Thanks to Michael Pinney for pointing me to this article on ZDNet that has a few new details on Palm's wireless plans. It mentions that Palm has plans to add wireless voice services and that Bluetooth won't be integrated into Palm devices until 2002 or 2003 because radios for the technology are too expensive. They also detail that OmniSky will formally launch their wireless service on Monday. They also claim that the current OmniSky modem has voice support already. I find that a little hard to believe and I'll have check up on it and get back with an update. UPDATE 5/1: I spoke with a rep at Novatell Wireless and She confirmed that the Minstrel V does not support voice functions. The ZDNet author may have misquoted Mr. Yankowski.

Symbian has announced that Sony is licensing its EPOC operating system for use in its next-generation wireless phones. Sony has also licensed the Palm OS and is expected to release a handheld based on the Palm OS in the coming months. It is not yet clear how this latest announcement from Sony will affect the development of future Palm-based devices from the electronics giant.

Ed has put together a review of the "Mother" of all Palm web browsers, AvantGo 3.3. The latest version of AvantGo has gone a long way towards making it the single Web browser you need on your Palm. Read what's new in 3.3, or if you don't have it already download it and find out why AvantGo is a PalmInfocenter.com pick.

In his latest review, Rob takes a look at the StylusPlus from StylusPlus.com. The Stylus+ is a multi-function utility that acts as a Pen, Pencil and a Stylus. If you find yourself switching back and forth from Paper to Palm or you want to lighten the load on your pocket protector this Stylus+ is worth a look.

Thanks to Bob for letting us know that a new driver has been released for the Palm Portable Keyboard, which is currently selling for $82.95 on Amazon. Version 1.1 of the keyboard driver is an update to the current 1.0 driver. It addresses reported keyboard and system delays when the 1.0 driver is enabled and speeds up the overall performance of the keyboard driver.

Palm CEO Carl Yankowski made several important statements today at the Palm executive summit. He reiterated earlier announcements about Palm moving to have all their handhelds be wireless in one form or another but took it a step further, hinting that Palm will become mostly a wireless service provider. "Devices are critical, but they are a means to an end," he said. "We're on the cusp of what I believe is a wireless revolution." He also said that in the near future some of the company's palmtops will be powered by processors from ARM, which are significantly more powerful than the Motorola chips Palms currently boast. This will allow them to do much more processor intensive tasks. In fact, Yankowski announced that by the end of the year, the company will release a voice-activated product. More details are available here. It's rumored that the ARM chips will run off Palm OS 4 which is said to have support for different processors, different size displays and screen resolutions and more than 8 megs of ram.

Cutting Edge Software, Inc., a leading developer of productivity software tools for the Palm Computing (R) industry, announces today it has launched its redesigned Web site at www.cesinc.com. The Web site now emphasizes the importance the Company is placing on "enterprise customers," the rapidly growing segment of corporations, government agencies and other large organizations that are outfitting large numbers of their personnel with Palm OS™ handheld computers.

Palm.Net has deployed Network Appliance's NetCache to increase the speed of its wireless network. NetCache allows the Palm.Net service to distribute its content across its entire network and improve the speed of Palm VII transactions. Bob Harvey, senior director at Palm, said, "To meet the huge number of transaction requests, we looked for a way to speed transaction time and minimize bandwidth consumption. Caching was the right technology for this requirement, and with NetCache, a solution was formed." On a related note the Palm VII was named as a security threat and was banned from a National Laboratory.

DREADling, the oft-delayed version of Doom for the Palm, has been delayed yet again. It is currently scheduled to be released on May 8. According to their site, the reason for the delay is, "James McCombe does not work on DREADling full time and has been getting 3-4 hours sleep for the last week! In the interests of a polished product and a sane James we hope you understand the move in release date." Read more for the full update.

ZDNet columnist Charles Cooper is revealing that a senior Palm, Inc. executive told him that the company believes it can reduce the cost of its flagship handheld product to $99 from its current $450 within two years.

Nashville PUG has recently posted a new review by Bernie Fernneau (NPUG #106) entitled "To Palm VII or to Palm V Omnisky that is the Question?" Bernie does a comparison of the Palm VII and the Palm V/OmniSky Wireless Modem combo. The question is which is the more practical, or what are the benefits of one over the other. He even gives a side-by-side chart of pros and cons.
For more information stop by the NPUG web site at www.interpug.com/npug/