Samsung plans to release the SPH-M330 smartphone in the U.S. in April, according to PCWorld. This is an updated version of the company's I300. It will have a 240 by 160 screen capable of displaying 256 colors and will, of course, run the Palm OS.

It will have both wireless voice and data capabilities. It will run on CDMA 2000 1X networks and support gpsOne.

In an an unprecedented move, Handspring has just announced that it is un-discontinuing the Visor Platinum. It's available now for a limited time directly from Handspring for $170. The company is also offering a free Flex Module Case with the handheld.

The Platinum was discontinued at the end of last year. It was replaced by newer models.

A flip cover that protect's a handheld's screen is good. One that also improves the way the handheld looks is even better. News Editor Ed Hardy has a review of Parallel Design's Personality Pack for the m505 and he says it does both.

Cutting Edge Software has just released a new version of Quickoffice that includes a major upgrade in the Quickword word processor, adding built-in custom font support and an integrated spell-checking engine and thesaurus. The company has also improved the application suite's speed and it now has better support for portable keyboards. Quickword is $20 and the entire Quickoffice suite is temporarily $30. It's a free upgrade for current users.

STNE Corporation is already offering an upgrade to 16MB of memory for the brand-new Palm m130 for $115. -Will

The upgrade program to bring Sony's PEG-N710C up to Palm OS 4.1 will end on March 15. It costs $50 and has been available since late November. -Ben Combee

Promising to halt personal productivity gains, Astraware Ltd today has announced the release of no less than five new game titles. These are a mix of puzzle, action, and strategy titles, including Nisqually, Astro Defence, Eye of Horus, RoundUp and Big Money. While these new games differ in style of game-play, they are all optimized for both color and grayscale screens and are compatible with all of the latest Palm OS hardware.

Michael Mace, PalmSource's Chief Competitive Officer, has been called as a witness in the ongoing federal anti-trust case against Microsoft. He is expected to say that the proposed settlement doesn't do anything to prevent Microsoft from illegally misusing its desktop monopoly to try to take over the handheld market, which there is evidence the company is trying to do.

STNE Corporation can now do upgrades to 16 MB of memory for the m500, m505, or Visor Neo for $115. -Will

Best Buy has the m515 on sale for $380 and the m130 for $266. -FE

As has been rumored since January, Palm has just officially announced two new color models, the high-end m515 and mid-range m130. The m515 is the replacement for the m505 and is quite similar, adding a brighter sidelight and more memory. The m130 is a color version of the m125. Both run Palm OS 4.1 and have 16-bit color screens.

Sony has cut the official price of the PEG-N760C from $450 down to $400. This price is already in effect on the SonyStyle webstore. As always, Sony didn't announce this price cut or give a reason for it. There are a couple of possibilities. There are a lot of models out now, including Sony's own low-end S360, that have 16 MB of memory. The N760C's 8 MB is starting to look a bit cramped and this may be cutting into sales. A price reducton could lead to an increase in sales.

There has been a huge drop in price for the Kyocera 6035 smartphone. It is now available from CompUSA and several other stores for just $100 with a service plan. Sprint is selling it for $150.