Windows 2.0 opens door to new devices

Electronic News, Oct 20, 1997 by Bernard McAleer

Like a cloudburst, Microsoft's recent release of Windows CE 2.0 for Windows precipitated a number of product announcements for portable, personal computing devices for which the new operating system is designed, and handheld PCs (HPCs) are accumulating. Hewlett-Packard, Sharp and LG Electronics said that their Windows CE version 2.0 products would be forthcoming.

This latest version of Windows CE has a 32-bit platform that allows OEMs to make products with as little as 512 kilobytes of ROM and 256K of RAM, and features a host of improvements over the CE 1.0 OS, including 32-bit color displays in TV and liquid crystal display (LCD) resolutions. It can also support flash technology as well as demand paging even in RAM-limited applications. And it offers the Windows Sockets application programming interface (API) and support for networking communication protocols (EN, Oct. 6).

The Windows CE 1.0 OS was introduced by Microsoft last September in an effort to create a new industry category called the handheld PC. With a graphical interface similar to the Windows desktop, it had 4MB of ROM and an additional 2MB of RAM in its OS. It connected to a desktop PC with a PCMCIA card (EN, Sept. 16, 1996). The applications supported by the OS included mobile and communications devices, set-top boxes, digital information pagers and DVD players. OEMs making products supporting Windows CE 1.0 included Compaq Computer, Casio Computer, HP, Hitachi, Metricom, NEC, Philips Electronics and LG Electronics.

"The outlook for HPCs is that they are growing rapidly," said Michelle Abraham, an In-Stat industry analyst for PC and peripherals. "The unit shipments in 1998 will grow over 50 percent from those in 1997. And several hundred thousand have shipped in 1997."

HP added the HP 360LX, a monochrome palmtop PC supporting Windows CE 2.0, to its family of Windows CE-based HPCs, or palmtop computers. It will also release the color-display model, the HP 620LX, in early 1998. The devices offer PC data synchronization and will be compatible with business applications from the Windows desktop, such as Microsoft's PowerPoint. Software for network management of the devices, incorporating HPTopTools, among other applications, will debut in early 1998.

Running on an improved Hitachi microprocessor, the HP 360LX comes with a 640x240 screen, 8MB of RAM, 10MB of ROM and a dedicated storage slot for CompactFlash cards. Shipping later this year, it will be priced at $699. For customers who purchased HP's Windows CE 1.0-based 320LX models after Sept. 2, free upgrades to version 2.0 can be obtained from HP.

LG Electronics also said that it would have a Windows CE 2.0 version for its Phenom line of HPCs, the new LG Phenom and Phenom . Powered by a 32-bit SuperH RISC CPU, both models come with a 640x240 screen, 8MB of memory and a built-in CDCP 21.6 kbps modem. The LG Phenom, priced at $599, will be available in December. The LG Phenom , priced at $899, includes the CDPD wireless modem and will be available in March of 1998. A color model will be available in early 1998.

In late November and early December, Sharp will release three models of its next-generation handheld PCs, called the Mobilon. Two of the models, the 4MB HC-4000 and the 8MB HC-4100, will be monochrome and one, the 8MB HC-4500, will have a color screen. All models will have a built-in 33.6/9.6Kps modem and an IrDA infrared port to enable data exchange to notebook PCs. Peripherals such as a PC card, flash card or modem can plug into a PC card slot, the company said. The models will be priced in the $600 to $900 range.

In addition, Sharp offers a digital camera, for less than $400, as a peripheral to the devices. This would allow users to capture and transfer images to and from a PC, according to Sharp, and even to add voice messages and send as multimedia E-mail.

"You can see the digital camera in the picture lens that comes into the PC screen," said John Brandewei, senior marketing manager for the Mobilon. "We've built in software to allow people to take digital pictures, enter them into the system, and send them over the Internet and E-mail."

Sharp claims that this HPC with digital camera is the first of its kind in the United States, although some are currently in use in Japan. The combination is intended for users in professions requiring field photography such as real estate and insurance.

"We include with the Mobilon the ability to migrate data from another Sharp handheld device," said Russ Chinoy, senior product planning manager for the product. "There's a clear migration path." He added that, in addition to Mobilon's backward compatibility with Zaurus, it has the ability to interface with HPCs of other brands as well. The device can also be configured for any Internet Service Provider to browse the Web, and comes equipped with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The Mobilon employs Philips Semiconductor's PR31700 microprocessor. Philips Electronics has its own Windows CE 1.0-based HPC, the Velo 1. "Compared to the Velo chip, or PR31500, it is vastly superior," said Stefan Braken-Guelke, GM of Philips Semiconductor's Handheld Computing group. "We were able to double the performance and cut the power consumption to one-third (the Velo 1)."