Next Psion PDA will have a phone

NEWS Psion has announced plans to incorporate a mobile 'phone' function into its next handheld device slated for shipping next spring. As well as the phone, the PDA will be an all-in-one pocket PC with GPRS internet and multimedia capabilities and a colour screen. Despite close co-operation with Motorola, Margaret Rice-Jones, head of Psion, said the company will develop its own phone technology. Rice-Jones would not reveal further details but suggested voice-activation would play a major part. It is likely Simbian will develop its Quarts design as the basis for the phone.
Simbian is part-owned by Psion and developed the EPOC platform for previous PDAs. The other founding members of Simbian are mobile phone manufacturers Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Panasonic. The include of GPRS will enable users to receive faster internet access than the GSM system incorporated in WAP phones.