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REX 6000 Help Page News Archive

March 1-15, 2001


March 15, 2001

More new info on the Software Updates page - don't miss it! Thanks to Thomas for the research!

Recent updates to the Operating System, REX FAQ, and Software Updates pages:

Some interesting (we'd like to think) and useful (of course!) recent updates in the pages listed above. Look for the red text. Don't miss the addition to the REX Software Updates page in particular - there's something there that you might enjoy playing with.

Looking for a good price on batteries for your REX 6000?

See the REX FAQ (General Questions section) for links to some good deals on the CR2016 batteries used in the REX 6000. There is a US (Radio Shack) and European (Kood International) site. If you have an inexpensive source, let us know and we'll add it!

March 14, 2001

More translations of a Japanese DataSlim2 site:

Zmcnulty has spent some time (while not planning his assault on Mt. Fuji) translating a Japanese site. Here is his translation (partial so far, more to come in the near future). Z - don't forget to get out and smell the cherry blossoms while you're there!

New English-language add-in released!

The amazing Mr. Morotomi has released a newly translated add-in for the REX 6000. It is called multiple watch or multi-clock and provides three functions in one add-in:

See our Add-ins page for a link to Mr. Morotomi's English add-in page.

March 13, 2001

Intellisync commercial product could (at additional $ cost) resolve PIM support issues for some users:

There is a commercial sync tool made by Pumatech (original developer of Intellisync for REX before it was sold to Xircom) that is called simply "Intellisync." There are Palm and Windows CE versions. You can find the Intellisync product page here on Pumatech's site.

If you are upgrading to a REX from a Palm PDA and need more sync capabilities than Intellisync for REX offers, this might be an idea for you to consider. Intellisync supports a wide range of PIMs and might work in concert with Intellisync for REX to provide an extensive list of supported PIMs for your REX sync needs. This product does require that Palm "Hotsync" is installed.

Installing a trial copy of Intellisync (the Palm version) added "Palm Pilot Organizer" to the list of available sync options (called "Available Translators" in the configuration screens in Intellisync) in Intellisync for REX, and added REX 6000 to the list in the Intellisync for Palm product. See the "Using Other Sync Software" section of our Sync Options page for details. (Thanks to Deepsync for getting me thinking about this.) If anyone tries this please let us know how it turns out!

German REX discussion forum found:

If you've been looking for a REX forum on the web in German, see the REX Discussions section of our Internet Resources page for a link to a German REX discussion forum. Since I don't read German, I've no idea how active or useful it might be, but there were numerous posts with "REX 6000" in the subject lines.

Did you know that REX Tools had web page download and database export features when in beta?:

REX Tools had web page download and database export features when in beta, but they were removed from the 1.00 and 1.01 releases. Meert has been playing with the beta - see our REX FAQ page in the General Questions section for his results and a link to some REX Tools Beta screen shots. Headlines are that web page download sort of works, and database export - not sure what the heck it's doing. . .

Updates to Di's REX Tech pages:

Di's site is a great spot for potential REX 6000 add-in programmers and those seeking to understand how the REX 6000 and associated software work. It's like a mirror of this site, with a purely technical/programming focus on the REX 6000. From Di:

"I added "Memory defragmentation log" and "Web-sync log " to the Com notes page. Reading first log you can see that there is no data transfer during memory defragmentation called from RexTools. Web-Sync log shows full communication Rex-Pc during sync to rex.net. Log is big - 1.2 Mb. http://64.167.126.154/REX6000/main.htm. Di."

March 12, 2001

A cry for help!!

I am walking in the San Diego Multiple Sclerosis Society annual walk on April 1st to raise money to find better treatments and ultimately a cure for MS. I've been doing this for several years now, in part due to the plight of friends (I have three friends who have come down with MS) and family (my aunt suffered from it).

From the SD MS Society site:

"Every hour in the United States, an adult learns that she or he has multiple sclerosis... MS can strike anyone at any age -- but most are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, and more women than men are affected. MS randomly attacks the central nervous system, wearing away control over the body. Symptoms may range from imbalance and numbness to paralysis and blindness. Extreme fatigue can make simple activities of daily living a struggle. . . MS is devastating because it is so unpredictable. . . A father is suddenly unable to pick up or even see his toddler; a young professional fears that one more hospitalization will mean the end of her promising career; a 30-year old man has to move back to his parents' home because he's no longer able to live independently."

MS is truly a devastating disease, and watching your friends and loved ones suffer from it is terrible.

I am seeking "sponsors" who are willing to donate to the MS Society - basically I walk a few miles on April 1st with a group of friends, you write a check, and things get better in the long term. This is no scam - you will send your check directly to the SD MS Chapter, or to any other local chapter you wish.

If you are interested in helping, please drop me a line at [email protected] and confirm your willingness to help, and the amount. Any amount helps!! $1, $5, $3.82, whatever!

If you've benefitted in some way from this web site, a great "pay-back" to the world at large would be to contribute to help wipe out this terrible disease.

I realize that everyone has different causes they support, and there are many great foundations/societies/churches, etc., to donate to. I'm not saying mine is the most important, or the best or anything, and I expect many others will have differing priorities. That's cool, of course.

Thanks for your attention, patience, and forgiveness for this non-news item.

You can find the SD MS Society home page at: http://www.mssd.org/index.htm

Prices are still falling. . . REX 6000 w/Serial cradle found at $99! (From Amiram):

"Well, we finally crossed the $100 border: RCSeshop - Rex 6000 (serial) for $99.99. They must be following Nasdaq."

Or, a free REX 6000? (From Mike):

"I just got the paper here in Orlando and in the Best Buy ad. It says FREE XIRCOM MICRO PDA with purchace of any Intel Notebook (by mail...it's a "rebate"). It's the 6000! There are pictures and specs. and it says 'A 149$ value'. I am wondering if this is a good thing or a bad thing. are they A) Trying to get rid of them, or B) getting more out there. I know Intel bought Xircom so I'm hoping it's a good thing. What do you people think?

March 11, 2001

Prices are falling. . . REX 6000 w/USB cradle found at $119! (From Diane):

"WHERE TO BUY A REX 6000 Here's where I got mine - this week. $119 and in stock...though I always recommend calling first to confirm stock. http://www.alancomputech.com." See the bottom of the page for the REX 6000 display. The actual product page is: http://www.alancomputech.com/xirrexmicusb.html.

March 10, 2001

Some updates to the site:

The "REX Sync Q&A page has been renamed the REX FAQ and Trouble Shooting Guide, to better reflect it's content. The page has been organized into several sections to make finding information you need easier.

A way to simplify an upgrade from the TrueSync Desktop to Intellisync Mobile Desktop:

If you are upgrading from the REX 3 or REX Pro/5000 to the REX 6000 there is a free tool to help you get your contacts from the TrueSync Desktop PIM to the Intellisync Mobile Desktop PIM. The tool converts a TrueSync Desktop export file (you need to use the export function in TS Desktop first to create the contacts export file) to a working Intellisync Mobile Desktop import file. (This works for contacts only.) You can download it from here currently. Look for it at http://www.onkelfuzzy.de/ (its real home) in the near future. The zip file includes reame.txt instructions and the source code as well. One caveat - this process requires opening a command prompt (C:\) in Windows, moving between directories using DOS commands, etc. (Thanks, mantillo.)

March 9, 2001

Don't miss your "day view" on the REX - see daily tasks and events on one screen:

Some folks may have missed this feature on the REX. To see a list of your calendar events and tasks on one screen, tap on the date on the upper-left corner of your REX main screen:

Tap on the date here ------>

You will see a listing of any tasks due that day, and any calendar events that are still pending. E.g., if it's 2:00 PM you won't see your 10:00 AM meeting, but you will see your 3:00 PM dentist appointment (yuk!). <g> There is one limitation - the screen can only display a total of 7 events and tasks - there is no scroll function.

Could categories be coming to tasks on the REX? (From Steve):

"Anyone notice on the new IntelliSync upgrade that Categories for "Tasks" are now included and are supposedly mapped to Categories in Outlook? That's fine, but I sure don't see any "Categories" drop down menu in Rex's Tasks folder."

In Intellisync 1.01 configuration the Outlook Categories field for Tasks is mapped to the Category field for Tasks on the However, as Steve notes there is no category sort capability for Tasks on the REX at this time. Could this be in preparation for an upcoming firmware update to provide Task sorting by category on the REX? Or just something left over from a feature that wasn't (and won't be) implemented? We're trying to confirm if the Categories-Category mapping was there in Intellisync 1.00 as well.

Intellisync 1.01 upgraders - listen up!

A couple of REX users who did not initialize their REX as a part of the upgrade have reported doubled anniversary entries on their first sync after the upgrade. Can't be sure it's required, but it may be worth your time to intialize the REX before your first sync w/the new software!

Call for REX 6000 beta tester help!

"Rex6000 Beta testers! I would like to ask for a favour: could anybody send me RexTools for Beta testers? I heard it was slightly different <from the final release>. It could be important for my Rex-PC protocol investigations. Thanks in advance, Di [email protected]"

REX 6000 users - who are we??

Ever wonder about the REX community? Who we are? Where do we come from? What's our favorite color? In response to some questions received about it, here's what we know based on traffic on this site:

- Total hits since counter was added to site about 11 days ago: 4154.

- Hits per day are averaging between 300 and 400. Busiest day to date was today - 540 hits and counting. Slowest day to date was Saturday, March 3 - 32 hits.

- Some interesting (?!) stats:

Who are we? Hits by country (as best can be determined):

City Hits City Hits City Hits City Hits
USA Commercial
1497
Non-Profit Organizations
30
Hungary
10
Chile
1
Network/ISP
923
United States
29
Italy
7
Cyprus
1
Netherlands
130
France
26
Brazil
5
Dominican Republic
1
USA Educational
120
USA Military
25
Tonga
5
Finland
1
United Kingdom
72
Australia
23
Russian Federation
4
Greece
1
Canada
70
Switzerland
21
Czech Republic
4
Taiwan
1
Japan
51
USA Government
18
Mexico
3
Malaysia
1
Germany
48
Israel
17
Argentina
2
Hong Kong
1
Singapore
46
Austria
14
Ireland
2
   
Belgium
46
Denmark
14
Croatia
2
   
Portugal
35
Sweden
12
Norway
1
   

Miscellaneous stats:

OS
Number of hits
Win 98
1768
Win 2000
1045
Win NT
503
Win 95
329
Win ME
249
Other
100
Linux
42
Win 3.x !!!
37
IRIX
26
Mac
25
SunOS
20
Other Unix
7
FreeBSD (allright!)
2
Browser
Number of hits
MSIE 5.X
3330
Netscape 4.X
589
MSIE 4.X
110
Netscape 3.X
64
Netscape 6.X
39
Other
14
Explorer!!
5
MSIE 3.X!!
2
Day of week
Number of hits
Sunday
303
Monday
709
Tuesday
886
Wednesday
908
Thursday
971
Friday
344
Saturday
32

 

March 8, 2001

See our new "Software Updates" page:

Full of info on the recently released Intellisync 1.01. Get the lowdown on the download everyone's talking about. <g>

New "last updated" date on each page:

In response to a request a "last updated" date has been added to the top of each page. From now on when a page is updated the date will be set to the current date and the new content will be entered in a different color. Look for the text on the page in the update color to find the most recent updates. (Except for here - News updates will always have dates.)

For now, all pages will have a March 7, 2001 date on them. The only page that currently has updates marked in color is the Operating System page, since that is the only page (aside from News) that was updated tonight. .

About to load the new 1.01 Intellisync update? Here are some upgrade tips:

If you have any additional upgrade tips or issues, let us know!

REX NET sync can work on Windows NT using the 1.01 Intellisync update!

We've heard that NT users are getting REX NET sync to work under Windows NT4 using Intellisync 1.01. See our Operating Systems page and review the "manual" install instructions in the NT section if you are having problems. Things might go smoothly - from PJ on NT and REX NET synct:

"Thanks for mentioning that NT now synchs with rex.net, Dave. I tried it and you were right. Contrary to your difficulties with installing the s/w on NT, though, I experienced no problems with either the original or the updated s/w installing in NT. Went in easily."

Intellisync 1.01 update really seems to fix the recurring event sync problems!

From one happy user:

"Recurring events work great now, including exceptions. I can delete an event, which is part of a series, and the same event gets deleted too on the rex, but not the other members of the series, which is what is correct. I can even add notes to particular events of a series, and these get onto the right event on the rex as well. Justin"

Intellisync 1.01 update may speed up your REX!

A number of users (including yours truly) have reported that the 1.01 Intellisync for REX update seems to speed up some operations on their REX, including moving from page to page, moving between views of the calendar, etc. Nothing is proven via stopwatch and referees, but there may be something to it. From one user:

"Just downloaded and installed the update and from what I can tell, the REX appears to be faster in switching between applications (calendar, contacts, etc.). However, it doesn't appear to be any faster in scrolling through multi line notes to contacts or events. DW."

Tell us your experience!

March 7, 2001

Intellisync 1.01 update has been formally released by Xircom. And it really works! A must have update!!

The official Intellisycn 1.01 release is available on REX NET today! On REX NET select Support/Downloads and then select REX 6000.

There are no installation instructions in the file (a self-expanding executable). Xircom's email of a few days ago said an uninstall of Intellisync was required to install the new software. From their email:

Some have installed the software (seemingly successfully) w/out a full uninstall. Up to you to decide how you want to approach it. Me, I'm going to initialize my REX and then do a full uninstall so I can start again with a clean slate. It does appear that at a minimum you will benefit from initializing your REX along with installing the update.

The update provides faster sync times (much faster on the PCCARD syncs), fixes recurring appointment issues, and might even speed up the operation of your REX slightly. (Still trying to confirm that.)

Amiram takes a walk inside your REX 6000.

Amiram has been thinking again, and the results (as always) make for interesting reading. He believes the genesis of many issues with the REX 6000 is rooted in its technical architecture. See his Speculation on the REX 6000 Technical Architecture in our Known Issues page for some interesting thoughts about the REX 6000. If you have any comments, additions, corrections, or confusions, drop us a line or wander over to REX Rumor Central and speak up!

A bunch of updates on the DS2 SDK investigations:

From Di:

  1. DS2 SDK as we know doesn't have built-in compiler and linker and requires to use IAR EW compiler that cost about 2 grands.
  2. We can't use other then IAR compiler because library supplied with SDK is built with IAR.
  3. Demo IAR is not usable - it limits output code to 2kb and encrypts compiler output that prevents using free Xlink.
  4. Even if we buy IAR EW for 2k only one can use it - compiler is protected by HASP (paralell port key). Theoreticaly we can setup public win2k server with terminal service and install IAR system on it, but I think this is not legal.

And from Stephen:

"I have been talking with the developer of z88dk, and he is experimenting with his compiler and linker, and the SDK. Progress is being made, and he has been able to compile and link the libraries with his system - though it isn't ready yet for conversion to Rex format. (partially due to his compiler, partially due to the format of the header files, and partially due to the lack of certain required technical information that we are trying to acquire right now). He is modifying his compiler and some of the header files so it can properly handle the SDK. He thanks us for the interesting challenge. Amazing job. The SDK is actually missing required stuff in the header file definitions (besides the known missing introz.h header file). I will update the group as progress is made. Much thanks to Di, for all the technical information and assistance."

Things are getting more interesting all the time. Hold on to your hats - we may yet see "Solitaire" on the REX 6000! If you have any info that might help, please drop us a line or post it to REX Rumor Central.

The Gutenberg Project has books you can put on your REX.

If you visit the Gutenberg Project site you will find eTexts versions of books in the public domain - these can be copied into memos/notes and sync'd to your REX for reading during a boring meeting or endless flight. Worth looking into if you're interested in "Books on REX." The content they have includes Twain, Chaucer, Chekhov, Plato, Dickens, Fitzgerald, Dumas, etc., etc., etc.

If you are concerned about the size of these texts, note that memo size on the REX is limited by total memory available - there is no specific limit on memo sizes. Large memos will be broken into 31.2KB pieces on the REX, however. For example, if you download "The Illiad" and it is 100KB (ha!) there would be 4 memos stored as The Illiad(1-4), The Illiad(2-4), The Illiad(3-4) and The Illiad(4-4). (Thanks, Bernie, for that clarification.)

March 6, 2001

Some more help for those adding cities to their REX World Clock (thanks, Preston):

See the REX World Clock section on the New User Setup page for a CSV file that you can download. Contains 164 cities and can be used as-is for updating your REX.

ICQ users - here's a tip to allow you to put your ICQ contact list on your REX (from zmcnulty):

"I found a nifty little application that will export an ICQ contact list to a text file, which is pretty useful to have on your Rex...I think. http://www.neticq.com/english/contactuploader. It's pretty cool. It's actually for uploading your contact list to this one site, but if you click on the "export" button in Step 2, you can make a text file. Be sure you're running ICQ while you are using it. I have tested it to work with the new ICQ2000B, so it should work fine on earlier versions too. You guys know what to do from there. You can either slap it right in there with RexTools or just copy it into a Note in Outlook. Don't know about Intellisync Mobile Desktop though."

Cool! Another English-language add-in from Morotomi-san.

Morotomi-san has provided us with a timer add-in that can count down from as high as 99 minutes and 99 seconds. An alarm rings when the timer hits zero. See his web page at: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/%7Eqn6o-mrtm/indexe.htm and click on the link "The prototype of the timer was prepared."

Thank you, Mr. Morotomi, for providing REX 6000 users with additional add-in programs!

See our Add-in page for more information on add-ins.

Some new Windows NT install help

Installing the REX 6000 software on a Windows NT4 system can be a bit challenging - NT does not support USB cradles, it's PCMCIA card support is sketchy, and the REX software install was not designed to run on NT. Dave provides us with some additional installation help - see his Manual Installation tips on our Operating System page if you are having problems getting the REX software to install on NT4.

Interesting new REX 6000 site established.

Created in a moment (a whole bunch of moments, actually) of mad genius, this site provides answers to questions that many of us didn't know we were asking. Questions like, how big is a REX, anyway? Will it fit inside my microwave? Will it look good with my shinsen gumi? Take a peek, and thank you, zmcnulty, for providing a fresh (shall we say, unique) perspective on the REX.

March 5, 2001

Official word from Xircom: 1) The Intellisync for REX update is coming by March 9th; 2) Xircom currently has no plans for developing a REX 6000 SDK; 3) Support for additional PIMs is "delayed."

Xircom today released information on the upcoming Intellisync for REX update and the REX 6000 SDK. There is no mention in the message from Xircom about the recurring events sync fix that has been expected with this update. Here are the key points from the email that went out to folks registered at REX.NET:

"New Software Release. We have completed testing of a new software release for the Rex 6000 (the new software is version 1.01). This new software improves synchronization times and fixes a few issues reported by our customers. The new features include:

Note: This software is an update to the Rex 6000 software that resides on the PC. It is not a change to the software or firmware on the Rex 6000 device itself. No updating of the software on the Rex 6000 will be required."

On the subject of a REX 6000 SDK:

"SDK for the Rex 6000. Some Rex 6000 users have asked for a Software Development Kit (SDK) to develop applications for the Rex 6000. Driven by our development priorities, there are no plans for SDK at this time. We thank everyone who has inquired about a development environment for the Rex 6000."

And on the subject of PIM support:

"Personal Information Manager (PIM). Support The Rex 6000 currently supports synchronization with the following PIM's: Microsoft Outlook 97, 98 and 2000 and the Intellisync Mobile Desktop (IMD). IMD is bundled with the Rex 6000. Previously we had communicated that we would support other PIM's by Spring 2001. Based upon our development priorities we have delayed availability of additional PIM's. No date has been set at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused."

A software update should be posted on Xircom's REX NET site this week:

We've received another confirmation from folks heavily involved in REX development at Xircom. The updated software is to be posted at REX.NET this week. The update includes:

We were also informed that Xircom is not working on a firmware update at this time.

Retraction - retraction - retraction!!

OK - on March 1 we reported that there was something relatively "new" on the Special Offers section of the Xircom REX.NET site that promised ""Something new is coming soon!" Oops. Evidently that exact text has been there, oh, since December. Hey - even the New York Times screws up once in a while. . . <g>

Some updates on compilers from those looking into Add-in development (thanks, Stephen):

"I've tried the following compilers:

It seems to me that the SDK should work with the full version of IAR. I'm going to try again with this demo, and see what happens. I have high hopes for sddk too, if they get the z80 option working. Maybe I'll try the full cygwin version."

Something for our REX 6000 add-in programmers to play with:

Programmers: Go to our SDK page to grab a file that may help your experimenting with the REX 6000 SDK. From Jory:

"Here's the file (it's been zipped) - dataslim.lib (dataslim.asm). This file is in assembly, and so may enable a work-around of workaround of the problems linking with dataslim.lib. The asm (assembly) file is made to be compiled with TASM. .

March 4, 2001

It's looking more and more likely Xircom is going to release an update to Intellisync for REX soon:

From an email received from Xircom support (thanks to Amiram for posting this):

"Yes, the current version (of Intellisync for REX) has had reported problems with recurring events. However, the next release of Software (version 1.01), available for download next week from our Website, will include fixes for recurring events."

Will the real REX 6000 hardware configuration please stand up?

From the same email quoted above:

"Brand of processor: Z80 based processor. Memory: 2 MB (1MB program memory-1 MB Storage memory). OS: Proprietary. Memory chip manufacturer: Proprietary. Input length is only limited by the memory (except for the notes in contacts, which might be limited). Character set used is ASCII."

We have had conflicting information on the actual physical configuration of the REX. On the one hand, we had thought that it had 2 MB for programs, 2 MB for data (see this excellent REX 6000 technical site for details). This message seems to contradict that information.

Does anyone have the final, unambiguous, real truth on this?? If so, email me and include your "proof."

Apologies to those who may have been having difficulties with mad "auto-refreshing" behaviors on our pages.

This may have affected you if you are using Netscape as your browser. We are removing what we believe is the offending code. Please let me know if you have any difficulty in viewing these pages, and include your browser type (e.g., Netscape, IE, Opera) and version number.

Interesting Add-in development news:

Our intrepid REX 6000 Add-in development sleuths have made some interesting progress. From Jory:

"It appears as though I've compiled, assembled, and linked the sample program that came with the DataSlim 2 SDK-- using only free stuff. This is partially thanks to information from Dimitri, who is also testing out the .DS2 addins I generate. The makeaddin.exe program that came with the DS2 SDK seems to set up the add-in structure at the least--the add-in test programs I'm playing with load on to the Rex and then run. This is likely the farthest we've come in using free software to (try to) generate add-ins for the R6k/DS2."

If you'd like to get involved and apply your programming talents to these activities, drop me a line and I'll pass your information on.

March 3, 2001

Another English-language add-in is released:

Another English-language add-in is available. Mr. Idogawa has translated a scientific calculator, and made it available on his "experimental" REX 6000 Add-in page. Power up your calcs on your REX with this cool tool. See our Add-in Programs page for more on Mr. Idogawa's excellent add-in work.

Multiple confirmations of expanded sync possibilities:

Thanks to Ken and "cousinlump" for confirming that installing Intellisync for Yahoo and Intellisync for REX on the same PC expands the sync capabilities of both sync tools. Of particular interest is the fact that they have been able to use Intellisync for Yahoo to sync directly to the REX 6000.

See our page on Sync Options for their stories and details on using multiple sync tools with the REX 6000.

More creative sync ideas found:

From Deepsync "I just saw a nice program to overcome my Sync problem with Lotus Notes. I recommend using the my.palm.com Synchronizer, which you can use as intermediate between most common PIMs and devices..."

March 2, 2001

Sync fix for Intellisync Mobile Desktop users:

We finally got a fix from Xircom for that pesky problem with memos not syncing properly between Intellisync Mobile Desktop (the PIM that comes with the REX 6000) and the REX. See our Sync Q&A page for the update. Thanks to John for posting it to REX Rumor Central.

More English-language add-ins available:

Mr. Morotomi has created two English-language add-ins that can be found at this site (which he has graciously translated into English): http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~qn6o-mrtm/indexe.htm. Follow either of the links that contain "REX 6000" in them - both go to the download page with the two add-ins. You can download "Stopwatch" an add-in that provides you with a (surprise) stopwatch on the REX. Very easy to use, includes ability to do both lap and total times.

You can also find "Mogura" there (also known as "Whack-a-Mole"), a fun little game.

Thanks (domo-arigato?) to "zmcnulty" from REX Rumor Central for posting on it, and for acting as liaison to the Japanese DS2 add-in developer community for REX 6000 owners!

Go to our Add-in Page for extensive information on add-ins - what they are, where to get them, how to load them, etc.

March 1, 2001

Xircom claims something is coming on REX.NET. The following text has been on the Special Offers section of REX NET for a week or more - we're not sure when it was first posted. You must be signed in to view the "Special Offers" section on the REX.NET site:

"Something new is coming soon! We're excited to unveil this new REX.net area. But before we do, we're checking our work to make sure we haven't forgotten anything. The REX.net community is growing everyday. Check back with us often to see what new things have been added."

Info on hardware/software updates that Xircom is working on:

"Thank you for making Xircom part of your communication solution. We are aware of the recurring event errors and the slow sync time from the PC Card Slot. We are working on a fix. Please check our web page at www.rex.net for updates and developments. We are also aware of the design flaw on the USB Cradle regarding the <lack of an> eject button. We will be redesigning it."

More communication on the upcoming software update from Xircom:

"Thank you for your feedback regarding the REX 6000. It is normal for the light on the USB cradle to blink. The next software version for the REX 6000 should take care of that."

No summary of fixes/feature updates has been released yet, and I don't really expect one to be provided in advance.

DataSlim2 SDK update: Some folks have been trying to get and use the DataSlim2 SDK to explore Add-in development for the REX 6000. Below is a response from Citizen Japan on the Japanese DataSlim2 SDK:

"Thank you for your mail. We regret to tell you that availablity of SDK for REX6000 is purely up to Xircom's decision and policy. We have to ask you to directly contact Xircom USA for your requirement. Citizen is supplying SDK only for DataSlim2, the original Japanese version that are sold in Japan. Best regards, Henry Oshima Business Development Group Citizen Watch Co. Ltd."

Unfortunately, none of the REX 6000 users who have been able to get a copy of the SDK have been able to make use of it to create new REX 6000 Add-ins. See the SDK section of our site for more on that.