HotSpots here, HotSpots there, HotSpots everywhere. It seems every time you turn around another company has either announced plans or are in the process of implementing W-iFi or wireless fidelity (802.11) broadband Internet access publicly.

HotSpots are no longer reserved for places like Starbucks, Borders and airports, as even McDonalds and most recently Kampgrounds of America plan to offer 802.11 wireless access. This just goes to show the variety of places consumers can get their W-iFi fix. Soon you'll be able to not just drink coffee, eat croissants and read books and magazines while you speedily surf the Web from a notebook or PDA, but have a hamburger and roast marshmallows too.

Never mind that many of these access points require you to pay or sign up for a subscription. The fact that they are becoming more ubiquitous demonstrates the growing popularity and convenience of mobile high-speed Internet access. (For a comprehensive list of HotSpots near you, check out internet.com's 80211hotspots.com.)

Throw in the fact that many enterprises have implemented W-iFi access points and the increased penetration of 802.11, most likely 802.11b, but increasingly backwards compatible 802.11g, routers at home, and you've got a compelling reason to consider W-iFi as an essential feature for your current or future PDA.

In this article, we'll survey the current crop of Pocket PC and Palm OS PDAs that integrate W-iFi and go over some of the add-on options available to W-iFi-enable a handheld that doesn't have 802.11 internally.

Pocket PC Handhelds & W-iFi Add-On Options

Palm OS Handhelds & W-iFi Add-On Options

Pocket PC
Currently, there are two Pocket PCs that include W-iFi internally, Hewlett-Packard's iPAQ h5455 ($699), which has an even higher-end sequel, the h5555 (listed for $650 by Best Buy), possibly slated to be available sometime this summer), and Toshiba's e750 ($599), the follow-up to the e740, the first PDA to integrate 802.11b.

iPAQ h5450
The sleek iPAQ h5450 features almost everything a road warrior might need in a PDA, including advanced biometric fingerprint security, W-iFi, a lot of memory and integrated Bluetooth, which provides short range wireless communication between the handheld and Bluetooth enabled peripherals, such as mobile phones, printers and PCs.

The handheld features a transflective color 3.8-inch TFT that supports a resolution of 320x240 pixels and 65,000 colors. This type of display is among the best currently available for handhelds. It also has a 400MHz Intel XScale CPU, 64MB of RAM and 48MB or ROM. The device measures 5.43 x 3.3 x 0.63 inches and weighs 7.26 ounces. For memory expansion, it includes a Secure Digital slot and is compatible with iPAQ expansion sleeves that add CompactFlash compatibility among other features. It also has a built-in mic and headphone jack.

Toshiba e750
Essentially, the Toshiba e750 is the sequel to the e740, as it also has built-in W-iFi (802.11b) and measures the same 4.9 x 3.1 x 0.6 inches, a bit smaller than the iPAQ h5450. It is also lighter at 6.9 ounces. The e750's features the new Intel XScale PXA255 at 400 MHz processor, which promises better performance over the previous generation of XScale CPUs because of a 200 MHz system bus. The older PXA250 processors support a 100 MHz system bus. The e750 comes with 64MB of RAM and 32MB of flash memory.

Unlike the iPAQ, the unit also includes dual expansion with CompactFlash and Secure Digital slots. It also promises to have an improved display over the earlier e740 with a 3.8 inch transflective screen that supports 320x240 pixels and 65,000 colors like the iPAQ.

Another model called the e755 is the same as the e750 except it also bundles ArcSoft's PhotoBase software for editing images. Unlike the iPAQ, the e750/e755's lithium-ion battery is removable. An important feature for a 802.11(b) device, as W-iFi is a notorious power hog.

Pocket PC W-iFi Add-On Options
The main way to add W-iFi to other types of Pocket PCs is to get a CompactFlash W-iFi card, as most Pocket PC's feature a CompactFlash slot. We've listed a few of the many available on the next page.

Wireless CompactFlash Cards

Belkin's Wireless PDA Network Card ($90)

SanDisk's Connect Low Power Wireless LAN Card ($99)

Socket's Low Power WLAN Card Card ($169)

Symbol's Wireless Networker CompactFlash Card ($176)

Non h5450 iPAQ & W-iFi
For iPAQs without built-in W-iFi, such as the 3800 or 3900 series, you'll need one of the many CompactFlash Expansion Packs available ($40-$200 or more depending on features), some of which even support PC Card wireless LAN cards, which range from about $80 to $150 dollars.

iPAQ Expansion Pack

Dell Axim
For those who own the Dell Axim X5 Pocket PC or are interested in purchasing one for its incredible value, Dell is offering a self-branded 802.11b wireless CompactFlash card called the TrueMobile CF Card for only $69, giving the Axim X5 a similar feature set to the Toshiba e750, for considerably less money.

The Axim X5 comes in two configurations for $250 and $350. Both configurations feature dual-slot (Compact Flash and Secure Digital) expansion, a 65,000 color screen and an Intel XScale processors (300MHz in the less expensive model and 400MHz in the more expensive model). The higher-end Axim comes with 64MB of RAM and a docking station, while the less expensive one has 32MB of RAM and a USB sync cable.

Axim X5

Palm Operating System
In terms of the Palm OS, there is only one handheld, the Palm Solution Group's new Tungsten C,which integrates W-iFi. Other than that, a couple of Sony CLIE handhelds feature a proprietary CompactFlash slot that is designed to only accept Sony's own CompactFlash W-iFi card. (This has been controversial among Sony CLIE owners who would like to use that slot for other things, such as memory expansion and peripherals. See CLIE CompactFlash Memory Card Support on the Way).

Sony CLIE Handhelds
Sony's PEGA-WL110 Wireless LAN Card ($150) is compatible with the following Sony handhelds:

CLIE PEG-NZ90
The pricey ($800) CLIE NZ90 is the Swiss army knife of PDAs, as it appears to include everything but the kitchen sink. It features Palm OS 5 as well as a ARM-compliant 200 MHz CPU. A built-in 2 Mega-pixel camera, a first for a PDA, supports a 1600x1200 resolution and includes a 2X Digital Zoom, Strobe Flash, Auto Focus, and Manual Exposure Adjustment.

The device also has a thumb keyboard, a removable lithium-ion rechargeable battery, integrated Bluetooth and audio support. It has 16MB of RAM, measures a rather large 3 x 5 5/8 x 29 or 32 inches (depending on whether the device is open or closed), weighs a hefty 10.3 ounces and, of course, includes a Memory Stick slot for memory and the CompactFlash slot for the W-iFi card. The NZ90 also features Sony's nifty and large tablet style display that rotates and has an excellent resolution of 320x480 and 65,000 color support. (Stay tuned, as Palm Boulevard will be reviewing the NZ90 in the coming weeks.)

CLIE PEG-NX70V/NX60
The more compact CLIE NX70V/NX60 and far less pricey, $500 for the NX70V and $400 for the NX60,, feature a similar tablet design to the NZ90 and the same 200 MHz processor. However, the NX70V's digital camera (the NX60 doesn't have one) supports a more modest 310,000 pixels for a resolution of 640x480. Like the NZ90, these handhelds have a display that supports 320x480 resolution and 65,000 colors. It has 16MB of memory, audio support, a thumb keyboard and once again the Memory Stick slot for memory and the CompactFlash slot for the W-iFi card. It measures and weighs a more pocketable, though still not very compact 2.9 x 0.7 x 5.5 inches and 8 ounces.

Palm Tungsten C
The Tungsten C is the most powerful Palm OS handheld yet released. The relatively compact unit, compared to the other W-iFi-enabled PDAs, the iPAQ h5450 and Toshiba e750, measures 4.8 x 3.1 x .65 inches and weighs 6.3 ounces. The Tungsten C has the best processor available for any handheld, not just a Palm OS device, the 400MHz PXA255 XScale Processor from Intel and a whopping 64MB of memory, by far the most for any Palm OS handheld. It also has a terrific 320x320 transreflective display that supports 65,000 colors.

In terms of W-iFi, the Tungsten C includes an applet called W-iFi Setup, which makes getting connected easy. Just click on the application and select next to have the device search out for a W-iFi network, which it then displays. Select the one you want and you're set.

Click here to read our review of the Tungsten C

Memory Stick & SDIO W-iFi
Coming soon are Memory Stick and Secure Digital (SDIO) W-iFi cards, which should enable a wider variety of Palm OS handhelds to go W-iFi.

Memory Stick W-iFi
Japanese semiconductor maker Hagiwara Sys-Com back in March announced plans to develop wireless cards for Palm OS devices. The company said it expects to ship Secure Digital and Memory Stick W-iFi and Bluetooth cards in the third quarter. The wireless LAN cards support 802.11b and feature 40/128 WEP encryption. The Memory Stick cards require Palm OS 5, while the SD cards will work with Palm OS 4.

Secure Digital W-iFi
As for Secure Digital and W-iFi, in addition to Hagiwara Sys-Com upcoming Secure Digital cards, SanDisk, earlier this year, announced plans to introduce the first W-iFi (802.11b) cards, Secure Digital and CompactFlash, to also integrate flash memory. Its Connect product line will features four products, dual-function 128MB CompactFlash and 256MB Secure Digital cards that combine W-iFi and flash memory as well as single-function CompactFlash and Secure Digital cards with W-iFi connectivity.

SanDisk said its Secure Digital W-iFi cards will support Palm OS devices with Palm OS 4x or higher. The W-iFi (802.11b) CompactFlash and Secure Digital Connect cards should cost $99.95. The dual-function CompactFlash cards with 128MB of capacity are slated to be priced at $129.95, while the dual-function 256MB Secure Digital cards should go for $149.95. The CompactFlash W-iFi card, as we mentioned in the Pocket PC part of this story, is available now. The CompactFlash dual-function card and the Secure Digital W-iFi card were supposed to be available in March, but have yet to make an appearance, and the Secure Digital dual-function card is expected to be available after that.

SyChip has also announced plans to release a 802.11b Secure Digital card.

In related news, Enfora announced that it plans to release a leather case, the WP802b ($170), for Palm handhelds that delivers built-in Wi-Fi. The WP802b connects to the device via the Palm Universal Connector and is supposed to have a range of 500 feet outdoors and about 100 feet inside. The 3.8 x 6.2 x 1.4 inch case is slated to include a rechargeable battery for up to 24 hours of power.