HP brings out beefed up Jornadas

Touts benefits of latest Pocket PC OS...

Against the backdrop of Compaq describing HP's Jornada handheld device as inferior to its own iPAQ, HP has unveiled two new models that bring more memory and longer battery life to a lighter version of its personal digital assistant (PDA). The Jornada 565 and 568 weigh in at six ounces - earlier models were nine ounces. An HP spokeswoman said the company has extended the battery life of both models, which can now last up to 14 hours instead of eight. In addition, users will get an extra 8MB of flash ROM, bringing the total to 32MB. Both models will be among the first to feature Microsoft's latest version of its handheld operating system, Pocket PC 2002. The OS features Windows Media Player 8, MSN Instant Messenger and Microsoft Reader. The Jornadas are aimed at business users, and Pocket PC 2002 will allow users to beam information to Palm OS-based PDAs. The HP Jornada 565, which features 32MB of RAM, will cost $599, while the Jornada 568, which features 64MB of RAM, will be priced at $649. Both models will be available from 4 October 2001.