Hardware vendors are getting ready to launch the Pocket PC. ZDNet reports that HP is going to announce three new devices — the Jornada 540, 545 and 548. Casio will introduce several new Cassiopea handhelds with improved battery life and up to 32MB of RAM. Compaq will also announce its new Ipaq devices.

LinkUp Systems announced that Microsoft has completed ASSP Validation of LinkUp’s L7200 Application-Specific-Standard-Product (ASSP) for Windows CE 2.12. The L7200 ASSP is designed to give system OEMs a solution to Internet appliances such as the Palm-sized PC, Web phones, wireless Internet terminals, and smart phones.

Editors Steve Niles and Heather McDaniel will be on assignment at Microsoft’s Pocket PC launch tomorrow. News will resume on Thursday.

Once again, we’re experiencing weather here in Central NJ. Early this morning, there was a 5.25 hour power failure on Telco equipment, that caused an outage. The BA Telco MUX suffered a power failure causing an outage for a number of customers, including us, directly connected to the Princeton Backbone, as well as some traffic and routing through Princeton, NJ. Bell Atlantic was able to restore power to their equipment and service was restored. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Latitude Communications announced MeetingPlace Mobile, its e-conferencing application with support for Palm VII. Using MeetingPlace Mobile, end users with Palm VII handheld computers can schedule meetings and invite other meeting participants remotely, as well as assemble teams of people for conferences and collaborative meetings. MeetingPlace Mobile also has automatic team calling, email notifications, and integration with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes.

Aportis announced release of BrainForest Professional 1.0 for Windows and Palm Computing platform devices. BrainForest Professional for Macintosh and for Palm devices was released previously.

AEC Software will release a new mobile version of FastTrack Schedule for the Palm OS, Tuesday at the FOSE 2000 IT Expo in Washington, DC. The new Palm version provides mobile professionals with access to project schedules, goals, and objectives. FastTrack Schedule 6.04 will run on all Palm, IBM, Handspring, and other handheld organizers with Palm OS v3.0 or higher.

Pendragon Software announced the latest version of Pendragon Forms software for the Palm Computing platform, featuring enhanced bar coding and Internet access. The software supports bi-directional synchronization with Microsoft Access and ODBC data sources. New features in version 3.1 provide enhanced wireless access, scripting, performance, printing and bar code reader support.

Britannica.com announced a software application for the Palm VII handheld computer called “Britannica Traveler.” The software gives you free access to information from the Britannica.com Web site, including the text of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and information on the city or town you’re located in.

Delphi Automotive Systems and Palm announced an initiative to develop new multimedia products and services for vehicles. Delphi demonstrated a prototype of the Communiport Mobile Productivity Center (MPC), that will dock and synchronize with a Palm V handheld using Palm