Palm virus software branded a 'waste of money'

Trend, which offers a similar product for free, said the F-Secure version works only for Palms and not for other PDA operating systems.

Raj Panesar, UK marketing manager at Trend Micro, said: "We believe that it isn't right to charge the few people using PDA's for anti-virus software."

Panesar added: "The F-Secure product is a waste of money. The choice between getting something free and paying for it is an obvious one."

Arto Halonen, key account manager at F-Secure wireless division, dismissed Trend's judgement. "We have had a free beta version available since September, but this is our final product," he said. "It's not very good business sense by Trend, in what will probably only be a temporary offer."

Panesar highlighted the growing threat posed to wireless devices, citing most prominently the Palm OS 'Vapor' virus. A few cases of the virus, which can delete all third party software from the platform, were reported in the wild last year.

A recent report by the Consumers Electronics Association predicted that the 6.1 million PDA units sold in the US in 2000 will soar by a further 57 per cent to 9.6 million in 2001.