Sony Electronics won't develop or sell new Clie handheld computers in the United States, instead shifting its focus to wireless mobile devices.
Sony said it was reassessing its future in the handheld computer business. It will continue to sell four older models, one introduced in July and three launched in February. But it won't introduce any new Clie gear in the United States.
It will continue to sell new models of Clie handhelds in Japan. An early leader in the handheld market, Sony introduced the Clie in this country in 2000. It became known for sleek designs and high-resolution swivel screens, among other multimedia features.
Sony's exit highlights how the market for conventional handheld devices, which function like appointment calendars and address books, is migrating to wireless phones.
These so-called smart phones combine the best features of a cell phone and a handheld personal digital assistant, or PDA, thus eliminating the need to carry two devices.
In a statement, Sony said it views mobile devices as a key part of its growth strategy. But it recognizes that wireless communication is an important feature of these mobile gadgets.
Sony is developing sophisticated cell phones in a joint venture with Ericsson.
Martin Reynolds, an analyst with industry research company Gartner, said the handheld market has been weakening, hit hard by the tech downturn and competing gadgets. In the first quarter, the number of handhelds shipped worldwide dipped 4.6 percent from the same quarter the year before.
Sony's handheld market share in the first quarter slid to 8.4 percent worldwide, down from 13.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003. Clie handhelds operate on the Palm operating system. So the Japanese electronics giant's pull-out from the U.S. market could hurt PalmSource, which counted Sony as one of its biggest licensees.
David Limp, senior vice president of corporate and business development at PalmSource, said he is optimistic that PalmSource and Sony will continue to have a fruitful relationship. He said PalmSource also has a diversified portfolio of other licensees, particularly in the fast-growing smart phone market with companies such as Kyocera Corp. and Samsung. "We're very optimistic and bullish" about the smart phone business, Limp said.
Cell phone pioneer ventures into wireless broadband
The man behind the construction of the first national wireless telephone network wants to launch a national wireless broadband service.
Craig McCaw's new venture is Clearwire Inc. The company's Web site says the high-speed service will be available in Jacksonville and St. Cloud, Minn., this summer, with a goal of delivering wireless Internet access in about 20 markets over the next year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The service promises speeds about 25 times faster than a dialup connection over a phone line. Pricing information was not released. McCaw, who sold his national telephone network to AT&T in 1994 for $11.5-billion, is an investor in Nextel Communications Inc. and NextNet Wireless Inc., a privately held broadband wireless service provider with headquarters in Minneapolis.
Philips puts camcorder on a lanyard
In the early days of television, video cameras were bulky monstrosities, weighing hundreds of pounds and rivaling a German shepherd in size. But this month Philips is introducing a miniature camcorder that weighs less than 4 ounces and is so small that, were it edible, a bagful would be needed to feed Rin Tin Tin.
The camcorder, the Key019, which comes with a lanyard, headphones and a small remote control for video playback, is part of Philips' line of "wearable" audio and video products. Each is about the size and shape of a large tube of lipstick.
The Key019, which is expected to reach stores late this month with a suggested price of $250, can hold up to 25 minutes of MPEG-4 video, 200 2-megapixel still pictures, about 32 MP3 songs, standard documents or a combination of all four.
To keep the file size small, the Key019 compresses the image more than would be typical for standard digital video recordings. As a result, the moving images are shot at a lower frame rate and resolution - they are designed to be viewed on a PC, not your $10,000 HDTV. Like the inexpensive cameras, the Key019 has a fixed-focus lens. Images are framed on a tiny LCD screen and a built-in magnifying lens enlarges the picture to a useful size.
Images are transferred through a USB connection to a PC (Macs need not apply). The same USB connection recharges the camera's battery. Once on a PC, the images can be edited like any other.
New Zealander spends May messaging protests
A mobile phone subscriber in Wellington, New Zealand, sent an average of 2,580 text messages a day in May to protest a price hike.
Allowing eight hours for sleep every day, Fraser Ray, 24, zapped off 80,012 messages from his phone after Telecom Corp. decided to end a deal giving subscribers unlimited text messaging for $6.29 a month.
His text attack was simple enough - he repeatedly sent friends a message reading: "Hi. How are you?"
Ray said he was angry with Telecom because he had swapped cell phone providers to take advantage of the text messaging deal, which he thought would be in force until 2010.
Telecom customers now can send text no more than 1,000 times a month without incurring extra charges.
At a maximum rate of 20 cents a text message, Ray would have tallied a bill of more than $10,060 for his protest.
Telecom spokeswoman Helen Isbister said a handful of people had sent more than 100,000 text messages in May.
"I suppose it's an indication of the kind of thing we wanted to discourage by putting a cap," she said.
Talkback on summer tech
It's almost summertime, but it's always gadget time. Last week, Personal Tech focused on digital cameras, and today it's MP3 players. Readers can submit questions about digital photography for Times personal technology editor Dave Gussow and deputy photo director Boyzell Hosey at the Times Talkback site (www.sptimes.com/talkback) MP3 questions also can be submitted at the Tech section.
