PC World covers the news about the new Thomson "based personal digital audio player" that is MP3-savvy under the "RCA" label called "Lyra." This 5oz. device will also use 32MB CompactFlash (CF) memory cards from SanDisk.

Symbol Technologies and Checkpoint Systems have announced a new working agreement to "deliver more integrated supply chain solutions to a worldwide market." The key to this agreement is that Symbol will offer CheckPoint Performa radio identification technology (RFID) in the 13.56 MHz range for scanning barcodes.

Practical Sales Tools has announced that they have completed the integration of their mobile corporate contact-management system called "UnwiredContact" with Phone.com's Wireless UP.Browser for smart phones and other handheld devices. This is a completely "backend" solution that uses Windows NT Server hosting standard HTTP servers with access to the Internet or intranet. No software needs to be installed on the client. Pricing starts at under US$5000 per server and US$199 per user.

The Bloomberg News and the New York Times are reporting that IBM and Philips have agreed to "cross-license" each other's text-to-speech and speech-to-text technologies. The two companies will also reportedly begin a "joint" effort to establish an "open standard" for using speech software on handheld computers.

3Com reportedly has plans to offer future 11 Mbps wireless LAN solutions (based on the IEEE 802.11 High Rate specification) for home ("HomeConnect") and business ("AirConnect") access to the Internet and intranets. The system will use CDMA savvy PC cards and access points, and will also integrate with 3Com's "yet-to-be-released" PalmPilot VII.

Rich at "This Old Newt" notes the posting of an "interview and brief review of ClockWork by Century Software." There have also been May 1999 updates to the "Newton Used Price Guide and the Son of ULTIMATE Newton Links page."

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)