Sharp Introduce SL6000 PDA to US

Featuring IBM enterprise software to allow remote access to systems, the SL-6000 is a Linux-based PDA intended for enterprise users.

The SL-6000 is the latest addition to Sharp’s Zaurus range and they’re touting it as a complete laptop replacement. This focus on features, reliability and enterprise use is reflected in the price: US$700 (€578).

The PDA has a bright, four inch 640×480 (VGA) display, 802.11b WiFi and built-in slide out keyboard. Memory expansion is through CF and SD slots. The display is so good because it is one of the first to feature Sharp’s CD Silicon technology. This new display is said to make the best of both transmissive (back lit) and reflective (front lit) screen modes.

The PDA uses a 32 bit Linux kernel to enable true multitasking – users can send and receive data to different applications simultaneously, rather than making background programs dormant.

IBM WebSphere middleware allows users to connect securely to corporate networks, whether on site or connecting through a mobile phone link.

Amazon on the SL6000

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Fraser Lovatt

Fraser Lovatt has spent the last fifteen years working in publishing, TV and the Internet in various capacities, and believes that they will be seperate platforms for at least a while yet. His main interests at the moment are exploring where Linux is taking home entertainment and how technology is conferring technical skills on more and more people. Fraser Lovatt was born in the same year that 2001: A Space Odyssey was delighting and confusing people in the cinemas, and developed a lifelong love of technology as soon as he realised that things could be taken apart, sometimes put back together again, but mostly left in bits or made into something the original designer hadn't quite planned upon. At school he was definitely in the ZX Spectrum/Magpie/BMX camp, rather than the BBC Micro/Blue Peter/well-behaved group. This is all deeply ironic as he later went on to spend nine years working at the BBC. After a few years of working as a bookseller in Scotland, ("Back when it was actually a skilled profession" he'll tell anyone still listening), he moved to England for reasons he can't quite explain adequately to himself. After a couple of publishing jobs punctuated by sporadic bursts of travelling and photography came the aforementioned nine years at the BBC where he specialised in internet technologies and video. These days his primary interests are Java, Linux, videogames and pies - and if they're not candidates for convergence, then what is?