The current hit film "The Bourne Ultimatum", starring Matt Damon, features a blast from Palm’s handheld past. A Palm m505 or m515 handheld can be seen located on the edge of the desk of CIA Deputy Director Noah Vosen (played by David Strathairn) approximately 1/3 of the way through the film. The Palm handheld, apparently with the standard leather flip cover intact, sits innocently in its cradle and is unused but is clearly visible in several shots.

The Palm m500 line was released in March 2001 but arguably remains Palm’s sleekest-ever device with its Palm V-inspired lines, so an appearance in a film laden with high-tech surveillance and espionage gear shouldn't be too terribly surprising.

Palm's European site has thrown up a teaser page announcing a competition for a chance to win five of "the new Palm smartphones". In it, residents of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy are invited to enter their email address and sign up for further information that will wend its way into their inboxes on September 12th. The page states:

"The new Palm smartphone. The word is, it's great for email, mobile internet, instant messaging, text and - with a full keyboard - saying what you really mean... Sign up now and you'll be the first to know all about the latest cool phone from Palm on 12th September 2007."

New Software MemoJot VibOff Concise Oxford Thesaurus Mortgage Calc NFL 2007 Schedule Rapid Movie mp3 Clock 2 TimeTrak

Updated Software Trip Boss IM+ Mobile Messenger Northglide Cloner YourCall for Palm OS MSDict English-Spanish Dictionary PrettyMap Full MobileWrite Mobiola Studio for Palm

Hot Accessories 4GB Secure Digital Card Seidio Treo 680/750 Extended Battery Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition Palm Treo Hard case Now You Know Treo Book Mobi Products Stereo Adapter Palm Wireless Headset Mobi Products PowerCradle

ShSh software has updated it's 4cast Treo weather program. 4cast downloads weather information from the Internet and displays it in a nice palm native interface optimized for the Treo smartphone. It supports 5-day forecasts for multiple cities, weather maps and alerts. The new version supports new skins and image backgrounds, a new 5 day temperature trend graph view and includes a new DateBk6 plugin. It can also be used as a plugin for 2day and ZLauncher.

4cast v1.80 for Palm OS is available now with a free trial period. It costs $9.95 to register the full version.

ABI Research has released a new report that claims over the next 5 years, Linux is expected to be the fastest growing Smartphone OS with a compound annual growth rate in excess of 75%. By 2012, a recent study from ABI Research forecasts the Linux-based OS to account for nearly 31% of all smart devices in the market — representing more than 331 million cumulative shipments over the same period.
Read more at Mobile Linux Info...

Palm has released a new Air Case for the Treo 680, 750 and Treo 755p models. The Air Case is a strong and sleek clear case that wraps around your Treo. It's made of durable polycarbonate, so its lightweight, yet surprisingly sturdy. The case also includes a belt holster with a swivel clip that can hold the smartphone in place either vertically or horizontally.

The Palm Air Case with Holster for the Treo 680, 750v, 755p is available now from the PIC Accessory store for $24.95. Shipping begins at $5.95.

Opera Software has released a new beta of its Opera Mini version 4 mobile web browser. pera Mini 4 beta is a complete redesign of its browser with a new overview mode that allows people to browse their favorite Web sites, just like they would on a PC. Opera Mini 4 beta also features a new zoom, based on a feature introduced for Nintendo Wii browser. When zooming, Opera Mini dives into the page and then snaps to the content so scrolling is smooth while accessing the desired section immediately.

SanDisk's 4GB MicroSD card is now available from the PIC Accessory store. The 4GB microSD card is now selling for $79.95, and the 2GB version is now reduced to $39.95. Both cards come with a full size SD adapter allowing you to use the card with any device that includes a standard SD slot.

Users of the Vodafone Treo 750v in the UK, Ireleand and the Netherlands can now download the Windows Mobile 6 Professional update from Palm. The Treo 750/750v Updater 2.18 includes Windows Mobile 6 and a number of other enhancements including improved calendar management, enhance email messaging, voice command via bluetooth and usb cable charging.

If you were asked to name a problem endemic to today’s omniscient mobile devices, there's a pretty good chance that you’d nominate "battery life". Modern smartphones are being used for more and more of our daily computing needs, and with manufacturers striving to satisfy the market’s craving for ever-thinner designs it’s more often than not that the battery is first thing to buckle. Such was the case with Palm’s latest GSM smartphones: the Treo 680 and Treo 750 both debuted with... uh... adequate... 1200mAh batteries – a 33% cut from their fatter predecessors.

Sure, the smaller battery wasn't all bad: it made the notoriously hefty Treo much more comfortable to hold, and the difference was definitely noticed in the pants. (Pocket!) But as the day wore on, power users found themselves watching that rapidly-depleting battery meter with an inverse amount of panic. Now, finally, Seidio have released a high-capacity 1600mAh battery that boosts the Treo’s stamina without adding an ungainly hunchback. How does it perform? Grab your safety goggles, don your lab coat and watch out for the gold-plated Yankowski-bots - they're just for reassurance, folks - as we take a tour of PIC's top-secret testing range...

The Palm.com online store is having a sale on both the Palm TX and Tungten E2 handhelds for a limited time. The Palm TX is selling for $50 off bringing it down to $249.99 The sale also includes a free 1GB SD card with the purchase. The Tungsten E2 is also discounted by $50, down to $149. The deal also includes a free 512MB SD card.

Both deals are offered only at the Palm store now though September 3rd.