Gateway Delays PDA's Release

Gateway has pushed back the release of its first handheld product, which might not surface this year, a spokesperson says.

The company had expected to release the personal digital assistant, called the Gateway 100X, in August. However, a number of "issues" have prevented that release, the Gateway spokesperson says, declining to provide specific details.

"Gateway wants to do this right, and there are a few technical details we wanted to work out. We really missed the launch window, and it made more sense to focus on other mobile products through the rest of the year," she says.

The spokesperson declines to say when the handheld will appear, only that it was "delayed indefinitely." Gateway has already missed the back-to-school shopping season, and will now likely miss the even more important fourth-quarter holiday season with the delay.

Few Specs

Gateway had said in June it was preparing a handheld device based on Microsoft's new Windows Mobile 2003 operating system.

It is expected to use a 400-MHz XScale processor from Intel, and will come with 32MB of RAM and 32MB of ROM, according to preview information Gateway provided at its announcement at the CeBIT show in June. Gateway also said the PDA will have a 3.5-inch TFT display, with a screen resolution of 320 by 240 pixels.

The Gateway 100X is expected sell for between $300 and $350 when it is finally released. However, the company has not released other details or specifications about its first PDA, saying that information will be available upon its shipment.

Expanding Products

The computer company has voiced an intention to turn greater attention to consumer electronics products. It announced plans earlier this year to release a slew of new products for both consumers and corporations. The effort is part of a strategy to reinvigorate its revenues as sales of its flagship PCs have declined.

The Gateway 100X is expected to be just the first in a series of PDAs and smart phones, as part of the consumer push. Gateway has said it plans to roll out other models at various price points and with different features.

The company is even planning to venture into storage products. The company has said it is preparing servers based on Intel Xeon MP processors, and is considering developing servers for Intel's Itanium processor.