Палм Zire: История бюджетных КПК

The Zire Series was Palm, Inc's "consumer grade" brand of Personal Digital Assistant.

The lower end models emphasized value — Palm's original Zire model was the first PDA under $100 from a major manufacturer — and the higher end models emphasized multimedia capability, including features like cameras and audio playback functions suitable for listening to MP3s.

The Palm Zire and Palm Zire 21 were inexpensive and are differentiated from the rest of Palm's line by having monochrome screens without backlighting, having only two application buttons instead of the typical four, and traditional up/down scroll buttons instead of the then standard 5 way navigator found in other models. Both of these entry level models are lightweight (3.8oz or 108g) and sport a white plastic face with a matte gray plastic back. The Zire (also known as the m150), released in the fourth quarter of 2002 and is the handheld responsible for starting the value conscious handheld craze. It sported only 2 MB RAM, a 16 MHz Motorola DragonBall EZ processor, and Palm OS 4.1. x. The Zire was superseded by the Zire 21 at the release of the "First Breed of PIM Plus Handhelds" in the fourth quarter of 2003. The Zire 21, released at the same time as the Tungsten T3 and Tungsten E, sported an improved PIM suite (then known as the Palm PIM Plus), a 126 MHz TI OMAP311 ARM Compliant Processor, 8 MB RAM, and Palm OS 5.2.1. Neither the Zire nor the Zire 21 had SD/SDIO/MMC expansion, which caused the devices to be shunned by handheld aficionados. As of August 2005, both of these handhelds had been discontinued, making the Palm Zire 31 the entry level Palm branded PDA citing a strong demand for color. The Zire 21 was capable of displaying PDF files using the free Adobe Reader for Palm OS version 3. Like most Palm handhelds, text from the PDF file could be copied and pasted into other applications such as Memo Pad, greatly enhancing the utility of this cheap device. It was capable of, in effect, acting as a portable word processor, albeit a very basic one.

The Palm Zire 31 was a budget multimedia oriented device. While the display was still 160×160, it was now color. The Zire 31 had twice the RAM of the Zire 21 (16 MB, 13.8 MB usable), a 200 MHz Intel XScale PXA255 processor, an SD/SDIO/MMC expansion slot, Palm OS 5.2.8, a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and a 5 way navigator, though the Zire 31 still retained the two application buttons, as opposed to the standard four on most other models. The ROM included RealOne Player giving the device some digital audio player capabilities and a photo album application. It didn't have a direct successor—the newer Palm Z22 was more akin to the Zire 21, albeit having the same 160×160 pixel CSTN 4096 color display as the Zire 31. While Zire 31 had the ability to play video (video player not included), the experience was limited by the maximum SD/MMC card size limit (1 GB, larger cards including SDHC are possible via 3rd party software), the poor screen resolution, color depth and passive matrix display technology.

The Z22 was a successor of Zire 21, but the "Zire" moniker was dropped. Released October 12, 2005, it was available for US$149.95 as of July 2010. It had a CSTN 4096 color 160×160 display and featured 32 MB NVRAM (20 MB available to user) using NVFS, a Samsung 200 MHz processor, and Palm OS Garnet 5.4 operating system. It weighed Included in the box were cables for syncing with a computer via USB and for charging from a wall outlet, Palm Desktop software for Mac and Windows, and a screen protector.

The Palm Zire 72 was the successor to the Palm Zire 71. New features included Bluetooth, voice recording, and video capture with sound. The joystick was replaced with the standard 5 way navigator similar to that of the Tungsten models, and the camera was upgraded from 0.3 to 1.2 megapixels. The Zire 72 had 32 MB of RAM (25 MB usable) instead of 16 MB, a 312 MHz Intel PXA270 Processor instead of the previous TI OMAP Processor, and weighed 4.8oz as opposed to 5.3oz for the Zire 71. This model featured the updated suite of PIM apps, like the E, T3, and Z22 models. The Zire 72 was available in two models. The standard Zire 72 had a bright blue painted body with a silver back. The Zire 72 Special Edition was an all silver model. The Zire 72, while it had more features than the Zire 71, was hit with a lot of criticism over time. Some users reported problems with the camera: the camera lens was not covered, the camera didn't work in low light conditions, and broken pixels were common. (Third party cases included a lens cover.) The screen quality, while good, was not as brilliant as the Palm Zire 71. Many users complained of the blue 'soft touch' rubberized paint coating chipping and peeling after moderate use.

+ Comparison of Zire devices Name Zire Zire 21 Z22 Zire 31 Zire 71 Zire 72 Weight RAM size: total/available/Non volatile 2/1.8 Mb/No 8/7 Mb/No 32/24.6 Mb/Yes 16/13.8 Mb/No 16/13 Mb/No 32/25 Mb/No Storage expandable No Yes Display LCD, b/w, 16 gray levels STN passive matrix, color, 12 bit TFT active matrix, color, 16 bit Resolution 160*160 320*320 Processor Motorola DragonBall EZ TI OMAP311 Samsung Intel Xscale PXA255 (ARM v.5TE) TI OMAP310 Intel PXA270 Processor frequency 16 MHz 126 MHz 200 MHz 144 MHz 312 MHz Palm OS version 4.1 5.2.1 Garnet 5.4 5.2.8 5.2.1 5.2.8 PIM version Standard Newer Standard Newer Audio output Piezo Buzzer Headset Jack + Speaker Multimedia capabilities No MP3 player MP3 player, video player Additional features and devices No Camera (640*480, 0.3 megapixel, covered, photo), 5 way joystick Camera (1280*960, 1.2 megapixel, uncovered, photo and video), microphone and voice recording capability, Bluetooth PC Connection Mini USB Port Universal Connector (with Cradle Dock) Mini USB Port