Research-In-Motion (RIM) has released a new Blackberry pager that comes in a palm-sized handheld form-factor that is called the "RIM 957" (US$500). This device includes a 20 line display, and small built-in QWERTY keyboard. In North America, pager service is provided to users by BellSouth. In the future, expect WAP enabled devices from RIM using technology from Neomar. [SOURCES: CNET and PR Newswire also has coverage.

BSQUARE has announced a new "Set-top Box Software Development Kit (SDK)" that is now available for organizations working on Microsoft TV software platform designs on the National Semiconductor Geode hardware reference platform. Some key hardware configuration features found in Geode: video processor that supports MPEG2, 2D MMX, & NTSC/PAL encoders; 10/100 Ethernet; USB keyboard & mouse; IrDA; serial I/O & parallel port; IDE drivers; and PCI bus support.

Palm has announced a new OEM relationship with ePocrates that will enable ePocrates to build customized handhelds based on Palm supplied Palm OS devices for the healthcare marketplace. There have been three successful healthcare industry Palm OS based solutions deployed recently: AMR (ambulance company); St. Joseph's Hospital; and Sonic Innovations (hearing aid products company).

Vertel Corporation has announced a new optimized version of their CORBA-based e*ORB software that includes support for application development for Palm OS based solutions. [NOTE: CORBA = Common Object Request Broker Architecture]

NEC Computers has announced the MobilePro 880 Handheld PC Pro computer (HPC Pro) that offers: 9.4" diagonal SVGA LCD supporting 65K color at 800 x 600 pixels; weighs 2.6 pounds; touch screen; 92% scale keyboard; USB port; and a 168-MHz NEC Vr4121 CPU. The device runs Windows CE v2.11, and will retail for US$949 in the United States.

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com) eFax: 978-246-3067