Dell PDAs to hit the market in two weeks

Dell says it will begin selling handheld devices in mid-November, as long-time PDA makers like Palm and HP wait for the onslaught.

The official unveiling of the company's line of PDAs (personal digital assistants) will come at the Comdex event in Las Vegas on 18 November. Dell said it will begin taking orders from the launch date for its Axim X5 handheld devices, which run on Microsoft's Pocket PC operating system.

Dell has not released a full set of specifications for the new Pocket PCs, but early reports say the high-end Axim X5 will sell for around USD299 and will have a 400MHz Intel StrongArm processor with 64MB of SDRAM. The lower-end unit will go for about USD199 and it comes loaded with a 300MHz StrongArm processor and 32MB of RAM.

Both models have Compact Flash 2 and Secure Digital expansion slots, through which extra memory or wireless connectivity can be added. Dell has also said that in a year's time it hopes to roll out Pocket PCs that will come with integrated Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity.

The news was widely expected, and it comes after Dell announced plans to introduce its own line of printers manufactured by Lexmark, to the dismay of printing giant Hewlett-Packard. As with the printer announcement, Dell's move into the PDA segment could threaten the market position of the industry's leaders, namely Palm and HP. Dell currently sells PDAs made by Palm, Sony, NEC and Casio.

News source: The Reg