Skip the navigation

Palm launches new handhelds

By Mathew Schwartz
March 19, 2001 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Palm Inc. fired the latest salvo in the personal digital assistant (PDA) wars with the announcement of two new devices, the monochrome m500, and the 16-bit color m505.
Both have 8MB of memory, run the new Version 4.0 of Palm's operating system and have a new Universal Hotsync port, as well as improved screen readability and battery life. The m500, priced at $399, will be available in the U.S. late next month, and the m505m, priced at $449, will be released in early May. Both models will ship worldwide about a month after they hit U.S. markets.
The m500 and m505 are Palm's next-generation PDAs, as evidenced by their size and features lists. The devices are very similar in appearance, size and weight to Palm V devices: They are thin, aluminum-covered PDAs. But where a Palm V has a monochrome screen, the m505 is color. In the past, color screens have required bulkier machines to contain the extra batteries needed to power them for useful amounts of time. Now, however, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Palm said a new lithium polymer battery allows the m505 to run just as long as a Palm V -- which this reviewer found to be about two weeks of normal use. M505 review units weren't available at deadline.
Improvements include an e-book reader, plug-in card synchronization and Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity with Macintosh and PC computers out of the box. In addition to audio alarms, users also have two silent options: the Palm can flash an LED or vibrate. Users can set their Palms to "lock" after a certain amount of time and require a password for access.
On the desktop software side, Palm beefed up security and added support for vcard and vcal, two formats also supported by Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook for exchanging contact and calendar information. Selecting a vcard, for instance, will add the contact to a user's Palm desktop software, which in turn will appear on the handheld when synchronized.
The new Palms are "good devices and answer some people's concerns in light of competition [from Microsoft's Pocket PC]," said Alex Slawsby, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass.
In the past, Palm has lost market share not only to other Palm-compatible devices, such as Handspring Inc.'s Visor and Sony Corp.'s Clie, but also to devices such as Hewlett Packard Co.'s Jornada and Compaq Computer Corp.'s iPaq, which run the Pocket PC operating system. The Pocket PC devices have typically offered bigger, easier-to-read color screens and better integration between PDAs and PCs



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

App Development White Papers
The Keys to Distributed & Agile Application Development
How leading firms are winning with strategies for efficient application development, without relying on co-location.
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
All App Development White Papers
App Development Webcasts
Reduced TCO for Communications Applications with New Oracle SPARC Servers
In this webcast learn how Oracle's new SPARC T4 servers and SPARC Supercluster deliver the security, performance, and scalability required for 4G network...
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
All App Development Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs