Comments on: Palm Releases the Treo 750 on Cingular

Palm Treo 750Palm Cingular Wireless today announced the Palm Treo 750 smartphone running on Cingular’s 3G/UMTS network. The Treo 750 is a five-band world phone running Windows Mobile with Direct Push Technology offers Palm’s exclusive usability improvements with powerful business features, including email, security, and web access on the go.
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Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball

LiveFaith @ 1/7/2007 9:29:55 PM # Q
Not yet showing on Cingular.com in the devices. The Blackjack in their hyped device of choice at the moment. I wonder if the Palm's chubby little stepchild device will get primetime or the backburner from their marketing machine?

To bad FrankyG is not ready for UMTS or HSPDA. I just upgraded to the 680. But, to me, Palm OS is worth living with EDGE, especially as they get 3G into every nook and crannie of the south where I travel.

Pat Horne

Garnet may support UMTS/HSDPA after all
cervezas @ 1/8/2007 12:12:44 PM # Q
Too bad FrankyG is not ready for UMTS or HSPDA.

You know, I had an interesting chat the other day with a developer at Palm whose name some people here would recognize and he may have actually convinced me that Palm OS Garnet *can* support the UMTS standard. I should ask him permission before I make any attributions, and I'm doing a bit of research to satisfy myself on this, but either way I plan to write up something about this soon.

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

Palm's Ben Combee needs watch who he talks to...
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 1/8/2007 3:05:32 PM # Q
You know, I had an interesting chat the other day with a developer at Palm whose name some people here would recognize and he may have actually convinced me that Palm OS Garnet *can* support the UMTS standard. I should ask him permission before I make any attributions, and I'm doing a bit of research to satisfy myself on this, but either way I plan to write up something about this soon.

Bogus packet switching is not supporting UMTS. Windows Mobile is Palm's future. We don't need/want any more poorly-conceived, unstable hacks of FrankenPalmOS. After the tragic embarassment of NVFS, Mr. Combee - of all people - should know better than to be trying to extend an already-overextended OS. What does Palm think carriers will do if its devices ALL crash and are returned by customers? It's one thing having Joe Blow calling Palm's India Script-Reading Center Technical Support to complain about their buggy Tungsten 5, but it's entirely another issue if 100,000 Cingular Treos are recalled due to UMTS failure. Do you think carriers will keep cutting Palm slack for its buggy hardware? We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto Beersy.


TVoR

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
tompi @ 1/8/2007 4:01:45 PM # Q
"Windows Mobile is Palm's future."

Then they're already dead, since there is little reason to prefer a Palm Windows Mobile device to the sexy hardware other vendors are offering.


How badly do you want PalmOS?
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 1/8/2007 4:47:39 PM # Q
there is little reason to prefer a Palm Windows Mobile device to the sexy hardware other vendors are offering.

What if I could sell you a Windows Mobile Treo that also happened to run all of your PalmOS devices flawlessly. Would you sign your soul away to me, Son?

- Ed "Beelzebub" Colligan

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
freakout @ 1/8/2007 6:11:30 PM # Q
cervezas
You know, I had an interesting chat the other day with a developer at Palm whose name some people here would recognize and he may have actually convinced me that Palm OS Garnet *can* support the UMTS standard. I should ask him permission before I make any attributions, and I'm doing a bit of research to satisfy myself on this, but either way I plan to write up something about this soon.

The problem is simultaneous voice/data, right? I know Garnet is ancient and I'm hardly qualified to speak on such matters, but if you can have a phone call and simultaneously run other applications as you can on the Treo, doesn't it imply that there's already some limited multitasking? Is Garnet only able to accept input from one network data stream at a time (be it cellular, wifi, bluetooth) or is it a little more complicated than that?

3G data would be the icing on the cake for a device like the 680. Now we just need cheap 3G plans...

Oh yes, and here's an idle thought on the 680 vs. the 750 battery life that I had while reading PocketFactory's 750 review: does the 750's integrated CPU & antenna (i.e. one processor to control the radio and the device) make for better power management than the 680s dual-processor (one chip for radio, one for the device) setup? Does the slightly superior clock speed on the 680 make a difference? Techies?

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

iPhone will show if DESIGN can overcome pure specs
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 4/22/2007 5:03:57 PM # Q
iPhone vs. Treo - which will sell better:

Sexy looks, new design, slow speed, locked-down platform, high price, single carrier and Apple name vs. homely looks, old design, high speed, open platform, low(er) price, multiple carriers and Palm name?

1) iPhone crushes Treo on looks. Even people that don't know the first thing about smartphones are drooling over the iPhone. The Treos, on the other hand scream "Geek!".

2) iPhone's flashy navigation system may LOOK cool, but the Treo's combination of 5 Way navigation pad with hardware keyboard is extremely FUNCTIONAL. Add McPhling to a PalmOS Treo and you almost don't miss multitasking. On the other hand, the iPhone's screen apppears to make more sense than the Treo's for a multifunction device to have.

3) iPhone loses in a big way to CDMA Treos in data speed, but GSM Treos are still slow speed like the iPhone. Of course, Palm hasn't had the vision to exploit the pairing of CDMA's EVDO connection with something like "SlingBox for Dummies" that the average Joe/Joanne would be comfortable configuring and using. If Apple can figure out how to stream music/video at low speed over GSM (or high speed using Wi-Fi) and actually integrate this all with iTunes, etc, then this will be yet another example of Apple's ability to leverage ease of use as a way to overcome limited specs.

4) iPhone seems to lose out BADLY to Palm's Treos when you look at the number of apps that users can easily install on a Treo. But then again, how many users actually search for, pay for and install apps on a Treo? And what if Treos came configured with all the apps that 99% of users would routinely use on a daily basis? The iPhone will likely ship with a full suite of well designed apps that will cover most of the functions that its target market would want to have on a smartphone. Suddenly Palm's apocryphal "30,000 PalmOS application library" seems like a meaningless boast.

5) iPhone's "ambitious" pricing seems to be a fatal flaw. Until you look at how many clueless sheep have also bought overpriced Apple iPods over the years while ignoring competitors with better performance/features/price. Apple marketers could sell Jobs' iPoo™ to the Apple Cultists and fashion victims, so selling $599 iPhones should be an iBreeze™.

6) iPhone's availability on a single carrier also seems to be a fatal flaw. But if the iPhone becomes a success and in turn increases subscribers + profits for Cingular, then Apple can force further concessions from the carrier and make them dependent on Apple. Palm, on the other hand, has played the field, but runs the risk of being dumped like an aging porn queen as soon as the market tires of the Treo and it stops selling. Despite regular announcements here at Palminfocenter about how this or that carrier in an obscure rat-infested country has signed on to carry an obsolete version of the Treo, the degree of commitment that the MAJOR carriers around the world have to the Treo franchaise remains suspect. Palm NEEDS the carriers, while the carriers DON'T NEED Palm. Palm is the carriers' biotch and is therefore treated as such. When the Treos stop selling, the carriers will all dump Palm without batting an eyelash. And since Palm has responded to competition by lowering prices, where will its profits come from as sales decrease? Surely not from the standalone PDA market (which Palm savagely gutted in an effort to push users into its more-profitable smartphones).
Steve Jobs is crafty enough to not be ANYONE'S biotch unless doing so serves his purposes (at which point he'll strut out at MacWorld in full drag, Mike Cane-style). One can assume he's negotiated a ton of concessions as well as a long-term contract from Cingular in return for the promise of exclusivity and the potential of drawing in MILLIONS of NEW USERS to Cingular. TVoR is betting that the iPhone and Cingular will have the last laugh.

7) The Apple name still generates warm feelings for millions of Apple Cultists around the globe, and Apple is unmatched in its ability to generate buzz about its products. The Palm name, on the other hand has now been tarnished by the stigma of 5 years of substandard/buggy products. In fact, the Treo name is now becoming the focus of Palm's brand identity. Advantage: Apple.


One could argue that the iPhone and Treo compete for different market segments - consmer vs. business, respectively. One would be wrong. Palm's inability to package a proper turnkey "push" email system for businesses resulted in the company surrendering the lucrative business market to RIM's Blackberry. Why couldn't some dumba$$ exec at Palm in charge of software development not simply have bought out the rights to Chatteremail a year or two ago? (Buying Chatteremail in March 2007 is akin to locking the barn door after the cow has bolted, been rounded up by the rancher next door, slaughtered and sold to market. Palm ain't got no mo' (cash) cow to milk. Just a barn full o' hay and thoughts of what COULD have been...)


TVoR
- Pundit, poet, philanthropist

Gasp! Someone not swooning over the iPhone!
freakout @ 4/22/2007 7:02:57 PM # Q
(1) Yep. (Although the coloured ones - esp. red - look great, anything with an exposed keyboard is that little bit too nerdy for the mass-market. Bring on the clamshell Treo!)

(2) Yep. All that's needed here is a landscape-screened Treo. (As for McPhling, Palm have stolen that idea in the 680: hold down the Home button for the recent-apps menu. With the speed at which most apps open in PalmOS, you might as well be multitasking...)

(3) Well, the GSM WinMob 750 is 3G. Actually, the only 2G Treo left is the 680... although that's the one that will be competing for the same consumer market as the iPhone. Wi-Fi, however, is something Palm no longer have any excuse for leaving out.

(4) To quote that silver-tongued devil freakout:

...possible, albeit unlikely, is the reverse effect: people look at this expensive device with all these impressive features [iPhone] and wonder "Why can't it do X?"

I reckon the key to making consumers embrace the idea of mobile computing is making it easy to download, try and buy software without having to scour the net or a bunch of different online software stores. What Palm really needs is an iTunes-style online store, except for software. Round up every single one of those thousands of applications they so often refer to in press statements and throw them all in. Turn the Palm Desktop into a sync center for not just PIM stuff, but media and software too. They're already halfway there for media with some fairly decent photo & video management software. Trouble is it all looks terribly outdated and doesn't support nearly enough formats or music. And why can't you manage your device and the applications installed on it from your PC? ... iTunes is Apple's secret weapon that no one has yet been able to neutralise. That's where I'd hit 'em first, if I was Palm.

We know that people are willing to install extra on their phones: look at the skyrocketing sales of crappy, overpriced ringtones and wallpapers. The key is to make extra applications just as easy to find and manage.

(5) I dunno... the most expensive iPod is $399. Are people really going to spend an extra 200 bucks to get one with less storage? PS3 comes to mind when I think of the iPhone: late to the game, overpriced, and expecting all the sleek looks, Sony brand and marketing hype to do the rest. And we all know PS3 sales haven't exactly gone through the roof. I suspect that Apple will be learning the same lesson Sony has been: it doesn't matter how slick your product is or how impenetrable you thought your brand was, if it's too expensive, people won't buy it. Especially when there are cheaper options available - and in the phone market, the $599 price tag will be competing with $0.

(6) We'll wait and see. I'm very surprised Apple chose to go through a carrier at all - they have their own strong retail presence and no shortage of funds, so why not just sell them unlocked and cut out the middle man?

(7) Sadly true. One hopes that Hawkins' new device will be enough to make the company exciting again.

I do think the iPhone and the Treo target different areas of the market. Palm actually can attack all segments with their current line-up: big WinMob focused enterprises with the 750 and 700wx, smaller business and professionals with the 700p and upcoming 755p, and so-called "prosumers" and the like with the 680. It's the latter market they'll have to fight for. I don't think RIM is bullet-proof in the enterprise segment as most put it: a few more nation-wide outages like last week's gaff and they could very quickly find themselves losing the momentum they've built up.

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

Treo vs. iPhone: DEATHMATCH 2007. Who will win?
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 4/22/2007 8:21:39 PM # Q
(1) Yep. (Although the coloured ones - esp. red - look great, anything with an exposed keyboard is that little bit too nerdy for the mass-market. Bring on the clamshell Treo!)

A Samsung i500 with PalmOS 5 and the Treo's 5 way navigation pad isn't rocket surgery or even Jeff Hawkins-style brain science. Why Palm has failed to offer this form factor and a tiny candybar shaped PalmOS phone is truly a mystery.

(2) Yep. All that's needed here is a landscape-screened Treo. (As for McPhling, Palm have stolen that idea in the 680: hold down the Home button for the recent-apps menu. With the speed at which most apps open in PalmOS, you might as well be multitasking...)

So they FINALLY copied McPhling! Only took Palm 6 years or so. Well done. Is there a way for the Treo 680 to quickly switch back to the previously used app? Pat Horne's legendary Treo 800g could have put Palm over the top 2 years ago. Instead, all we see from Palm now are a bunch of excuses and 3 or 4 warmed-over variations of a 4 year old design (the Treo 600).

(3) Well, the GSM WinMob 750 is 3G. Actually, the only 2G Treo left is the 680... although that's the one that will be competing for the same consumer market as the iPhone. Wi-Fi, however, is something Palm no longer have any excuse for leaving out.

I was referring to PalmOS devices. In the world of Windows Mobile smartphones, Palm can't keep up with the specs + designs of its competitors, so it will soon be blown out of the water in that segment. The lack of Wi-Fi no longer excusable. No Skype for you! Now get out!

(4) To quote that silver-tongued devil freakout:


...possible, albeit unlikely, is the reverse effect: people look at this expensive device with all these impressive features [iPhone] and wonder "Why can't it do X?"

People don't mainly compare FEATURES on phones. First they look at STYLE (are my friends going to be jealous?), SIZE (is it too big?), and PRICE (can I afford it?). Then they look if it can do cool stuff. For the average user that will mean playing MP3 (integration with iTunes and Apple's store will be a huge selling point), playing videos, SMS, email, photos, digital camera/camcorder, games, downloading ringtones. Everything else is a bonus. Since people's (functional) demands from their phones are so limited, it all comes down to who can put together a cool-looking phone with integrated, intuitive software. Right now, that's no one. If iPhone nails the ease of use angle like Apple traditionally has done with its products then it will clean up on the strength of that, hype/buzz, looks, peer pressure and the herd mentality of Apple Cultists.

I reckon the key to making consumers embrace the idea of mobile computing is making it easy to download, try and buy software without having to scour the net or a bunch of different online software stores. What Palm really needs is an iTunes-style online store, except for software. Round up every single one of those thousands of applications they so often refer to in press statements and throw them all in. Turn the Palm Desktop into a sync center for not just PIM stuff, but media and software too. They're already halfway there for media with some fairly decent photo & video management software. Trouble is it all looks terribly outdated and doesn't support nearly enough formats or music. And why can't you manage your device and the applications installed on it from your PC? ... iTunes is Apple's secret weapon that no one has yet been able to neutralise. That's where I'd hit 'em first, if I was Palm.

Nope, the key is to give people all the software they could ever need straight out of the box. Only geeks will hunt for applications. Regular people only will download ringtones, wallpaper and (occasionally) games. What Palm needed to do was license (or copy) the best of breed application in most of the major app categories and include them in the ROM of each of its devices. Show users what the devices are capable of: Chatteremail, Comet, Crash, Directory Assistant, Documents To Go, GoogleMaps, HandyShopper, McPhling, Pocket Tunes/AeroPlayer, Resco Backup, Resco Explorer, Resco Viewer, TCPMP/CorePlayer, TealLock, Uninstall Manager, VideoHound/Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, Weatherman, ZagatToGo. Failing that, at the VERY least Palm could have created an interactive CD/DVD showing the top 100 or so PalmOS apps and included a $2 16 MB SD card that could be used to allow one-click installing of these apps.

We know that people are willing to install extra on their phones: look at the skyrocketing sales of crappy, overpriced ringtones and wallpapers. The key is to make extra applications just as easy to find and manage.

Ringtones sell because they are being crammed down the throats of users by carriers. (And carriers have gone out of their way to prevent users from installing their own ringtones/wallpaper. Carriers hate the fact that open OSes like PalmOS give users the power to upload their own ringtones/wallpaper. Kiss one of their few major sources of revenue goodbye...) The average Joe/Joanne has no interest in researching and trying out 10 different application launchers, photo viewers, note programs, backup applications, file managers, etc. Just give 'em ONE free app in each category that works reasonably well and they'll be happy. Ask companies competing with VersaMail, Desktop To Go, Pocket Tunes, etc. how their businesses have fared since Palm started packaging those apps with its hardware and you'll realize the much-ballyhooed "Palm Economy" was a deck of cards just waiting to collapse. And Palm never gave a rat's a$$ about developers, despite their laughable claims to the contrary. Helloooooo, Michael Mace...

(5) I dunno... the most expensive iPod is $399. Are people really going to spend an extra 200 bucks to get one with less storage?

They will when they see their neighbor/classmate/co-worker strutting around with an iPhone. And remember: that extra $200 gets you a phone, email, wireless Web access, SMS, a nice screen, and a (lifetime) membeship in the Apple Cult. Plus a free 8 ounce sample of Steve Jobs' iPoo™.

PS3 comes to mind when I think of the iPhone: late to the game, overpriced, and expecting all the sleek looks, Sony brand and marketing hype to do the rest. And we all know PS3 sales haven't exactly gone through the roof.

PS3 is competing with XBox, PS2, etc. Who is iPhone competing with?

I suspect that Apple will be learning the same lesson Sony has been: it doesn't matter how slick your product is or how impenetrable you thought your brand was, if it's too expensive, people won't buy it. Especially when there are cheaper options available - and in the phone market, the $599 price tag will be competing with $0.

Do you REALLY think anyone looking at a "free" cellphone will be in the market for an iPhone? The people buying iPhones will be:
1) Apple Cultists
2) Technophiles
3) Apple Fashionistas
4) Cellphone Fashionistas
5) People who gave up on Palms/Treos
6) People who gave up on Windows Mobile
7) People who like its feature set
8) People who were considering an iPod Video and a) realized that they honestly don't need 30 GB or 80 GB of storage (most people) and b) think all the extra features are worth an extra $150 to $250 + Cingular contract.

I'm betting that those 8 groups will include a sh!tload of people.

(6) We'll wait and see. I'm very surprised Apple chose to go through a carrier at all - they have their own strong retail presence and no shortage of funds, so why not just sell them unlocked and cut out the middle man?

I agree, but partnering with the carrier means Apple can negotiate concessions from the carrier that will make their product even more attractive. Plus, the carrier actually WANTS the device to succeed, since it becomes the carrier's device - not Apple's. For some users, the Visual Voicemail feature by itself could make the iPhone worth buying. If Cingular + Apple have more features like this (e.g. browser with a permanent one-click link to Apple's iTunes Store, free songs/music videos for iPhone owners, GoogleMaps with GPS, an app like Rick Whitt's Directory Assistant, Vindigo etc.) then the Apple-Cingular relationship becomes win-win.

(7) Sadly true. One hopes that Hawkins' new device will be enough to make the company exciting again.

Unfortunately, Palm shot its wad with the Tungsten 3 (though some would argue the Palm Vx was the last good Palm). Palm has stayed in the circa 1999-2000 mindset of fleecing a captive (and doting) fanbase for so long that it forgot what it takes to innovate. Just look how little has changed with the Treo since Handspring handed the design over to Palm several years ago. Look at how many quality control problems we've seen with Palm's hardware. Look at how many bugs and incompatibilities have been introduced into PalmOS. Look at how slow Palm has been at fixing bugs (in fact, often NOT fixing them at all). Do you REALLY think this is a company capable of producing an impressive new device? The original Pilot impressed me. The TRGpro impressed me. The Treo 600 impressed me. The UX50 impressed me. The TH55 impressed me. The Zodiac 2 impressed me. The VZ90 impressed me. Nothing I've seen from Palm recently has impressed me. Jeff Hawkins' STB is a sham. Wake up, Toto.

I do think the iPhone and the Treo target different areas of the market. Palm actually can attack all segments with their current line-up: big WinMob focused enterprises with the 750 and 700wx, smaller business and professionals with the 700p and upcoming 755p, and so-called "prosumers" and the like with the 680. It's the latter market they'll have to fight for. I don't think RIM is bullet-proof in the enterprise segment as most put it: a few more nation-wide outages like last week's gaff and they could very quickly find themselves losing the momentum they've built up.

What about the the gay market with the upcoming pink "Twink Treo 755p", the S&M market with the upcoming rubber coated "Black Cuffs + Tie(s) Treo 680", and the homeless with the clearance-priced "Po' Boy Treo 600" that Colligan ordered dug up from the landfill behind Palm's headquarters? If you think all of Palm's permutations and combinations of the Treo franchaise are really different then it looks like Ed Colligan managed to pull the wool over another sheep's eyes. I pray he doesn't come out to the barn and do baaaad things to you tonight, Timmaaaaaaay.


TVoR

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
mikecane @ 4/23/2007 9:22:13 AM # Q
>>>(are my friends going to be jealous?)

A problem you don't have to worry about. You have no friends. Not even at the institution that foolishly just cut you loose.

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
mikecane @ 4/23/2007 9:23:29 AM # Q
Oh, and look, he doesn't know how to close a tag, either.

Sadly, the meds only affect his HTML mis-abilities...

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 4/23/2007 12:50:22 PM # Q

Did you say something about lack of HTML sk1lZ, Auntie Mike? Look in the mirror to see the clueless newbie, dumba$$.

By the way, you forgot to plug your pathetic little blog in your previous 2 posts. Are you feeling OK?

TVoR
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: Not Yet on Cingular with 3G flameball
freakout @ 4/24/2007 8:22:10 PM # Q
You two are just so darn cute together. Have you ever thought about moving in together? Then you wouldn't have to type out these lover's quarrels for all the world to see!

(1)A Samsung i500 with PalmOS 5 and the Treo's 5 way navigation pad isn't rocket surgery or even Jeff Hawkins-style brain science. Why Palm has failed to offer this form factor and a tiny candybar shaped PalmOS phone is truly a mystery.

Yep.

(2)So they FINALLY copied McPhling! Only took Palm 6 years or so. Well done. Is there a way for the Treo 680 to quickly switch back to the previously used app?

Just the McPhling-style menu, although since the last app used is at the top of the list, it's pretty quick anyways.

Pat Horne's legendary Treo 800g could have put Palm over the top 2 years ago. Instead, all we see from Palm now are a bunch of excuses and 3 or 4 warmed-over variations of a 4 year old design (the Treo 600).

I want to see what form the new mystery device takes before I put the boot in on this one. But even so, the 600-style design, perfected in the 680/750 (save thickness) is an excellent one for a smartphone.

(3)I was referring to PalmOS devices. In the world of Windows Mobile smartphones, Palm can't keep up with the specs + designs of its competitors, so it will soon be blown out of the water in that segment. The lack of Wi-Fi no longer excusable. No Skype for you! Now get out!

The 750 has been getting some major promotion over here in Oz, for Telstra's new 3G network. By all accounts it's been very, very popular - and when these things are finally sold with cheap unlimited data plans like in the US, who cares about wi-fi? (Note I think these devices should have wi-fi simply as a matter of keeping up with the times, but I've never thought they really needed it.) And as I said earlier, the classic Treo 600 design is a good one, and there's no reason to get rid of it. There just need to be additional choices in Palm's line-up.

(4)People don't mainly compare FEATURES on phones. First they look at STYLE (are my friends going to be jealous?), SIZE (is it too big?), and PRICE (can I afford it?). Then they look if it can do cool stuff. For the average user that will mean playing MP3 (integration with iTunes and Apple's store will be a huge selling point), playing videos, SMS, email, photos, digital camera/camcorder, games, downloading ringtones. Everything else is a bonus. Since people's (functional) demands from their phones are so limited, it all comes down to who can put together a cool-looking phone with integrated, intuitive software. Right now, that's no one. If iPhone nails the ease of use angle like Apple traditionally has done with its products then it will clean up on the strength of that, hype/buzz, looks, peer pressure and the herd mentality of Apple Cultists.

PRICE (can I afford it?) The answer is no. $499 is not mass-market pricing and $599 most certainly isn't.

Nope, the key is to give people all the software they could ever need straight out of the box. Only geeks will hunt for applications. Regular people only will download ringtones, wallpaper and (occasionally) games. What Palm needed to do was license (or copy) the best of breed application in most of the major app categories and include them in the ROM of each of its devices. Show users what the devices are capable of: Chatteremail, Comet, Crash, Directory Assistant, Documents To Go, GoogleMaps, HandyShopper, McPhling, Pocket Tunes/AeroPlayer, Resco Backup, Resco Explorer, Resco Viewer, TCPMP/CorePlayer, TealLock, Uninstall Manager, VideoHound/Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, Weatherman, ZagatToGo. Failing that, at the VERY least Palm could have created an interactive CD/DVD showing the top 100 or so PalmOS apps and included a $2 16 MB SD card that could be used to allow one-click installing of these apps.

I agree that geeks only hunt for applications. But is that because people really don't care that they can do more with their devices, or because it's too much of a pain to sift through the net searching for an app that meets your needs? I think that a Palm software store with an easy-to-navigate UI that was built-in to a revamped Palm Desktop would greatly encourage people to try it out.

Ringtones sell because they are being crammed down the throats of users by carriers. (And carriers have gone out of their way to prevent users from installing their own ringtones/wallpaper. Carriers hate the fact that open OSes like PalmOS give users the power to upload their own ringtones/wallpaper. Kiss one of their few major sources of revenue goodbye...) The average Joe/Joanne has no interest in researching and trying out 10 different application launchers, photo viewers, note programs, backup applications, file managers, etc. Just give 'em ONE free app in each category that works reasonably well and they'll be happy. Ask companies competing with VersaMail, Desktop To Go, Pocket Tunes, etc. how their businesses have fared since Palm started packaging those apps with its hardware and you'll realize the much-ballyhooed "Palm Economy" was a deck of cards just waiting to collapse. And Palm never gave a rat's a$$ about developers, despite their laughable claims to the contrary. Helloooooo, Michael Mace...

Again, I think a big part of it is that that people can't be bothered googling around for alternatives, and there's virtually no advertising for these programs apart from a few text ads here and there. If there was a flashy iTunes-style start page that offered special deals, "app of the week" style segments, top 10 lists etc then it might encourage people to experiment further. And if you could add/remove these apps from your devices with one click on your desktop, could further soften the scare factor.

(5)They will when they see their neighbor/classmate/co-worker strutting around with an iPhone. And remember: that extra $200 gets you a phone, email, wireless Web access, SMS, a nice screen, and a (lifetime) membeship in the Apple Cult. Plus a free 8 ounce sample of Steve Jobs' iPoo™.

You get all those extras you mentioned in virtually every WinMob smartphone out there, and all the Treos, and in most cases for much less than $499. With contract. There was a guy who drove a really nice Audi at my last workplace that I would have killed to own, but I sure couldn't afford one myself.

PS3 is competing with XBox, PS2, etc. Who is iPhone competing with?

The Treo 680, the BlackJack, the new Walkmans, the Upstage, the Blackberry Pearl... to name a few. Are any of these as slick as the iPhone? Nope. Is that going to matter? I don't think so.

Do you REALLY think anyone looking at a "free" cellphone will be in the market for an iPhone? The people buying iPhones will be:
1) Apple Cultists
2) Technophiles
3) Apple Fashionistas
4) Cellphone Fashionistas
5) People who gave up on Palms/Treos
6) People who gave up on Windows Mobile
7) People who like its feature set
8) People who were considering an iPod Video and a) realized that they honestly don't need 30 GB or 80 GB of storage (most people) and b) think all the extra features are worth an extra $150 to $250 + Cingular contract.

I'm betting that those 8 groups will include a sh!tload of people.

I'm betting they will too, but nowhere near as much as the hype has it.

(7)Unfortunately, Palm shot its wad with the Tungsten 3 (though some would argue the Palm Vx was the last good Palm). Palm has stayed in the circa 1999-2000 mindset of fleecing a captive (and doting) fanbase for so long that it forgot what it takes to innovate. Just look how little has changed with the Treo since Handspring handed the design over to Palm several years ago. Look at how many quality control problems we've seen with Palm's hardware. Look at how many bugs and incompatibilities have been introduced into PalmOS. Look at how slow Palm has been at fixing bugs (in fact, often NOT fixing them at all). Do you REALLY think this is a company capable of producing an impressive new device? The original Pilot impressed me. The TRGpro impressed me. The Treo 600 impressed me. The UX50 impressed me. The TH55 impressed me. The Zodiac 2 impressed me. The VZ90 impressed me. Nothing I've seen from Palm recently has impressed me. Jeff Hawkins' STB is a sham. Wake up, Toto.

If they've been developing a new Linux OS in-house for the last coupla years, it would go a long way to explaining why they're so slow to update existing devices. I'm very, very keen to see what we get in May. Why dismiss it as a sham when we don't even no what it is yet?

What about the the gay market with the upcoming pink "Twink Treo 755p", the S&M market with the upcoming rubber coated "Black Cuffs + Tie(s) Treo 680", and the homeless with the clearance-priced "Po' Boy Treo 600" that Colligan ordered dug up from the landfill behind Palm's headquarters? If you think all of Palm's permutations and combinations of the Treo franchaise are really different then it looks like Ed Colligan managed to pull the wool over another sheep's eyes. I pray he doesn't come out to the barn and do baaaad things to you tonight, Timmaaaaaaay.

3G, 2G, to WinMob or not to WinMob... looks like plenty of difference between products to me right there. :P

Anyway Voice, I live for late-night barnyard violations. Baaaaaaaaad ones especially.

Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

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Huh?

joad @ 1/8/2007 11:01:30 AM # Q
"The Palm Experience on Windows Mobile"...

...Don't they mean The Windows Mobile Experience on Palm? The *DEVICE* is a "Palm" (made) device, and the *OS* is Wince Mob.

Of course, those of us with the 700p are getting the Windows Mobile Experience on the Palm, as the memory architecture was apparently designed for Wince Mob and NOT PalmOS architecture. This is apparently why we must endure LAG and RANDOM RESETS - in other words, "The Windows Mobile Experience."

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750, indeed

atrizzah @ 1/8/2007 11:21:38 AM # Q
I'm having a tough time seeing what this unit's got over my 680, besides lower resolution, miniSD, and Windows Mobile.

Wait a minute, those are all negatives

Peace Out
Alan

RE: 750, indeed
joad @ 1/8/2007 11:38:35 AM # Q
...a larger number?

RE: 750, indeed
cervezas @ 1/8/2007 12:30:03 PM # Q
... a Start button?


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

RE: 750, indeed
freakout @ 1/8/2007 6:25:51 PM # Q
... black rubber? (it works for Batman)
RE: 750, indeed
ray00pal @ 1/9/2007 4:13:24 AM # Q
Actually, the larger number is indeed very important. I own a 680 and now I am 70 Treo number behind now. OK, I will give the 1.3 MP camera some credit, if it actually gives out better pictures.

Reply to this comment

Palm Launches Treo at Last

Gekko @ 1/8/2007 10:19:58 PM # Q

Palm Launches Treo at Last
By Priya Ganapati
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
1/8/2007 4:16 PM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/techgames/10331308.html

LAS VEGAS -- Palm (PALM) finally got its much-awaited Treo 750 smartphone out the door, but that may be a small victory for the handheld device maker in an increasingly competitive market.

The Treo 750 phone arrives in Cingular Wireless retail stores and online Monday after a two-month delay that was largely responsible for the handheld-device maker's cutting earnings expectations during its second quarter.

The news from the annual Consumer Electronics Show here should be a relief to investors who were jolted when Palm slashed its earnings estimates on Nov. 27, resulting in an 8% drop in the company's share price.

Palm had blamed it on the failure to complete a certification for the phone by a wireless carrier.

Shares of Palm were up 12 cents or 0.8% to $14.81.

Getting the Treo 750, which runs Windows Mobile, into the hands of consumers should help Palm's third-quarter earnings, but it's unlikely to boost the company's long-term prospects.

Analysts expect to see revenue of $403.93 million in the third quarter and earnings of 12 cents a share.

Palm faces an increasingly difficult market for mobile devices. Nokia (NOK) also on Monday introduced the N76 slim phone that combines a sleek design with complete multimedia capability that includes music and photos.

Nokia also introduced the N800 tablet device with access to RealNetworks' (RNWK) Rhapsody music service and Skype (EBAY) Internet calling.

The N76 is expected to start shipping in the first quarter of 2007 at an estimated price of $500; the N800 tablet, which uses Linux, is now available for $399.

Meanwhile, Palm has priced its Treo 750 at $399.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate.

However, consumer attention has mostly centered around Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Pearl and Samsung's BlackJack phone. The two compete closely on the basis of their devices' sleekness and thin design.

And that's where Palm comes up short, having yet to satisfactorily deliver on consumers' desire for greater phone functionality and slimmer design.

Palm's Treo 750, while an improvement over its earlier line of chunky phones -- it has an internal antenna and soft-touch finish -- still doesn't beat rivals when it comes to design.

What Palm is counting on, though, is the phone's ability to work across international networks. The 750 enables users to access networks in Europe and Asia, says Palm. That's why the company is positioning the phone as the gadget for business users, a market where RIM's BlackBerry dominates.

The business user will be even more difficult for Palm to capture, wrote Casey Ryan, analyst with Nollenberger Capital Partners, in a recent research report.

"Palm is continuing to struggle to gain recognition and mind-share in the corporate market for PDAs but is doing better in the consumer marketplace," wrote Ryan, whose company does not own shares or have an investment-banking relationship with Palm or RIM.



RE: Palm Launches Treo at Last
freakout @ 1/9/2007 1:37:27 AM # Q
However, consumer attention has mostly centered around Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Pearl and Samsung's BlackJack phone. The two compete closely on the basis of their devices' sleekness and thin design.

And that's where Palm comes up short, having yet to satisfactorily deliver on consumers' desire for greater phone functionality and slimmer design.

Mmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm. They've failed to deliver greater phone functionality when the 750 features Palm's customised easier-to-use WinMob and neither the Blackjack nor the Pearl have a touchscreen? As well as Palm's superlative threaded Messaging app, something that competitors still haven't caught up with after all these years? How about Palm's support for any kind of email you want?

Slimmer design, I can give them that. But the rest is just repeating a meme, like some kind of monstrous half-lemming, half-parrot creature.


Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

RE: Palm Launches Treo at Last
freakout @ 1/9/2007 1:37:27 AM # Q
However, consumer attention has mostly centered around Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Pearl and Samsung's BlackJack phone. The two compete closely on the basis of their devices' sleekness and thin design.

And that's where Palm comes up short, having yet to satisfactorily deliver on consumers' desire for greater phone functionality and slimmer design.

Mmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm. They've failed to deliver greater phone functionality when the 750 features Palm's customised easier-to-use WinMob and neither the Blackjack nor the Pearl have a touchscreen? As well as Palm's superlative threaded Messaging app, something that competitors still haven't caught up with after all these years? How about Palm's support for any kind of email you want?

Slimmer design, I can give them that. But the rest is just repeating a meme, like some kind of monstrous half-lemming, half-parrot creature.


Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680

Oh, for Pete's sake....
freakout @ 1/9/2007 1:48:02 AM # Q
However, consumer attention has mostly centered around Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry Pearl and Samsung's BlackJack phone. The two compete closely on the basis of their devices' sleekness and thin design.

And that's where Palm comes up short, having yet to satisfactorily deliver on consumers' desire for greater phone functionality and slimmer design.

Mmmmmmm hmmmmmmmm. They've failed to deliver greater phone functionality when the 750 features Palm's customised easier-to-use WinMob and neither the Blackjack nor the Pearl have a touchscreen? As well as Palm's superlative threaded Messaging app, something that competitors still haven't caught up with after all these years? How about Palm's support for any kind of email you want?

Slimmer design, I can give them that. But the rest is just repeating a meme, like some kind of monstrous half-lemming, half-parrot creature.

RE: Palm Launches Treo at Last
SeldomVisitor @ 1/9/2007 7:02:36 AM # Q
It is amusing to see people compare $400 phones with free phones and denigrate the free phone because it lacks one or two (and no more!) features than the $400 phone.

OT: Palm Launches Treo at Last - font
SeldomVisitor @ 1/9/2007 7:03:41 AM # Q
I did a run-of-the-mill reply and got italics...sumthin' has changed on PIC...


RE: Palm Launches Treo at Last. Erm, wasn't that Handspring?
freakout @ 1/9/2007 7:29:44 AM # Q
^^ Nope, just some careless idiot forgot to close their italic tag. God I hate those dorks.

Ahem.

<--- Invisible closing tag here

RE: Palm Launches Treo at Last
freakout @ 1/9/2007 7:33:51 AM # Q
SV:
It is amusing to see people compare $400 phones with free phones and denigrate the free phone because it lacks one or two (and no more!) features than the $400 phone.

You get all the stuff I mentioned with the 680 too, which ranges from $199 to free. Easy to use, highly versatile, and in general a superior product. As long as it doesn't break in the first month of use...

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