Toshiba has released an astounding looking device scheduled for release in Japan at the end of May. No info anywhere in English yet, but the Japanese page is very well designed: http://genio-e.com/pda/

I've been pretty lazy keeping this Blog up-to-date - but one of the reasons is the Tokyo PC Users Group tpc.mobile newsgroup to which I post quite a lot. You can link to the the web or news version or sign up for the mailing list here. The group is great for finding out about the latest tools and services available in Japan and worldwide and the knowledgeable people there are very forthcoming with help and advice.

Following the release of the Casio E-2000 and the NEC Pocket Gear things have been pretty quiet on the Pocket PC scene here in Japan. Toshiba and Hitachi have announced they have new devices planned with Intel XScale processor, but Fujitsu has been most forthcoming with a device for the consumer market, announcing a planned release date of the end of May. CNETAsia has a nice article on it.

I decided not to upgrade from my G-FORT for the moment. The NEC PocketGear was almost right but I really wanted 64MB of RAM. The Casio looked cheap compared to the flashy images on the web and the bundled software was uninspiring. Will wait for something better. It's interesting that the Fujitsu mentioned about will come with Bluetooth in Japan but wireless phone functions instead elsewhere in the world.

The NEC PPC 2002 was out last Friday and the Casio E-2000 is out this Wednesday. Here's a quick comparison I did of the two:

Casio E-2000
Kakaku.com (Japanese)
BicBic.com (Japanese)

Intel StrongARM SA-1110 Processor�i206MHz�j
ROM: 32MB
RAM: 64MB
Screen: 3.5 TFT 240 x 320 - 65,536
130 x 82 x 17.5 mm 190g
PC Card jacket, USB connectability
12 hours

Main advantages: 64 MB RAM, Backlit screen
Main disadvantages: Screen slightly smaller, bundled software not as interesting.


NEC PocketGear MC�^PG5000
Kakaku.com (Japanese)
BicBic.com (Japanese)

Intel StrongARM SA-1110 Processor�i206MHz�j
ROM: 32MB
RAM: 32MB
Screen: 3.8 TFT 240 x 320 - 65,536
126 x 78 x 18.5mm 190g
PC Card jacket, USB connectability
12 hours

Main advantages: Larger screen, bundled software, slightly smaller
Main disadvantages: Only 32 MB RAM

I posted this to the tpc.mobile newsgroup with the subject 'Comparing Casio E-2000 & NEC PG5000' so check there to see the ensuing discussion.

How I have let this site go on so long without adding anything. Since I last wrote we've seen the release of the iPaq in Japan, new models from Casio and HP, Toshiba in on the market with the eGenio and shortly the release of NEC's first Pocket PC. All models are much pricer at 50,000 yen plus then Palm OS devices which seem to be hitting the shelves at less than 20,000 - at least that's what the headlines say. Perhaps the only exception to this is the Sony's Clie. This is actually the only Palm which has caught my attention and one I would consider buying ........ if it wasn't a Palm. Back to Pocket PC's, HP in the US are coming out with the lighest Pocket PC yet, but it still only features a CF Type I slot which doesn't seem much use. It is expandable to Type II with some type of adapter I think but obviously you'll have something sticking out the back. iPAQ have yet to change much and will start losing ground to the eGenio which have two inbuilt slots (CF II and SD Card) and is also pretty light and has a good screen. The NEC is looking very promising thought - light in weight, the same two slots plus a PC Card jacket option - you can't ask for much more expandability than this. It will also be the first Pocket PC 2002 device on the market in Japan when it hits the shelves on 30th November. Pocket PC 2002 has a nicer XP-like interface and MSN Messenger pre-installed. This can't be downloaded and installed so the only way to get it is with the OS. PPC 2002 presumably comes with MS Reader which hasn't been available on many if any Japanese devices until now. Presumably networking options have improved with the latest OS and I guess there will be many other small and inconspicuous improvements like this. Back to the hardware. The only disadvantage I can see with the NEC model is that it only has 32MB of inbuilt RAM. Unless the Flash memory can be used as RAM (and I don't know anything about whether flash memory can be used in this way) I would prefer to have more than the 32MB in my G-FORT. Casio have a model coming out in the US which has the two slots and 64 MB RAM. Can't remember whether or not it have a PC card jacket. Will have to check that. For me their are not quite enough benefits to justify the cost of upgrading at the moment. I've got my sights set on a new laptop for Christmas instead. I guess I'll be waiting another year for a 24-7 connected device due. The flat rate packages at $40/month are pretty good but the CF card would drain down the battery too quickly to keep the device connected for any length of time, and it's still dial up. Oh - and the final thing I need for any new model I get is a fold up keyboard, not only to use on the move, but to keep connected at home so that if anyone should IM me through Yahoo! or MSN - no power problems and a wireless 802.11b CF card to connected to the net - I won't have to worry about not being able to have a normal speed chat.

That's all for this time. Remind me not to leave it so long until the next update!

Two reviews in Japanese of the G-FORT. Use the sites mentioned below if you want a machine translation:

http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/review/2001/01/26/gfort.htm
http://www.wince.ne.jp/snap/ceSnapView.asp?PID=73 (Part 2: http://www.wince.ne.jp/snap/ceSnapView.asp?PID=74)

Press releases and other links can be found in both of these articles.

There are a few good Japanese language sites out there for Windows CE and mobile news.

Windows CE Fan: http://www.wince.ne.jp/
Keitai Watch: http://k-tai.impress.co.jp/
ZDNet Mobile: http://www.zdnet.co.jp/mobile/

Unless you understand Japanese these won't be much use, but I recommend the following two machine translation sites:

E-lingo: http://www.e-lingo.com/browse/browse.php3 (Also available through: http://www.excite.co.jp/world/url

Amikiai: http://www.amikai.com/browse/

Using one these you should be able to get a gist of what the article is about and understand the main points.

There are three mobile Japanese language general mobile computing magazines I know of in Japan. The two monthly ones (both 680 yen and published on 24th of the month) are 'Nikkei Mobile' and 'Mobile i'. They both contain good, comprehensive information about the latest products on the market, comparisons of different devices and lots of other useful and interesting info. The thrid, Mobile Press, is thicker less glossy and published 4 times a year. It contains longer articles, including ones on interesting looking hardware hacks if that's of interest to anyone. It also comes with a CD with freeware and shareware. All three mags cover all types of mobile computing devices from credit card or watch type up to A4 notebooks. I'll post the URLs at a later date but none of the mags have web sites which feature more than a table of contents for the latest issue. I'll let you know when this changes. I've also seen but not bought a number of Palm publications on the shelves in Japan. I think it's too soon to see a Pocket PC dedicated publication. This will obviously depends on increasing the number of Pocket PC users. With the large number of competing devices available, it's difficult to say when that critical number will be reached. At the moment we have Jordana and Casio models on the market, as well as a device made by Casio but marketed by NTT DoCoMo called the G-FORT. More information on these to come on a related web page at a later date. It's been reported we'll see a Japanese model of the iPAQ later this year ..... I'll believe it when I see it. When they do eventually get it out the technology may already be starting to date. Casio is due to release the E-707 for business users this month which has inbuilt communications functionality as well as Compact Flash and MMC/SD card slots.

Well. Here goes. Pocket PC has still really got to take off in Japan, and faces a lot of compeition from other platforms. MS and Pocket PC supporters are going to have to do a lot to see it really take off here. In particular MS should have a better Pocket PC web site to match the US version. There are some posts to the Microsoft Pocket PC newsgroup about localized versions of the Pocket PC web site and the fact the MS seems to be ignoring Pocket PC users outside the US. We'll see if the situation improves. Anyway, back on topic. This is the start of my blog. Lot's of things to catch up on and hopefully lot's of interesting stuff in the future, but I don't know of any other site covering the Pocket PC in Japan, so hopefully this will become the place you go to get the latest info.