Something of interest from Wired Zine....
Apple PDA Close at Hand?
by Michelle Finley
3:00 a.m. 12.Jan.2000 PST
The long-suspected but never confirmed "strategic relationship" between Apple and 3Com's Palm Computing division may finally be ready to bear fruit.
Rumor had it that the Palm Pilot VII's wireless technology, which is very similar to Apple's iBook networking capabilities, was the proof that both companies were working closely together.
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But neither Apple nor Palm has ever officially confirmed a partnership -- although once-interim and now-permanent Apple CEO Steve Jobs came very close last week during his keynote speech at Macworld.
Although no new Apple hardware announcements were made at Macworld, it looks as if the company will soon be returning to the handheld market with an inexpensive, Mac-ready Palm PDA. Sources in Taiwan, who refuse to be publicly named, say that prototype models of the Apple-Palm OS handheld are already rolling off production lines.
And Jobs fueled those rumors with a wink and a nudge during his keynote when he introduced Palm CEO Carl Yankowski, telling the audience that Apple had been "doing a lot of work with these guys lately," a comment that appeared to be lost in the furor over the non-announcement of the much-anticipated Pismo PowerBook.
Apple's original handheld computer, the Newton MessagePad, was the first true PDA. It was as heralded for its groundbreaking technology as it was maligned for being released before it was ready for prime-time use.
Jobs wisely killed the ill-fated Newton back in 1998, knowing that the device would never be able to escape its clouded past and that its hardware requirements made it too expensive to compete with the streamlined Palm Pilot.
Neither Apple nor Palm will officially confirm rumors of an Apple-branded Palm handheld, but the specific details offered by company insiders and Taiwan sources do suggest the device is more than just a sketch on Job's mental drawing board.
Sources say the prototype is a hybrid of the Palm V and the Handspring Visor, with the Palm V's form factor, a color screen, and an expansion slot. It also will be compatible with Apple's Airport wireless networking hub, and will integrate seamlessly with the Mac OS.
Speculation regarding this Apple-branded Palm device also extends to the recently debuted Mac OS X, which allows a Palm handheld connected to a Mac to appear as an external disk on the desktop -- making drag-and-drop transfer of data, files, and applications possible.
The new application's code name at Apple is Palm Manager. Palm Computing's Mac version of the Palm Desktop application (once known as Claris Organizer) will also be fully compatible with OS X.
So, although there is no official word yet, Apple's handheld could be announced by mid-year -- most likely at the Worldwide Developer's Conference (15-18 May) or possibly at the next Macworld Expo (18-21 July) in New York.
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