Palm PDAs attempt to boost demand

Palm's TX handheld features integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Palm has launched two new PDAs in a bid to stimulate flagging consumer interest in its handheld range. 

At the low end the Z22 replaces the Zire 21 as the least expensive Palm device, weighing just over 3oz and costing £79.99. It has a colour screen and uses Palm OS version 5.4.9 known as 'Garnet'.

For the premium business market the Palm TX, costing £249.99, features integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, only the third Palm device to do so. The TX runs on an Intel XScale 312MHz processor and allows remote access to a PC via third-party servers.

However, Rob Bamforth, senior analyst at Quocirca, suggested that Palm needs to devote more effort to smartphones.

"Palm provides good ease of use and design, but it is getting to the point where users have to have connectivity so we are coming to the end of the market for unconnected PDAs," he said.

"Wireless connection is good but there will always be gaps in hotspot coverage so business will really need something like GPRS too."

Britain once again gets hammered by Palm on prices. In the US the two models cost $99 and $299, which means that British consumers will pay about 30 per cent more for the hardware.

"The Palm TX speaks directly to the needs of our customers: fast, integrated wireless, a large colour screen and 128MB of memory at a very competitive price, " said Ken Wirt, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Palm.

"This is the wireless device customers have been waiting for. There is no other handheld on the market today with the same capabilities at the same affordable price."

Palm has also updated its Zire and Tungsten handhelds as part of a rebranding strategy that puts the Palm name to the forefront. It will keep the LifeDrive and Treo names but will refer to them as the Palm LifeDrive and Palm Treo.