Current Handheld Computers: Windows CE

Windows CE GPS Navigation System

Jan. 3, 1998, Newsbytes reports that Datus Inc. will show an "all - in - one" portable navigations system based on GPS satellites at the Nevada Consumer Electronics Show. Called RouteFinder PNA, the device will cost about $1000 US and uses Microsoft Windows CE.
[1998/01/06]

InfoWorld Expects Microsoft Windows CE "Gryphon Devices" At CES

Dec. 12, 1997, PR Newswire reports that according to InfoWorld for Dec. 15, 1997, Microsoft's Gryphon design spec, which is similar to a 3Com PalmPilot will be launched at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Some of the "Palm PC" devices will have 320 * 240 monochrome screens and a variety of configurations, some to include voice. Several may be based on 66 MHz. versions of the NEC Vr-4100 series CPUs.
[1997/12/16]

ParaGraph Ships CalliGrapher 5.0 Handwriting Recognition For Windows CE

Dec. 3, 1997, PR Newswire reports ParaGraph PI Technology has announced that CalliGrapher(TM) 5.0 handwriting recognition software is available for Windows CE. The 5.0 version includes "Screen Draw Mode" deferred recognition and the ability to write in any orientation. With a list price of $49.95 US, licenses may be purchased by phone at (800) 810-0055 or through their Website:

http://www.paragraph.com
[1997/12/09]

About NEC Mobile Gear and Upcoming NEC Products

[With the coming of the new MobilePro 700, I've decided to rewrite my earlier comments on the Japanese market Mobile Gear products. I've included a bit more information this time. JO]

Mobile Gear MC-CS11: 175 * 97 * 27 mm, 400 g. (without batteries?), 4MB RAM, 480 * 240 * 4-level monochrome screen, backlight, 73,000 Yen
Mobile Gear MC-CS12: as above, with 8MB RAM and 14.4Kbps data/FAX modem, 89,000 Yen

NEC introduced their Mobile Gear MC-CS11/MC-CS12 products in Japan this past summer. These were, along with Casio's offerings, the first Windows CE products for the Japanese market, featuring Japanese versions of the Windows CE system and application software. First, NEC has had products under the "Mobile Gear" name prior to these devices, but they were completely different products, and are still available. The MC-CS11 and MC-CS12 (I'll refer to them as MG devices from here onward) were based on the external pieces (case, keyboard and display) of the Mobile Pro 200/400/450 sold in North America. One expected that they would be the same circuitry as well. But NEC had a surprise up their sleeve and instead of the Vr-4101 CPU, these devices were based on Vr-4102 devices. The Vr-4102 device has a higher "target" speed. That is to say the new chip was intended to run at speeds up to 66MHz compared to the 33MHz of the Vr-4101. That doesn't mean that the MG series products actually run that fast. NEC did not post any speed for the MG products on their Website. But there were other advantages as well. Here are some specs from the two processors:

Vr-4101
Memory controller: DRAM: Up to 8MB; ROM: Up to 16MB, Compatible with flash memory as well
Communication interface: Serial: 2 channels; IrDA compatible: 1 channel
Expansion bus: ISA bus subset, compatible with PCMCIA controller
LCD interface: Compatible with LCD controllers µPD16661/16666
Touch panel interface: A/D converter interface
Keyboard interface: Compatible with 64 keys
DMA controller: 5 channels(for built-in peripherals)
Clock generator: External input 32kHz, internal PLL generates 33MHz
Power management unit: Supports 3 levels of wait modes
Operating frequency: 33MHz
Supply voltage: 3.0 to 3.6V
Power consumption: 200 mW(TYP. when operating at 3.3V, 33MHz)

Vr-4102
Memory controller: DRAM: 32M bytes max. ; ROM: 32M bytes max., Also flash memory compatible
Serial interface: 2-channels
Extended bus: ISA bus subset
Touch panel I/F: A/D converter built in, directly connected to a panel
Keyboard I/F: 96/80/64
Power management unit: 3 level standby mode
Infrared communication I/F: IrDA1.1 compatible, 4Mbps max.
Audio I/F: A/D and D/A converters built in, digital data compatible
General purpose port: 50 pins max; for I/O and interrupt input
Operating frequency: 66MHz (target)
Power consumption: 250mW (@3.3V, 66MHz TYP.)

One of the key specs that is critical for the future of the Windows CE platform is the increase from 8MB ROM + 16MB RAM up to 32MB ROM + 32 MB RAM. While the core Windows CE OS is compact enough to fit easily inside the 8MB limit of the Vr4101, the desire to hold applications in ROM is strong. It is unclear whether Flash memory is a subset of the ROM or RAM memory space. If it is included in the RAM side, that will alleviate the problem a bit because applications could be placed in Flash, but if it's part of the ROM space then it simply doesn't help. But the 32 + 32 coverage of the Vr4102 should be enough for the near future, and a clearly preferable processor even without the other advantages.

An interesting development is that the MobilePro 700 recently announced for the North American market is based on a "form factor" similar to the older pre-Windows CE Mobile Gear products. No information was available about the internal circuitry of the older Mobile Gear products on their Web pages. It would be interesting to find out if they were also based on a Vr-410x chip.
[1997/10/31] revised [1997/11/23]

NEC MobilePro 700 Breaks The WinCE Size Mould

While there are a number of new Windows CE products this year, and growing disctinction between the products, the NEC MobilePro 700 announced today is the biggest departure from previous devices, because it is exactly that -- big. It is about the size of the original Poqet computers (later "Fujitsu Poqet") and Sharp PC-3000 series. Powered by a 54MHz Vr-4102 CPU (as described previously in regard to the Japanese language NEC Mobile Gear Windows CE device), the MP-700 comes with a 16 level monochrome display, 16MB ROM (holding WindowsCE 2.0), 8MB RAM (expandable to 32MB), 33Kbps Modem, VGA output port, and sound input, for $999 Cdn. While I traditionally don't venture opinions about a new device before I test it, I think this device is going to be particularly significant. I'll leave details for my reasoning for future review articles, but I think the balance of "portability v. usability" for devices in this price point is probably better addressed by this new form factor than the previous "large pocket" size devices. [I previously stated that a colour version was coming, but upon re-reading the press release, it's not clear to me whether this is true. I'll call NEC as soon as I can to find out if there will be one. Sorry for the error. -- JO]

HHC Sizes
[1997/11/20] revised [1997/11/22]

Microsoft Windows CE At Fall Comdex

In case you didn't go to Comdex, or if you just want to find out what you saw, before went to the party, there are a couple of Websites you can check out. If you're specifically interested in handheld technology, and Windows CE in particular, this is the obvious place to go:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/comdex/default.htm
[1997/11/22]

Compaq Announces C-Series WinCE Handhelds

Nov. 17, 1997, Business Wire Reports that Compaq has announced their new C-Series WinCE 2.0 handheld computers. To be available in the "first half of 1998" at an unspecified price, the C-Series will come with 640 * 240 colour or monochrome displays with backlight systems featuring two brightness levels, an integrated microphone, EDO RAM, Infrared port, a bundled serial cable, and more.

Compaq also announced their Windows CE 2.0 upgrade for older units which will include 2MB of RAM, to be available December, 1997, at an unspecified price, through authorized resellers or Compaq Direct Plus at (800) 888-8177
[1997/11/22]

Motorola Ports Chinese Handwriting Recognition to Windows CE

Nov. 17, 1997, Business Wire reports that Motorola's Lexicus Division has ported its WisdomPen(TM) Chinese handwriting recognition system to the Windows CE OS. Without training the system will recognize 19,000 Chinese characters. Motorola claims 95% accuracy in real usage situations.

http://www.mot.com/lexicus/
[1997/11/22]

Key Spacing and the NEC MobilePro 700

With the official announcement of the NEC MobilePro 700 it's a good time to discuss key spacing. Every time I've written a review of handheld computers, I've submitted measurements for key spacing for the "A - L" keys and from the "Q to Z" rows. I also often submitted the sizes of the primary alphabetical keys. In many cases, editors have removed that information. I haven't argued the point with them, but it's obviously important information from a human interfacing standpoint.

Most writers who include this kind of information simply state key "pitch". This is a commonly used measurement in the industry, and for the most part it's useful. The reason I didn't use pitch goes back to the very earliest products. Handhelds often used different size keys and varied pitch. I don't know of any case where pitch varied in the alphabetical keys, but it occurred to me that someday, some "wiseguy" designer might do this. So I had to consider whether there was a better measurement. The reason pitch is useful for ordinary keyboards is because the distance between your fingers determines whether touch typing is practical or clumsy. If you want to figure out the smallest keyboard you can comfortably touch type on, then take a piece of paper and a ruler. Draw a line and mark it where the middle of your index finger and last finger sit, and then divide that distance by 3. That's a "pitch" distance. You can probably touchtype on slightly smaller pitched keyboards than that but it's clumsy because your fingers are pushing each other out of the way.

On smaller keyboards you can use other typing methods. The most common is the "thumb typing" method I've been using. Other people are going to gravitate to this because game machine pads are thumb oriented. In those cases, the "stretch distances" to the farthest keys are more important than specific pitch between two adjacent keys. The best measurements for thumb typing are probably from the left outside edge of the case to the G key and right outside edge of the case to the H key. But I compromised and decided that for handhelds, I'd at least give the distance from the center of the A key to the center of the L key because if you combine these numbers with a photograph of the keyboard, which is usually fairly easy to obtain, it cam be a good indicator of what it would be like to use the keyboard for both touch typing and thumb typing. Also, submitting only a couple of numbers sometimes gets them published whereas most editors would not have published table large enough to fully cover the issue.

The significance of Q to Z row spacing is harder to evaluate. All I can say is that probably, you want it large enough to be able to differentiate which row of keys you're hitting, but too much distance will probably slow down typing in any method. I've never been able to identify a sufficient rule to decide an optimal case. I've included the number because I believe that such a rule probably can be derived some day.

The MP-700 was announced as having a 16.1 mm pitch. The A - L spacing would be 8 * 16.1 = 128.8 mm. By comparison, the MP-400 was 96 mm (measured), a "real, full size Mac keyboard" measures 152 mm, and my Sharp PC-3000 measures 118.5 mm. Since the Sharp is the narrowest keyboard that I find reasonably touch typable, I can say that I expect the new MP-700 to be more than adequate for my hands.
[1997/11/20]

Microsoft Ships Windows CE 2.0 in Five New Languages

Oct. 27, 1997, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has announced that they have shipped Windows CE 2.0 in French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish versions. The Pocket Outlook (PIM), Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Pocket PowerPoint and Pocket Internet Explorer applications have also been localized in these languages. Development tools have also been updated to support these languages.
[1997/11/02]

NEC Mobile Pro Windows CE 2.0

NEC Canada announced their Windows CE 2.0 upgrade policy for the Mobile Pro series products. Basically it is the same as the US announcement but the prices are in Canadian Dollars. The 2.0 upgrade will be orderable through their NEC NOW service (1-888-8-NEC-NOW or www.necnow.com). While the US price was $99. The Canadian price was announced as $139. I would caution that the dollar fluctuations may make a slight price change necessary. NEC also announced that a special offer whereby a Mobile Pro 400 device will cost $69 Cdn. when bought with a Versa Notebook or NEC Direction desktop PC in Q4 1997. Call NEC for details.
[1997/10/31]

Windows CE To Gain Multimedia Support

Oct. 13, 1997 Kristen Kenedy writes in Computer Retail Week that Microsoft has said it will "port Direct X multimedia drivers to Windows CE as early as next year."
[1997/10/21]

H-P Announces New Windows CE 2.0 Products

Oct. 14, 1997, Computer Retail Week reports that Hewlett-Packard unveiled their new HP 360LX Windows CE 2.0 handheld computer. Scheduled to ship in "first quarter 1998" at $699 US, it features 8MB RAM, 10MB ROM and a faster CPU than the HP320LX.

HP also announced the new 620LX which will have a full colour LCD screen which will be available "later this year."
[1997/10/19]

Intrinsyc Rainbow 2.0 WinCE Web Server Supports WinCE 2.0

Oct. 14, 1997, Intrinsyc Software Inc. announced that their Rainbow(TM) 2.0 Windows CE based Web Server technology supports Windows CE 2.0. A demonstration system is accessible at:

http://www.rainbow.intrinsyc.com/
[1997/10/19]

Motorola Working With Windows CE 2.0 Developers

Oct. 13, 1997, PR Newswire reports that Motorola has announced that they are working with third party "embedded processor vendors" porting Windows CE with Motorola's "soft modem technology". No details were provided.
[1997/10/13]

Annasoft to Distribute Intrinsyc Windows CE Tools and Components

Sept. 16, 1997 Canadian Corporate News reports that Annasoft Systems will be a distributor of Intrinsyc Software Windows CE tools and components for embedded applications.
[1997/09/20]

SGI Introduces New MIPS Support For Windows CE

Sept. 30, 1997, PR Newswire reported that Silicon Graphics Inc. had announced a "profile" to ease design of MIPS/Windows CE products. Aug. 15, 1999, after SGI spun off MIPS, Windows CE development is supported by MIPS through their own Website.

http://www.mips.com/windowsCE/index.html
[1998/08/15]

Microsoft Unveils Windows CE 2.0

Microsoft unveiled their Windows CE 2.0. Details were posted in an announcement dated 1997/09/29 on their Website.
[1997/09/30] revised [1999/08/15]

Windows CE Pre-Announcements -- The Osborne Effect

I find the recent scrambling in the Windows CE area surprising. I don't know why Microsoft would bother to pre-announce WinCE 2.0 by "a couple of weeks" or why Sharp would bother pre-announcing their WinCE handheld. Pre-announcements like these are more typically a "counter-move" made because a competitor has had an exciting announcement and the company is trying to keep their foot in the door by letting people know that they aren't far behind, or are going to attempt to "leapfrog". But nothing wonderful came out over the last couple of weeks.

Pre-announced new versions don't help sales of current products. Anyone interested in buying a Sharp Zaurus will probably want to wait now to see what Sharp brings out. Anyone who might have bought a current 1.x WinCE device is also probably going to wait until 2.0 is reviewed, countering the attraction of the current price drops. This is what happened to the Osborne company. Sales of the Osborne 1 computer had started to drop off due to competition from Kaypro and they had a new version product to bring out, but Adam announced the product before it was ready to sell. During the delay from the announcement to the release of the new product, sales dropped off sharply, and the drop in cashflow put Osborne under. That won't happen to Sharp, or the current WinCE companies, who aren't making huge amounts of money from WinCE yet anyway, but anyone in the industry should know better than to pre-announce products unnecessarily.

In this industry, you live and learn, or you don't live long.
[1997/09/23]

Sharp Pre-Announces Windows CE Device

Sharp announced that they will release a Windows CE handheld device in the last quarter of 1997. Beyond the fact that it will be a handheld computer and will have Sharp software, no details were provided.

http://www.sharp-usa.com/pr/1505.html
[1997/09/23]

Intrinsyc Introduces Signal Processing Libraries for Windows CE

Sept. 9, 1997, Canadian Corporate News reports that Intrinsyc Software Inc. has announced new signal processing component libraries for Windows CE and NT. See their website for details.
[1997/09/12]

Intrinsyc Announces Fault Tolerant Technology for Windows CE

Sept. 4, 1997, Canadian Corporate News reports that Intrinsyc Software Ince has announced that they are introducing a new version of the their WinFT(R) fault detection and correction technology.
[1997/09/09]

Intrinsyc Announces Rainbow v 2.0 for Windows CE

Sept. 2, 1997, Canadian Corporate News reports that Intrinsyc Software Inc. has announced their Rainbow 2.0 Web server for Windows CE. Enhancements include "Binary Gateway Interface" (BGI) to extend the web server with DLL's, a Microsoft Visual Studio add-in, "Server Side Includes" (SSI) to allow creation of HTML pages incorporating BGI extensions, and User Authentication for private (password) access through public networks. A demo of Rainbow can be accessed at:

http://rainbow.intrinsyc.com
[See the "links" page for their regular Website.]
[1997/09/06]

Microsoft To Ship WinCE 2.0 Soon

Sept. 2, 1997, Newsbytes reports that Microsoft officials have said that Windows CE 2.0 will ship "in the next couple of weeks." Philips Mobile Computing Group has announced a Windows CE 2.0 ROM Miniature Card upgrade. According to the report, "all companies manufacturing Windows CE devices would provide their customers with a similar miniature upgrade card . . ." The Philips card contains the ROM and apparently, additional RAM and will cost $99.00 (US). US purchasers of Velo 1 between Sept. 2 to Dec. 31 will get the Windows CE 2.0 upgrade card free.
[1997/09/06]

Microsoft Announces New Automap Streets, Now Expedia Streets

Aug. 26, 1997, PR Newswire reports that Microsoft has released an updated version of Automap Street and has renamed the product Expedia(TM) Streets 98. According to the article, the website for Pocket Streets has changed to:

http://www.microsoft.com/expedia/
[1997/09/02]

Landware

Landware is a major handheld developer, covering WinCE ("Pocket Finance"), PalmPilot and Newton ("PhotoShow 2.0" gray scale bitmap display program for MP-2000 and eMate 300).
http://www.landware.com/
[1997/08/14] revised [1999/08/15]

Microcom Introduces Windows CE Pocket Carbon Copy

Aug. 6, 1997, PR Newswire reports that Microcom has introduced a Windows CE version of Pocket Carbon Copy for remote access to information based desktop computers and corporate Windows NT based networks.
[1997/08/12]

Spyglass, Turning to Windows CE "Web Appliances" and NT:

Jan. 22, 1997, Newbytes reports that apparently, Microsoft "lost count" of the free copies of Internet Explorer it has give out. Microsoft was supposed to be paying Spyglass based on distributed copies. They have settled with Spyglass. In the deal, Microsoft is paying $8 million to "buy out" the use of the technology completely. That is to say they will no longer pay royalties. Spyglass will get $7.5 million in cash and and $500,000 in software and maintenance. In the first quarter, Microsoft had paid $400,000 in royalties. Spyglass has shifted their efforts from "desktop" to develop Web browsing on devices like television, cellular phones, pagers. Now they are "extending their relationship with Microsoft" to include these devices.

Spyglass is working on the Windows CE OS and their "Infrastructure Server" products will be available on Windows NT.
[1997/01/25]

Wireless Connectivity:

Sierra Wireless Cellular Data Comm for Windows CE Devices

Mar. 4, 1997, Canadian Corporate News reports that Sierra Wireless has announced "PocketPlus CE" to use cellular data services including circuit-switched and CDPD for FAX sending, EMail and Internet usage.

http://www.sierrawireless.com
[]1997/03/06]

Wireless Internet/Intranet Service

Mar. 18, 1997, PR Newswire reports that US Robotics Mobile Communications Corp. and GoAmerica Communications Corp. announced "seamless wireless access" to the World Wide Web using Windows 95(TM) and Windows CE(TM) and free 2 weeks trial usage for purchasers of the AllPoints(TM) Wireless PC Card . The Type II card will cost about $499.00 US.
[1997/03/21]

The Early Days:

Note: Most of the links in the following material are probably invalid now.
[1999/07/08]

Windows CE was rolled out with a wide ranging "carpet bombing" of announcements by all participants. In retrospect, the biggest mindshare competitor of the day was the Apple Newton, which was discontinued soon after Gil Amelio left Apple. As of mid 1999, the term "PDA" coined by John Scully, is still widely used to describe devices such as the PalmOS handheld computers and the Windows CE "palm-sized" devices.
[1999/07/08]

Pen Computing WinCE Coverage:

Pen Computing Magazine covered the new WinCE products in their Nov/Dec 1997 issue. The most interesting thing for me was the coverage of the processors.

On page 22 one report says the the NEC VR4101 CPU is based on MIPS R-4000 technology while the Philips TwoChipPIC running at 36.6MHz is based on MIPS R-3000 series technology. On page 25 it reports that the NEC runs at 33 MHz, but here the Philips is listed at 40MHz. All of the Casio, Compaq, Goldstar and HP are listed as 40MHz Hitachi SH-3 based. The NEC is the only CPU that is 64 bit, yet again, the Hitachi chip versions all come with 4MB ROMs while both the NEC and Philips MIPS based units come with 8MB ROMs. While the Philips does seem to come with more "unique" applications, I'm still surprised by that it takes twice as much ROM.
[1997/01/23] revised [1999/07/08]

First Announcements of Windows CE Palmtops

Casio and Compaq announced their Windows CE based handheld computers around Comdex (fall) 1996. The Casio version has apparently been selling in the US since Comdex. Prices were comparable to the Sharp Zaurus range. Based on Hitachi RISC CPUs the Casio and Compaq were actually the same devices with minor cosmetic differences. At that time it was necessary to point out that "unlike previous 'MS-DOS palmtop' products such as the Prolinear and Hewlett-Packard HP-200LX, software will NOT generally be compatible with your desktop computer."
[1997/01/03] revised [1999/07/08]

NEC's MobilePro-200/400 Windows CE handheld computer differed from the Casio and Compaq using the NEC VR4101 RISC CPU instead of the Hitachi. On Dec. 21, 1996, I saw, the MobilePro-200 (type S1424-01A) which had 2MB RAM and was street priced at $749.99 at ComputerCity in Metro Toronto. The MP-400 came with 4MB RAM.
[1996/12/21] revised [1999/07/08]

Hewlett-Packard announced their Windows CE handheld computer around Dec. 23, 1996. They emphasized the use of a 640 pixel wide screen which they point out would make a difference to Web users because many Websites were designed for that size screen. There was no mention of size, weight CPU or price. Even the delivery date was left vague as "mid-1997".
[1996/12/23] revised last [1999/07/08]

Philips began a Web Page for the Velo 1 around Feb. 6, 1997, long before product was available.
[1997/02/06]

Casio Cassiopeia, WinCE Power Bug:

Soon after the Casio Cassiopeia A-10/A-11 came out there seemed to be a problem with battery life. The issue was raised a number of times in the Internet newsgroups. According to "PC World" there is a problem with the keyboard driver software which will cause fresh, fully charged batteries to drain down in a few hours. The Compaq PC Companion C120/C140 had the same problem, but not the HP, Velo or NEC Mobile Pro. As of Feb. 11, 1997 the Casio Website but did not have any recognition of the problem.
[1997/02/11] revised [1999/07/08]

Checking the Windows CE web pages on Feb. 27, 1996, Microsoft had a downloadable patch to fix the power bug. Further details are also provided.

It didn't always show up, so it was hard to trace. Basically, if batteries were low, then when you put the unit in "suspend mode" (what most people would call "shutting it off"), it didn't power down correctly. It wasn't really in the keyboard driver itself, but that was a convenient place to put the patch.
[1997/02/27] revised [1999/07/08]

Microsoft Gives Pocket Automap Away for Free

On Feb. 23, 1997 I wrote about the value of a map system distributed on handheld computers and two days later Microsoft announced a decision to make "Pocket Automap" freely available for all Windows CE users.
[1997/02/25] revised [1999/07/08]

Microsoft Announces AMD has ported Windows CE to ElanSC400

On Mar. 4, 1997, Microsoft announced that AMD has ported Windows CE to the ElanSC400 microcontroller.
[1997/03/06]

Philips Enhances Velo 1

June 18, 1997, PR Newswire reports that Philips Electronics at PC Expo announced a "performance accelerator" for the Velo 1. This software patch increases performance by about 15% by allowing direct memory access by the CPU. New accessories also announced are the Velo Dock, VElo-to-PC traveling serial cable, Velo V-Module, NiMH battery pack, DRAM and Flash memory Miniature Cards, traveling AC adapter, car adapter and carrying case.
[1997/06/23]

Japanese Windows CE

June 25, 1997, TechWire reports that Microsoft has launched a Japanese version of Windows CE 1.01. NEC announced a version of their "Mobile Gear" based on the VR4102 RISC CPU and Casio announced a version of their Cassiopeia based on a 40MHz SH-3 RISC CPU. Prices are between $640 and $780 US and will ship in the next 30 days. The Japanese versions will include Japanese handwriting recognition and Japanese keyboard layouts.
[1997/07/01]

WinCE Hand Held Computer Sizes and Oddities:

Looking at the first bunch of Windows CE handheld computers and reading the press releases was amusing in one particular aspect. There was a claim of making substantial efforts in getting the size right. The units that all came out at the same time, ended up all about the same size. But it's not a size that hasn't been tried before. In fact, Sharp had used that particular size and knew well its advantages and disadvantages. If this size was so clearly superior, Sharp would have discontinued all their other sizes and simply made all their products this one size. I'm not saying that it was a bad size. It was quite good actually. But I thought that perhaps they were making a lot of noise about it to cover up the fact that they all ended with what would appear to be an unimaginative physical package.

By 1999, only one product remained close to the original clamshell size -- my Compaq C-Series, which was still much bulkier than the original products.

Another matter that seemed a bit odd in the specifications that I'd read was that NEC seems to be using a black and white screen while the Cassiopeia is 4 level grey scale. This was simply an oversight in the NEC press release. It was in fact 4 level grey scale. Also the NEC used an 8MB ROM and the Compaq used 4MB. Different CPUs have differences in code efficiency, but I would be very surprised if this ratio was correct. I never did find out if the difference was really that big.

Philips didn't have details on the Velo on the Web. They did have a voice phone number for further information: 1 (800) 661-6162.

HHC Sizes
[1997/08/13] revised [1999/07/08]

My Own NEC MobilePro 400

I ordered my own NEC MobilePro 400 for long term testing in the first week of August, 1997, saying "[s]omeday I may post a more extensive explanation, but the two most decisive factors were the Vr4101 RISC CPU and the fact that it takes a normal PC-Card directly rather than the newer smaller cards which the Velo-1 uses."
[1997/08/08] revised [1999/07/08]

NEC MobilePro 400 and 450

On June 23, 1997 NEC Computer Systems Division of Packard Bell NEC, Inc. announced the Mobile Pro 450. The main hardware change from the original MobilePro 200/400 will be a backlight, but the big news is the software package. The NEC MP-450 will include MicroBurst Virtual Courier, Symantec PC ANYWHERE, Puma IntelliSync, BSQUARE bFAX and bPRINT, JetForm Filler Pro & Filler Central for Windows CE, CIC QuickNotes, and M-Systems. The package, including 4MB RAM, the MobilePro Cradle, AC adapter and serial cable will sell for about $699.00 Cdn. The older MP-200 has been discontinued and the MP-400 including the MobilePro Cradle, AC adapter and serial cable has a reduced street value of about $559.00 Cdn.

I apologize for this late report, but I was not officially notified about it until July 10, 1997, at Comdex. I have yet to see an MP-450 in the stores, so I guess it's not that late yet.
[1997/08/08]

Windows CE Reference Material: Websites

Casio Cassiopeia http://www.casio-usa.com/hpc/
[1999/08/15]

Compaq handheld http://www.compaq.com/products/handhelds
[1999/08/15]

HP Win CE palmtop http://www.hp.com/jornada/
[1999/08/15]

Microsoft' Windows CE Home Page http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/default.asp
[1999/08/15]

Microsoft Windows CE HPC http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/hpc/default.htm
[1997/02/25]

NEC MobilePro-200/400 http://www.nec.com/company/RecentPR/961118ee.html
[1997/01/18]

Pen Computing Magazine's Windows CE Resource http://www.pencomputing.com/WinCE/index.html
[1997/01/17]

Philips Velo WinCE http://www.velo1.com/
[1997/02/06]

Book Index

Send messages to jimomura@pathcom.com or call (416) 652-3880.

Last update 1999/08/15.