palmOne Zire 72 In the Works

[Brian]

Rumors have begun circulating regarding the follow-up PDA to the popular Zire 71. According to the Palm Addicts blog, the Zire 72 will feature Bluetooth and a 1.3MP camera, amongst other things. Too good to be true?

Here's the whole rundown from their site:

It will run Palm OS 5.2.1 with 1.3MPix camera, 56MB usable memory and Physical shape/dimensions and graffiti area is exactly like the tungsten E.

The total specs will be the following -

PalmOS 5.2.1
1.3MPix camera
64 MB RAM-56MB usable memory
Bluetooth

In a separate note, they claim palmOne will be dropping the slider mechanism from their high-end Tungsten T line.

While the latter assertion seems plausible, I have a hard time believing this is all true about the Zire 72. The Zire line has always been geared toward consumers, so the improved camera makes sense, the non OS6 OS makes sense, but integrated Bluetooth does not. I like the concept though and hope it ends up including all these features, but I think something has to give, especially if the Zire line is going to stay south of $400.

[bubba]

I first read the rumour of ths Zire72 here. and highlighted it in my blog.

Like Brian, I agree that the inclusion of BT on the Zire72 could be a little far fetched, but come to think of it, this could mean that the future Tungsten T's would have both BT and WiFi.


As for the slider on the Tungsten T series, I agree, palmone should abandon this slider design on the next T model. I own a T3, like it very much except the slider...



bubba
Palm-X
Xpert, Xperienced, Xtreme!

[Techs]

Slider mech only made it the top seller -- what form will it then take? Half VGA like some, or retro back to the square screen?

[bubba]

Slider becomes loose after a while. I know one T3 user who sent his T3 for replacement since the slider would not stay closed...keeps sliding out. The slider on my T3, still stays in place but gives a light rattle if you give the T3 a little shake.

Without slider means less moving part ... less probability to break it into two []




bubba
Palm-X
Xpert, Xperienced, Xtreme!

[Not Yet PDA User]

Hello all,

Will the Zire 72 have a replaceable battery?? Can you folks tell me how long a PDA battery lasts? If a non-user-replaceable battery dies or no longer accepts a charge, what can the user do? This is why I do not yet own one. I haven't found one that meets all of my needs.

Thanks

[Brian]

The Z72 will likely not have a user replacable battery, not many PDAs actually offer this. Batteries can last up to a few days, but it depends on the model and usage. The battery will likely last longer than you care to keep the PDA, so that shouldn't be much of a concern.

Editor in Chief
www.bargainPDA.com
www.SPOTstop.com

[Neil]

I think he was actually referring to the life-expectancy of a battery, rather than the charge time

Most batteries will be good for about 2 years, depending on the usage etc, and whether they are constantly drained- this can significantly reduce the overall life. However, in two year, the PDA market will change significantly...

Neil

[Not Yet PDA User]

Neil,

Thank you, You answered my question. I have begun looking at the new Sony Clie PEG-TJ37. It has a feature that I have been looking for a long time for. The ability associate a photo to a contact. I meet many people in my line of work, and would love to retain an image of the person and associate the image to info about the person like name, address, etc... I never saw this function on other PDA's that have a camera. My question is how much space does each picture take, because with a limited 16 megs of storage, I would be concerned about running out of space quite rapidly.

Also, to get back to the battery issue, if the battery does die let's say in 9 months, can it be replaced even by the manufacturer? Or am I out the full amount that I paid. Advice???

[Neil]

I do not know anything about memory on the TJ37, so it would not be sensible for me to advise.
With regard to the battery problem, I think that most warranties expressly exclude problems with batteries... Other people may have more positive news

Neil

[Brian]

The images are very very small and can't take but a few k each. You'd be hard pressed to creat any sort of internal memory problem with contact photos. Get a mem stick for applications and you'll be fine.

Editor in Chief
www.bargainPDA.com
www.SPOTstop.com