Siemens Wireless SIMpad Due With HomeRF

By Greg Scoblete -- TWICE, 2/26/2001

SAN DIEGO -Siemens will begin shipping its Gigaset 4600 SIMpad Mobile Internet pad in June at a suggested retail of $1,300. It will be the company's first product supporting the HomeRF wireless-network standard.

Weighing in at 2 pounds, the wireless SIMpad lets users browse the Web and send e-mail via an SVGA color touchscreen. It features the Windows CE operating system and Internet Explorer 4.0.

The SIMpad establishes wireless high-speed Internet connectivity anyplace in and around the home up to 150 feet via a HomeRF-equipped gateway or HomeRF desktop PC.

"The Gigaset 4600 was designed for the residential user with convenience in mind," said Kevin Duffy, director of business development and product management for Siemens Information and Communication Mobile.

Consumers can interact with the Gigaset 4600 SIMpad through an intuitive, contact-sensitive color touch screen using a virtual keyboard or handwriting recognition, he said.

Thanks to the Windows CE operating system, the Gigaset is compatible with most popular PC programs. Pre-installed software includes Microsoft Pocket Word for word processing, Pocket Outlook for e-mail, the painting program Pocket Paint, and the game Pocket Golf.

The system uses a lithium-ion battery and features Intel StrongARm 1110, 200MHz 32-bit RISC processor, 16MB flash memory and 32MB RAM. The touch screen features 16-bit color, the unit ships with an AC adapter, and the software is upgradable via download.