As predicted, Palm Computing will ship its first colour handheld next month, just in time for the 3Com subsidiary's upcoming IPO. According to readers of Apple-oriented Web site MacInTouch, US retail chain Best Buy has added the colour Palm IIIc to its product database, which describes the device as possessing a colour screen, 8MB of memory and a price tag of $449.99. Best Buy's database also mentions the upcoming IIIxe, apparently an upgraded IIIe with 8MB of RAM and a $259.99 price tag, all the better to compete with the similarly-specced Handspring Visor. Best Buy reckons the IIIc and IIIxe will ship on 20 February. The date isn't confirmed by fellow retailer CompUSA, whose stock system simply notes the IIIc at $449.99 and the IIIxe at $249.99. Palm's IPO is already scheduled for February, according to filings made to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Some 20 per cent of the company will be put up for grabs, and the release of the company's first colour device is clearly going to raise not only interest in Palm's stock but the price of that stock once it starts trading. ®