News.com meldt dat Sony eindelijk de langverwachte Clie PalmOS handheld heeft gelanceerd. De Clie (afkorting voor 'Communication Link Information Entertainment') komt qua features grotendeels overeen met de Palm V en heeft als belangrijkste verschil de slanke behuizing en de aanwezigheid van een Memory Stick Slot. Vanaf vandaag kun je de monochrome Klei voor 399 dollar pre-orderen op de Sony site. Later volgt een hipper model met kleuren LCD. Vanwege de extreme schaarste van dergelijke displays is Sony van plan om de displays zelf te produceren. Hiermee hoopt het leveringsprobleem zoals bij de vrijwel onverkrijgbare Compaq iPaq te voorkomen:
The Clie will be available for preorder starting today from the Sony Web site for $399. It will be available nationwide in September. The 4-ounce Clie includes 8MB of RAM and an 8MB Memory Stick, Sony's proprietary portable memory technology. Eventually, Sony plans to offer add-on gadgets like digital cameras, using the Memory Stick in the same manner as the Handspring uses its Springboard expansion slot.
[...] Sony may be relying heavily on brand to sell the device, which in its first version offers no obvious or meaningful hardware enhancements over existing products. Sony's original plan to release two versions of the device, one with a monochrome display and one with a color display, was scrapped because of shortages of the necessary components used in color devices.
Clie eventually may feature a reflective color display developed by Sony and used in Compaq's iPaq device, which is based on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system for handhelds. The iPaq is in extremely short supply and is back-ordered at most online retailers.
"Color displays are rare," said Richard Doherty, president of Envisioneering Group, who expects Sony to ramp up its own supply of displays. "And reflective color displays are the scarcest displays on the planet."