(FORTUNE Magazine) – I once impertinently asked soul music legend James Brown why a lot of his songs sounded alike. He looked at me for a moment and shrugged. "Why should I change," he said in his inimitable gravelly voice, "when I've got a good thang?"

The execs at 3Com have had a good thing for three years. They've sold more than two million little gray hand-held organizers and have resisted an assault by Microsoft and a plethora of devices based on its Windows CE standard. At last count, Palm Computing controlled more than 70% of the market for hand-held devices.

When the 3Com subsidiary introduced the Palm III last year, it looked as if the company might be stuck in the coda: the new model was a little curvier, with higher storage capacity and an infrared link, but hardly any reason to shout, "Take it, Maceo!"

Turns out, the Palm folks aren't stuck in their groove. They've started to make improvements on the earlier models, while introducing new products to keep Palm at the top of the charts. The Palm V ($449) is a big step forward in styling as well as in convenience. It is thinner, lighter (four ounces, vs. 5.4 ounces), and way better looking. In fact, as J.B. would say, "it's black and it's proud." The designers have embraced modern lines, moved compact electronics into a brushed-aluminum case with black trim, and created a smaller, more modern-looking black base to link the Palm to your desktop PC or Mac.

But there's a lot more here than just good looks. Palm heeded the criticisms of customers and addressed serious shortcomings of earlier models: The screen is now more readable because of an increase in contrast, the backlighting has been improved to make the characters on the screen brighter, and there are two megabytes of memory. The creators also jettisoned the two AAA batteries. Now the base charges a lithium-ion battery built right into the case.

In making the Palm V, the designers smartly did not tamper with the key to the Palm's success: simplicity. The four main applications remain the same: a datebook, an address book, a memo pad, and a to-do list, each accessible via a single button on the front. To synchronize your Palm data with data in your PC or Mac, just push the button on the cradle.

Having recognized that Microsoft Outlook is the dominant corporate standard for calendars and e-mail, the Palm V creators added software that readily feeds information stored on Outlook to the Palm. Until now you had to buy separate third-party software to connect the two. (Palm's desktop software already links the organizer to many of the most popular e-mail and groupware programs.) Palm also improved the unit's ability to connect with corporate networks--an important step as database companies like Oracle and Sybase prepare applications to run on the Palm. Also, Palm has strengthened the weak links to Mac computers.

While the thinner and more handsome Palm V will make the Palm a more compelling purchase--it's still hands-down (or hands-on) the easiest of all the electronic organizers to use--other Palm products promise to be more revolutionary. Road warriors may want to wait for the recently announced Palm VII, a wireless version that will send and receive e-mail and collect information via the Internet. Customers will be able to get the Palm VII, priced at a hefty $799, this summer after nationwide tests. It is about the same size as the existing Palm III and the newer, higher-capacity PalmIIIx ($389), which was introduced recently. As is traditional when Palm introduces new models, prices on the older PalmPilot and the Palm III have been reduced to $199 and $299.

The Palm VII won't try to replace your laptop PC as your gateway to the Net. The company realizes the Palm's small screen is inadequate for serious Web browsing. Instead, Palm has made deals with a dozen content providers, from ABC to Dow Jones, to create special clippings for wireless Palm users. These special Web pages are light on graphics, can be downloaded quickly, and are designed to fit on the Palm's screen.

Sitting in a windowless conference room in New York with a prototype Palm VII, I was able to read the latest headlines from CNN and to send and receive e-mail. Now that makes me want to break out into a chorus of "Papa's Got a Brand-new Bag."

A Bug Report: In our story about Motorola's Iridium phones (Dreyfuss Report, March 1, in the fortune.com archive), we mistakenly ran a photo of a Kyocera phone. Sorry about that. Take our word--the Motorola phone is a lot better looking.