Updated Mar. 15, 2004 — Unitech has confirmed it will ship a Linux-based PDA co-developed with IBM on March 11. The Unitech PA960W — nicknamed “Cindy” — will run IBM middleware and target vertical industries like
retail, distribution, warehousing, and medical.

(Click for larger view of Unitech PA960)

Unitech US media spokesperson Jan Hellsund confirmed that the Unitech/IBM PA960W device would launch on March 11. “I can tell you that it will be our PA960W model – identical to our current PA960 except for the screen image.” However, Hellsund declined to provide further details, saying “We are not in a position to release more information than that at this time.”

Unitech's PA960 is a ruggedized PDA targeting industrial applications. It is drop-tested to survive a four-foot (1.2 meter) fall onto a concrete floor, according to Unitech, and sealed to IP54 standards against water and dust. It includes a PCMCIA Type II slot, as well as a CompactFlash Type I/Type II slot, and Unitech sells various 802.11, Bluetooth, and GPRS cards for the device.

Unitech has thus far marketed its PA960 with the Windows CE operating system; however, following its October, 2003 investment in Linux PDA software specialist Esfia, it seems possible that Esfia provided the Linux port, perhaps working in conjunction with IBM.

IBM has shown increasing interest in PDAs recently, working with Sharp on the “Enterprise” Zaurus SL-6000. IBM also recently collaborated with Consumer Direct Link (CDL) on the CDL Paron 'secure PDA' based on a StrongARM processor with an integrated cell phone, Bluetooth networking, and a bio-metric fingerprint-reading security device. And, IBM recently showed off its year-old PPC-based e-LAP PDA reference design again this year at the January LinuxWorld trade show, as reported by Tom's Hardware.

Watch this space for more details on the new Unitech/IBM PDA!

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.