Executives Get Upper Hand With Planners

Businessmen say they need it. Students proclaim that they love it. And software hackers can’t make applications fast enough for it.

It’s 3Com Corp.’s PalmPilot, the hand-held computer that has quietly become the hottest portable device on the market.

Just ask the folks at Cruttenden Roth, an Irvine-based investment banking firm. Nearly everyone at the company already uses the device, and the firm makes sure new executives are using it soon after they’re hired.

“I picked up mine about a year ago. Now, I can’t work without it,” said company founder Byron Roth. “It’s simple, easy to use, and my secretary can use it to synchronize my schedule with anyone else’s.”

Though other personal digital assistants are out there--such as Casio’s Cassiopeia, Apple Computer’s MessagePad and Hewlett-Packard’s Palmtop PC--no one has been able to match 3Com’s sales figures. Analysts say 3Com had sold more than a million of the organizers by December.

The buzz around the PalmPilot has been fueled by a nearly fanatical following of software developers, say industry analysts.

Today, there are more than 1,000 applications available for the PalmPilot, which is basically just a daybook and an electronic address book. Several hundred new programs are popping up on the Internet each month, experts say.

But the war over the digital helpers could soon heat up, as Microsoft Corp. plans to launch its own Palm PC this year. The device runs on Windows CE, a stripped-down version of its PC-based operating system.

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P.J. Huffstutter covers high technology for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com