The Latest Loox News...

[Janak Parekh]

Mobi-Mania has posted a pair of articles that provides interesting material as to when the next Pocket Loox units are coming out.<br /><li> <a href="http://www.mobi-mania.com/index.php?xCnt=plus/comment&id=2928">This article</a> doesn't provide much new information about the Loox 700 series devices, but the little figures seem to suggest that this unit is going to be different from the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29701">Loox V70</a> that's going to be released in Japan.<br /><li> <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobi-mania.com%2Findex.php%3FxCnt%3Dtesta%26idtest%3D185&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&prev=%2Flanguage_tools%20(translated)">An interview</a> (English translation) suggests that new units are about to hit the market in August, and just as importantly, F/S is planning to release a GPRS device in 2005. What can we conclude? Not only is F/S committed to Pocket PCs, but we'll also be seeing some exciting units come out. Now, when are they coming to the US? :|

[Ryan Joseph]

I hope GPRS means phone edition and not just data transfer. That would be cool. It seems like more and more manufacturers are getting into the PPC Phone market.

Great! Give us more choices! :D

[Duncan]

I hope GPRS means phone edition and not just data transfer. That would be cool. It seems like more and more manufacturers are getting into the PPC Phone market.

Yes - it does mean Phone Edition. Someone who attended an FSC briefing recently tells me that tri-wireless was mentioned (but as the briefing wasn't in his first language he can't be certain it wasn't 'tri-band' that was meant...!).

[jlp]

Well, triband is GSM 900/1800/1900, while tri-wireless is like the new Notorola MPx (and an upcoming HP model), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi & GSM.

And it's all possible it can be both.

[jlp]

In the mean time since I speak French fluently I'll ask them about the 720/v70 thing as it now seems, and as Duncan suggested elswere, that Fujitsu-Siemens of Europe will sell different devices from Fujitsu Japan in Asia.

[Duncan]

Well, triband is GSM 900/1800/1900, while tri-wireless is like the new Notorola MPx (and an upcoming HP model), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi & GSM.

And it's all possible it can be both.

Indeed! I strongly suspect that FSC will go down the tri-wireless route - though I doubt whether it is anything more than an intention as yet...

and as Duncan suggested elswere, that Fujitsu-Siemens of Europe will sell different devices from Fujitsu Japan in Asia.

I've never doubted that this is the case. Fujitsu's announcement did suprise me somewhat but the fact that they didn't release a version of the 400 series (having done so for the 600 and 610) might well indicate that Fujitsu are diverging from their European cousins (or would FSC be their child by Siemens? :) ). That I have the 710/720 datasheet right in front of me, and it has the picture we've had for a while (as opposed to something looking like the Asus a730) - as well as very diferent specs, made it seem very unlikely that the v70 and 720 could be the same.

In the end Fujitsu Pac-Asia and FSC are effectively different companies and I'm sure it has never been more than a matter of convenience to use the same models (as FSC did when they marketed the Siemens/Casio collaboration the SX 45/55 Pocket PC).