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New Device Ready to Rival BlackBerry

HuneTec will launch a Palm-based messaging device that offers always-on access to e-mail.

Joris Evers, IDG News Service

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HuneTec, a small South Korean company, has licensed the Palm OS operating system for use in messaging devices that will work on a wireless network used primarily by pagers, PalmSource said Monday.

The personal communicators will offer always-on access to e-mail and other information, PalmSource said in a statement.

HuneTec plans to start selling its ReFlex Two-way Personal Communicator, an oversized pager with a small keyboard, in the U.S. in September, a HuneTec spokesperson said.

Images of the device on HuneTec's Web site resemble Research in Motion's BlackBerry wireless e-mail terminal. The devices have similar features, including an address book, a calendar, a to-do list manager, and a memo pad.

Going Wireless

HuneTec's devices will use the narrowband wireless network run by WebLink Wireless of Dallas, which offers broad coverage with high signal strength, PalmSource said in a statement. In comparison, BlackBerry devices are available for a variety of wireless networks, including mobile data services and cell phone networks in the U.S. and Europe.

WebLink's network covers 90 percent of the U.S. population and is used by about 1.2 million people in its North American coverage area, according to the company's Web site. Using ReFlex25 technology developed by Motorola, WebLink delivers wireless messaging services to operators, including Metrocall and SkyTel, which in turn sell services on the network to users.

HuneTec has 20 employees and was founded in April 2000.

The HuneTec deal adds ReFlex25 to the list of wireless technologies supported by Palm OS, PalmSource said. The software for handheld devices already supports Bluetooth personal area networking, 802.11b wireless LAN, and the cell phone technologies GSM, GPRS, and CDMA.

Other Palm OS licensees include Samsung Electronics, Kyocera, and HandSpring.

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