Update: Sony has announced that these models will be available in the U.S. in May.

Sony Japan has just introduced two new cutting-edge handhelds. The PEG-NR70 and PEG-NR70V both have built-in keyboards and 320 by 480 color screens. They also have built-in MP3 and ATRAC3 audio players. In addition, the PEG-NR70V has a built-in camera.

These have a clamshell design, with the keyboard on one side and the screen on the other. However, the screen can pivot around and then close again, this time with the screen facing out, allowing these to be used like a traditional handheld, with text entry done through a virtual Graffiti area.

Long-time readers will remember that Sony talked about a Bluetooth card that used the Memory Stick slot almost a year ago. Despite plans to release the Infostick in June of last year, it has yet to see the light of day. That may soon change as the company recently received notice from the Bluetooth SIG that a product called the PEGA-MSB1 is Bluetooth 1.1 qualified.

A new beta version of Palm Desktop 4.1 for Windows is available from Palm. -Gilles and Albert

TealPoint Software has released TealMovie 2.22 beta that resolves the application's audio problems on the Sony T series. -Russell Howell

At a recent seminar a put on by Figleaf Software, a close partner of Macromedia, it was revealed the Macromedia had developed a version of the Flash Player for the Palm OS, but it was too slow to be usable on the current crop of 33 MHz processors that are in just about all Palm OS devices. However, the project hasn't been totally dropped. When Palm OS handhelds with faster processor are available, Macromedia will release it.

A beta of a WordSmith conduit for Mac OS X is now available. -Ed

RS Innovative has announced The Battery Holster, which allows users to always have a spare set of AAA batteries close by. It's made of leather and attaches to a key ring. It's available at a special introductory price of only $4. -Ricky Spears

Update: The rumors included in this article have turned out to be true and Sony has announced the PEG-NR70 and PEG-NR70V. Read more about them here.

Sony will introduce a new member of its Clié line of handhelds in Japan on Monday, according to PC World. The article, which referenced Sony spokesperson Mina Naito as its source, has absolutely no details about the new model, only saying that the company will hold a press conference to show it off.

Fortunately, this is not the only source of information. According to an anonymous source, Sony will introduce not one but two handhelds on Monday.

Palm Inc. and Alaska are working together to educate that state's school administrators on how to use handhelds with a goal of making them more efficient managers, thereby improving Alaska's education system. The administrators can buy a Palm handheld at a discount and then receive free training through the Palm Education Training Coordinator (PETC) program. The ironic part is the program is being funded by an $864,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates is, of course, the chairman of Microsoft, which makes the rival Pocket PC OS.

Palm has released the results on a study on the use handhelds in K-12 classrooms. As part of its Palm Education Pioneer (PEP) program, the company donated enough handhelds to equip 175 classrooms in the U.S. to study how effective handhelds can be as teaching aids and to find the best ways to use them.

The teachers involved were very positive about the experience. As part of the evaluation, 96% agreed or strongly agreed that handhelds "are an effective instructional tool for teachers." Almost 75% of them said that handhelds "are more easily used in the flow of classroom activity than desktop computers."

LandWare has released a beta version of the Pocket Quicken conduit for OS X. The new version, 2.01r2b3, fixes all known conduit issues. -David Porfido

SmarterCase has added five colors to their m500-series hardcase line. They are Stars & Stripes, Black Mamba, Dark Brown Lizard, Sahara Lizard, and Winter Navy. -Tim Sullivan

Recently, the Federal Trade Commission complained that some of Palm's ads didn't make clear enough that the features being advertised were available on some, but not all, of its handhelds. Palm and the FTC have announced a proposed settlement today. There are no fines or other punishments leveled against Palm. The company has agreed to "disclose, clearly and conspicuously, when consumers have to buy add-ons in order to perform advertised functions", and that's all.

At a pre-CeBIT press conference earlier this week, Sony said it was going to unveil a new handheld, the T770, according to ZDnet Germany. Almost no details were given, other than it would have the enhanced infrared port that's on the rest of the T series. It also said it would be announcing 256 MB Memory Sticks.

Some educated guesses can be made just from the name of the new handheld. Obviously, this will be part of the T series. Almost all of the handhelds Sony has introduced lately have had 16 MB of RAM.