Mobile Web tablets, like the SIMpad from Siemens, are changing the way people compute at home and in the office. No longer are you relegated to a paper strewn desk or locked away in some musty corner if you want to surf the Net. Now you can go wherever you want in your home or office to email friends, check your stocks, or do other computing task, like word processing or spreadsheet development.

The SIMpad makes in mobile computing fast, convenient, and, above all, fun! The bright color, active matrix touchscreen allows users to input data either with the virtual keyboard or the handwriting recognition tool and stylus. It comes loaded with a wide variety of software from Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to Pocket Paint, FlashPlayer, and games. Plus the SIMpad has plenty of memory, 64 MB RAM and 32 MB flash, so it can store additional applications and loads of data. Everyone will find something to do on this puppy.

Siemens also packed its device with a wide variety of connectivity options so you can use a dial-up connection, cable modem, or DSL line to get high speed Internet access over the high bandwidth HomeRF standard. It turns on instantly and connects to the Internet in 10 seconds. Now that's fast! The SIMpad SL4 also offers multiple Internet access methods for optimized flexibility and mobility. Connection to the Internet can be established via an Infrared-enabled mobile phone over the GSM network or via wireless LAN with an I-Gate PC-Card and Access Point. In addition, the PC-Card slot makes the SIMpad SL4 future-proof.

The Lithium-ion battery that powers your SIMpad will last about 7 hours, a respectable amount of time for any Web tablet, and at 2.2 pounds you won't mind carrying it around with you.

Pricing and Availability

Currently available in Europe, availabilty in US is restricted through European ecommerce sites. The SIMpad will cost about $1,500 USD.

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