New upmarket Zire PDAs added by PalmOne

PALMONE HAS ADDED two new Zire colour PDAs to its portfolio, taking the Zire range upmarket in the process. Top dog is the Zire 72 which features a built-in 1.2 megapixel camera and support for Bluetooth. Hence it can be utilised for mobile Internet access via a suitable GSM/GPRS handset.

It is expected to boast a retail price of $299 - which is three times the price the original Zire started out at. It features a 320 x 320 pixel screen offering 65K colours and boasts an Intel 312 MHz ARM processor. Memory is 32 Mb of which 24 Mb are available to the user.

For business use, Zire 72 users can create and edit Microsoft Word and Excel compatible files, as well as synchronise with Microsoft Outlook (Windows only). The device can play and take videos or act as an MP3 player, too.

The Zire 31 is more of a consumer oriented PDA which lacks the 72's camera, has a slower 200 MHz Intel processor and offers a mere 14 Mb (out of 16 Mb) for the owner's use. It does have new PIM software, though. But then it is half the price ($149). µ

L'INQ
Palmone