VTech Information is taking on Palm Computing’s dominance in the personal digital assistant arena with the release of the $199 Helio palmtop. The 75MHz RISC-based machine runs VTech’s own HeliOS 1.1 operating system. It has 4Mb of system memory and 2Mb of Flash memory specifically for software applications. These applications include an email and expense manager, a scheduler and a calculator. The machine also has a PC synchronization cradle, and an interface to allow data transfers between a user’s desktop machine and the PDA. The company claims that the PDA will allow easy data entry through an onscreen keyboard and character recognition software from CIC. The 4.6 by 3.1, grayscreen machine weighs in at six ounces and has a battery life of around 30 days.
These kind of personal information management features, along with the light weight and long battery life, take the machine directly into Palmpilot territory. However, it does not yet have a synchronization program to make use of its data transfer abilities. VTech, which is the Campbell, California-based arm of global consumer electronics company, VTech Holdings Ltd, says that a synchronization program compatible with Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Organizer and other programs, will be available soon. Consumers will be able to choose from a variety of case colors.
