Palm's Fall Offensive http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/2003/10/01/cx_sk_1001tentech.html Palm's Fall Offensive Steve Kichen, 10.01.03, 10:00 AM ET NEW YORK - The stylus had barely left the screens of Palm's summer press releases touting its new Tungsten T2 handheld when word leaked out on enthusiast sites that Palm was readying an even more powerful T, the T3. The spies had it right: The Tungsten T3 hits stores today, and will take the T2's place as Palm's flagship. Whereas the T2 was just a minor tweak of the original Tungsten T, the T3 has more significant changes, starting with 64 megabytes of onboard memory versus 32 MB in the T2 and 16 MB in the original T. Most of the T3's core software programs are burned into ROM, and they take up roughly 12 megabytes, leaving 52 megabytes of memory free for other applications and user data. Inside the case, the T3 is powered by a 400-MHz Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) XScale processor, whereas the T2 had a Texas Instruments (nyse: TXN - news - people ) OMAP 1510 Instead of Palm's traditional text-entering space fixed on the bottom of the screen, the T3 has a virtual text-entering area that can be turned on or off by tapping an icon on the virtual status bar. The status bar has buttons such as home, menus and find. And, if so desired, the entire screen can be used to enter text. Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) also reworked the mechanical buttons on the T3. Whereas the two previous T models followed the traditional Palm layout--with their navigator buttons placed in a horizontal row below the screen area--the T3's buttons surround a four-way navigator button and an enter button in an oval-shaped section below the screen. The calendar and contacts buttons are now stacked on top of each other, as are the notepad and tasks buttons. The T3 still has the slick features common to the other T models, most notably the sliding case, which holds the main control buttons. When the case is in the down position--and the lower third of the screen is covered over--the unit is a compact 4.3 inches high by 3 inches wide. Bluetooth wireless communications comes standard, as does an expansion slot that accepts SD, SDIO and multimedia cards. Like the T2, this device runs Palm OS 5.2.1 and also has a voice recorder. When the T3's case is open, a 320-pixel-by-480-pixel viewing area is available. Even better, one tap on the status bar lets you switch back and forth from portrait to landscape mode (the text input screen also moves accordingly). The landscape view from the T3's transflective color screen is terrific. The biggest improvement is in the personal information manager (PIM), which is more customizable and has more fields and functionality, such as multiple addresses for each contact. The notes field has been expanded, and memos can now be as large as 32 KB versus 5 KB for previous versions. Another big plus: You can now go through the address list on the desktop, select groups of contacts and make global changes to their categories (such as "personal" or "business"). With handhelds having significantly more memory than the original PalmPilot, the upgrade to the PIM was long overdue. T3 owners can still beam contact information back and forth to older Palm OS devices, but the new fields will not show up on the older units. The T3 comes with an update of the VersaMail e-mail client, version 2.6, which provides direct downloading of messages from one or more POP or IMAP e-mail accounts. Another core program is the latest version, 6.0, of DataViz Documents to Go Professional Edition. The T3 also promises greater compatibility with Microsoft Outlook, but this is a benefit only for those who sync with a PC, not with Apple Computer's (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) Macintosh platform. A few other Palm programs, such as Quick Install, Expense and Photos, only work with the Windows platform. Gripes? Batteries are not user-replaceable. With a few exceptions, such as Dell's (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) Axim X5, today's handhelds come with an internal rechargeable lithium polymer battery. When the battery dies, it will cost $100 or more to send the unit back to the company for a battery replacement. Then again, by the time the battery is shot--typically after two to three years--most people will be ready to upgrade to a newer PDA. To its credit, Palm just released a $99 battery "sled" that connects to the unit and provides up to two full recharges to the handheld. This is an accessory worth considering if you go for long stretches away from the docking cradle. Even with the T3's expanded onboard memory you'll still need an SD memory card if you wish to play RealOne or MP3 audio files. This is a function of the Real Networks' (nasdaq: RNWK - news - people ) RealOne software, and it is no big deal given that 256-megabyte cards can now be found for as little as $70; cards with smaller capacities are even more affordable. But we're no fans of the so-called "improved" Graffiti 2. Palm was forced to modify its handwriting recognition software after a licensing spat with Xerox (nyse: XRX - news - people ). If you can't bear to give up the original Graffiti, there are some workarounds. TealScript ($20), by TealPoint Software, will let you customize the handwriting pretty much any way you want it, including reverting back to the original Graffiti strokes. Those are minor quibbles. If you who want an enhanced, but traditional, handheld--and don't want one with an integrated phone, keyboard, camera or ice cream maker--the T3 should be on your short list. Palm (soon to be called PalmOne) is launching the T3 with a competitive price of $399, while the price on its predecessor, the T2, drops to $329. Meanwhile, Palm also announced two other models today. The Tungsten E is a $199 handheld that Palm is positioning as a direct successor to its classic Palm V handheld, which many consider the height of Palm's design genius. And the Zire 21 rounds out the low end of Palm's lineup at $99. It has a greyscale screen, but runs Palm OS 5.2.1 and has four times the memory of the original Zire.
