Sony unveils Wi-Fi PDA pair

Reg Kit Watch Sony has launched a pair of Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs in its home market, the Japanese giant said yesterday.

Both machines - the Clié TH55 and the Clié TJ37 - run Palm OS 5.2. But while the more consumer-focused TJ37 is based on Motorola's ARM-based i.MXL processor, clocked at 200MHz, its high-end companion is based on Sony's own Handheld Engine CPU. This runs at between 8MHz and 123MHz, depending on load, in a similar fashion to Intel's SpeedStep technology for mobile Pentium processors.

The TH55

ships with 32MB, as does the TJ37, but while all of the high-end machine's RAM is available to the user, only 23MB of the TJ37's memory is accessible.

The TJ37 sports a 320 x 240 16-bit colour display, while the TH55's panel runs to 320 x 480. Both feature a 640 x 480 digicam, backed with still and video capture software, along with the usual array of Sony-bundled music and movie playback applications, including the AeroPlayer audio player and Kinoma 2 for video.

Both models' Wi-Fi adaptor are supported by Clié Mail and the NetFront 3.1 web browser. The TH55 also ships with a Clié Organizer, which combines the PDA's usual PIM functions into a single app. Piscel Viewer, meanwhile, lets you view Microsoft Office files and many other document formats.

The TH55 measures 12.1 x 7.3 x 1.3cm (4.9 x 2.9 x 0.5in), though its flip-down cover renders it slightly thicker when closed. It weighs 165g (5.8oz) with the cover off. The TJ37's dimensions are 11.3 x 7.5 x 1.3cm (4.5 x 3 x 0.5in) and it weighs 145g (5oz).

The two models are priced at ¥39,800 ($375) and ¥29,800 ($280). US and European availability and pricing was not disclosed. ®