Combined wireless LAN and wireless data modem CF card

NTT DoCoMo will start selling on 4th July a combined wireless LAN (802.11b) and PHS wireless data modem Compact Flash card manufactured by Panasonic. Great news for anyone who makes use of both these means of communication and doesn't like to have to swap out cards. The number of hotspots in Tokyo is slowing increasing but it will be a while before they are widespread enough. Many people may be using wireless LAN in the home and/or office who can make use of this.

Pocket PC 2003 is here ... well at least if you're in the US ... and it's called Windows Mobile 2003.

It just appeared on the Microsoft site as I was writing this but it's been on the top Pocket PC sites for a few hours - 'Windows Mobile 2003' is officially out. The Pocket PC Fan sites seem pretty happy with the changes, and for most owners of existing devices it looks like upgrades are going to be free or cheap (if you bought within the last month) and low cost if you bought before that. Unfortunately no coverage on either the MS Japan or the Japan based fan sites yet (although it is the middle of the night here), so here are a couple of interesting US site links.

- Pocket PC Thoughts is targeting new posts every 2003 seconds, but here is one of the more insightful ones.

- A nice, concise overview from Pocket PC Magazine

The improved performance is getting a lot of good reviews and something I am really looking forward to. There don't seem to be a huge range of new software features, but the New Connection Manager, Zero Configuration WLAN and improved Pocket IE are the most important ones for me. Check out a quick tour with screenshots.

Foldable keyboards compatible with Japanese Pocket PCs

The new Targus wireless keyboard is compatible with the e550G as is the Pocketop wireless keyboard. I don't know about Targus but Pocketop support is very good if you have questions about drivers. Shipping to Japan is fast and not too ridiculously priced at $30. (Same shipping cost for up to ten units or perhaps more).

Adding to their Pocket PC Japanese-English Translation software Transland, Brother have released DicLand, a dictionary and dictionary reader set containing not only Sanseido's Exceed JE, EJ and JJ dictionaries, but also originally a Business Letter dictionary. The software itself looks well designed. Special features include auto-clipboard lookup from other applications, auto-search of text pasted into a special area of the dictionary screen, simultaneous searching of all the dictionaries, jump searches to other dictionaries from within definitions, bookmarks, history and the functionality to allow other application developers to link into the program (in geek speak API or Application Programming Interface). At 8,800 yen it is reasonably priced and is sure to be a good competitor to Logovista's Pocket PC dictionary range.

Why things have been so quiet on Pocket PC Japan since April?

Until the Hp h1920 news there has been a dearth of news since April. Anyone following Pocket PC news elsewhere will have surely heard the unofficial word on the web that Pocket PC 2003 is due out later this year. Some people are saying it is just going to be a small upgrade, others have posted details of more wide ranging improvements. Of course most people who have any info are sticking strictly to their NDA so full details are not available. The fact that manufacturers in general have not been making many announcements is though most likely the calm before the storm.

So who will announce the first Pocket PC 2003 in Japan? More importantly who will be the first to get one on the market?* Will the release of the hp1920 set a new price standard for Pocket PCs? Will we see any new and original hardware features? ..... Of course you can guarantee that the top stories from Japan will be featured here on Pocket PC Japan!

*My bet is on market leader Toshiba but there are rumors of a new Fujitsu model in Europe with built-in wireless and Bluetooth. Fujitsu is tied with Siemens though so it's by no means certain we'll see that here.

6/9/2003 - Update: Here's an article in Japanese from PC Web on the upcoming release of Pocket PC 2003.

6/13/2003 - Pocket PC 2003 will be released in 2003 in the US with Gateway joing the market. No news of a Japan release date yet though. The talk is that it will not be a huge update but that the OS will be optimized for Intel's StrongArm processors so it will be interesting to see what the performance is like.

HP IPAQ h1920 Released in Japan!

Released 6 months ago in the US but now available in Japan, HP's low-end, low price, compact size iPAQ h1920. At 24,500 yen (19,800 during the start up campaign) it's a great starter Pocket PC, but power users should note that it doesn't have many expansion options.