Just Ahead Of IPO, Palm Gets Colorful
The makers of the Palm handheld devices will
release a new organizer with a color screen, just days before the company's planned initial public offering. A new Palm product - the Palm IIIc - will have a 256-color screen that will enhance its readability while keeping the device
simple and uncluttered - a quality Palm users consistently rank as among the product's chief assets.
"Palm is developing a new level of readability for its users with a
color product," a Palm spokesperson told Newsbytes. "They've said
for a long time that they weren't going to do color until they
could do a product that hit a size, battery life and a price point
that they thought was accessible."
The new product will retail for $449, and is, the company claims,
the smallest and lightest color-screen handheld computer on the
market. Casio's competing Windows CE based Cassieopeia device is
considerably thicker and heavier, and retails for $559.
The new Palm will run on 3Com's 3.5 Palm operating system, the
company said.
With the addition of a 256-color display screen, the device allows
users to branch into more multimedia and convergence options. The
Palm IIIc includes Album to Go, a photo-view program that allows
users to download JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) images
into their handhelds. It also includes free Internet software from
AvantGo, a program that allows users to download news from 350
optimized sites, which they can then take with them anywhere. And a
color application for StreetFinder Deluxe 2000, a Rand-McNally map
program, is expected to be available by May. A global position system
clip-on device would follow that, the company said.
The new Palm has eight megabytes (MB) of memory, a storage
capacity first introduced on the Palm Vx device. Unlike the Palm
VII, the new device will not include wireless connection
capabilities.
In addition to the upgraded Palm IIIc device, 3Com also introduced
an enhanced version of its Palm IIIx line, now named the Palm
IIIxe. The new device, which replaces the outgoing IIIx, is intended
mostly for business users, the company said, and will retail for
$249.
The Palm IIIxe is configured to allow users to easily add
hardware like external keyboards, modems, voice recorders,
cameras and other add-ons, the company said. It also contains
upgradeable flash-ROM memory that will be compatible with
future Palm operating systems, the company added.
"The Palm IIIxe is a new versatile and flexible product,
especially for business users or enterprise customers,"
the company spokesperson said. "It's an 8MB product and it's
coming in at a really attractive price point."
In a third announcement, 3Com said today it would offer a
flat-rate pricing plan for its wireless Palm VII series. For
$44.99 a month, the company said, users will be able to
subscribe to unlimited wireless Net service from the
company's Palm.net. The company, which will also offer
limited, less expensive connection options, said that Palm.net
wireless service is available in 260 US metropolitan areas.
3Com is in the process of spinning of its Palm division, and
is planning an IPO next week, according to various reports.
More information about Palm handhelds is available on the
Internet at http://www.3com.com/palm/index.html.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.