Product: Palm P10951U 1.3 Megapixel Camera Card Price: From US$79.99 Pros: Raised resolution digital add-on, swivelling lens, reasonable price Cons: Limited Palm support, still only 1.3 megapixels
Palm has always tended to depend on partners to wheel out new add-ons for its personal digital assistants. But while the strategy has encouraged some excellent accessories, it does not always work.
The digital camera add-ons from Kodak and Veo are perfect examples of a good idea done badly. So while Sony has been installing cameras with its Clie PDAs for ages, Palm has made only one attempt, with the low-resolution device on the Zire 71, and high-end Palm owners have been left in the lurch.
However, Palm is about to roll out its first add-on digital camera, the P10951U 1.3 Megapixel Camera Card, which promises to deliver if not print quality then at least much better images than the Zire produces.
While the sub-megapixel Zire offered a maximum image of 640x480 pixels, the Camera Card promises 24-bit colour pictures at up to 1280x1024.
The camera will also capture video, though the frame rate has not yet been announced.