Windows for palmtop computers
January 1997 Issue, copyright
1997 Canada Computer Paper Inc.
Windows for palmtop computers arrives
Microsoft sees smaller, faster OS used in range of entertainment and
communication devices
by Geof Wheelwright
Microsoft Windows has come to handheld computers. After six years of domination
in the desktop and notebook computer markets, software giant Microsoft has
finally found a way to produce a version of Windows that it says is small
enough, fast enough and flexible enough to run on a handheld computer. Casio
and others companies delivered handheld systems (or HPCs, as Microsoft calls
them) to retail stores during the Windows CE introduction at Fall Comdex
in November.
Known as Windows CE, this is a new version of the Windows operating system
that Microsoft says will not only be used in the handheld devices that were
launched by a number of key consumer electronics companies at the annual
Comdex computer trade fair in Las Vegas in November, but will also find
its way into a range of communications, entertainment and mobile-computing
devices that can communicate with each other, share information with Windows-based
PCs, and connect to the Internet.
Microsoft says that more than 50 leading hardware and software companies
have now committed to developing handheld PC products based on the Windows
CE platform, including Compaq, Hitachi, Casio, Hewlett-Packard, LG Electronics
of Korea, NEC and Philips.
RISC powered
These systems won't necessarily be running on Intel chips. In September,
NEC Electronics and Microsoft announced that NEC's new VR4101 processor-a
single-chip, high-speed, low-power 64-bit MIPS RISC device-would be able
to run Windows CE and was expected to be used in many CE-based devices.
NEC and Microsoft announced that the VR4101, the latest in NEC's MIPS RISC
processor range, was one of Microsoft's key reference platforms in the development
of Windows CE, and that NEC engineers were assigned to the Microsoft campus
in Redmond, Wash. during the development of Windows CE.
"We have worked closely with Microsoft for two years to create a new
processor optimized for Windows CE," says Katsu Itagaki, advanced engineering
marketing manager for NEC Electronics. "Together, the NEC VR4101 MIPS
RISC CPU (central processing unit) and Windows CE will set a new standard
and allow system manufacturers to create an effective generation of handheld
personal computers."
NEC says the VR4101 processor is optimized to provide Windows CE-based HPCs
with a high-throughput, low-power-consumption device. The 64-bit MIPS RISC
processor claims 33 VAX MIPS performance and 132 MIPS/Watt performance at
3.3 volts (V) and further aims to provide many of the functions required
by handheld PC manufacturers, such as modem capability and access to peripherals
like the LCD screen, infrared interface, audio interface, memory and keyboard
in a single chip.
In addition, NEC suggests that the VR4101 CPU also offers several advantages
as a single-chip solution for HPCs. One highly touted feature is its high-speed
multiply-and-accumulate (MAC) component. The MAC enables DSP-like instructions,
so that using software emulation, the VR4101 device can act as a modem chip
as well as the CPU. This saves a manufacturer cost, space and power in developing
a communications-enabled portable device without a separate modem or communications
chipset.
Microsoft has also worked with Hitachi to include support for its RISC microprocessor
in Windows CE. Hitachi also says it is providing its 32-bit SuperH RISC
architecture-based SH-3 microprocessor as a "key engine" for the
Windows CE platform for handheld PCs. The operating system has been ported
to the SH-3, and as part of the collaboration, the development environment
and Microsoft's Visual C++ language tool chain are available for use with
the SH-3. Several major original equipment manufacturers of Windows CE-based
handheld systems have selected the SH-3, including Casio, Hewlett-Packard,
LG Electronics and Hitatchi itself.
In making the announcement about the relationship between the two companies,
Tsugio Makimoto, executive managing director in charge of electronic components
operations at Hitachi, waved the company flag and suggested his company's
processor really provides the best support for all the goodies in Windows
CE.
"This important collaboration will make available to the consumer,
handheld and consumer appliance platforms that are designed for convenience
and simplicity, including features such as long battery life, built-in communications
and Windows compatibility. Microsoft is the pre-eminent developer of software
technology. Hitachi, by virtue of its long experience in integrated circuit
technologies, is uniquely equipped to apply its skills to the success of
the venture," Makimoto says. "The SH is Hitachi's flagship semiconductor
product and has achieved considerable customer and market acceptance. The
SH provides superior performance, particularly for 'personal access' products,
which inherently have low-power requirements and high code efficiency."
The software story
None of these products are going to be much use in the long term, however,
if there isn't much software support. But Microsoft claims that it also
has this under control.
Late last month, it announced support for Windows CE from ACE Technologies,
Agri-Logic, Ararat Software, bsquare development, GoldMine Software, Joey
Technologies, LandWare, Nettech Systems, RW Information Technologies, SPYRUS
and Xircom as companies that have announced their commitment to developing
either software applications or hardware peripherals.
Meanwhile AT&T Wireless Services joined the list of companies committed
to providing wireless messaging products and services for the platform.
The prospects for success
The great thing about the whole Windows CE scenario is that Microsoft
is positioning these products as desktop companions, and therefore you don't
have to choose whether you want your data on the desktop or the handheld,
it will be synchronized on both.
The short-term problem will be a lack of software designed for the platform,
although having pocket editions of Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, Excel
and an e-mail package should keep many people happy for a considerable time
to come. And if there is any single software franchise that's good at quickly
attracting developers, it has to be Microsoft and the various versions of
Windows.
Will it be enough to attract those who have wavered in their decision to
buy a handheld system in the past, or allow the chorus of Windows CE-compatible
machines to make an appreciable dent in the market held by experienced players
such as Psion? Only time will tell, but it is going to be a fascinating
battle to watch.
The LGce, made by a Korean company, and the Velo, from Philips, are two
handhelds using Windows CE that will soon be available to compete with Casio's
Cassiopeia.
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