Sharp Electronics Corp has pulled its Apple Computer Inc Newton-derived Personal Digital Assistant from the US market and has replaced it with a Zaurus communicator similar to the one it sells in Japan. The company has also formed a Personal Information & Communication System division to focus on mobile computing and wireless devices. A key difference between the Japanese and the US version, which sells for $750, is that the latter has an attachable keyboard to make serious writing easier. It can send and receive electronic mail, operate as a pager, receive and facsimile messages, exchange data with personal computers and store handwritten notes as graphics using an electronic ink program. Sharp still sells its version of the Newton in Japan, where it has also sold some 500,000 Zauruses without keyboards.
