For several months StyleTap has allowed users to run most of the more than 20,000 Palm OS applications currently available on a Windows Mobile device. The company now hopes to expand its user base with a just announced Symbian version of its emulator program, also called StyleTap.

Due for release during the first quarter of next year, StyleTap for Symbian will be available for both S60 3rd Edition (mostly Nokia) and UIQ 3(mostly Sony Ericsson) smartphones. S60 and UIQ are the two interface platforms that run on to of a Symbian device.

This new version of StyleTap will greatly increase the amount of software available these smartphones. Symbian trails Palm and even Windows Mobile when it comes to the availability of third-party software.

With StyleTap Palm software appears and operates on a Windows Mobile smartphone just like native programs. You can even cut and paste between Palm and Windows Mobile applications on the same handheld.

The emulator runs third-party applications written for all editions of the Palm OS. Network applications work through Wi-Fi, serial or USB connections. Infrared and Bluetooth is also supported.

It's a safe bet StyleTap will bring the same level of compatibility to the Symbian OS it does to Windows Mobile.

While it is great that any Windows Mobile and (soon) Symbian device user can now run Palm OS applications, we think the software is a particular boon to those who are making the switch from a Palm device to one running these other platforms. That's because they won't completely lose their - often hundreds of dollars worth - software investment and will be able to use a program that doesn't have a Symbian or Windows Mobile equivalent when necessary.

StyleTap says the Symbian version is already in "alpha" mode; the majority of APIs are working and most applications are running well, the company asserts.

It sells the Windows Mobile version for $49.95. So far there's been no word on what StyleTap for Symbian smartphone users will go for.