5. What ATI Thinks
So, last but not least, ATI pleads guilty to the lack of optimized software but sends the ball of the driver problem over the net to Toshiba.
Azzedine Boubguira, ATI's Imageon 100 product head at their headquarters in Canada, says it is impossible to transfer an application from one machine to another without altering it. Handheld computers running Pocket PC 2002 all have their specific aspects and these just need to be integrated into the software.
You don't need to go back very far to realize this is not a new problem. Owners of the early Casio and HP Pocket PCs came across it with their MIPS and SH3 processors which were incompatible with a good many applications. In spite of the processor standardization imposed by Microsoft to the advantage of Intel, the problem of converting or adapting software has not gone away. Actually, PDAs have a speeded-up timetable of the one PCs had when they saw the first unified function libraries appear on the scene with the 3Dfx Glide. It remains to be seen whether the ATI chip can seize the whip hand. For the moment, there are very few applications optimized for it. Some programs, like PocketTV or some recent games, are downright incompatible. But the Canadian manufacturer intends to put things straight pretty soon. Their answer will come in two parts. First, a handful of publishers taken on by ATI will bring out the first games and utilities developed for the Imageon 100 (X100), one of them being an auto game. Next: ATI will soon be launching an international competition to develop all sorts of software to go with their chip: multimedia drivers, games, etc., plus the possibility of a commercial agreement with ATI. But don't expect to see any results before 2003.
Regarding the driver problem, Azzedine Boubguira lobs the ball back to Toshiba who seems to have had the right versions for some weeks, but has delayed offering them for free download from their Web site. ATI will do its utmost to ensure this problem is solved as soon as possible.
Too Expensive!
To complete the list of grievances, though this only applies to Europe, the e740 is exorbitantly priced. 999 euros in the Old World against $599 in the US - that's a difference of 40%! When asked about this, Toshiba's PDA product head just answered that this is usual practice across the whole computer sector. The disparities are explained by European taxes and different distribution systems. This being so, if you really like the product and find it irresistible, we can only advise you to get it from the States. And we would add that a difference of 40% is not exactly the norm in computer supply prices.
