According to Palm, it has also improved the T3's and the Tungsten E's core applications and Personal information management software. There is now a a new agenda view that shows future appointments and daily tasks, as well as color-coded calendar options, similar to what third party applications, such as Agenus, have been offering for years with icons. As for scheduling, users can now beam multiple appointments with a single command, schedule events that last past midnight and view location details. Additional contact data, includes more multiple contact addresses, more phone numbers and email addresses, instant-messaging ID, Web site addresses and birthdays, which a Palm reprehensive joked, at the recent conference call announcing the new devices to the media, could save some marriages.

Other features include repeating tasks and alarms for easier scheduling of Tasks for recurring assignments and chores, as well as larger memos and notes, something Palm users have long waited for. Also, as part of Palm's marketing push for its fall line-up, PalmOne has stepped-up support for Palm synching to Microsoft Outlook as it says upwards of 50 percent of its user-base synchs to the e-mail/PIM application. Improved Outlook compatibility includes better synchronization of new fields.

"Although PalmOne is clearly focused on a wireless future with its acquisition of Handspring, the company knows all to well how important its legacy PDA business is to its future," IDC analyst Alex Slawsby told internetnews.com. "Providing the revenue stream upon which future generations of PalmOne wireless products will be built, the company is fully committed to maintaining, expanding, and evolving its PDA products."

Despite the improvements to Palm's two branded products, Slawsby says the company has yet to prove its wireless mettle.

"Much attention is currently focused on the success or failure of the Handspring Treo 600 as an early indicator," he said. "The same uncertainty goes for the new PalmOne brand and the Treo, Tungsten, Zire sub-brands -- execution and continued understanding on end-user needs, wants, and demands (a historical strength of Palm) will be critical here.

Palm executives have repeatedly said they will only launch their brand of Treo products until after a three-way deal to change its corporate name to PalmOne; acquire the assets of Handspring; and split off its PalmSource software division as a separate publicly traded company has been completed.

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