I attended the Microsoft Mobility Developer Conference, mid-April, in London, England. The emphasis of the show was on developing wireless solutions. However, one of the hottest things I saw had only limited wireless potential. It was the new
Toshiba e310 Pocket PC 2002. It's the thinnest, lightest Pocket PC I've ever seen.
Super thin, lightweight, and great battery life
Viewed from the front, the e310 is about the same size as Toshiba's earlier e570 Pocket PC 2002. But turn it on its side and it's only 0.49 inches thick; that's over
2/10 of an inch thinner than any other Pocket PC. In addition, it weighs in at 4.9 ounces, over an ounce less than any other Pocket PC.
The e310 has a sleek but simple design and a clear, 64 K color display. It's powered by a 206 MHz StrongARM processor and comes with 32 Mb of RAM and 32 Mb of Flash ROM. It has one Secure Digital expansion slot and no optional expansion sleds. Initially this will limit the expansion capabilities to storage memory only, not I/O. However, Toshiba was showing the e310 with an SD Card that added Bluetooth capability to the device. Coupled with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone, this could add wireless data capabilities.
We ran benchmarked battery life tests on the current batch of Pocket PCs and described the results on page 21 of the July 2002 issue (www.pocketpcmag.com/Jul02/benchmark.asp). We ran a preliminary test on the e310. The tests revealed that the e310 has about the same battery life as the winner of our tests, the HP Jornada 560.
Pocket PC 2002 software
The new Toshiba e310 has Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 operating system and productivity applications built in. These include Pocket versions of Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Inbox, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, MS Reader, Media Player, and more. In addition, a number of user-installable applications from Microsoft are included on CD. Among these is ActiveSync 3.5, the desktop PC program that lets Pocket PC users synchronize data with, transfer files to and from, and install applications from a desktop PC. Check out a complete description of this software on
Pocket PC magazine's Web site (www.pocketpcmag.com/bg2002/ppchpc.asp).
Toshiba has not announced the additional third-party software it will include with the e310.
Basic Pocket PC to organize your life
The slim, silver-colored e310 is small enough to slip into a purse or pocket, but powerful enough help you organize your life, read e-mail, take notes, view and edit documents, and more. It's so small it fits easily in a pocket with other items. Be sure to protect the display. The best way to do this is to carry it in the soft slip case that comes with the e310.
The SD slot is a limitation only if you want to use CompactFlash I/O devices like GPS and wireless LAN. The maximum capacity for current SD cards is 256 Mb, ample for most file storage needs. Toshiba is positioning the e310 as a productivity tool for executives and other mobile workers. The introductory price is $399, the lowest list price of a new Pocket PC model. The size, the simple but attractive design, and the price could make this a popular Pocket PC, especially among those who like the design and size of Palm OS devices.
The Toshiba e310 Pocket PC 2002 can be purchased at Toshiba's online store (www.shoptoshiba.com).
Just days before we sent this issue to the printer, Toshiba mailed us the Toshiba e310. Here are Diane Dumas' and my first impressions.
The first thing we noticed was that the bulky charger is about the same size and weight as the e310! On the one hand, this just highlights the incredible thinness and lightness of the e310; on the other hand, this charger is big--twice as big as the HP Jornada charger.
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