pdaLight is a SpringBoard module and light arm that can be used when the Visor's backlight doesn't provide enough illumination. pdaLight uses a "super bright white" LED to illuminate the entire Visor screen, Grafitti area and function buttons in the darkest of conditions. According to its creator, power consumption is low with minimal battery drain. pdaLight will be available May 1 for $19.

Feeling kinda down that your Palm PDA is showing it's age? Want a Handspring Edge or m505 but can't justify the extra money or you'd rather wait for a really big jump in the technology? There are several companies that can help you.

Tony Rudenko at PalmPilotUpgrade.com will upgrade the memory in your Palm (Palm III's and up and all HandSprings) and can increase the CPU speeds of Palm V's to Vx speeds. Heck, he even will upgrade a brand-new Visor Edge to 16 MB and the Prism and Platinum, too. He also puts flash ROM in some Palm models without it.

Palm, in association with Temasek Polytechnic and the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore, is going to open the Mobile Computing Center, a school to train Singapore developers to write Palm applications. "The initiative is part of our goal to push the Palm OS as a ubiquitous operating system on the handheld environment," said Palm Asia-Pacific director Chng Poh Hwa. -Mike Cane

PalmGear has transitioned to their new format. -Kevin F.

Back in February, we ran a discussion thread called "Is the Palm VII Series a Flop?". The primary reason for it was a statement by a Giga Information Group analyst that "Only about 40 thousand of the existing 100 thousand to 150 thousand Palm VII users subscribe to the wireless service". Palm's recent quarterly earning statement shows this to be incorrect.

At the end of November, Palm.Net had over 149 thousand subscribers and during Palm's most recent financial quarter, this figure grew 27% to over 190 thousand subscribers.

Handango is offering some great deals on Palm handhelds and accessories on a special site as part of their Friends & Family promotion.

They are selling the Palm IIIxe for $130 (MSRP $200) and the Palm VIIx for $200 (MSRP $400). The $100 rebate on the VIIx with Palm.Net activation still applies. The Palm IIIc is $250 (MSRP $330) plus a $30 rebate until April 9. They have the Palm Vx Limited Edition, Millennium Blue or Champagne color for $260 (MSRP $350).

Digital Airways is shipping its Wapaka Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) microbrowser, written in Java, for Palm devices. Wapaka offers a multi-session and multi-windows environment, allowing users to open several WAP sites at once. It is available for free. -Ed

PFU America, makers of the Happy Hacking Cradle, is now bundling Solvepoint Corporation's Dock V Pro with every unit. The Dock V Pro lets Palm V and Vx users to use Palm III accessories. Happy Hacking Cradle users can type directly into their Palm organizers with most standard PS/2 PC 101/104 keyboards. -Solvepoint

In a recent interview with Business 2.0, Handspring co-founder Jeff Hawkins said,"It's almost certain that we will have products that won't run Palm OS". This has been taken out of context by some to mean that Handspring is considering soon dropping the Palm platform and switching to another.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In the same article, Mr. Hawkins says, "We're very happy with Palm-and I mean that. All the products we want to build today, we can build with Palm OS." But this statement was skipped over by some who drew the wrong conclusion.

Handspring's other co-founder, Donna Dubinsky, has stepped in to try and clear up some of the muddle. She said yesterday that while Handspring may someday expand the number of operation systems they support, "We'll always have at least a major portion of our business in Palm". She went on to say her company saw no immediate need to use other OSs.

One of the most anticipated features of the upcoming m500 series is its ability to use very small peripherals that plug into the Secure Digital (SD) slot. However, while Palm has already announced the m500 series, no companies have stepped forward to talk about their SD slot peripherals besides memory cards. This is because the SD Card Association has not yet finalized all the standards necessary for items like modems and digital cameras to use the slot, which could delay the release of SD slot peripherals until possibly this fall.

If you are tired of bringing a transformer and cradle with you while travelling, PDAsia has a solution for you. The Billionton USB Sync Charger allows users to connect a Palm and the USB port on a PC or notebook and simultaneously charge and HotSync. There are models for the Palm V and III series. On models without rechargeable batteries, it can still perform a HotSync. It costs US$52 (delivery included).

Update: Brando offers the Palm V USB HotSync + Charger Cable that performs the same functions for US$39 with delivery. -Ed

In an update to a story we first brought to you in February, Motient, the network the RIM Blackberry uses, is displaying an "always on" Palm V modem at Chicago Comdex. The device is constantly monitoring its wireless ISP for new e-mail and users will be notified as soon as one arrives. The service has junk mail filtering and, using Motient's eLink Enterprise software, can download corporate e-mail. It will ship in the third quarter of this year for between $200 and $300. -Patrick Ryan

Handspring has announced regional retail availability for its VisorPhone through Best Buy stores in California and Nevada and Staples stores in California, Nevada, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Cingular Wireless will provide the service plans for all of those markets. It costs $300 when purchased simultaneously with a service plan from Cingular Wireless. -Ed

DataViz has released an Add-On Kit for Documents To Go Pro. PDF To Go allows users to view text and tables in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files and DataViz Mail lets users receive e-mail and attachments.

Update: This is a free upgrade for all registered users of Documents To Go 3.000 or higher. Those who have received Documents To Go Pro through a bundle offer can purchase the Add-on Kit for $20.