Sony Clie VZ90 Handheld Announced for Japan
Sony Japan has released a new Clie for the Japanese market only. The Clie PEG-VZ90 is a Palm OS multimedia Clie handheld, that features a large OLED screen, slider hidden buttons, plentiful memory and WiFi.
The Sony Clie VZ90 features a 3.8 inch, 65k color organic EL display, with a 480x320 pixel resolution. According to Sony, the display provides a contrast ratio of 1000:1, a fast response time and a 180-degree viewing angle. This is the first Palm OS handheld to ship with a OLED screen.
The handheld runs Sony's 123 MHz handheld engine system on the Japanese version of Palm OS Garnet v5.2.1. It includes, 64MB of RAM, of which 40MB is user available, as well as 128MB of built in Flash, where 95MB of that is available to the user. The unit also features dual memory expansion, with a memory stick PRO slot and a Compact Flash Type I/II slot that can also accommodate select IO CF expansion cards. The handheld also has built in WiFi wireless and a IR port for connectivity.
The unit places a strong emphasis on multimedia, with a included range of media software for playing audio and mp3's, watching movies (MPEG4 supported) and photos. The screen is primarily orientated horizontally, with a hidden row of buttons and a control pad which slides outs from behind, it is sandwiched on the sides by a pair of stereo speakers. The display can be used in both vertical and horizontal modes, depending on the application. The unit also includes Sony's Clie Organizer PIM software.
The handheld has dimensions of 109mm (W) x 87mm (H) x 23mm (D) (4.3 x 3.4 x .86 inches) and weights in at 270g (9.5 ounces). It has a internal Li-ion Polymer rechargeable battery that Sony claims will last up to 18 days, given 30 minutes of use per day in dim mode.
The VZ90 has a price tag of 89,800 Yen (approximately $820 USD). It will be available in Japan on September 25, but will very unlikely be sold outside of Japan, as Sony has announced they will no longer market or release handhelds for the US and European markets.
Thanks to Rich, Alfredo, Jonathan and other for the tip.
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Grey Market
RE: Grey Market
Sweet OLED
Bright colors like wild crazy!
RE: Sweet OLED
What makes Oled so great? If I understand correctly... Doesn't OLED have a lower life span than current LCDs?
RE: Sweet OLED
-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T637
RE: Sweet OLED
A PDA or Camera isn't on all the time. If you think about it, a PDA screen is probably on for a few hours a month. At this rate the OLED could theoretically last for decades (although the PDA wouldn't).
Less battery power is one benefit. Fantastic picture is where the OLED really shines. Add to that, literal paper thin dimensions and weight. OLED was made to go with PDAs.
RE: Sweet OLED
RE: Sweet OLED
--
Generic PDA > 5mx > Vx > m505 > N770C > T625C > NR70V > e310 > m550 > h2210 > T/T3 & h4150
StarTac > T28m > T39m > T68m > T610 > T630 > K700i (nxt week)
"handheld engine" kinda weak
Perhaps Sony's motherboard offloads a lot of video processing to a separate chip and leaves the little handheld engine to pure processing?
Nokia 3650 bluetooth magnate
RE:
You can't compare MHz ratings between different CPU's. There is so much more involved than plain clock speed ratings - and it's only dumbo's who trust those ratings. That's the old trick Intel used to play against the Mac community - it's now coming back to bite them on the ar$e... :-)
JLM.
RE:
-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T637
RE:
--
Generic PDA > 5mx > Vx > m505 > N770C > T625C > NR70V > e310 > m550 > h2210 > T/T3 & h4150
StarTac > T28m > T39m > T68m > T610 > T630 > K700i (nxt week)
RE:
Maybe the VZ90 has a dedicated graphics processor like the Zodiac. That should help offload some processing off the processor.
pen & paper -> m515 -> Zire72
RE:
The 123MHz HHE is damn slow compared to my 400MHz T|C, and that's what counts. :-D
-JWH
RE:
So they have gone back to the days of the n770c et al(still have one) which will still play mp3 in the background and play games better than my 144mhz Treo, because it has seperate Audio hardware.
Well that is the theory. I have no idea what sort of slowdown the Sony Media players actually give ...
Edward Green
--
http://www.khite.co.uk
I want one...
Palm III>Palm IIIx>PalmV>PalmVx>Palm m505>Palm M515>Tungsten T
Dell X30 624Mhz w/BT+Wi-Fi
Nokia 6600 w/BT
RE: I want one...
Imagine gaming on that! OLED awesome. I wonder if Sonly will do an OS6 unit, since they are rumored to be disappointed with PSRCs direciton?
At first glimpse, this device hearkened back to PSRC execs putting out feelers for a "notebook" / "tablet" device running POS. I wonder if that's alive anywhere in siliconville?
Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
RE: I want one...
The jog dial on the other hand? The jog dial / dpad combination is an awesome idea. It even looks like the jog dial is useable when the Palm is folded up.
Too bad Sony is only releasing this for the Japan market. Oh well, let's see what PalmOne can come up with. Are you listing PalmOne? That's the EXACT style of Dpad I want on the T5 or whatever is next!
RE: I want one...
Junk
I would never buy this, or even consider it for that matter. Also, it's probably huge if it also has a CF slot.
UZI4U182@suscom.net
Main PDA: NX70v + WL100
http://clieflash.shorturl.com
VZ90
-Jeff
Which one would you buy?
The Clie VZ90 for around $850
Or
The OQO for around $2,000.
For those of you who are not familiar with OQO, you can find out more about it at www.oqo.com.
It was an easy decision for me, VZ90 in a nano-second.
RE: Which one would you buy?
--
Generic PDA > 5mx > Vx > m505 > N770C > T625C > NR70V > e310 > m550 > h2210 > T/T3 & h4150
StarTac > T28m > T39m > T68m > T610 > T630 > K700i (nxt week)
RE: Which one would you buy?
Palm III>Palm IIIx>PalmV>PalmVx>Palm m505>Palm M515>Tungsten T
Dell X30 624Mhz w/BT+Wi-Fi
Nokia 6600 w/BT
RE: Which one would you buy?
I think comparing the Sony PDAs to the OQO is like apples and oranges... the OQO is technically a fully functioning ultra-mini-laptop from what I'm reading (sans floppy or optical drive built in).
Rich
RE: Which one would you buy?
RE: Which one would you buy?
OQO Dimensions: 4.9" x 3.4" x .9"....
its over 3 times bigger then my palm... so hows this the same
Portrait Mode
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/14/sony_peg_vz90/
Best PDA Screen So Far...
Sony Is So Good At Being Maddening!
I would kill to get an OLED in my UX-50. (I love the keyboard, wi-fi, and BT.)
Why would Sony just pull out of the US market? It made sense to me when I thought they were dropping their Palm PDA line all togehter, but with all of the R&D, design, testing, and manufacturing costs required for new Japanese units, it seems that those costs would be more easily defrayed when supported by the US market as well.
Sony's combination of proprietary software/hardware, overpriced MS, and must-have innovative cool design makes me crazy. Pulling it all out of the US just adds insult to injury.
RE: Sony Is So Good At Being Maddening!
It also seems that Sony's experience in the European and US markets of having people return CLIEs because of their complexity (not because the units were defective) was another reason Sony didn't want to support these markets... they were losing more money in the returns and the technical support that they wouldn't face in the Japanese market.
Rich
not in US
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1223MHz?
:-)