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Despite a technology and general economic downturn, Sharp Electronics is unveiling a new handheld computer based on Linux and Java.

Due to start shipping next quarter, the Zaurus SL-5500 handheld will be targeted at both businesses and consumers, says Stephan Petix, vice president of Sharp's Mobile Systems Group in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Sharp hopes to entice corporate customers partly with functionality it will provide through a partnership with Aether Systems in Owings Mills, Maryland, including secure real-time, wireless e-mail, and wireless access to corporate back-end servers for customer relationship management and other applications, Petix says.

The Zaurus SL-5500 features a 206-MHz Intel processor and an integrated keyboard accessible via a sliding cover. It has a color screen, 64MB of memory, and two Compact Flash expansion slots. Sharp expects the device to sell for $500 to $650, Petix says.

Tim Scannell, an analyst at Mobile Insights in Quincy, Massachusetts, says the Zaurus is probably the first device to run both Java and Linux--a trait that will set it apart from Pocket PCs and handhelds based on the Palm operating system.

"But it's going to be a real uphill battle to go against the Pocket PC and the entrenched Palm movement," Scannell says.

Scannell predicts the product will catch on faster in Europe and Asia than in the U.S. Sharp is one of most successful consumer device vendors in Japan. The economy won't help adoption, but in the corporate arena Sharp could benefit from its established presence in the market for printers, fax machines, and other office equipment, Scannell and other analysts say.

Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney, however, says the Zaurus is a "nonstarter in the enterprise" partly because there is no central marketing authority for Linux and partly because Java won't guarantee portability of software the way many think it might. Also, Sharp notebooks haven't sold well in the corporate market, he says.

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