"Sure do," I said. Rather than bring out a bulging wallet, I took out my PalmPilot and passed it around to the admiring oohs and ahs of my lunch-table companions. No, my friends were not admiring the PalmPilot's address book and memopad functions but rather were looking at the ten grayscale photos of my new daughter.

PalmPilot users know by now that the device is an extraordinarily useful tool for carting around massive amounts of text-based information in a very small package, but are you aware that the PalmPilot also has the ability to display grayscale images with four levels of gray? Your PalmPilot has the ability to display 2-bit grayscale images, as shown in Figure A. That gives you four colors: (black, dark gray, light gray, white). For the sake of comparison, remember that most computer monitors display at least 8-bit graphics. A black and white 8-bit graphic on most computers would have 256 shades of gray. By using a process called dithering, the PalmPilot can make those four shades of gray appear to be seven different shades. Understandably, the 2-bit images are not going to look nearly as smooth as 8-bit images. More information on the PalmPilot's ability to display grayscale images can be found in article in Handheld Systems Journal (http://www.cdpubs.com/hhsj/tocs/46toc.html).

FIGURE A

This is what a picture of me would look like on your PalmPilot.

Installing Image Viewer
A number of developers have exploited this ability and created software that enables users to export bitmap, .JPG, or .GIF images from your PC to a PalmPilot-displayable format. The Image Viewer format, developed by Art Dahm has received the widest acceptance. Image Viewer is shown in Figure B. After you've download the Viewer software (which consists of the Image View program, an Image Converter program, and some sample images), install the Image View software onto your PalmPilot by selecting the PalmPilot Install Tool from the PalmPilot Desktop Group of applications and then browsing for the Image View Software. After you have selected the Install button, you can exit the Install program and perform a Hot Sync to install your new software. To ensure that you have installed the program correctly, you can also install one of the sample images that come with the package.

FIGURE B

This is my picture, originating on the PC. Click picture for a larger image.

Safe computing note
Make sure you backup any crucial data on your PalmPilot by performing a hotsync before you install any new PalmPilot software. Many wonderful shareware and commercial programs are being released daily for the PalmPilot, and some of them have been released in beta format. Nobody can ensure that they will all work with the particular third-party programs and software hacks you may have already installed.