PDA Makers Plan on Intel's XScale

Just two days after the launch of its XScale processor, Intel has already picked up endorsements for its new mobile chip from three Japanese manufacturers of PDAs.

The XScale processor comes in two main types: the PXA250, aimed at high-end PDAs, and the PXA210, aimed at mobile phones and entry-level PDAs. The chips are based on processor cores from design house ARM, just like the company's current offering for PDAs, the StrongARM microprocessor. Intel intends to continue supplying StrongArm chips in addition to XScale.

One of the first companies expected to show an XScale-based processor is Fujitsu Siemens Computer, a German-based unit of Fujitsu. The company has announced plans to show a new PDA, the Pocket Loox, at the Cebit trade show, which begins in Germany on March 13.

While that PDA has been developed in Europe and will be targeted at the European market, Fujitsu in Japan also has plans to produce an XScale PDA, according to a spokesperson in Tokyo.

Coming Soon

Toshiba says it plans to launch a similar product. Expected to be available in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year, the company's machine will be based on a 400-MHz version of the new chip and pack built-in wireless functions and dual expansion slots, the company says in a statement.

Casio Computer has plans to use the chip too, according to company spokesperson Kouichi Nishizawa. Casio was one of the first Japanese companies to produce Windows CE-based PDAs and will soon be launching one of the first machines based on Pocket PC 2002. While it has plans to begin using Intel's new chip in place of the StrongARM processors it currently uses, Nishizawa says the company has no detailed schedule yet.

Intel has backing from three of Japan's seven main PDA makers. Among the others, Sony says it has yet to make up its mind.

No Specifics

"We are very interested in the chip but we don't have any specific plans," says Mina Naito, a spokesperson for Sony. Unlike its local competitors, Sony produces PDAs based on the Palm operating system. Palm will support the XScale in new versions of its operating system.

NEC, which along with Fujitsu and Toshiba launched its PDA business last year, says it currently has no definite plans to use the chip, although it does not rule out using it in the future.

Hitachi, which has announced plans to enter the PDA market but has yet to release its first model, says it is currently evaluating the chip and could make an announcement as soon as next week.

Sharp, which produces PDAs based on its own proprietary Zaurus platform, uses chips from Hitachi's SH family of microprocessors and has no plans to change that at present, a spokesperson says.