Symbol adds wireless WAN to PDAs

Symbol Technologies Inc. announced plans Tuesday to integrate wireless wide area network (WAN) capabilities into its line of mobile computing devices, which include the Palm OS-based SPT 1700, the Pocket PC-based PPT 2700 and the Windows CE-based PDT 7500. The devices -- which also promise rugged durability, ergonomic design, Internet access and bar-code scanning -- target vertical markets, such as sales and service automation, government, military and health care. Symbol devices will run on GSM networks in Europe and CDPD networks in the United States. -- Richard Shim, ZDNet News