Verizon Wireless and Xpherix Corporation announced Get It Now customers can now wirelessly link their desktop calendar applications to their mobile phones with iDatebook. iDatebook enables users to access calendar content held in existing Microsoft Outlook or Palm OS software applications from their mobile phones and manage their calendar events while away from the office or home computer.

Microsoft will roll out two versions of its Windows Small Business Server 2003 on October 9 at its annual partner conference in New Orleans. According to InfoWorld, the company has technically stitched together a collection of its core server applications and its server operating system, Windows Server 2003, in a way that helps smaller users get core pieces of its IT infrastructure up more quickly.

serVonic now offers the IXI-UMS Small Business Edition for companies with up to 50 users. This special edition allows small and medium-sized businesses to deploy a unified messaging solution. The UM-solution is integrated into system environments like Microsoft Small Business Server, IBM Domino Collaboration Server Express or other SMTP-based mail systems via the Connector. The services enable the users to send, receive and administer emails, faxes, voice mails and short messages with the client they are used to.

eBiz.net says that Kubi Software has entered into a joint development agreement with Determine Software. Determine will integrate Kubi technology into its new Collaborative Contract Negotiation Module, enabling users of the Determine contract-management application to collaborate on contract negotiations without leaving their familiar email environment. Kubi says its technology provides structured team spaces for individuals and teams to work together spontaneously and securely, within the Microsoft Outlook or IBM Lotus Notes email clients.

This article from InternetWeek explains how you can protect your Internet Explorer until Microsoft re-releases a patch against new vulnerabilities.

This article from InformationWeek asks if it’s time to add wireless access to your employees’ desktops. The article adds that while some companies have put off wireless deployments because of cost or security concerns, many companies are already realizing gains from the use of cell phones, PDAs, and BlackBerry devices to reach into email, Web sites, and voice-enabled data repositories.

CRN reports that NetManage will release its Rumba mainframe terminal emulator and OnWeb virtualization products together as the Host Access Platform. A key feature of OnWeb 7.0 is integration with Visual Studio.Net 2003, allowing solution providers to tie legacy resources to .NET applications in one development environment. The Host Access Platform also supports J2EE-based tools such as WebSphere Studio from IBM and WebLogic Workshop from BEA, but these tools are not integrated with the platform.

Palm today introduced the Palm Zire 21, the Tungsten E, and the Tungsten T3. We’ve had each of these devices in-house for a while and will have a more comprehensive report in our 10/7 issue of Computing Unplugged. Here’s the scoop on each of the devices:

The Zire 21 has four times the storage capacity of the original Zire handheld with 7.2MB of user available memory, a new 126MHz Texas Instruments OMAP processor and Palm OS 5.2.1. The Zire 21 is still $99 and is still green and black.

The Tungsten T3 handheld is Palm’s first device that supports a high-resolution color screen in landscape, as well as the typical portrait mode. The handheld offers greater input flexibility, streamlined access to key features and optimal viewing in either mode. The screen display is 50 percent larger than on any previous Palm branded device, and the new soft input screen area provides a virtual Graffiti 2 writing area. With faster Bluetooth setup embedded in the handheld, a wireless communications suite, fast XScale processor, 64MB of RAM (52MB user available), and superior office and multimedia capabilities, the Tungsten T3 handheld offers what the company calls "exceptional" performance in a compact design for an estimated U.S. street price of $399. We’ve been tinkering heavily with this device and have to say it’s pretty darned incredible, with a screen that we have to honestly say is simply gorgeous.

The Tungsten E handheld has 32MB of RAM (28.3MB user available), a crisp high-resolution color display, updated core applications, multimedia software and expandability through cards or add-on accessories. It retains the classic Tungsten appearance, with its compact, sleek modern form and improved 5-way navigator for one-handed navigation. This handheld gives professionals an upscale handheld with premium features for an estimated U.S. street price of $199. Amazingly, it’s also got the hot display and it’s pretty inexpensive.

None of these devices will rock your world, but they’re all very impressive and priced substantially less than we’d expected. We congratulate Palm on a very solid product introduction.

Melissa Data announced the most commonly used categories of their free Internet-based search tool: Zip-City-Phone, Phone Numbers, and U.S. Addresses. The search tools work by allowing input of variations of street names, area codes, partial or whole telephone numbers, or ZIP codes. The data returned by Melissa Data enables users to verify mailing addresses, update phone numbers, and access the latest demographic data on states, cities and counties.

NearSpace announced that it has partnered with BSA FM, a division of BSA LifeStructures, one of the nation’s largest health care design firms. The companies’ first joint project is with Clarian Health Partners. NearSpace and BSA FM are collaborating to deliver the interactive-mapping component of an intranet-based Employee Locator. The Employee Locator will soon be available to the 16,000 employees that work at Clarian’s Methodist, Indiana University and Riley Hospitals. Plans to extend the Locator to Palm OS and Pocket PC handhelds are underway.