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New devices debut from Samsung, Hitachi, Sharp, and RIM.
NEW ORLEANS-- Though far outnumbered by an avalanche of new cellular handsets, a handful of innovative wireless-enabled PDAs are grabbing some limelight at the CTIA Wireless 2003 show here this week.
Chief among the new personal digital assistants are the first CDMA models running Microsoft's Pocket PC Phone Edition, a next- generation BlackBerry, Texas Instruments' concept design for a Pocket PC Phone Edition unit supporting three wireless flavors, and the smallest Palm-phone hybrid to date.Covering New Ground
Two of these pioneering units come from Samsung. The company is launching the SPH-I500, a sleek CDMA2000 1x clamshell phone based on the Palm 4.1 operating system. Also new is Samsung's SPH-I700 Pocket PC Phone Edition, which is one of the first Pocket PCs Sprint PCS is offering for its high-speed, CDMA2000 1x-based PCS Vision network.
The other new handheld supporting CDMA2000 is Hitachi's G1000.
Both the Samsung and Hitachi Pocket PCs feature built-in cameras and are powered by Intel XScale processors. The Hitachi also has the distinction of being the first Pocket PC to offer both a camera and a QWERTY keyboard.
Like all Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, both run a full suite of stripped-down versions of Microsoft Office applications as well Windows Media Player for audio and video content. Though usable as handsets, these devices are better suited for use as phones with plug-in headsets.
Samsung's SPH-I700 is surprisingly svelte, weighing in at under 7 ounces. It's outfitted with 64MB of RAM, and the camera captures 640- by-480-resolution VGA images. The Hitachi also captures VGA images.
Pricing and availability have not been announced, but expect these high-end devices to carry price tags commensurate with their features--$500 or more.Palm-Powered Phone
Samsung also hasn't announced pricing for the SPH-I500 Palm- powered...