Handspring has announced two things: The availability of their new Visor Phone, and a new compatibility testing program for Springboard module developers called "Product Quality Partners (QP)" that will be officially available in Jan 2001.

TealPoint Software has announced "TealMovie Multimedia System" for Palm OS devices that should enable "high-quality video and animation" at up to 25-frames-per-second using either color or grayscale. The architecture includes a TealMovie Encoder for Windows (US$20) to create playback movies for Palm OS devices.

@hand Corporation has announced a new release of their "Mobile Application Environment" that can be used to build, deploy, and manage mobile solutions that can link back to enterprise networks. Currently there are solutions being developed using this technology for sales force automation, utility field service, and healthcare mobile applications.

ThinkingBytes' ThinkDB is a database solution for Palm OS that includes "unique tab features" for accessing and managing information.

Coola Signatures is an online "electronic business card" service that also supports Palm OS devices. Users subscribe to each other's business cards and all new information is updated automatically to all subscribers.

Melard Technologies has announced that two of their mobile solutions -- the Scout2 and SideArm -- are being heavily used in the new upcoming adventure movie called "Swordfish" (Warner Brothers' movie with John Travolta, Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman).

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)