HandAble.com has run across something perfect for people whose kids always want to play with their handheld. Palm has teamed up with CDI Toys to produce a Palm-branded toy (it doesn't do anything but make noise and make a little kid think they have a real one). It's not listed on the CDI Toys site. -Bradly Barton

AsiaBizTech did some tests and found out that the Sony N710C has far and way the best battery life of any handheld capable of playing MP3s and movies, beating the iPaq, Cassiopeia E-700, and several others. -AriB

The human body is an immensely complicated piece of machinery and the maintenance technicians, generally called doctors, have to keep track of a tremendous amount of information in order to do their jobs well. Increasingly, they are turning to handhelds to help them mange all the data.

Since 1999, the number of doctors in the U.S. using handhelds as an integral part of their everyday practice has almost doubled from 10% to 18% this year. That number jumps up to 33% among doctors under the age of 45.

A source has come forward with some info on Palm's plans for the next two generations of wireless handhelds.

According to this source, the m700 will be announced at PalmSource in October and be available in November. It will have wireless modem capabilities, similar to the VII series and can not be used as a mobile phone. It will have a monochrome screen. Not surprisingly, it will have Palm's Universal Connector.

Bachmann Software has launched FilePoint, an application designed to help users manage their files. It allows users to organize applications and documents into a hierarchy of folders and subfolders and includes the ability to drag and drop documents among folders, plus the ability to browse or search for documents by title or file type. Users are able to open their documents directly from a folder, and retrieve documents that were recently opened. It sells for $20 and is available now.

Palm, Inc. and Be Incorporated have just announced that Palm is going to buy the intellectual property and technology assets of Be. Palm is also trying to hire Be's engineering team. The price is $11 million, to be paid in Palm stock, following approval from Be shareholders.

"The technology and people from Be are highly regarded,'' said Carl Yankowski, Palm chief executive officer. "We look forward to them joining forces with our own outstanding engineers on future versions of the Palm OS. This move will help us expand the PalmOS platform into broader markets using their multimedia media and Internet expertise.''

Alan Kessler, the General manager of Palm's Platform Solutions Group, has resigned and will be leaving the company effective tomorrow. He has been in charge of the part of the company that develops the Palm OS platform and licenses it to other makers of handheld computers.

Eric Benhamou, chairman of the Palm Board of directors and a member of the Platform Solutions Group Committee of the board, will act as the temprary head of the Group until a permanent replacement is named.

Handspring is set to announce two new Visors, named the Ace and the Columbia, according to a rumor originally reported by PalmStation last week. It is not clear whether these are the internal codenames for the devices or if these will be their shipping names.

According to the rumor, the Ace will replace the Visor Deluxe and have 8 MB of RAM. The really interesting news is that the Columbia is supposed to have 16 MB of memory and a 45 MHz processor.

PSC Inc. has introduced the Momentum II bar code scanner Springboard. Aside from its bar code scanning abilities, it also has 2 MB of memory. It comes pre-loaded with a bar code scanning app and FileMover, allowing out-of-the-box scanning capabilities and backup or transfer of files to the module's flash memory or a PC.

Handhelds are expensive, especially high end models. Protecting that investment should be a priority for everyone who owns one. News Editor and occasional reviewer Ed Hardy gave Scribble's line of hardcases a try for a week and he said they provide some of the best protection available at a reasonable price.

America Online has dropped the price of its Mobile Communicator to $100 but raised the monthly fee to $30. -Ed

The next SF Palm User Group is meeting tomorrow, August 16. This month they bring together a mix of Palm programming (CASL), Palm replacement parts and service (GetHighTech.com) and Palm wireless downloading wonders (SkipWire). -digichimp

Joel from PDA Geek has been sent pictures of the m125 and has now posted them online.

As was revealed here first, last week, the m125 will have a 33 MHz Dragonball VZ processor and 8 MB of RAM and non-upgradeable ROM. It will have an SD expansion slot and use Palm's Universal Connector. The m125 will cost $250 and should be available near August 24.