Riding a wave of success from the first three editions of its digital organizer, 3Com's Palm Computing division this week will reveal the shape of Pilots to come.
The Palm Computing Platform Worldwide Developer Conference, which begins on 1 December in Santa Clara, California, was to have been a launch pad for the newest device, the PalmPilot V, or Razor. While the company will display a prototype at the conference, several sources say the rollout will be delayed until spring. The Razor is expected to have increased memory and synchronization capabilities, a color LCD screen, and a slimmer design -- but few significant functional improvements.
Palm is also expected to announce details this week about another upcoming version of the PalmPilot -- dubbed Seven or Eleven, depending on to whom you talk �- that will be capable of supporting wireless applications and fundamental Internet protocols.
"The Palm VII is even more interesting [than Razor] with its wireless connections and boundless access to corporate data," said Stuart Read, vice president of marketing at AvantGo. Read's company develops client and server software that allows users to make transactions with remote databases and Web-based applications. He said the addition of integrated wireless technology will prompt the development of a whole new breed of applications.
"As we look ahead, we want to enable Wall Street to trade on the [Pilot], and you can't do that without SSL [or Secure Sockets Layer]," he said. By next spring, however, Read said AvantGo hopes to have that layer of network security embedded in software for the wireless PalmPilot VII.
Palm did not return calls for comments on its new products.
If and when Palm does create a wireless version of the PalmPilot, David Schargel, president of Aportis Technologies, said Palm could take one of two directions: full-fledged wireless-modem access or a two-way paging system. While the former would provide more bandwidth, the latter would be cheaper and easier to implement.
"I think they'll try to keep the pricing low [with a pager system]," said Schargel. "You can only stand surfing for so long with a small screen." He added that users are more interested in getting basic information, such as sports scores and stock tickers, on their handheld devices.
