We asked a variation of this question last year but the market has changed radically since then. Also, lots of handhelds have been announced but aren't yet available and we wanted to know how strong interest in these is. So please cast your vote and maybe add a comment to this article to explain why you feel the way you do.

Handspring has posted a patch for the faulty DRAM that has plagued all the Palm handheld makers. This means that everyone who has a Palm-powered handheld now has a fix for the problem.

This patch also clears up a couple of other small problems with the Visor's OS. This fix prevents unexpected launches of the Calculator when touching the Visor screen close to the Calculator launcher icon and corrects an issue where a Visor may have difficulty performing a HotSync operation using a serial cradle when a modem Springboard module is installed. Everyone with a Visor should consider downloading it.

Handspring will focus this year on delivering a range of wireless applications to its customers via the Springboard add-on cartridge, CEO Donna Dubinsky said today in an interview with News.com.

"A lot of thought went into how (the Visor) will accommodate wireless," she said, noting that the Springboard expansion technology is more flexible than the Secure Digital card, which Palm recently chose as its expansion choice for future devices.

A guy in Japan is working on a Springboard cartridge to let his Visor use CompactFlash memory cards, the same kind the TRGpro uses. He took apart a PCMCIA CF reader and used its inner board as his base board and worked from there. Now he's writing his own driver for it. But don't start reaching for your wallet, the developer says, "This work is done as my hobby, so I don't manufacture nor sell this adapter now. But I hope to do so in the future."

Pacific Neo-Tek has released a Springboard version of the OmniRemote for $59.95 which turns a Visor into a universal remote control.

Giles Goddard has released an upgrade to his space trading & combat game, Void. He has fixed several bugs and added several new features. More information is available at his site. It is $9.95 shareware.

No one thought that last year's craze of inter-aural cellphone implants and inter-cranial pagers could be topped, but they were wrong.  This year, the cutting edge executive is surgically implanting her Palm Pilot directly onto her hand.  Just a few skin grafts and four screws, and the useless left hand now becomes a highly efficient PDA holder.

The Palm Pilot Implant surgery was developed jointly by Palm, Inc. and Johns Hopkins Medical Center after extensive market research by Palm revealed a strong demand. Read more...

Standard & Poor's said yesterday that Palm Inc. will replace computer networking equipment maker 3Com Corp. in its closely watched S&P 500 Index after the close of trading on July 27. Shares of Palm, which was spun off from 3Com early this year and went public on March 2, closed up yesterday 1-7/8 at 36-3/4 on the Nasdaq stock market.

In a related story, Handspring has released its fiscal fourth-quarter results. They reported losses of $5.9 million for the quarter, though revenues grew by 51%, in its first earnings report as a public company.

ZDNET has pictures and new details on the Palm M100 and the Palm VIIx. The M100 is the first Palm to deviate from the Roman numeral naming convention. It is the successor to the entry level IIIe and will retail at $149. The model will also come with a flip cover with a small window that displays the date and time, as well as reminder notices (ala BugMe?).

The case will be a thicker plastic than previous generations and it will have dimensions similar to the Palm V, sources said.

GoAmerica, a wireless Internet service provider, has signed an agreement with Staples, an office supplies retailer, to feature GoAmerica's full range of wireless Internet and communications services and products. The new partnership broadens GoAmerica's distribution strategy and targets home-based and small business customers. The offering will initially be rolled out in August to more than 100 Staples' retail stores in major markets, including San Francisco, Boston, New York, Dallas and Orlando. These services will also be available this fall through Staples.com.

A beta version of the JunglePort.com portal for Palm is now available. JunglePort is free and offers maps, personalized dining guides, and personalized yellow pages with up to 3,000 entries. To use it, the JunglePort client, which uses vector-based mapping technology, must be on the device. The beta has content for Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York.

After days of speculation and debate, C|net has confirmed many of the rumors about Calvin. Palm will indeed release a new low-end Palm in both the U.S. and Japan next month. The surprise is that they will give the Palm VII a face-lift at the same time.

Quoting "sources", C|net says the new device is expected to feature new snap-on covers, a redesigned case that includes a smaller monochrome display, run OS 3.5, and sell for $149. Palm itself has declined to comment.

The updated Palm VII, which is not expected to include major hardware changes, will feature an updated look with a darker gray case and more applications from content providers.