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E-Business Secrets
Brian Livingston
Managers increasingly split between Palm and Pocket PC

Although the Palm operating system has enjoyed a wide margin of market share among IT managers deploying handheld devices for their companies, a new report says Microsoft's Pocket PC is gaining ground even among corporate buyers.

Mark Walser, a mobile commerce writer, quotes research from MobileInsight which states that IT managers one year ago favored Palm 70 percent of the time over Windows CE (now Pocket PC). But that breakdown is now 50-50, he writes.

While no one is predicting that Palm devices will go away, some of the factors increasing the Pocket PC's appeal are the newer, brighter devices such as Compaq's iPAQ, compatibility with Microsoft Office documents, and the ability to plug in 802.11 cards for wireless networking.

The bottom line? Competition is good for consumers, a fact Walser notes as he looks favorably on Palm's m505 color model and Sony's Clie, the latest model of which is the first Palm-based device with a 320 x 320 color screen.

This market is definitely not standing still.

Palm or Pocket PC? Microsoft Strikes Back

http://www.mcommercetimes.com@e.la/?3aab

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E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: DISPOSABLE CELL PHONES

If you have employees who need to call you from outside the office, but you're concerned that a cell phone you give them might be overused, lost, or stolen, a new type of disposable cell phon" might be the answer.

PrepaidDisposable.com is bringing just such a phone to market. The $39.95, 0.9-inch plastic device comes with 100 minutes of call time, which can be used to call anywhere within the 48 states with no long-distance or roaming charges. That's 40 cents a minute, which is more expensive than contract cell service. But the whole point of this cheap phone is to avoid one-year contracts, expensive handsets, and worries about misuse.

It's also cheaper than the prepaid cell phones that are available at convenience stores. Walmart.com, for example, offers the Nokia TracFone 252 for $40, plus 120 minutes of airtime for $50. Not counting the handheld unit, that's 41.7 cents per minute. But the minutes are only good for 60 days and the cost-per-minute doubles if calls are made from outside a unit's local calling area. To buy 100 minutes that last for 12 months, it's $100, or $1 per minute. By comparison, the PrepaidDisposable's minutes are good for six months.

The disposable unit isn't currently rechargeable with additional minutes, although you can return each unit for a recycling credit. Based on Belgian parts, the phone uses analog, not digital, service. This gives it a wider service area than any digital phone, but of course there are no Internet features, just voice.

At this price, PrepaidDisposable has a cheap, simple tool that you can give any worker (or even a kid) without fear of being stuck with a huge bill. The company is currently taking orders for September delivery.

Disposable cell phone announcement:

http://www.prepaiddisposable.com@31.dk/?4e33

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LIVINGSTON'S TOP 10 NEWS PICKS O' THE WEEK

1. How disputed 'Smart Tags' could hurt affiliate sites

http://www.clickz.com@5a0.tc/?3fb

2. Congress debates whether you should be in Whois

http://www.wired.com@th.gs/?7e3

3. Companies sell Web report-card systems to schools

http://www.cnn.com@a6r.ms/?bcb

4. Site shows that you need a niche to sell on the Web

http://www.startribune.com@1c.to/?fb3

5. Taxi you called finds you by tracing your cell phone

http://www.eyefortravel.com@e.la/?139b

6. The hacker who sent Viagra to Bill Gates explains

http://news.bbc.co.uk@a2.tc/?1783

7. Even the computer-security site SANS gets hacked

http://www.msnbc.com@31.dk/?1b6b

8. The venture capital lessons in Webvan's collapse

http://www.sfgate.com@54.vg/?1f53

9. How sites can have HTML tables with rounded corners

http://www.htmlgoodies.com@836.as/?233b

10. Red Bull fuels the drive of wishful dot-commers

http://www.iht.com@5a0.tc/?2723

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THIS WEEK'S 'THEY CAN'T DO THAT ON THE WEB' PAGE

Sometimes it seems that only adult-oriented sites are actually making any money on the Internet. (Jupiter Media Metrix estimated earlier this year that more than one-third of all Web surfers visit adult sites, paying $440 million for subscriptions in 1999.)

That makes it even more hilarious when someone posts the ultimate put-on of adult-oriented sites. A link promising "Video Chat" leads to a TV screen containing a tabby saying, "Bonjour." ("Chat" is the French word for "cat" -- but you knew that.) A "Hidden Camera" link leads to a photo of a cluttered room with an invitation to "find the hidden camera." There's no nudity, it's all good clean fun.

Cook My Sock! A put-on of adult-oriented sites:

http://www.merriol.freeserve.co.uk@1c.to/?61bb

Estimates of adult-oriented subscription revenue:

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu@th.gs/?7543

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E-BUSINESS SECRETS: Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: E-Business Secrets is written by InfoWorld Contributing Editor Brian Livingston. Research Director is Ben Livingston (no relation). Brian has published 10 books, including:

Windows Me Secrets:

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534939

Windows 2000 Secrets:

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534130

Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send to mailto:tips@SecretsPro.com.

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Brian Livingston , an InfoWorld contributing editor, has published 10 books, including Windows Me Secrets and Windows 2000 Secrets. Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send in your tips today, at tips@secretspro.com.



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