SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Personal digital assistant giant Palm Inc. last week took a stab at operating system rival Microsoft Corp. in an announcement that Palm users will be able to create, view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents and view PowerPoint presentations.
The offering is part of Palm’s Documents To Go Professional Edition version 4.0. The new version also allows users to create and edit Excel-compatible spreadsheets, save and sync large documents directly to Secure Digital and MultiMediaCard media using Palm m500 series handhelds, and sync documents between multiple computers. DataViz Inc.’s DocSync technology provides the synchronization technology.
Palm and Microsoft offer competing PDA operating systems, and Palm’s move bolsters the company’s attempt to move into the lucrative business market. However, according to a report from Dataquest Inc., Palm needs to move faster because it lost “significant” market share during the first quarter of this year. Compaq Computer Corp., which licenses Microsoft’s Pocket PC operating system, more than doubled its market share, due in large part to its successes in the business market with its iPAQ PDA.
In other Palm news, the company had no comment on a lawsuit filed last week that alleges Palm devices can damage desktop computers when users synchronize the device with a PC.
A company spokeswoman said it is Palm’s policy not to comment on pending legal matters.
