Clarion is now selling their "Clarion AutoPC" through select dealers in the United States and Canada. Some features: Windows CE OS, USB port, high-end AM/FM Stereo and CD player, 8-color 256 x 24 active matrix LCD screen, voice recognition, 16MB DRAM, Compact Flash Card support, two-way communications via cellular phone (not yet available), IrDA port, and navigation databases with hooks to GPS devices. The units will retail for just under $1300.

John Spooner and Darren Gladstone are reporting on ZDNET's PC Week Online that "Microsoft [plans] to consolidate Windows CE software" for handheld PC (HPC) form factors to v2.11 with a ROM upgrade in Jan99. Then sometime in late 1999, all devices (palm-size, HPC, and Professional HPC) will upgrade to a unified v3.0. The v2.11 upgrade could cost users of older HPCs like the HP 620LX or the Philips' Velo 500 as much as US$130.

Egbert Verbrugge reports that his Sharp Zaurus related articles formerly published by Mobilis can now be found at home.istar.ca/~peeltech.

British Telecommunications' Advanced Concepts division is "quietly" working on a small pen-sized computer that will be able to wirelessly send and receive data like email. The device will reportedly be using Kopin Corporations' CyberDisplay technology and will be enabled with PIM functionality found on most other handheld devices. The "key" technology for the device will be its ability to translate "writing movements" into text. Pricing and availability are not known at this time. [SOURCE: Steve Gold, Newsbytes News Network]

Palm Computing has release a beta of their Palm MacPac v2.0 to the Internet yesterday. This release is not yet feature complete, but it does bring the latest Palm Desktop and HotSync Manager to Macintosh desktop users.

Green Mountain Software Corporation and RAM Software Systems have announced the "successful implementation" of a mobile EMS trip data collection system throughout Illinois' Will/Grundy Emergency Medical Services (EMS) System. The handheld devices (currently Newton based but being ported to Windows CE) provides real-time connectivity to RAM Software Systems' EMS executive management system and to RAM Software Systems' WinAIM desktop report generation software.

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)