(April 29, 2002) - In a report this week, MobileWeek projected that by 2004, Linux-based PDAs will represent 12% of the entire U.S. PDA market, and that the Sharp Zaurus PDA line will account for 82% of those unit shipments. In the first quarter of 2002, Sharp catapulted to the #5 position among all PDA manufacturers, shipping just under 150,000 units worldwide. MobileWeek also projects total U.S. shipments for all PDAs in 2004 will reach 13.5 million units. Palm OS-based devices will continue to be the market share leader in unit volume with 48% market share, driven by the sub-$200 price PDAs and expanded mobile communicator category. Symbian-based mobile communicator PDAs will account for 13% market share and Microsoft Windows CE, driven primarily from the volume of pocket PC products, will account for a 17% share.

"Linux-based PDAs will go from 0% market share to 12% market share by 2004, and Sharp's Zaurus PDA line will lead the way with 82% of the Linux-based PDA market share," says Valerie Rosenblatt, MobileWeek's Executive Vice President of Strategy. "Combining the power and flexibility of Java with the license-free, open source benefits of Linux will be the primary driving factors for the increased adoption of Sharp's Zaurus PDA platform" Ms. Rosenblatt adds. Information on the developer's program for Sharp's Zaurus is at http://developer.sharpsec.com/.

First Portable Ogg Player
In related news, theKompany.com has announced the release of its tkcPlayer , a playback application for MP3 and Ogg files on the Sharp Zaurus, making the Zaurus the world's first portable Ogg player. "MP3 files are great, and that is why we support them, but Ogg doesn't have any nasty license restrictions, compresses 10% smaller on average with 50% better quality, and our tests show it consumes less CPU on the Zaurus by a third, so this should also extend the battery life," comments theKompany.com's Web site. For more information, see www.theKompany.com.

For more wireless news, see www.wbt2.com.