Clie UX-50!
Been a little busy recently. Back to work now, and Nickcole bought a new car, a 2003 Chevy Caviler.
Some big news in the PDA world. Sony is going to announce in the US on Friday a new Clie that is totally different from anything else they make. It looks a lot like the Zaurus unit that came out not to long ago.
This is yet another clamshell PDA and it has a hi-res+ (480x320) screen, but it is in landscape, not portrait orientation. The older Handera QVGA device was able to do landscape, but it wasn't the native orientation.
I'm not so sure if this is a device I would use. I am still very happy with my Clie NX60. But there are a few items the UX50 has that I like. It is the first PalmOS device with both Bluetooth and WiFi. Very 21st century. It has a new CPU made by Sony which is called the Sony Handheld Engine. Only runs up to 120Mhz or so, but it has a ton of functions built-in to the chip. It is a scalable chip, like the Intel XScale, but the scaling function is actually enabled on this device. (I don't think a single PDA actually takes advantage of the speed scaling abilities of Intels chip. The only softwares that do are a few over/underclocking apps. But this new chip scales on demand anywhere from 8MHz up to the top speed of 120-something MHz. This is great for the battery life because has fast does the datebook or your e-book reader have to go. You only use the battery power when you need it.
Sony has included some new functions into this device. One thing that opens up a lot of possibilities is the built-in software based OpenGL. It's only software based, so it will probably be limited, but Sony is already taking advantage of it by including a 3D application launcher.
The keyboard on this unit looks like it might be the best one of any of the Clie devices. I can see this as being more of an E-mail and IM on the go device. It kinda has a look like the Danger Sidekick device. If they made a GPRS version of the UX50, it might really be some competition for the Sidekick and the Blackberry.
What are some things that worry me though. Accessories. My NX60 was able to use NR screen protectors. As does the NZ. This is a new size screen I think. So no screen protectors for now. Sony probably has one, but it's probably priced high too. The Hotsync port. It has been a standard for a while now. All the T-series devices, the NR, the NX, the TG, the NZ, the SJ. They all have the same connector. Not the UX. So if you have something you want to hook up, too bad. Hope you didn't buy that $100 speaker cradle. Or a GPS unit. Or a game controller. Another thing, you can't use the headphones remote control with this device since it on'y includes just a standard stero headphone jack. Many of the higher-end devices (maybe they all do) have an extra plug that a remote control plugs into. Very nice for controlling your MP3's without having to open your device and fiddle with the stylus. Also, the jog-dial is no longer a tool to help with using your device one handed. Its on the bottom and is more of a knob, than a wheel. Sony pulled a Zire. They only have three hard buttons on the front. Every PalmOS device (except the $99 Zire) has had four buttons. We are looking at a $600-700 device here. Hope your certain app (or game) doesn't expect you to have certain buttons.
It's getting late, I need to sleep. I could probably go on, but you can find more info elsewhere. This is just my opinion, you might love this device. I think I'll hold out for the next NX. Hopefully OS6, Bluetooth, WiFi, 64MB (or more) or RAM. Doesn't sound too outrageous when looking at the UX.
Some big news in the PDA world. Sony is going to announce in the US on Friday a new Clie that is totally different from anything else they make. It looks a lot like the Zaurus unit that came out not to long ago.
This is yet another clamshell PDA and it has a hi-res+ (480x320) screen, but it is in landscape, not portrait orientation. The older Handera QVGA device was able to do landscape, but it wasn't the native orientation.
I'm not so sure if this is a device I would use. I am still very happy with my Clie NX60. But there are a few items the UX50 has that I like. It is the first PalmOS device with both Bluetooth and WiFi. Very 21st century. It has a new CPU made by Sony which is called the Sony Handheld Engine. Only runs up to 120Mhz or so, but it has a ton of functions built-in to the chip. It is a scalable chip, like the Intel XScale, but the scaling function is actually enabled on this device. (I don't think a single PDA actually takes advantage of the speed scaling abilities of Intels chip. The only softwares that do are a few over/underclocking apps. But this new chip scales on demand anywhere from 8MHz up to the top speed of 120-something MHz. This is great for the battery life because has fast does the datebook or your e-book reader have to go. You only use the battery power when you need it.
Sony has included some new functions into this device. One thing that opens up a lot of possibilities is the built-in software based OpenGL. It's only software based, so it will probably be limited, but Sony is already taking advantage of it by including a 3D application launcher.
The keyboard on this unit looks like it might be the best one of any of the Clie devices. I can see this as being more of an E-mail and IM on the go device. It kinda has a look like the Danger Sidekick device. If they made a GPRS version of the UX50, it might really be some competition for the Sidekick and the Blackberry.
What are some things that worry me though. Accessories. My NX60 was able to use NR screen protectors. As does the NZ. This is a new size screen I think. So no screen protectors for now. Sony probably has one, but it's probably priced high too. The Hotsync port. It has been a standard for a while now. All the T-series devices, the NR, the NX, the TG, the NZ, the SJ. They all have the same connector. Not the UX. So if you have something you want to hook up, too bad. Hope you didn't buy that $100 speaker cradle. Or a GPS unit. Or a game controller. Another thing, you can't use the headphones remote control with this device since it on'y includes just a standard stero headphone jack. Many of the higher-end devices (maybe they all do) have an extra plug that a remote control plugs into. Very nice for controlling your MP3's without having to open your device and fiddle with the stylus. Also, the jog-dial is no longer a tool to help with using your device one handed. Its on the bottom and is more of a knob, than a wheel. Sony pulled a Zire. They only have three hard buttons on the front. Every PalmOS device (except the $99 Zire) has had four buttons. We are looking at a $600-700 device here. Hope your certain app (or game) doesn't expect you to have certain buttons.
It's getting late, I need to sleep. I could probably go on, but you can find more info elsewhere. This is just my opinion, you might love this device. I think I'll hold out for the next NX. Hopefully OS6, Bluetooth, WiFi, 64MB (or more) or RAM. Doesn't sound too outrageous when looking at the UX.