And they're off…

Fujitsu-Siemens is the first handheld vendor out of the starting gate with a new Pocket PC featuring a VGA display, the Pocket LOOX 720.

This Pocket PC is the flagship model in Fujitsu-Siemens new Pocket LOOX 700 series, replacing the Pocket LOOX 600 series as the company's high-end offering. The 700 series also encompasses the more modestly endowed Pocket LOOX 710.

Both new Pocket PCs run Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, but only the LOOX 720 takes advantage of that platforms support for 640 x 480 pixel resolution or VGA displays. The LOOX 710 features a more traditional, for a Pocket PC, QVGA or 240 x 320 pixel screen resolution.

The handhelds measure about 4.8 x 2.8 x 0.6 inches and weigh 6.3 ounces. As with the other high-end Pocket PCs coming this fall from Asus, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba (see VGA Back in Vogue with...Handhelds), the LOOX 710 and LOOX 720 feature Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking.

Each Pocket PC supports the Bluetooth 1.2 specification, which promises better performance and power management than Bluetooth 1.1. Bluetooth 1.2 is also backwards compatible with Bluetooth 1.1, which is a good thing, as most Bluetooth peripherals only support the earlier specification.

In addition to dual wireless, you get two types of expansion slots—CompactFlash and Secure Digital—with the Pocket LOOX 700 series. With these slots you can greatly expand memory and use a wide variety of peripherals, such as GPS, scanners, and even a GSM/GPRS card.

Even though each of Fujitsu-Siemens new Pocket PCs use Intel's PXA272 XScale processor, the LOOX 710's runs at a slower 416 MHz while the LOOX 720 uses a more powerful 520 MHz CPU. The LOOX 710 also has half the amount of memory, 64MB, as the LOOX 720's 128MB of RAM.

Another nice feature of the LOOX 720—shared by only one other upcoming VGA Pocket PC, the Asus MyPal 730—is a 1.3 megapixel camera for up to 1280 x 960 resolution pictures and video. Both models also have a 3.5mm headphone socket, as well as a speaker and microphone, so that, with the proper software and service connections, the devices could serve as VoIP phones.

Both new Pocket LOOX Pocket PCs also integrate a swappable 1640 mAh Lithium battery for what the company claims is 12 hours of uninterrupted use. That's good news for users, as Wi-Fi and larger displays are notoriously power hungry.

The LOOX 710 and LOOX 720 are shipping in Europe at prices that start at around 599 EUR, which is about $730. There's no word as to when or if these models will find their way to the U.S. market.