FAQ
FAQ
Sharp Zaurus
Zaurus is a colour PDA from Sharp Electronics which runs an Embedded version of the Linux Operating System. Like many Symbian-based devices, the Zaurus is supplied with the Opera Web browser, allowing it's users to explore much more of the Web than with conventional Pocket browsers.
One unfortunate limitation however, is the Sharp Electronics (Europe) GmbH website, which actually manages to prevent all access by Opera users. It would appear that while being wise enough to include Opera with their PDA products, Sharp were stupid enough to then exclude it from their website. Bizarre but true. Instructing desktop users of Opera 6 to upgrade
to such an obsolete and antiquated browser as MSIE 4.5 (or NS4.5) in order to attain accessibility is quite simply incompetent. Conversly, Nokia.de and SonyEricsson.com remain accessible to potential customers who will find it quite easy to evaluate alternative WWW-enabled devices using their favourite browser. Anyway...
As with Opera for Symbian, the embedded Linux version supports HTML4, XHTML, CSS2, Javascript, secure connections and much more. This level of standards support can be exploited by authors to create enhanced DHTML layouts for mobile users which make efficient use of smaller screens, and remain intuative and easy-to-use. Key features of the Zaurus are:
- 206MHz StrongARM SA1110 processor
- 64MB RAM
- 16MB ROM for OS and standard apps. (It's actually flash, to allow for custom OS images/upgrades)
- 240×320 65K (16-bit) colour touchscreen
- Stereo jack for audio out
- 37 key slide-out rubber keyboard
- USB and IrDA ports
- Expansion slot for CF | SD | MMC cards
While this is largely a Symbian-centric website, Opera for the Zaurus (and other embedded systems) may eventually be covered in more detail. In the mean time, much of the information currently available for Symbian users should remain helpful to users on all platforms.
Beyond the Opera browser, coverage of the Zaurus is beyond the scope of this site, however if you would like to find out more about this device then the following links may be of use:
