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PalmPilot News (PPN) - 8th December 1997 Issue 3 ------------------------------------------------

Introduction
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Welcome to the 3rd issue of PalmPilot News, a bumper collection of all the latest news, views and products. Last weeks issue was held up by some unforseen problems, so this week will be a double issue. This week will include all the news from COMDEX, as well as a wrap up of some great new software, some updates to the best of the web and a slew of new media sightings. If there is anything that we can do to improve PalmPilot News, let us know. Similarly, if you have a new product, or spot PalmPilots in the news (or catch a juicy rumour), make sure you drop a note to PalmPilot News at the following address.
feedback@bystander.net
Finally, we wish to thank the sponsors who support PalmPilot News, make sure that you support them in turn, and let them know you saw them in PalmPilot News.

News
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- Follow up on the paging card from Motorola and PageMart Wireless. Having seen the device in action, it can be confirmed that it does indeed have 2Mb of application memory on board. Disappointingly, the system uses the existing PalmPilot speaker, so volume is an issue (and there is no vibrate option). For readers in an area not covered by Pagemart, the good news is that, according to Motorola representatives, the pager should work with any "flex" paging network. Any readers using the pager with a non-pagemart network, please drop us a line and let us know about your experiences.
Full release at: http://www.pagemart.com/releases.html#20

Sponsor's Message---------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, there is an easy way to do e-mail right from your PalmPilot Organizer. With PilotMail Online Service (http://www.pilotmail.net/ or 1-888-44PILOT), and a PalmPilot Modem, you can check and send e-mail from everywhere you are. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- COMDEX was a huge opportunity for PalmPilot developers, with 3Com demonstrating the device at its own stand, and also running a large 3rd party developer zone at the Las Vegas Hilton. Companies as diverse as Chapura, Aportis and Motorola.

Got some news? Mail us: submissions@bystander.net

Sponsor's Message---------------------------------------------------------------- Rhinoskin, the creators of the Titanium Cockpit, the definitive ruggedized hardcase for the PalmPilot/Workpad, are proud to announce 3 new PalmPilot products, the RhinoPaks. Check out www.rhinoskin.com for more info on the Titanium Cockpit and the new RhinoPak line of cases for the PalmPilot/Workpad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rumours
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- Voice recognition for the PalmPilot 2000

Spread your rumour anonymously by mailing: submissions@bystander.net

Media Sightings
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Wired has a story on the populariy of the PalmPilot, quoting 2 million as the number sold so far. It compares and contrasts CE devices and the fortcoming Gryphon PDAs.
http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/member/technology/story/8623.html

* A myriad of small, handheld computers and devices proliferated at the Comdex computer show this week, but analysts and executives predicted consumer confusion and chaos over competing products. Some of the biggest crowds were around 3COM CORP booth, which featured the Palm Computing unit that develops the hot-selling PalmPilot. Also crowded was MICROSOFT CORP's area focused on Windows CE, where at least 20 devices running its newest version of its operating system for handheld computers were on display. (Reuters 09:56 PM ET 11/19/97) For the full text story, see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=6049025-3b3

The Philadelpia Inquirer carried a good story on the history of the PalmPilots development. See it at: http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/97/Dec/04/tech.life/PALM04.htm

Some PalmPilot mentions in this article regarding Oracle and Sybase's plans to build cut down versions of their enterprise databases, with a memory footprint as low as 100 - 200Kb. The goal of the software is to interface, preferably wirelessly, with central corporate data stores. For more see: http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/news/1201/03mdb.html

In a story mainly investigating 3Com's business the PalmPilot is mentioned in passing as a possible assett for sale, but this suggestion is scotched. http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,17006,00.html

An announcement from Tegic that the T9 input system will be made available for the PalmPilot by the middle of next year, for less than $US50. The software uses a numeric keypad metaphor to group sets of three letters, and then perform a predictive lookup
http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/news/1124/26mtegic.html

- TidBITS#404/10-Nov-97 - TheMac focus weekly newsletter has reported Qualcomm's aquisition of Now Software: http://www.tidbits.com/

**Qualcomm Buys Now Software** -- Qualcomm, the wireless communications company best known in the Macintosh world for Eudora, today announced its acquisition of Now Software, makers of Now Utilities and Now Up-to-Date. Now Software had seemingly been in a slump of late, claiming that it lacked the engineering resources to update Now Utilities for Mac OS 8, so the acquisition comes at a good time for them. The press release noted that "Qualcomm intends to support Now's flagship products," so we hope that means an update to Now Utilities, although a Qualcomm representative was unable to share any details with us. More interesting is what Qualcomm gets out of the deal since Now's products don't obviously fit the Eudora division's focus on email. Rumor has it that Now is working on a revolutionary technology along the lines of the Now Synchronize data synchronization software. Qualcomm must have been attracted by the thought of synchronizing email and schedules across multiple platforms, including Macs, PCs, Newtons, PalmPilots, and Qualcomm's cellular phones. Although Qualcomm plans to keep Now Software's Portland, Oregon office open, the Eudora division has reorganized in the wake of the acquisition. We will miss one of the layoff casualties - tester Gary Nash, who was a fixture at Mac trade shows and user group presentations and who helped anchor the Macintosh Eudora mailing list. [ACE]

http://www.eudora.com/press/1997/pr97.cgi?f=97.11.10.now http://www.nowutilities.com/os8.html

Send all your media sightings to: submissions@bystander.net

Sponsor's Message---------------------------------------------------------------- If you're planning to deploy a corporate application using the PalmPilot platform, you need some way to connect all the handheld users to your data. See http://www.hotsync.com/ for a solution to multi-user synchronization. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Products
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- Stevens Creek Software announced today the release of a new application - AreaCoder (tm) for PalmPilot. AreaCoder is a tool to help PalmPilot users keep their Address Books up-to-date in the face of constantly changing Area Codes, with a minimum of time and effort.
http://www.stevenscreek.com/pilot

- PilotPlus has released version 1.6 of Memo Plus, a package designed to address some of the shortcomings of the built in Memo program. The biggest news is the support of templates (called models) that allow the simple generation of commonly used documents. Everything from shopping lists to lesson plans have been developed, with the ability to include graphics a great additional touch. http://www.pilotplus.com/

- Joseph Santaniello has released Punch Card. "Punch Card is a time keeping program for PilotOS which helps freelance workers and others who need to keep track of time spent working on different projects." The program also allows records to be exported to the meo pad for desktop integration to spreadsheets or databases. http://home.sol.no/~cvoss/pilot

Tell us about your new product by emailing: submissions@bystander.net

Latest on the Web
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- The latest news and applications can be found at PalmPilot Gear: http://www.pilotgear.com

- Tim Dykema reports a special offer from Lotus for buyers of PalmPilots and Lotus Organiser. "Get a limited edition Coach case by mail when you buy a 3Com PalmPilot Professional and Lotus Organizer 97 GS. To receive your Coach case, print out and mail this order form (filled out in its entirety), along with an original store identified and dated sales receipt or invoice which must be dated between August 15, 1997 and December 31, 1997 and two original UPC symbols, one each from the above two products." http://www3.lotus.com/products/organizer.nsf/promos?OpenView

- PalmPilot Library has announced a moajor released of e-zines in PalmPilot Doc format. Currently they have 69 e-zine titles available.
http://www.pilotlibrary.org

- Hands High Software has released version 1.02 of ThoughtMill, their outliner product which includes drag and drop editing: http://www.handshigh.com/ThoughtMill/

- A new Australian flavoured PalmPilot site is up and running, see: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Bay/8783/pilot.html

- All your questions are answered at Calvin's PalmPilot FAQ: http://www.pilotfaq.com/

Send your web updates to: submissions@bystander.net

Sponsor's Message---------------------------------------------------------------- PalmPilotGear H.Q. is the one-stop resource for all PalmPilot hardware, software and accessories. We carry a full-line of accessories for the PalmPilot, including custom cases, styluses, screen protectors and enhancements, and many other products that will make your PalmPilot easier to use. We also maintain on-line the most comprehensive database of PalmPilot software applications in the world, including commercial software and shareware. At PalmPilotGear H.Q. you can search for the software you need, download it and register it all in one convenient location. We even provide free email notification of new software available! You can purchase their software from us or contact the authors directly. If we don't have what you need, we will do our best to get it! And visit our web site at http://www.palmpilotgear.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3Com News
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* Hambrecht & Quist said analyst Farrokh Billimoria lowered his fiscal 1998 earnings estimate for 3COM CORP to $1.74 a share from $2.29. He cited inventory levels on modems and adapters, a back end loaded quarter and Asia weakness as reasons for the estimate reduction. He said "we believe that 3Com is focused on reducing channel inventories this quarter, both for modems and adapters." (Reuters 11:59 AM ET 11/20/97)

* 3COM CORP has been named in a shareholder lawsuit, which claims the company misled the public about the market for its modems. Law firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP said the suit was filed on behalf of purchasers of 3Com stock between May 19, 1997 and November 6, 1997. The complaint also alleges that top executives at 3Com sold shares of stock with prior knowledge that the company's public statements about modem sales were false and misleading. (Reuters 06:49 PM ET 12/03/97) For the full text story, see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=6277406-9c6

Stock Price:

SYMBOL CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME -------------------------------------------
COMS .....36 7/16...+2 9/16 ....14175600

http://www1.nasdaq.com/scripts/quote.dll?symbol=coms

PDA Wrap Up
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- Microsoft CEO Bill Gates used his COMDEX keynote speech to demonstrate a "ruggedized" CE device by having a Marine jump on it! http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce
http://www.comdex.com

- Psion has announced new Psion Series 5 software for EPOC32 including PsiWin 2.1, Messaging Suite, and the Allegro handwriting recognition software. http://www.psion.com

- Apple has released an upgrade to their Newton system offering additional memory. http://www.newton.apple.com

Postscript
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That's the end for another week, hope you've enjoyed it. PalmPilot News is looking foe reviewers to submit short reviews of new and classic software, contact us if you are interested.
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The Bystander Team