hp iPAQ h2210

The iPAQ h2210 fits nicely between the small and light h1937 and the function packed h5450 in terms of price - 39,800 yen, weight 144g, and functionality - CF and SD slots and in-built Bluetooth. It's good to see HP hitting the Japanese market with the new models as the US. With HP's (former Compaq's) good reputation for high screen quality and competitive features such as removable batteries and Consumer IR (in the 5450) they are going to be a strong competitor for Toshiba. All they need to complete their current line up is a Pocket PC version of or upgrade for the 5450.


Windows CE Fan

NEC Business Pocket PCs

NEC Infrontia has a couple of interesting PDAs targeted at business users. The PG7000, the latest in the Pocket Gear range, is an OEM version of the Casio E3000, although with the slim, dark grey body at first glance it would be easy to mistake it for a Sony Clie. It only comes with Pocket PC 2002 but NEC Infrontia's real focus is on the associated business applications. Whether we will see a consumer model after the failure of the PG5000 to take a big hold remains to be seen.

The Pocket@i is not a Pocket PC, but is a business targeted web terminal using Windows®CE.NET 4.1. There is a Bluetooth headset option, in-built laser scanner and both wireless LAN and wireless modem models. I wouldn't expect to see a consumer version of this one.

Japanese links:
PG7000 at NEC Infrontia
Pocket@i at NEC Infrontia
WindowsCE FAN

Mitac Pocket PCs Announced

Mitac Japan have announced two Pocket PCs for the Japanese market, the Mio 339 and Mio 558. Key good features are:

Mio 339
- 120g - lighter than the hp iPAQ h1937!
- Inbuilt camera
- 39,800

Mio 558
- Inbuilt Bluetooth and 802.11b wireless LAN
- Intel(R) XScale PXA263 400Mhz processor (Newest available!)
- 59,800 yen

Both:
- Pocket PC 2003
- 64 MB RAM
- Jog wheel
- SDIO compatible SD slot

Could be better specs are:
- Only 3.5" screen

Overall nice spec devices at a prices similar to other makers. The 558 will be a desirable device for anyone wanting in-built WLAN and bluetooth and the 339 nice for someone who wants a smaller Pocket PC. For more info. in Japanese:

Mitac Japan Homepage
Wince Fan

Free Pocket PC 2003 Upgrades for Toshiba e550 series

Good news for Toshiba e550 series owners (at least for the Japanese OS), the Toshiba representative at the PDA Solution Fair said yesterday that free Pocket PC 2003 upgrades will be available from the Genio website late this month or early next month.

He also said that they have no plans (or no plans he could tell me about) for new additions to the e550 series. As they are still heavily pushing the e550D and C I assume there won't be any over the new few months at least.

iPAQ h1937

HP have released a new model in the 1900 Series, the h1937, with Windows Mobile for Pocket 2003. At the time of realease it was also the world's smallest Pocket PC and weighed in at just 124g. At 24,800 yen (or 19,800 if you can catch one of the frequent campaigns) it's a good purchase for anyone who doesn't need a Compact Flash slot and the other features of the h5450 which is almost 3 times the regular price of the h1937.

PDA Solution Fair 2003 in Tokyo

This year's PDA Solution Fair in Tokyo will be held on September 5. Last year's show featured almost exclusively Pocket PC solutions and from the look of the seminars this year will be the same. So far 36 vendors are signed up for the exhibition floor a similar number to last year. The main hardware vendors are there but the bulk of companies are offering services or solutions. Two special features of the show this year are the Bluetooth and Small & Medium Business Solutions Seminars.

The great thing about this Fair is that the seminars and workshops are free. The workshops are mainly hardware demonstrations by the main vendors and the seminars feature Pocket PC 2003 as well as presentations by solutions vendors.

Overall this is a great show for seeing how PCs are really being used in business, although is of interest to the personal PDA user are well. Last year's show was good and this year the show is well worth a visit.

First consumer Pocket PC 2003 in Japan - Toshiba e350

It was a pretty safe bet, but Toshiba are first the market with a consumer Pocket PC 2003 device in Japan. The e350 is a mid-level device with a 300 Mhz processor (do you need any more?), 64MB or RAM (128MB would be nice) and a SD slot. There is no CF but this allows Toshiba to keep the device super slim (12.4mm) and light (149g). The price is expected to be around 40,000 yen (about US$350).

Power users will want to wait until Toshiba (hopefully!) release a new model in the e550 series with 4" screen, CF slot, faster processor (is it needed?), 128 MB of RAM (or more?). Still they would have to think of something original beyond this to convince most current e550G owners to pay 60,000 yen plus to upgrade. Which raises the question - are we going to see Pocket PC 2003 upgrades for existing models in Japan. No news so far ...

e350 News at WinCE Fan (Japanese only)

e350 at the Toshiba Site (Japanese only)

Tablet PC Experience

Following my long awaited purchase of a Tablet PC I've started a blog/commentary site called Tablet PC Experience. I will be including my thoughts about Tablet PCs in Japan and also how a Tablet PC compliments (or otherwise?) my Pocket PC. I hope it will be interesting reading. Comments can be added to the posts.

HP 1920 for 19,800 yen at Wireless Japan

If you missed out on the earlier offer to get the HP 1920 at 19,800 you can still save 5,000 yen off the normal price of 24,800 if you are one of the first 200 to buy from their booth (Japanese only) at Wireless Japan which started today (16th July) and runs until 18th. English information about this interesting show here.

Japanese Pocket PC Compatible MS Reader

Good news - Microsoft has released a new version of MS Reader and it appears to work on Japanese Pocket PCs! At last users are no longer restricted from reading Reader format books by the language of their OS.

First Pocket PC 2003 Hardware for Japan Announced

And the prize goes to Toshiba for the e750 (Japanese only) - but it's for sale to businesses only, so the first consumer model still to come.

Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC - Japan Released Announced!

Microsoft Japan announced the official release to manufacturers of the Japanese version of Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PCs on 30th June, just one week after the US announcement (compared to 3 months for Pocket PC 2000 and, 1 month for Pocket PC 2002).

As always Windows CE Fan has all the latest news.
http://www.wince.ne.jp/PocketPC2003/
(Use http://www.excite.co.jp/wordl/url for machine translations).

Watch out for more news and reviews in English here. At first look, in addition to the same changes as in the US version, the Japanese input system has been improved and Victor are entering the market on the hardware side. Still no news from any of the hardware vendors about new models featuring the new operating system.

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).