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Thiess Selects Palm Zire 72 Handhelds for Efficient Defect Management


Palm and Wicket Works Provide Thiess with Tailored Solution for Field Inspection

SYDNEY, Australia, January 10, 2006 – Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) today announced that major contracting and engineering company Thiess has chosen Palm® Zire™ 72 handhelds with Wicket Works' TX-501 application to capture and manage defect information.

The TX-501 application has been developed by Wicket Works specifically for field-inspection purposes, such as defect management, health and safety checks, and plant management.

TX-501 is designed for the Palm Zire 72 handheld, which features a 1.2-megapixel camera. The solution allows Thiess to photographically document defects with a time and date stamp, and annotate the image accordingly.

Using the Palm Zire 72 with TX-501, Thiess inspectors now use fewer resources to manage defects, which has reduced costs and freed staff to concentrate on other project areas. Defect management has become more accurate and significantly less time-consuming.

Paul Forghani, manager of Project Services at Thiess, explains, "TX-501 on the Zire 72 acts like an electronic notepad so staff can quickly and accurately capture details of the defect. Information is then synched with a PC database and details can be emailed to the relevant subcontractors. Once repairs are complete, staff can inspect and quickly ‘close off' defects by synching the updated information with the database.

"We really rely on our Palm handhelds -- they're an extension of our project office and help us get the job done more quickly. As a result, we now have a much smoother and more efficient process for managing defects, which means we can manage our resources better, while also improving client satisfaction."

Lesley McKnight, Palm's marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand, said, "IT lies at the heart of most modern organisations, but very often the data IT systems need to function is collected using pen and paper, and frequently there are errors or it's left in someone's back pocket.

"Palm devices offer organisations such as Thiess a quick and effective way of electronically recording information that is more efficient and accurate than manual processes. These solutions are also particularly useful in industries such as construction, where a large proportion of the workforce conducts their business in the field."


About Thiess
Established in 1933, Thiess is one of the leading integrated engineering and services providers and operates throughout Australia, South East Asia and the near Pacific. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings Limited, which forms part of the largest publicly listed construction and development company in Australia.


About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., a leader in mobile computing, strives to put the power of computing in people's hands so they can access and share their most important information. The company's products for consumers, mobile professionals and businesses include Palm® handheld computers, Palm Treo™ smartphones, Palm LifeDrive™ mobile managers, as well as software, services and accessories.

Palm products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and wireless operator channels throughout the world.

More information about Palm, Inc. is available at http://www.palm.com.


Palm, Treo and LifeDrive are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned by or licensed to Palm, Inc. All other brand and product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.




Palm, Palm OS, and Treo are among the trademarks or registered trademarks owned or licensed to Palm, Inc. Microsoft and Windows Mobile are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand and product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.