Sprint Launches PPC-6601

Sprint Launches PPC-6601Sprint mobile wireless services has introduced the PPC-6601 Pocket PC Phone into the US market. The dual-band (1900/800MHz CDMA) device is based on a 400MHz Intel PXA263 processor running Windows Mobile 2003 Software for Pocket PC Phone Edition.

Key features of the device include 128MB of RAM and 64MB of flash memory, a 240x320 65K-color TFT touch-screen display that switches b etween portrait and landscape modes, a QWERTY keyboard, an SDIO card expansion slot, and Bluetooth wireless. It also offers speakerphone capability. Another model (the PPC-6600) with a built-in VGA camera will follow later this year.

While we were at the CTIA Wireless IT show in San Francisco the other day, US network Sprint launched its new PPC-6601 Windows Mobile 2003 phone. Based heavily on the same reference design that is found in the XDA/MDA III devices sold by O2 and T-Mobile, it too has a slide-down thumbboard for easy text input without a stylus. I found the keyboard to be pretty usable for something that didn't appear to add any real bulk to the device as a whole.

One thing that you might notice is missing in this

version of the MDA/XDA III, though, is WiFi. Otherwise, most of the specs are pretty much the same (Bluetooth, SDIO slot, removable battery). You'll also find 120MB of internal memory and a 400Mhz XScale processor. One obvious change, though, is that the PPC-6601 works on CDMA networks instead of the GSM networks that the other versions run on.

Sprint will be offering the PPC-6601 for US$629.99. It should be available some time in November '04.We have a few live photos of the Sprint PPC-6601 from the CTIA Wireless IT show.

Application software

The PPC-6601 includes Pocket Excel, Outlook, Word, Pocket Internet Explorer 4.0, MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player 10, and ActiveSync (version 3.7.1). Business and personal wireless email is provided by Sprint PCS Business Connection, a service which is said to interface seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino data, extending wireless access to messaging and calendar applications securely and conveniently, according to Sprint. The device also supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for over-the-air synchronization of email and calendar information with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

Availability

The PPC-6601 is marketed by Audiovox and is rumored to be produced by Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) HTC, based on the HTC "Harrier" design. Sprint says it will be the exclusive provider of the PPC-6601 in the US, and that it will be available in early November for a suggested retail price of $629.99.

Sprint says it also plans to offer another version by the end of 2004, the PPC-6600, which will include an embedded "VGA-quality" camera with flash, 4x zoom, and camcorder capability.