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Sony debuts feature-laden CLIE PEG-NZ90
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By Larry Garfield, Thursday 9 January 2003  
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Sony's latest handheld is state-of-the-art; features include a 200 MHz processor, Palm OS 5, integrated Bluetooth, a WiFi expansion slot and a 2 megapixel digital camera.
Sony has announced the release of their latest Palm OS handheld, the successor to the NX70v that was released last fall. The Sony CLIE PEG-NZ90 is a clamshell design like its predecessors, but goes far beyond them with the first real digital camera in a handheld, Bluetooth, and its own stand.
 | Sony's new handheld offers everything but the kitchen sink
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The NZ90 is a Palm OS 5 handheld with the same Intel XScale processor as the NX-series running at 200 MHz. It also has the same 16 MB of RAM. From there on out, though, there are a lot of changes. The case is noticeably thicker to accomidate the large number of extra features, making it the largest non-ruggedized Palm OS device to date. Inside the case, though, is nearly every feature available on the market.
The most notable new feature is the inclusion of a 2 megapixel 1600 x 1200 resolution camera with flash. Most integrated cameras on handhelds and phones are VGA- or SVGA-resolution, and max out at 800 x 600. 2 megapixels approximately marks the point in time when the stand-alone digital camera market began to really take off. The camera lense faces towards the user at all times, unlike the rotating lense on the NR and NX series. It supports a 2X digital zoom feature, manual exposure adjustment, red-eye reduction, and timer delay pictures. It also supports recording short movie clips.
The NZ90 is only the second Palm OS handheld to support a removable rechargeable battery, the HandEra 330 having been the first, and is the first to use a smartLithium battery pack. The smartLithium battery includes its own circuitry to detect the remaining battery life. The NZ90 is also the first CLIE to have a built-in Bluetooth radio, following in the footsteps of Palm's Tungsten T. Like its predecessor, the NZ90 has a CF I slot intended exclusively for use with Sony's own WiFi 802.11b network card. The slot itself has been moved down to the bottom of the device, but it is still apparently lacking drivers to use standard CF storage cards. For expanded storage, users will have to rely on the Sony Memory Stick slot, which has moved to the bottom right side, below the battery bay.
Other features of the NZ90 that are held over from the NX70 and NR70 include a pivoting screen for tablet mode, a Sony scroll wheel, an integrated MP3 player, an integrated voice recorder, a high-power infrared port for use as a universal remote for selected consumer electronics, and of course a 320 x 480 screen with virtual Graffiti. The keyboard on the bottom half of the device has been redesigned with square keys and a more familiar staggered key layout.
The overall device is thicker and heavier than its predecessors in order to accomodate all the new features, and the new camera, which is still situated in the hinge of the device, requires moving all of the previously top-mounted features to one side or the other. The new design also requires a new, foldable cradle. The cradle is also worthy of note, because it includes an AV out plug to connect to a TV as well as USB host circutry to connect to a USB printer to print images directly.
Of course, this VAIO PC writ-small won't come cheap. Sony expects the CLIE NZ90 to begin shipping by April at a retail price of $800 USD. Sony will also sell additional batteries for $80 USD each. The CLIE WiFi CF adapter is already available for $150 USD.
A high-res picture of the Sony CLIE PEG-NZ90 is available on the following page.
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| Hands-on impressions, news, reviews, prices and release dates; now all-in-one-page: |
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