A couple of readers have written to to report finding the Sony NR70 at DataVision, an electronics retailer on 5th Avenue in New York City. One of these is from Mike Cane, an occasional contributor to PIC, so there is no question of this being a hoax. There are also reports of finding them at CompUSA and Fry's in San Diego.

When Sony announced the NR series, it said both the NR70 and NR70V would be available in early May. However, when they were released in Japan, the NR70 was available for some time before the NR70V was, and Sony may be repeating this pattern in the U.S.

Earlier this week, Philips Electronics announced that it is the first company to be able to produce sufficient numbers of OLED displays for them to be included in a shipping device. The company said only that its monochrome, passive-matrix OLED screens would be on products this fall from a leading electronics manufacturer, but declined to say which one.

Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) is a generic term for a whole group of possible screen types. Philips calls theirs PolyLED because it uses groups of molecules, rather than the more commonly used individual molecules.

Anyone who has had a handheld for any length of time realizes that they occasionally get dropped (and sometimes even stood on!). The flip covers which normally come with Palm OS handhelds are fine for protecting the screen from minor scratches, but offer little protection against other accidents. InnoPocket now has a hardcase for the Sony T series that offers a 100% aircraft aluminium shell and an internal neoprene cushion. Guest reviewer Gordon Jones has this look.

While Palm Inc. retained its lead in the number of handhelds shipped in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), its share has dropped significantly in the past year, according to a report from Canalys. During the first quarter of this year, Palm shipped 33.8% of the handhelds in that region. This is approximately the same share Palm had the previous quarter. Compaq was number two with 20.9%, after a hefty increase.

When a Russian Soyuz rocket launched yesterday, bound for the International Space Station, it carried with it a Palm m125. It is being used by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. Because his activities in space are scheduled down to the minute, a special scheduling application was needed. Palm South Africa worked with Rafale, a South African Palm OS development company, to create a customized Date Book application so that Mr. Shuttleworth events could be scheduled on a minute-by-minute basis.

Cnet Asia has a comparison of the features of Palm OS 4 and OS 5. It's very useful for those who want to know what's new in OS 5. -Ed

Freeware Palm is back up. It was offline for a few days while it changed service providers. -Jony

Bachmann Software has just introduced FilePoint Pro, which includes a desktop client that displays a picture of the file structure on the handheld, allowing users to more easily organize their files. Users can organize their handheld's data on their desktop PCs, and all changes to the file organization will take place during the next HotSync. FilePoint Pro now acts as a launcher, file management system, install tool, and card reader, all in one. It is available now for $50.

iGolf Technologies has launched iGolfgps, which gives golfers accurate distance measurements from any location on a golf course. It is designed to provide the distance from the point of the golfer's ball to the front, center, and back of the green. Working with a GPS receiver, it can be used on any golf course throughout the world. It also includes a scorecard for up to 4 players. iGolfgps is available now for $35.

Thanks to an agreement with Lagardere Active, AvantGo's mobile service now includes ten new well-known magazine titles, including Car and Driver, Road & Track, ELLE, Woman's Day, and Mobile Entertainment. All of these magazines are available now as free channels on AvantGo's service. Lagardere Active hopes they will support themselves through advertising revenue.

Red Mercury has released a beta version of AcidImage 1.2 that supports greyscale screens and Sony's NR series. -Eugene

PalmVenue has launched a mobile edition usable to any handheld with a browser. -saw9000

The Kirrio Charger 5-in-1 lets road warriors recharge their UC Palm no matter where they are. It has an adapter that works with the cigarette lighter in a car. It has an AC port for the plug that comes with the handheld's cradle. It comes with a USB cable that lets users power their handheld from their laptop. It has four rechargeable batteries which can charge the handheld when no other source is available.