Sharp halts Zaurus PDA production, smartphones to blame

It sure made it longer than Dell and Fujitsu-Siemens, but really, this was inevitable. Today, yet another icon in handheld computing has died, as Sharp has already scheduled the burial of its famed Zaurus lineup. Said devices were all the rage in the white hot 90s, with everyone from Zack Morris to Dawson Leery sporting one while strutting around Hollywood. We're led to believe that the ubiquity of more functional cellphones are to blame for the waning demand in PDAs, and we even pinged Captain Obvious to make sure that assertion was on point. Sayonara, dear Zaurus -- we will never forget.

[Via CodeZine]

[Shinigami Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:47PM]

And I thought PDAs without a phone functionality died a long time ago...

[kjb434 Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:12PM]

Me too!

I didn't think they still sold them.

[HemanC Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:30PM]

When I said that about the non phone PDA HP released last year, people actually response they prefer it that way. I go huh? You like BW TV?

[Don G Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:35PM]

i vaguely remember techTV doing a review on this.. wanted one so bad.

ROFL

They should've rolled with the times..

[J Acheson Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:09PM]

Not really. But just being a PDA might not be enough any more.

For instance, the iPod Touch is essentially a PDA, but is sold as a media player.

[genomalice Posted Dec 16th 2008 6:46PM]

In some places, example in some sections of the Pentagon or secret research labs, as I hear, you can't even bring in a phone regardless of it having a camera or not. So a Phone+PDA doesn't cut it for you? So that's why you need one of these.

[macserv Posted Dec 17th 2008 4:44AM]

I didn't know the Zaurus line was still around either, but I'm sad to see it go... it was a pretty awesome device back in the day. Even Sony, *notorious* for clinging to dated technologies and makers of the best Palm-based hardware and software (my clié was awesome) knew to get out of the phoneless-PDA business *years* ago.

[bmorrise Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:51PM]

They still made those?

[barry99705 Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:01PM]

Yea, I thought they killed them off years ago. Thought I just sold my c3100 about 8 months ago. Freaking sweet little pda's.

[miles4000 Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:49PM]

I'll forget them.

[loocas Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:57PM]

I didn't even know Sharp was making PDAs... o_O

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:58PM]

i wonder if they had built-in air purifiers

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:02PM]

yeah sharps big in japan

the tablet laptop style pda were the ones that got my attention

[Android Overlord Posted Dec 16th 2008 1:58PM]

I owned two sharps. Voda were the only people who sold them in the UK and had the newest technology before everyone else. First to have camera in the UK, then first to have 1 megapixel then 3.2 and integrated mp3 player. Bye bye sharp. To be honest I forgot they were still around with mobile phones. last time I used one was two year ago.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:02PM]

Next post: Sharp stops making word processors and 56K modems. We will never forget.
C/

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:14PM]

im still using my palm pilot

*fap fap fap*

[Matthew Mongan Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:18PM]

last year's news anyone. they discontinued the line right after i imported my 3200. fortunately the open source development for the device is better than sharp's. with ubuntu embedded on the way things are looking up. however, the lack of built in wifi is a bag of hurt. regardless, Pandora is shaping up to be a suitable replacement.

oesf.org has all kinds of info on the entire line of sharp pda's

[ZSX Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:49PM]

The end of the Zaurus line was first reported on in January 2007, nearly 2 years ago!

http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com/2007/01/19/sharp-zaurus-line-eol-production-ceases-in-february/

That said, the Sharp Zaurus SL-6000 (I have one) still ranks up there as one of the best PDAs ever made.

[giedrys Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:23PM]

Why didn't they started making PDA phones, instead of blaming them?

[Galley Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:24PM]

Why didn't I sell my LifeDrive two years ago? What's it worth now, 50 cents?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:08PM]

Somehow I got rid of my Dell Axim X51v for a decent price just earlier this year... If I didn't I'm guessing it would be just a huge bag of hurt.

[DantheMan Posted Dec 16th 2008 11:12PM]

Because their Linux-based OS and overall openness (you could even install OpenBSD on these things!) would never be tolerated by the carriers.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:28PM]

I think that Sharp have to get more concentred on what they have been take a place in our market: LCD screens.

I've tested this PDA and don't have too much good comment exept that someone is building a linux port to it.


Julien
GDI Consultant

[Dee Posted Dec 16th 2008 2:31PM]

It's sad when a product dies and you've never even heard of it; like a tree falling in the forest, not making a sound.

[Dee Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:08PM]

It's sad when a product dies and you've never even heard of it; like a tree falling in the forest, not making a sound.

[KAL326 Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:19PM]

I think I still have a B/W one of those. It was pretty sweet back in the late 90s. I could type up a paper and print it over IR in class. Mine also came with a optional fax modem that screwed into the side so I could also send faxes from the device. I bought it refurb'd from ubid or some other online auction site. All in all it was pretty nice, battery life sucked but it ran off 2 AAs.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 21st 2008 10:36AM]

I think you're talking about the ZR series. This post is talking about the newer Linux-powered devices.

[web2oh Posted Dec 16th 2008 3:55PM]

Not too surprising that so many people here haven't heard of Sharp's PDAs, they stopped selling them in the US a few years ago. It is surprising that Engadget didn't mention the most interesting thing about the Zaurus PDAs: they ran Linux! Not as a hack or anything, they had Qtopia installed from the factory. Always a favorite device for the neckbeard-having, slashdot-reading crowd. :-)

I had an SL-5000 back in high school, got it off eBay for $75! It was a great nerd toy, I used it almost entirely for entertainment (reading ebooks, playing games). Nice hardware features (SD and CF slots, full qwerty keypad!), and the OS was quite impressive. It was fast, responsive, and I thought had a decent UI...a shame there weren't more Qtopia/Linux based devices out there. But really, it was only good as a nerd toy. The software available for it was a touch lacking (especially compared to Palm), the battery life was piss-poor (3-5 hours tops, usually 3 thanks to the power-hungry front-lit LCD), and it just didn't have the support that WM and Palm get. I hear the SL-6000 was popular for industrial uses, but the Zaurus line was never a big consumer hit.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:12PM]

This is truly sad. I got my 5500 several years ago, and am still learning my SL-C3200. They really are like a linux computer in your pocket. I even have Quake2 running on mine! If only they made that leap into cellular...

[Gonz Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:15PM]

Palm's next on the death row? I guess next CES will be like his final trial

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:22PM]

Sharp pulled out of the US market years ago but they still continued to do business abroad. They made some of the most bleeding edge PDA's with sweet form factors. But they were costly. If command lines are your type of thing then you shouldnt have any problems hacking them to milk functionality out of them. I think the Pandora project is nearest to what sharp had to offer right now.

[FThorn Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:28PM]

HP Still has some PDAs on their site. I LOVED the HWR of windows CE.

There was a caller to one of the tech podcasts recently and Leo Laporte didn't think anyone still made PDAs either. But she wanted to get an update to her Dell Axim. She had some book readers (text) that she wanted to maintain.

I love PDAs, too. I've got two Treo 90s (non-phones). Wife favors those over everything. HWR (graffiti) and a keyboard makes it nice.

[bloodypom Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:47PM]

If Zaurus is an 'icon', how come I've never even heard of it?

[Chefgon Posted Dec 16th 2008 4:55PM]

I just noticed last week that Best Buy still sells three different non-phone Palm devices in-store. They look strikingly similar to the ones that were available 6 years ago the last time I contemplated buying one. They're probably the exact same models.

I think Apple figured out how to keep the non-phone PDA market alive with the iPod Touch. They turned it into a toy. The business market doesn't need these anymore, but you can still sell handheld computers to the consumer market if you make it play media and games.

[c w j Posted Dec 16th 2008 5:09PM]

Finally, my dear iPAQ, we're alone....spritzer?

[woogs Posted Dec 16th 2008 7:03PM]

I have fond memories of my SL-5500. I'm not even sure where it's gotten to now, to be honest!

I'm planning to get an OpenMoko as a replacement, freeing me from the tyrrany of my Rogers crap-phone and putting portable Linux back in my pocket.

[Blacklight Posted Dec 16th 2008 9:40PM]

Sigh....

So basically I'm the only one here who still prefers unconnected PDAs over smartphones?

Good thing there's the Pandora.. I HATE smartphones (like I've said several times, not for being phones, but for making everyone forget the unconnected world where any form of communications would be a bag of hurt)

And no, I don't have a B&W TV.. I got 1080p, 37" LCD + XBOX 360

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 17th 2008 9:59AM]

You could...put it on flight mode or something...

Or maybe I misunderstood you.

[BraveJhawk Posted Jan 5th 2009 1:20PM]

Sharp was still making the Zaurus? I hadn't heard anything about that thing since ca. 2001.