New Details Leaked on Tungsten T5

Late last week, a source in Europe revealed that palmOne's next high-end handheld will be called the Tungsten T5, not the T4 as many were expecting. Now, a second source has a fairly complete description of this device, including a picture.

The new details of the Tungsten T5 were posted in the 1src Forums. According to this new information, this device will break a lot of ground for palmOne, including being the first model to use Palm OS Cobalt, formerly known as Palm OS 6.

Reportedly, the T5 will include a 520 MHz PXA270 XScale processor and 128 MB of RAM. This is a faster processor and twice the RAM than is used by this company's current high-end model.

Supposedly, this model will have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. If this information is correct, the T5 will be the first dual-wireless palmOne handheld, although many other companies have released handhelds with multiple forms of wireless networking.

Update: As some have pointed out, the picture resembles what would happen if a Tungsten T3 top was merged with the bottom of a Tungsten C. It's possible that this is a simply an especially skillful bit of Photoshop work. On the other hand, it isn't unusual for New Handhelds to include design elements from previous models.

Like its predecessor, the Tungsten T3, the upcoming model will supposedly have a 320-by-480-pixel (HiRes+) display. It appears that this device will support switching the screen between landscape and portrait modes.

While handhelds with HiRes+ screens once gave Palm OS models a significant edge over their rivals, quite a few Pocket PCs with 640-by-480-pixel (VGA) screens are expected to hit the market this fall.

The Tungsten T5 will also include an SD/MMC slot and the Palm Universal Connector.

According to the post on 1src, this model lacks the slider that has been a hallmark of the Tungsten T series since its beginning. It will be approximately 4.7 inches tall, 3.0 inches wide, and 0.66 inches thick. It is slightly heavier than a T3.

The Tungsten T5 is expected to be released in November for about $400.

Of course, none of this has been confirmed by palmOne.

Related Links

• Brighthand's First Impressions of Palm OS Cobalt
• palmOne's Next Handheld May Be Called the Tungsten T5