.KEYWORD announce
.FLYINGHEAD PALM READING
.TITLE Palm announcements: the Palm Vx, better pricing, and more
.FEATURE
.SPOTLIGHT FIGALT announce-cover.gif
.SUMMARY We love it when we get to talk about the new goodies from Palm Computing. This month, Palm announced a new Palm V device, new and funky variations on the Palm IIIe, better pricing and more. To find out all about it, read this great article by our very own News Editor, Heather McDaniel.
.AUTHOR Heather McDaniel
We must be approaching the holidays once again. It seems lots of companies are making big announcements or are releasing new products. Well, Palm Computing is no exception. Not only did they announce that they are going to be a separate company last month, today (October 4, 1999) they announced a new product, the nationwide launch of two recently previously restricted products and price cuts on several Palm devices.
.H1 Introducing the Palm Vx
The first announcement from Palm Computing is the availability of the Palm Vx Special Edition. The big deal about the Palm Vx is that it comes with 8MB of memory. This is four times as much RAM as the Palm V. For many power users, the availability of more RAM in the Palm Vx makes this a much more practical device to buy.
The Palm Vx has an improved HotSync feature, which now (in a perfect world) lets you HotSync at 115.2 KB per second. Palm claims this is a 40 percent increase over the previous HotSync speed of the Palm V.
Palm Computing added a new interface element to the Palm Vx so you can set up a HotSync through the device’s IR port. The Palm Vx is now available in the U.S. through selected retailers for $449.
.H1 Introducing the, er, "iPalm"…
Palm Computing also announced the Palm IIIe Special Edition. This was originally introduced in August at certain colleges and universities across the U.S. Due to its popularity, the folks at Palm Computing decided to release the device nationwide for $179.
Wait a second, didn’t they just come out with the Palm IIIe? Yes, the Palm IIIe was released in July. What’s the difference? Well, there really isn’t one in terms of functionality. The only difference is that the Palm IIIe Special Edition has a translucent case, as you can see in Figure A.
.FIGPAIR A Taking a cue from Apple, the Palm IIIe Special Edition comes in a clear case.
To make your Palm device seem even more like a handheld iMac, Palm Computing released the Palm Colour Shades accessory pack. Yes, Palm did spell it "colour", rather than the United States’ more common usage of "color". The accessory pack includes three flip covers in lime, blue, and aqua and three black styli. Check out Figure B to see the Palm IIIe Special Edition with a blue flip cover. The Palm Colour Shades accessory kit is available for $12.95.
.BEGIN_KEEP
.FIGPAIR B You’ll flip over the flip covers included in the Palm Colour Shades accessory pack.
To see what else the Palm IIIe Special Edition can do, check out Claire Pieterek’s in-depth review of the Palm IIIe at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199908/three001.html.
For the record, Palm doesn’t call this device the iPalm, but it does seem appropriate.
.END_KEEP
.H1 Wonderful world of Palm VII
Palm Computing finally released the Palm VII nationwide today (that’s October 4, 1999) for $499, down from its original price of $599.
To start using the Palm VII’s Internet access, you have to sign up to the Palm.Net service, which has expanded its coverage from the metropolitan New York area to over 260 areas of the U.S. without additional roaming charges.
All you have to do to sign up is raise the antenna and enter your billing and credit card information or your purchase order information onto the screen that appears. If you’re new to the service, you’ll have to pay a one-time set-up fee of $9.99.
By using Palm.Net, you can use the Web clipping applications to get information from Web sites like ABC News, Bank of America, ESPN.com, Moviephone.com, and others. Palm Computing just announced new applications from Amazon.com and Fidelity Investments, which will let you shop and trade stocks with your Palm VII.
.H2 Email and instant messages
Palm VII organizers include the iMessenger application. This will let you send and receive instant messages wirelessly.
There are now third-party applications on Palm.Net if you want to use the Palm VII for sending and receiving email messages from your Internet service provider (ISP), POP3, IMAP, or Internet-based email provider.
If you get your email through an ISP, POP3, or IMAP mail, there’s the Thin Air Mail Web clipping application.
There’s also Monkey Mail’s service, which forwards ISP mail directly into your Palm VII’s iMessenger account.
If you use corporate mail, there’s the Visto Briefcase. This application is on a desktop that is connected to your corporate network and automatically forwards your mail to the Palm VII.
For Internet-based mail from Excite or Yahoo!, you can get your mail through their Web clipping services. AOL plans to develop a Web clipping application, which is expected to be introduced by the end of the year.
For details on downloading these and setup instructions, check out http://www.palm.net.
.H2 New service plan
Perhaps the biggest change in Palm.Net is the price of the service. There are now three options you can use to sign up to the service.
The first one is the Basic Plan, where you pay $9.99 per month for 50 kilobytes, or approximately 80 transactions. The second is the Expanded Plan, which will cost you $24.99 per month for 150 KB, or roughly 240 transactions.
Finally, there’s the brand-spanking new Volume Plan. For $39.99 per month, you can get 300 kilobytes, or about 480 transactions.
Palm Computing set up a special promotion for those of you who sign up to the Palm.Net service before January 4, 2000. If you sign up before January 4, you’ll receive a whopping 1,000 KB per month for the first six months of service.
What if you use more than what you signed up for? There’s an overcharge of $.20 per kilobyte on all service plans.
For more on the Palm VII, read Bob Freud’s review of the Palm VII at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199906/palmseven001.html.
.H1 Price cuts, price cuts, price cuts
Now that Palm Computing has announced the Palm Vx, Palm IIIe Special Edition, and the national release of the Palm VII, what else could they possibly do? How about price cuts on several Palm devices.
The Palm V is now $369, down from $449. The price of the Palm IIIx was dropped from $369 to $299 and the Palm IIIe is now available for $179, down from $229. And as mentioned above, the Palm VII is now available for $499.
Yep, it must be time for the holidays once again.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
More on the Palm Vx can be found at
http://www.palm.com.
For more information on the Palm IIIe, read Claire Pieterek’s review at: http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199908/three001.html.
Bob Freud’s review of the Palm VII can be found at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue199906/palmseven001.html.
The technical White Paper for the Palm VII is located at
http://www.palm.com/pr/palmvii/7whitepaper.pdf. Most browsers will automatically view .PDF files. Those that will not will need Adobe’s Acrobat Reader, available from http://www.adobe.com.
The Palm.Net service can be found at
http://www.palm.net.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
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