Just as a rumor posted here reported here last month, NTT DoCoMo have announced they will be selling a 'tsukaihodai' (flat rate) package for their wireless modem (PHS) cards. The price will be 4000 yen/month.
Another Pocket PC Pocket PC hardware barrier broken by Toshiba - today they announced a new model of the Genio - the e550GX - with 128 MB of RAM! They also announced the SD-Audio compatible e550GS which comes with a headphone and remote control set for music fans and a WLAN jacket for the Genio e550G series. Any more interesting details will be posted here later in English but for now check the Genio e web site in Japanese.
Toshiba has released a ROM update for Pocket PC 2002 versions of the Genio e. The Pocket PC 2002 update features are an update to Windows Media Player 8.5 which features smoother playback; a new today theme called Bliss; tab key functionality in Pocket IE and Microsoft Server ActiveSynch client. On the hardware side support has been added for Sony's memory stick adapter for use in the PC card jacket and support for Matsushita's SD-CF adapter in the CF card slot
After installing the update all data stored in RAM is still there, but you should not restore the device from a backup created before the ROM was updated. Therefore it is advisable to install the ROM on a device set up you are happy with and back up as soon as the ROM update has been performed. Toshiba's instrcutions are very detailed and I wouldn't upgrade without reading them carefully and following them exactly. Personally as non of the update features are very major I'm going to wait a couple of weeks as a precaution just in case there are any problems with this update.
Finally, Toshiba's software for the Bluetooth SD card has also been upgraded to version 3.0 featuring a number of new features.
I've created a small web page specially formatted for Pocket IE. The content is different from here and you will automatically be redirected there if you visit www.pocketpcjapan.com on a Pocket PC, but if you want to cheat and view in a normal browser the URL is http://www.goes-mobile.com/Pocket PC Japan/. If there is any other content you would like to see there let me know at andrew @ pocketpcjapan.com
I created it using a very well designed, easy to use and free interface provided by www.goes-mobile.com
Okay, not just Japan related but every Pocket PC user should know about this. Not only do Pocket PC Magazine provide an encylopedia of Pocket PC software, they also have annual awards and the best products in each category are voted on by Pocket PC experts. This year's winners have just been announced. If you are looking for some software I would highly recommend you save yourself some time and start here. Huge thanks to Pocket PC Magazine for providing this excellent resource online.
Note that subscribing to the print edition of Pocket PC Magazine is not ridiculously expensive, even including the postage to Japan. They also provide an electronic format for PCs in the highly useable Zinio format and a MS Reader version (although unfortunately Pocket MS Reader is not compatible with Japanese Pocket PCs). In addition to all the online information they have the magazine is also full of useful more in-depth articles.
I'd overlooked this until today, but Ectaco's Japanese<->English dictionary will work on English Pocket PCs! Not only that, but It looks like a nice dictionary as well ... one that is designed for native English speakers rather than native Japanese speakers. From the pictures shown here you can see various keyboards and lookup systems. It's a bit pricey at $49.95. (Update: Since I posted this a mailing list member informed me that the same application is available at www.handango.com for $14.95 - great value! :-) There's a 10MB trial version which gives you access to 10% of the entries and you need 7.5MB free on your Pocket PC to install it.
(Thanks to Jack Halpern of www.cjk.org for asking me to test the Arabic dictionary which prompted me to take a second look at the Japanese one as well).
See CNET Article (English machine translation) for details.
A Japanese version of the Asus Pocket PC is on show at World PC Expo. No news of a release date yet. Dell plan to reveal their Pocket PC at Comdex in Las Vegas in November. I wonder whether they will release worldwide or whether it will be English/US only ???
Sounds good but having an extra device takes something away from the portability of the PDA. Another option to achieve the same storage capacity would be the 5GB PC card in the PC card jacket. The choice is having the bulk in in your hand or in your bag. The other disadvantage is that unless your PDA has built-in Bluetooth you will have to give up one slot (CF or SD) for a Bluetooth card.
http://www.idg.net/ic_956458_1794_9-10000.html
The World PC Expo is this week and and as reputedly Asia's largest IT trade show is certainly worth going to.
Good news for Pocket PC users everywhere - 1GB SD cards are due to hit the market next year. The current prices for 256MB and 512MB cards in Japan are around 20,000 yen and 40,000 yen. Still a bit expensive but they can only get cheaper.
Compaq to release H3900 series iPAQS in Japan at the end of October (four months after the US versions were released). The H3970 comes with Bluetooth. More information (in Japanese).
There is a Japanese<->English dictionary for Pocket PCs available from a company called Beiks here. Love it or hate it - it's romaji only!
