New Pocket PC OS set to debut
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is holding a coming-out party Thursday in San Francisco for a new version of the Pocket PC operating system, joined by handheld makers and, yes, developers, developers, developers.
The major device makers that supported Pocket PC the first time around--Compaq Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Casio--will be there. Also on hand will be a number of new supporters, including Toshiba, NEC and Acer.
Microsoft first unveiled Pocket PC 2002, which was code-named Merlin, at a Sept. 6 conference. At Thursday's launch, the software giant will play host to new devices that run the OS, as well as software and other companion products for Pocket PC-based devices.
Backing from new software developers is also critical for Microsoft, which is looking to play catch-up with Palm in that area. Among the formerly Palm-only crowd supporting Microsoft this time around is Vindigo, which makes a popular electronic city guide. Supporting developers is one area for which Ballmer is now famous, thanks to the widely circulated video of him revving up a crowd of developers.
The launch of the new OS comes two days after market researcher IDC asserted that Pocket PC has failed to steal as much market share from Palm as once predicted. Pocket PC-based devices continue to fare well in the minds of business leaders, according to a new IDC survey of corporate executives. However, IDC's newly revised outlook for the handheld market states that corporations just aren't spending as much on the handhelds this year as had been forecast.
A decline in both corporate purchasing and consumer spending has led IDC to also slash its forecast for the overall handheld market. IDC says worldwide unit growth, originally projected at 50 percent over last year, will now range from 10 percent to 20 percent.
A host of device makers on Thursday took the wraps off handhelds based on Pocket PC 2002:
Compaq introduced two new series for its iPaq handheld devices, the iPaq H3700 and H3800. The H3700, with 64MB of memory, is priced at $499 and will be available next week.
The H3800 series comes in several variations, all due by mid-November with increased battery life and a standard Secure Digital slot to expand the amount of memory. The H3870, priced at $649, supports Bluetooth, a technology that lets cell phones, notebooks and other devices communicate with one another without wires. The H3850 and H3835, each priced at at $599, do not support Bluetooth capabilities.
Compaq was also expected to announce wirelessly enabled products using Intel's Personal Internet Client Architecture, which is essentially a blueprint for building wireless communications devices.
Also expected to be shown off Thursday are two Jornadas from HP.
On Wednesday, a Samsung executive told Reuters that the company will launch a Pocket PC-based device next year, but the company wasn't expected to make any announcement at Thursday's event.
The devices are expected to meet new hardware specifications from Microsoft, including support for ARM-based processors running at 133MHz and faster. Most of the manufacturers are expected to say that they are using Intel's StrongARM SA-1110 processor.
A simultaneous Pocket PC launch party will be take place in London on Thursday.
