NPD Intelect, the market research company, has released a list of the top five PDA companies in December. During that month, Palm had 67.5% of the market, which is a drop from the over 70% Palm had enjoyed in previous months. One of the companies cutting into Palm's lead was Handspring, who has moved up a few points to over 16%. None of the rest of the Palm OS licensees made it into the top five.

Casio had the biggest percentage jump on the list. The maker of the Cassiopeia line of PocketPC (PPC) handhelds moved up to a 9.7% share of the market. Interestingly, the number four PDA company was neither a Palm or a PPC licensee. Royal, maker of the daVinci series of PDAs had a 1.8% share.

Ballard High in Seattle is going high tech this semester. Students will use the Visors to take notes in class, track homework assignments, create outlines and write reports, share information, and record their grades. They can also read novels and news, use an electronic dictionary and thesaurus, and study for tests.

Dr. Engle, Ballard High Principal, anticipates that students using the computers will develop stronger organizational skills, improve academic achievement, and gain valuable proficiency with technology. "I am committed to making technology available to all students,'' said Dr. Engle. "We need to introduce technology into education early and integrate it into the daily lives of students.'' The pilot project is intended to generate data for a grant at the district level, then statewide.

Over the past week, a good number of smaller news tidbits have been contributed to us but haven't been posted because of a rush of stories that we decided took precedence. However, we decided to collect all of them into one large block that includes info on Arabic Palms, a new graffiti area protector, a Palm RPG, free fiction, and more.

After ten months, Microsoft has decided to cancel its controversial "Can Your Palm Do That?" advertising campaign. "No major brand has succeeded by solely playing off the competition," says Tim Maleeny, director of strategic development at ad agency Publicis & Hal Riney, a unit of Publicis. "Microsoft's campaign reinforced the notion that they were late to the game." Instead, the company will begin a series of advertisements that will highlight the PocketPC's wireless capabilities. "It's time now for the Pocket PC to establish itself on its own," says Phil Holden, marketing director of Microsoft's mobile-devices division. "Our 'Can your Palm do that?' campaign suggested that the Pocket PC and Palms were similar. Now we’re going to stand on what the Pocket PC can do and not what the Palms can't do."

Magellan Corporation has finally released the GPS Companion, which provides detailed, street-level maps using the MarcoSoft Quo Vadis mapping platform as well as navigation information such as waypoint and route management capabilities, a digital compass, an analog speedometer and more. It is available now from CompUSA for $150.

Despite recent rumors to the contrary, when asked if his company was considering buying Psion, Palm COO Alan Kessler told CNBC, "No is the answer to that question". CNBC then asked if they had looked over Psion's financial performance with a view to a takeover, he said, "absolutely we haven't". Palm's usual answer to questions of this type is "no comment" so the company is clearly sending a signal that they haven't the slightest interest in Psion.

PDA Controls.com in conjunction with The Pittsburgh Pebbles PDA Project at Carnegie Mellon University have created a site devoted to the promotion of software that controls a Windows Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 based PC. The software is FREE, as are the step by step instructions on how to install and operate the various applications. There are also applications that permit multiple Palms to be connected to the same computer and work simultaneously.

AvantGo, Inc. reported financial results for its fourth quarter and revenues were $6.6 million, representing a 526% increase from the same quarter last year, and a 42% increase over the third quarter of 2000. Revenues for the year were $16.3 million, a 465% increase from $2.9 million for the previous year.

"Based upon the strong sales trends the Company experienced in the fourth quarter of 2000, we project that revenue will grow by over 100% in 2001," said David Cooper, AvantGo's chief financial officer. "We have revised our projections and anticipate reaching profitability two quarters earlier than previously planned, and without any additional funding.''

Xilinx, Handspring, and Portable Design Magazine are co-sponsoring the Cool Module Design Contest, which offers portable system designers the opportunity to design a Springboard for a top prize of $10,000. The winner will also a get a Visor Platinum and publication of the winning design in Portable Design Magazine. Design entries will be accepted through April 30.

Japan's Sega Corp. said yesterday it would begin creating games for Palm's handheld computers. The game maker provided few details, but said that both online and offline video games will be available for Palm Powered handhelds sometime this year. The online games will be accessible through the MyPalm portal.

Peter Moore, president and COO, Sega of America, said "We feel Palm handhelds are one of the best vehicles for enjoying Sega games anytime, anywhere."

The Sony Clié Information Page, a source of all types of info on the handheld, points out that despite what Office Depot quotes on their website, at the store you can pick one up for $300. Through March 31, you can also get Sony's $50 rebate mail-in at SonyStyle. -Mike Cane

Fictionwise.com has signed acclaimed author Larry Niven, acquiring eBook rights to seventeen of his most recognized short fiction. The stories include all four of the author’s Hugo Award winning short works: "Inconstant Moon," "Neutron Star," "The Hole Man," and "The Borders of Sol," as well as most of his award nominated short works. -Scott Pendergrast