3Com CEO Eric Benhamou
said a new PalmPilot with telephony capabilities will hitthe market in
the near future.
Benhamou announced the device on Monday at CA World 99 in a
question-and-answer session with Computer Associates president Sanjay
Kumar.
Benhamou said the new handhelds with telephony features are part of the
migration from data-only networks to data-plus-voice-plus-video.
"In other words, a converged network," Benhamou said. "We believe this
migration taking place is not just for carriers, but for enterprises,
large and small. The reason why this is happening is it costs less to
operate [a converged network] and it also enables a new generation of
applications."
Benhamou said the wireless networks are beginning to take hold. "You
cannot fulfill the promise of a pervasive connection unless you have
the full freedom of remaining connected wherever you go, whether in an
office, moving from your desk to a conference room, or going home," he
said.
3Com is working on products to keep businesses connected through a
combination of enterprise networks and "untethered" networks, Benhamou
said.
An increasing number of specialized Palm-like devices, including smart
telephones and paging devices, will hit the market in the next several
years, he added.
"Most people expect the majority of connections to the Internet three
years from now will be from special-purpose devices," Benhamou said.
"This is a far cry from where we are today."
At CA World 99, 3Com is demonstrating the ability of its Palm device to
manage enterprise networks with CA's Unicenter TNG software.
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