Wi-Fi MemoryStick Hits US Shores

Last month, the Hagiwara Sys-Com MemoryStick Wireless LAN card finally became available -- in Japan. The Wi-Fi enabled MemoryStick is now shipping in the United States.

This device, the HNT-MSW1 MemoryStick, allows the many Clie handhelds that don't have Wi-Fi integrated to access an 802.11b network. It is the first MemoryStick with Wi-Fi, and it is an alternative to Sony's PEGA-WL110 CompactFlash Wi-Fi card, which is only compatible with a few Clies. Unfortunately for older Clie owners with devices that run Palm OS 4, the HNT-MSW1 MemoryStick only works with devices with Palm OS 5.0 and higher.

The HNT-MSW1 MemoryStick draws power from the MemoryStick slot and supports 128-bit WEP data encryption. The package contains the MemoryStick Wireless LAN Card, an installation CD-ROM and a user's manual. There is a one year limited warranty.

MobilePlanet, which has been taking orders for HNT-MSW1 MemoryStick for a few months, sells the device for $130.

In related news, a company called C-Guys in Japan, which currently offers a Wi-Fi Secure Digital card for Pocket PCs, will release a driver to allow the SD Card to be used on Palm OS devices sometime in May. According to Palm Infocenter, drivers are slated to be released for Palm OS 4 and Palm OS Garnet, formally known as Palm OS 5.