Sony Announces SL10 with Hi-Res Mono Screen
After having some info on it leaked on Friday, Sony officially announced the PEG-SL10 today. This is a low-end handheld, costing just $150. It has a 320 by 320 monochrome screen, which is an improvement on Sony's current low-end model, the S360, which has only a 160 by 160 monochrome one. It has other features typically on Sony's handhelds, like a Jog Dial with Back button and a Memory Stick slot for extra storage. It will be available sometime next month.
On one side is a USB port. It is very unlikely that the SL10 will be able to operate as a USB master, which would allow it to use USB peripherals itself, like keyboards. However, it should be possible to hook the handheld up to a standard USB hub to HotSync. The handheld might even appear as a removable hard drive. Details are still sketchy as Sony's official announcement and the webpage on SonyStyle on this model don't even mention the USB port.
The USB port isn't the SL10's only one. It also has the same HotSync port as on the T series. This means that all of Sony's handhelds will have the same connector for the first time since Sony introduced the T415 late last year. This will allow them to share many accessories, like keyboards and cables.
In order to cut costs, Sony had to make some compromises. The SL10 has only 8 MB of RAM, half that of the S360, the company's current low-end model. It also lacks an internal rechargeable battery. Instead, it uses AAA batteries. It also comes with a USB HotSync cable, not a cradle.
Incidentally, a Sony company spokesperson said officially that the SL10 will replace the S360, which will be discontinued.
The SL10 runs Palm OS 4.1 on a 33 MHz Dragonball processor. It has a 4 MB flashable ROM.
It is 4.1 by 2.9 by .66 inches. It can't be too slim because two AAA batteries need to be able to fit inside. It weighs 3.6 ounces without batteries. For comparison, the S360 is 4.6 by 2.9 by 0.59 inches and wighs 4.3 ounces.
Though the design is similar to the S360's, it isn't the same and the buttons have been changed. Fortunately, the SL10's new buttons appear to have nothing in common with the ones on the T series.
This handheld comes with Documents To Go Standard Edition, which will allow it to access Microsoft Word and Excel files. It also comes with PictureGear Pocket and can use Sony's PEGA-MSC1 Camera Module.
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RE: ROM / RAM
Think before posting nextime maybe...
RE: ROM / RAM
RE: ROM / RAM
OS in RAM?
> Think before posting nextime maybe...
I guess you've never heard of Franklin's Ebookman?
Yeah - OS Dynamically loaded in RAM. And it's as (un)popular as you'd think. Particularly when they had that spate of bad capacitors that dropped the memory every time the battery lost contact, combined with the weak battery springs that would cause the battery to disconnect momentarily from a light thump.
It's a stupid idea, granted, but that dosen't make it IMPOSSIBLE.
RE: ROM / RAM
RE: ROM / RAM
Ha ha ha! Thanks for making my morning with this ridiculous idea. ;)
> Ebookman? Treo 90?
These still have compressed OS in ROM... Not the same thing. ;) Is that what you meant?
I can see it now. "Sony recommends that you keep fresh AAA batteries in the device at all times. Replacing the OS in RAM in the case of flat batteries is considered an out of warranty repair."
Wait! Microsoft would probably want to get in on this one too... Windows XP - RAM edition! "Minimum requirements: 2GB RAM. If you power down for any reason, please reinsert the recovery CD to compeltely reinstall Windows XP-RAM edition. You might lose some files. Microsoft strongly recommends that you never power down. Ever."
RE: ROM / RAM
> These still have compressed OS in ROM... Not the same thing. ;)
The EBookman (at least in the early versions, I haven't kept up with the later iterations) actually stored the whole OS in RAM - You had to download the OS image directly into the machine from Franklin via their conduit. If you lost power or hard-reset it, the only thing it would do is sit and tell you to connect it to a computer.
They may have changed this later (In fact they probably have - I see the occasional working (Inasfar as you can call the Ebookman 'Working') model at stores. You may remember that earlier models were almost never actually running at stores?)
I believe that their centrally-controlled OS revision system was supposed to be a selling point - at least from the view of content providers - The ability to patch DRM holes as quickly as they were discovered would hopefully keep content secure. But, of course, Microsoft deciding to pull out on their promises of implementing Pocket Reader for the platform has all but doomed them.
It's a shame in a way - It's pretty nice hardware. Too bad the OS/DRM stuffis so buggered up. The marketing could probably use a lot of help as well - The top model last I checked was the EBookman 911 - Hardly an auspicious model number.
Up/Down Rocker Buttons
How functional will this one prove on a daily basis...?
costein
RE: Up/Down Rocker Buttons
I even like the shape, too bad for the b&w display (well, afterall it's a low-end model)... ;]
ugly?
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
-Biff K
RE: ugly?
RE: Matter of opinion
Now...when is SONY going to bring out the big guns?
RE: ugly?
Anyway it's a good surprise, I was expecting something big and fat ...
RE: ugly?
I think this is a great value considering what else you can get for your $150.
RE: ugly?
I'd say Sony's *cheapest* PDA seems as powerful as Palm's second best ... Palm should better offer something competitive soon.
UGLY!!!!!!
this thing is ugly.....
did a member of the handera team move to sony or what cause i'm surprised sony actually stamped the clie name on this.... sony should have released a new line and called it, UGLIE....
just playing. but honestly. i was expecting something more on the eye candy side from sony... with that said, it IS nice to see that sony is not abandoning the lower end market, it must have taken a lot of ballz, or a really dumb upper level manager, to kick out another hi res grayscale model after that whole T415 debacle. lets see how well this model fairs... i'm personally not too worried about 8mb or ram. it IS for the lower end market and those who do go for this model probably wont be too up in anything other than the basics. Dont like the batteries though. bad personal memories from the m105 i guess....
3.6 oz without batteries. good stuff.
jog dial! unlike those handspring guys who left it out in their treo 90.....
up down buttons! ha... those sony guys.... not sure how well these will work... but it looks better than the ones on the T. actually, i dun get it. the buttons for the S and N are so well designed.... then all the sudden the T was like... blah.
on a side note. i currently have a n610. is sony going to release a 0S 5 model anytime soon cause this puppy needs to upgrade. actually, does OS5 have anything for this puppy the T665 doesnt?! i'm thinking no... any ideas people? i heard from some people that an OS5 model will be a ways off: announced in japan, sold in japan, then announced in the US, then finally sold in the US. whole thing will take around three months. but i'm thinking, the SL 10 came from almost no where- skiped the japanese cycle as a whole... so could a OS5 model be on the way....?
RE: ugly?
PLUS they finally fixed the damn up/down buttons.
RE: ugly?
I am one of the few people, ever to find the m1xx series kind of cute. And the Palm Vx is just wonderful, IMHO. A more accurate statement is that the m1xx and the Palm VX couldn't possibly compare to the VALUE and BENEFITS, considering the cost, of this thing.
--JM
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
Maybe we should wait until Apple releases itīs PDA -probably never- to see a nicely designed one. Until then, Iīll stay with the original Palm V
RE: ugly?
--(Josh)-- Support the USA in the war against terrorism.
RE: ugly?
160x160 is 160pixels wide and 160 pixels tall - think back to the calculation table - 12x12 = 144
160x160 = 160 x 160 = 25,600
320x320 = 160x2 x 160x2 = 102,400
Anyway, each pixel in a 160x160 becomes four pixels (a 2x2 block) in direct translation - four times the resolution... 2 times the resolution in any given direction, but this isn't print media this is screen real estate.
RE: ugly?
320x160 WOULD be twice the resolution.
RE: ugly?
m505 = 160x160
hires = 320x320, yes it's DOUBLE the number, BUT it's a SQUARE so it's actually 4 times more.
You can fit FOUR 160x160 boxes into ONE 320x320 box. like this:
this is 1x1:
_
|_|
This is 2x2:
_ _
|_|_|
|_|_|
Notice 1x1, and 2x2 in numbers it's 2 times.. BUT there are four 1x1 squares in a 2x2 :) get it?
160x160 = 1/4th the size of 320x320.
nXt's Clie Club
Place To Be For Sony Clie Discussion
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nxtclieclub
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
Their will be phones out within 12 months that do everything a Palm can, and more.
It's up to Palm Source to get their OS in as many products as possible.
Symbian is so far ahead of Apple, Palm, and even Microsoft in this area that it's scary.
It doesn't matter that you don't see many devices in your local store that carry Symbian.
The point is that in 3 months from, YOU COULD. Not so with the other companies.
My personal preference would be to have Blue Tooth enabled tablets in the workplace, with your phone/pda acting only as a briefcase, from which you'll beam your work to your home computer if need be.
There is simply NO NEED for most Americans to edit Excel and Word files on a PDA. But that's not just me talking.....the marketplace has made this clear. And so have enterprises.
For the few Nazis that DO engage in this behavior.....it'll be easier to do on a tablet. Or better yet, continue being a part of the 10% (and shrinking) of PDA buyers who use PocketPC.
Still, that said, I don't see PDAs ever FULLY going away.....sort of like wrestling.
I don't see convergeance units having a huge stake in the marketplace for another year and a half, and I don't see them dominating the market for another 3.....but I'm no expert.
I do know one thing.....that IS the direction the market is heading.
People only want enhanced organizers....snicker all you want.....it's a fact.
RE: ugly?
-Davy Fields
www.davyfields.com
RE: ugly?
You are talking about two seperate concepts here
resolution
and
screensize
Resolution refers:
x by y
so if you say twice the resolution it would be:
(x * 2) by (y * 2)
screen size refers to the cumulative amount of pixels.
So the product of x by y will be 1/4 the product of (x * 2) by (y * 2)
So the resolution it twice that of a palm,
but the screen size is 4 times larger.
Confused yet?
-J-
RE: ugly?
Try to explain to me in what way a 32x32 room is only twice as big as a 16x16 room. It isn't is it? You cna fit 4 times as many thing into a 32x32 room than you can with a 16x16.
This thing is a bargain
RE: screen size
When talking about desktop monitors, examples of "screen size" are "17 inch LCD", "15 inch CRT" right?
Resolutions like "1024x768", "800x600" right?
So for PDA, a "320x320" resolutions are 4 times of "160x160". For screen size, Palm & Sony Clie (except NR) are similar -- "about 2x2 sqaure inches", right?
Resolutions & Screen size are totally two different things.
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
RE: ugly?
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ROM / RAM