Oracle plans phased-in support of database on PalmPilot

Oracle is planning a phased approach to supporting its Oracle Lite small-footprint database on 3Com's PalmPilot operating system for handheld devices.

Plans call first for release of "conduit" software, for downloading data from Oracle Lite running on a laptop to the PalmPilot. The conduit software is due in beta release this month and in production release in August. A full-featured version of Oracle Lite for the PalmPilot is planned for release in early 1999, according to officials at Oracle and 3Com.

The goal of deploying a 15Kb version of Oracle Lite on the PalmPilot personal digital assistant (PDA) is to assist in use of in-field applications, such as tracking inventory.

Oracle plans to charge US$295 for each developer license of Oracle Lite for the PalmPilot, plus $95 per deployment license.

A Windows CE version of Oracle Lite, to support Microsoft's small-footprint operating system, also is anticipated for August.

Sybase is planning similar support for its database on the PalmPilot.

Oracle Corp., in Redwood Shores, California, can be reached at http://www.oracle.com/.