About Clie and €uroClie

1. Clie
2. €uroClie

1. Clie

   Back in September 2000, Sony released two versions of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) called Clie. The two proposed models are the PEG-S300 and the PEG-S500C. The difference between the two is the screen, monochrome (16 gray levels) on the PEG-S300 and color (256 colors) on the PEG-S500C.
   Those PDA run under the PalmOS operating system (Sony bought a license from Palm Computing), allowing them to run the huge library of existing Palmpilot-targeted software.

   The major difference between those two Clie models and the rest of the Palm devices is the presence of a MemoryStick expansion slot, allowing them to add supplementary memory or other peripherals like a GPS, a digital camera or a bluetooth module.

   At the same time as the Japan Clie release, Sony also released an English version of the monochrome Clie (PEG-S300) in the USA Why only the monochrome version? No one knows for sure, but it seems that the color screen of the PEG-S500C was too dim / unreadable when compared with other Palm or PocketPC PDA available on the market, and since the color model didn't sell as good as planned in Japan, Sony is rumored to have canceled any USA or Europe release. Indeed, due to technological constraints and Sony's strategic choices (chose a better battery life instead of a high quality but resource-hungry display, all that with strict volume limitation to fit everything in the Clie), the PEG-S500C screen proved disappointing to use. Rather good in direct sunlight or direct indoor bright lighting, it becomes almost unreadable as soon as the ambient light declines, and the backlighting doesn't change much... :-(

   On April 7th, 2001, Sony releases a new Clie, the PEG-N700C. This is a color unit which particularity is to have finally a decent, good quality color screen, a 320x320 pixels resolution in stead of 160x160 (that's changes everything when you display Japanese characters, believe me!), and a music-dedicated chip to listen to ATRAC3 (comparable to MP3, only it's been used for a long time by Sony for it's minidisks) tunes on your Clie. For the time being, this model is targeted at the domestic Japanese market only, but a USA release is officially planned later this year, and probably an European release as well (unconfirmed).

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2. €uroClie

   €uroClie main features:

   • It's a "personal" web site. What this means, is that it's a private site (no official Sony or Palm support), maintained according to the webmaster(s) free time, hosted by Free. I update the site as quickly as possible when something new happens, but I'm not paid for that (on the contrary, I must pay, if only for the Internet access), so don't bother flaming me for being slow! I've got a dayjob which sometimes keeps me away from my PC and Internet for a few days, so bear with me! :-)
   • It's a site about Clie, all the Clie but only the Clie. Or nearly so, since when talking about Clie, it's impossible to deny the fact that it belongs to the big Palm-pilot-like family. For generic questions or non Clie-specific information, I'd better send you to other Palm sites (there are plenty of very good ones, see the Link page) than encumber my site by doing again what's already been (well) done by others.
   • It's a €uropean (or maybe even worldwide) wanabe site ;-)
     I don't pretend I'm the only or the best Clie site, I just feel like sharing my passion with as many people as possible. As a consequence, this site will be available in many languages, starting with French (my native language) and English (to allow many people to participate, since English is a de-facto universal language).
     That being said, I don't intend to stop halfway, and I'm looking for you, reader, to help me if you master any other language beside English and / or French. Regardless whether you're €uropean or not, whether you write with roman characters or not, if you've got a bit of free time to give to €uroClie, thanks to you some people who speak/read neither English nor French will have the opportunity to browse this site. You'll become famous and loved by your language brethren and you'll also gain my eternal thanks! :-)
     Get in touch with me for any translation proposal. Some pages won't change in the future, and even if you've just one hour to give, you'll be welcome. If you've got more time, and are willing to participate on a regular basis to translate the updates, it's even better!
   • €uroClie also features a mailing-list.