Actually the Palm does sync via IR, albeit very slowly. Not sure about iPaq's though. I think they may only sync via USB/serial. You would have to reverse engineer ActiveSync for that to work first anyhow. Haven't we had this discussion though, with the issue being that the empeg only does CIR?
All new Palms with IR can sync via IR, and some older ones with an upgrade to the ROM. I did IR syncs with my Palm V, and I believe my Palm III as well. The speed was no worse then serial either.
The empeg can see the Palm, and also can userstand IRDA, it's just a matter of someone putting it all togther.
And with the iPaq, I have synced via Serial, USB, IR, Ethernet, and 802.11. Still working on CDPD.