Color screens are great because I find them easier to read, and they make digital pictures a lot more fun. A color screen can also enhance game-play considerably. Figure C shows a color Palm m130 screen running Handmark's Scrabble for the Palm OS (at http://www.handmark.com).

FIGURE C


Games like Handmark's Scrabble for the Palm OS look great in color. Roll over picture for a larger image.

I'm also looking forward to trying out video clips on a Palm handheld, and that would be almost worthless without color.

The Palm m130 also has a color version of the Note Pad application, so you can customize the "pen" and background color.

Here's a complete run-down of the features of the Palm m130:

• Two-tone design with flip cover attached, customized faceplates available (sold separately);

• Color screen supports 65,000 colors;

• Rechargeable lithium-ion battery;

• Palm Expansion Card Slot;

• Palm Universal Connector;

• Palm Mobile Connectivity Software included for access to email and the Internet when used with a data-enabled mobile phone or modem.

Palm m515
Not only has the Palm m515 improved on the color screen of the Palm m505, but it has also gotten roomier. It's been bumped up to 16MB of SDRAM (4MB RAM), compared to the m505's 8MB. This increase in memory could be particularly useful for storing large corporate databases.

Of course, with the Palm m515, you've still got the rechargeable lithium ion battery and the built-in dual expansion. It's also got the same brushed-platinum finish found on the other Palm m500 series devices. The Palm m515 is priced at $399. You can get another look at it in Figure D.

FIGURE D


Applications just look better in color. Roll over picture for a larger image.

Bonus software
Both the Palm m515 and the Palm m130 come with about $100 worth of bonus software in the box, such as Documents to Go by DataViz (at http://www.dataviz.com), which lets you view, create, and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files and view and share PowerPoint files; MGI PhotoSuite Mobile Edition (at http://www.mgisoft.com), which lets you view photos and video clips and save them to expansion cards from the desktop; and Palm Reader, ebook reading software that now lets you simply tap on a word to get a definition.

Both devices utilize version 4.1 of the Palm OS. Together, they make fine additions to the entire family of Palm OS products.

David Gewirtz is the author of How To Save Jobs and Where Have All The Emails Gone? For more than 20 years, he 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 and you can follow him at http://www.twitter.com/DavidGewirtz.