The massive popularity of 3Com Corp.’s PalmPilot personal digital assistant has spurred several mobile communications companies to develop wireless solutions for the product. The most recent application is from Mitsubishi Wireless Communications Inc., whose Personal Mobile Communications Division recently announced the availability of its new Palm-Pilot Connection Kit.
The kit contains all the tools necessary to use Mitsubishi’s MobileAccess 100 series cellular telephone as a wireless modem to browse the Internet and send and retrieve e-mail from a PalmPilot. The kit includes the serial cable and software needed to both connect and configure the PalmPilot to the phone, respectively.
The specific Mitsubishi phone in question is the MobileAccess 120, a wireless integrated voice/data smart phone that enables Internet/intranet access, fax/modem capabilities, e-mail and voice. It features two built-in modems for wireless network options-Cellular Digital Packet Data and circuit-switched Advanced Mobile Phone Service. Mitsubishi feels this is an advantage compared with other wireless solutions for Palm devices, which only connect to one network.
The phone attaches to the PalmPilot or Palm III via a cable, which the company stresses maintains the integrity of the Palm devices. “The way we connect to it, we don’t change the form factor of the PalmPilot at all,” said Joy Maguire, director product and marketing management.
Mitsubishi first came out with the PC Connection Kit for Windows 95 computers a year ago and hopes to release a similar kit for Windows CE-powered devices by the fourth quarter. According to Maguire, the different serial ports used by CE devices are responsible for the delay because Mitsubishi must develop a universal cable to fit those different ports.
The new PalmPilot kit sells for about $110 and is available only from select carriers, such as AT&T Wireless Services Inc., GTE Wireless and Bell Atlantic Mobile.
The PalmPilot has sold close to 2 million units since introduced, and studies have indicated the PDA has captured 63 percent of the handheld computer market. As such, several wireless companies are developing wireless solutions for the highly popular device in an attempt to win a piece of the pie.
The Synapse PagerCard for PalmPilot, released jointly by Motorola Inc. and PageMart Wireless Inc., brings paging functionality to the device over PageMart’s FLEX-based system, albeit only one way messaging for now. The companies hope to have a two-way version out soon.
Novatel Wireless developed the first wireless connection to the PDA with its Minstrel modem, transmitting two-way data via CDPD. JP Systems Inc. developed the One-Touch software and cable connecting the PalmPilot to an AccessLink 2-way pager on SkyTel Communications Inc. network, in conjunction with the Minstrel modem.
