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Sharp Electronics Corp. today introduced the Zaurus SL-5600, the latest addition to the Zaurus PDA family. The Zaurus SL-5600, which uses the same general form factor as the current SL-5500 model introduced late last year, is a Linux-based business PDA and wireless capable solution for enterprise users and professional consumers.

According to Sharp, the Zaurus SL-5600 features Sharp's high-resolution color-reflective QVGA LCD screen technology, an integrated QWERTY keyboard with a sliding cover, a rechargeable, replaceable batter based on the 1700 mAh battery standard, a new memory architecture offering the corporate user 64MB of protected flash memory, plus 32MB of SDRAM, dual expansion with Compact Flash and SD/MMC card slots. In addition, it features a powerful Intel XScale400MHz processor and an integrated speaker and microphone.

According to the company, with wireless connectivity a must for any enterprise environment, the Zaurus SL-5600 comes wireless capable with dual expansion slots and built-in drivers for numerous Compact Flash connectivity solutions including industry-leading 802.11b wireless LAN adaptors, CDPD Wireless modem, 10/100 Ethernet, and 56K V.90 modems and a plan to introduce 1xRTT and GPRS in 2003. The built-in Compact Flash (Type I and Type II) and SD / MMC slots allow users to add any Compact Flash-based connectivity solution in the Compact Flash slot and still have room to add more memory in the SD slot without necessitating a jacket.

For Java applications, the Zaurus SL-5600 incorporates the Insignia Solutions Jeode Java virtual machine environment for smart handheld devices. Jeode is a Sun-authorized Java virtual machine and fully compatible with the PersonalJava specification, 1.2 class libraries and optional classes. Sharp claims the methodology of the Java programming language makes it simple to migrate Java applications to the Zaurus SL-5600.

The Zaurus SL-5600 includes re-designed and improved PIM software (with address book, calendar, calculator, text editor, to do list, voice recorder and clock with a built-in stopwatch) and a PC synchronization program from Pumatech for Microsoft Outlook. A POP3/IMAP4/SMTP-capable email client, Internet browser (displaying pages in HTML format) and an integrated Media player (MP3 or MPEG1 files) are included in the Zaurus SL-5600. The device also comes with a docking station that features an integrated USB cable and an A/C adaptor. The SL-5600 will be marketed in Japan under the name SL-B500 with Japanese language support. It is slated to be available in the first quarter of next year for between $500 and $600.