From TNPC issue #4.01...

Palm Mobile Internet Kit

by Al Gordon
January 11, 2001

So what's up with Palm these days?

The company, which dominates the handheld PDA (personal digital assistant) market, spent the past year spinning off from 3Com; concluding numerous deals to license the Palm OS to such powerhouse companies as Sony, Samsung, and Nokia; and acquiring a number of key software and Internet-based products for the handheld platform.

What Palm hasn't done much of, however, is update its product lineup. Other than to provide versions of its III, V, and VII series with more memory, Palm's sole new handheld has been its m100 entry-level piece. It is cooler looking than the previous low-end III series units it replaces and has snap-on color faceplates for those who like to give their electronics a distinctive look. But technically it does not advance the state of the art at all.

Palm cranked out press releases back in June proclaiming that it would add expansion capabilities to future products via a slot for Secure Digital (SD) cards, and Internet capabilities through a Palm Mobile Internet Kit.

Well, .500 is not a bad batting average, I guess. The Internet kit just now is making its way to the market. For now, Palm's own Web site is the only place to get one:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/401/tr.cgi?alg1

But the product will be rolled out to the usual outlets in the next few weeks. This is the season for being charitable, so I will not mention that it would have been enormously smarter to have had the product in wide circulation before Christmas. Admittedly, the MIK is more of a corporate toy than a consumer item, but last time I checked, the business world gives holiday gifts, too.

Too bad, because the $39.95 MIK actually is a breakthrough product. It allows you to take a Palm and a supported cell phone and access the Internet. It will work totally wirelessly if you have a cell phone with infrared capabilities. Otherwise, you can hook up with TDK Systems Europe's Global Pulse cables:
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/401/tr.cgi?alg2

The Global Pulse Nokia cable, for example, works with the popular 51xx and 61xx series phones and both the III and V series Palms. List price is about $100, but the street price is under $70.

The new wrinkle here is that it does not require a dedicated wireless data network such as Palm.net for the Palm VII or the OmniSky network for Palm V.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/401/tr.cgi?alg3

Basically if your cell carrier and cell phone supports data transmission (typically called "PCS" service), you can use the MIK.

The bundle includes MultiMail, long the top email package for the Palm (and which Palm acquired) plus the Palm Web "clipping" applications carried over from the VII. Clippings are Web access applets that take the place of Web browsers. Basically, they generate skeletal Web pages; minimal or no graphics and a layout that suits the dimensions of a handheld screen.

Do not be under any illusion that this is total Internet browsing. It is the Web reduced to the basics. I personally prefer a more complete solution such as OmniSky, which supplements clipping with standard browsing of most Web sites, and has unlimited airtime. However, in the real world, you would be using your handheld for such Internet tasks as checking a stock quote, looking up an address, or making a quick transaction. And clipping does that without consuming too much of your precious and expensive cell phone airtime.

Also, MIK is a little clunky. The cable approach can be awkward, and it can be difficult to keep the infrared ports of your phone and Palm in alignment.

However, this is what the future is going to look like. Increasingly, disparate devices will be able to communicate with each other. New technologies such as Bluetooth may do so more elegantly than MIK, but those have yet to be much more than vaporware. MIK is here now.

You can reach Al Gordon at:
mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com

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