Amazon already has the new Sony NR series for preorder on its US site. The NR70V is $600, while the NR70 is $500. -Harain

Starting next Tuesday, Handspring will raise the price of the Treo without a service activation from $550 to $600. -Larry

Eventually, most hard-core Palm users get tired of the "plain jane" application launcher and look around for something more snazzy. One of the most popular Launcher replacements is SilverScreen with it's user-configurable themes and VFS support. Davy Fields has this review of the latest version.

The same source who earlier had info about Sony's NR70 in Best Buy's inventory system now has some on the NR70V, which is the version with the built-in camera. The system says the NR70V will cost $600 with SKU 4586861. Both NR series models have an in stock date of May 12.

The NR70 has been available in Japan for several days and reviews of it are appearing online. Muchy's Palmware Review has one. It is in Japanese, of course, but it includes lots of pictures.

Palm, Inc. has launched a new U.S. TV and online ad campaign that features the company's newest products: the m130, m515 and i705. It includes a 30-second TV spot that will air on national network and cable, and is scheduled to run for five weeks. The commercial has three parts that seek to demonstrate how each of the new handhelds enhances the lifestyles of a wide range of users, and that show that no matter what the user wants to do, there is a Palm handheld that can help do it better.

thinkDevice Company has released the Q-pad, a combination of keyboard and case. It has a full Qwerty keyboard with a separate numeric keyboard built into the inside of the leather case. There are versions for both the Palm Vx and Visor Edge available now for $70. The company expects to have a version for the m505 and m515 out before June.

After have been available online for several weeks, the Handspring Treo 180 and 180g are now available at some Best Buy, Staples, CompUSA stores, as well as Fry's Electronics, J&R, and Amazon.com. -PR

Palm Inc. has released MyPalm 2.0 for i705 users, which contains an improved interface and updated features including MyPage, and access to AOL Mail and content. -Ed

Palm, Inc. has just released the final English version of Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac. It offers native Mac OS X support, improved handheld-to-desktop synchronization, an OS X Dock menu item, and vCard and vCal support. A beta version of this has been available since the beginning of this year. It is free.

Enfora is close to releasing the Wireless Portfolio, which uses an infrared connection to add a wireless modem to almost any handheld. There will be both CDPD and GPRS versions. There will also be an option to add a GPS receiver. It is called a portfolio because the add-ons are contained in a zippered case, with the handheld on one side and the modem, GPS, etc. on the left. Enfora says the basic version will be available April 1 for $300.

According to several online sources in Germany, the Berlin newspaper Berliner Zeitung recently ran an article that said Texas Instruments is in negotiations with Palm Inc. to take an equity stake in PalmSource when it spins off from Palm. If such an agreement comes to pass, it is not yet known what effect it would have on the Palm platform.

The first of Sony's NR series, the NR70, was released in Japan on Saturday. TWCUG has pictures of the packaging and some comparison pictures with a T600C.

There is a great deal of anticipation about when these handhelds will be released in other countries. According to a source at Best Buy, the PEG-NR70 is listed in that retailer's system. Apparently the same name will be used in both countries. Its price is $500 and SKU is 4586978.

Tony Rudenko's PalmPilotUpgrade.com has just added the Palm m130 and i705 to their line of 16 MB upgrades. It costs $120. -Tony

MyHandEmail will be shutting down as of March 31. It's an AvantGo channel that allows users to send and receive e-mail from any POP3 account. The owners are accepting offers to buy the service. -Ed