Key features of the device include 128MB of RAM and 64MB of flash memory, a 240x320 65K-color TFT touch-screen display that switches between portrait and landscape modes, a QWERTY keyboard, an SDIO card expansion slot, and Bluetooth wireless. It also offers speakerphone capability. Another model (the PPC-6600) with a built-in VGA camera will follow later this year.

The "slide-to-access" QWERTY keyboard (shown at right) enables simple typing of text, and predictive text software from T-9 makes typing easier and faster, according to Sprint. The device also supports Graffiti writing input on its touch screen.

A removable lithium ion battery provides up to 3.6 hours of continuous digital talk time or up to six days of continuous digital standby time, Sprint says. Dimensions are 4.9 x 2.75 x .74 inches and it weighs 7.35 ounces.

Application software

The PPC-6601 includes Pocket Excel, Outlook, Word, Pocket Internet Explorer 4.0, MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player 10, and ActiveSync (version 3.7.1). Business and personal wireless email is provided by Sprint PCS Business Connection, a service which is said to interface seamlessly with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino data, extending wireless access to messaging and calendar applications securely and conveniently, according to Sprint. The device also supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for over-the-air synchronization of email and calendar information with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

Availability

The PPC-6601 is marketed by Audiovox and is rumored to be produced by Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) HTC, based on the HTC "Harrier" design. Sprint says it will be the exclusive provider of the PPC-6601 in the US, and that it will be available in early November for a suggested retail price of $629.99.

Sprint says it also plans to offer another version by the end of 2004, the PPC-6600, which will include an embedded "VGA-quality" camera with flash, 4x zoom, and camcorder capability.