Palm Releases Update for Treo 700w

Palm has released today a major update for the Windows Mobile powered Treo 700w smartphone. The free update gives Palm Treo 700w users automatic push email functionality and improved wireless synchronization of email, calendar, contacts and, now, tasks. Update

Blackberry Settles - No Service Outage!!!

It's being reported by CNN.com that Blackberry and NTP have settled their patent suit for $612 million. More

Palm Treo Use in Healthcare

Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) continues its leadership in the healthcare industry by meeting the mobile needs of industry professionals, ranging from physicians to long-term-care providers. Adoption of award-winning Palm(R) Treo(TM) smartphones in healthcare has furthered Palm's goal of assisting in the rapid delivery of quality care by providing critical information to caregivers where they need it, not just within the walls of the healthcare facility. More

Unbound Tip: Using the Alerts Feature

The Alerts feature is a powerful yet simple research tool. It's the best way to keep informed on journal articles that are written about topics of interest. The Alert feature allows you to save a Medline search, and have the latest results of that search sent to your PDA. To create an alert, click on the "Alerts" link in the menu and click the "Create" button, then follow these steps:

Step 1 - Get Started! Read the introduction then click the "Get Started" button

Step 2 - Search Medline! Enter a Medline Search (ex. Avian Bird Flu) and click "Quick Search" or "Assisted Search"

Step 3 - Review the results! If you like the results click on the "Alert" link to create the alert

Step 4 - Name the Alert! This is the name you will see appear on your PDA.

You're done. The next time you sync your PDA, the Alert you set up should appear on your PDA. Every time you sync your PDA, the latest results for the search will be sent to your PDA.

Please Note: it takes about 5 minutes to process the Alert.

For more information on this and other features, be sure to read the Unbound Central User Guide.

Journal Article: Handheld computer software for school nurses.

Nursing schools and nurses seem to be discovering the importance of access to medical information on the PDA. Nursing Central from Unbound Medicine addresses the needs of this group of users. Below is a recent journal article on the subject:

Title: Handheld computer software for school nurses.
Author(s): Murphy EA
Institution: Norfolk Academy, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Source: J Sch Nurs 2005 Dec; 21(6) :356-60.
PubMed ID: 16419342

See Medline Citation

Vendors Named for Certification Test

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology has selected six ambulatory electronic medical records vendors for the first test of its certification process.
The industry-sponsored commission now is working on a federal government contract to develop programs to certify that health I.T. products meet certain functional criteria, starting with ambulatory electronic records. More

Garmin Announces New iQue 3000 GPS Handheld

Garmin today announced the iQue 3000, a newly-styled, entry-level Palm OS Powered handheld PDA that offers fully integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The iQue 3000 expands Garmin's iQue Palm OS PDA product line, which currently includes the iQue 3200 and iQue 3600. More

Palm Treo 700w Windows Mobile Smartphone - Coming January '06

Available in early January 2006, the Palm Treo 700w (the "w" stands for Windows) will represent the third-generation Treo design and will run the recently-released Windows Mobile 5.0 OS. Though the Treo 700w will be sold exclusively by Verizon Wireless at launch, it will most likely make its way to other carriers over time. More

Palm likely to launch Linux-based smartphones

Palm is likely to launch Linux-based smartphones while continuing to roll out mobile phones supporting the Palm operating system, Paul Blinkhorn, vice president for Asia-Pacific of Palm, was quoted as saying in a recent report on China-based Sina.com. More

What to Look for in Your Next Pocket PC

Ed Hardy, Editor-in-Chief of Brighthand has put together a list of things everyone should be aware of before buying a new handheld. If it has been a while since you bought a new Pocket PC, you might be surprised by how much has changed. More

Unbound Medicine Releases 5-Minute Clinical Consult 2006-integrated with Diagnosaurus

Unbound Medicine has released the latest version of 5-Minute Clinical Consult. This new package includes Diagnosaurus for quick linking from differential diagnosis to disease management information. There is also an option to upgrade to Medicine Central with 5-Minute Clinical Consult 2006 and save! More Info

Palm Releases LifeDrive Update 2.0

Palm has released a free software update for the Palm LifeDrive mobile manager. The update provides a number of improvements including improved Wi-Fi and better sound quality. More

Brighthand Reviews the Palm TX

In this review, Ed Hardy points out why he thinks the Palm TX is this company's most ambitious new handheld in a long time. Review

New Version of ActiveSync Fixes Glitch

Microsoft said on Friday that it has updated its handheld synchronisation software to address a glitch that had affected some customers.
Microsoft said in a statement: "Our developers have been hard at work to address customer reported connectivity challenges... between ActiveSync and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. We are pleased to announce that Microsoft ActiveSync 4.1 is now available. Full Story

Unbound Medicine and Tarius Launch 21 CFR Handheld

Mobile regulatory professionals can now consult the complete Title 21 of the Code of the Federal Regulations (CFR) as well as Federal Register updates from any location using either a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a wireless device such as BlackBerry, Treo, or a Smartphone. Press Release

ACCESS Completes Acquisition of PalmSource

ACCESS and PalmSource announced Monday that ACCESS has completed the acquisition of PalmSource. PalmSource is now a wholly owned subsidiary of ACCESS and will no longer be a separate publicly traded company. Press Release

Yahoo! and Google Set to Roll Out New Wireless Services

Yahoo! and Google are set to roll out new wireless services, taking advantage of advanced networks and mobile phones to provide features similar to those available on computers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. Full Article

Palm Opens Retail Stores

Palm has opened 5 retail stores in California. Read the press release here.

Microsoft Explains Why Many Devices Don't Get Upgrades

The first handhelds running Windows Mobile 5.0 have hit the market, and companies are starting to offer upgrades for some -- but not all -- of their current models. Companies want to offer upgrades, because doing so makes customers happy. However, the percentage of handheld or smartphone users who will actually perform the upgrade is surprisingly small. Full Story

Palm to Replace Defective Treo 650 SIM Trays

Palm is now offering to replace defective SIM card trays on affected Cingular Treo 650 smartphones. There is an issue with some models that causes the phone to turn itself off spontaneously because of a loose SIM card. Full story

Palm Releases New Products, Changes Product Names

Palm is now selling the Palm TX and Palm Z22 models on their online store. The TX has Wi-Fi included, and the Z22 is their new entry level model. In addition, Palm is now refocusing the naming of their products to focus on "Palm". They are dropping the Tungsten and Zire names.
Read More

Palm and Microsoft Join to Create Treo 700w

Mobile-computing pioneer Palm, Inc. and software pioneer Microsoft Corp. announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the smartphone market segment with a new device for mobile professionals and businesses. Palm has licensed the Microsoft(R) Windows Mobile(R) operating system for an expanded line of Treo(TM) smartphones, the first of which will be available on Verizon Wireless' national wireless broadband network. Full Press Release

Palm Tungsten X Handheld

A reliable source has provided PalmInfocenter with some new details on Palm's upcoming fall handheld releases. Info on a Tungsten X and Zire 22 has shown up in the internal inventory system of a large electronics retail company. Read on for more details.

PalmSource Acquired By ACCESS

ACCESS Inc, a Tokyo-based company that develops mobile Internet software, said it will acquire PalmSource, for as much as 35.8 billion yen ($324 million) in an all cash deal. Access said in a release that it will make PalmSource a wholly owned subsidiary to expand applications for mobile phones. Full Story

Palm Support for High Capacity Memory Cards

The Palm Support Knowledge Library, has created list of models that support 1 GB and 2 GB cards. If you're looking to purchase one of these SD cards for your Palm, it's a good idea to check this site to ensure your device supports the desired memory size.

6 GB Palm on the way???

Brighthand is reporting that Hitachi has released two new microdrives; a 6 GB model and an 8 GB model. Hitachi has confirmed that Palm will be using the 6 GB model in a future device.
Full Story.

Google May Offer Free Wi-Fi Nationwide

A magazine is speculating that Google is gearing up to offer free Wi-Fi service across the United States. Om Malik, in a recent article in Business 2.0, points out that Google is buying up unused fiber-optic cable all over the U.S.
Full Story

LifeDrive Podcast and Videocast Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to get podcasts and videos automatically on your palmOne LifeDrive each time you synchronize. Tutorial

Hands Free Calling with Treo for Audi Drivers

Palm and Audi of America, today announced their collaboration in a new generation of communications solutions designed to improve safety and convenience for drivers: easy and totally integrated hands-free calling inside the car. Using built-in Bluetooth wireless technology and the Palm Treo 650 smartphone, drivers of 2006 Audi A6 and A8 vehicles can make and receive calls totally hands-free using the car's MMI (Multi Media Interface) console, voice-recognition interface or steering-wheel controls. More

Addiction to Crackberry

According to some, BlackBerry usage can be very addictive -- so much so it has earned the nickname "Crackberry". All of Unbound Medicine PDA, Web, and Wireless products support the BlackBerry platform. Medical professionals can now get hooked on titles like Harrison's, Taber's, and Medicine Central on the Blackberry. Read More.

Is This The Palm Treo 700?

News of the Treo 670 has barely heated up, and already there’s a rumor about the Treo 700. Cool Tech Times shows a really convincing photograph of what it purports to be the Treo 700. More

Making the case for Windows on Palm devices

A senior Palm executive says his company could benefit from building a mobile computing device that runs on the Windows operating system made by once-bitter rival Microsoft. Full article

Windows Mobile 5.0 Allows a Single Application to Run on Both Pocket PCs and Smartphones

Although the two versions of Windows Mobile have a great deal in common, currently developers have to modify their Pocket PC applications to run on the Smartphone version, and vice versa. More

Are Handheld's Evolving into Regular Computers?

Editor-in-Chief of Brighthand.com, Ed Hardy contemplates the differences between PDA's and handhelds. Claiming "Devices are separated into these categories by how they are intended to be used....A PDA is a peripheral for a desktop or laptop computer. A handheld, in contrast, can stand alone (although they aren't used this way often enough)." More

Palm Releases Major Cingular Treo 650 Update

Palm and Cingular Wireless have made available an update to the Treo 650. Cingular Wireless Treo 650 customers will be notified of this update via an SMS. The ROM update offers many improvements including NVFS fixes, voice quality enhancements and improved battery performance. More

Unbound Medicine Announces Nursing Central

Today, Unbound Medicine, a leader in information resources for healthcare providers, announced the release of Nursing Central™. Created especially for nurses and nursing students, the all-in-one solution unites premier nursing reference content with Unbound’s powerful knowledge management tools. Unbound’s award-winning platform makes the application easy to access using a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless device, or the Web. More

Palm Drops Prices on Three Handhelds

Palm, Inc. has cut $50 from the price of two of its handhelds, and is offering a $50 rebate on one of its newest models. More

Apple Releases iSync v2.1

Apple has released an update version of iSync. iSync v2.1 is Apple's Mac OS X synchronization program that keeps info from select bluetooth mobile phones, Palm OS handhelds, the iPod and the .mac service in sync. More Info

Unbound Medicine Wins 2005 Handango Champion Award

Handango, the leading provider of mobile downloads, announced the winners of the annual Handango Champion Awards at an awards ceremony in Miami, Florida on June 23, 2005. Unbound Medicine, the leading provider of healthcare information for PDA, wireless, and Web delivery, won Best Industry Application 2005 for Davis's Drug Guide with Auto-Updates on Palm OS devices. Press Release

The Drawbacks of Cellular-Wireless Handhelds

Brighthand's Editor-in-Chief has realized there are more drawbacks to handhelds with built-in cellular-wireless functionality than he had first thought. Full Story

Palm Desktop for Macintosh Updated

palmOne support has posted an updated version of the Palm Desktop for Macintosh Computers. The update solves various installation issues on OS X 10.3 and 10.4. More
Palm Desktop 4.2.1

Survey: Mobility Rings up I.T. Plans

Increased access to clinical information systems via nationwide mobile phone networks will lead physicians and nurses to encourage greater consideration of mobile health I.T. during strategic planning, according to a recent Mobile Opinions survey conducted by Mobile Health Data. Full Story

ACCESS Announces NetFront v3.2, the World’s Most Advanced Browser for Mobile and Home Internet Devices

Most PDA users haven't heard of NetFront, but it's the most widely used PDA / Smartphone / Device browser on the market. The most popular Palm wireless device, the Treo 650, uses Netfront as the base for the Blazer web browser.

NetFront supports a wider range of operating systems than any competing browser including solutions for Palm® OS, Symbian OS, Linux OS, Windows Mobile/PocketPC and mobile handset environments like BREW™.

Access recently announced a new version of the NetFront browser. While products like Harrison's, Taber's, and MerckMedicus are designed to work with the latest PDA browsers, any improvements to PDA browser technology are welcome.

SharkCache Eliminates LifeDrive Lag

SharkCache is a new application specifically designed for the palmOne LifeDrive, that allows you to eliminate the application launch delay for your most used apps. More

Settlement Over Defective Palm

Los Angeles Superior Court proposes palmOne to replace or upgrade defective Palm m100, m105 and m125 handhelds due to a known but undisclosed design flaw. Read More

Brighthand Reviews the palmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager

A staff writer at Brighthand reviews the new LifeDrive, comparing it to devices ranging from the Apple iPod to the no longer produced Sony CLIE; covering everything from Multimedia to it's Wireless capabilities. Full Review

Unbound Medicine Launches Medicine Central

Today, Unbound Medicine, a leader in information for healthcare providers, announced the release of Medicine Central™. Designed especially for internists, primary care providers and trainees, Unbound’s new resource combines premier reference content with powerful literature management tools—all easily accessible using a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless device, or the Web. Full Story

PalmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager Debuts

Caping months of rumors, leaks, and tremendous anticipation, palmOne has officially unveiled the LifeDrive Mobile Manager, its first handheld with a built-in 4 GB hard drive. Full story

Unbound Medicine’s Gateway Adopted by Five Leading Medical Institutions

Unbound Medicine recently announced that its gateway product, Unbound Central, has been adopted by five leading medical institutions. Through Unbound Central the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, MedStar Health, University of Muenster, and University of Washington will connect directly to their users’ Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), wireless devices, and the Web. Full Story

Blackberry Becomes World's Most Popular PDA

Following a surge of PDA sales due to advancing wireless networking capabilities, Research In Motion's BlackBerry device has become the world's most popular PDA, according to research firm Gartner. Full Story

Microsoft smart guy takes on smart-phone business

With Windows-powered mobile devices lagging behind the Palms and BlackBerrys of the world, Microsoft has brought an electrical engineer from China--a master of the strategy game Go--to put them back in the race. Full Story

Verizon to Release Treo 650

Verizon Wireless indicated it would launch palmOne's Treo 650 'soon' early last month. The communicator is still a no show for the second largest carrier in the United States. Phone Arena reports Verizon's 'soon' may finally be just around the corner. It said the operator's business channels should roll out the Treo 650 on May 11th with consumer customers gaining access to the smartphone 12 days later. Full Story

Unbound Medicine Releases Anesthesia Central

Unbound Medicine recently announced their agreement to release select PocketMedicine references to be delivered on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), on the Web, and via wireless devices. In addition to the two PocketMedicine titles, Anesthesia Central includes a leading drug reference, a handy diagnostic test manual, and MEDLINE literature tracking and searching. Full Story

Now, tech-savvy docs like to have a handheld

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently wrote an article on the increased use of PDA's by Doctors, Nurses, and Medical students. Free Registration is required to read the article.
Full Story

Non-Profit Uses Wireless PDAs

Valle del Sol is an example of a nonprofit innovating through adaptation, integrating new technology to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the community. The largest Hispanic behavioral health and social service agency in Phoenix, Valle del Sol has case managers visit families in their homes, helping them connect with services for substance abuse, family crisis, and other support.

Valle del Sol wanted to find a way to enable staff in the field to quickly, easily, and securely gather and upload data about clients, streamlining the process and reducing the chance of errors.

Today, the solution is literally in hand. Thanks to a grant from AT&T Wireless (now Cingular), Valle del Sol is introducing wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) to 60 of its case managers, equipped with software that manages all of the forms and data needed by field-based clinicians.
Full Story

Automakers try to jump-start e-prescribing

Advocates of electronic prescribing are hoping that the Big Three automakers can do what others have not -- get physicians to put down the prescription pad and adopt electronic prescribing.

On Feb. 9, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler Corp., along with the United Auto Workers union and two insurers, launched the multimillion-dollar Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative to help up to 17,000 physicians in Michigan implement such systems in their offices.
Full Story

Nurses Neglecting Mobile I.T.

Though mobile technology has accelerated many nursing processes, it also has been the tipping point for nurses who perceive I.T. as increasing their workload, said Ann Farrell, R.N., principal and senior consultant at Farrell Associates, a San Francisco-based consulting firm. Farrell said nurses have been slow to adopt mobile technology because they first want to be shown how it can save them time. Unfortunately, most nursing applications have been designed by engineers, so they don’t support the workflow, ergonomics and usability that most nurses need, she added.
Full Story

Birmingham Heartlands RFID-tags patients

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital has become the first NHS (UK National Health Service) hospital to radio-tag patients. The hospital has installed a radio tracking system throughout the hospital and can find and identify patients using standard radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. The idea is to allow clinical team to confirm they have the right patient and are performing the right procedure. The pilot is currently running for patients undergoing ear, nose and throat surgery.
Full Story

Could Palm OS still take the lead in VGA?

While at this point, Pocket PCs have the lead in VGA screen, the race is far from over. The latest version of Palm OS Cobalt has support for VGA built into it. Full support for VGA was only added a few months ago, and no handhelds have been released running Cobalt, so exactly how well VGA has been implemented isn't clear yet. Full Story

Untapped power: A physician's handheld

When handheld devices hit the market, many experts predicted that physicians, even those who weren't early adopters of computers and health technology, would quickly find use for a device that seemed to fit right into their busy lives. Those predictions were correct, although the devices have yet to come close to being used for their fullest potential in medicine. Full Story

Cancer Trial List now Available on the PDA

The Southwest Oncology Group, one of the largest adult cancer clinical trials organization in the world, has recently created a PDA version of its studies list. The priority list of open studies can now be downloaded to your Palm Pilot, Pocket PC or other personal digital assistant. Full Story

Webinar on Mobile Computing

American Medical Informatics Association has put together a Webinar to assist those in healthcare with developing and using applications on mobile platforms. This will take place February 8th at 5:30pm EST. More Information

Microsoft Releases ActiveSync 3.8

Without much noise, Microsoft has released an updated version to their synchronization software. While the changes may not be obvious, Microsoft does say that "ActiveSync 3.8 contains fixes making synchronization more trouble free than ever before and includes all the significant improvements brought to you in ActiveSync 3.5, 3.6, and 3.7.1: it is easy to install and use while offering the best levels of reliability". Link

Access Information in a Matter of "Seconds"

PalmSource has announced the release of the Wrist PDA with Palm OS from Fossil, the next generation Palm Powered wrist watch. The Wrist PDA offers all the benefits of a PDA plus the added convenience and portability of a watch. Full Story

Samsung announces medical mobile solution packages

Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) today announced a mobile solutions package that gives medical professionals access to critical data for diagnosing and treating patients without leaving the bedside or examining room. By combining Samsung's wireless handsets with healthcare technology applications, the offering is designed to help healthcare professionals deliver better and more efficient patient care.

Link

Buying Handheld-Related Gifts?

These days there are so many handheld options out there that choosing one to give as a gift may be overwhelming. Brighthand has compiled this collection of gift suggestions for any handheld user, no matter what device they use. It ranges from memory cards, to software, to handhelds themselves. Link

New Palm OS to be Based on Linux

PalmSource has just announced that it is going to develop a version of the Palm OS based on Linux. Because Linux is very popular, PalmSource hopes that by providing this new version they will increase their sales. For the most part, PalmSource believes that this new operating system will not be noticeable to their users. Full Story

PalmSource Aquires China MobileSoft Limited (CMS)

The following letter was written to the Palm OS community from PalmSource regarding their recent acquisition with China MobileSoft Limited. CMS, a leader in the Chinese mobile software community, and its subsidiaries, currently offer operating systems and other software for both smartphones and simpler featurephones. This new deal will almost double PalmSource's software development resources. Full Letter

PDA Game Helps Juvenile Diabetics

A study, by the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, gave children with juvenile diabetes PDA's that were embedded with glucose data management software. The "game" was designed to encourage children to check their glucose levels 4 times each day. Full Story

Unbound Medicine Releases 5-Minute Clinical Consult 2005 with Auto-Updates

Unbound Medicine, a leading provider of handheld, wireless, and Web solutions for healthcare, recently released the latest version of 5-Minute Clinical Consult. This new edition, with auto-updates, delivers on-the-spot facts on more than 1,000 medical and surgical conditions. Updates will be sent directly to your device on sync as soon as they become available! More Details

Looking for a new PDA?

About.com has recently released their PDA Buyers Guide. In perfect time for the holidays, this guide can walk you through buying basics, give you options in all price ranges, and provide you with the top picks this year. LINK

Are PDAs Valuable in Fighting Infectious Diseases?

Steven Burdette, MD., recently published an article in the Annals of Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobials entitled Killing Bugs at the Bedside: A prospective hospital survey of frequently personal digital assistants provide expert recommendations in the treatment of infectious diseases. Burdette's objective here is " To determine how often PDAs could provide expert recommendations for the management of infectious diseases in patients admitted to a general medicine teaching service". Full PDF version

SanDisk and Their Ever Increasing Memory

SanDisk at CTIA has recently released the largest capacity memory cards with their Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Pro Duo, and their SD cards. The Memory Stick Pro, having a 4-gigabyte capacity, is the worlds largest to fit into a broad range of digital devices. Full Story

Updates already available for the Tungsten T5

Due to minor bugs with the original firmware, palmONE has released an upgrade for its ROM software. These updates address issues such as a calender bug, problems in Contacts and adjusts the soft keyboard to prevent system instability. Full Story

McGraw-Hill and Unbound Medicine Expand Partnership

McGraw-Hill Professional and Unbound Medicine announced today that they will be expanding their partnership in producing software for handheld and wireless devices. With this announcement comes the release of 5 new titles including CURRENT Consult Medicine 2005.
Full Story

Compare VGA Pocket PC's

While not all models are currently available in all areas, there will soon be 6 Pocket PC's with VGA displays on the market. To decide which device is right for you, compare and contrast the features of both the inside and outside, including price and availability. LINK

Unbound Medicine Releases Current Consult Surgery for PDA

Unbound Medicine, a leading provider of knowledge management solutions for the healthcare industry, announces the release of Current Consult Surgery for Palm OS and Pocket PC devices.
CCS brings you authoritative clinical answers on more than 360 surgically treated disorders in the most efficient format, perfectly devised for the busy physician.
Link

Release of Tungsten T5 Announced

The new Tungsten T5, which will be widely available in November, has features such as: 256MB of Flash memory, a 320x480 pixel display and Bluetooth wireless in a compact Tungsten E like form factor. Full story

Survey Says- Mobile Hardware Increasingly Common

A survey covering 164 hospitals, reports that 72 % of hospital executives interviewed say their clinicians are using mobile computing devices. Focusing on PDAs, Tablet PC's and wireless computers, the report found differences between the types of devices initially purchased and the types they prefer to purchase in the future. Full Story

Majority of Physicians use PDAs

64% of respondents on a recent survey of physicians say they use personal digital assistants at their primary treatment facility. The survey of 453 outpatient organizations shows that physicians use PDAs to, among many other things, obtain drug reference information, manage scheduling, capture charges, perform dictation, access electronic medical records and write electronic prescriptions. Full Story

More PDAs not available in the U.S.

In a single day, both Sony and Toshiba announced new models that won't be available in the United States, while just recently Sony announced their Sony Clie PEG-VZ90 won't be available outside of Japan.
None of these companies have given reasons why they have decided to not release models in the U.S. The theory that is most often expressed to explain it is that the U.S. handheld market is dominated by three companies, squeezing out smaller competitors. LINK

PDA Back to School Sale

While PDA use is growing in different sectors of education, most medical schools require their students to purchase a PDA device. This gives the perfect opportunity to companies such as palmONE who recently announced a back-to-school offer now through Oct. 30. With the purchase of 30 Tungsten E handhelds, educators will receive an additional three Tungsten E handhelds, a special eBundle of software and accessories valued at more than $800, and a Software and Utilities Bonus Pack featuring more than $4,000 worth of software and utilities discounts (while supplies last). LINK

Vitals on the Go

In eight outpatient clinics within Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, nurses are now using PDAs to enter data, such as their patient's vital signs and where on a person's body a blood pressure reading was taken from. This information is then sent automatically via their device to the hospital's electronic medical records system. The wireless PDAs are attached to wheeling IV poles outfitted with monitors. Before implementing the system, less than 10% of patient blood pressure data was available in data form in the electronic records system. LINK

Docs Ahead of Pack in PDA Use

Physicians are four times more likely as other consumers to own PDAs, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc., which found that 45% of North American physicians own PDAs, compared with 11% of the general population. The numbers aren't suprising seeing as PDAs are now must-haves for medical students and residents. LINK

The Clie Resurrected?

It was thought that Sony had ducked out of the PDA market because of their doubts about its futrue. However, some are now saying that it was more specifically the Palm market and Pocket PC's just might be their new venture. LINK

Palm vs. Pocket PC: which one is for you?

pdabuyersguide.com has not tried to answer this eternal question, but rather aims to help figure out which one is better for you. The author does this by outlining key considerations that usually help consumers decide which will best suit their needs.

Breastfeeding Resources

The Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition has developed Breastfeed 1.10, a free PDA reference for supporting breastfeeding mothers. It includes guidelines for supporting lactation in the first few days; lists of contacts/references; and a short guide to the use of medications in lactation.

Diagnosaurus Mac Beta

Unbound Medicine is recruiting Macintosh users to beta test the Macintosh version of Diagnosaurus, a McGraw-Hill Mobile Consult product. LINK

Caregivers are Using PDAs to Save Time and Improve Care

While many may think that the idea of medical professionals using PDA's during the course of their routine day is far off, physicians are showing the industry otherwise. Seventy-two percent of physicians responding to a recent survey say hand-held computing devices are used at their primary treatment facility.

LINK

Surgical Content Comes Unbound

Unbound Medicine announced today the release of Unbound Surgery, the first all-digital resource of its kind which offers focused yet detailed answers to surgical questions encountered in clinical practice. Available for Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld devices and tightly integrated with a multimedia Web version, Unbound Surgery helps practitioners and trainees resolve surgical dilemmas wherever they arise.

LINK

Sony Closes New Clie Developer Support

Shortly after Sony announced they were going to suspend their conventional PDA business, they have now closed off the Clie Developer Support Site registration to new members.

LINK

PACS via Wi-Fi?

Many health care organizations have not enabled wireless access to their PACS systems because they believe the screen size of most mobile hardware would impede physicians from viewing an entire image. However, emergency department physicians at San Antonio Community Hospital, who need access to the PACS application only for reference--not diagnosis--are benefiting from wireless access.

LINK

PDAs in Medical Education

Technology offers medical education enormous opportunity. Specifically, the PDA has become an extremely valuable tool for the medical student attempting to master an immense body of knowledge in the setting of a hectic clinic or ward. Yet many students know little about software or hardware for their PDAs or don't know where to start when beginning a search to purchase a PDA. This Medical Education coordinator hopes to better inform his peers by conducting a survey to see which schools are using PDAs, updating students on the essentials of hardware and software, and promoting the AMSA pdaMD package as a potential fundraiser for local chapters.

LINK

Hospital Opts for PDA-Bar Code Combo

Central Michigan Community Hospital, Mt. Pleasant, will use PDA-based bar coding technology to enhance patient safety. They will use the vendor's wCareMed software which offers medication administration, allergy warnings and safety alerts; the ability to verify and label lab specimens,to record vital signs and other patient care information, to present a consolidated view of patient data, and to enable point-of-care billing for supplies and inventory control. Caregivers use PDAs loaded with the applications to scan a bar coded specimen or patient wristband.

LINK

Florida Hospitals go Wireless

Bayfront Health System, St. Petersburg, Fla., will deploy mobile software that will enable its physicians to wirelessly access clinical data from its hospital information system, from Cerner Corp., Kansas City, MO.
LINK

Web Logs Offer Viewers a Rare Glimpse Into the World of Medicine

What if you could read the private journals of doctors, nurses, and other hospital workers, complete with confessions of medical mistakes, anecdotes about difficult patients, or irate missives about administrators?

LINK

AT&T Joins Palm Powered Mobile World Program

PalmSource has announced that AT&T Wireless has joined the Palm Powered Mobile World program, connecting mobile operators, application developers and users of Palm Powered smart mobile devices in the Palm Powered Economy.

LINK

Three More Technologies That Could Profoundly Change Mobile Devices

Solar powered handhelds, flexible display screens that roll up into a device the size of a pen, transmitting power and data through the human body; sound like something out of a futuristic movie? Nope, it's the future of our mobile devices.


LINK

Brighthand Reviews the SanDisk Wi-Fi SD Card for the Zire 71

The long wait is finally over... at least for users of the palmOne Zire 71. Other Palm OS users will have to keep waiting for Wi-Fi cards that are compatible with their devices. Brighthand reviews the new SanDisk card from it's hardware and software, to it's performance and battery life.
LINK

Wi-Fi Badges Make it Easier for Clinicians to Connect

Clinicians at El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, Calif., are using wireless voice badges to better communicate with other hospital employees. Clinicians fully support the new technology and have reduced the amount of paging they do to initiate communication with other staff members.
LINK