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PC Advisor: Acer announced at Computex today that it is to sell a Ferrari PDA (personal digital assistant). The Acer Ferrari Windows Mobile PDA is the latest in Acer’s line of Ferrari-branded technology. The Acer Ferrari line includes laptop PCs and a monitor.

The black Acer Ferrari PDA has apple red trim and runs Windows Mobile software. It’s officially called the Ferrari Racing Personal Navigator, a reference to its built-in GPS (global positioning system). The Ferrari Racing Personal Navigator bears a strong family resemblance to Acer’s c500 PDA.

While the two Acer PDAs may look alike, they use different hardware under the hood, according to Acer. Detailed specifications were not available.

The Acer Ferrari PDA comes with special wallpaper that features Ferrari cars, and it offers special sound effects, such as the sound of a roaring engine, for various user actions, Acer said.

Other specifications include ALK CoPilot version 6.0 navigation software, a slot for an SD (Secure Digital) card, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Ferrari Racing Personal Navigator PDA will first be available in Europe beginning during the third quarter of this year.

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The Register: Car navigation equipment maker TomTom has lost its “me too” design infringment case against Garmin.

In a normal summary proceeding TomTom asked a judge to prevent the sale of Garmin’s StreetPilot c300 and c500 series in Europe, alleging that Garmin copied aspects of the TomTom GO design in its product line.

Yesterday the Dutch judge ruled that at first glance there are clear differences between Garmin’s StreetPilot c300 and c500 and TomTom’s Go models. For instance, Garmin’s c300 and c500 have an angular form, while TomTom’s Go has a round shape. The judge included drawings to underpin his views.

TomTom said it won’t appeal, but is counting on a procedure on the merits it has filed earlier on Garmin’s car navigation design. There are also several patent infringement cases between the two rivals.

Earlier this year, Garmin called for unspecified financial damages in its claim that TomTom is unlawfully using five US-patented Garmin technologies designed to “calculate which streets are important enough to a drivers’ route to be displayed”.

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