Xircom has announced that they are now shipping their SpringBoard modem for Handspring Visor handhelds. The "SpringPort Modem 56 GlobalACCESS" module (US$149) offers 56-Kbps v.90 modem connectivity that also supports GSM/PCS wireless systems using an optional connection kit.

Agenda Computing's new Linux based Agenda VR3 is getting a great deal of interest from Pen Computing online readers. The device is expected to be shipping in the United States in Oct00.

Panasonic has announced a new MIL-STD 810E ruggedized laptop called the "ToughBook 27" that offers a Pentium III 500-MHz processor and integrated wireless communications options.

WAP Forum is accepting nominations for their W@P Awards to be presented on 27Nov00 at the WAP Congress 2000 conference to be held in Seville, Spain.

Two new microprocessors have been announced recently -- one from Intel called "XScale" (based on StrongArm technology) that could be a Palm, Inc. replacement for the Motorola DragonBall processor (PC World); and another from Microsoft called "Solo2" that will initially drive WebTV devices, but is expected to be used in future Microsoft handheld devices ( ZDNET).

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)