A number of interesting new wireless devices are expected to make their debut when CeBIT 2003, the world's largest and most important annual geekfest, kicks off in Hanover, Germany, this week. Palm is expected to introduce a new wireless wonder, the Tungsten C, at the show even before it gets the Tungsten W, its combination mobile phone-personal digital assistant (PDA), out to the rest of the world. Details of the Tungsten C's technical specifications are hazy, but it is rumoured to have integrated Wi-Fi to boost its corporate appeal. Palm has been trying to increase corporate sales with its high-end Tungsten devices, but has had limited success. A leaked picture of the new Tungsten C on the Internet shows that it looks like the Tungsten W minus the antenna. Unlike the smaller integrated-Bluetooth Tungsten T, the Tungsten W does not run PalmSource's latest Palm 5.0 operating system. Henry Cheung, sales director at Palm Asia Pacific, says it runs version 4.1 because version 5.0 cannot yet support mobile phone functions. It is not yet known whether the new Tungsten C will run Palm 5.0 or 4.1. The former has enhanced security features that would go well with the integrated Wi-Fi function for corporate adoption. Hong Kong's Group Sense (International) is expected to announce a Palm OS-based communicator following a licensing agreement with PalmSource in December to develop Palm- based smartphones. Group Sense rolled out a Chinese-based PDA-phone in September 2001. MobileOffice e938 was based on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system and had a full range of communication functions, including voice, fax, e-mail, Wireless Application Protocol and short-messaging services. The new Palm OS PDA-phone is also expected to be Chinese-based and widely speculated to be more data-centric than phone-centric, like Kyocera's Palm-based smartphone. Another rumoured gadget expected to make its mark at CeBIT is a wireless iPaq from Hewlett-Packard. Rumours of the wireless iPaq started last year when the company unveiled the iPaq 5450, featuring an antenna, a speaker, a microphone and a SIM card slot. HP said at the time it was considering introducing a combination device featuring PDA and mobile phone functions like the Jornada WDA928 (which has been released only in Britain and Singapore), but it would not confirm that the next version of the iPaq would feature phone functions. The iPaq 5450, which is going down well with enterprises, has integrated Wi-Fi and a biometric security system as well as Intel's latest XScale 400 megahertz processor. The wireless iPaq, which will be a triband phone, will drop integrated Wi-Fi for general packet radio services (GPRS) connectivity. Sony will introduce a new mid-range Clie tomorrow, with integrated Bluetooth running Palm 5.0. The Clie TG50 was announced in Japan last week. The new Clie has a flip cover, much like the SJ33's, but it does not function as a mobile phone. Sony officials said users could pair a Bluetooth phone like the Sony Ericsson T100 with the new Clie to download and access e-mail. The TG50 lacks an integrated digital camera and, unlike the old Clies, will not feature a Graffiti area. You can write anywhere on the screen now. However, you do not get a bigger screen because Sony has put in a qwerty keyboard below the display. The keyboard is fast becoming a standard in mid-range and high-end Palm devices because users prefer to have more input options. This is the first Clie to have a keyboard and screen sitting together. The NZ and NX 70 series, and the new NZ-90, have clamshell designs with a screen built into the flip cover. The TG50 has 16 megabytes of built-in memory and a Memory Stick expansion slot. Clie TG50 is expected to dampen sales of Palm's Tungsten T, which has not done well despite price cuts. Sony Hong Kong is expected to reveal pricing details at tomorrow's launch but the TG50 will probably retail for HK$3,500 to HK$4,500. Got a gadget idea? Drop Carolyn a line at carolyn.ong@scmp.com
