Lori is thinking out loud over at The Handheld Librarian about how to deal with AvantGo's short-sighted strategy to cut off the user base that made it popular in the first place. I hope she gets responses to the various software alternatives she is highlighting, but AvantGo was such a great service that it may take some time for us to play with and evaluate anything else. In a single instant that I think they'll look back at and regret, AvantGo has launched a market for its competitors.

Maybe they think they don't have any, but what about alternative technologies? Are there any products out there that easily turn HTML pages into WAP or WML versions that could be read easily on a PDA? I'm thinking maybe CSS to synch stripped-down HTML, but I just don't have enough experience with this. I know Ed over at First Monday went down this road - has anyone else?

Combo PDA-Cell Phone Selection Grows

"These so-called convergence devices, combining functions of PDA and cell phone plus Internet access, are still a small portion of all handhelds sold, says Randy Giusto, an IDC wireless and mobile device analyst. But they are gaining popularity and attention, especially with the rollout of faster wireless networks that promise to make Web browsing and wireless data synching more practical." [PC World]

A round-up of some next-gen devices will start seeing this year, hopefully sooner rather than later. I know Innovative is working on a module that can beam information to a Palm, but are they also working on the PocketPC equivalent? And have they gotten the Palm module out the door yet? I've been volunteering to beta test it for two years now!