Well that's all about to change with the SanDisk WiFi SIDO card, which combines a meaty 255mb of SIDO storage and 802.11b wifi connectivity which when slotted into a low end Dell Axim or HP Ipaq PDA should give both features in a small SIDO package.

We say should as sadly windows mobile 2003 does not support a single slot performing two roles simultaneously this Microsoft say will be fixed in a patch to the portable operating system in the next few weeks. Adding the SanDisk WiFi SIDO will undoubtedly eat your battery much like the wifi only SIDO card already on UK sale which is better than many in built wifi capabilities as any Axim owner will tell you.

There have been doubts raised in initial tests as to range and throughput of the SanDisk card, this may be due to the antenna design which has to compromise between good signal and the amount the card sticks out from the body of your PDA.

Initially the supplied drivers and software are for windows only sadly palm users may have a long wait for drivers to be released, but the configuration tools supplied on CD will at least make windows install fairly straight forward including setting up your connection. Do be careful that your PDA supports SIDO and not just SD or you could be caught out.

Expected to retail at the £150 mark the SanDisk WiFi SIDO card should be available in the UK shortly after the release of windows mobile 2003 second edition.

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