling comfortable and confident they know how to use their new device.”

Pre will support a variety of differentiated on-device Sprint services, including Sprint TV(R), offering an extensive selection of live and on-demand programming. Sprint Navigation provides GPS-enabled audio and visual turn-by-turn driving directions, one-click traffic rerouting and more than 10 million local listings. Sprint also offers more than a dozen streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels.

Palm Pre features include the following:

• High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA)
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g(6)
• Integrated GPS(7)
• Large 3.1-inch touch screen with a vibrant 24-bit color 320×480 resolution HVGA display
• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
• Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Email, including Outlook EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (POP3, IMAP)
• Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)(4)
• High-performance, desktop-class web browser
• Great multimedia experience and performance (pictures, video playback, music), featuring a 3-megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
• Bluetooth(R) 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
• 8GB of internal user storage (~7.4GB user available)
• USB mass storage mode
• MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
• Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theater, to reduce power usage
• Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
• Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
• Removable, rechargeable battery
• Dimensions: 59.57mm (W) x 100.53mm (L, closed) x 16.95mm (D) [2.35 inches (W) x 3.96 inches (L, closed) x 0.67 inches (D)]
• Weight: ~135 grams [4.76 ounces]

An array of compelling accessories also will be available for Pre, including the first inductive charging solution for phones (sold separately). Simply set Pre down on top of the elegantly designed Palm Touchstone(TM) charging dock without worrying about connection, orientation or fit. Pre is active while charging, so you can access the touch screen, watch movies or video, or use the speakerphone.

Availability and Pricing

Palm Pre is scheduled to be available first in the United States exclusively from Sprint in the first half of 2009, and will be followed by a world-ready UMTS version for other regions. Sprint’s pricing for the phone has not yet been determined.

From PDA247 and treocentral
more gallery here

Four more compact cameras from Casio: EX-Z400, EX-Z270, EX-S12, and “sleek and sturdy” EX-S5. The top end of these lower-end shooters is the Z400 (pictured above) which features a wide-angle 28mm, 4x optical zoom, 3.0-inch LCD, CCD-shift anti-shake, and 550-shot battery. The Z270 drops the LCD down to 2.7-inches while the 12.1 megapixel S12 drops the zoom to 3x. Bringing up the rear is the 10.1 megapixel EX-S5 with YouTube capture mode for those who want (or need, frankly) to keep it simple. Sorry no 30fps burst or super slow mo’ in this lot. Prices will range from $300 for the Z400 on down to $180 for the S5 when these pop for retail in March.

Gallery: Casio outs Exilim EX-Z400, EX-Z270, EX-S12, and EX-S5 shooters

From engadget

MSI’s Wind U100 had a good run, but now it’s time for the U120 to take over. We caught wind of this one just a few days back, but once the show floor opened we were finally able to feast our eyes on one. We’ve gotta say — it looks mighty good, so feel free to have a look in the gallery below to see if you agree.

Gallery: MSI Wind U120 hands-on

From engadget

Last year’s proliferation of itty bitty and skinny laptops also helped to drive the proliferation of SSDs, and if Sandisk’s latest announcement is any indicator that popularity could really pay off this year. The company has announced a new line of 2.5-inch and 1.8-inch SSDs for laptops of various sizes. The three new models come in 60GB, 120GB, and 240GB flavors, priced at $149, $249, and $499 respectively. Great values, by the sounds, and with 200MB/sec read and 140MB/sec writes, great performance, too. We can’t wait to do some evaluating of our own when these start appearing inside laptops sometime toward the middle of this year.

from engadget

No clue why Sony didn’t unleash this pretty boy with its litany of items yesterday, but maybe it just saw fit to give it some special attention. Thanks to the all-admitting FCC, we already had a good idea that this was coming, but now that it’s finally here, we’re still pretty jazzed. Set to rival Panny’s Lumix DMC-TZ50, the DLNA-certified Cyber-shot DSC-G3 is the planet’s first WiFi camera with a built-in web browser, enabling users to upload images and video directly to popular sharing sites wherever a WiFi connection is available. Of note, the camera comes with complimentary access to Sony’s Easy Upload Home Page via AT&T WiFi, which provides easy entrance into Shutterfly, Picasa, YouTube, Photobucket and Dailymotion. Other specs include a 10 megapixel sensor, 4x optical zoom and Face Detection. It’s yours to grab right now for around $500.

Gallery: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-G3 launches: world’s first WiFi camera with web browser

More info
from engadget

You knew the comparisons were inevitable, but have you braced yourself for how incredibly similar these two laptops are? MSI’s new X-Slim 320 13.3-inch ultraportable is a teensy bit wider and a teensy bit thicker than the MacBook Air, but most of the dimensions, layouts and curves are uncannily alike. As for build quality, MSI obviously suffers a bit for its netbook heritage. The plastics aren’t stellar, and the keyboard, while delightfully full size, is a tad squishy, but there’s still no denying that this is a pretty wild deal for this very particular form factor — plus that built-in 3G, VGA and Ethernet are just rubbing it in Apple’s face.

Gallery: MSI X-Slim 320 vs MacBook Air… fight!

From engadget

Casio knows a thing or two about high-speed image capture as demonstrated over the last year and half. Now they’ve squashed that innovative circuitry and imaging technology into compact cameras offering high-speed 30 shots-per-second, 6 megapixel still image burst rates and high-speed movies at up to 1,000 fps. Amazingly, Casio’s 9.1 megapixel EX-FS10 does this in a 16.3-mm thin compact shooter with a not so amazing 2.5-inch LCD and 3x zoom lacking any kind of optical image or sensor stabilization. The 9.1 megapixel EX-FC100 is larger thanks to a 5x zoom, 2.7-inch LCD and CMOS anti-shake technology — yet it’s still small enough to easily fit in the palm of your hand unlike Casio’s other fast bursting cams. These compacts will (attempt to) automatically select only the best image (no blur, eyes opened, subject smiling) captured in high-speed burst mode or slow things down on the viewer so that you can select the best image yourself. HD movies? Yup, that too in a 720p pixel resolution. Of course you also get that goofy ability to insert moving subjects into static images. The EX-FS10 should hit by March for $350 in blue, gray, red and white while the EX-FC100 will roll out in gray and white for $400.

Gallery: Casio’s EX-FS10 and EX-FC100 compacts burst faster than DSLRs

From engadget

A new thin and light BlackBerry smartphone is coming to T-Mobile: Meet the anticipated BlackBerry Curve 8900.

T-Mobile and Research In Motion will soon release the anticipated BlackBerry Curve 8900, the thinnest and lightest full-QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone to date (see specifications). The BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile, in a titanium-colored finish with chrome highlights, combines a compact design with a range of features and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 features built-in GPS and support for location-based services. It also promises easy access to social networking sites such as Facebook and has built-in Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) supporting both voice and data.

Equipped with a 1400 mAh battery, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will offer a talk time of 5.5 hours and a standby time of up to 14 days. Its multimedia capabilities include a 3.2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and a microSD/microSDHC memory card slot with a 256MB card inserted. The memory slot supports up to 16GB memory cards.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 is also equipped with a media player capable of playing DivX 4 (DivX 5/6 and XviD partially supported), MPEG4, H.263 and WMV3 video formats, as well as all common music formats. It’ll come pre-loaded with BlackBerry Maps powered by Telenav.

Productivity and messaging features include easy setup of personal as well as corporate e-mail accounts, instant messaging as well as viewing and editing of Microsoft World, Excel and PowerPoint files. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 will also offer RIM’s great range of calling features, including voice dialing, smart dialing, conference calling, mute button, speakerphone, background noise cancellation, speed dial, call forwarding and voice attachment playback as well as click-to-call integrated dialing.

Needless to say, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be among the most significant releases on T-Mobile’s network this year. A great Web browser is still missing, but so is support for 3G data speeds. Check out a comparison between the BlackBerry Curve 8900 and the BlackBerry Bold (AT&T) here.

The BlackBerry Curve 8900 for T-Mobile will be available in February 2009. The price has not yet been announced.

From infosyncworld

By now most of us have heard this story in one fashion or another: when Steve Jobs and Apple were in the planning stages of the iPhone, the first carrier they brought the device to was America’s largest network, Verizon. Even if you haven’t heard how the tale ends — Verizon refused and Jobs took his multi-billion dollar ball to AT&T — you surely know the outcome. The iPhone has soared to become the ultimate smartphone, the must-have accessory that everyone from celebrities to your mom wants — nay, needs — to have in their pocket. It’s changed the landscape of modern cellphones, put a serious dent in the sales of competing devices (just recently overtaking the venerable RAZR as the best-selling domestic handset), and unquestionably raised the bar when it comes to expectations for features in new handsets.

It may seem unfair to open up the review of RIM’s latest BlackBerry — the Storm — with a history lesson on the iPhone, but if you understand the market which Verizon and RIM hope to capture, then you understand the Storm, and it helps put this critique in perspective. The Storm, a widescreen, touchscreen device boasts many of the same features as the iPhone, but adds innovations like a clickable display, and comes packed with RIM’s legendary email and messaging services. Mainlined into the biggest (and some say best) network in the States, the Storm is an almost deafening blast to the competition at first glance, but does it hold up on closer inspection? Read on to find out.

Gallery: BlackBerry Storm in pictures

From engadget

Read the rest of this entry »

Just in time for the latest 007 movie release, Eurotech subsidiary Parvus announced a new version of its military-targeted personal wrist computer. The Linux-ready Zypad WR1100 offers a faster Marvell PXA 270 processor, more memory, a higher-resolution display, plus ZigBee and fingerprint scanner options.

Designed for harsh field conditions where hands-free operation is desirable, the Zypad WR1100 is designed to meet MIL-STD-810F environmental and MIL-STD-461E EMI requirements, says Parvus. The GPS-enhanced device is aimed at military, homeland defense, first responder, security, and emergency service field and in-vehicle applications.

Parvus Zypad WL-1000 (Click for details)

The first Parvus Zypad, the still-supported WL-1000 (pictured at right) shipped in 2006. Later that year Frost & Sullivan awarded the device a 2006 Product Innovation Award in the field of “ambient intelligence.”

Whereas the WL-1000 offers a choice of Linux or Windows CE, the new WR1100 is offered exclusively with Linux. In place of the Raza Microelectronics 32-bit MIPS-based AU 1100, the WR100 is equipped with a Marvell PXA 270 clocked at 416MHz, and it comes with 256MB RAM, 128MB flash, and an SD card, says Parvus. The device offers a higher-resolution (640 x 480) 3.5-inch touchscreen that is said to be protected against water and dust ingress.

Zypad WR1100
(Click to enlarge)

Like its predecessor, the WR1100 is equipped with 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, a GPS receiver, and accelerometers. In addition, it provides a ZigBee short-range wireless option in place of the Bluetooth radio, and also offers options for an electronic compass and a biometric fingerprint sensor, says the company. Other options in the modular design include hot-swapping the GPS receiver with a GPRS cellular module.

The rugged device comes in a fiberglass-reinforced nylon/magnesium alloy case, and offers a rigid wrist support system with ergonomic positioning controls, says Parvus. Like the original Zypad, the WR1100 offers an orientation sensor that detects when the user lowers the arm on which the device is strapped, and automatically places the unit in a standby mode to conserve power. A “tilt and dead reckoning system,” meanwhile, can determine if a user is motionless or has fallen down, resulting in the transmission of a locator beacon signal.

Zypad WR1100, with and without wrist-strap
(Click on either to enlarge)

Specifications listed for the WR1100 include:

• Processor — Marvell PXA 270 416MHz
• Memory — 256MB RAM; 128MB flash
• Expansion — SD memory card interface
• Display — 3.5-inch VGA (640 x 480) color touchscreen; shock-resistant; optional night-vision compliance
• Keyboard — cursor pad and virtual QWERTY onscreen keyboard
• Pen input — stylus
• LEDs — power, charge, WPAN, WLAN, alarm
• Audio — AC97 codec; integrated mic and speaker; optional 3.5mm stereo or microphone sockets
• USB — 1 x USB Device port; 1 x USB Host port
• WiFi — IEEE 802.11b/g
• Bluetooth — Class 2; optional swap-out for ZigBee
• GPS — 12-channel receiver; DGPS and SBAS (WASS, EGNOS) support; optional swap-out for GPRS cellular radio
• Other features — accelerometer; biometric fingerprint reader; optional electronic compass
• Operating temperature — -4 to 140 deg. F (-20 to 60 deg. C)
• Shock and vibration — meets MIL-STD-810F (Methods 516.5, 514.5C-17)
• Weight — 1.4 lbs (645 gr)
• Power — 3.6V Li-Ion hot-swappable battery; optional AC adapter for 100-240V AC 50-60Hz 400mA input
• Operating system — Linux, based on kernel 2.6

Availability

The Zypad WR1100 is now available “from stock to 12 weeks lead-time,” says Parvus. More information may be found here.

Parvus is showing the WR1100 at its booth 1109 at MILCOM 2008 this week at the San Diego Convention Center. Sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the MILCOM show runs from Nov. 17-19.

From LinuxDevices