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What's coming, What isn't, and What should be...
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The Axim X5 comes with a number of advanced features: 400Mhz, 64MB RAM, 48MB ROM, Dual expansion slots, and 65K color Transflective screen. But, the pace of change for the technology is ever accelerating and features which were once cutting edge, become tired very quickly. In order for the Axim to remain competitive, it will have to at least stay current with, or better yet ahead of, the technology curve.
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What's coming...
Dell has previously announced plans for two new Axim's, the "X3" and the "X7". Not too much info is available "officially", but a number of specifications are already known or at least hinted. The X3 will become the entry level model for the Dell Pda family, supplanting the X5 Basic Edition. The X7 will add features over the X5 Advanced to become the top of line model for Dell.
Both will come with Intel's PXA255 XScale CPU, at 300 and 400 Mhz respectively. After March, all Pocket PC's will sport the PXA255. The PXA255 replaces the PXA250 and while running at the same clock speed, the 255 will fix a few of the 250's major performance issues. (See our Intel XScale processor article).
The X7 will include built-in wireless, but what flavor: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or both. Bluetooth is a short range wireless standard used for Personal Area Networks, connecting the Axim to laptops, printers, cell phones, keyboards, and other devices. Although true local area networking is possible, Bluetooth is really best used to replace the wires normally used to connect different peripherals.
Wi-Fi, refers to the 802.11x family of wireless ethernet connections and is used to connect a pda to a network. 802.11b is the current standard. 802.11a operates on a higher frequency and has a greater speed but shorter range. The 802.11g uses the same frequencies as the 802.11b and provides higher speed and greater range. More dual mode 802.11b/g cards and access points are becoming available, but there are still some compatibility issues to be worked out. It would be nice to have both Bluetooth and 802.11b build-in with the X7. If just one, it makes more sense to have Bluetooth built-in and an 802.11b/g CF card that can be replaced or upgraded.
Both the X3 and X7 replace the SD-only expansion slot with the more useful SDIO slot, supporting SDIO Now! This means not only will the pda's be able to use new SDIO cards, but will support the upcoming Windows CE .NET/PocketPC OS. If the X3 is indeed released in a "slimmer" form factor, it will do away with the compact flash slot, but may still have dual expansion slots! (If so, kiss the X5 Basic goodbye.)
Target price for the X3 should be $200 US (150 with rebate). The X7 will be more expensive than the X5 Advanced, but significantly less than the list price for the HP5450 (or Toshiba e750).
What isn't...
Both still have the transflective screens, but better contrast and refresh. No increase in resolution or color. I'd like to see a 480x320 4" screen on the X7, but no such luck. Microsoft will not provide native screen support for higher resolutions in the .NET OS, but built-in (and optimized) screen rotation may be included.
Proposed memory in the X3 is still 32MB RAM and 32MB ROM. 128MB RAM in the X7! no...but maybe 96? doubtful...likely the same 64MB RAM and 48MB ROM as the X5 Advanced.
What should be coming...
More Memory....the extra storage space in the StrataFlash ROM is great, but Pocket PC applications are getting bigger and hungrier. 10 - 15MB storage with 3 - 8MB of execution space is not as uncommon for some of the newer games. While these can often be installed on expansion cards, the need is still going up. 64MB should be the minimum, 96MB would allow a little bit more flexibility, and 128MB would not be out of line. PocketPCTechs has upgraded a number of pda's to 128MB of RAM and some even 256MB.
The stereo headphone mini-jack should include a microphone input as well. This is something that is already being provided in the HP5450 (and now the Toshiba e750). And it would be useful as data and voice transmission technologies continue to merge.
USB 2.0....forget the proprietary connector, Dell should use a standard USB port in the X7 and support both host/client modes. It would enable the use of standard USB keyboards, external hard drives or optical drives, USB FOB Flash Memory, video cameras, and many, many more accessories.
True Color, Higher resolution screens. Adding multiple modes may be out of the question, but a simpler screen doubler function could support a full VGA resolution of 640x480. And 24-bit color would make images and videos much more vibrant. Ok, sure 4 times as many pixels with a 50 percent increase in color addressing may tax the video processing and battery power of a pda, but if Dell would also simply include a fuel-cell power pack, fold out OLEP display, and .....
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