Palm Inc. held a press conference in Taiwan on Friday to officially announce that they have licensed Palm's operating system to a Taiwan PC manufacturing company - Acer. During the press conference, a prototype Palm device was shown. It has no model name yet but it's a color display device running Palm OS 4.0 (Chinese Edition) with a Dragonball VZ 33 MHz.

Darfon Electronics, a subsidiary of Acer, has announced that its G300 and G500 portable keyboards will soon be unveiled. The G300 is a small clip-on keyboard just 2.8 by 3.8 by 0.6 inches and weighing only 1.4 ounces. It has 0.5 mm key travel. A built-in hook for the handheld lets the Palm be held for easy viewing. It runs off power from the handheld so no batteries are needed and power consumption is low. The G300 for the Palm V will be available June 15 for $50. Versions are also planned for the Palm III series, m500/m505, m100/m105, as well as Handspring Visor, Edge and Sony Clié series.

Like the Joker says to Batman, "Where does he get those wonderful toys!" That's the same kind of response I have to the neat Palm accessories that Brando continues to bring to the market. Reviewer Robert Zach takes a look at one such toy, a Palm V series USB HotSync & Charger Cable.

Palm Inc. announced today it has hired Todd Bradley, formerly executive vice president of global operations at Gateway Inc., to be executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Solutions Group. In addition, the company said channel sell-through has continued to improve as the company's new line, the m500 series, is selling well in the United States and has just begun selling internationally.

Bradley's appointment is part of the company's actions to solidify Palm's leadership in the mobile computing marketplace and to return to profitability. Key elements of the plan include bolstering the company's management, reducing costs, and aggressively developing innovative products.

Extended Systems Inc., a mobile infrastructure developer , said on Thursday it has sold its Print Server business unit and will trim its work force by 15 percent, or about 50 positions, in a restructuring after a canceled merger with Palm.

Palm had been interested in Extended Systems as a way of tapping into corporate enterprise markets. In a conference call, Extended Systems management said the company will continue in a partnership arrangement with Palm.

Iambic, known for their TinySheet and Action Names applications has been working on an exciting new Palm OS game. The game will feature fluid 3D color graphics and 32 levels of arcade style play. The release is set for June 5. There is a teaser website up at: www.ababall.com -Cosmic

NothStartMobile has released a software update for MemorySafe enabling users to immediately recover lost data after a hard reset. The free upgrade is available here. -Rob Zach

With a large amount of PDA's on store shelves and inventories, many retail outlets are lowering prices on handhelds even further than Palm Inc's recent cutbacks.

In what may be a bad sign, prices on Palm's newest models, the m500 and m505, are also being reduced. BestBuy is selling the m500 at $330, $70 below the $400 MSRP. Other stores are offering extras, through July 15th Outpost.com will include a free 16MB SD card with the purchase of a m505. Other electronics retail stores are following suit with big price cuts and handheld promotions extending across their Palm OS line and even some PocketPC's.

PalmInfocenter reader Brian Hazard wrote in with his opinion on why he's sticking with his trusty Palm IIIc amid the influx new feature packed handhelds. -Ryan

It's a tale as old as the advertising business itself; The better mousetrap. The kitchen gadget that make's one tomato last a month. And now the arrival of the Palm Pilot to end all Palm Pilots...
Or not?

Adobe had made the Adobe Acrobat Reader for Palm OS available for download, following the successful beta launch last month. The product allows users to view files in the ubiquitous Adobe PDF format. It is capable of displaying both text and images and preserves the rich content of files - styled text, images, and bookmarks - and adapts it for viewing on small screens. Users can also search for a specific word or phrase. It includes a desktop application that converts the PDFs for viewing on the Palm and the Palm OS viewer application that lives on the handheld.

The creative minds at InnoPocket have added another exciting accessory to their lineup and in the process have heated up the CF Adapter market for the Handspring Visor. Read all about it in our hands on review.

In another effort designed to move Palm's inventory and spur demand, Palm Inc has launched a new Sell & Win promotion.

The offer extends to brick and mortar retail employees in the US and Canada. Participants must simply sell 15 Palm handhelds by June 24, take a six question online survey & mail in a claim form to win a free Palm m500.