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Palm-based laptop goes wireless from AlphaSmart

The Dana is the best battery-saving PC you can get - based on the Palm OS, not Windows, it runs for several days. But till now, it didn't have any way of connecting to wireless hot spots.

The new Dana, finally, has standard 802.11b Wifi built in. The new design has been under beta-test in a few European countries for a couple of months.

Now, according to Mac Central the new machine is officially available. An announcement to that affect appeared Monday, but almost no other information was available - not even price.

Internet connectivity, normally, is through an obscure Pegasus modem or an even more obscure infra-red Access point from Compex. The Pegasus modem can be ordered directly from AlphaSmart using a credit card for the £ sterling equivalent of $99 + VAT on +44 (0) 20 3690 8490.

The alternative is the Compex irdaNet iRE201 Infrared Wireless Access Point - available in Germany at around 120 Euro. You have to be pretty persistent to get one, but it's worth following this link for more details.

The new WiFi model not only eliminates all that hassle, but also allows you to use conventional USB modems. The screen, too, is an improvement - instead of being monochrome black and white, it now has greyscale.