With the inclusion of the virtual file system (VFS) in Palm OS 4.0, Palm owners finally have the opportunity to use an almost unlimited number of applications and files from their storage cards using an application still in development called MSMount and a memory card management utility, such as McFile.

Update: This is a hoax. I'm leaving it up here for archival purposes but nothing contained in this article is true. -Ed

A leaked internal memo from Technical Support at Palm has appeared on comp.sys.palmtops.pilot. It covers how to manually increase the contrast on the new m505 to the same level as the Visor Prism's at the cost of decreasing battery life by about 35%. This system hack does not work with U.S.-made m505s, only on ones from Hungary.

Do this at your own risk. Any errors made in entry of the contrast initialization string may result in an endless loop reset. Most Palm Tech Support personnel haven't yet heard of this system hack and at this point they don't support it or suggest it be used.

It has been a very busy week. It started off with a bang on Sunday with Sony accidentally releasing all the details on the U.S. version of the new Clié. Sony officially announced it on Tuesday and on Wednesday we published a deeper look at the PEG-N710C's music playing abilities.

If that weren't enough, the Palm m505 first appeared in limited quantities on Wednesday, setting off the kind of activity that is usually only seen when you throw a live squirrel into a room with 50 thousand golden retrievers.

As predicted this week, Handspring cut some of its prices yesterday. The Visor Deluxe is now $200, a drop of $50. They are also throwing in a free leather case for a limited time. In addition, the company introduced a mail-in $50 rebate for its Visor Platinum so it will cost $250. The rebate offer goes on until June 17.

Update: Handspring has also announced $30 rebates on some Springboard modules with the purchase of any Visor handheld. This offer is also good until June 17.

The University of South Dakota (USD) of Vermillion will provide Palm handheld computers to all first-year undergraduate students as well as first-year law and medical school students. The initiative takes place beginning with the 2001-2002 academic year and affects approximately 1,300 students.

HandEra is sponsoring an on-line developer contest for freeware and shareware developers who add HandEra 330 support to their existing applications, with new applications also accepted. Applications that customize the virtual silk screen are also eligible.

Wednesday of this week, the first shipments of m505s appeared at Office Depot stores and almost instantly were snapped up. While this has made many people happy new m505 owners, a majority of seekers are still hoping for the next shipment.

Judy Bruner, Palm's Chief Financial Officer, said that current shipments of the m505 are not enough to meet demand and higher volume shipments aren't expected until the end of this month or the beginning of next.

Lehman Brothers analyst Joseph To has issued a report predicting that Handspring will soon cut prices for its low end Visors to match the cuts Palm made last month. Palm cut the m100 to $130 but, according to Mr. To, this hasn't been enough to clear out the excess inventory. He said Palm might have to lower the price to $100.

Gartner Research Fellow Martin Reynolds went even further. He suggested that both companies may soon need to reduce prices on their new high-end models. "If the economy is slowing down, then the higher end models are going to either sell at a lower price point or sell fewer units."

OmniSky Corporation has introduced a free-modem offer for users of Palm and Handspring handhelds who sign up for a year of the OmniSky service. The modems work with the Palm V series or the Visor Platinum, Prism, and Edge.

Talking to investors at the J.P. Morgan H&Q Technology Conference, Palm Chief Financial Officer Judy Bruner briefly discussed her company's plans for wireless handhelds. She said Palm is on course to deliver a new version of the wireless Palm VIIx by the end of this year. It will first be available with service from Cingular Wireless.

She also said Palm is developing a handheld with built-in GSM service for Europe but she wouldn't give any details or a delivery date.

Judy Bruner, Palm's Chief Financial Officer, told investors at the J.P. Morgan H&Q Technology Conference that her company's retail sales in April were down roughly 20% from January. Sales in March were about the same as January's. Palm Inc.'s share of the handheld market in January was 60.5%. "It's been fairly weak and getting a bit weaker from February to April," said Ms. Bruner.

She also said her company wasn't ready to predict when sales would rebound. "Our visibility as to when sales will pick up is fairly limited."