More Information on the Fujitsu-Siemens Windows Mobile 5.0 Upgrade

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2436' target='_blank'>http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2436</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050612-LOOX.jpg" /><br /><br />Arne over at the::unwired has <a href="http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=2436">posted</a> on a bit of news that may appeal to any Pocket LOOX users out there. According to Fujitsu-Siemens Germany, the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade will be made available in Fall (that's Spring, if you're in the South) for the Pocket LOOX 718 and 720 series as a download off the Fujitsu-Siemens site. The German update is scheduled for September 26. There's no word on pricing (if any) at this stage. As wonderful as these announcements are, I'm sure a lot of you are starting to feel the effects of the glacial pace at which vendors are making these updates available for existing devices. :(

[Duncan]

the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade will be made available in Fall (that's Spring, if you're in the South)(

Really? For most of the world Fall is Autumn...

[Patrick Y.]

Just curious, how can Loox get WM 5 upgrade when it only has about 20-30MB of ROM available?

[Horus]

Just curious, how can Loox get WM 5 upgrade when it only has about 20-30MB of ROM available?
There is a way for OEMs to provide upgrades that DO NOT have persistent store if the device isn't capable. New devices aren't allowed to do this, but it is in there as an option for upgrades. At least this is what my close friends at MS tell me.

[Patrick Y.]

I wish it is really true.

[Darius Wey]

Just curious, how can Loox get WM 5 upgrade when it only has about 20-30MB of ROM available?

It actually has 64MB of ROM. What you're thinking of is the amount of ROM available for use. There's no word on how much ROM Fujitsu-Siemens will consume with this Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade, and thus it's not yet known how much will be left for use. I guess the case we're looking at here is very similar to the hx2110 and hx2410 (both have 64MB of ROM too).

[Darius Wey]

the Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade will be made available in Fall (that's Spring, if you're in the South)(

Really? For most of the world Fall is Autumn...

Fall = Autumn. That's correct. What I was pointing out was the case of antipodean countries having opposite seasons. So when it's Autumn in the US, it'll be Spring in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, etc.

So... about that LOOX upgrade. ;)

[Patrick Y.]

Just curious, how can Loox get WM 5 upgrade when it only has about 20-30MB of ROM available?

It actually has 64MB of ROM. What you're thinking of is the amount of ROM available for use. There's no word on how much ROM Fujitsu-Siemens will consume with this Windows Mobile 5.0 upgrade, and thus it's not yet known how much will be left for use. I guess the case we're looking at here is very similar to the hx2110 and hx2410 (both have 64MB of ROM too).

I'm still confused. I thought that the operation system will take up more than half of the memory. So, the ROM available for storage will be very little.

[Darius Wey]

I'm still confused. I thought that the operation system will take up more than half of the memory. So, the ROM available for storage will be very little.

Quite possibly, but it still doesn't mean the upgrade will not be possible. That's why some hx2110 and hx2410 users have been sitting here the past few weeks wondering just how much ROM they'll have left for use. IIRC, the base footprint of Windows Mobile 5.0 is 18MB-19MB. The extras that the vendor adds in blows it out by a few extra megabytes.

[Patrick Y.]

So, does it mean that WM 5 is smaller than WM2003? My acer n10 has 32MB of ROM, and around 31MB are used for the operation system(I think).

[Darius Wey]

So, does it mean that WM 5 is smaller than WM2003? My acer n10 has 32MB of ROM, and around 31MB are used for the operation system(I think).

Probably not. The 'base footprint' really is the bare minimum. Vendors always manage to do something fancy to it to add on another 10MB, so if anything, it'll be comparable or slightly bigger to the standard WM2003 ROM. That's just a hunch and we'll need to wait for vendors to start releasing updates before we'll know for sure.

[Patrick Y.]

Thank you for clearing things up a bit. I really appreciate your response. I hope my questions didn't annoy you. :wink: In conclusion, I believe that Loox (maybe Asus) with WM 5 might have less than 20MB available for storage because of the space occupied by operation system. If it is true, wouldn't it be a BIG problem? I can never live with a device that has less than 20 MB of build-in memory.

[Darius Wey]

Thank you for clearing things up a bit. I really appreciate your response. I hope my questions didn't annoy you. :wink:

Nah, I never get annoyed. It's better to ask than to be left confused. :)

In conclusion, I believe that Loox (maybe Asus) with WM 5 might have less than 20MB available for storage because of the space occupied by operation system. If it is true, wouldn't it be a BIG problem? I can never live with a device that has less than 20 MB of build-in memory.

I guess we'll have to wait for the upgrade to be released before we'll be able to tell whether it's a problem or not. Of course, all signs point toward there being little memory being left available for use, but we'll see. ;)

[moaske]

I think our dear Patrick is still confusing ROM with RAM memory... Take the N10 and just imagine that WM5 would fit in that 32MB ROM, there will still be 64MB of dynamic RAM memory left for installing and running programs. 8)

[Darius Wey]

Take the N10 and just imagine that WM5 would fit in that 32MB ROM, there will still be 64MB of dynamic RAM memory left for installing and running programs. 8)

Ah, but the thing is with Windows Mobile 5.0, the new persistent storage feature sees the OS and any programs locally installed residing in ROM, with the RAM being solely used for program execution.

[surur]

The situation will really be similar to older PPC's with only 64MB Ram and no Built-in Storage. You may only have 20MB free for added sofware AND your my documents folder BEFORE you add a SD card. Since you can install software to a SD or CF card this is not really an issue, and ive heard you can synchronize from SD card also.

Surur

[jickbahtech]

Also whats not to say some industrious 3rd party developer wont write a "RAM drive" program. Softick (who just came out with the USB Storage Mass program) had one for Palm.