A model Palm device user
Finally, PalmSource attendees were treated to a visit from supermodel Claudia Schiffer, who was there to announce that her Palm Vx Claudia Schiffer Edition is now available on her Web site at http://www.claudiaschiffer.com. Schiffer helped design this limited edition model by picking out the color. It's an aqua metallic blue, as you can see in Figure B.

FIGURE B

The Palm Vx Claudia Schiffer Edition comes in an attractive aqua metallic blue. Click picture for a larger image.

The device also comes pre-loaded with some of Schiffer's favorite applications, including a guide to New York and London, image software that allows you to see photos on your Palm device, a Claudia puzzle, diet software, and a fitness tracker. Schiffer hopes the device will draw more women to the world of Palm computing, working under the assumption, one supposes, that women are primarily interested in shiny things and dieting.

Conclusion
Schiffer's Palm Vx aside, the overall theme of this year's PalmSource was not on new devices, but on licensing the Palm OS to new hardware manufacturers and on increasing and improving wireless Internet access. As competition increases, Palm believes its best bet for remaining king of the handheld marketplace is by putting the focus on software and wireless services. The danger some critics see in the changes being made in Palm OS 4.0 and 5.0 is that Palm may alienate some of its longtime fans by sacrificing the highly valued simplicity of the operating system. However, Yankowski maintains that even as these new features and services are added, the key to staying on top is in keeping things simple. Here's hoping Palm continues its great success at treading that very fine line.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise, has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and is a member of the instructional faculty at the University of California, Berkeley extension. He can be reached at david@zatz.com.