The Tungsten W also has a high-resolution 320-by-320-pixel color screen but the device has a QWERTY-style keyboard to input data more easily. It also has an application that supports cellular phone calls. View Slideshow 
Penny-pinching consumers who are worried about the jittery economy probably won't give Palm's two latest handheld computers a second thought.
Retailing at $499 and $549, respectively, the Tungsten T and Tungsten W are costly at a time when personal digital assistant manufacturers are slashing prices to get rid of excess stock.
However, the sleek new design of these gadgets, not to mention their various bells and whistles, are worth at least a look -- even if you can't afford to take one home with you.
"The T accomplishes something that we had hoped Palm would do -- to be innovative in terms of form factor," said Alex Slawsby, an analyst at market research firm IDC. "The T is very cool. It's got a great look."
The Tungsten T, geared toward the crowd that considers PDA ownership a status symbol, is small enough to fit into a pocket. Unlike other Palm OS and Microsoft-powered PDAs, this gadget slides open to display the menu options in the area where you write graffiti. Sure, it's a cheap thrill, but industry analysts are nonetheless impressed.
"The slide-down face is a key distinguishing factor and gives you a small pen-based unit in one hand," Slawsby said.
Unlike Palm's (PALM) other products, the Tungsten T has a circular browsing button similar to the Compaq iPaq Pocket PC for one-hand maneuvering. The gadget boasts a high-resolution 320-by-320-pixel color display and comes with 16 megabytes of memory. It is the company's first handheld to run on Palm's latest operating system, version 5.
The PDA has a secure digital expansion slot for multimedia, a headphone jack to listen to music and support for all of the Windows office applications. The Tungsten T also comes with a Bluetooth radio, allowing users to sync wirelessly with other Bluetooth-enabled devices no more than 30 feet away.
The Tungsten T's intended audience is people who want to carry around a flashy toy without having to pay a monthly wireless Internet bill for it.
"This isn't for the road warrior," said David Christopher, senior director of product management for Palm. "These people want periodic wireless Internet access."
But will they pay $499 for it? In these uncertain economic times, industry analysts are expecting even the most enthusiastic PDA owners to balk at the price.
"It is coming to market at a time when you can get a (Windows-powered) Pocket PC with 8 megabytes of memory for $299," Slawsby said. "That is going to put some pressure on these products."
Palm's second PDA, the Tungsten W, is made for the frequent business traveler who always needs to stay connected. It's more simply designed than the T and costs $549.
It, too, has a high-resolution 320-by-320-pixel color screen, although it still runs on Palm OS 4.1. The device has a QWERTY-style keyboard to input data more easily. While it supports cellular phone calls, Palm is not emphasizing that feature in its marketing of the product because the Tungsten W is first and foremost a PDA, Christopher said.
"It's a phone application on a data device," Christopher said.
And that is where Palm has misjudged consumers, the analysts say.
While the market for converged PDAs and cell phones is small, analysts are convinced it is the future. Most people will not want to carry a PDA and cell phone separately when they can have it all on one device, said Francois Parenteau, who heads his own market research firm Parenteau Corporation.
Handspring (HAND), a Palm competitor, has scrapped all plans to make any more stand-alone PDAs, and is instead banking on its Treo Communicator -- a combination PDA and cell phone.
Slawsby predicts Palm's Tungsten W will go head-to-head with Nokia, Motorola, Siemens and Samsung -- cell-phone makers that already add PDA functionality to their phones.
Parenteau agreed that Palm faces tough competition from the phone manufacturers.
"Most of the features I have on a Palm device, I have on my cell phone," said Parenteau, who doesn't own a PDA. "The company that makes those mobile phones will win."
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