With news that Matsushita [or Panasonic to you or I] has joined the Symbian party as a shareholder adds to Psion’s launch last week of the Series 5mx, which combines mobile Internet connectivity with a new high speed processor to warm up the competition with the PalmPilot.
Fusing Psion’s award winning design and innovative technology, the Series 5mx comes in a silver grey colour and incorporates a new righter back-lit screen, a stylus for navigation, and a patented touch-type keyboard. The Series 5mx has 16MB RAM and a CompactFlash card slot, facilitating the addition of even more additional memory.
For the techies, the machine features a windows interface, office software and Internet applications, and runs on a 36MHz ARM710T 32bit RISC processor, all in a device weighing 354 grams which runs for a month on 2 AA batteries. And we must forget the EPOC Runtime Environment for Java which is included on the CD that ships with the Series 5mx. Currently the key advantage for the user is the ability to view Java applets when using the web browser.
However, over 800000 Java developers will now be able to adapt programs written in Java to the Psion. An Internet roaming agreement between Psion and GRIC Communications means that Series 5mx users can access information, through the world’s first Internet portal developed specifically for mobile palmtop users, for the price of a local phone call.
The Series 5mx will be available in the UK from all the usual Psion retail outlets from the 1st of July 1999. In the UK, the 16MB version costs GBP429.95, including Microsoft Windows connectivity software and VAT. Other language variants will be released over the next 3 months.
http://www.series5mx.com/
http://www.symbian.com/
