Handspring's Palm V clone debuts on Web

Pick and details leak out

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 8th March 2001 12:31 GMT

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Handspring's slimline rival to Palm's V line of PDAs has made an unexpected appearance on Palm fan site PDA Buzz.

Dubbed the Visor Edge, the new PDA will ship with what looks like a brushed aluminium case, though insiders at US retail chain Sparco claim that Handspring will offer a blue version too.

The source who leaked the pic claims that the Visor Edge will ship with 8MB RAM - a Visor standard - PalmOS 3.5, monochrome display and, like the Palm V and Vx, a built-in rechargeable battery.

To accommodate the Visor's patent Springboard expansion module interface, the Edge will bundle an adaptor unit that slips onto the back of the device. It sounds not unlike Compaq's iPaq 'sleeves', which allow that device to connect to a number of add-on modules.

The Visor Edge is expected to ship late next month for around $399, sources claim.

Handpsring has certainly registered the Web address VisorEdge.com, so it obviously has something of that name in the works, though it's not necessarily what PDA Buzz is showing. That said, US retail chain Staples recently listed the Visor Edge on its Web catalogue, so this is one rumour that has legs. ®