PalmOne plans to announce later this month its first hard-drive-based product line, broadening its device portfolio and leading another trend in the handheld market.
The No. 1 handheld maker will introduce LifeDrive Mobile Manager on May 18, according to sources familiar with the company"s plans. The $499 device will come with a 4GB Hitachi Microdrive and two flavors of wireless networking--Bluetooth and 802.11b Wi-Fi. Combined with organizer features, the music-playing handheld could compete with Apple Computer"s $199 4GB iPod Mini.