Sony's just launched its newest Palm-based PDA, the NR70VG. Can a high cost Palm PDA survive in the cutthroat PDA market?
Historically speaking, one of the main reasons that Palm PDAs outsold competing PDA platforms was on price and battery life. The basic theory was very simple; give the punters the features they want and power consumption that can see units last weeks between recharges, and they will come. Come they did; Palm is still the market leader in the budget space. Other competing formats, like Psion's organiser's and Apple's ill-fated Newton have fallen by the wayside, and the only other serious competitor, Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002 platform (formerly Windows CE), occupies the high ground, both in terms of features and pricing. Where it's possible to pick up a Palm-based PDA for as little as AU$350, Pocket PC devices typically sell in regions north of the AU$1,000 mark.
Sony's initial Australian entry into the PDA market was with the impossible to pronounce CLIE PEG-T615CG2, a unit that had been available overseas for some time. Despite being a relative newcomer to the PDA market, Sony has a worldwide market share of around 7 percent, according to IDC figures. The PDA market is one that certainly has a lot of opportunity, but Gartner figures suggest that sales momentum may be slowing. The firm predicts that PDA sales will grow by around 18 percent this year, representing around 15.5 million units. That's a sharp fall from two years ago, where growth was a staggering 114 percent. Add to that scenario the introduction of new players, such as Toshiba and Sony, and the merging of the two Pocket PC heavyweights, HP and Compaq, and the outlook is very muddy indeed. Gartner is still hopeful, predicting that the second half of 2002 should be the arena in which PDA sales thrive.
Locally speaking, Joe Cartwright, Senior General Manager for Sony's Mobile Network Products told ZDNet that he hoped to sell "around 10,000" CLIE units -- currently only comprising two different models -- in the 2002 calendar year.
The really big difference between the CLIE PEG-NR70VG and other Palm units is the price. Purchase one of these babies, and you can expect your wallet -- or expense account -- to be some AU$1,349 lighter. While it's not uncommon for Pocket PC devices to be this costly, this is relatively new ground for Palms. At that price, you'd expect the NR70VG to bring a lot of features to market, and this is the crux of Sony's sales argument; that punters will pay for the feature set.
The main feature hook of the NR70VG has to be the screen. Larger than other Palm screens, it's possible to display up to 320x240 pixels onscreen if the graffiti area is diminished. This is of
course presuming you have software capable of utilising this extra screen real estate. Beyond resolution, though, is the appeal of the rotating screen, which can be utilised clamshell style with the inbuilt keyboard or as an external screen with the keyboard covered. This particular bit of trickery is achieved via a rotating screw at the base of the screen that allows the unit to be configured either way. It's a neat trick, but we suspect many long term users may pick one option and stick with it. Sony's also keen to play up the NR70VG as a PDA that can be used at any time of the day or night, which is great in theory. With the screen only rotating in one direction, however, we can't help but wonder how long it will be before a drunk executive tries to twist it in the wrong direction at three in the morning, only to end up with a high-tech shattered brick.
We've commented before on how PDA accessories can be useful additions but often expensive ones, given that they can't normally be transferred to other devices. Sony's taken a different route with the NR70VG. Although some memory stick add-ons, such as GPS trackers and a still-being-tested Bluetooth module will be made available somewhere down the track, the NR70VG comes with an inbuilt camera and audio player boosted by its own discrete DSP chip. From our brief hands-on, the camera is exactly what you'd expect from a PDA photo device; great for small shots but hardly a professional replacement. The audio player works well, accepting files in MP3 and ATRAC3 format. Sony supplies a wired remote that can also double as a stylus in a pinch, and claims that, with the screen off, the NR70VG can manage seven hours of music playback.
Sony also supplies software for a variety of PDA tasks, from music playback to paint software. Included is software to turn the NR70VG into a virtual photo frame, which is neat in concept, although an expensive use of a PDA in actual use. Sony also supplies software to turn the NR70VG into a TV/VCR/DVD remote, and claims compatibility for that software over a large number of manufacturers.
Under the hood is Motorola's 66MHz DragonBall Super VZ processor and 16MB of SDRAM. The SuperVZ is currently the best processor anyone's sticking in a Palm, and forms the bridge between Motorola's older 68000 processors and its newest ARM-based MX1 processors. Additional memory can be added via -- what else? -- Sony's Memory Stick format.
The real challenge to the NR70VG is unlikely to be other Palm models; while it's more costly it certainly seems to offer the features to back up its price tag. By stepping into Pocket PC pricing territory, however, it all but obliterates the line in the sand that used to exist between such devices. It's a line that's been shaky for some time; Toshiba's recently released Pocket PC e310 came with a press release stating that it was a "Palm Killer". Where we're from, those are fighting words.
Sony has begun presales on the NR70VG via its website and expects to be selling the unit via selected retailers from the 13th of June. We'll give you the full rundown on this interesting unit once we've had a chance to probe all its nooks and crannies.
Sony CLIE PEG-NR70VG
Company: Sony Australia
Price: AU$1,349
Distributor: Selected resellers
Phone: 1300 13 7669
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