Customers with an Internet connection can purchase, download, and start reading Palm Reader e-books and move easily between desktops, notebooks, and handhelds. For example, the new versions allow users to start reading an e-book on a Mac desktop at home or work and finish it on the company's Palm Powered handheld while on the go.

Palm Reader's digital rights management system protects against unauthorized distribution of titles while offering customers the option of reading e-books from top-selling authors. They can also read research materials and documents that they create themselves. With the Palm eBook Studio authoring tool, a user can create an e-book from scratch, cut and paste information from other applications, or import files in RTF or HTML.

Each computing platform requires a different version of Palm Reader. Customers can download the version they need for their preferred platform to their hard drive. They can then either synchronize it with a Palm Powered handheld or Pocket PC device or read the e-books on a Mac or Windows computer. Once Palm Reader is installed, e-books can be transferred and read on all four platforms without modification. Palm Reader for Desktops automatically resizes the e-book for a larger screen and re-flows the text. It offers many of the same features that are available with the hand-held version, thus allowing customers to bookmark pages, add notes, and change fonts and type sizes. In addition, it delivers new features such as the ability to choose from a variety of backgrounds.

Palm Reader for Desktops works with Mac OS 8.6 or later and Windows 98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP. It's available for download at no cost from http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com.

Source: PalmSource, Inc., Santa Clara, CA, 408/878-9000; http://www.palmsource.com.