Two color Zires debut: these new handhelds offer features to fit students and educators.

Two new Zire color handbelds debuted this spring, offering communications and productivity capabilities for administrators, teachers and students. The Zire 72 handheld provides affordable multimedia capability with built-in Bluetooth wireless technology, a digital camera, audio/video capture and playback, and a voice recorder. With the Zire 31, palmOne has added color, expansion and MP3 functionality to its popular Zire 21 handheld.

"Administrators and teachers need a handheld that can meet the demands of their busy schedules," says Mike Lorion, vice president of vertical markets at palmOne. "With the Zire 72 handheld and a compatible Bluetooth phone, they can access e-mail and the Internet on or off campus. An array of sophisticated productivity tools makes it an exceptional professional device. The Zire 31 gives teachers and students a color handheld with the expandability they need without straining their budgets."

Zire 72: Productive and Media-Rich The palmOne Zire 72 keeps the right tools close at hand for managing schedules, contacts and documents. This color handheld computer includes DataViz' Documents To Go, enabling teachers and administrators to create and edit Microsoft Word- and Excel-compatible files, such as reports and budgets. They can also read Adobe Acrobat-compatible files, and synchronize Microsoft Outlook e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes (Windows only). Improved organization applications provide more fields in Outlook and a new Agenda view to help educators and school staff stay ahead of day-to-day activities. The Zire 72 comes with 32MB of memory (24MB user-available), so educators have plenty of room for curriculum solutions as well as applications for assessment and classroom, campus or district management.

Zire 72's built-in Bluetooth delivers the freedom to be wireless. Use a Bluetooth technology-enabled phone as a modern to send and retrieve e-mail or SMS/MMS and connect to the Web, or to connect with other Bluetooth-enabled devices, including PCs and printers. This capability allows administrators and teachers alike to stay even more in touch with colleagues and other staff--even collaborate on projects.

The new palmOne media software included with the Zire 72 lets school staff add photos into the new Agenda view, contact list of launcher background. In four easy steps, they can input someone's personal information, snap a photo, and save it to their contact list. They also can capture and watch video clips and listen to MP3 tunes using the built-in speaker or a pair of stereo headphones. And because inspiration can strike at any time, the Voice Memo button and microphone allows teachers and administrators to record their thoughts instantly, save them, synchronize them to their desktop computer, and e-mail the memos to colleagues.

At an estimated street price of $299, the new Zire 72 offers integrated wireless and multimedia capabilities along with all of the other tools today's educators and administrators need to stay productive.

Zire 31: Affordable and Fall-Featured The Zire 31--at $149--is a great choice for value-conscious students and teachers. This color, full-featured handheld comes with 16MB of memory (14MB user-available), to store notes and memos, schedules, tests, projects, extracurricular activities, and thousands of phone numbers and addresses.

Teachers and students can select from more than 20,000 commercial applications for the handheld to empower and organize their lives. The Zire 31's expansion slot makes it a snap to add more memory, applications or even MP3 tunes. Students and staff can look up phone numbers, view assignments, organize class schedules, view photos and take their favorite tunes wherever they go.

The Zire 31 handheld gives students and teachers robust organizing power, plus great applications for managing their money, tracking expenses, storing class schedules, enjoying games and more. For example, manage multiple responsibilities at a glance with color-coded categories. Simple taps store birthdays, creates reminders and alarms, and easily sets repeating tasks to track recurring activities. Using the included Audible software, students and staff can also download audible books, magazines, newspapers and more for class projects of their listening pleasure (purchase required).

At $149, the Zire 31 handheld offers teachers and students an affordable, easy-to-use device with new color, expansion, and MP3 audio functionality.

Palm Model Comparison

Model                Zire 31            Zire 72          Tungsten E

Palm OS              v5.2.1             v5.2.1             v5.2.1
Processor           Intel ARM        Intel PXA270            TI
                    Processor          Processor           OMAP311
                     200MHz             312MHz          ARM Processor
                                                           126MHz
PIM                 Enhanced           Enhanced           Enhanced
Applications
E-mail &                                   *                  *
Web Browsing
Special                               Integrated
Connectivity                           Bluetooth
Features
Sync to                 *                  *                  *
Desktop
Expansion               *                  *                  *
Card Slot
HotSync             Mini-USB           Mini-USB           Mini-USB
Accessory             Cable              Cable              Cable
Universal
Connector
Weight               4.1 oz             4.8 oz             4.6 oz
Memory                16 MB              32 MB              32 MB
Rechargeable            *                  *                  *
Battery
Display              160x160            320x320            320x320
                      Color          Transflective      Transflective
                                       TFT Color          TFT Color
Headphone/            3.5mm              3.5mm              3.5mm
Headset Jack         Stereo             Stereo             Stereo
Bonus Software          *                  *                  *
Special             Multimedia     Integrated Camera     Multimedia
Features                             & Multimedia,
                                      Voice Memo
SRP                   $149               $299               $199

Model              Tungsten T2        Tungsten T3        Tungsten C

Palm OS              v5.2.1             v5.2.1             V.5.2.1
Processor              TI            Intel XScale       Intel PXA255
                    OMAP1510           Processor          Processor
                  ARM Processor         400 MHz            400 MHz
                     144MHz
PIM                  Classic           Enhanced            Classic
Applications
E-mail &                *                  *                  *
Web Browsing
Special            Integrated         Integrated         Integrated
Connectivity        Bluetooth          Bluetooth          Wireless
Features                                                LAN (802.11b)
Sync to                 *                  *                  *
Desktop
Expansion               *                  *                  *
Card Slot
HotSync                USB                USB                USB
Accessory            Cradle             Cradle             Cradle
Universal
Connector
Weight               5.6 oz             5.5 oz             6.3 oz
Memory                32 MB              64 MB              64 MB
Rechargeable            *                  *                  *
Battery
Display              320x480            320x320            320x320
                  Transflective      Transflective      Transflective
                    TFT Color          TFT Color          TFT Color
Headphone/            3.5mm              3.5mm              2.5mm
Headset Jack         Stereo             Stereo            Mono/Mic.
Bonus Software          *                  *                  *
Special            Multimedia,     Stretch Display,       Built-in
Features           Voice Memo,        Status Bar,         Keyboard,
                  Slider Design       Multimedia,        Integrated
                                      Voice Memo           Wi-Fi,
                                                         Multimedia,
                                                         Voice Memo
SRP                   $299               $399               $399

Zire 72 Handheld Fast Facts

* Built-in 1 2-megapixel camera

* Ability to capture photos end video clips

* One-button access to MP3 player

* High-resolution, 320x320 color screen

* Ability to create and edit Word- and Excel-compatible files

* Synchronization with Outlook (Windows only)

* Built-in Bluetooth wireless connectivity

* 32MB of memory (24 7MB user available)

* Expansion slot supports MMC, SD and SDIO formats

* 3.5mm stereo headphone jack

Zire 31 Handheld Fast Facts

* Bright color screen

* MP3 player

* Photo viewer

* New palmOne PIM (Personal Information Management software)

* Expansion slot

* 16MB of memory (14MB user-available)

Education Purchase Program

The Education Purchase Program gives schools a way to extend their technology budget and to enable equity among students by offering additional free handhelds for various levels of institutional purchases. The program is designed to assist schools in implementing palmOne handhelds in classrooms, in larger school projects, and in campus-wide initiatives. It's open to all public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities in the U.S.

Schools have the option of three purchasing levels:

* Classroom Level offers schools that purchase 30 palmOne handhelds an additional three free units.

* School Level provides schools that purchase 100 palmOne handhelds with an additional 12 free units.

* Campus Level provides schools that purchase 500 palmOne handhelds with an additional 72 free units,

These programs are available from approved palmOne Education Solution Partners and Authorized Palm Resellers, For more information, visit www. palmone.com/education.

Gina Adams Palmer is a freelance writer focusing on education. She is based in Los Gatos, California.