Pocket PC processors

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

Hi,

I am wondering if anybody can tell me what the main problems
manufacturers of Pocket PC's are having to deal with in respect to
processors ?? How much influenece does the processor have on what
consumers look for in a pda ? Is StrongArm ( or any variation of it,
eg. xScale ) the best ? Any advice, links, etc. on these subjects
would be helpful.

Thanks, Aaron.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

I think I'm correct in saying that Windows Mobile 2003 is only Arm (or
compatible, like xScale) - the SH3 and MIPS processors are no longer
supported. But don't take that as gospel.

Mike.

"Aaron" <Aaron.J.Smith@nsc.com> wrote in message
news:9fc30673.0410070157.c3cb5b@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> I am wondering if anybody can tell me what the main problems
> manufacturers of Pocket PC's are having to deal with in respect to
> processors ?? How much influenece does the processor have on what
> consumers look for in a pda ? Is StrongArm ( or any variation of it,
> eg. xScale ) the best ? Any advice, links, etc. on these subjects
> would be helpful.
>
> Thanks, Aaron.

Archived from groups: comp.sys.palmtops (More info?)

"Aaron" <Aaron.J.Smith@nsc.com> wrote in message
news:9fc30673.0410090443.2a1cd56f@posting.google.com...
> So where does the pocket PC market stand just now ?
> What's holding it back from taking off, where does it's limitations lie ?
>
> Aaron.
>
>
SNIP

These are my opinions so take them for that they are worth...

PPC is starting to take off. Overall I believe that more PPC devices were
sold last year than PalmOS devices. Still Palm (PalmOne if you like), as an
individual company, sells more handhelds than anyone. HP is closing in on
Palm and may surpass them this year or next.

The challenges that PPC face are 1) Overcoming a HUGE installed base of Palm
units. You don't overtake that easily. 2) Useability. Palm did a good job of
making their PIM applications easy to use. PPC devices are more complex
because they are trying to emulate desktop PC functionality. 3) Bugs. PPC
has had it's issues with ActiveSync and compatibility with MS applications
such as Word and Excel. I think many people assumed that MS applications
would be completely compatible and yet Palm seems to have done a better job
here. That too is changing. And last but not least 4) Smartphones. It's not
just PalmOS versus PPC, you've now got Symbian in the mix and the Linux
community is also actively porting that OS to handhelds too. Many people see
the advantage of reducing the number of devices they have to carry around by
putting PIM functions into their phones. The Treo 600 has been well received
as have other smartphones. Palm and PPC may lose out to phones that
incorporate Contact, Calendar, Wireless functions, eBooks, MP3s and more.

Cheers
TC