Powerful Palm VII's capabilities deal mobile users winning hand
If you're into whipping out technological trump cards, a Palm VII is the gadget to have.
By Thomas R. Temin
GCN Staff
If you're into whipping out technological trump cards, a Palm VII is the gadget to have.
The $499 handheld computer offers wireless e-mail and Web download capability, in addition to the usual Palm OS personal organizer and record-keeping functions. It comes preloaded with links to various Web sites that supply text-only downloads, such as ABC News, ESPN, Mapquest, Travelocity and the Weather Channel.
Dozens of other Web sites have downloads formatted for the Palm VII.
But software quirks make the device a definite Version 1.0. More important, few information technology shops have a strategy for supporting handheld devices as part of their enterprise networks. Just as data processing shops didn't know how to handle early PCs, today's network administrators don't quite know how to deal with computers such as Palms.
Lots of users carry agency data on handhelds. Add e-mail, and you end up with real implications for the LAN or WAN back at the office. Plus, managers who agree to pay Palm users' $9.99 to $39.99 monthly Internet access fees face potentially open-ended costs.
I used a Palm VII intensively for several weeks. I loaded a contact database, sent and received e-mail, and downloaded data from the Web. I sent grandma and grandpa my son's cross-country run times from atop a hill in Western Maryland, and I checked sports scores at www.espn.com while commuting by subway. I also sent e-mail to GCN reporters during presentations at conferences.
Power in hand
This is one cool device. At 3 inches wide by 5.25 inches tall by five-eighths of an inch thick, it's a half-inch longer and slightly thicker than the company's flagship Palm III, and bulkier than the ultraminiature Palm V. The size accommodates a built-in, two-way radio modem and a nicad battery, which gets its recharge from two AAA cells that also power the computer itself.
To surf the Web or send e-mail, you activate the device by flipping up a flexible and easily replaceable plastic antenna tucked into the side. You tap on the application or Web site you want using a built-in pointer.
The speed of Palm e-mail and Web access belies the complex underlying technology. I could send e-mail from places where my digital mobile phone with AT&T Corp. PCS service wouldn't work.
BellSouth Corp. transfers messages to Palm-operated servers in California, which connect to the Internet and direct traffic to and from Palm VIIs. Once you tap the send button, an e-mail is on its way within 15 seconds. From clicking on the icon to receiving ABC News headlines also takes 15 seconds.
Another feature I liked was deflecting return mail to my office e-mail account.
A slight problem
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Palm VII Handheld computer
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