Acer is planning to introduce two models called the s50 and s60 in the near future. According to a leaked brochure, they will have hi-res, TFT color screens and Memory Stick slots.The main difference between these two models is the s60 has built-in voice recorder and MP3 playback, while the s50 does not. They have a Chinese version of Palm OS 4 but use the hi-res icons from OS 5. According to one site, they will be released in 5 days. The s60 will be about NT$13000 (US$382) and the s50 will cost NT$9900 (US$292).

Palm Inc. is expected to announce cuts in almost its entire line of handhelds today. The only Palm model not getting a price cut is the m515.

Update: The new prices have gone into effect.

The wireless i705 is dropping from $450 to $400 and a $100 rebate is still in effect, bringing the effective price down to $300. The m500 is getting a long-overdue cut from $300 to $200, bringing it more into line with the prices of its competitors.

Yesterday, AvantGo reported a net loss of $4.3 million, or 12 cents a share, for its most recent quarter. This compares to a net loss of $13.9 million the same quarter last year. It had $5.3 million in revenue. Hoping to break even the last quarter of this year, AvantGo is going to lay off 40% of its work force soon. -Ed

After being in public beta for months, Acrobat Reader for Palm OS 2.0 is available. This version offers color and Macintosh support. -rev

According to a note on Handspring's Support Site, some of the new Treo 90 and Treo 270 units have a problem with their backlights. They have a defective component that will cause them to fail. However, this won't happen to all Treo 90s and 270s. According to Handspring, "units that operate for longer than six weeks without backlight failure are unlikely to fail in the future".

Several weeks ago, an image surfaced of what is supposed to be Palm Inc.'s first OS 5 handheld, called the Oslo. A few things are immediately obvious from this picture, like the fact that, instead of having just Up/Down buttons like on current handhelds, it has a complete directional controller. However, the picture doesn't tell the whole story. A couple of people who've had access to this device were willing to reveal a few more things about it.

Palm Digital Media has released a version of its eBook app PalmReader 1.1.16 (both the free and Pro versions) that supports the full screen of Sony NR series. -Eugene

Tech Center Labs has released an emergency charger for the Handspring Treo line that uses four AAA batteries. It's available now for $25. -Jerry Kerl

An anonymous source has said that Handspring definitely plans to include SDIO capability in the Treo 90 this fall. According to this person, they were told this by someone in a position to know inside of Handspring.

However, a Handspring spokesperson still denies that his company has any definite plans to include SDIO to the Treo 90, though he will say they are looking into the possibility.

For years, IBM sold handhelds that were basically Palm Inc. models except with an IBM logo and a black casing. In February, the company decided to stop this practice. However, IBM has just announced that it will begin selling the full line of Palm's handhelds. However, these won't be re-branded under the IBM name; they will be regular Palm handhelds. This is an important announcement for Palm as it is working very hard to increase its sales to companies, many of which buy from IBM.

The biggest change in Palm OS 5 is the switch from Dragonball processors to ARM-based ones. This change would have required all developers to rewrite all their applications but PalmSource knew this would be a disaster for the platform so it created the Palm Application Compatibility Environment (PACE), which interprets the instructions of existing applications designed for the Dragonball processor, and makes them run on the ARM processor. There has been some concern in the Palm community that this would make OS 5 run slower than OS 4. According to developers, this isn't the case.

Microsoft has withdrawn the conduit that allows Mac users to synchronize their Palm OS handheld with Entourage X while they "investigate some technical issues". -Ed

Stand Alone has released NR Buttons, which allows users to add additional buttons to the bar at the bottom of the NR series screen. It costs $9. -PR

After having some info on it leaked on Friday, Sony officially announced the PEG-SL10 today. This is a low-end handheld, costing just $150. It has a 320 by 320 monochrome screen, which is an improvement on Sony's current low-end model, the S360, which has only a 160 by 160 monochrome one. It has other features typically on Sony's handhelds, like a Jog Dial with Back button and a Memory Stick slot for extra storage. It will be available sometime next month.