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Toshiba Packs Plenty of Memory Into Pocket PCs

New devices will feature up to 128MB of memory, the highest capacity yet for a PDA based on Microsoft's OS.

Martyn Williams, IDG News Service

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Toshiba will begin selling from the end of next week three new models of its Genio PDA including two that feature 128MB of memory--the highest capacity yet for a Pocket PC-based PDA.

All three machines are based on Intel's XScale processor running at 400 MHz, have a 4-inch Polysilicon thin film transistor LCD capable of 240 by 320 pixel resolution and 65,536 colors, and run Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 software.

The main hardware difference comes in the amount of user memory with the Genio-e 550GS offering 64MB and the 550GX and 550GX/MD models, both featuring 128MB.

Toshiba says the latter two models are designed for business users and the company has also preinstalled ClearVue Office software in the PDA which allows users to view PowerPoint or Excel data files. The latter version, the 550GX/MD, comes with a 1GB IBM Microdrive hard drive which is plugged into the PDA's Compact Flash card slot. In addition to the CF slot, the PDAs also have a Secure Digital memory card slot.

Entertainment Oriented

The third model, the 550GS, is entertainment orientated and has a companion earphone with inline remote control. It, and the other two models, have support for MP3 and AAC audio files and also the SD-Audio format, which is used to store music purchased and downloaded from kiosks in some convenience stores in Japan.

All three PDAs measure 4.9 inches by 3.1 inches by .6 inches and weigh 6 ounces. The 550GS will go on sale on November 7 for around $492, the 550GX will debut on November 15 for around $575 and the 550GX/MD will be available from late November for around $820.

Toshiba said it has no immediate plans to put the PDAs on sale overseas.

Toshiba's announcement of the new PDAs comes days after the latest market research from Dataquest showed the company has been making strong gains in the worldwide PDA market in the last year. The company currently ranks as the number four PDA maker and has a 5.7 percent global market share, behind Palm, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard, according to the Dataquest figures.

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