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Variety Adds Spice to Affordable New Handhelds

Remember back to the days of your first handheld? Chances are it had no colour, limited functionality outside of the office, and was pretty expensive at the time of purchase.

Remember back to the days of your first handheld?

Chances are it had no colour, limited functionality outside of the office, and was pretty expensive at the time of purchase.

That was over five years ago, and today, consumer demand has shaped the modern handheld to deliver much more. From integrated Bluetooth and wireless technologies to streaming video and MP3 capabilities, the handheld is now an all in one business and personal device that few can live without.

Palm, the leader in handheld computing, recently announced three new models that deliver a wide selection of capabilities and accessories for the sophisticated business professional down to the tech newbie.

"Smaller, lighter, faster"
has always been the plight of the businessperson that depends on mobile technology. The Palm Tungsten T3 handheld was designed to help alleviate these predicaments.

Size
The Tungsten T3 handheld has a stunning 320 x 480 color transflective TFT display (50 percent larger than any previous Palm branded device) that expands as the bottom portion of the device slides open, allowing landscape as well as portrait modes to be used by a simple tap on the screen. Users can rotate between modes in one tap. Traditional portrait mode is ideal for most applications and for one-handed navigation. Landscape mode often is better when viewing spreadsheets, e-mail, Web pages and multimedia clips.

Power
The Tungsten T3 handheld comes with a powerful 400Mhz Intel XScale processor and 64MB of RAM, allowing plenty of space and speed for complex documents or applications. Expandability options include a digital camera, MARGI Presenter-to-Go for PowerPoint presentations, Palm's Power To Go charger, and a variety of keyboards. The T3 is compatible with today's most popular business file formats - Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint - using DataViz Documents To Go Professional Edition. Multimedia applications such as RealOne Mobile Player, Palm Photos, Kinoma Player and Voice Memo Recorder deliver support for MP3 files, JPEG photos, video clips and voice notes. For the first time, these applications are built in, saving new buyers valuable time and memory since they do not have to load the software separately.

Flexibility
Built-in Bluetooth wireless connectivity gives mobile professionals the ability to access wireless content and stay connected while out of the office with the Tungsten T3 handheld. By using a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone as a modem, users can access the web and email or swiftly initiate a phone call using Quick Lookup. Users also can share information wirelessly with other Bluetooth-enabled devices.

However not all of us want or need the power, sophistication or price tag of a top of line handheld. The Palm Tungsten E offers outstanding value for the money, while still giving users an unforgettable multi-media experience.

Its 320 x 320 high-resolution color display supports more than 65,000 colors, which makes viewing text, photos, VersaMail messages, Documents To Go files, and video easy, while preventing eyestrain in dark rooms or bright sunlight.

The handheld's powerful processor and 32MB of internal memory make listening to music files and playing movie trailers or home movie clips easy. It ships with the same software as the Tungsten T3, and users can store MP3 or RealAudio files on an expansion card and listen through the built-in speaker or via the stereo headphone jack. With RealNetworks' RealOne Mobile Player software, users can create and manage play lists, run music in the background while using most other Palm applications, or transfer and display home movie clips on the device, as well as download movie trailers and other preformatted material from the Internet.

Lastly, for those of us who are tired of losing sticky notes and doctor's appointment cards, the Zire 21 handheld's 8MB adds room for storing years of appointments and thousands of contacts.

Featuring the latest Palm OS software, the Zire 21 handheld runs classic Palm PIM (Personal Information Management) applications with an emphasis on value and simplicity. Palm's famous, easy-to-use PIM applications (Date Book, Address Book, Note Pad, To Do List, Memo Pad, and Calculator) allow users to quickly keep track of important information. Recurring appointments need only be entered once. Helpful reminder alarms alert users to meetings or appointments.

New valuable software essentials are included on the Zire 21 handheld installation CD. Users can keep track of birthdays and anniversaries, automobile maintenance, passwords, and expenses, as well as read an eBook and play games with software included in the box.

If you're already a handheld aficionado, and are looking for ways to personalize and/or increase the capability of your technology, a plethora of accessories are available on the Palm Canada store Web site at http://canadastore.palm.com. From sleek leather cases, wireless keyboards, a megapixel camera, MP3 audio kit and a variety of stylus' there are no lack of items to make each handheld as unique as the person using it.

For more information, visit www.palmone.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

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