Palm is rumored to be announcing the i705, its new wireless handheld, on Monday. With the product release so near, its almost inevitable that pictures and information on the new device start to appear.

The i705 will have a large ad in the upcoming February 3 sales flyer for Staples. It lists the i705 for sale at $450. The color picture clearly shows a monochrome screen. The ad also says it will have 8 MB of RAM and a built-in SD expansion card slot.

Those who signed up with Palm Inc. to be notified when their new model was available have begun to get an email about it. It doesn't have any details on the new handheld and doesn't even mention a product name. However, the email does say that it is wireless and allows the recipient to sign up to purchase it when it becomes available, which the email only says will be "soon".

Steve Wozniak, co-creator of the Apple, has come out of retirement to lead a company that's gong to make products that make use of GPS and wireless technologies. At this point, it's not clear what the company, called Wheels of Zeus, will be developing. -Ed

The "auto shut off" patch on Sony's Support site reported on earlier this week isn't really that. It's actually a fix for a bug that sometimes prevents the T415 or T615C for connecting to another handheld via infrared. Visit Sony's Support page then click on "Updates" for the specific model. -nXt

According to someone who recently attended a roadshow of Palm OS devices in Germany, Palm Inc. plans to introduce several new models in the next few months. In addition to the wireless model that has already gotten so much attention lately, the company will announce on March 4 two new color handhelds. Also covered at this roadshow was Palm's plans for wireless handhelds and a bit on OS 5.

The m515 will be a high-end color device that will take the place of the m505. It will have a much brighter display than the m505 but still have the same screen resolution. It will also have 16 MB of RAM.

InfoWorld's gossip columnist Robert X. Cringely reports that there's "talk" at Palm Inc. of selling the new OS subsidiary to Sony. -Paul

Fictionwise has released another 2001 Nebula Preliminary Ballot nominee as a free eBook. A Roll of the Dice by Catherine Asaro is an Analog Reader's Choice Winner, a HOMer Award Winner, a Hugo Award Nominee, and, of course, a 2001 Preliminary Ballot Nebula Award Nominee. -Scott Pendergrast

Global Star Software has created a Palm version of Serious Sam: The First Encounter. This is another example of a PC game making the jump onto the small screen. It's a first-person shooter in which players must fight their way through lots of levels filled with monsters. World-class Palm-gamer Pepper brings us this review.

TakTik is a new tactical game similar to Stratego. Players face each other across a board and try to defeat each other with teams made of several types of pieces. The only way to find out the type of your opponent's pieces is by attacking them. It has support for both high-and regular-resolution color screens and is available now for $12.50.

The Sony T615C is just starting to get into customer's hands but for many people the actual handheld is only the beginning. A complete setup requires accessories, like keyboards, modems, and cases. Some peripheral makers are already planning to develop products for either the T615C, the T415, or both. This has been slightly complicated by the need for a new HotSync port on the T series, needed because the T415 is too thin for the one used on other Sony models.

As part of its campaign to create "buzz" about its forthcoming handheld, Palm Inc. has a page on its site that, until recently, mentioned that the new handheld would be wireless. The page has been edited and the word "wireless" no longer appears. -Anon

The Scott eVest 2.0 will be available March 1. It has 15 pockets, the ability to connect electronic devices between different pockets, and removable sleeves. It will sell for $160 but there is a $40 discount for pre-orders. -Ed

The Platform Solutions Group, the Palm subsidiary that licences the Palm OS, has reported that the total number of handhelds running the Palm OS ever sold has passed the 20 million mark worldwide. November sales figures from market research firm NPD Intellect showed Palm Powered handhelds made up about 82% of all handhelds sold at retail in the United States. In preliminary numbers for December, that percentage rose even higher. The top three handheld vendors during the all-important holiday season all sold devices using the Palm OS: Palm, Handspring and Sony.

Palm, Inc. has announced that it has finished spinning off into a separate subsidiary the part of the company that creates the Palm OS. This creates a bit of distance between the part of the company that develops Palm's hardware and the part that writes the Palm OS. The other licensees of the Palm OS, like Handspring and Sony, have complained that Palm's own hardware group had too much influence over what went into the operating system, giving Palm-branded handhelds an unfair advantage. This split is intended to reduce that.