CEO: Web-Enabled Palm Devices by Year End
N E W Y O R K, May 2 -- Palm Inc.’s chief executivesaid Tuesday that all of its handheld computing devices would beable to access the Web by the end of the year, and that thecompany would offer a wireless clip-on attachment for any PalmPilots that are not currently online.
“All of our Palms will have access to the Internet by theend of the year,” said Palm CEO Carl Yankowski, in an interviewfollowing a presentation to investors at a Merrill Lynchcomputer technology conference here.
“There will be an attachment that will clip on thedevice,” he said, when asked about Palm users who have alreadypurchased handheld organizers without Web access.
He did not offer details about changes to product lines, butdid say that the company was testing so-called Blue Toothwireless connections, which allow for any device to connect,without any cables, to other devices, computers, and peripheralssuch as printers.
Message: Palm Equals Wireless
Merrill Lynch analyst William Crawford said: “He is sendinga message here that says Palm equals wireless. This is a kind ofposition statement for Palm.”
Yankowski also said that Palm, which recently went publicbut is still 90 percent owned by 3Com Corp. was in talks withSony Corp., which is developing smart phones, for possiblecollaboration on new products: “We are in a dialogue with Sonyto see if there is any overlap in those areas.”
Crawford said that Palm’s stock price has been held in checkpending the rollout of stock to 3Com shareholders for thespinoff, which is scheduled for August.
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