Re: Recommendations for future Sharp Z models?

Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller wrote:

>> Joseph Pingenot wrote:
>>
>>> Where's a good place to go to put in my (and others') two cents about
>>>  what we'd like to see in future Z models and ROMs?  Is this list for
>>>  that purpose (or is it just for development on the Z platform), and
>>>  do Sharp people listen in?
>>>
>>
>> Why not here... I think there's still some Sharp people round here...
>>
>> How about taking a C760, and adding
>>
>> 1. Bluetooth built-in.
>
>
> May be useful for those with a Bluetooth Mobile and/or Notebook


Hmm... Almost everyone in the Eu. Maybe less in Merkin land I admit...

>
>> 2. 802.11(g?) built-in.
>
>
> I would put emphasis in 802.11b first - the iPAQ 5450 and the Toshiba 
> 750 have it already intergrated. 11g is only needed for video or file 
> streaming over a network. 11b is enough for a handheld (IMO).


Uhh... Why bother with an older standard. 802.11g actually gets the 
bandwidth in real life that 802.11b is actually advertised at (i.e. 
11Mbps). Although in theory it can & will go faster...

>
>> 3. Still More Memory... RAM & Flash. (You can never have enough)
>
>
> Completely agree! Should also have an integrated Microdrive.


What? Microdrive?

>
>> 4. Drop the stupid SD card slot. It's proprietary & an almost (IMO) 
>> complete waste of time. I don't think I've had a stable SD card 
>> yet... At least with built-in flash you can use JFFS2... Just wack in 
>> 512MB of flash & be done with it. With builtin networking you won't 
>> need to use the CF slot for network cards...
>
>
> Well, if 3. does not work, SD seems to be the best solution for me. I 
> didn't have a problem with my 256MByte SD card at all and I don't 
> think it is proprietary. It rather is a standard (which seems to be 
> not completely adhered to). Note that having a low level of integrated 
> memory and providing a large capacity on plugin memory keeps the 
> initial price low so that we all think it is a cheap model!


SD is as proprietary as it comes... You need a license from the SD 
consortium to get the specs. MMC is open, but MMC is limited to 20Mbps 
(Admittedly SD only adds 5Mbps to that. I was surprised too (About the 
speeds), but I've got the PXA255 docs that states 20Mbps for MMC and 
25Mbps for SD mode. That's not 4 wire SD though because the PXA255 
doesn't do 4 wire onboard). The Zarus only does MMC mode though... No 
matter what processor AFAIK.

In order to keep the price low, you could have a 'raw' flash interface 
(i.e. socket the flash) so you could unplug & plugin a new bigger better 
flash... (Shall I patent that too? Hmm...

>
>> 5. Higher capacity battery. Hell with Li-Poly batteries you could 
>> make the case into the battery.
>
>
> Well, have not yet used my Z5500 in situations without  power plug in 
> the vicinity


I (And many others) use it on busses, trains etc... Not many plugs 
there... I used to use it at the bus stop too, but even a full battery 
won't last waiting for a bus at Heathrow...

>
> 6. Even faster processor
> Samsung recently announced a 533MHz for a Smartphone. As a Macintosh 
> user (estimated to be representing 5% of all users), I would 
> definitely like to see a PowerPC 405LP processor from IBM inside... 
> This could enable binary compatible software, i.e. making the next 
> "Zaurus" a "MacZaurus".


Binary compat perhaps with a Mac, except that the Mac now has a 64bit 
processor, and so I'd guess you'll see a gradual migration to 64bit 
PowerPC code rather than the current 32bit PowerPC code). BTW just 
ocmparing Mhz is useless... Being a Mac person you should appreciate 
that... I'm not even certain that that new 533Mhz is any faster than a 
PXA255 @ 400Mhz... Whitness the fact that the PXA250 @400Mhz was no 
faster than the SA1110 @ 206Mhz... (Admittedly it was broken & no code 
was optimised, but I don't think even with optimisation it was any 
faster because of the cache was it?)

>
> 7. New models for the Eurpean market
> Well, just recently we have to import directly from Japan or the US 
> and don't get a localized version (we would need a QWERTZ keyboard 
> here in Germany and opening a Zaurus and switching the keycaps is only 
> part of a solution).

A hardware keyboard is probably a disadvantage in the Eu... With so many 
different nationalities needing different keyboards. What about a C760 
lookalike, but with smart keys! Each key could be a small LCD matrix 
display (Or OLED for seeing it in the dark :) so you could redefine the 
keyboard & the keycaps would all change... Damn, I should patent that! 
Remember you heard it here first!




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