Dell releases (minor) upgrade for the Dell Axim x51(v); new x50(v) upgrade info

Dell, manufacturer of the Dell Axim Pocket PC series, has just released a minor upgrade for the x51(v) series. It’s available here for download.

It fixes the following issues:

1. SwitcherBar icon enhancement.
2. Wi-Fi seamless roaming function.
3. CF Modem driver enhancement.
4. External microphone recording issue.

It’s NOT a ROM upgrade; this means

1. it installs all the new stuff in (volatile) flash ROM. This means the upgrade must be reapplied after a hard reset, unlike with “real†upgrades (like the A06 -> A12 one); not even the ROM minor version has changed in System Information (the same A12 06200600).
2. you don't need to hard reset your device when you install the patch, unlike with "real" ROM upgrades

Note that the upgrade results in an additional 230 kbyte RAM usage. That is, if you really need as much RAM as possible (there are several titles that do require at least 28Mbytes of RAM), you may want to (temporarily) uninstall the patch in Remove Programs as can be seen in here.

Also see this for more user reports: both pros and cons.

Speaking of the Axim, there is no word on any x50 upgrade. AximSite forum member Juraj caused quite a stir three weeks ago when he announced there, on 12/12/2006, would be a WM5 AKU2.3.1 upgrade for the x50 series. As usual, the Dell CS folks have been telling people “we’ll release a patch in two weeks†(they’ve been doing this for a year) – still, there’s still nothing (and I seriously doubt there will ever be). See this AximSite thread for more info.