Mobile phone fits on CF memory card

ANOTHER LITTLE GEM gem tucked away at Siemens' recent technology showcase held at Roke Manor, England was a complete mobile phone crammed onto an CF format card.

This CF45 card could well have a significant impact in the PDA sector.

That's because virtually all Pocket PC machines don't have a PCMCIA slot but they do have an CF card interface. So you can take an ordinary Windows PDA and turn it into a true mobile Internet terminal.

Better still, Siemens was able to demonstrate that the CF45 can achieve data throughput speeds of around 42 Kbit/s. Not only is that as fast as a typical high speed modem connexion over a land line, it's also twice as fast as the GPRS connexion speed the INQ normally experiences.

In addition the CF45 can turn your PDA into a GSM phone for voice calls should you so wish.

The CF45's product manager revealed that the card should be with us by Q4 2003 and cost around 270 Euros. Given that Viewsonic sells a PocketPC device for under £200, it should be feasible to create a bundle with the CF45 for under £400.

A PocketPC version will arrive first but a Palm version could follow shortly afterwards. µ

Correction 14:40 29.04.03
The original version of this story stated that the CF45 was an SD card. Tony had SD on the brain that day. The CF45 is a CF device.