By Tom Gibson Technical Editor, Handheld PC Magazine Email: tom_gibson@thaddeus.com Web site: www.hpcmag.com

COMDEX and CES have come and gone and with them some new and exciting things in the Windows CE world. The Palm PC and Auto PC were both introduced at CES and by the time you read this, at least two of the Palm PCs will be shipping (Casio and Everex). In this issue we'll take a look at web sites of interest to Palm PC (and H/PC) users.

Microsoft and the Palm PC Manufacturers

www.microsoft.com/windowsce/palmpc/

Every journey must start at the beginning, so we will start at Microsoft's Palm PC site. You can take a look at the features of the Palm PC, go to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, and link to the web sites of Palm PC manufacturers. If you want to know anything about the Palm PC, this is the place to start.

www.casiohpc.com/index.html

Casio has announced that they will ship the Cassiopeia E-10 Palm PC in late April. There is not yet a lot of information on the site about the E-10, but there is a press release about it and a contest you can enter to win an E-10. Keep your eye on this site for more information about the E-10.

www.everex.com/

Everex has also announced a late-April shipping date for its Freestyle Palm PC. The Everex site provides more information about the Freestyle. They have included specifications of the Freestyle along with the press releases.

www.palmax.com

The Palmax site doesn't yet have a lot of information about the PD-300. They mention that they have targeted April 1998 as a release date of their Palm PC. There is a press release and a specification page that tells us about the PD-300. The site was very slow when I visited, hopefully thing will speed up at Palmax.

nino.philips.com/

The Philips Palm PC web site describes the product and lists press releases. At the present time, you have to register with Philips on the site to view any information or pictures. Philips announces that the Nino 300 will ship in the 2nd Quarter 1998.

The other OEMs that have announced that they will have a Palm PC Product are LG Electronics (www.lgphenom.com/), Samsung (www.samsung.com/ ), and Uniden (www.uniden.com/) however none of them have any information at this time on their web sites.

Palm PC user web sites

While the manufacturers should have information about their products, it is often the web sites run by users that give us the best information.

www.craigtech.co.uk/palmpc/

Craig Peacock continues his fine work in the Windows CE realm with the addition of a Palm PC page on his website. Craig has links to the manufacturers and also has a chart listing the Palm PCs that have been announced along with the known specifications.

members.xoom.com

Elizabeth Reid Steere has a nice page that is split into two sections; one for Handheld PCs and one for Palm PCs. Elizabeth has pictures of the Palm PCs that exist and lists their features.

personal.cfw.com

Blake Patterson has put up Blake's Nino Information Page, which includes a number of articles about the Nino and a discussion of the input method. He includes links to other Palm PC sites. This is a very nice site, especially if you are interested in the Philips Nino.

www.pierce.aci.on.ca

Brent's Palm PC Site is another nice Palm PC web page. Brent has pages for specifications, pictures of Palm PCs and a guest book along with links to other Palm PC and H/PC sites.

Sites with freeware and shareware

There are other sites out there that don't quite fit into the manufacturer or user site categories. They're worth looking at because you'll find a lot of freeware and shareware for Windows CE devices.

www.palmpc-underground.com/

Palm PC Underground is a new site that promises to give us software, and information dedicated officially to the Palm PC market. There isn't much there now as the first Palm PC hasn't been sold yet, but I'll keep an eye on it and let you know when there is.

www.pdacentral.com/

PDACentral is a new shareware/freeware site on the web that has sections for the Pilot, Newton and Windows CE devices. It is brought to us by the folks at TUCOWS, one of my favorite sites for getting freeware/shareware for my desktop PC. I expect that PDACentral will be the same.

www.hpc.net/

HPC Net has been around for a long time and is still going strong. These are also the folks who host the Windows CE-Talk mailing list and they have lots of freeware and shareware for the H/PC along with news articles and links. I expect they will have a lot of stuff for the Palm PC. This is definitely a site to add to your Favorites.

The Palm PC market is coming alive and there are new sites going up all the time. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time, happy browsing and I'll see you Online!