A pair of disenfranchised Apple Newton programmers say that they, in partnership with two companies, have secured nearly half of the investment funds needed to either purchase or license the PDA's underlying technology from Apple.

E. Karsten Smelser and Adam Tow, co-founders of the Newton Developers Association, said today that they are launching an investment drive with Newton third-party developers Planet Computing, a maker of wireless technologies and Enfour.

The group hopes to raise the remaining funds needed to secure the Newton hardware and develop it for what they say are lucrative vertical business markets such as transportation and health care.

"With the incredibly large potential market for [the Newton], we want to hold a very public call for investors and support &£45;- we are going to hit [the street] hard," said Smelser.

Jobs said that Apple would consider licensing the Newton technology, but that no offers had yet captured the company's attention. However, Jobs said, if Apple were to receive adequate offers, the company would "listen prudently."

Smelser said that previous offers to buy the Newton outright had ranged between US$10 and $50 million, though he would not go into specifics. The Newton Developers Association is not affiliated with the consumer-oriented group, the National Newton Association, which is collecting funds to mount a lawsuit against Apple for allegedly mishandling the product's cancellation.

http://www.aplanet.com/http://www.enfour.com/

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