The police service had intended to make the devices available to 300 state fine issuing authorities to aid collection of the 2.3 million penalties the Infringement Processing Bureau (IPB) processes annually.
However the department has terminated the tender to find a supplier for the deal, citing "implications for [the NSW Police] mainframe that require further investigation" and "other issues raised by the information technology industry".
The police had earlier suspended the tender to consider issues that arose after it was released to industry, but it appears they were too difficult to overcome.
"The proper deliberation of the ... issues cannot be achieved within a timeframe considered reasonable to maintain the continued suspension of the current tender process," said the Infringement Processing Bureau's procurement advisory group, in a notice to tender applicants.
The IPB's tightly worded statements on the matter leave few clues as to what specific impacts the project was expected to have on its mainframe. However there are indications police technology advisors failed to adequately audit their existing IT infrastructure before releasing the tender.
"It was probably launched a little prematurely without actually considering the issues in terms of the other interfaces of some of the systems in place," said a spokesperson for the IPB's procurement advisory group.
NSW Police told tender applicants they were still committed to purchasing the technology in the future, but did not indicate when the procurement process might resume.
The NSW Police apologised for any inconvenience the termination may have caused.
I wonder if they were to use Palm and Mr Gates heard about it ?