HandZipper is a new application from HandWatch that can compress and decompress WinZip files directly on memory cards. Once the Zip files are saved to the card, HandZipper can unzip and install applications and files directly from the card to the handheld. Because many downloads come with a read-me file in text format, it also has a simple text viewer that can view text files within the Zip file without having to open it first. It is available now for $10.

MemoWare has been acquired by Handmark, Inc. Terms were not disclosed. Under the arrangement, the provider of online content for handhelds will operate as an autonomous business unit within Handmark. "Not much will change, only over the next few months the user experience will just get better," said Handmark CEO August Grasis III. -Kathleen Gilpatrick

During the holidays, spend $45 at Rhinoskin's webstore and they'll include a free Titanium Money Clip. Spend $65 and they'll throw in free ground shipping, too. -PR

There can be little argument that OS 5 is a make or break project for Palm Inc. If it's well-executed, it could position to company to continue to dominate the handheld market for many years to come. If poorly done, the company might not survive.

The primary change in OS 5 will be the switch from Motorola's Dragonball family of processors to ones based on designs from ARM Holdings. These will be much more powerful and greatly increase the possibilities for applications running on Palm powered handhelds.

Late yesterday, Blue Nomad released its delayed upgrade to its word processor, WordSmith 2.1.1. Its new features include VFS support, a spell checker, a thesaurus, and numerous other small changes. It is available now for $30. The upgrade is free to all registered WordSmith owners.

News Editor Ed Hardy brings us this mini-review.

A limited quantity of refurbished HandEra 330's are available directly from the manufacturer for $230. - Anon

Over sixty items are on VisorCentral's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway prize list - including a Handspring Treo and several HandyGPS Pro modules, Stowaway keyboards, Data Quake modules, Thinmodems and much more. -Marcus Adolfsson

Many owners of handhelds with expansion cards are nervous about the fact that the Palm Desktop backs up the contents of the handheld's internal memory but not the card. If the memory card is lost, so are its contents. As applications become more expansion card aware, this is becoming even more critical.

Enter BlueSync, a new app that makes a backup of the contents of all memory cards onto the PC during each HotSync.

Palm Inc. is buying ThinAirApps, a privately held developer of applications that allow secure wireless access to corporate email and other critical enterprise data. Palm is paying $19 million dollars worth of common stock and the deal is expected to close by the end of this month. This is part of Palm's drive to provide corporate users a secure, server-based messaging solution for their Palm handhelds.

Symantec AntiVirus 2002 for Palm OS scans for and detects viruses in Palm devices, providing real-time protection and on-demand scans. It checks for viruses when the user opens an application, beams files, navigates the Internet or synchronizes data with a PC. This app downloads the latest virus definitions to the PC when it connects to the Internet. The latest definitions are then transferred automatically during HotSync sessions. It will be available soon for $40. Customers receive one year of virus definition updates free.

Buy a stowaway on the Think Outside webstore and get WordSmith and PrintBoy for only $5, a $45 savings. This offer is good through January 31. -Tamara

Think Outside hasn't yet committed to making a version of the Stowaway folding keyboard for the new Sony T series but the company is strongly considering it. Expect more definite news in January. -Ed

Wordsmith 2.1 was originally scheduled to be out by the end of November but Blue Nomad has licensed the spell-checking engine from a third-party developer and has been working with them to improve its performance. One beta tester calculated it was running at slightly less than two words per second. According to a company spokesperson, it is close to releasing the application "as-is". The release day will likely either be tomorrow or Friday.

Update: WordSmith 2.2.1 has been released and a review is available.

There has been some concern that, because Bluetooth and 802.11b use the same unlicensed, 83 MHz wide, 2.4 GHz radio frequency band, the two wireless standards would interfere with each other when used together. Prelimary results from a recent study show that this doesn't happen. The range of each was unaffected by the other. The study doesn't seem to have looked at whether connection speed was affected.