Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

Toshiba Comes Calling With a New PDA

Device combining functions of a mobile phone and a handheld PC will be available next year.

Kuriko Miyake, IDG News Service

  • 0 Yes
  • 0 No

One of the next new products from the mobile communication unit of Toshiba will be a personal digital assistant that can also be used as a telephone, a company executive says.

Toshiba, which entered the competitive PDA market earlier this year, is on the way to unveiling a PDA with a built-in mobile phone during the second quarter of 2002 in the U.S., says Tetsuya Mizoguchi, president of Toshiba's Mobile Communication. The new product is part of Toshiba's plan to boost global marketing of its PDA line, which at present consists of one model.

"In Japan, cellular phones are more popular than PDAs, so people don't need PDAs with a telecommunication function, whereas in the U.S., PDAs are widely used," Mizoguchi says. Toshiba is planning to support CDMA2000 1x in the device, which should enable 2.5G speed data transmission.

PDAs with mobile phone modules and cellular phone handsets with PDA functions have been available in the U.S. from makers such as Handspring or carriers like Verizon Wireless since earlier this year. However, Toshiba aims to differentiate its product by building in support for faster networks.

The company also plans to market such PDAs in Europe, and in that case it will adopt General Packet Radio Service technology, another 2.5G standard, Mizoguchi says.

Toshiba, which targets its PDAs at business users, hopes to develop Java-enabled devices when PDA use spreads deeper into Japanese corporate markets, Mizoguchi says.

The company is also looking at battery life, a matter of crucial importance for mobile devices like PDAs. The company has been developing a fuel cell, which it expects to commercialize within two years.

"PDAs will be the first product to take the new battery," Mizoguchi says.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Print 65% more pages than with refilled inks. Trust Original HP Inks. Hit Print Reliably.

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

People who read this also read:

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Suites Comparison This paper compares and contrasts four suites of the 2007 Microsoft Office system: Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. This paper is intended to help organizations understand the applications and capabilities offered, and to identify the suite that best fits their needs.
  • Windows Vista Migration: The Business Proposition It's not so much a matter of "if" but "when" for most organizations regarding migration to Windows Vista. Laying the groundwork now for this migration can yield higher ROI than waiting until later. This Computerworld Technology Briefing explains it all.

PC World's Marketplace