Rumor: Acer to Introduce s50 and s60 (Updated)

Posted By: Ed on Thursday, July 25, 2002 10:30:23 AM

Acer is planning to introduce two models called the s50 and s60 in the near future. According to a leaked brochure, they will have hi-res, TFT color screens and Memory Stick slots.The main difference between these two models is the s60 has built-in voice recorder and MP3 playback, while the s50 does not. They have a Chinese version of Palm OS 4 but use the hi-res icons from OS 5. According to one site, they will be released in 5 days. The s60 will be about NT$13000 (US$382) and the s50 will cost NT$9900 (US$292).

Both models use 33 MHz Dragonball processors. They have 16 MB of RAM and 8 MB of flash ROM.

They are 4.7 by 3.0 by .5 inches and weigh 5.5 ounces.

Thanks to the many people who sent tips on this and to AcerPDAUser for the images. -Ed

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37 total comments

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Hope Springs Eternal

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 10:56:04 AM #

Hope Acer will enter the US market. This will give more competition and keep Palm, Handspring and Sony on their toes and keep innovation going.

English brochure

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 11:07:04 AM #

There's a scan of the English brochure at:

http://www.palmislife.com/ut/attach/2002/07/25/32839-s50s60_is.jpg

Plays MP3 like the S10, but can also record audio directly into MP3 format.
Apparently has an audio e-book reader utility.
320x320 screen with enhanced Chinese display.
Compatible with Palm OS 5 hi-res API.

RE: English brochure

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 11:34:42 AM #

33Mhz? Boooooo~~~~~~~

RE: English brochure

PalmAddict @ 7/25/2002 12:24:04 PM #

And already using the icons for what appear to be OS 5 as well as the API. hmmm. Are they part of the API?

"We're a planet of nearly six billion ninnies living in a civilization that was designed by a few thousand amazingly smart deviants."

-Scott Adams

RE: English brochure

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 1:45:52 PM #

> Are they part of the API?

The bitmap icons themselves would be part of each application. The OS 5 hi-density bitmap API would load them instead of the standard ones, assuming it really supports the API.

Two models, s50 and s60

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 10:58:32 AM #

According PalmisLife web site, Acer will introduce two models, s50 and s60. The estimate SRP of s60 will less than NT$13000(US$382) and NT$9900(US$292) for s50. The difference is s50 remove MP3 and voice recorder function.

Below are s60 hardware details:
Palm OS O 4.?? Tradition Chinese Edition
Motorola Dragon Ball VZ 33 MHz
16 MB Sdram / 8MB FlashRom
16-bit reflective TFT, 320 x 320 hi-resolution, compatible with OS 5 hi-resolution program
L12.0cm x W7.7cm x H1.3cm/ Weight 153g
Memory Stick Expansion slot and support Memory Stick IO device like MS camera/MS bluetooth card.
MP3 playback, built-in speaker, 900mha hi-capacity recharagable Li-battery

Here's English datasheet.
http://www.palmislife.com/ut/attach/2002/07/25/32839-s50s60_is.jpg

RE: Now they can....

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 12:37:18 PM #

I think the guy on south park last night was using one of these acers to build the great wall of south park.

brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 1:24:24 PM #

Notice that the devices displayed in the brochure do not have additional Chinese characters in their grafiti area.

This could be an indication that they plan to release the devices on the US market soon.

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 1:48:00 PM #

Ok, I looked at the Acer home page, and the S10, their b/w device is offered in 3 versions:

- traditional Chinese
- simplified Chinese
- English

But it is still not available on the US market. I assume the new devices will have a similar deal then.

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 1:50:05 PM #

They make a version of the s10 in English but don't sell in in the U.S. I keep hoping, tho.

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 2:14:57 PM #

They are selling the English s10 in Singapore
http://www.acer.com.sg/products/s10/p_s10.asp

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 2:43:09 PM #

How much is the S10 in Singapore?

Three languages in one device?

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 2:51:10 PM #

It's got three languages in one device, and you can switch it any time you want?

Just want to confirm.

RE: Three languages in one device?

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 3:05:34 PM #

> It's got three languages in one device, and you can switch it any time you
> want?

No. You choose the lanuguage when you buy the device. No switching.

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 3:57:07 PM #

what images are you looking at? all three above do indeed have chinese characters in the silk screened section...

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 4:16:42 PM #

> "what images are you looking at? all three above do indeed have chinese characters in the silk screened
section..."

Follow the link to the brochure in the article. Its a scanned version of an English brochure. The pictures there are clearly for an English device unlike the pictures in the article.

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 8:19:58 PM #

As others have pointed out, the Acer S10 English version was available for sale all over Asia. Just because it isn't available in the US doesn't mean...

In fact, the English version had been selling for nearly half a year before the Chinese OS versions were available, and that was when the English websites started to pick up on the "news".

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 8:19:58 PM #

As others have pointed out, the Acer S10 English version was available for sale all over Asia. Just because it isn't available in the US doesn't mean...

In fact, the English version had been selling for nearly half a year before the Chinese OS versions were available, and that was when the English websites started to pick up on the "news".

RE: brochure appears to be for english device

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 9:55:57 PM #

Actually, Traditional Chinese shipped before English in Asia.
It is sold in Taiwan in the middle of December last year.

Your info is very doubtful.

Intresting! Memory Stick??

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 2:52:54 PM #

It's the first non-Clie PDA which uses Memory stick.

RE: Intresting! Memory Stick??

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 3:10:22 PM #

This isn't new. The Acer s10 has had MS slot since last year.

another OS4 device???

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 4:40:25 PM #

Nice device, nice features but another OS4 device??? What's the point of OS5 then if everyone can bring out these features pushing OS4? I'm tired of this confusing transition b/w OS4 and OS5. Why aren't the manufacturers bringing out OS5 devices now or wait a month when we are expecting new OS5 devices? Sorry I'm just confused.

RE: another OS4 device???

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 4:55:52 PM #

Because OS5 runs on ARM-Based chip, so if you want to build a device running OS5, it requires you to use ARM-based chip that is much more expensive.

RE: another OS4 device???

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 4:57:45 PM #

what would an OS5 device have over this one?

most palm devices run the apps quickly enough already so the difference in responsiveness will not be noticed

no major functionality has been added to the OS besides a Palm High Density API which this device will include

ARM native apps aren't supported in OS5, armlets are as close as developers can get

RE: another OS4 device???

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 10:47:52 PM #

So tell me this guys. Why even bring OS5 to market then so soon? Appears that everyone can wait till next year. I believe it will be confusing having OS4 and OS5 devices on the market at the same time. I can't imagine the BS that will come from the CompUSA (or similar stores) sales guys. These sales guys know nothing already, now just mix up the palm devices and it's hell for the consumers. I hope they clean up this mess.

RE: another OS4 device???

hotpaw4 @ 7/26/2002 1:49:15 AM #

Shouldn't be a problem. Correctly writted PalmOS applications should run on both OS4.x and OS5 devices. Most (non-media) applications won't require ARMlet code. The OS5 devices will be faster at some things; so it will be like Dell/HP/Gateway introducing a new machine with a speed bump CPU and a faster graphics card while the slower machine get moved to the economy category.

Apple successfully sold both 680x0 and PowerPC (RISC) based machines for around year (the first PPC601's were too power hungry for the Apple laptops). Both Sun (SPARC) and HP (PA) also phased in their new RISC computers over a period of at least a year while the software base gradually converted to take advantage of performance potential. Didn't seem to bankrupt any of the above companies. (DEC/Alpha is the only conversion that seems to have bitten the dust, and not because of bad technology...)

Acer PDA developer website

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 10:26:39 PM #

https://handheld.acer.com.tw/index.asp

3-week battery?

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 11:21:29 PM #

Sounds like a good reason to buy an Acer. Somebody said their battery is 900mah. Any idea what the rating of the 505 is?

hey Sony...

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 5:36:05 AM #

finally some competition for Clie. Plus it has a voice recorder! come on bring it here!

RE: hey Sony...

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2002 1:58:35 PM #

Yes, this device sounds really nice. :)
I hope we'll see a review of it soon.

The only thing that's a bit disappointing is the
fact that it's running 33 MHz, and not 66 MHz.
I don't care about the ARM-processors and OS 5.x.

Heck, they've even included the OS 5.x Hi-res stuff.

Hmm, I wonder if it has FM-sound just as the
CLIÉ:s?

Acer s50 vs Sony T615/655

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/25/2002 3:19:00 PM #

Looks interesting. So what's the difference between this and the Sony T615/655 (besides that its in Chinese)?

RE: Acer s50 vs Sony T615/655

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/30/2002 1:08:03 AM #

s60 can play MP3 at least 8 hours.
The voice recorder can record up to 2 128MB MS, which is over 500 minutes, non-stop.

According to reviews in www.palmislife.com

Looks nice

Steven Eil @ 7/27/2002 3:40:57 AM #

I think they can top Sony's low-end models. The only thing that seems really odd is the 8 MB of flash ROM, what is it for?

Steven Eil
CTO & Palm OS Editor
Palmi

RE: Looks nice

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/27/2002 4:54:11 AM #

It's for storing hi-res Chinese fonts.

RE: Looks nice

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/29/2002 7:06:57 AM #

It may also contain English-Chinese/Chinese-English dictionary by default, stored in the Flash memory.

RE: Looks nice

I.M. Anonymous @ 7/30/2002 1:03:54 AM #

Same for Japanese CLIE. You pay almost the same price and you get 4MB more in flash rom

when will they release the english version

PIC mobile user @ 7/29/2002 6:58:19 PM #

i really liked it.

Palm Software on sale