Motorola, who makes the Dragonball chips that power all Palm powered handhelds, made their fourth quarter report yesterday and earnings were down 41% over the same quarter last year. They still made 15 cents per share. Sales, however, were actually up 11%.

Robert L. Growney, president and CEO, said, "Despite the higher sales, increases in manufacturing costs and operating expenses caused operating profits to decline. Steps will be taken in 2001 to return the corporation to generating growth in its earnings."

Mark/Space has released the Clié Mac Pack that allows users to Hotsync their Sony handheld with any USB equipped Mac using the USB cradle or cable that came with the Clie. It handles file installation, too. It costs $30.

GoBar 2.5, which gives Palm powered handhelds a PC look and feel, is now available for a special introductory price of $10. This new version adds color and/or grayscale backgrounds, advanced drag-and-drop capabilities, 3D icons, drag and drop beaming and trash can, a battery charging status display, and support for Sony's Jog Dial.

Peter Klamka, president of PKN Media, which is marketing the Claudia Schiffer Palm Vx, said they were expecting to sell "many tens of thousands" of them. After announcing the device last summer, they are finally available for sale on ClaudiaSchiffer.com and apparently demand is quite high. "It started out as sort of an interesting promotional idea and it's taken on a life of its own that far exceeds what everybody first thought," Klamka said.

In an article on Byte.com, John Ruley discusses his experiences with a Compaq iPaq and a Palm VIIx and explains why he eventually chose the Palm VIIx over the iPaq, despite the latter's superior display, faster processor, and more powerful operating system. -Brooke Wheeler

Purchasers of FileMaker Pro 5 from now through March 16 may receive a free copy of FileMaker Mobile for just the cost of shipping and handling. FileMaker Mobile lets users synchronize data bi-directionally between databases on Windows and Mac PCs and Palm powered handhelds. -Ed

ePhysician has unveiled a product suite for physicians that merges electronic prescribing, objective drug reference, scheduling and charge capture. A new charge capture product, Superbill, integrates with an enhanced version of ePad, ePhysician's e-prescribing application, and A to Z Drug Facts with Facts and Comparisons for objective drug reference.

The suite's new charge capture application, Superbill, allows physicians to enter billing codes for diagnoses, office visits, procedures, and supplies directly into a hand-held device during or after each patient visit, improving billing accuracy.

At his keynote address this weekend at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Palm's CEO Carl Yankowski said the best solution to a problem is not by highlighting technology, but by hiding it. "We will always insist on applying technology that is transparent to users in an attempt to solve real problems for real people in a mobile, portable, wearable world," Mr. Yankowski said. But he admitted this will be challenging as they try to implement e-commerce, on-line banking, and more.

He remains convinced that a great design can last. To help make this point, Mr. Yankowski made his entrance in his 25-year-old fully restored VW Super Beetle. But he promised that we wouldn't have to wait 25 years to see how successful the Palm would be.

Apparently, lots of Palm User Groups want to get the year off right by publicizing their next meetings.

The next meeting of the Detriot PUG is coming up this Thursday, January 11 at 7:00 PM in Troy, MI. The main topics of discussion are a review of peanutpress.com's eBook reader, the Palm OS 3.5 upgrade; new features, why you might want it, and how to get it, and Give aways. For more information and directions, visit their web site. -Tracy Dreslinski

With the Consumer Electronics Show going on in Las Vegas, many companies have taken it as an opportunity to roll out or at least announce their latest Palm applications. Unfortuantely, in the rush not all can get in-depth coverage. Below are a few that are interesting but not important enough to be a stand-alone article.

Peoplestreet announced the free public beta of an online service that allows users to exchange self-updating electronic business cards. Users update their own info and all of the people they have exchanged info with in the past will receive the update. They now offer an add-in that stores the cards directly in the Outlook 2000 address book and a version for the Palm Desktop is coming up soon.

AirCard

Sierra Wireless and GoAmerica have teamed up to deliver wireless Internet access for the Clié, with Sierra Wireless making the modems and GoAmerica being the wireless ISP.

Sierra Wireless will create the AirBoard for Clié, an attachment for Sony's handheld that will allow it to use some of Sierra Wireless's PC Card AirCard modems. Clié users will be able to use either the CDPD or Ricochet version of the modem. These can also be used in laptops, allowing users to access the Internet from two devices with only one modem. These should be available in the second quarter of this year.

Garmin Corporation, a provider of navigation, communication and information electronics, has licenced the Palm OS for a new line of handheld products with Garmin's GPS hardware and software built in. Under the terms of the agreement, Garmin will develop, manufacture, and market location-enabled handhelds that will be able to run all Palm applications. They will likely reach market early next year.

Gary Kelley, director of marketing for Garmin said, "Location technology is becoming a key ingredient in mobile computing platforms. The convergence of location technologies with Personal Information Management (PIM) and communication functions will provide customers a higher level of convenience and confidence, particularly when traveling to unfamiliar destinations."

Carl Yankowski, Palm CEO, used his keynote address Saturday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to demonstrate his company's eWallet initiative. Palms can already hold photographs and eventually, Yankowski wants Palms to be able to carry a driver's license, health-care card and other personal identification documents.

He sees a future when Palm users can use the infrared port to automatically keep financial records, receive eCoupons,get automatic prompts about personally relevant entertainment or purchases, and always know the status of their loyalty programs, like airline mileage or hotel stays.

But the most important thing that goes in a wallet is money and the eWallet isn't any different.