Ralph from alt.comp.os.palm posted the following scoop:

The information I got yesterday from an unofficial announcement of the Palm developers is that the new (T6) will be called Tungsten 2005 and should have the following features:

• OS 6 (with scalable fonts)
• Bluetooth
• Wavelan
• 1 GB Flash
• 3 Megapixel Cam
• New connector (ethernet included)
• VGA resolution 640 x 480
• Graffiti 2 plus (with voice commands)
• Interface to iTunes (Apple iPod)
• The device is maximum 200 grams
• Automatic software update over internet
• Compatibility mode for pocket Windows is built in
• Initial price is around $400
• Launch date approx end of April

To me this sounds like PalmOne are back in the game with an excellent range of features, all for a reasonable price.
 
 
 

Cited by: PalmAddict, PDA Expertos, Palm 247…

The BBC takes a glimpse at Sony’s new portable MP3 players, which somehow imitate the iPod shuffle.

Unlike hard disk-based players, (Sony’s) flash devices hold fewer songs, using solid state memory rather than a disk.

The Sony line-up includes MP3 players which hold a similar number of songs to the iPod shuffle – about 250 – but the players have much longer battery life.

The home of the Walkman finally realised the importance of this entertainment niche.

CNET expose Intel’s comeback to the Mac mini. These are both inexpensive boxes which can be easily carried from place to place and connected to some peripherals.

Some might recall the dysphoric feeling when Sony left the PDA scene in most of the world. They have now halted their sales in Japan as well, thereby saying farewell to the world of miniature computing.

Jeffrey Kaplan from comp.sys.palmtops.pilot commented on the news:

It was only a matter of time until they dropped completely out of the Palm PDA market. Japan was their last market, they pulled out of the rest of the world last Summer. Expect their next entry to be either a Symbian or MS Smartphone due to their cellphone partnership with Ericsson.

It was rumored last year that Sony had bid to purchase what became PalmSource from Palm Inc. It is my opinion that failure to complete that bid is what made them decide to drop the PalmOS specifically, not the more general drop in sales after they flooded the market.

Cited by: PalmAddict

Slashdot report on Skype-ready phones from Motorola. These are devices that are designed to operate over the Internet, thereby making phonecall virtually free.

…one could use Skype for outgoing calls near wi-fi hotspots (essentially free) but default on GSM for outgoing calls in areas that lack coverage…

This takes us a step closer to communication that is purely-Internet based.

A recent item from the BBC reports on the severity of global warming. Although it means that our children can enjoy bathing in the sea, the consequences world-wide are devastating as ice continues to thaw.

…Unless we know what we’re dealing with, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to fix it…
 
    Dr. Tim Barnett, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Bill Gates arrested in his younger days (photo in public domain)

President of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, writes in CNET:

…Thanks to Mr. Gates, we now know that an open Internet with protocols anyone can implement is communism…
 
…Mr. Gates’ secret is out now–he too was a “communist;” he, too, recognized that software patents were harmful–until Microsoft became one of these giants…