The Real Small StuffPushing the barrier with your palmtop? You need a new breed of processor.

While AMD and Intel are busy trying to strangle each other'sbusiness in the desktop processor market, another story isdeveloping in the area of portable processors. Analysts have beendeclaring this the post-PC era for months. PC appliances, fromhandhelds and palmtops to Internet-only devices, are fast becomingthe tools of choice for consumers and businesses alike-and it takesa tiny processor to power a tiny device.

Not many people really know (or care) how fast the processor isin their Palm III or Casio Cassiopeia. But with handhelds now beingasked to surf the Net, run databases and send e-mail in color, thepower behind palmtops is becoming an issue. For the record, thePalm IIIc runs on a 20MHz Motorola processor and the CassiopeiaE105 hums along on a 131MHz processor. In the mobile processorworld, speed doesn't matter as much as power consumption.Nobody likes changing the batteries in their CE handheld everyday.