News

The FCC has unbagged the cat on Sony's new high-end Clie--Bluetooth, WiFi, and a 320 x 480 screen... all in a single piece tablet.

The documents that have come to light are standard FCC approval testing material, consisting of photos, specs, and a copy of the manual for the new PEG-TH55. (For those who don't know, the FCC must approve any radio communication device sold in the U.S.)

TH55 front view, with cover

Apparently derived in part from Sony's original T-series Clies, the TH55 is designed in a tablet form-factor, consisting of a single piece body and optional translucent plastic flip-cover. It measures 2.88 inches wide by 4.76 inches long. With the flip-cover removed, it is 0.52 inches thick and weighs 5.8 ounces. With the cover attached, is is 0.61 inches thick, and 6.5 ounces.

The TH55 uses a 320 x 480 pixel half-VGA screen, the first of Sony's Clies to do so without using a clamshell form-factor. Given that Clie users in general, and T-series users in particular, have been clamoring for this for years, it should make them very happy.

It is unclear whether flat black will be the only color for the TH55--either way it looks good. Black is under-used for handhelds.

The processor is Sony's own Handheld Engine design, created with an emphasis on multimedia applications. Though the speed of the TH55's processor is not specified, it is not unreasonable to assume that it is the same as the version of the HHE employed in the Clie UX-50, which scales between 8 and 123 MHz depending on demand. The TH55 features 32 MB of user-available memory, a welcome increase from the insanely tiny 16 MB on the UX series, though still short of competing models. The standard Sony docking connector and Memory Stick slot are present, as is the slightly less-standard voice recorder. Absent is a cradle--the TH55 comes with a mini-USB cable for syncing and AC adapter for charging. I have no idea whether the TH will be usable with any previous type of Clie cradle, though it does have the same connector.

The TH55 boasts integrated wireless, with transcievers for both Bluetooth (Class 2, range of 10M/34 feet) and 802.11b WiFi. Range on the latter is unknown, and may suffer due to the lack of any apparent antenna on the device. The former may, in fact be optional--the manual implies that there might be a model without Bluetooth. Normally this might suggest that the European version would have Bluetooth and the American version WiFi, but since Sony has released dual-wireless devices in the U.S. before, this is debatable.

Battery life is of course untestable at this point, but Sony's manual claims 4.5 hours of PIM use with the backlight on maximum, or 2.5 hours either video or WiFi usage.

Now for the bad news... The stylus is the same tacky collapsible gnat-toothpick that afflicts NX and UX users. The jog dial is in the most bizarre place you could think of for it--it is a barrel-type control placed top center on the back of the case. All together now--Whaaaaat?! If the TH55 turns out to have landscape capability, this might make more sense, but I still think that whichever engineer came up with this design should be tied down and piled with angry ferrets. The back button is also placed here, as well as the lens of the TH55's built-in 0.3 megapixel camera. I've said it before and I'll say it again--make it at least 1 megapixel or don't bother.

So how much will it cost? No official information yet, but Staples' inventory lists three new models of Clie. Presumably these are (in order, starting from cheapest) the TJ27, TJ37, and the TH55. Assuming that is correct, the TH55 is listed for $349. 

Please remember however that there is a chain of assumption involved here, so we are far from certain about the price. Still, that would be a very interesting price point, and might indicate some realization by Sony about how foolish their pricing debacle with the UX series was, as well as reflecting the decreasing price of wireless connectivity.