Blue Nomad today introduced an updated version of WordSmith that includes full support for Macintosh users. The new version incorporates a bi-directional synchronization conduit that provides Macintosh users of WordSmith the ability to synchronize Rich Text Format files, such as those created by Microsoft Word, to and from their Palm Powered organizers. The new Macintosh conduit replaces the old WordSmith Mac OS document converter and provides generally the same features as the Windows version of WordSmith. WordSmith 1.12 is available for $30 but the new version with the Macintosh conduit is a free upgrade to all registered users.

HandEra has reduced the suggested retail price of the TRGpro to $250. It is not yet known is this is in response to the price reductions that Palm made last week on many of its models or if HandEra is making this move in preparation for the release of its new model, which is rumored to happen by the end of this month.

Rumors have been circulating for months that TRG, which recently renamed itself HandEra, will be releasing a new model with a more up-to-date design and a better screen. The TRGpro hasn't had a major hardware change since its release in October of 1999.

Certainly the most frequently asked question in the Palm world now is "When will the m500/m505 ship?" After Palm's announcement last week that they would be delayed "a few weeks", the frequency only increased. Palm hasn't made any recent official statements about release dates but various online stores have.

FranklinCovey is continuing to say that it will be shipping the m500 on April 26 and the m505 on May 10. They will cost $400 and $450 respectively and come with the Franklin Planner Software Suite. -Mike Cane

Staples.com is listing shipping dates of April 29 for the m500 and May 17 for the m505. And Edealfinder.com has $40 off purchases of $200 or more on Staples.com -Thane McCready

Last week, Eruptor Entertainment released PortaBush, a satyrical app in which the U.S. President is a sort of virtual pet. Users can make Dubya pass or veto bills, blow stuff up, eat BBQ, get drunk, and more while trying to keep the weight off and his popularity high. It is available for $5.

What is possibly more interesting than the game itself is how popular it is in China. During a huge traffic spike last Thursday, "about 80% of the downloads were coming from China," Eruptor Entertainment President Brad Foxhoven said.

Samsung SDI will begin supplying plastic touch-screen displays to Palm next month. They will start producing 100,000 3.8-inch screens a month, half of which will be go to Palm. Production will increase to 500,000 screens per month by December, adding up to a total of 2 million this year. -Ed

Palmtop Software is launching TomTom Citymaps for major European cities. It not only displays the maps, but also recommends the shortest or fastest route. It has maps for all major towns and cities in Europe, advanced route planning, color maps, and GPS support. -Marlies van Roosmalen

It's sad to say but not everyone has a Palm handheld. This means that not everything can be shared electronically and occasionally things just have to be printed out. If you spent a lot of time away from a full-sized printer you should consider getting the portable SiPix Pocket Printer A6.

The Sacramento Palm Users Group (SacPUG) will be meeting this Wednesday, April 18th, from 6 to 8 pm. This month's topic is E-text readers, which are becoming increasingly popular, and PalmOS availability is no exception. -Renee Roberts

The next meeting of the Los Angeles Palm User Group (LAPUG) will be on Saturday, April 21 at 10:30 am. The April meeting will feature Dianne Campbell, the Area Sales Manager for Palm, who will demo and discuss the new models from Palm, the m500 and the m505. -Ted Arlauskas

During yesterday's earnings announcement, Donna Dubinsky also revealed her company's plans to develop a handheld with integrated wireless capability like Palm's VII series. She said Handspring's wireless model should debut by the end of their next fiscal year in June 2002. She declined to give any more details.

Handspring is also going to focus more on corporate customers. "We'll be evolving our products to better meet Enterprise needs over the next 12 to 18 months," Dubinsky said.

Late last month, AvantGo announced that a new version of their client software would be released on April 10. It was finally released this morning. It can be downloaded from this teaser page of some of their new wireless services. For non-corporate users, the new client offers 30% faster browsing over wired and wireless connections and a new user interface so individuals can more easily and transition between wireless and offline connectivity modes.

3-Lib has produced a Palm OS training CD. Comprising almost four hours of specially shot 'on-screen' footage with accompanying expert commentary, the CD will run on virtually any desktop computer. The CD is aimed at both beginners and those with a basic familiarity with Palm OS. It is £20 ($34) each, including worldwide postage and packing. -Steve Litchfield

OmniSky, the wireless ISP, has licensed the Handspring Blazer browser and proxy server. OmniSky says this will provide web browsing that is significantly faster than other wireless services for the Palm OS -- rendering the first screen of virtually any web site in less than five seconds. -Ed

Handspring, Inc. just announced good results for their most recent quarter. They had revenues of $123.8 million, an increase of 261% compared to last year, and 7% over last quarter. This exceeded analyst estimates. Still, the company took a loss of $6.7 million, or 6 cents a share, meeting analysts' estimates. But even this is an improvement; in the same quarter a year ago, they lost 13 cents per share.

For next quarter, they stand by earlier revenue estimates of $130 million to $136 million but admit that revenue will probably come in at the bottom of the range.