Personally, this has gone right by me, since I dislike sub-notebook computers and have no need of them anyway. I am not exactly representative, however. Many people have bought CE (now PocketPC) or PalmPilot little bitties, and the technology seems to be entrenching nicely. (From what I read, those who need functionality over features prefer Palm units, while feature-hungry users with a big battery budget gravitate towards CE. The market seems to be gravitating away from Windows CE -- now redubbed PocketPC as it goes into its 3rd iteration, dubbed PocketPC 2002 and released in October 2001 -- as direct competition for the Palm devices.) Expect to see more of this streamlined version of Windows on smaller and smaller computers, as well as in the revamped WebTV system and possibly in other specialized applications. The latest application will be for Win CE and Sega's gaming system to join forces in bringing you Dreamcast, a video game console (Dreamcast and Microsoft's touted XBox may wind up as part of the same gaming system, if Dreamcast survives); also a pumped version may eventually find its way onto LC (low-cost or "lean clean") machines designed to go under $1000. Who knows? A version of Win CE may end up running your entire home entertainment system. Scary, huh? ("Whaddya mean, my TV crashed?") Also, Win CE is now runnng pager services for Motorola (who makes the PalmOS) in certain areas of the U.S.; expect to see this expand. In fact, the entire industry is moving towards smaller PCs. Some gurus are already calling the desktop PC a dinosaur, claiming that one day soon everyone will use "pocket computers," a single unit about the size of a Grisham paperback which will do everything today's desktop units will do, and more. But how do you play Tomb Raider on a screen the size of a postage stamp? At any rate, Win CE/PocketPC is definitely playing second fiddle to the Palm; Palm Computing is doing very well for itself with the PalmOS, and Royal has offered a PalmPilot-like device for a measly $100. In fact, apps developed for Win CE have been almost non-existent on the shelves -- not a good sign. Apparently manufacturers see no need to produce separate programs for Win CE, and users believe that the big apps ought to run on Win CE as well as on Win 9x. On the other side of the aisle, Palm-enabled wireless phones are proliferating; insiders predict that whem Palms drop to $99, their sales will skyrocket. HP 200 users, check out www.palmtop.net/super.html for information and software for your devices. Microsoft is attempting to bolster the sagging fortunes of Win CE by forming an "alliance" of ten major companies, including Intel, Toshiba, and NEC, to boost microprocessor support and provide new outlets for Win CE usage. Win CE faces serious pressure from not only the Palm OS, but new prototype handhelds which use a version of Linux. Meanwhile, Palm Inc. is mulling over splitting the company, making PalmOS an independent subsidiary. This would give it the freedom to expand, helping them stay in the front of the business environment and head off the Microsoft challenge. Microsoft is attempting to beat back the Palm onrush with their third version of Win CE, named PocketPC and deliberately slimmed down to compete directly with the Palm. Still, it features versions of Office and MSIE (now named Pocket IE), which may make it too bloated for the average Palm fan. Find out more at www.palm.com/ and www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/, respectively.

As wireless technology develops, so will the little ittlies -- in fact, a new wireless technology called Bluetooth, that uses short-range radio signals to exchange signals between electronic devices, is shaping up to be the next big thing in handheld PCs. (Microsoft isn't happy about Bluetooth's open-source origins, fearing that proprietory apps using Bluetooth will be exposed to the public; the FCC may also prove a stumbling block if they assign the frequencies to be used by Bluetooth to other users. However, Microsoft has bitten the bullet and included Bluetooth protocols in its latest version of CE.) A CE version of Internet Explorer is out there, to go along with the new version of WinCE called Jupiter or H/PC Pro, designed for low-cost subnotebooks and featuring USB, full-size keyboards, and Ethernet cards. 3Com has just released Palm VII, which adds wireless Internet information access. "Minibrowsers," text-based displays of Internet information, are standard on Palm devices and Internet phones. The latest for the little guys: color displays for the CE, a new Microsoft technology called ClearText that uses subpixel techniques to improve display resolution, Windows CE 3.0, and a stripped-down version of Yahoo! available for PCS cellphones. Bad news: in late September 2000, Avert Research Centers found the first known virus tailored for the Palm OS. It's not a particularly virulent one, but it's the first of its kind. You know there will be more. Keep up with PDA news and offerings at www.go32.com/. Note: lots of new Bluetooth-enabled devices are hitting the market now, including PC cards for notebook PCs and Palm V PDAs. The idea of a "Personal Area Network" (PAN), which uses wireless Bluetooth-equipped devices to maintain a PC-based network sans cables in an area up to 33 feet in diameter, is becoming a reality. Pricey components and short-range interference are problems with the test PANs currently being maintained, but these problems will be sorted out.

• Handspring's Visor is an offshoot of the Palm line of PDAs, created by the people who brought us the original Palm Pilot. In late 2000, the one-millionth Handspring unit went up for auction on eBay, bringing over $4500 (which was donated to the Special Olympics).
   
• New service for Palm V, Handspring, and HP Jornada users: OmniSky (www.omnisky.com/). OmniSky provides wireless Internet and e-mail service using Outlook 98 and a specially configured version of MSIE. Jornada users, be aware that HP has dumped this line of PDAs in favor of pushing the Compaq iPaq.
   
• The new, itty-bitty Blackberry pager is catching on fast with the geekerati. This little gizmo isn't exactly a pager, it's more like a wireless e-mail connection. The software currently being used is a bit dated, but look for this to change as Blackberry wins more and more fans.