Hitachi gears up to release a new version of their internet appliance, the "FLORA-ie." Details inside.

Hitachi Corporation has announced that on May 10th, they will release two new models of "Hitachi Internet Appliance FLORA-ie 55mi," the "PCNR-3PAA6KJ101" and "PCNR-3PAA6JC101." Both use Windows XP Professional. The cost of the "PCNR-3PAA6KJ101" is roughly 253,050 yen, and the "PCNR-3PAA6JC101" is roughly 241,500 yen. Sales will be conducted via "Hitachi Direct."

Both models feature Crusoe TM5500-667MHz processors from Transmeta of America, have a 10.4" TFT LCD (800 x 600) with touchscreen membrane, 256MB of memory, and a 20GB hard drive. Planned applications include product management, menu/ordering, community appliances, healthcare, information services, business support, on-demand printing, and so forth. The "PCNR-3PAA6JK101" uses wireless LAN (802.11b) for communications, and the "PCNR-3PAA6JC101" uses wired LAN. The body size is 294 x 223 x 31mm (W x D x H), and it weighs about 1.47kg. Under the JEITA 1.0 standard, the Battery -S provides for 3.1 hours of life, and the Battery -L about 6.3 hours of life. "Tega-ru" handwriting recognition software is included, and the unit supports input by both virtual keyboard and handwriting.

Hitachi plans on offering a variety of options for the device, such as offering a model with 384MB of memory, customizing desktop images, customizing startup images, installing JavaVM, installing Java Runtime Environment (JRE), and installing a client for Seatrix Systems Japan.

Inspired by:
http://ascii24.com/news/i/hard/article/2005/04/25/655593-000.html

Press Release:
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/New/cnews/month/2005/04/0425.html