Palm opens R&D center in China as PDAs begin to gain in local acceptance Palm announced Wednesday that it would launch its Treo 680 handheld in China, and increase its presence in the Chinese market by opening a research and development (R&D) center there.The company said the smartphone will be sold in cooperation with CEC Telecom Science and Technology Co. , and distributed by Beijing Riverwill Communication Technology Co.The 680, designed to be a lower-cost alternative to other Treo models, runs the Palm operating system. It is a candybar-style quad-band GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) phone that supports GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), which allow for mobile Internet access. PDAs have not yet made their mark in China, although they are growing in popularity, mostly thanks to aggressive pushes by manufacturers such as Lenovo Group, Dopod International, and Motorola, all of which have tailored their devices to the local market. One key design factor is recognition of handwritten Chinese characters.Palm said it is opening its first Asia R&D center in Shanghai for Asian language localization, to maintain better relations with its manufacturers in the region, and to accelerate time to market for its products in Asia. Technology IndustryData Management