Will Knight, of ZDNet UK, reports that Japanese manufacturing giant Sharp Electronics has announced plans to introduce a Linux-based PDA. Knight writes . . .

“Sharp is the biggest manufacturer of handheld computers in Japan and the announcement is likely to unnerve Microsoft and Palm, which lead the market in manufacturing proprietary software platforms for handheld devices.”

“Hiroshi Uno, general manager of the company's mobile systems division, said in an interview that Sharp intends to take on the rest of the handheld market with a computer powered by the upstart operating system.”

“Sharp has seen relatively little success overseas using its own proprietary operating system Zaurus. The manufacturer said it plans to use Linux to crowbar its way into markets both in Japan and overseas and hopes to sell one million Linux-based devices by the end of March 2002 . . .”

“IDC Research analyst Tim Mui said that for this reason, Sharp's PDA is likely to be cheaper than devices running proprietary software. But he also suggested that a lack of commercial software might make the device more suited to a niche market, such as youth users . . .”

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Note: LinuxDevices.com contacted Red Hat regarding an earlier rumor that Red Hat has collaborated in the development of Linux support for a new Sharp PDA and was told of “a partnership between Red Hat Japan, AXE, and 10-art-ni to port Linux to Sharp's PDA.”

 
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