Looking very much like a cell phone, the i-Point handheld terminal maintains a Bluetooth link to the personal computer and allows the user to perform some basic functions such as controlling the CD drive and Web browser.
A screen on the device also allows users to download and store e-mail and news from the computer. The news is formatted for the small screen and supplied through a dedicated site on Fujitsu's @Nifty Internet portal. The lack of a keyboard means that e-mail replies cannot be written using the i-Point and the screen might make it a little difficult to read, but for many Japanese, already used to checking e-mail and Internet through services like NTT DoCoMo's I-mode wireless Internet service, it should prove little problem.
The i-Point measures 104 millimetres by 55 millimetres by 14 millimetres and weighs 65 grams. It will run for four hours continuously on one set of batteries, and for 300 hours in standby mode.
The i-Point is supplied with a single model in Fujitsu's new NE-series of Biblio notebooks. The NE6-650W is equipped with a Pentium III 650MHz processor, 20GB hard disk drive, 128MB of main memory, a 14.1-inch TFT (thin film transistor) LCD (liquid crystal display) and CD-RW drive.
Scheduled to ship in mid February in Japan, the machine carries a price of 299,800 yen (approximately $4,200).
