In Palm's most recent Annual Report, they said their research and development expenses were $160.3 million in fiscal year 2001, which ended in June. That's an increase of $86.0 million or 116% over the $74.3 million in fiscal year 2000. They spent 10.3% of their revenues on R&D.

They attributed the increase to hiring more engineers and expenses to support new products introduced during the year, such as the m100, m105, m500, and m505, and expansion of development efforts in areas such as wireless Internet solutions and future versions of the Palm OS.

Portable Innovation Technology is working on a version of PiDirect that works on handhelds that use VFS, not just on Visors equiped with a MemPlug.

Purple Data Cables now has RS232 compliant data cables that allow Visor handhelds to interface with just about any type of mobile device with a serial port (cell phones, GPS, modems, laptops, etc.)

HandEra has made some announcements about pricing and availability for new power accessories, including the Lithium-Ion Battery and the AC adapter for the HandEra 330.

When the 330 was released, the company said there would eventually be a rechargeable option for it that would fit into the battery bay where the 4 AAAs fit. They said today this will be available in mid-September for $46. According to their statement, this will last for "months of useable life with each charge".

myWorkbench 1.0 is a new utility for managing files on handhelds with expansion cards. It acts like the Windows file manager. Users can copy, move, and delete files from RAM and removable media like Compact Flash, SD/MMC, and Memory Stick. It offers a split screen view, by default showing the contents of RAM in one side and the expansion card on the other. Frames can show different views of the same card, which simplifies moving files.

While not shown on the Fellowes web site yet, Write Right screen protectors specifically for the Palm m505 are available at some Staples stores. They are similar to the IIIc protectors as they are clear and have no texture to them. They perfectly fit the screen and could also be used with m500 or Vx for users who prefer clear, untextured screen protection. -Ed Neisch

Franklin has publish The Medical Letter Handbook of Adverse Drug Interactions for download to Palm OS devices. It costs $60. A subscriptions costs $100. A Springboard version is planned. -Ed

Without a doubt, the top news of the week was the leaked m125 details, which even made it all the way across the Atlantic to appear in The Register, too.

There were a couple of interesting statements from handheld company execs. Palm's CEO said they are going to be more aggressive about selling to companies and Handspring's COO admitted that leaving color out of the Visor Edge was a mistake.

PocketPyro, Inc. is about to release the PyroPro for Palm V, which adds up to 24 hours of digital audio and extra memory for file storage and backups. It offers 256 MB of flash memory, CD quality stereo headphone output, and a digital voice recorder. It will sell for $400 and be available the week of August 26.

A source known only as Steve-O has provided a datasheet with a fairly complete picture of the upcoming Palm m125. The device will have a 33 MHz Dragonball VZ processor and 8 MB of RAM. The U.S. version will have 2 MB of mask ROM and the international version will have 4 MB. The use of mask ROM rather than flash ROM means the OS can't be fully upgraded.

As discussed earlier, 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.

SplashData, Inc. has announced SplashID, which securely stores all kinds of personal identification information including user names, passwords, credit cards, calling cards, bank accounts, PINs, medical insurance information, and more. Information is stored in a secure, encrypted format and is accessible from either the handheld or Windows or Macintosh computer. For a short time, it costs $10.

Palm has taken a step towards making its handhelds more digital music friendly. The have licensing both Liquid Audio's Secure Portable Player Platform (SP3) and the Liquid Store.

Liquid Audio's SP3 lets third-party hardware developers build digital music devices that will work with the full line of Palm handhelds. Shinei's Porteson MP3 player for the Palm m100 series is the first device to take advantage of Palm's SP3 integration with Liquid Audio. It is not yet known what other digital music peripherals will result from this.

IBM has released four new IBM DB2 Everyplace handheld Developer Tools, which include the DB2 Everyplace Mobile Application Builder 7.2, the DB2 Everyplace for Java Database Edition 7.2, the DB2 Everyplace Database Edition 7.2, and the DB2 Everyplace Enterprise Edition 7.2. -Frank

LandWare's 9-Ball Pinball now offers color handheld users enhanced graphics with an exciting new skin. It costs $15 and is a free upgrade for registered users. PalmPak Game Card owners can upgrade for $5. A demo is available. -David Porfido