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The Palm handheld platform has often been compared to Apple and its Macintosh desktops for a number of reasons, not least of which is the loyalty of its users and developers. In addition, this once dominant mobile platform has been under attack from a number of different fronts, especially from Microsoft and its many licensees for the Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone operating systems. And with the defection of Sony this week from the North American and European handheld markets, PalmSource, the keeper of the Palm OS, only has one major licensee left, palmOne.

Another way that the Palm platform compares to the Apple is its acceptance in the education market. For instance, AlphaSmart's Dana is a cheaper wireless laptop alternative for schools, allowing students and teachers to gain all the advantages of mobile computing that the Palm OS offers, but in a form factor that features a full-sized keyboard and larger screen that is better suited to classroom environments than most other handhelds. AlphaSmart has committed to the Palm platform through 2008.


Dana

palmOne has also made a major push into schools. Earlier this week, it announced that the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District in Fort Ringgold, Texas recently purchased 1,000 Zire 71 and Tungsten E handhelds. This brings the number of handhelds in that school district’s second through fifth grades to 2,700.

And just today, palmOne announced that schools that purchase thirty or more Tungsten C wireless handhelds (see top image) through its palmOne Education Purchase Program will get a free license for a new file distribution and exchange program to enhance classroom workflow.

The company said LearnTracFX from the Readiness Company, formerly known as eLearning Dynamics, is designed to help teachers efficiently conduct routine tasks, such as distributing and collecting assignments and study materials for an entire class, selected groups, or individual students via a 802.11b Wi-Fi.

Mike Lorion, VP of vertical markets for palmOne, said "teachers lose valuable time performing routine tasks, such as passing out assignments and study materials, and collecting homework. LearnTracFX gives it back to them."

With LearnTracFX teachers can exchange a variety of file formats, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, GIF and JPEG images, and Adobe PDF files. The system resides on a teacher's laptop or desktop computer, and materials are sent wirelessly to each student's Tungsten C, or beamed via infrared, which is built into ever Palm-based handheld. The teacher controlled program can be managed by student, class, and subject categories. Students can use the program's Instant Message and eHand Raise functions to signal the teacher and ask questions.

According to palmOne, the platform eliminates the need for instructors to first convert files to the handheld format and synchronize them with each student device separately. Instead, LearnTracFX enables instructors to wirelessly exchange files with as few as one or as many as 100 student devices almost instantly. The file exchange solution also provides the instructor with a verifiable record of exactly what files were transferred to whom and when.