Dataquest is reporting that in 1998 the Palm OS accounted for 40.1% of all handhelds sold, followed by Windows CE at 25%, and Others in the 34.9% range. The sales of handheld devices in 1998 were 61.4% higher than in 1997 at an estimated 3.9 million units.

Wizard Works has announced the following Windows CE games: Solitaire Pack, Card Games, Fun Pack, Casino Pack, and Crossword Puzzles. Pricing starts at under US$20 a title.

Global Converging Technologies has announced a "Super Cordless Phone with NetDisplay touchscreen" that allows up to 16 handsets and screens to communicate via 900MHz digital spread spectrum to a base-station that includes a 56Kbps modem for Internet connection. Pricing starts at US$725. [SOURCE: Wired, April 1999, page 53]

ZDNET's AnchorDesk is publishing an article entitled "Killer Gadgets: Three Must Have Road Trip Gadgets" (MP3 player, digital camera, and an eBook device). ZDNET's 30Mar99 edition of the PalmPilot Express newsletter can be found at PalmPilotSoftware.com. This issue has details on reference documentation and playing poker on your Palm OS device, plus "Hot File" links to Timer (Ostheimer), One+One, Launcher III, BigClock, and Montana Solitaire.

Jim Thompson has created a great Palm OS resource Website via www.jimthompson.net/pilot. You can find details on Palm OS savvy keyboards, tips, and comprehensive software reviews on word processing, databases, outlines, and calculators.

Newsbytes, Kyoto, and Nikkei English News are all reporting that a new alliance has been announced between IBM and Sharp to better integrate each other's Internet and handheld hardware systems (Zaurus, Palm OS, and Windows CE) with each other's enterprise software and networking solutions like IBM's Lotus Notes.

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)