PalmOne last week unveiled the Tungsten T5, the company's latest handheld computer. The device includes 256M bytes of memory (215M bytes available to users), giving it one of the largest storage capacities in the handheld market.

What intrigues us most is that the device can act like a portable storage system. When users put the device into "drive mode" they can turn the PDA into a portable hard drive. Connecting to a PC via USB cable, they can drag and drop files to the PDA as if they were using a USB flash drive. This makes file transfer between the PDA and the PC simpler than it was with the synchronization software formerly used.

Tungsten T5 is powered by a 416-MHz Intel xScale processor, and has integrated Bluetooth (which can provide wireless Internet connectivity through a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone) and a 320-by-480-pixel transflective TFT color display (more than 65,000 colors), and a Secure Digital I/O card slot, which supports MultiMedia Cards. Tungsten T5 is scheduled to be available next month, priced at about $400.

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PalmOne last week unveiled the Tungsten T5, the company's latest handheld computer. The device includes 256M bytes of memory (215M bytes available to users), giving it one of the largest storage capacities in the handheld market.

What intrigues us most is that the device can act like a portable storage system. When users put the device into "drive mode" they can turn the PDA into a portable hard drive. Connecting to a PC via USB cable, they can drag and drop files to the PDA as if they were using a USB flash drive. This makes file transfer between the PDA and the PC simpler than it was with the synchronization software formerly used.

Tungsten T5 is powered by a 416-MHz Intel xScale processor, and has integrated Bluetooth (which can provide wireless Internet connectivity through a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone) and a 320-by-480-pixel transflective TFT color display (more than 65,000 colors), and a Secure Digital I/O card slot, which supports MultiMedia Cards. Tungsten T5 is scheduled to be available next month, priced at about $400.

IBM adds finger scanner to ThinkPad notebook

IBM last week said it has added an integrated fingerprint reader to its new ThinkPad T42 notebook, providing biometric security for handling events such as network logon. The system also can store passwords for applications and Web sites, using the fingerprint authentication so users don't have to remember them.

In addition, IBM upgraded its Embedded Security Subsystem (ESS) through a new version of its Client Security Software, which includes a new Password Manager application. The ESS can be pre-loaded onto the machine at the time of purchase, IBM says.

The T42 is just 1-inch thick and weighs 4.5 pounds. It is powered by a 1.8-GHz Intel Pentium 745 M processor. The unit includes IBM's battery configuration that allows up to 7.5 hours of battery life (with a nine-cell extended battery). Wireless configuration includes 802.11b/g, 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth. All the T42 models come standard with a modem, infrared and Gigabit Ethernet port for other connectivity options.

The T42 is scheduled to be available Oct. 19 through the IBM Web site - models with the fingerprint scanner are priced starting at about $1,700.

Plantronics offers USB wireless headset

If you have employees using VoIP softphones when they travel, chances are they are tethered to their PCs by a corded headset.

Plantronics wants to change that with its wireless CS50-USB headset, which offers up to 200 feet of coverage between the headset and the base station. The base station connects to a PC's USB port. The headset includes PerSonoCall software, which provides answer/end and ring-detection features for most major softphones, Plantronics says. The CS50-USB is scheduled to be available in December and will cost about $300.

Use your iPod instead of a laptop

PowerHouse Technologies last week launched software that can turn the Apple iPod into a system that can save Microsoft Outlook e-mail, calendar and contacts, Internet Explorer favorites, browsing history and other data files (including presentations). Migo Personal for iPod software will cost about $100 and is set to be available next month.