Palm Debuts the Zire 71 and Tungsten C Handhelds

Palm Solutions Group today debuted two new handhelds, the Zire 71 and Tungsten C. The Zire 71 is a new consumer model with an emphasis on multimedia, featuring a built in digital camera. The Tungsten C is aimed a Corporate Campuses and power users, with built in WiFi wireless, a 400mhz Intel XScale Processor and 64 MB of RAM.

Zire 71
Bringing multimedia capabilities to its Zire product family, Palm, today introduced the Zire 71 handheld with a built-in digital camera and Palm's sharpest high-resolution color screen to date.

Palm Zire 71 ~ Click for LargerZire 71 Features
The Zire 71 runs Palm OS 5.2.1 and uses a 144MHz Texas Instruments OMAP310 (ARM) processor. The display is a 16-Bit, 320x320 bright transflective TFT color display, which supports more than 65,000 colors. It includes 16MB of internal memory (13MB is user accessible). It also features dual expansion with the Palm Universal connector and a Secure Digital (SD/SDIO/MMC) expansion slot. Palm has also incorporated a joystick like 5-way navigation button for one-handed use.

Its dimensions closed are 4.5 in. x 2.9 in. x 0.67 in. (114 x 74 x 17 mm), and weighs 5.3 oz (150 g). The Zire 71 has a standard 3.5mm stereo headphone plug for audio out and a rear mono speaker. The Zire 71 is powered by a 900mAh rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery.

Digital Camera
The Palm Zire 71 handheld's new design features a slider that reveals and activates the digital camera. The camera can capture pictures in 640x480, 320x240 and 160x120 resolution with Free focus, auto exposure and auto white balance. The display acts as the viewfinder, and snapshots can be saved within internal memory or onto expansion cards. The camera automatically activates by sliding open the device. A touch of a button underneath the slider, users can instantly capture the photo.

One of the four application buttons on the front of the Zire 71 handheld accesses Palm's new photo application for organizing and managing digital images on the handheld. Users can assemble photo albums, beam images to friends, and move pictures to and from an expansion card. The Palm Photos application also has been integrated into the Palm Desktop Windows edition, providing photo viewing, organizing and basic editing functions.

For listening to music files and playing movies, the Zire 71 handheld ships with RealOne Mobile Player and Kinoma Player and Producer. The software CD also contains Audible Player, RealOne Arcade, Palm Reader, Handmark Solitaire, Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS, powerOne Personal Calcuator, SMS, PhoneLink updater and VersaMail 2.5.

"Multimedia became the focal point of our new Zire handheld because a gap exists between the people who want this functionality and the cost they have had to pay to get it," said Ken Wirt, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Palm Solutions Group.

The Palm Zire 71 is now available in retail and online outlets including the Palm Store at a MSRP of $299 USD.

Palm Tungsten C ~ Click for LargerTungsten C
The Tungsten C is Palms most powerful handheld computer to date, with built-in high-speed 802.11b wireless.

The Tungsten C runs Palm OS 5.2.1 and runs on 400mhz Intel Scale PXA255 Processor. The display is a 16-Bit, 320x320 bright transflective TFT color display, which supports more than 65,000 colors. It includes 64MB of internal memory (51MB is user accessible), the most memory for a Palm OS handheld. It also features dual expansion with the Palm Universal connector and a Secure Digital (SD/SDIO/MMC) expansion slot.

The Tungsten C also has an Integrated Thumb-Size Keyboard as well as on screen Graffiti2 for data input. The Palm 5-way navigator also facilitates one-handed operation.

Its dimensions are 4.8" x 3.07" x .65". (122 x 78 x 16.5 mm), and weighs 6.3 oz (178 g). The Tungsten C uses a 2.5mm headphone plug for audio out and a rear mono speaker. There is also Vibration, Audio and LED Notification for alarms.

It is powered by a fixed 1500mAh Rechargeable Lithium Ion/Polymer battery. Which Palm says will provide a full work day of consistent Wi-Fi connectivity, or a full work week of normal handheld use.

Software
The Tungsten C handheld ships with a number of new software applications built into the device ROM including: DataViz Documents To Go Professional Edition 5.1 for Word, Excel and PowerPoint compatible document handling; VersaMail 2.5, PalmSource Web Browser 2.0, the proxyless web browser by PalmSource, Inc. that supports HTML, JavaScript and other Internet standards, Palm Photo View 1.0 a PPTP VPN client by Mergic and all of the standard Palm OS PIM applications.

Security
The Tungsten C handheld uses a Wi-Fi certified Intersil Prism 3.0 802.11b radio which supports 128-bit WEP encryption. It also ships with a built-in PPTP (point-to-point tunneling protocol) virtual private network client (VPN) from Mergic. Additional new security features include application-level 128-bit encryption technology which enables users to choose which applications they want encrypted. Scheduled and/or regularly timed lockouts protect data when the device isn’t in use and password-character blocking keeps bystanders from seeing on-screen passwords.

The Palm Tungsten C handheld is $499 (estimated U.S. street price) and is scheduled to be available May 5 worldwide and online at The Palm Store. Reports from the PIC forums indicate some retail stores already have units in stock.

Additional High Resolution Pictures (Click for Larger):

Palm Zire 71 ~ Click for Larger Palm Tungsten C ~ Click for Larger Palm Tungsten C ~ Click for Larger Palm Zire 71 ~ Click for Larger Palm Tungsten C ~ Click for Larger

Additional Discussions in the Palm Inc Forums

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it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?

kidA @ 4/23/2003 1:02:29 AM #
well it's official. i'm also quite surprised that the T|T is still $399 on the site and the m515 is still $299. if that doesn't change soon, those folks at palm really are nuts.

i'm not living, i'm just killing time.
RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
jbeedham @ 4/23/2003 1:16:23 AM #
Best Buy has been selling Tungsten T for $349 for quite awhile now. The local best buy is not getting anymore of them. This gives me the feeling Tungsten T is gonna be replaced soon. MAkes me wonder if Tungsten C is teh replacement or if there is another version of the Tungsten T coming.

-------------------------------------------------------
currently using Palm m125 and waiting for Garmin iQue.
RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
Foo Fighter @ 4/23/2003 1:32:03 AM #
The M515 is a dead-end product. I'm fairly certain Palm will kill it within the next 30-60 days.

RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the re
hotpaw4 @ 4/23/2003 1:44:40 AM #
The m515 is still thinner and lighter than any of the new units, and seems to have better battery life than the TT or Z71. But there does seem to be a price conflict between it and the Z71.
RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
TobyG @ 4/23/2003 7:19:48 AM #
"well it's official. i'm also quite surprised that the T|T is still $399 on the site and the m515 is still $299. if that doesn't change soon, those folks at palm really are nuts."

For the M515 maybe, but considering the final release specs for the Z71, I'm even less convinced that the T|T deserves a price drop than I was before.

RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
Zracer81 @ 4/23/2003 9:24:22 AM #
Agree m515 needs to be gone - its just keeping the TT higher priced. The Best Buy near me has TT at $399. When purchased Best Buy mails a $50 gift card. I guess it all works out in the end to $349 but I don't like the gimmick.

Z71... That reminds me of the performance package on an 84 Corvette. Rough Riding but loads of fun.

Keep the m515, just drop the price.
RAMd®d @ 4/23/2003 11:17:37 AM #
While all of the new units are very trick, there is still a need for a decent, small, PDA, which should be more moderately prices. The m130 doesn't fit

I have no idea why both it and the T are priced so high, but they need a price reduction.

______________________________
An armed society is a polite society.

RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
hkklife @ 4/23/2003 2:24:40 PM #
I agree. They should move the original Zire's price down to $79 or so, and release (essentially) the m125 with the latest OS 4 rev onboard in the Zire's formfactor. Of course, a backlight and a full set of hardware buttons would be necessary. If they could cram on a 5-way mini joystick from the Zire 71, it'd be a perfect unit to release at $125 now and then have down to $100 by Christmas. It's a shame such a device could not have been out right now to catch a lot of the "Dad'n Grad" purchasers out there. At the very least, Palm should slash prices drastically on the last of the m500's and m125's.

Otherwise, today is quit a good day indeed for the Palm world! I just am holding out for a refreshed T|T with a backlit Graffiti area.

RE: it's for real folks, but what about the prices of the rest?
Fzara2000 @ 4/27/2003 1:01:37 AM #
Or even a virtual graffiti ;)

Could it be!?!? The return of Fzara2000!?
Or could it be the new models from Palm!?

Nah. I just wanted to have a nice bash. ;)



"Now thats just PRIME!"

No DSP on Zire 71...

Radu @ 4/23/2003 1:11:41 AM #
I was expecting a DSP on Zire 71 (based on previous info), to handle the multimedia load. But it seems that the processor is OMAP310, which has only the ARM core. The MP3 playback will probably not be as smooth as done through a DSP (i.e. like in Clie), but I hope it is acceptable.
Probably just a tradeoff to keep the price low...

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
hotpaw4 @ 4/23/2003 1:50:12 AM #
Plus the C5xx DSP on the OMAP1510 seemed to only be used in the voice recorder on the TT, and for that low pass filter which the latest TT sound patch essentially removed. But the ARM9 multiplier turns out to be plenty fast for FFT's and many types of digital filters.

Also the Zire 71 has no microphone or line input.

Zire 71: NO Wireless Connectivity!?
pdangel @ 4/23/2003 4:44:31 AM #
Review: Palm Zire 71
"Conclusion: At $299, the Zire 71 is stacked against Sony's CLIE PEG-SJ33 handheld. For the first time that we can recall, at a given price point Palm beats Sony in both feature set and design and integration. The Zire 71 is an excellent device. We're disappointed by the lack of Bluetooth poor stylus, and pointing stick Navigator, but the good camera, mouth-watering screen, and excellent software integration win us over. The Zire 71 is now the device to beat in the mid-range market.
-What's positive: Superb screen, good camera, good software integration
-What's negative: Plastic stylus, pointing-stick Navigator, no Bluetooth or high-powered IR
5 out of 6"
http://www.infosync.no/system/print/index.php?id=3460

Brighthand Reviews the Palm Zire 71: "The Palm Zire 71 is a remarkable mid-range handheld that combines style and functionality, while remaining true to Palm's "pocketable, easy-to-use, long battery life" philosophy. Its only shortcoming is its lack of integrated wireless, which we hope can be somewhat overcome in the near future with support for Secure Digital Bluetooth and Wi-Fi cards."
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Zire_71_review

Brighthand’s Preliminary Review of the Palm Tungsten C: "....the Tungsten C looks like a very impressive device. When I first heard hints Palm was putting together a model with built-in Wi-Fi and a 400 MHz processor, I expected it to cost at least $600. Palm really surprised me by pricing it at $500. That puts it $100 less than the Toshiba e750, which has a roughly similar feature set. This device could win Palm not only sales among power users but among large corporate clients as well."
http://www.brighthand.com/article/Tungsten_C_Preliminary_Review

For the business user, Palm has upped the ante with the fastest processor ever in a Palm OS handheld. The Tungsten C is backed by an Intel XScale processor running at 400 MHz, twice the speed of any Palm OS handheld to date, and offers 64 MB of RAM, four times that of any other shipping Palm OS handheld. (The Garmin iQue 3600 is expected to have 32 MB of RAM, but is not yet available.) It offers the same 5-Way Navigator and thumbboard of the Tungsten W, while keeping almost the exact same size and shape. Although it has no external antenna, the Tungsten C includes an integrated 802.11b "Wi-Fi" radio. In order to provide all-day usage, it also sports the same 1500 mAh battery of the Tungsten W. Although it does not include an MP3 player, it does include a voice recorder, DataViz Documents To Go, a proxy-less web browser, and VPN support."
http://www.infosyncworld.com/system/print.php?id=3459

Palms range of WiFi is about 40-50 feet here (compared to all the negative talk about Bluetooth range of 30 feet?????) and am curious about the battery life (the Toshiba e740 runs less then 2 hours).....


"There are 2 kind of people my friend....those with wires and those without"

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
TobyG @ 4/23/2003 7:21:37 AM #
"Plus the C5xx DSP on the OMAP1510 seemed to only be used in the voice recorder on the TT"

The DSP on the T|T is used for playback of streamed sounds (according to a TI engineer). This should cause some differential in background audio performance. Whether or not the 192K of cache on the 310 will offset that, I don't know, but I can't see it. If PalmSG does an update to the OS and implements it properly, it could be used for both decode and playback of MP3/OGG. Whether they'll do either remains to be seen.

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
Radu @ 4/23/2003 12:34:06 PM #
Don't they both have 192k internal memory? At least, that's what it says on the TI's website:
"192-KB of shared internal SRAM - frame buffer"
The difference between OMAP310 and 1510 seems to be only in the DSP core...



RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
TobyG @ 4/23/2003 12:58:41 PM #
"Don't they both have 192k internal memory? At least, that's what it says on the TI's website:
"192-KB of shared internal SRAM - frame buffer"
The difference between OMAP310 and 1510 seems to be only in the DSP core..."

Yep, I must've missed it this morning because it's not broken out separately like the 310 spec is.

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
RX317 @ 4/23/2003 1:32:28 PM #
OS 5.0 was never meant to support anything beyond ARM v5 codes. The DSP in OMAP1510 is an utter waste of silicon. Z71 using 310 confirms this.
RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
hotpaw4 @ 4/23/2003 2:31:11 PM #
>The DSP in OMAP1510 is an utter waste of silicon. Z71 using 310 confirms this.

The Z71 doesn't have a voice recorder, a feature which is a requirement of many TT purchasers.

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
Gage @ 4/23/2003 11:12:07 PM #
I have personally tested MP3 playing on the Zire 71 and it sounds good. (tested without head phones) But I didn't test and see if it would play music in the back ground. I will try it to marrow when I go back to work.

I use PocketToons MP3 Player....

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
Gage @ 4/24/2003 11:11:35 PM #
Sounds good all the way around! It will play in the background. But will crash if you set over amp. to +3db. But +6db will work(strange). Anyway. It crashes at other times (just some tweaks the programs will have to work on)... But for the most part it works very good!

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
Thaddeus Cultt @ 4/25/2003 10:23:39 AM #
I received my Zire 71 as a gift (I actually received an Toshiba e335, but exchanged it for the Zire) and DSP or not, it really sounds great. I haven't had any problems running music in the background while using Wordsmith or iSilo, but that's all I've run it with. I really love this fun little palm.


TC

"...in the end the only one left smiling was the Jester, and his was only painted on..." - TC

RE: No DSP on Zire 71...
mj6798 @ 4/27/2003 5:45:58 PM #
"OS 5.0 was never meant to support anything beyond ARM v5 codes. The DSP in OMAP1510 is an utter waste of silicon. Z71 using 310 confirms this."

Because Palm's OS 5 release can't deal with a DSP chip (or do decent multitasking), the chip is a "waste of silicon"???

Operating systems are supposed to make hardware accessible to application software. The degree to which Palm OS fails to do that, that's a deficiency in Palm OS, not in the hardware.

In fact, this is a perennial problem with Palm OS: every megabyte of memory added, every screen pixel, every flash card, and every piece of audio hardware is a hard-won battle with that OS. Let's hope that OS 6 will be better than this because if it isn't, Palm is history (or at least should be).

Friigin Thumboard

jbeedham @ 4/23/2003 1:19:31 AM #
Why can't Palm offer a unit with virtual graffiti? I was really hoping they would offer two versions of the Tungsten C. One with thumboard and one with virtual graffiti.

I think if they are gonna go the thumboard route, they need to incorporate a virtual mouse pointer with roller ball. This way you won't need to grab the stylus.

-------------------------------------------------------
currently using Palm m125 and waiting for Garmin iQue.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
Token User @ 4/23/2003 1:57:29 AM #
... and did anyone else notice that, just like the T|W, they have a / but no \. Maybe they'll have to send out a "patch" like Sony 8^)

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~
RE: Friigin Thumboard
ralvy @ 4/23/2003 2:46:41 AM #
On this keyboard you get the backslash with the Fn-Symbol combination.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
icarus @ 4/23/2003 7:56:02 AM #
I WANT VIRTUAL GRAFFITI !!!

Me too. Lately, they just kick out units with this thum(b) keyboard (or the Zire71 with regular Graffiti area.

Take the Tungsten T, replace the sliding mech with a virtual Graffiti (it would be nice to have even a better display, e.g. like Cliés) and off we go.

Don't need camera and other gimmicks. But....

...give us the real estate (screen) we deserve!!

and bluetooth for mobile connection. (I don't want to download huge attachements, but just get some plain eMails and eventually some small attachements. This will be perfectly satisfied by bluetooth.)
And I want the mobile to dial my contacts from the Palm without lining it up for IR!

PALM SG, are you listening???

presently using m105 - waiting for Garmin iQue3600 with Bluetooth

RE: Friigin Thumboard
frauen1 @ 4/23/2003 9:23:20 AM #
Does the Tungsten C/Graffiti 2 do the "write in the main screen area" trick that Jot does? I could live with that.

BTW, I've used the thumbboard, it's not bad, my only complaint is that the D-pad is a little small. Us fat thumbed will be at a slight disadvantage...

RE: Friigin Thumboard
zigzago @ 4/23/2003 9:36:56 AM #
Put me on the virtual graffiti waiting list too.

Don't need a camera, don't need WiFi, don't need
a thumbboard. But I'd like something smaller than
Sony's clamshell units with a large screen so I
don't have to scroll so much when reading long
documents. IMO, this is Palm's biggest weakness
compared to Pocket PC.

RE: Vitual Graffitti
Cheetah @ 4/23/2003 11:12:53 AM #
I believe if they put vitual graffitti on this unit (eliminating thumb board) that it would be as popular as the V/505/515 model.

At least that's what I'm holding out for!

RE: Friigin Thumboard
Doo @ 4/23/2003 11:58:41 AM #
I want V-Graffiti too. My 760 is getting long in the tooth but nothing seams to do anything it can't. The new stuff might do it faster but speed isn't that impotant. Sony or Palm, I couldn't care. Just let me read an ebook on a 320-480 screen.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
dustbunny44 @ 4/23/2003 1:38:16 PM #
Yes - add my voice to the screen real estate over thumb keyboard crowd.

The ideal form factor (this minute) would be that of the garmin ique 3600 - 320x480 and under 5.5 oz - but with selectable 802.11b/bluetooth (both radios onboard and user switches between one/both/none of them) instead of the GPS (though that is tasty too).

Major uses would be browser/internet/email, calendar syncing with whatever group calendar you use, and phone/contact interface via bluetooth. Camera, if you want one for occasional use, could be slipped into the SDIO slot or use the one on your phone instead.


Yes, give us Graffiti with the thumbboard.
RAMd®d @ 4/23/2003 1:41:42 PM #
But what is virtual Graffiti?

It's often mentioned, but I've seen no definition. (Maybe I have to get up earlier in the day.

______________________________
An armed society is a polite society.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
Purfekshunist @ 4/23/2003 2:08:30 PM #
I keep posting every time there's an opportunity to speak out for a PalmOS unit with virtual graffiti, in the hope that enough support will convince someone at Palm or Sony that it would be worthwhile to make one.

Half a clamshell Clie or an m515 with virtual graffiti, and I'm there. Preferably the latter, since I prefer SD over Memory Stick.

The bigger screen would be welcome for reading (ebooks and Avantgo) and viewing video. Kinoma Player/Producer is awesome, and supports HiRes+. Even my PPC friends are astonished by the picture clarity. I think if a PalmOS licensee is serious about making an entertainment/multimedia PDA, it has to have a HiRes+ screen and NO thumboard (it's a PDA, not a mini-laptop!). Personally, I don't need a built-in camera.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
a @ 4/23/2003 2:34:36 PM #
face it....virtual graffiti is cool, but keyboards are just plain faster if you want to type more than 2 charactors.

-------------------
I love my Treo 90
-------------------
RE: Friigin Thumboard
JKingGrim @ 4/23/2003 2:40:02 PM #
Virtual G is where instead of a static G area, it is an extension of the screen. The graffiti writing space is collapseable. The VG resolution is 320x480.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
DavisC @ 4/23/2003 2:42:38 PM #
Virtual Graffitti!!!!
I would switch faster than you could say "Thumboard".
I was wooed from Palm to PPC by the screens of those devices (I came back due to size and functionality of Palm). A perfect device would have VG, size of the M515, SD and that's it. No bells and whistles, don't need all that. I have a keyboard if I wanna type!
Please, VG!!!!

RE: Friigin Thumboard
ganoe @ 4/23/2003 3:08:04 PM #
> The VG resolution is 320x480.

Bah! I'm holding out for 480x640 virtual graffiti.

RE: Friigin Thumboard
killah fury @ 4/23/2003 3:09:02 PM #
i hate the friggin keyboards. i want virtual graffiti too. come on palm / sony!

listen to us, dammit!

RE: Friigin Thumboard
ZekeSulastin @ 4/23/2003 3:50:42 PM #
480X640 Virtual Graffiti? In my mind, one of the biggest failings of the (otherwise excellent) Handera 330 was its 240x320 screen. The screen had 1.5x the horiz. resolution of the standard lo-res screen, as opposed to Sony's, with 2x horiz. res. So, you could either run older apps smaller, or through an odd scaling routine ... AND YOU WANT TO RESURRECT *THAT*?!?

640x960 B) ...

RE: Friigin Thumboard
ganoe @ 4/23/2003 4:51:16 PM #
Any developer coding to a specific hi-res screen size, over a full year since Palm's hi-desnsity APIs were available, ought to have their right to use Palm licensed headers, tools, etc. revoked. Torture and other painful punishments ought to be considered as well.
RE: Friigin Thumboard
ajcross @ 4/23/2003 5:39:49 PM #
Why not the best of both worlds?

For Xmas, I expect to see Canesta LCD keyboard in a propped up Palm. Why would I want a dinky thumbboard?

And I can Jot or Virtual Graffiti on the 320x480 screen. I will say that I like the ability to write without looking at the screen that I do with Graffiti.

Andy

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