Up until now, the Palm Vc has only been a hopeful rumor among the Palm faithful. Well, it seems that the Vc is no longer a rumor! NPUG has obtained exclusive photos of a COLOR PALM V in action!
http://interpug.com/npug/halloween.shtml

SyncIT.com has announced an agreement with AvantGo to let Palm users sync their Internet bookmarks between their handhelds and desktops. AvantGo users will be able to add SyncIT.com's free application, BookmarkSync, as an AvantGo channel, so they can share the same list of Internet bookmarks no matter if they are using their PC or PDA. SyncIT works with Windows 95/98/NT/2K and MacOS.

McAfee.com today announced the beta release of their first anti-virus scanner resident on the Palm. McAfee.com's Anti-Virus Resident Scanner (MARS) installs a 17 KB anti-virus engine that provides "on-demand" virus protection. It is available for McAfee.com subscribers as part of the Wireless Security Center, which costs $30 per year.

The next meeting of the Los Angeles Palm User Group (LAPUG) will be on Saturday, November 4 and will feature a talk from Ted Ladd, the Lead Evangelist for the Palm Platform. -Ted Arlauskas

One of the few PUGs for Chicago has just been started. Check out their Web site for more details. -Paul Mester

A few weeks ago, a design for a cheap DIY fully autonomous robot built with off the shelf parts with a Palm at its heart was posted by the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Insitute. The robot can drive itself around on flat surfaces, using optical range sensors to sense nearby obstacles and walls. They give links to parts suppliers but hundreds of people asked to buy all the parts as a kit. As a research team, the Carnegie Mellon folks weren't interested in opening a store. Therefore, they have licensed the design to Acroname, who will sell the kits. They are offering two versions, the BareBones Kit for $260 and the Easy Kit for $300.

Details on Kyocera's upcoming pdQ² hybrid phone running the Palm OS were posted late last week onto SiliconInvestor, including pictures and a preliminary users manual, both of which have now been removed.

The pdQ² is both a CDMA cell phone and a Palm PDA in one small package. Its list of features is impressive. Some of the most notable are a small dial called a shuttle that allows users to move through on-screen menus one handed, voice dialing of everyone in the Address Book, voice memos, paging, voice mail, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and a headset jack. Most importantly, it can act as its own digital modem, if this feature is offered by your wireless ISP.

With the National School Boards Association's 14th Annual Technology + Learning Conference going on this week, there have been several announcements about Palm use in schools. The first one was the Palm Education Pioneers program to award grants to teachers to study Palm use in classrooms but there have also been Palm-related announcements from eHomeRoom and Scholastic.

PalmOS 3.5 is shipping on new Palm Vx units but, according to Palm support representatives, won't be available for download by purchasers of older Vx units until "later this fall".

If you're the owner of an older Palm you'll either have to wait or buy a new unit. Palm support have given no reason for the delay.

QUALCOMM has finally announced the commercial release of Eudora Internet Suite 2.0 for the Palm. EIS 2.0 lets users send and receive email and browse the Internet with a wireless or wireline modem. Free versions sync only with Windows Eudora software while the $30 version is compatible with most Windows email apps. It is available for download now. -Ed

AEC Software has released FastTrack Schedule 7.0 for Palm, which delivers enhanced connectivity, innovative data entry, and advanced planning and tracking tools for project managers on the go. A 30-day trial version is available. The full version costs $99 and upgrades are $29 for registered users of Version 6.04. -Ryan Kish

As seen on slashdot, the UK artist Tom Kemp created an enormous painting using only his Palm Vx and Teal Paint. The painting, called Analysis, is an amazing 4 feet high and 17 feet wide. That measures out to 1000 Palm screens of digital drawings.

The news release has a great quote and more info: "The Palm is more and more a tool for business but this wonderful piece of modern art shows that it has so many more possibilities for creative work."

Novatel Wireless today announced that it will begin shipping the Minstrel S Wireless Springboard Modem this week. It is the first CDPD modem for the Visor and features a rechargeable lithium ion battery which lasts for about 8 hours of continuous use and 20-24 hours in sleep mode; 3 LEDs to denote cellular service, wireless data transmission and battery life; bundled email and web browsing software; and 2 MB of Flash ROM memory for storing 3rd party applications. It carries a hefty suggested retail price of $369 but weighs only 4 oz.