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PalmOne Wi-Fi card: a first look

Bonnie Cha CNET

Published: 18 Aug 2004

Owners of PalmOne handhelds rejoiced when SanDisk released its long-anticipated Wi-Fi SD card last month. But the excitement faded when they discovered that it only works with the now-superseded Zire 71 (Palm OS 5 drivers for the SanDisk card are reportedly due in November). Now PalmOne is giving Tungsten T3 and Zire 72 users the same functionality with its own 802.11b Wi-Fi SD card.

PalmOne's Wi-Fi SD card, due in early September, will work with the Tungsten T3 and Zire 72 models.

We tested the card on the Zire 72, and it worked like a charm. Installation and setup were simple -- an Install Wizard guides you through the steps -- and after a HotSync operation, the Wi-Fi Setup and VPN Setup utilities and the Web Pro browser were installed on our device.

Then, using the Wi-Fi Setup utility, we selected a network and connected to a hot spot within seconds. You can also use the utility to check signal strength, establish disconnect time and set up WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption. We opened Web Pro and had some problems connecting to a site at first, but after disabling the proxy server, we were off and running -- or, perhaps, just jogging. Admittedly, it took a bit for Web pages to load, but that's to be expected on a handheld.

Although you can use both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time, PalmOne recommends disabling Bluetooth since it may interfere with signal quality. A final word to the wise: Wi-Fi uses a lot of power, so keep an eye on battery life.

The PalmOne Wi-Fi SD card will cost $129 (~£71) in the US, and UK pricing is unlikely to differ significantly; it will be available in early September.

Two new Zires from PalmOne

Preview PalmOne has upgraded its popular Zire handhelds, adding faster CPUs, extra memory and more. We preview the entry-level Zire 31 and the mid-range Zire 72. [28 Apr 2004]