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Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Palm targets latest handhelds at novice PDA users and wireless users

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: KEITH SHAW ON WIRELESS COMPUTING
DEVICES
10/18/05
Today's focus: Palm targets latest handhelds at novice PDA
users and wireless users

Dear security.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Palm launches two new handhelds
* Links related to Wireless Computing Devices
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: Palm targets latest handhelds at novice PDA
users and wireless users

By Keith Shaw

Palm (no longer PalmOne) last week launched two new devices -
one aimed at the first-time PDA user and the other is an
affordable PDA with dual wireless connectivity options (Wi-Fi
and Bluetooth).

The $299 Palm TX handheld (Palm got rid of the Tungsten and Zire
brand names) includes a high-resolution 320 by 480 pixel
resolution screen, which can flip between portrait or landscape
display mode, and 128M bytes of memory (about 100M bytes usable
by users for data and application storage). The device has a
312-MHz Intel processor, SDIO expansion card slot, which also
supports MultiMedia Cards, and weighs 5.25 ounces. Bundled
applications let users create and edit Word, Excel and
PowerPoint compatible files, listen to music (through the
PockeTunes application), and view photos and videos.

Palm is making a big push with its Wi-Fi integration, with an
improved Web browser, bundled e-mail application, including
support for Exchange-based e-mail, and support for two
applications and services. The first, Avvenu, is a service that
lets users remotely view, download and share images and files on
a PC from any Internet-connected Palm PDA or Treo smartphone
(more details at the Avvenu Web site <http://www.avvenu.com/> ).
The other service is MobiTV, which lets users watch live TV
feeds (at a 24-frames per second rate) over a Wi-Fi connection.
Pricing for TX users was not announced, but the service is
available for Treo owners for about $10 per month (more
information at the MobiTV Web site <http://www.mobitv.com/> ).

I haven't tried out the device yet - one is coming soon, Palm
says - but from the product literature, it seems Palm has done a
good job merging the multimedia features from this year's
LifeDrive device (music, photo and video viewing) with more of
the business-like applications (Web, e-mail and Office document
support). The only thing missing is the large hard drive on the
LifeDrive side, and the cell phone feature found on the Treo 650
smart phone, but you can always get extra storage with SD cards
(up to 2G-bytes with some cards).

The other device Palm launched, the Z22 (replaces the
entry-level Zire 21 and 31 models) is a $99 color handheld aimed
squarely at people who have never used a PDA before. The system
includes 32M-bytes of memory, has a 160-by-160 pixel color
display, a 200-MHz processor and has a mini-USB connector (the
device can be charged via a regular power cord or through the
USB port of a computer). The Z22 will come with an
organizational booklet that offers a guide on how to be more
organized, as well as other "how to" tips. A bunch of bundled
applications will make it easier for the first-time PDA user to
experience different usages for the device.

What's interesting about the device is that Palm doesn't even
want to compare the Z22 to any other device - it compares it to
pen-and-paper day planners such as the Franklin Planner or the
Kate Spade Day Planner. The $99 price tag should make this a
good holiday gift for anyone on your list who may not have yet
entered the electronic age of organizers. It's good to see at
least one company still interested in this market.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco finally brings security push to LAN
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile9072>
2. Exploit code discovered for new Microsoft flaw
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile9073>
3. You won't find this book on Oprah's list
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile8548>
4. HP recalls thousands of laptop battery packs
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile9074>
5. Skype: Hazardous to network health?
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlmobile7877>

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Keith Shaw

Keith Shaw is Senior Editor, Product Testing, at Network World.
In addition, he writes the " Cool Tools
<http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/cooltools.html> "
column, which looks at gizmos, gadgets and other mobile
computing devices.

You can reach Keith at <mailto:kshaw@nww.com>.
_______________________________________________________________
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ARCHIVE LINKS

Archive of the Wireless Computing Devices newsletter:
http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/mobile/index.html Keith
Shaw's Cool Tools:
http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/cooltools.html
_______________________________________________________________
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