Comments on: Rumor: PC Mall Leaks Info on New Low-End Sony Handheld

I've actually felt guilty at times for not jumping on a deal that seemed too good to be true. Other than not having a cradle included the S360 seems like a fabulous deal if you don't need color. I expected Sony to either drop the model soon after releasing it, or jack the price up somehow. I've seen it priced close to $150 at times. I've recommended the unit to several friends as offering the most bang for the buck in the Palm OS market.

On a semi-related note, does anyone have any idea of the future release schedule of OS4/Dragonball handhelds? Will they continue to tweak and refine those models or are we currently seeing the final few releases from Sony now?

Palm's rumored upcoming $99 unit will almost certainly be the standard 8 megs/33 mhz model running OS4. I mean, Palm are still selling the m100's with serial only sync capabilities so I would assume they'd phase those out before the OS5 models are introduced, then divide their product line between the two OS generations. The first OS4 models to disappear will almost certainly be the specialized, low-volume, high-cost units like the 66 mhz Sonys and the i705. This is an area where Handspring could have swept up nicely, continuing to release refreshened Visors...

Virtual graffiti or the normal silk screened area?

but usually new products are announced in japan first... so maybe we'll find something out real soon

Looking at www.palmevolution.com Sony seems to have roughly 9 month model lifespans, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the S360 line discontinued and the SL10 introduced.

ScottR is correct in that essentially it's also the replacement for the T415

Cheers,

Dan

The S series sells well because they are good devices. I don't remember the price if the t415, but I do remember the combination of a very bad screen, poor buttons, and battery life worse than some color units (7 hours according to Sony). If they were expensive, well, add that to the list.

If the T415 is still on sale in Japan, it must be left over inventory. Sony discontinued it there some time ago and it isn't available from SonyStyle Japan any more.

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News Editor

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Actually, the S300 and S360 were never offered in Japan at all. I think Sony has decided that a 320 by 320 screen is a necessity for the Japanese written language.

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"... it's a well known fact that few people want B/W screens these days ..."

Please do not parade your bias for fact.

The fact is that units with monochrome screens outsell units with color screens by a considerable margin. And despite all the hype about color, pixels, swivels and so on, the s320 is by far the best selling unit in the CLIE range.

http://www.sonystyle.com/home/item.jsp?itemid=45721

That was a model in year 1999, discountinued long time ago.

Regards,

Andrew

I think there's plenty of os4 devices on the market to keep things going until the os5 devices come out. Unless we don't know something and os5 devices won't be out for another 6 months?!

I'm not angry, just upset at how the Palm market has dried up with nothing really spectacular. Sony has pushed the limit on hardware design and software. But nothing else out of the os4.

I just want to see some more details on os5 and get excited about what hardware could be coming out. I didn't think the ugly Palm picture was a big deal. Just the same crap of the past. Even the m515 is better looking.

"Who cares about PalmOS5? It won't make a big difference to users: it runs basically the same software as PalmOS4."

Let me calm down and explain this AGAIN... it isn't a software difference between OS 4.1 and 5.0. The difference is hardware capability. With OS 5.0, multimedia, music, and gaming is STANDARD, which means all the new apps will look cooler and run smoother than ever. And OS 5 devices are backwards compatible for older software.

So what's the difference between OS 4.1 and 5.0?

Faster processor. OS 4.1 is limited to 66mhz so far, and that is pushing the envelope severly. OS 5.0 can go up to 200+ mhz. Big difference? Oh yeah!

Better multimedia. OS 4.1 has the capability for streaming multimedia and music, but it is not standard. For OS 5.0, streaming video and mp3 are both standard features.

Better gaming. This can allow smooth gaming experiences. Say goodbye to Hardball and say hello to Tekken Tag Tournament!

All in all, OS 5.0 will be a great advancement into the future, and most people are really underestimating its power.

•Bosco
FBI - Full Blooded Italian

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