While there are those who consistently shout from the rooftops about how the PDA market is dying, Gartner has reliably highlighted how the category–it defines as a data-centric handheld computer weighing less than one pound with two-handed use in mind–is surviving, if not thriving, because of the addition of cellular-wireless capabilities. By Gartner’s count–and definition–2005 was a banner year for PDAs. Worldwide shipments increased by 19 percent from the year before, to a record 14.9 million units; the best tally since 13.2 million in 2001.

Corporations are starting to invest in mobile security software, but among consumers the takeup is still at least a year away, a senior official of U.S. security software firm Symantec said on Thursday. “In enterprises, this is starting to happen now, but in consumer side I would not expect a large uptake at least for a year,” Sarah Hicks, vice president for strategy, told Reuters in an interview at mobile communications fair 3GSM in Barcelona. She said the world’s largest security software maker was benefiting from its wide customer base among corporations who are starting to invest in mobile security software as the amount of advanced handheld devices grows.

Microsoft plans to make the mobile version of its Office Communicator instant-messaging client for businesses available in 60 days. That’s according to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who made the announcement at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona. Microsoft unveiled plans to develop Office Communicator Mobile last April. Beta 1 of the technology went to testers in October 2005. The IM client will work on Windows Mobile phones and PDAs.

Fossil has taken down its online stores dedicated to Palm OS and SPOT wristwatches. Although the watchmaker hasn’t totally given up producing PDA watches–reportedly it will continue to sell Abacus-brand SPOT watches through retailers–this turn of events is the most ominous sign yet for the struggling technologies. Neither type of watch performed well in the marketplace, it appears. While most people are happy to carry around handhelds, smartphones and cell phones that provide the same type of data and automated information updates as these watches, it may have been hard to convince all but the earliest of adopters to give these rather bulky timepieces a go.

For years race fans have used scanners to listen to communications between a driver and crew during a race. On Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway, Sprint Nextel, NASCAR, and Kangaroo.TV introduced the newest at-track wireless technology for spectators, NASCAR NEXTEL FanView, a hand-held scanner that includes video, audio, and data capabilities. The first device of its kind in any major sport, NASCAR NEXTEL FanView combines the race telecast and up to seven in-car camera channels, direct audio feeds allowing the user to listen to live driver and team conversations, as well as the radio broadcast and an exclusive audio-replay feature.

Things haven’t been going well for Atari for quite some time now, but they’ve just taken a turn for the worse. The publisher, once the premiere name in the gaming industry, reportedly plans to lay off a portion of its North American staff (which currently consists of 250 people) and plans to sell all of its internal studios. All of this comes as Atari’s latest high profile release–“Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure”–earns less than stellar reviews from video game critics.

US government officials took Sony BMG to task over its controversial use of rootkit-style copy protection at a security conference. If the technology proves harmful to consumers, tougher laws and regulations might be proposed, a senior Department of Homeland Security exec warned. Sony BMG’s flawed approach to Digital Rights Management technology was exposed after security researchers discovered XCP anti-piracy software, that shipped with some of Sony BMG’s music CDs, masked its presence and introduced a vulnerability that hackers and virus writers began to target. Under pressure, Sony was forced to recall discs loaded with the technology and create an exchange program for consumers.

If you’ve been checking out our news page over this “holiday” weekend, you might notice little RSS icons everywhere. The first ZATZ RSS 2.0 feeds are up and live! You can now subscribe to the various ZATZ magazines in your favorite newsreader. You’ll also notice the news pages have been cleaned up, and some long-standing bugs have been fixed. It’s been a long “holiday” for the little programming elves here at ZATZ (ok, it’s really one very large, carniverous programming bear), but we’re thrilled to have this feature live!

A federal judge ordered the Department of Justice to release records related to the National Security Agency’s warrantless domestic spying program by March 8, or else explain the legal basis under which the records cannot be released. The order was handed down Feb. 16 in a case brought against the Justice Department by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. EPIC requested the documents in December under the Freedom of Information Act, after the New York Times reported that President Bush authorized the NSA to conduct electronic surveillance of people in the United States without a court order.

Sirius Satellite Radio on Friday posted a wider quarterly loss on increased marketing costs, but subscribers rose sharply in the run-up to the launch of a new show by radio host Howard Stern. Sirius posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $311.4 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $261.9 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a loss of 22 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.