Everybody, put your hands together for Teri! Her article Today's PDAs Can Put OPAC in the Palm of Your Hand is now available in this month's issue of Computers in Libraries, and it includes a mention of Lori's work, too. Way to go, Teri!

"The most exciting of these combination PDA/bar code scanner devices, I think, is 3M's Digital Library Assistant or 'Palm-on-a-Stick.' When you've put Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags into your books, this tool can locate items in the stacks, so you can use it for shelf-reading and weeding, and for finding books and correcting circulation data. For instance, think of the classic case of a patron claiming that he's returned a book, but your system shows it's still checked out and overdue. You've checked the stacks and not found it, but perhaps it's only been mis-shelved. You can code the RFID number into the hand-held device, then go to the stacks and wave it across the shelves. When it reads the tag you're looking for, it will sound off to let you know. Book found, patron absolved. This product and the other pieces of the Digital Identification System have been beta tested at the University of Nevada Las Vegas....

Some of the vendors have already started trying. Innovative Interfaces, Inc. has two wireless products, according to III product manager John McCullough. The AirPAC is a stand-alone alternate OPAC product, designed for users of wireless devices. It is in its last round of testing and is being used by Boulder Public Library to provide services for patrons with cellphones that use the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). In addition, Innovative Interfaces is currently developing an infrared beaming product to help patrons of libraries that use Innovative's Millennium product line. This upcoming product will probably be available sometime after the fall of 2002. We can probably expect to seemore of these kinds of add-on software programs in the future...." [via ...useless miscellany]

I've been volunteering SLS to beta test the infrared beaming with Palms for-freaking-ever.

Palm Unveils Color, Wireless Models

"Palm is showing that color is in with the debut of its spring lineup Monday, introducing the M130 entry-level handheld and the premium M515 model at roughly the same prices that monochrome units cost in the past.

At $279, the Palm M130 is the lowest-priced color PDA with an expansion slot on the market. With its rounded plastic case, it resembles its predecessor, the monochrome-screen M125, and like the M125, it has 8MB of memory. At $399, the M515 has the same hard-metal case as the current M505 model; it also has a color display and 16MB of memory." [PC World]

It has taken Palm too long to get here, but just like the old days with TVs, monochrome screens are on their way out. What's disappointing is the continued delay of a color, truly wireless Palm, say the "i705c." I was excited reading the above headline until I read the article and realized it's Bluetooth wireless. Three years ago I predicted the combination of color and wireless would be Palm's killer app, but they still haven't made it a reality. Do I not understand the technology well enough to recognize the reasons for the delay, or is Palm really that clueless?