PDA makers targets healthcare

As smartphones with PDA capacity get more common, there's a major push from both Microsoft and Palm to get them into healthcare. Palm released its Treo 700W, which runs Windows Mobile, earlier this year. The PDA goes after healthcare applications that are not written for the Palm OS and was featured at the HIMSS show. Yesterday Palm released the Treo 700P, a new Palmsource-OS based smartphone. The 700P is on the EvDO broadband network, which will help it compete with RIM's Blackberry for email. Mobile messaging is becoming increasingly important for physicians of whom over 55 percent already have a PDA. The 700P has an improved screen and 1.3 Megapixel camera that could be good enough for basic clinical telemedicine applications such as in dermatology and wound care.

- see this release from Palm