HP rolls out $999 super-CE machine with added connectivity

Hewlett-Packard unveiled its first ARM-based 'Super CE' machine yesterday, (see HP switches to Intel StrongARM for Jupiter CE machines) and said the $999 Jornada 820 would ship in the US next month. The machine runs Microsoft's Windows CE, Handheld PC Professional Edition (aka Jupiter) and weighs-in at 2.5lb. HP is by far the leader in CE machine sales, but is pushing integration into the network and synchronisation in order to make its position even more dominant. The company has funded development of an implementation of Starfish Software's TrueSync, TrueSync CE 2.0, for use with the Jornada (we think this might be Spanish for 'bad day') and HP's earlier handhelds. The form this synchronisation takes maybe says a little about the direction CE is going in with Jupiter. TrueSync CE 2.0 allows HP users to synchronise their calendar, contact, notes and to-do information with a Rex Pro card, so you maybe stop thinking about your HP as being the pocket device you carry everywhere, and think of the Rex Pro as the pocket device instead. Rex Pro was developed by Starfish in conjunction with Citizen and Franklin, and is designed to synchronise with standard PCs. Starfish itself was founded by former Borland boss Philippe Kahn, and recently became a subsidiary of Motorola. ® Click for more stories