IBM Corp. unveiled a new chip that should double the amount of memory in both desktop PCs and handheld devices. The chip acts as an intermediary between the processor and the memory, encoding the data to take up half the space it normally uses. According to IBM, the new Memory eXpansion Technology (MXT) is 10,000 times faster than software-based systems.

Novatel Wireless, Inc. announced the release of the Minstrel S Wireless Springboard Modem for the Handspring Visor. The Minstrel S will debut at PC Expo in New York this week. Snapping the Minstrel S into the Springboard slot on the back of the Visor enables wireless access to email, corporate LANs, and the Internet via the Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network.

Here’s a review of a new Palm device recharger called eXtend FullCharge. It includes an 110V AC Adapter, a FullCharge NiMH Battery, a replacement battery door cover, and an installation and operation direction sheet.

Here’s an article explaining why you won’t find many PCs at PC Expo, which starts today in New York. This year, the Expo is not about the PC, but PC offsprings: handhelds, Internet phones, and other gizmos.

Sony is planning to unveil a prototype of its handheld device utilizing the Palm OS today at PC Expo. According to this article, “By using the Palm operating system, Sony will help Palm cement its role as a leading platform provider for handheld devices and strike a blow to Microsoft’s ambitions for its Pocket PC to become an industry standard.”

Palm will announce support for an expansion card format featuring the Secure Digital (SD) slot, established by SanDisk, Toshiba and Matsushita. This technology competes with similar technology from Handspring and Sony, two of Palm’s leading partners. Palm will work SD technology into its operating system and plans to release devices with SD slots by 2001.

eWeek reports that Compaq isn’t the only company that’s looking at using Linux in handheld devices. Hewlett-Packard is considering Linux for its Jornada devices. According to the article, HP is considering Linux because it handles multimedia applications well, and the free operating system can drive costs lower.

GradSoft Solutions released version 1.5 of their bridge game software, which now includes support for the Pocket PC, an improved user interface, and faster bidding and play. T-Plus provides a game of rubber or duplicate bridge based on the Q-Plus bridge engine.

Here’a an article from ABCNEWS.com about Tiqit, a Web server that’s the size of a matchbox. Tiqit uses an Advanced Micro Devices 486 chip running at 66 megahertz, IBM’s 340 megabyte Microdrive, and 16 megabytes of RAM memory. It can run Windows 95.

Business Week Daily has this article on the Linux version of Compaq’s iPaq. The article says that a Linux version of the device would have been unthinkable before Microsoft’s antitrust suit, since the iPaq was made specifically as a version of Pocket PC.