Casio Adds Life to Mobile Devices

"Using Casio's newly developed fuel cell, a notebook PC will run for 20 hours, compared to five hours using a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, says Akira Watanabe, a spokesperson for Casio. The company plans to include the fuel cell in its mobile products, including notebook PCs, digital still cameras, PDAs, and cell phones, by 2004, he says....

Casio's technology has shrunk the device to the size of a postage-stamp by combining these hundreds of parts into one chip, Watanabe says, allowing it to use the methanol-hydrogen method in small fuel cells.... Once the cells are in mass production, the price should be around the same as for a conventional lithium-ion battery, Watanabe says.... Toshiba aims to commercialize its fuel-cell technology for PDA products within two years, the company says." [PC World]

This type of technology should help mainstream the combination of cell phones, high-speed wireless bandwidth, and content.

Review: Palm i705

"For more than two weeks I used the Palm i705 along side my Blackberry 957 to get true comparison between the industry leading always-on email device and Palm's new entry into this market. As a result, I have mixed feelings about the i705 and how this device measures up to other wireless email products available today....

Conclusion
After using the i705 for over two weeks side by side with my Blackberry 957, the only word that comes to mind is "afterthought". The Palm i705 seems to be a reactionary device based on the advancements of the competition as opposed to a device resulting from a true desire to innovate and evolve the product line. For users who have never had a wireless device, the i705 is certainly a worthy choice if you can justify the cost, however for those who know how always on can be done and done well, the i705 comes up short." [PDABuzz.com]

I was afraid of this. I was really hoping that they would release a color, wireless device that would leapfrog the competition, but no go. I'll keep waiting to see what else comes out.