XcelleNet, Inc. and Verizon Information Technologies announced they have formed an alliance designed to expand Verizon IT

Air2Web is launching two newly packaged wireless solutions, 2Mail-Air2Web’s 2.0 Version of its wireless email solution, and 2Notify, a wireless alerting solution. With 2Mail, Air2Web has extended the capabilities of corporate employees to work on email and PIM applications in and out of network coverage from many wireless devices. While Air2Web had previously offered powerful SMS and online browsing access to MS Exchange and Lotus Domino including attachments from all digital wireless devices, the newly renamed solution, 2Mail, now includes: persistent access on RIM, Palm, and J2ME devices-With 2Mail, users are now able to read and reply to emails in and out of coverage using their RIM. This same functionality will be available for Palm and J2ME devices by the end of 2002.

The strange collective mind of Palm marketing continues to give us great material. Speaking of material, Palm, it seems, is naming their high-end corporate devices “Tungsten,” presumably because Apple’s got titanium. Seriously though, it’s an interesting choice of materials to use as a brand name.

Sure, the word “Tungsten” sounds good and apparently tested well in focus groups. Tungsten has the highest melting point of all elements except carbon. However, with a density of 19.25 g/cu.cm, tungsten is also among the heaviest metals. Interesting, tungsten contains small amounts of carbon and oxygen, which give tungsten metal its considerable hardness and brittleness.

We have to wonder why a maker of very small, very portable devices would name their new line after a brittle, excessively heavy metal?

And this, of course, brings us to Zire, the new brand name for the consumer line. I have to admit that I don’t get it. Is it a play on the word “desire,” does it spark your “ire,” or does it simply reflect your delusions of grandeur, “Sire?”

What do you think of these interesting new names? Share your thoughts on PalmPower’s PowerBoards. We’ll collect some of the most interesting posts and publish them in a later issue. What names would you pick? Can you out-creative the creative folks at Palm? Post your thoughts.

Palm Digital Media announced the latest Stephen King novel, “From a Buick 8,” published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. The ebook will carry a promotional price of $16.95, more than 40% off the list price of $28, through October 15.

Palm, Inc. announced the creation of two distinct subbrands for its portfolio of handheld products: the Tungsten and Zire families. Tungsten products will provide solutions for mobile professionals and enterprise work forces; Zire handhelds will provide affordable options for individuals to organize their busy lives.

The Palm Tungsten product line will include “industrial-strength handheld hardware and software solutions for mobile professionals and serious business users. These solutions will use cutting-edge wireless and mobile technologies to solve complex technology problems for IT managers seeking to deliver secure data to mobile work forces.”

The Palm Zire product line will offer “snappy personal products that get straight to the point for individuals.”

Palm, Inc. reported revenues of $172.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2003, ended August 30, 2002, down 20 percent from the $214.3 million reported during the comparable quarter a year ago.

Pro forma net loss in this first quarter–which excludes the effects of the change in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, amortization of intangible assets, separation costs, and restructuring charges–totaled $36.4 million, or $0.06 per share. This compares with a first quarter of fiscal year 2002 pro forma net loss of $38.7 million, or $0.07 per share, which excluded the effects of the reduction in special excess inventory costs, amortization of intangible assets, separation costs, and restructuring charges.

Bradmark Technologies, Inc. announced an OEM agreement with Expand Beyond. The agreement marks the launch of NORAD mobile solutions, powered by Expand Beyond. By partnering with Expand Beyond, Bradmark has added mobile functionality to its flagship NORAD solutions. Bradmark’s NORAD software monitors and manages databases, applications, and operating systems, designed to provide IT departments with real-time feedback and optional automatic corrective action of problematic events to ensure maximum performance, availability, and reliability. Upon receiving NORAD notification of pending failures or issues via email or paging, IT professionals should be able to launch Expand Beyond mobile software on their handheld device to check the status of the system and make changes in real-time to fix the issues. When IT professionals return to the office, they can utilize NORAD for further diagnosis, repair and troubleshooting.

Addition4Palm has been updated to version 1.2. This update is free for registered users. New features include MacOS X support, revised intelligent completion of formulas, revised goto cell, selection extending, a few new options, and revised documentation.

The 52nd annual Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) convened on September 19 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for what organizers called “the first ever digital medical education conference.” With the purchase of 2,400 Palm i705 wireless handhelds, CNS, along with Palm and Bluefish Wireless, is providing its members and resident trainees with the tools and the training to participate in a digital future. The conference runs through September 26.

Canada’s public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), has inked a deal with Mazingo Network to deliver CBC news video to handheld devices via Mazingo’s Mobile Entertainment Network. This is designed to allow PDA users to have mobile and wireless access to CBC video. Subscribers to Mazingo’s multimedia delivery service will be served at least eight new video clips per weekday on their PDAs. New videos will also be served on weekends and holidays. Video clips during the pilot project will include top news stories from World, National, Regional, Business, Sports, Science, and Arts & Entertainment headlines.