The head of a new Japanese subsidiary of California-based Palm Inc. sees Japan as a potentially lucrative market for its hand-held computers.

Palm products, incorporating mobile phone functions and Internet connectivity, will eventually become a multimedia platform, said Craig Will, representative director of Palm Computing K.K.

"I know it sounds contradictory, but we really believe that advanced technology can be simple and easy to use. That's what Palm's all about," Will said in a recent interview with The Japan Times.