Palm Ships Desktop Software 4.0 for Mac

March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To support the Mac community of dedicated Palm handheld users, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM), the leading provider of handheld computers, today announced that Mac users can now download the final English version of Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac. Leading Palm developers, such as FileMaker, are supporting the new release with updated versions of their popular software. The new Palm Desktop software offers native Mac OS X support, improved handheld-to-desktop synchronization, vCard and vCal support, and the ability to use multiple languages. "This highly anticipated release offers Mac users improved synchronization, new features for easily sharing information with other Mac and Windows users, plus the simple elegance Mac users have come to expect from Palm and Apple," said Kevin Hell, senior vice president of Product Management, Solutions Group, Palm, Inc. "More than 140,000 customers already have downloaded the beta version, and Palm's top software developers are upgrading their applications to ensure synchronization with popular Mac applications."

"Apple is very excited about Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac and it is a great addition to the thousands of native Mac OS X applications available today," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "This latest version of Palm Desktop along with support from leading developers like MeetingMaker provides another reason for the Mac community to use Mac OS X as their everyday operating system."

Strong Developer Support
Top third-party developers will support Palm Desktop software 4.0 for Mac by upgrading their applications for the new release. These developers include Blue Nomad, DataViz, FileMaker, Handmark, LandWare, MeetingMaker, MGI PhotoSuite, Microsoft Entourage and SplashData. After installing the new Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac OS X, users will need to upgrade their third-party software in order to synchronize with the new desktop software.

"FileMaker Mobile 2 Companion for Palm OS, which will ship this May, will be ready-to-run on Palm Desktop software 4.0 for Mac," said FileMaker director of Product Management, Chris Trytten. "Our support for this latest version of Palm Desktop ensures seamless connectivity between desktop and mobile databases as more and more people make Mac OS X their primary computing platform."

Palm Desktop Software Availability
Palm Desktop software -- which gives customers a way to easily add, edit and create Palm handheld information on their desktops -- is immediately available for free download (English version) at http://www.palm.com/macintosh. Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac includes support for improved synchronization, native Mac OS X support, vCard and vCal, multiple languages, improved privacy, multiple connection types and Mac OS 9 compatibility.

French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese beta versions of Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac are currently available for free download at http://www.palm.com/support/macintosh/desktop_40_beta.html. Final versions are scheduled for availability in the late spring.

More information is available at http://www.palm.com.

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SOURCE Palm, Inc.