PC Week via ZDNET reports: "For those who think handhelds are too awkward and notebooks too heavy comes 'Jupiter' -- Microsoft's reference spec for a new class of handheld PCs with features that blur the line between mini notebooks and handhelds."

Malaysia's COMPUTIMES reports that a company in Malaysia called "UNILEVER Sdn Bhd" has recently made a major purchase of "palmtops" for their sales personnel to support an "efficient customer response campaign."

TDK Systems has announced three new Type II PC Card products for Windows CE devices: a landline v.90 56K modem (CyberExpress 5620CE, US$129), a cellular v.90 56K modem (Cellular Companion 5630CE, US$169), and an Ethernet LAN adapter (TDK MobileNetworker CE, US$99).

Nikkei English News is reporting that NEC's Nara Prefecture research center has reportedly created a new handheld specific "command-input technology."

Sierra Imaging has posted a "free trial version" of their new Windows CE imaging package called "Image Expert CE Camera Software." The package will go on sale on 30Aug98 with an expected retail price of just under US$50.

OmniPoint has a new PalmPilot savvy wireless connectivity device called "OPTION SNAP-ON" that lets users get access to email and the Internet while on the go.

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) has announced that they are using PalmPilot devices to judge, score, and tally aircraft at their annual conference; this year has brought some 11,000 aircraft to the show (29Jul-04Aug98 - Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin). The software used to build the scoring application was SoftMagic's Satellite Forms Developer Edition 2.0.

Bill Murray at Government Computer News (31Jul98) notes that "Marines Prepare To Field Wearable Data Systems." The contract for these systems is being held by General Dynamics and is worth up to US$15 million through 2002. The system will more than likely use Windows CE devices wireless connecting to current LANs using Lucent's WaveLAN hardware.

Mobile Technology Datacommunication Systems (MTDS) has announced the availability of a "GSM savvy software modem technology" they are calling "Soft-Link for Windows CE and Windows 95."

Advanced Oxygen Technologies (OTC) has recently signed a contract with PDA, Inc. for "specialized marketing services" to promote PDA, Inc.'s "Hand-Held & PDA Forum" to be held at the Denver, Colorado Hyatt, 19-21Aug98.

Nathan Henderson has two tidbits of news: #1. The Newton Evangelist site has been updated with a discussion board and some exclusive Newton Books. #2. The MacNN Reality site has recently posted rumors about "Apple's Consumer Portable eMac".

Bernie has announced BookReader v2.5 for the Newton. This version fixes some known bugs. You can download a demo for Macs or PCs.

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)