Palm to Introduce Lower-Priced Organizer

Palm Inc. next month plans to release a lower-priced model of its popular hand-held electronic organizers, hoping to grab back some of the business taken by Handspring’s popular Visor line. The Santa Clara, Calif., company declined to comment on news reports that it plans to introduce an entry-level model priced at $149 in five colors with 4 megabytes of memory, but the company has scheduled a media tour to show off a new product ahead of the back-to-school buying season. Palm prices now range from $149 to $449. Handspring’s Visor, which sells for between $149 and $249, comes in five colors; the entry-level model comes with 2 megabytes of memory. Palm shares rose $1.88 to close at $36.75. This week, Standard & Poor’s said Palm will replace 3Com Corp. in the S&P; 500 after the close of trading Thursday, the same day that 3Com’s spinoff of its 94% stake in Palm is expected to close.