PalmOne takes on Apple's iPod

In a bid to take a slice of the iPod action, palmOne has unveiled what it describes as a "new category" of mobile computing products dubbed 'mobile managers', which it hopes will bridge the boundary between smartphones and digital entertainment devices.

"Mobile managers are designed for customers who are eager to take full advantage of the trend toward 'digital everything', from documents and email to music, images and video, as standalone files or in organised folders," the company stated.

PalmOne, which last week lost out to RIM as the world's top producer of handhelds, said that the move is in response to customer demand for convenient ways to carry, file and manage digital content, such as music and video.

While accepting that "overlap" exists, palmOne described the mobile manager offerings as complementary to its existing smartphone and basic organiser products.

"In studying customer trends, we found that some people want to carry dozens of documents and hundreds of songs while others want to carry a thousand-plus photos and enjoy videos," said Page Murray, vice president of marketing at palmOne.

"Organisation functions are highly valued by nearly all our customers, but some wanted much more business and personal file management capabilities.

"We listened and will deliver a new category of mobile computing products that will let customers fuse their own mix of personal and business content in ways never before possible in either handheld computers or smartphones."

The first product in the mobile manager category is expected to be announced later this month.