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Zypad mil-spec wrist PC gets a refresh
Looks like the Parvus wrist computer we last saw almost three years ago has received an upgrade. The Zypad WR1100 is a 3.5-inch color touchscreen device aimed at the defense industries, soldiers of fortune (who, surprisingly enough, make a large part of our readership), futuristic Boy Scouts, and anyone else who needs a Linux device strapped to their wrist. Aside from a high strength / low weight fiberglass-reinforced nylon-magnesium alloy housing designed to take a licking in the field, this wrist-worn bad boy rocks 256MB memory, 128MB flash storage, various connectivity options (including WiFi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee), a GPS, a compass, biometric fingerprint sensor, and an accelerometer that puts the system in standby when the arm is hanging down beside the body. Let us take a moment to ponder the irony of the inevitable Quake mod this device will certainly see at some point in the near future. [Via CNet]
WWPC gets real with ZYPAD WL 1000
The last time we saw this wrist-worn PC it was a mere concept, and a sketchy one at that. With some outlandish claims like 8 hours of battery life, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, SD card expansion and a QVGA 3.5-inch LCD, we just figured we'd let it sit until its creators managed to throw it together for reals. Well, it looks like they managed to do just that, and the new ZYPAD WL 1000 from Parvus has all those capabilities and more. An interesting supplement to the GPS function is a tilt sensor to recognize if the user is moving, providing an extra Big Brother factor for employers. The unit can run Windows CE 5.0 or a Linux OS based on Kernel 2.6 with its 400MHz processor, and there's also a USB port, backlit keys and an audio jack to flesh out the feature set. Parvus just showed this off to some military types in DC, but the product is still listed as "coming soon," so there's no word on when this will be out or how much it will cost.[Via AVING]
