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by Bob Walder
�For some years now Psion has been a leader in PDA devices in this country, whilst achieving little penetration in the global market place. This didn’t prevent it from resting on its laurels, however, allowing Microsoft to come from nowhere to challenge Psion for its pole position. In response to the CE threat, Psion rushed the Series 5 to market and gave us a machine that was exciting in concept, but flawed in many areas. The touch-sensitive screen was a disappointment to those who had been used to the excellent screen of the Series 3 machines and some of the software was decidedly flaky – especially the newly introduced Internet Mail suite. The biggest disappointment – especially for those using Microsoft software on the desktop – was PsiWin. Supposedly there to synchronise you desktop data with your Psion, all too often it succeeded in corrupting your data beyond repair – and that is when you could get it to do anything at all. On the upside, the keyboard was a marvel, allowing something approaching touch-typing speeds on a pocket-sized PDA, and battery life was still extremely good. Not before time, then, Psion has just announced the 32-bit Series 5mx, combining mobile Internet and e-mail connectivity with a new faster processor. For the first time we also see a fully functional Java Virtual Machine in a PDA, enabling access to real-time Internet services such as stock price monitoring, travel bookings and on-line shopping. Gone is the rubberised grey coating of the original Series 5, to be replaced by a sleek silver grey colour. The 5mx still sports the half-VGA width back-lit touch-sensitive screen with stylus for navigation, and the excellent touch-type keyboard. The processor has been beefed up to a 36MHz ARM710T RISC processor, whilst battery life is quoted at an amazing month on 2 AA batteries. Memory has been increased to 16MB RAM which might not seem a lot by today’s standards, but the Psion operating system (EPOC 32) and applications have always been good at squeezing the most out of available memory. For those for whom 16MB is simply not enough, up to 96MB of additional memory can be installed in the industry-standard CompactFlash card slot. All this in a device weighing 354 grams. Those familiar with the Psion machines will see few surprises in the built-in applications which include a word processor, spreadsheet, database, agenda, and contacts. The jotter makes a welcome return too, for those of you who missed it in the transition from the Series 3c to the original Series 5. The applications have been enhanced to improve formatting capabilities and object embedding. Other on-board software includes a scientific and standard calculator, world information and alarm clock, digital sound recording and a sketching application. There is even a digital voice recorder offering 60 minutes of recording time with external record, play/stop, and rewind buttons for access when the unit is closed. Anyone who wrestled with the old Internet Mail suite (usually finding that they ran out of memory in the process!) will be happy to find that Internet email is now included on the ROM, as is a fax send and receive capability and a Web browser, which now includes frames support. An Internet roaming agreement between Psion and GRIC Communications, Inc. means that Series 5mx users can access news, travel and local information through the world’s first Internet portal developed specifically for mobile palmtop users for the price of a local phone call. The EPOC Runtime Environment for JAVA is included on the CD that ships with the Series 5mx. Currently the key advantage for the user is the ability to view Java applets when using the web browser. However, over 800,000 Java developers will now be able to adapt programs written in Java to the Psion. In the past, the Series 5 infra red port has been of limited use. This all changes with the 5mx since out of the box it provides support for infra red data-phones such as the Ericsson SH888/I888 WORLD or the Nokia 8810. The infrared facility can also beam files to an infrared-enabled printer, or to other Series 5mx handhelds.� PsiWin 2.3 is included with the Series 5mx for PC connectivity. Direct local email synchronisation is supported and the built-in converter library makes the Series 5mx compatible with the latest Microsoft Office (until Office 2000 is released!), Lotus SmartSuite and Corel Office/WordPerfect suite. Macintosh connectivity is also available. So, how does the Series 5mx fare in everyday use? I have always had a soft spot for the Psion applications, finding its calendaring and contacts software to be far easier to use and far superior in general to CE. The screen is adequate, battery life is excellent and the keyboard should be licensed out to every other PDA manufacturer in the world. The more powerful processor gives a welcome boost to application response times. However, at the end of the day these devices are little more than “companions”. They are not designed to replace your desktop or notebook PC, rather to complement it. They therefore need to connect to and synchronise with your main machine seamlessly and quickly – the Psion does neither. PsiWin has always been the weak link in the chain, and despite tremendous improvements in this latest release it is still not up to scratch. Microsoft users will despair once again that Psion has introduced support for Outlook 98 just as Outlook 2000 hits the streets!. It remains to be seen how well PsiWin works with the latest Microsoft suite.� If past performance is anything to go by, Microsoft will be releasing its next version of software before Psion gets its act together.� PsiWin also needs to take a leaf out of ActiveSync’s book and provide continuous synchronisation while connected to the host machine. Verdict Too little too late for Psion really. Never having captured the hearts of the corporates, it is unlikely to do so with this offering in the face of stiff competition from CE devices. Psion’s best hope now lies in third parties adopting its EPOC operating system for use in Smart Phones and similar wireless communications devices. Contact: http://www.psion.com
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