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The anti-virus community was abuzz yesterday with the discovery of the first Trojan Horse designed to infect and collect data from a Pocket PC (see Malicious Code Exploits Backdoor in PDA Security).

This news merely stoked an already burning conflagration of concern about the vulnerabilities of handheld communications devices. Those used to access wireless networks can seriously compromise the integrity of corporate LANs. Even fun features like integrated cameras are viewed with an increasingly jaundiced eye by corporate gatekeepers. They simply make it too easy for employees to share with others information that the enterprise would prefer to keep private.

Of course, in some industries—such as real-estate and insurance —cameras are essential tools of the trade. But for many others, they are viewed as a nuisance and a danger to the bottom line.

Research firm InfoTrends projected in March 2004 that worldwide unit sales of camera phones, for example, will reach nearly 150 million this year, or just over a quarter of all mobile phone sales. It also expects Camera phone sales to experience a compound annual growth rate of 55 percent through 2008 to 656 million units.

But how many of these will sell into the enterprise? Probably not many. That is why palmOne developed a camera-less version of its popular Treo 600 communicator for Sprint back in June. It is also why Verizon Wireless, which only started selling the Treo 600 last month, is also now offering a version of the smartphone without a camera.

PalmOne, Sprint and Verizon are banking on the Treo 600, sans camera, attracting more security-conscience enterprises and their dollars.

Sprints VP of Integrated Solutions Phil Bowman said "some companies have credible concerns about the devices being used to copy sensitive information. This additional version of the Treo 600 gives mobile professionals a way to utilize the high-speed data capabilities of the enhanced Sprint Nationwide PCS Network and remain productive without worry of violating any company restrictions when they are visiting clients or back in their own offices."

Both Sprint's and Verizon's camera-less Treo 600s are otherwise identical to the camera-enabled models. In one of those rare cases where less is more, these Treo 600s cost the same too. But to a company that places a premium on privacy, these Treo models are worth just as much as the ones with cameras.

Last week, palmOne rival Hewlett-Packard announced its first smartphone, the iPAQ h6315, a Pocket PC phone with Wi-Fi as well as GSM/GPRS wireless networking. Like the Treo 600, the new iPAQ integrates a camera. As with palmOne and its smartphone, there are reports that HP plans to offer a version of the h6315 without a camera for the very same reason palmOne delivered a camera-less Treo 600: security.