New Clié Available in Japan

There was a new Sony Clié released in Japan today. Sony has already posted information about it on their site, in Japanese. This makes figuring out the details very difficult for us non-Japanese speakers but with the help of Babelfish, much can be learned.

It is called the PEG-N700C and has a front lighted, reflective TFT color screen at 320x320 resolution, probably using pixel doubling in which four pixels take the place of each one in the usual resolution.

Physically, it is 4.67 x 2.80 x .66 inches and weighs 5.64 ozs. It has the fastest Palm processor currently available, the 33MHz Dragonball VZ, 8MB of RAM, and runs the Japanese version of Palm OS 3.5. It comes in only one color, silver, and looks very nice on its cradle.

Sony clearly intends this to be a multimedia device. It comes with speakers, an external music controller, and an application called Audio Player 1.0. Songs are not saved on the device in MP3 format. Music is converted on the PC into a Sony's ATRAC 3 format which can then be downloaded onto the Clié. Sony, as one of the major record labels, is very concerned about copyright protection.

Unlike previous versions of the Clié, this one supports Sony's MagicGate technology for protecting digital content. These are white, as opposed to regular Memory Sticks that are blue. MagicGate main purpose is to allow digital content to be "moved" rather than copied.

It also comes with gMovie 2.0 and something called TV Scape 1.0. This allows TV programs and other video content to be displayed on it. Sony estimates that between 60 to 160 minutes of video can be saved on a 128MB Memory Stick, depending on picture quality.

This is even a navigation application called Navin'You Pocket 1.0 that can display maps.

Sony estimates its lithium-ion polymer battery will last for 15 days of regular use, 11 hours of music playback, 3 hours of video playback.

Many of the familiar features of the Clié are still there, like the Jog-dial and the Memory Stick slot. Its cradle connects to a Windows PC via USB. There still doesn't appear to be any Macintosh support.

They are also releasing a modem designed to work with it, the PEGA-MA700. They intend to release an approximately $124 Bluetooth module in June. When asked if Sony is going to release a wireless version of the Clie, Keiji Kimura, president of Sony's information technology division, said, "We are moving in that direction.''

Sony will begin taking orders online on March 21 and be available in Japanese stores on April 7. It will cost about 50,000 yen, ($416)

"We are trying to leverage our strengths of focusing on entertainment and consumers with this Clié,'' said Mr. Kimura. "This new Clié has new features that take us in that direction.''

Sony announced in December that they were intending to spruce the device up. "We'd like to introduce features that Palm and Handspring may find hard to install," said Shinsaku Inada, a Sony general manager in charge of the device. The company is trying to improve sales of the Clié, which, after a strong introduction, have slumped in recent months.

According to Mr. Inada, the PEG-N700C will be available outside of Japan by the end of this year.

  1. IR Port
  2. Memory Stick Port
  3. Audio Port
  4. Jog-Dial
  5. ???
  6. ???
  7. Stylus
  8. Screen
  9. Calendar Button
  10. Address Book Button
  11. Up/Down Button
  12. Power Button
  13. To-Do Button
  14. Note Pad Button
  15. Accessory Clips
  16. Serial Port
  17. ???

Related Articles:

I updated the article on the rumors about the new Clié with the complete information as it came in. Some of the comments below are discussing the device when it was still a rumor so don't be confused. -Ed

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Just when you thought it was safe...

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 7:22:53 PM #
Is this some kind of trend with Handspring, Palm and now Sony releasing their new devices around the same period (note end of 1st quarter).

It would be interesting to really see what the new Clie is all about and how it will stack up agains the rest of the new devices.

PalmPlan

RE: Just when you thought it was safe...
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 11:52:26 AM #
The companies bringing their new products around the end of the 1st quarter is pretty logical - every March there's CeBIT, the biggest Computer Exhibition in the World. It starts again next week; that's why everybody presents new products.

RE: Just when you thought it was safe...
andrewholler @ 1/17/2003 1:40:49 PM #
looks like a great device!

COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 7:26:04 PM #
Sony have always had fantastic color screens. Hope they'll take some of that know how and release a color screen on the Clie that'll rival those on their laptop!

MP3 Player...okay, Bluetooth...may be a bit early, but a knock out color screen?
YEAH!...I want to leave Pleasantville!!!

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 7:39:51 PM #
Yes, where is the color clie? I went to the Sony Store and they know nothing about the normal b&w clie, let alone the color. Maybe if they brought it out sales would not be so low. I was looking for a new pda and couldn't find the Sony to buy. Perhaps it's their low supply that causes their low reports. Come on and bring the color to North America now. Shit man.

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 9:39:11 PM #
Well, the color can't really be better unless they up the bit rate from 16, to say, 24. I've seen reports both yea and nay that OS 4.0 can handle 24-bit color. Keep in mind, this could make the thing suck battery power like an, egad!, Pocket PC (just tried an iPaq for 2 weeks and have to say that Palm has NOTHING to fear, the software and the unit are truly awful products).
Anyway, I think bluetooth really is the future. With almost all wireless modems having far too large a form factor, picture a Bluetooth equiped Clie (memory stick of course) with a likewise bluetooth Nokia 8200 series (cell manufacturers are already producing bluetooth batteries and are expected to begin ramping up production). And when you factor in GPRS.... Don't laugh, it's all closer than you think. Think how far things have progressed just in the last year.

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 9:46:59 PM #
The news mentioned that the color Clie all quickly sold out in Japan. Any one has any pictures/info on the color clie?

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 5:00:43 AM #
Just curious as to why you palm people allways feel the need to slam PPCs even when the discussion has nothing to do with them.

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
Nate @ 3/14/2001 11:37:55 AM #
The US introduction of the original "color Clie," which was the PEG500, was delayed because of the bad reviews and bad sales in Japan - the screen on it was not good, and it did poorly in Japan. They decided to delay the introduction of the color version for North America until they had improved the screen. Well, now they've done that, and all we have to do is wait for them to figure out their production levels and we'll have them here. I can't wait.

_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com
RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
fleegle @ 3/14/2001 12:28:50 PM #
"Just curious as to why you palm people allways feel the need to slam PPCs even when the discussion has nothing to do with them."

Maybe it is because you PPC people come on the Palm websites like Palmstation.com and here and try to slam the Palm devices and tout how great the PPCs are compared to Palms and the never ending blather about "Just wait until the PPC OS v4!", "PPCs rock!", etc.

So, my question to you is "Why do you PPC people come on Palm sites and always feel the need to slam Palm devices when the discussion has nothing to do with PPCs?"


RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 6:41:07 PM #
I'm a longtime Palm supporter, from the original Pilot to my current Vx ang TRGPro, so I believe I have a fairly good handle on what PalmOS PDAs offer. But I can tell you that I have used a prototype PocketPC 4 Casio in the past few weeks and Microsoft really has got it right now. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend a PPC4 for someone looking for very basic PIM needs (the m105 is a rugged model that fits the bill), power users will likely embrace the new M$ models this summer.

Let's try to keep the flames to a minimum and just let the market decide which OS is best for which users. Thanks.

RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/4/2001 1:34:02 PM #
Uhhm, I don't think so. I have had it with Microsoft's misinformation campaign on the Pocket PC. These devices are a piece of junk. They are not "Palms for power users"!! Pocket PCs have a horrendous interface, terrible PIM software, they will only sync with Windows PCs, and even then only with Microsoft Outlook and nothing else, not even Outlook Express! Their additional advertised functions over the Palm's are overstated and misleading. These things are too slow and cumbersome for use as a word processor or spreadsheet.

So finally, you asked for it... Here's a list of just why I hate Pocket PCs. This is a list of negatives based on my evaluation of an HP Jornada 545, which I have been using as my only pocket computer for about a year, after having owned a Palm for just as long. This should silence anyone claiming that I "haven't given it a fair chance."

Newer models may have some improvements, generally minor improvements in memory and speed, but the core problems inherent to the Pocket PC OS remain
the same. Items with asterisks represent fatal flaws.

*Only syncs contacts & calendar with MS Outlook. (Unacceptable!)

*Only syncs email with Outlook, but not Outlook Express. (Unacceptable!)

*Pocket Outlook only displays contacts by last name - no option to list or sort by first name or by company name! (Unacceptable!)

*Pocket Outlook only allows searching by first or last name, not by company name - forced to use clunky and slow Start menu Find command instead.
(Unacceptable!)

* Can't password-protect individual contacts, files, folders, records, or categories. Even $20 organizers have this essential feature.(Unacceptable!)

* No task bar. Extremely difficult and frustrating to switch between running apps. Microsoft actually claims this was in response to customer demand for simpler interface!!

*Calendar doesn't display appointment, holiday, or anniversary indicators in year view... will display in month view only if scheduled time is designated as "busy", "tentative", or "out of office". So to display birthdays and holidays, for example, in the month view, you have to manually edit them one by one and change their status from the default "free" setting
(Unacceptable!)

*16MB of memory, though twice that of Palm, is still barely adequate for PocketPC's applications and totally inadequate if you plan to add any more
apps or games. Pocket PC is a HUGE memory hog.

* Storage memory also serves as RAM for running applications, and expanded (CF card) memory can't be used as RAM. So device's ability to run applications is permanently limited by the amount of pre-installed RAM.

* CF cards are very EXPENSIVE.

* Pocket Streets is severely crippled and buggy, apparently intentionally. Positioning of pushpins imported from Streets & Trips 2001 not even remotely
accurate. Existing pushpins cannot be manually repositioned. Pushpins cannot be created directly from entered addresses but must be manually placed. No
software available in US to create maps of European cities. Streets only labeled with state/interstate road numbers, and not by locally recognizable names or numbers. In summary, almost completely worthless and misleading marketing gimmick. (Unacceptable!)

* No Close or Exit button on most applications. Only way to shut them down is to reboot PocketPC.

No synchronization support at all for Apple computers.

Battery life adequate if device is used mainly as a PIM, but not for extended uses such as MP3 player, word processing, spreadsheet calculations, etc.

Pocket versions of Word and Excel not very useful in the real world due to memory, processor speed, and display size limitations.

MP3 player useless unless you spend substantial additional money for a storage card. Microsoft's claims for proprietary WMA format's audio quality
and file sizes are exaggerated and misleading. Limited battery life and limited, awkward interface further reduce this feature's usefulness.

ActiveSync, used to synchronize with PC, is buggy and unstable resource hog.

Contrary to published and advertised claims, HP's screen only supports 4,096 colors, not 65,000.

Start menu is very difficult to customize, doesn't support folders, and is located on top instead of bottom where any Windows user would expect it to
be.

Battery meter largely hidden from view. Should be on top of every screen.

Pocket Internet Explorer lacks text string search - hard to find desired place in large web documents.

Pocket IE Mobile Favorites doesn't support folders for organization.

Pocket IE Mobile Favorites doesn't allow adding shortcuts by entering their address directly.

Audio recording level too low for convenient use.

Audio recordings can't be listened to on PC.

HP models, at least, don't support type-2 CF cards.

HP's application and power buttons too small. Device's large face area is wasted.

Much slower performance than Palm in spite of PPC's much faster processor.


RE: COLOR PEOPLE COLOR!!!!
Raishe_werk @ 8/13/2001 2:38:22 PM #
Easy tiger

-Raishe
"Monster Pig kills Jesus
More at 11"

colour clie

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/13/2001 9:51:38 PM #
sony's worried about slow sales... well, if you could actually get any of these things ANYWHERE in Canada, let alone North America, then maybe they wouldn't have this problem.

impossible to find here (in Canada) at all, i've only seen them down at circuit city in seattle when i took a trip there a week ago...

if they brought it out now in north america, they'd have a jump on the m505 before thats released, for sure.

on a side note to the m505, i was at Comdex Canada West in Vancouver today (13/03/01) and most of the Palm guys there said "no comment on any new Palm products", but i was able to get a little farther with one guy, who said Palm is NOT releasing anything next week (counter to the rumour that the m50x will be out march19) and as far as the model # of the "m505", there's no such thing as far as Palm Canada is concerned...

make of that what you will.

RE: colour clie
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 3:07:47 AM #
Hey another Vancouverite! I was going to go to Comdex today, but for sure tomorrow. Piled up on work today. I think Palm Canada is on a "need-to-know" basis with the rest of the US company. Let's wait till Monday to see what happens.

But this Sony is right on the money. They're a music company and audio is their life. It makes sense to play that card against Palm & Handspring. They never offer anything besides new looks.

The pictures look great. I hope North America sees alot of these now. Get your ass moving Sony!

RE: N700C - m505 watch out!
GregGaub @ 3/13/2001 11:44:54 PM #
Yeah, now THAT looks slick!
Looks like MP3 and video playback is the push there... also color! :)
I can't read Katakana, though, anyone? The few bits of English say things like: Audio Player, TV Scape, gMovie (same as before?), and Navin' You Pocket (a web browser?). Also notice in the specs table it says 320x320 dots for LCD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O
33mhs Dragonball VZ, of course. PalmOS 3.5... hmmm...
Looks like the audio player/headphones have a frequency response of 20-20k. good enough. ;-)
If that unit hits the US any time near when the m505 does, there will be some STIFF competition.

m505, watch out!!



RE: N700C
GregGaub @ 3/13/2001 11:50:45 PM #
oops, forgot to mention... the device itself looks really neat. The MP3/audio seems to have an external controller like many of Sony's audio products do... inline with the headphone cable. And, if I didn't know better, I'd say there was a stylus tip at one end of the audio remote.
Also, the spec table mentions 8megs DRAM, and 8megs FLASH. Either that's Flash ROM for the syste, or they kept the memory stick. It would make sense to keep the memory stick with that audio player. In which case... watch out m505...
'course... anyone wanna place bets that this one never makes it stateside?

Sell it in the US!

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 12:20:52 AM #
This is a wickedly slick palm machine!
Sony would be _foolish_ not to release the device in the US and the rest of the world.

It's about time decent music & video came built in to a Palm OS device. Now the CE fools will have nothing on us.

RE: Sell it in the US!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 6:08:03 AM #
Heard that new HandEra from TRG also support the MP3 format!

RE: Sell it in the US!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 8:32:44 AM #
Wait until May for the U.S. version.

RE: Sell it in the US!
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/4/2001 1:57:26 PM #
Expect it in May? I thought I read that it would hit the US "by the end of the year."

It seems great when comparing m505 and even visor edge

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 1:08:18 AM #
according to the illustration above, the missing parts should be:
5: Back Button
6: Hold Switch
17: USB Cradle

RE: It seems great when comparing m505 and even visor edge
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 6:45:04 AM #
5: Back Button
^^^^^^^^^^^this button can be used to work with the jog dial for convenience
6: Hold Switch
^^^^^^^^^^^^this is used when you are listening music ( just like regular music player's hold button)


J-Doc for HighRez & Palmscape4.0

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 1:58:13 AM #
RE: J-Doc for HighRez & Palmscape4.0
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 1:13:19 PM #
Wow, look at the that link above (it's in Japanese, but don't miss the forward navigation prompts), tons of screenshots. Now tell me if you still want your iPaq?

If i buy this in hong kong..

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 1:44:00 AM #
If I buy this new clie, is there any way for me to use it in English? I don't know Japanese. Are there English patches for clie or hacks (i've heard of one for translating menus)

RE: If i buy this in hong kong..
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 3:59:39 PM #
technically, it's doable. there are chinese program out there that can totally chinese-lize the palm OS 3.0- 3.5 menu.


like CJKOS (http://www.dyts.com/en/locscreen.html) you can use the smae method to localize the menu into english, they did just that for the original clie. of course, the demade is so low the author doesn't bother to make an eng version. If you are super rich or something you can have somebody who understand the chinese localize program and document localize it for you. Just for the original color clie though, not the new stuff.

(that cjkos is really one of the best and most updated app i ever used. thumbs up)
CY

Here's my Check Book!!!!!

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 2:48:31 AM #
I hear they're having problems with sales for the Clie?

WELL DAGNAMIT IF THEY HAVE THIS IN THE US TODAY WE'LL BE BREAKING DOWN THE DOORS AT CIRCUIT CITY/GOOD GUYS/BEST BUY/(FILL IN THE BLANK) FOR IT AND TAKE CARE OF THAT PESKY LITTLE SALES PROBLEM!!!!

Why can't I get these people to take my Money!!!!

RE: Here's my Check Book!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 6:49:46 AM #
yeah. is anyone from Japan would like to buy one for me...I will pay you the money...(via paypal)

Sony@gnaihc.com

thanks

RE: Here's my Check Book!!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 3:12:56 PM #
Suggest we send a bunch of emails to www.dynamism.com who are a company that specialises in exporting hitech goodies from Japan. If they see enough interest they may get involved.

The ???

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 8:00:20 AM #
5 - Back button (probably for Palmscape?)
6 - Hold switch (locks out button presses)
17 - USB (just a guess)

VERY much doubt M505 will half as good ..

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 8:41:44 AM #

Sony would be crazy if they dont release this awesome CLIE outside Japan.

As for Palm m505, I don't see why people are so hyped up on it. It's going to be a sack of sh*t.... no multimedia, no improved speaker, no aditional software, 160x160... whats the point? Its basically a color Vx with a SD slot.
Palm are so hopped up on their V series form factor and "keeping it simple" ... theres no innovation or anything...

Im saving my $$$ for the color CLIE!!


RE: VERY much doubt M505 will half as good ..
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 8:45:40 AM #
the m505 will be very god for those who are not the multimedia peeps that sony is marketing to. if you look at teh features and the placement of the clie in teh marketplace you cna see that it is not just a pda but a Personal Multimedia Device. a pmd if you will. that is a totally different market than the simple business professionals that palm markets the m505 to.

plus, if i remeber correctly, in a previous interview didnt palm say that with the relese of the m505 and os4 that there would be the palm liscensees doing more with the palm platform than ever before. jsut think. if sony is doing this now. wait till the next gen (after teh m5 series) of palms look adn perform when that come out.

RE: VERY much doubt M505 will half as good ..
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 12:11:11 PM #
It's not all about features. If my PalmIII had a clearer screen and memory expansion (Like the TRGpro) I wouldn't want to upgrade for a while.

I love that Sony is expanding the platform to meet the "power user" market. I also like that Palm (and friends) have kept the Palm platform diversified. Unlike WinCE, there are still products available for those who don’t need (or want to pay for) all the bells and whistles.

Does anyone else see the similarities between the PC/Mac competition of the 80’s and the PocketPC/Palm competition of today? Only this time, the PocketPC is on the short end of the stick. Ironic.

My two cents.


RE: VERY much doubt M505 will half as good ..
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 1:28:13 PM #
We do need to wait to see how good it is. Remember, the iPaq would be a Palm killer if the thing actually worked and was a quality product. Granted, while Palm OS 3.5 is a known quantity and the seemingly perfect platform, the Clie's physical unit could have bugs, the processor could potentially be too slow for true video playback. We just don't know.

Secondly, I doubt Palm sees the success of it's licensees as a real problem. It just proliferates the platform that much more. Remember, M$ doesn't make desktops or laptops.

Screen

I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 8:49:00 AM #
I'd buy one today if for no other reason than the 320x320 display. Anybody wanna set up an import business?

RE: Screen
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 2:28:23 PM #
If it's a true 320x320, that's great (and non- Palm-standard at the moment), but if it's just 160x160 double-pixeled to 320x320, that's worthless (and in my opinion, would look like crap).

RE: Screen
I.M. Anonymous @ 3/14/2001 2:46:11 PM #
Chicken and egg my friend. Something has to come first and nobody is going to write 320x320 software if there's no display to support it. ;)

I would think that at least some of the built in apps (photo viewer, web browser) would support the higher resolution. That would be nice.

Regarding color, I'm sure that the combination of 320x320 and 24bit color would have been a huge draw on memory and processor - something you don’t want if your trying to get the thing to play video.

RE: Screen
songdog @ 3/14/2001 3:37:33 PM #
I've been hoping for a pixel-doubled 320x320 screen for some time. There's no need to limit the display to 2x2 pixel squares, either, even for old apps. Why not use antialiased fonts? Even with 256 colors you've got enough shades of gray to greatly reduce eyestrain, which is great for those of us that read books, articles, webpages, etc, on our PalmOS devices. Good job, Sony! I'm still waiting to see Palm's next move, though ...

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