Comments on: Palm Launches Treo 650 Smartphone in China

there are MANY methods to inputting chinese characters into computers. There wouldn't really need to be anything different, as Chinese input is really just a QWERTY keyboard with the pinying characters on them (these are used to sound/pronounce the written characters). While I doubt there's enough space on a tr650's tiny keys to put these in addition to english letters, I'm sure they'll manage just fine.

Another interesting thing is that cellphone seems to be the preferred method of inputting chinese characters there.... over a QWERTY keyboard. At least this is what 3 of the ppl I've talked to there say. Evidently, for one input method, the numpad and perhaps some predictive text allow faster access to write characters that it really does have QWERTY beat. This is in contrast to english input where QWERTY is FAST, but only with 10 fingers going at once. Else, ya need predictive text or FITALY to supplement the speed.

Interesting question. One factor to consider is that in poorer countries smart mobile devices are far more likely to be used as primary computers than in rich countries where PCs are everywhere. I was just reading the other day about the popularity of a "virtual" bank in South Africa where people who are too remote to get to a brick and mortar bank can use their cellphones to make payments out of their accounts. Their employers do direct deposits and the funds are completely digital. We think of this kind of thing happening in highly advanced economies, but it's some of the poorest ones where mobile technology is considered a basic living requirement rather than a luxury.

I remember talking to a guy from China some years ago who mentioned that PDAs were very popular in rural areas of his country. No one bothered with the PIM applications, but store owners who didn't own computers (or even have electrical power) were able to use these cheap, battery powered computers as cash registers and for keeping their books.

Might sound crazy to us, but a Treo 650 could make a pretty decent PC substitute for someone who lived or worked in parts of China where the only Internet connectivity was from a wireless operator.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

Ackmondual said: However, the rest of China is so piss broke that it's quite beyond analagous to the US at one time of "10% of the population owning 90% of the countries wealth"

According to the CIA World Fact Book the proportions of wealth distribution are nearly identical in both countries:

USA: Population 295,734,000
GDP $11.75 trillion
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5% (1997)

China: Population 1,306,313,000
GDP $7.262 trillion
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.4% (1998)

So yes, in China there are far more heads (130,000,000) to sell a smartphone too a larger market than the US but that top ten percent still have less money to play with than the top ten percent (29,000,000) in the USA.

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" - Dwight D. Eisenhower

I live in Changsha, Hunan, certainly not one of the 'big-3' Chinese cities. Everybody I know (except for small children!) owns a cell phone. About a third of my adult friends have a smartphone, I've seen a lot of Motorolas, Samsungs, Nokias, Philips (?) as well as some Chinese brands that I'm not familiar with. I've never seen a Palm Smartphone though, and rarely see Palm pda's

A big advantage to the Treo is that you could write Chinese characters directly on the screen which is a lot faster then using pin-yin or the '5-stroke' method. However, computers being so common, I'm not sure how many people still remember how to write by hand! ;)

The PalmOS is for all intents and purposes no more. PalmOS abilities on top of Linux is what is next. Refined interface and programs maybe being compatable notwithstanding, Garnet is the last marketed PalmOS.

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