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A year late! - Palm Bluetooth wireless finally ships

It was a year ago that market-leading pocket computer maker Palm announced its Bluetooth card, which was going to clip onto any standard palm. The good news is: it's now shipping!

The announcement was lost in the hundreds of wireless goodies revealed at the CTIA Wireless show in Orlando, and was, misleadingly, posted on Palm's web site saying that it was US-only - but in fact, the Bluetooth card is now available in the UK.

"Professionals on-the-go may experience the power of wireless Bluetooth technology to communicate, collaborate and connect simply by using a small SD Card with their Palm(TM) handheld computers," says the official announcement.

Once the software is loaded and the card (slightly larger than a postage stamp) is inserted, an application "walks users though a process" - standard Bluetooth "discovery" - "to find and connect with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, printers, laptops and other Palm handhelds within 10 meters, or about 30 feet, or connect to Bluetooth LAN access points within 100 meters, or about 300 feet," said Palm

With the Palm Bluetooth Card, Palm is delivering its first product designed using the long awaited "open SDIO" specification. The Palm Bluetooth Card works with modern Palm handhelds - models that have the Palm Expansion Card Slot, such as the Palm m125, m500, m505 and i705 handhelds, as well as the recently introduced Palm m130 and m515 handhelds.

The Palm Bluetooth Card can now be purchased in the United States online at The Palm Store and at retailers worldwide for an estimated U.S. street price of $129.

The Palm Bluetooth Card comes equipped with special software that enables users to do the following:

1)

Communicate by creating a bridge to the Internet with their Bluetooth and data-enabled mobile phones. The Palm Address Book allows dialing with a quick tap on a phone number. The SMS (Short Messaging Service) application allows users to send and receive messages over their mobile phone. Web clipping software and the Palm WAP Browser also are included. The Palm Bluetooth Card also supports the Palm MultiMail(R) email client. If a corporate or campus environment has Bluetooth LAN access points up and running, Palm handheld users can gain access, via the Palm Bluetooth Card, to corporate intranet resources and the Internet, including email, anytime they are on campus and away from their desks.

2)

-- Collaborate by exchanging information between Bluetooth-enabled handhelds. The BlueBoard (allows scribbled notes to be shared) and BlueChat (a private messaging and chat application) software applications allow groups of people to collaborate and share information.

3)

-- Connect with other Bluetooth-enabled office devices to send and receive data. From a Bluetooth-enabled Windows 2000 system, the user may perform a wireless HotSync(R) operation. Included printer software allows users to print Word and Excel documents from a Palm handheld to the recently introduced HP DeskJet 995c printer over Bluetooth.