Tuxtops

The handheld computer market is dead. Sales of traditional PDAs are tanking, the market is shrinking, and smartphones are the wave of the future. Well, not quite.

Is it the photographer or the camera to blame for sucky pictures taken with cheaper digicams? This article reviews a $70 2MP camera which in the hands of an experienced hobbyist photographer delivers amazing-looking pictures.

CalliGrapher 8.0 is the new version of popular handwriting recognition software for Windows Powered Pocket PCs. Most notable new features include support for Windows Mobile 5.0, a new soft input panel called Write Pad and the Statistical Analyzer. Reviews here and here.

Dell released the x51 series which involve 3 models: a VGA 624 Mhz, a 520 Mhz QVGA and a 416 Mhz QVGA (no wifi). The high-end model, x51v, is identical to its predecessesor x50v, except the Windows Mobile 5 OS (which saves more than 20% of battery life) and 256 MBs of ROM storage instead of 128 MB. Reviews here, here, here and here.

Back on the 7th of September Motorola and Apple jointly introduced the new Motorola ROKR E1 - the world's first phone with iTunes support built-in. Based on the rock-solid E398, the E1 has a lot to offer.

Sharp Japan has given US-based Linux PDA fans one more reason to wish the dollar could hold its own against the Yen. The newly shipping (in Japan only) SL-C3100 is the second harddrive-equipped Zaurus model, and it also features English-language software aimed at Japanese students.

OSNews reviews the low-end HP media PDA, rx3115.

It's the autumn release season, and new devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 have begun to hit the market. BargainPDA brings you a hands-on, in-depth look at the next-generation OS.

The n300 series of Pocket PCs from Acer are among the first to run Windows Mobile 5.0, sporting VGA resolution displays, SDIO capable expansion slots, Bluetooth 1.2 and more. In the meantime, the Mitac Mio phone with GPS was officially announced today.

Palm OS was born at a small subsidiary of Tandy, then the largest personal computer manufacturer, that produced innovative notebook computer in the late eighties. One of the company's vice presidents, brain researcher turned computer scientist named Jeff Hawkins, convinced the parent company to allow him to develop a tablet computer aimed towards data intensive workers like parking maids or realtors.