05/07/2000

McAfee.com launches anti virus service for handhelds

Keen to be at the forefront of the anti virus field for handhelds, McAfee.com has launched a new service and utilities aimed specifically at PDA's. But is there really a threat to our handheld machines? check out our story on the right.

Editor's note: This is likely to be the start of regular anti virus and security breifings by TopPocket.com.

Palm memory bug

Palm has announced that a small number of their PDA's have defective memory chips that can, in certain circumstances, cause total data loss. Visit the Palm website for more details on this.

Mac World New York.

From the 19th - 21st July, MWNY will be taking place. There'll hopefully be some news on the upcoming portable Apple device and we'll have coverage on that event here on TopPocket.com

01/06/2000

Long time...

Wow! It's been a long time since we've had an update here. Things have been pretty hectic in 'the real world' which have meant that TopPocket's taken a bit of a back seat. Shame on me ;o)

Things are returning back to normal, though - so I plan on making a number of updates to this page over the next couple of weeks or so. Make sure you check back regularly as there's a lot happening in the handheld arena.

Confirmed - no Apple PDA this year!

A top ranking Apple official has claimed that the company have no plans to re-enter the 'handheld or PDA space'. DON'T be worried about this, though; Steve Jobs has got something cool going on that WILL debut in August and WILL place Apple back up there as one of the true computing pioneers. Much as the Newton showed the industry how creative Apple could be, this new device will make everyone realise the bad days at Apple are over - for good!

While this device won't be a PDA in the conventional sense, it will be portable, run the 'proper' Mac OS, and have a cool colour display. The device will also run Quicktime and very likely have a DVD drive as well. And if you think the Compaq IPaq PDA, (right), has a funky design, you ain't seen nothin' yet! The looks of this new Apple device will have your mouth watering! Sounds good? You bet. I'll have more info on this soon - so keep watching.

Palm goes shopping...

Palm have been on a spending spree. At the end of May, the company acquired AnyDay.com for $79.6 million.

Anyday develop software utilities for Palm devices that enable users to organise themselves better and share information with other users. Palm will probably look towards integrating these utilities with their own Internet based offerings for shipment later in the year. Palm have already signalled their intent of making all of their devices Internet aware by 2001.

Transmeta Corp - one to watch.

Transmeta corporation is one to look out for. Earlier in the year, they released their first chip, 'Crusoe', which uses advanced software technologies to enable it to run on a variety of platforms without modification.

Some of the benefits of the chip's architecture is that it runs much cooler than conventional chips and also draws much less power which makes it ideal for mobile devices.

The company recently announced a deal with Gateway and AOL in which it will supply the Crusoe chip to these companies for their forthcoming Internet Appliance devices.
 

A day in the life...

I'd like to start up a section here for any of you guys to relay your stories, thoughts or musings on all things handheld. I've had a few emails so I know you're out there ;o)

 If you have a handheld and can't do without it, (or if you have a handheld and wonder why in the hell you bought the thing in the first place), get your thoughts down on paper and email them in to me. I'll publish any that I think are cool.

That's it for now - check back soon for those updates..

Rod.