SD Radio Tuner

PDA Kobo , a PDA specialist shop in Japan, have announced the upcoming sale of an SD card radio tuner for PDAs. Looks like the headphones go into the card itself but the tuning is done from the Pocket PC. Just 3,675 yen (about US$30).

Japanese Handwriting Recognition for English OS Pocket PCs: Rumored Hack

Some semi-good news for users of English OS Pocket PCs looking to add Japanese handwriting recognition to their device. A hack has been hacked. Having said that, it comes with the warning that this is a "serious bit of At Your Own Risk modding and I would strongly encourage users who are not comfortable or experienced with altering system settings to stay away". Thanks to a regular reader for the report.

P.S. I know that MS is interested in an Global IME type solution for Pocket PCs ... just not sure how long it will take.

GPS All-In-On-Unit and Navigation Soft

Looks like this is the week for PDA & GPS annoucements. PDA Kobo has announced:

1) An all-in-one GPS unit (that works as a cradle rather than using Bluetooth/SD/CF). They also sell navigation software (GrandMap Navi) and mappig software (SuperMapple Digital).

2) Some packaged sets of the Mitac Mio168RS with GPS to meet different customer needs.

Japan PDA Market Quiet, but HP Continues to Push

Well things have been very quiet in the Pocket PC world in Japan this year. In fact the whole PDA section in one of Tokyo's biggest electronic stores had slimmed down to just a few devices which included 1 Clie, 2 Zaurus and 1 Toshiba Pocket PC. Still Dell and HP are plugging away at the Japanese market. HP still have a good line up of 6 models here and have just announced a package that includes a Hagiwara Bluetooth GPS receiver and navigation package from b-walker. You can see a flash video (in Japanese) about HP's PDA strategy in Japan here.

Hopefully the arrival of Windows Mobile 5 devices to Japan late this year or early next will bring back a bit of excitement. I heard that HP will provide an upgrade for the hx4700 - great news! More and more of the development effort for Windows Mobile is going into SmartPhones and Pocket PC phones so I'm sure Windows Mobile users overseas are having much more fun. There is no sign of these appearing in Japan anytime soon, although it wouldn't surprise me to see a SmartPhone here at some point in the future. Perhaps one of the two new mobile carriers starting up over the next year will take the bait ??? Given the super advanced nature of phones here - in terms of both function and usability - Windows Mobile will face stiff competition but it would be good to see SmartPhones on the market here.

Mio 168 RS with MioMap Mapping Software

Finally some Pocket PC Japan news worth posting about. Mitac Japan has announced a Windows 2003 version of their Mio 168 (now Mio 168RS) Pocket PC with Built in GPS. What looks really exciting though is their new mapping application MioMap that includes audio navigation guidance with settings for pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars. For 73,290 yen you get the PDA, the MioMap software, Super Mapple Digital Ver.4 for Mio and a 1GB SD card - not a bad bundle. Unfortunately for powers users the hardware specs are not too great and there is no CF slot. The MioMap software cannot be used on other Pocket PCs which is a great shame. (Super Mapple Digital sold separately does come with a Pocket PC component).

If you already have a Mio 168RS you can get an OS upgrade and the MioMap software for just 22,000 yen a PDA Kobo. The are a lot of good pictures on this page as well as more on the page on the PDA Kobo site introducing the 168RS.

New Pocket PC 2003 SE Devices from Dell

Dell today announced the availability of the Axim X50 and X50v in Japan.

Here is the press release with links to the product pages. (Japanese only)

Here the x50v page on the Dell US site.

InPad and Claviature Input - Support Japanese

Microth offers two interesting input methods that support katakana and hiragana (as well as lots of other character sets). Worth a look.

"Our products include InPad - a handwriting input method based on innovative, patent pending technology and Claviature - a multilanguage, compact on-screen keyboard with large, comfortable keys."

More Pocket PC 2003 Second Addition Announcements, this time from HP

HP last week announced three models for Japan including a low-end, compact model (rz1717), a model with built in camera (rx3715) and for power users a high-end model with 4" VGA screen, Bluetooth 1.2, WLAN, CF & SD slots and a unique touch pad (hx4700). Just a shame there is only 64MB of RAM, but having 74MB of the ROM usable should more than make up for this.

More (in Japanese only) here:
HP Japan
Windows CE Fan

Finally a Windows Mobile 2003 SE Pocket PC from Toshiba?

Rumors on WindowsCE Fan (Japanese) from last month's Mobile Solutions Fair that we'll be seeing a Toshiba e800 series device in Japan any time from October. As the e800's have been out for a while in the US market it would be disappointing if we didn't see any interesting features, but with Bluetooth, WLAN, 128 MB RAM, a portion of usable ROM, CF and SDIO slots, 4" VGA screen and powerful processor it's hard to criticise this device. Perhaps a bit bigger than many people like their PDAs and no camera as found on the Fujitsu v70.

Updated: Dell Release 2 Axim X30 Models in Japan

Dell has announced the release of two Pocket PC Second Editions Devices for the Japanese market - one standard and one high model. Reasonably priced (34,800 and 49,800 yen), the high end model comes with a top end processor, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The big disappointment is no VGA screen version which some would consider the greatest benefit of Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition. The other noticeable deficiencies are a CF slot (probably impossible in a device this size any way) and just 64MB RAM (128MB would be nice). Still all in all a good value package.

At the time of writing the press release is not on their site yet but should appear here (Japanese only). The same applies for the product page although the press release says they will be available from today.

You can also read about the English version of the X30 on the Dell US site.

For comparisons with other Pocket PCs available in Japan see the Hardware section.

PDA & Mobile Solutions Fair Tokyo 2004

This year's PDA & Mobile Solutions Fair will take place on August 31. This is a great place to see a number of different business solutions out there as well as try out the latest hardware.

(The site is in Japanese so post to the discussion group if you need any help).

Update: Finally - Pocket PC 2003 SE Scheduled To Hit Japan's Shelves in July

Microsoft has officially announced the release to manufacturers of the Japanese version of 'Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software for Pocket PC' (hereafter Pocket PC 2003 SE) and Fujitsu has been the first to announce a device to ship mid-July. The v70 is very similar to the 720 announced overseas but does not feature Bluetooth, which is a disappointment. Still the 128MB memory, 64MB flash ROM (inc. 19MB flash disk), in-built WLAN, dual SDIO and CF card slots, VGA resolution screen, PXA 270 520MHz processor, 1.3 megapixal camera, USB host function, nice design and reasonable 165g weight, Japanist IME all make it a pretty attractive package. Other than Bluetooth, I can't think of anything more that could be expected given current standards other than the nice 4" screen of Toshiba's high end models rather than just 3.7" of the v70.

Although the release is announced as mid July, Fujitsu does have a record of delaying releases by long periods in Japan and overseas so we will see if it does actually hit the shelves as scheduled.

The press release only gives 'open price' but my guess would be just under the 70,000 yen mark. Less than 60,000 and I would be very impressed.

Update: The Fujitsu online shop has a staggering price of 83,700 yen - almost the same as a low end laptop! Price is 77,967 yen on Amazon Japan and you get a 10,000 yen Amazon voucher refund at the time of writing.


Links (Japanese only):

Pocket PC 2003 SE Release to Manufacturers
Microsoft Japan
Windows CE Fan

Fujitsu Loox v70:
Fujitsu Press Release
Fujitsu Product Page:
Fujitsu Online Shop
Windows CE Fan Article & Links

New PPC manga for Japanese learners, "Internet Rhapsody", just $2.50 with PPCJ discount code

For details see Fuyosoft

Special offer for Pocket PC Japan visitors. Get $0.50 off "Internet Rhapsody" - that's just $2.50 for manga for your Pocket PC with kanji readings(i.e. ruby or furigana) and grammar explanations. Visit the shop and use coupon code rhappcjp1535.

Mitac to Release Lighest Pocket PC to Japanese Market

Taiwanese manufacturer Mitac have announced their 4th Pocket PC 2003 device for the Japanese market. The Mio 336 is a basic model but weighs in at just 118g, the lightest Pocket PC on the Japanese market beating their own Mio 339 in to second place at 120g and the iPAQ h1937 at 124g into third. Toshiba's smallest model the e400 comes in at a pocket destroying 137g, 0.5g above Dell's low end model at 136.5g and just a bit less than their high end model at 140g. Honorable mention does have to be given to the h2210 iPAQ which at 144g is the lighest model available with a Compact Flash slot.

Decuma Japanese 2.0 is now on sale at @irbitway!

News from Decuma:

"Starting today, Decuma Japanese 2.0 is available for PPC users at "@irBitway" web site! Please check detailed product information & purchase conditions at:
https://www.airbitway.com/meng/cps.php?site=airppcpc&req=131_01_01&CID=3AP006602
(Please note that all information and support are only given in Japanese at "@irBitway".)

The software is priced at 4,179 Japanese yen (including consumption tax), and all users of PPC are welcome to download and test a trial version before purchase (limited to usage for 30 days). This trial version is available at the above "@irBitway" site, as well as at Decuma's web site. www.decuma.com/jp/"