Just days after receiving approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for an upcoming handheld device, Palm Inc. pulled its proposal on the product to correct an error made in its documentation – a move that will require the company to seek approval once again.
Both Palm and Handspring Inc. – a licensee of the Palm operating system – retracted their applications for new handheld devices after noticing an error in their filings with the FCC, said Richard Fabina, chief of the equipment-authorization branch at the FCC’s laboratories.
“This happens a lot if the applicant notices an error or the commission notices an error,” Fabina said. “Both of the applications are pending right now.”
When the Palm device received approval on Monday, users could take a glimpse at the upcoming device by looking at the documents filed with the FCC. The Palm i705 will allow users to tap into their corporate e-mail accounts and browse the Internet via the MyPalm portal, according to the documents. Other plans for the device included a blinking red/green indicator light, alerting users to new e-mail, and a Secure Digital (SD) expansion slot for hardware and software add-ons.
Handspring provided details on two Palm OS-based products as well.
The FCC removed the papers showing the new product features from its Web site after Palm and Handspring asked to re-submit their applications. FCC officials could not say what the exact nature of the problems were but pointed to common errors such as putting in the wrong frequency range or posting incorrect power output figures, Fabina said.
Fabina would not speculate on when either company intends to refile their applications.
Palm did not return calls seeking comment.
Palm, in Santa Clara, Calif., is at http://www.palm.com/. Handspring, in Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at http://www.handspring.com/.
