Adaptec has announced a new Windows CE savvy "SlimSCSI 1460 host adapter" that will make it possible to attach SCSI removable drives (i.e. Iomega Zip and Jaz drives) or hard disk drives to certain Windows CE devices. This US$175 PC Card based solution also works with Win95/98/NT, DOS, and OS/2 systems. CDROM and possibly DVD support for Windows CE devices is not expected until sometime in Q2'99.

ZDNET's AnchorDesk has an article entitled "SOUP UP YOUR PALMPILOT WITH FREE UTILITIES" compiled by Jon DeKeles. In related news, ZDNET's PC Week has two potentially interesting articles: #1. Toshiba is showing off wireless Bluetooth technology from Las Vegas' COMDEX, and #2. Iris Software has released their virus protection software called "IrisCAT 2.0" for Windows CE.

QUALCOMM has created a new developer program and software developer kit (SDK) for their Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital wireless savvy pdQ smartphone that runs PalmPilot OS from 3Com. QUALCOMM has also announced a new online store that will sell a great deal of QUALCOMM technology (phones and accessories) and software (Eudora Pro and Eudora Planner) via the Internet.

Chapura has released "PocketJournal"--a PalmPilot to Microsoft Outlook's Journal synchronization tool. Chapura also has a Contacts, Tasks, Notes, and Calendar synchronization tool called "PocketMirror" that is currently bundled via CDROM with all 3Com Palm III devices sold.

Philips Electronics has a new voice recording handheld device in a Type III ATA PC Card configuration called "VoiceTracer Digital Memo Recorder" that will be using SanDisk's new 4MB Flash ChipSet storage technology. The device will ship in Dec98 for an estimated retail price of US$149.

Hitachi has announced a Windows CE savvy "SH7750V low power RISC processor" that is capable of "230 MIPS/896 MFLOPS" using "power consumption of just 400mW." The chip is integrated with "a 16K data cache, an 8K instruction cache, a memory management unit, direct interfaces to PC Card and DRAM storage, and a 32-bit multiplier." There are also three peripheral chips to complement the SH7750V: HD64463 (color liquid crystal controller and IrDA controller), HD64464 (graphics accelerator and display memory), and HD64465 (USB host controller and IrDA controller). [SOURCE: Electronics Times, 09Nov98]

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)