In the handheld computer world, hardware usually gets most of the attention, but its often software that determines whether a mobile device ends up as a relied-upon tool or a high-priced paperweight.
For a few weeks now, Ive been testing Palms Tungsten W wireless handheld, which distinguishes itself from Palms previous wireless offerings with a GPRS radio that, among other things, makes sending and receiving e-mail messages considerably faster.
However, the mail application that shipped with the Tungsten W, VersaMail 2.0, didnt offer users many new ways to take advantage of that greater speed—a weakness that Palm made up for last week with the release of VersaMail 2.5.
Most impressive in this new version of Palms mail client is its improved attachment support. VersaMail now decompresses zipped mail attachments and enables users to access memory card subfolders for selecting files to attach—two features that immediately make Palm devices much more useful.
The VersaMail interface has received a nice overhaul, and Palm has added the capability for scheduled mail checking, among several other compelling new features.
VersaMail 2.5 is available for purchase over download at a cost of $35, and itll ship as the default mail client for some of Palms devices moving forward. Check out www.palm.com for more details.