Swivel Systems has announced that they are accepting pre-orders for their SG20 General MIDI tone module for Palm OS devices. The units are expected to be shipping by 28Mar01, and will be bundled with miniMusic BeatPad software. A Handspring Springboard module is expected to be available in Summer 2001.

DeLorme has announced a new mapping solution for mobile users that need on-demand mapping and routing capabilities called "XMap Express" that supports Windows platforms.

Advanced Recognition Technologies (ART) is reportedly working on a new Chinese handwriting recognition solution called "simpliWrite" that will support both smartphone and mobile handheld devices. The following companies have in the past deployed products using ART technologies: Quanta, Konka, Hutel, Franklin, Motorola, Philips, Casio, Samsung, LGEI, NeoPoint, Acer, Maxon, A.T. Cross, Siemens Automotive, Optimay-Lucent, and TTPCom.

Audible has announced that Microsoft has invested US$10 million in Audible to further joint development efforts related to extending spoken-audio content to Windows Media technologies.

Ultrasoft's Money 2.0 for Palm OS is a personal financial manager for mobile users that can also synchronize with Microsoft's Money for Windows.

Palmtop Software is offering "Street Planner Millennium London" for EPOC for only US$17 (limited time offer). Some new features: one-way street identification, pedestrian shortcuts, external GPS device support, and map zoom in/out.

-Steve Holden (sholden@pencomputing.com)