Virtually lost in the recent excitement surrounding the launch of the new Palm m100, was the introduction of the upgraded version of the Palm VII - the Palm VIIx. And while the m100, with its sleek design and changeable cover, drew the oohs and aahs of the media, the Palm VIIx should not be overlooked.

For those already familiar with the Palm VII and its unique functionality, the key improvement in this version is a 300% increase in RAM, from 2MB to 8MB. This memory upgrade puts the Palm VIIx on a par with other popular Palm OS-based handhelds such as the Palm Vx, Palm IIIxe and the Handspring Visor Deluxe. With the same on-board storage capacity as any other Palm OS-based device on the market, the Palm VIIx provides users with the same ability to store large amounts of information and add third-party applications to customize the device's functionality.

If the Palm VII series of handhelds hasn't caught your attention yet, now is the time to start paying attention as things are starting to get interesting. The first web-enabled wireless PDA when it was introduced last year, the Palm VII provided a glimpse into what the future held for mobile computing technology. And while, like most new technologies, adoption was limited primarily to true tech aficionados, the potential it promised to provide users-anywhere, anytime access to the limitless pool of information available on the Internet-was compelling.

Things haven't progressed that far yet, but the Palm VII was a big step in that direction and provided a number of tangible benefits to users. The most obvious of these was real-time access to send and receive email. If this sounds somewhat less than spectacular, consider how many times you have been stuck in a cab, waiting at the airport, or relaxing on the golf course and have been hit by the need to check or send email. In most cases, it will be a lot more than you initially think. In just a few short years, email has become ubiquitous and is an essential part of most professional's lives.

Email aside, where the true power of the Palm VIIx reveals itself is in what it can do beyond email (after all two-way pagers such as those provided by RIM and SkyTel offer remote email and in some respects do a better job.) At the very top of the list is real-time access to the Internet, brining resources such as Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, CNNfn and hundreds of others (more on this later) directly to your Palm, no matter where you are. And like everything else Palm, simplicity is paramount.

In today's high bandwidth world, very few professionals access the Internet on connections other than T-1, DSL or cable (those that do can generally be spotted griping about how painfully slow Internet browsing is using a 56K modem.) However, the connectivity of the Palm VIIx is less than 9.6 kbps. It is not hard to imagine then how downloading your average 100K web page in its entirety might be only slightly more desirable than beating yourself in the head with a tack hammer.

To work around this bandwidth constraint, Palm devised a method for extracting only the key portions of information on a web page and transmitting that data over the wirelessly. For example, use the Palm to check stock quotes from E*Trade and you won't see any of the flashy graphics or useless links that populate the regular web page. Instead, what you will see is simply what you asked for-stock quotes. This transforms what might regularly take 5-10 seconds over the wireless connection to something that can take less than a second. Over the course of a day sending and receiving information, these seconds add up and make using the Palm VIIx a reasonably pleasant and effective experience.

All this brings us back to the 8MB of RAM. Almost before the initial rollout was complete, users recognized that the 2MB available with the Palm VII was simply not enough. After all, with saved emails, a Rolodex full of addresses, and a healthy collection of PQAs for checking information ranging from airlines schedules to the latest IPO news, that left little memory for the most important applications of all-addicting games you can play in those long endless business meetings.

Web Clipping Applications

HoboMail HoboMail brings your existing POP mail account to you anywhere. Standard Outlook features such as, Filters, folders, and signature are all included in Hobomail. The business traveler will really enjoy the easy access to email that HoboMail provides. Just think you will never need to search for a local ISP number with Hobomail your POP3 mail is with you everywhere you go in the Palm network.

LinksTime With LinksTime you can get golf course information by searching or looking up by state. LinksTime allows you to reserve and cancel tee times, keeps a record of past tee times, and reminds you of your future ones.

Bloomberg The Bloomberg PQA provides you with all of the latest data you need to stay abreast of what is going on the market today. Beyond quotes, Bloomberg offers you portfolio tracking, up-to-date technology news from around the world, and daily market winners and losers.

Biztravel.com Biztravel.com's PQA provides you with a convenient information like flight schedules and seat availability. It's really help in a pinch, when your flight has been delayed or canceled and you are trying to get on another flight. It also offers flight status, expected departure time, and departure terminal and gate information. The business traveler will find this PQA a real time and headache saver.

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