More Complete Picture of Axim X50 Emerges

Some additional details on Dell's upcoming Pocket PC with a VGA screen have been posted in the forums of a Chinese web site.

Update: The Axim X50 has received its FCC approval. Although the documents filed with FCC don't reveal all the details of this device, they do confirm that there will be a version of this upcoming handheld with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Read more in this article.

According to a post on Hi!PDA, the Axim X50 will be the replacement for the Axim X5, in the same way that the Axim X30 was the replacement for the Axim X3. The upcoming model will supposedly have a great deal in common with its predecessor, but will include some additional features.

Probably the most significant new feature is a 3.7-inch, 640-by-480-pixel (VGA) screen. As this device will run Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, this display will support both portrait and landscape modes. It will sport an Intel 2700G multimedia accelerator.

The X50 will supposedly include an Intel XScale PXA270 processor running at 624 MHz, significantly faster than anything that was available with the X5.

This model will have 128 MB of RAM and 64 MB of ROM, some of which will almost certainly be available to the user as extra storage. The X5 had, at most, 64 MB of RAM.

Not everything about this upcoming model will be new. According to a picture posted in the Hi!PDA forums, the X50 will resemble the X5 a great deal. Of course, some would say this picture looks so much like the X5 that it is simply a picture of the original model that some hoaxer had modified with Photoshop.

Like its predecessor, the X50 will include both a CompactFlash slot and an SD/MMC slot that supports SDIO.

Large screens and wireless networking draw a lot of power, and the X50 will reportedly include a 1800 mAh swappable battery.

The Axim X50 is expected to be released in October. None of the sources of leaked information have said what this model will cost.

VGA Axim Definitely Coming

Whether any of these rumors about the Axim X50 turn out to be true or not, there is no doubt that Dell is putting together a Pocket PC with a VGA screen.

When Intel was first demonstrating the 2700G multimedia accelerator for the XScale line, a company spokesperson announced that Dell would be using this graphics co-processor in an Axim model to be released during the second half of this year.

The 2700G was created for 640-by-480-pixel displays and up. If it is going to be in a future Axim model, then that model will have a VGA screen.

Thanks to both James and Engadget for their tips.

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