- Palm showcased a beta version of Palm OS 5 at the PalmSource conference this year. Sometime next year, expect to begin seeing a new generation of ARM-powered Palm OS devices competing with Pocket PC devices in terms of features.
- With the Bluetooth specification finally stabilizing, watch for a group of products built around the short-distance wireless technology, such as Palms Secure Digital Bluetooth module, to begin expanding connectivity options for small devices.
- 2.5G technologies such as GPRS and 1xRTT are becoming widely available through U.S. wireless carriers. These network services will boost the usefulness of mobile devices by providing them with wire-free connections at 56K-bps modem-level speeds.
- With Palm undergoing a platform change and Microsoft and Symbian slow to release personal digital assistant/handsets based on their operating systems, IT managers should wait for the smart-phone market to develop further before wedding themselves to one of these platforms.
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