Comments on: Apple Announces the iPhone

On another note, I wish I could say that I'd like to have seen Ed Colligan's face when the news hit, but deep down I know he's not surprised. Why should he be? Unlike Palm, Apple has built a reputation on not pulling punches on hardware and features, so who would expect any less? Nope he knew it was coming, and he doesn't give a damn, because he's a millionare no matter what happens to Palm.

I think Palm can kiss it's consumer market goodbye, which means PalmOS. There still may be hope for phones like the 750. Speaking of which, it's completely telling and absolutely pitiful to compare the launch of the 750 vs. the iPhone.

I'd like to be optimistic and hope that Palm will make a PalmOS Treo to rival the iPhone, but I honestly don't think anymore that they have the motivation or the capability. It could have been them on top, if they'd only had the balls to try to pull it off...

Peace Out
Alan

Job's first goal is 1% of the cell phone market. There is still lots of room for Palm phones. I would love to have an iPhone but there are a number of reasons I might go with a Treo instead. (Cingular's contract might be more than I would want to handle, lack of network in some rural areas, total cost of owning.) I want to share your optimism and hope Palm will improve its products and expand its markets.

Still, before we all go "Boy, dat feeture list sure is tootin' long" let's all pause and think:

1) It's thin yet has a huge widescreen screen, a sh*tload of internal storage, a desktop OS and wi-fi. Put these together with the iPod's notorious battery life woes. Gulp.

2) MESSAGING!!!!! For the generation that has grown up using mobile phones (myself included), especially in Asian and European countries, SMS is arguably far more important than making calls. How exactly do you type out a quick SMS or email on this? Answer: with great difficulty if you have to do it all via an on-screen virtual keyboard. Quoth Jobs:

"I can have multiple SMS conversations. Here's the conversation I've been carrying on [shows QWERTY keyboard on screen]. I've got this little keyboard that prevents error, it's really fast to type on, faster than the little plastic keyboards on all those smartphones."

Bullshit!! Predictive text is insanely annoying and part of the reason I bought a Treo with a real keyboard in the first place.

3) The same goes for URLs on the internet. Are Apple seriously expecting people to touch-tap long and complicated URLs? Puh-lease. Emails? Ha!

4)Quoth Jobs:

Favorites, last century [shows dialer], calendar, SMS texting, incredible photo app, the ability to take any picture and make it your wallpaper. I think you'll agree... we've reinvented the phone."

No, Steve, the Treo already offers ALL those things. Can't wait for the media reports that repeat his meme over, and over.....

That said: the web browser, camera and wi-fi all look awesome.

I'm also never going to buy one. It forces you to sync your contacts with iTunes. Ugh.

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

The internal storage is solid state (flash), meaning that no battery power is needed to either keep data, or spin a physical disk, to the battery is only an issue when reading/writing, just as with any other phone. So that is mitigated. Also, you can bet the the OS is an embedded version, also decreasing the hit on the battery, though not completely. Still, this leaves only the screen as a major battery drain, and it's not even VGA. I think it will do pretty well. The question is, is the battery removable/user replaceable. Also, with only 4-8GB onboard, this is not yet an iPod replacement. It would have been nice to see a card slot somewhere on this bad boy, but that is a minor gripe, really, and may have increased the thickness of the device, which physically is quite stunning. Let's hope it's performance is equally so.

_________________
Sean

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.

My impressions:

It seemed huge compared to the Treo. And too thin. Easy to drop (and Apple has a reputation for building things that like to scratch easily).

Nice bright color landscape screen. No physical keyboard. It would take a miracle for me to type qwerty on a software-only keyboard - they absolutely suck. I can type one-handed on the Treo without even looking at the device - hard to touch-type on a flat piece of glass...

No backup SD slot. Brilliant, Apple. Welcome to Palm's world circa 1999. Maybe people "phone in" their backups?

$600.00 AND a 2-year contract for an 8GB Ipod ($239.00) tied to a phone? And STILL no FM radio. That implementation of OSX had better give regular backrubs at that price.

They will probably sell quite a few of these to Apple/Ipod fetishists with money to burn, but it's no Newton or Palm.

What's most amazing to me about the iPhone is it clearly illustrates how much better the Treo COULD have been by now if Palm hadn't just sat on their laurels the past few years. They've milked the design Handspring gave them years ago as far as they could, made a deal with the Redmond devil and kludged in WinceMob. But Apple has come out of nowhere and made a very interesting multimedia phone out of an MP3 player. If Palm had put it's "LifeDrive" energy into improving the Treo's multimedia instead, they wouldn't be off-loading the Lifedrives as Apple releases a Phone that blows the Lifedrive away AND is a phone. And they did it with FLASH and not a ridiculous Microdrive.

Word, brother.

It'll also use a single charger connector (standard iPod design).

More tidbits from Engadget & Macworld:

"On one side, the iPhone sports a ring/silent switch, volume up and down controls. On its silver back side is a 2 megapixel digital camera. The bottom features a speaker, microphone and iPod dock connector.

The iPhone also incorporates a proximity sensor that automatically deactivates the screen and turns off the touch sensor when you raise the device to your face. An ambient light sensor will sense lighting conditions and adjust brightness levels accordingly. And an accelerometer can tell when you switch from portrait to landscape mode"

"It also integrates Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, and will automatically switch from a cell phone data network to Wi-Fi when it gets in range. "

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wow. could you ever dream of seeing such innovation and technology on a treo?

2 batteries, EDGE/wi-fi/BT 2.0/2mp camera/8gb flash in a device that sleek ...and here I sit looking at my antenna-sportin' 700p lagging away with its Seidio "RumpShaker" battery attached and just shake my head...

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Gosh this thing is pretty though...

OK, walk me through this. How could you possibly have a web browser that's less capable than Blazer?

Wait! I forgot AvantGo. My bad.

If you think the iPhone's browser is worse than that, you must have been watching a different demo than I was.

I would really, really love to see the conversation where you float that idea to Steve Jobs.

The Newton was not Jobs' idea. It was the idea of the person who fired Jobs, John Sculley. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton Educate thyself.

Arguably, the Newton is dead today because of Jobs' vendetta against Sculley. Frankly, I think that has been his biggest misstep since returning to Apple.

Yes, Palm will have the Treo 683. It will ship with Palm OS 5.4.9.99.999.999999, 65MB non-volatile flash memory (32MB user accessible), 200k program execution memory, and...

an antenna nub.

Don't be stupid. This thing is $600 with a 2 year contract at launch. Get your economics straight. I'm pretty sure that those companies will have something up their sleeves once iPhone debuts in June. That 2 Megapixel Camera will look pathetic once that time comes.

Uh...not quite, Steimie. The entry level model is $499 with contract, which puts it on par with other smartphone devices in this class, or near as anything else can approach. And unless "those companies" can magically pull a full blown Unix platform running desktop class applications out their hats within the next few months, I don't see how anything will touch the iPhone upon launch. PalmOS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian are outclassed by OSX under the hood.

Palm should seek a buyer while their shares still hold value. With Garnet and Windows Mobile as their only Ace, they are holding a losing hand.

-------------------------------
PocketFactory, www.pocketfactory.com
Elitist Snob, www.elitistsnob.com

It's an impressive announcement and Steve is a great salesman. When these devices are in people's hands and they're still convinced, maybe then it's time to start writing obituaries. Until then, all we have to go on is hype.

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

Will Palm come up with a treo that does all this by dec 07. Probably not, so paying $499 for a dvice that does all this looks good to me than a device that does half of this for $199.

Just my opinion from a former Palm user.

___________________________________
Casio B.O.S.S --> M100 --> Vx --> M505 --> T3 -->?

Yankees, Steinbrenner,...... I will never turn to the dark side.

So long fellas, it won't be the same without you around producing mediocre hardware.<<<

A $500 or $600 smartphone that is not even 3G capable. Give me a break. This phone has some nice features but this is certainly not the smartphone that will end all smartphones.

Furthermore, the more you create a Swiss Army gadget, the LESS the features are operational. You'll get fifteen gadgets but at half their functionality potential--I'm sticking to carrying my iPod, my T|X and my Cingular ROKR--I may have three pounds of equipment but, they'll be the complete devices they were meant to be!!!

Sharp Wizard 6500> Palm m500> m515> Tungsten T> Zire 71> T|E> T|X

Who this is going to hurt in a big way; Palm, RIM, Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft (anyone still want to buy a Zune or a Windows Smartphone?).

Apple has signed a multiyear exclusive deal with Cingular. I certainly wouldn't want to own Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint stock right now.

Here's hoping manufacturers step up to the plate and start building products I would want to buy again. The Palm 680, last year's 650 without the stubby antenna! Wake up call boys and girls. I'm tired of evolutionary products, lets see your revolutionary ones. I think for Palm it is already far, far too late.

Best, James Scherber

True, the AT&T monster we chopped up over 20 years ago has nearly completely returned, spouting additional tentacles into cellular and broadband duopolies that should make any American Citizen shudder about the future of their Republic. It's a bad, bad sign.

But a phone that plays MP3's and does a few things the Treo does (with a bigger screen but without a realistic keyboard or even a backup slot) isn't going to make *ME* give up EVDO and reasonable rates and great coverage on Sprint. And Verizon seems to have fanboys that nearly claim to have travelled to the earth's core without dropping a call - doubt they'd drop their beloved carrier in exchange for a scratchable MP3 player with a beautiful screen and no keyboard.

Hopefully less lag.

Oh yeah, it run's Unix too...

Come visit Trinidad & Tobago at
http://www.visittnt.com
http://www.triniscene.com

So....Wi-fi and a Big Screen are dumb ideas for a Smartphone huh..???

This can not be pointed out too often! Come on Palm!

I'm still waiting for the mythical color HandEra.
Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt

Apple got an exemption??

Colligan Laughs Off iPhone Competition
Posted By: Ryan on Monday, November 20, 2006 1:29:45 PM

http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9110/colligan-laughs-off-iphone-competition/

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." - Bill Gates

"Death can come swiftly to a market leader. By the time you have lost the positive-feedback cycle it's often too late to change what you've been doing, and all of the elements of a negative spiral come into play." - Bill Gates, "The Road Ahead", Chapter 3

"In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone." - Bill Gates

"In another room, a few executives watched Carl Yankowski's interview on CNBC, taping it for playback at the employee meeting that was to commence in minutes. After CNBC announcers gushed over "the most talked-about IPO," the camera cut to Carl Yankowski in the Nasdaq studio. Usually a compelling public speaker, Yankowski seemed out of his element. When asked about larger screens for palmtops, he answered stiffly, "We are well positioned whichever way the market goes." As the interview came to a close, the reporter said, "I've got to ask you about your suit." Yankowski smiled. He was wearing a very special suit, he let on, designed to satisfy the public's high expectations from Palm's IPO. The shiny pinstripes woven into the otherwise standard wool suit were made from threads of pure gold. CNBC cut back to the studio anchor. "Was that for real?" he asked the correspondent. The Palm managers assembled around the TV set looked at each other. "We're not showing this video," one of the executives decreed. Then they walked out to start the employee meeting."

-excepted from "Piloting Palm"

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471089656/

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I really dislike that turtlenecked, thumb-up-the-ass, liberal-with-too-much-money Steve Jobs. BUT - I'll give the SOB credit - he delivers the goods.

Better a black turtleneck than a gold pinstripped suit!

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No, *Handspring* spent years making the Treo.

Palm spent (probably a drunken afternoon) making the Tungsten W - the revolutionary "phone without a microphone."

Hence - Palm had to buy Handspring, as Handspring had the knowledge to design a *microphone* into a cellular headset. It was a groundbreaking design to the Palm engineers, I guess...

They're cashmere. Five hundred Benjamins apiece.

You actually bring up a good point in a roundabout way. Palm should have kept a T|W aka "Tungsten Wireless" line going alongside the Treo.

First of all, Had Palm put a 100mhz+ CPU, OS5, and forgotten about voice capabilities completely, the T|W wouldn't have been a half-bad device for its time. It certainly beats the lame Palm VII/VIIx/i705 debacles!

Eventually, Palm could have eventually merged the T|C and T|W into a cellular data-ONLY + BT + wi-fi device (the T|WC) targeted at the enterprise market and hardcore users. Eventually things like 320*480, lots of RAM/internal storage, VOIP etc. could have trickled down into the "wireless handheld" group (or a T|WC2 model)that Palm & the carriers might not necessary want in a Treo. Theoretically Palm might have ended up with something approaching an more PDA/data-oriented iPhone equivalent.

Then the Treos could stay firmly rooted in the phone-oriented "smartPHONE" area with their cellular voice functionality.

Everyone wins in such a scenario instead of trying to force the horribly comprimised Treo platform down everyone's throat.

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You did notice that Palm wants $620-$650 for an unlocked 700w or 750 Treo (end of month)?
Same price point, now lets review the specs again...
No contest unless you're looking for less of a phone.

-- http://www.amtddj.inlumen.com/bin/djstory?StoryId=CrAmHuaebqLqWmdyYodm

That may be a volatile link so here's the meat from it:

== "...Given Apple's numerous requests for permission to use Cisco's iPhone
== trademark over the past several years, and our extensive discussions with
== them recently, it is our belief that with their announcement today Apple
== intends to agree to the final document and public statement," the company
== said in a statement Tuesday. Cisco said it distributed the documents to
== Apple on Monday night and expects to receive a signed agreement..."

(pat pat pat)

and

-- http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=236

Lawyers!

Palm's actually been regressing spec-wise (and loving every penny saved in the process) if you compare its flagship 2003/2004/2005 releases (T3, T5, TX, LifeDrive) to its flagship 2006 releases (700p, 750v)--no wi-fi, no internal storage, no 320*480, no stereo headphone jack etc.

Palm (and RIM, Nokia etc) simply cannnot use the smartphone bandwagon as an excuse to ignore the advance of technology ANY longer now that Apple's raised the bar to a new level.

Assuming the iPhone has no glaring bugs in its first revision, all Apple needs to do is tweak the design a bit (more internal flash storage, a MicroSD slot, 3G wireless) in subsequent 2nd/3rd gen devices and it'll be simply fantastic.

But it's the OS, as Foo said, that just blows everyone else out of the water.

This is not just Apple's opening salvo in the wireless wars but an outright "nuke 'em" of the technological laggards (RIM, Palm, Nokia etc).

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Then nothing since the TX with 320*480.

[rant] How long have some of us been asking Palm to put out a PDA-centric smartphone with a 480x320 screen? I mean, look at this thing! Physically, it is almost exactly what we've been asking for. Max screen size in a minimal case. Palm, what is your problem? Are you going out of your way to ignore us? We told you that there was a market for this device. You could have easily beat Apple to the punch. All I can hope at this point is that you really are pouring everything you've got into some fantastic "secret third business" that is going to blow us all away, because if that isn't true and if it doesn't show up soon, I'm very much afraid for your future. [/rant]

Ok, having said all that, I will say that this iPhone is not the smartphone for me. This thing is not "inexpensive" by any stretch. Jobs may think "no stylus" is an advantage, but I want one and the software to support it. Of course there are other issues for me as well. But whether or not you can live with the specific list of features of this new phone, you've got to admit that at least Apple is still in the business of delivering a very attractive product. And it won't matter if your Treo can already do most of this, you know that Apple can run circles around everyone else when it comes to marketing and spin. Just like most people who forget that it was HandEra and Sony that were driving the PalmOS PDA hardware innovation, it won't take long before most people believe Apple created all of this.

I'm still waiting for the mythical color HandEra.
Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt

Yankees, Steinbrenner,...... I will never turn to the dark side.

Case in point:

I've been recently looking for a new harddrive-based mp3 player that can handle light video usage.

I am replacing my great sounding, reliable but quirky Cowon iAudio X5 20gb.

My requirements are simple:

#1 30gb or more HD space (60gb or 80gb is ideal)

#2 TFT color screen that's at least 2" or 2.5" (ie suitable for the occasional video)

#3 Drag'n drop UMS capabilities. I WILL NOT put up with DRM/iTunes/proprietary media manager software. I will do all of my own ripping/encoding/transferring, thank you very much. I don't want Rockbox, just native UMS support so I can put anything on or off of the device at will. I don't want a "music" partition and a " data" partition either. WHY is this so hard to find nowdays?

#4 Reasonable battery life & build quality

#5 charge/line-out/USB ports built into the body of the unit (the fiddly subpack is my biggest complaint about the X5).

My search for an mp3 player like the above turned up fruitless. The HD-based mp3 player market is diminishing daily. I'll probably just end up buying another X5 and getting the 60gb version. *SIGH*. iRiver is fading fast and producing junk compared to their efforts of a few years ago. Cowon is regressing by fiddling around with small capacity flash and microdrive players and clunky PMPs. Sandisk's Sansa is fantastic in every way but even 8gb internal + 2gb MicroSD is too little space for my music.

Anyway, back OT: Apple's fantastic industrial designs and marketing blitz/brainwashing have effectively already sealed up the market for "higher end", non-flash mp3 players. In the past day everyone I've encountered--secretary, blue collar types etc. have been talking about the iPhone buzz.

I wonder if Cingular will try to very quickly rebrand themselves back into AT&T and use the tremendous momentum afforded by the iPhone's availability in June as the catalyst to bring a lot of new users and switching users into the fold!?! Hmmmm...

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A 2-year contract is REQUIRED!! WTF?? Apple & Jobs are boasting about how they pulled one on Cingular and made 'em redo their voice mail system to accomodate the iPhone...Wake up, Steve! The real winner in all of this is Cingular.

Apple, more so than ANY OTHER COMPANY EVER, could have used this opportunity to turn the industry on its ear! Apple could've done to stifling 2-year cellular phone contract what BestBuy are (sorta) tryng to do to mail-in rebates.
Apple's could've insisted that the iPhone be sold exclusively at retail at Cingular & Apple stores AND insisted that it can work "unwired" as a PDA/iPod without a voice plan. Essentially, Apple should've granted Cingular an "exclusive" to sell the phone w/ no strings attached in their store and/or guaranteed tech support etc. only when used with their SIM cards. Instead, this is going to turn into a coup for the bad ol' days of mandatory contracts etc.

Yup, Cingular's gonna be laughing all the way to the bank and Apple's going to have many, meany upset iPod zealots who are mired in a 2-year contract. I know several people who buy a new iPod each generation. What are those loyalists gonna do when the new 2nd generation iPhone comes out in '08 year and they want the 16gb version but they're still stuck halfway through their first iPhone's contract?

Well, Palm could still do what I recommended years ago and retreat to the sidelines and become something of a "renegade" hardware provider. Start selling unlocked Treo 680s at retail for $299 and tell the customer to bring their own SIM card/service.

Palm could still try to respin a small but solid line of refreshed line of PDAs as "Mobile Phone Companions" and do whatever possible with the carriers to ensure reliable, fast, no hassle, DUN Bluetooth networking. Palm could pitch a TX2 + RAZR type combination for users who want the greater flexibility, huge software library and expandable storage of a conventional PDA.

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But that iPhone is way interesting to me - it will be interesting, too, to see if Cingular - my cell company - changes their dataplans to make such a device more ... desirable...

So...no vote here, just commentary!

Innovative competition is Monopoly's most feared assassin.

This iPhone has been no secret. Everyone knew it was coming for months if not years. Competitors were frozen like deer in the headlights.

I can't say if it will be a total defection but the pressure is really on now for Palm and Access to innovate like never before.

However, Apple is coming full throttle...

What I'll probably do is ride out '07 "as is" & keep my Verizon "work" phone. Then once the initial bugs are ironed out I'll get an iPhone for personal media & data-centric usage (ie no voice plan) this time next year (or less if I am greatly desiring one).

Of course it'll be tough to give up a decade+ of Palm OS apps/utils/deeply ingrained usage habits but it has to happen sooner or later. For the time being, I'll...errr, keep hoping that Palm has been working on a heavily revamped CDMA FrankenGarnet Treo w/ 320*480 & wi-fi to come out this summer. Of course, I'm not going anywhere from PIC anytime soon and I'll never get rid of my TX or my old Pilot 1000 and PalmPilot Pro!

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I don't believe in "all-in-one" device. "All-in-one" device is for geeks, not for mass market. For mass market, you need a device with one main usage but which excels in this usage and is simple to use. And all those devices will have mobile com facility as a second nature.

Back to the survey, I imagine very well having a pda-phone (like the Treo) dedicated to business usage, but also an i-phone for music and video + a gps-phone in my car + an camera-camcorder-phone, and so on...

BUT I don't need a cell phone in North America. It made sense in Europe and it made sense in Asia, but the infrastructure just isn't there and the costs are too high and the technology is incompatible with the rest of the world. I would defect to the iPhone in a second... if I needed a cell phone.

As it stands, I'm going to defect to an iPod. I hope that feels like a slap in the face, Palm.

I bought a Treo 270 because the limited input methods available on a regular phone, coupled with the "predictive" (more like astrology than Nostradamus) messaging drove me nuts. iPhone is also limited in that you have a touchscreen, and ONLY a touchscreen for input.

Seriously - try using the calculator on your Palm compared to a real-life with with physical buttons. No contest, eh?

Similarly, unless Apple have worked out a way to give tactile feedback (like David Beers' mini-pendulum idea) when you touch the screen, this thing will in no way replace the Treo as my communicator.

There's plenty of innovation and I am very impressed by the specs. But the price is insane and until I can hold one myself and fiddle, I'm not convinced that doing away with buttons is the way to go.

Big tick for finally ripping off the Treo ringer switch. 'Bout time this started making inroads on other devices!!

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

Freakout makes good points regarding hard-buttons for phones (I've heard similar complaints from O2 users)– but a thumb pad at the cost of screen real estate? Personally, I prefer the big screen. Can't bring myself to go back to a 320SQ screen. Prefer to carry a separate phone and a T3. Which brings me back to iPhone – I'm still using a 3 year old device cause Palm hasn't produced anything better IMHO. Time for an OS change.

iPhone certainly has an impressive feature set, but the usability is actually inferior to a phone with with real buttons. No matter how much Jobs tries to denigrate "those little plastic keyboards" as he did in his keynote, the simple fact is that a touchscreen is great for tapping on single items, but not for dialing long strings of numbers or typing out messages and email. Tactile Feedback are the magic words.

iPhone looks like an awesome personal media player and internet browser. But as a phone it leaves a bit to be desired.

Agreed. But I believe a large portion of us prefer the PDA functionality over the phone and are happy to live with the phone's short comings (which are minor for an infrequent phone user - I encourage my clients to email, it's the year 2007 for goodness sakes). Let's face it, the experience of reading / viewing is not only more glamorous on a 320x480 screen but for many office functions it is the ONLY practical option. You simply can't do the safari full page viewer thing on a square screen - it's too small - too much scrolling. Big screen=more functional device. Thus I gotta side with jerz2dc on this one.

If you *MUST* tie in with Cingular then you're stuck with Cingular's data rates (and quality) which are likely "slightly" more. You've already paid $500-600 for the phone, sold your soul to Cingular based on this unproven technology for 2 years, and now you are faced with scorching monthly rates for data (which will be a given with that nice big screen...).

Downloading a few 99cent songs off iTunes and/or ripping a few CDs into your iPod is one thing, but recurring monthly data charges will probably blindside more than a few of the data newbies who will be buying these things and start using the browser more and more.

And when you reply to those emails, are you going to type them on the virtual keyboard? I'll keep my dinky plastic keyboard thanks...

Let's face it, the experience of reading / viewing is not only more glamorous on a 320x480 screen but for many office functions it is the ONLY practical option.

Yes, very true. Palm need a larger-screened Treo pronto.

-- http://maximunk.com/forum/index.php?topic=744.msg14666#msg14666

Yankees, Steinbrenner,...... I will never turn to the dark side.

-- http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2007/01/20070109151400.shtml

http://images.macrumors.com/gallery/mwsfkeynote_iphone2/photos/Img0096.JPG

thoughts on virtual vs. hard keys?

Apple now has raised the standards in hardware quality and software innovation with iPhone and Palm looks unable to follow. All is not lost, but I doubt Palm has the guts to return to its glory days. Major changes in every regard should be done. While people still buy Treos, Palm should try to win back the developer base. Linux is still there, Java is still begging to get to PDAs/SmartPhones, linux/java developers are millions, the number of good ideas and market opporunities is infinite ... And yes, Tungsten/Aluminium/etc is still better than cheap plastic.

It's all there:

-- http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/9177/#128880

http://images.macrumors.com/gallery/mwsfkeynote_final/photos/Img0128.JPG

http://images.macrumors.com/gallery/mwsfkeynote_final/photos/Img0127.JPG

God they know how to design a product...

I am just thinking of the headaches that product managers from Palm, MS and Nokia must have tonight... I hope they can get 2 for 1 booze !!

But yes, I imagine that Palm is panicking. Apple have stolen all their good touch-UI features, made them slicker and come up with some new ones to boot. (that pinch-zoom is very cool)

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.

-- http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA061277

Yep, what he said. All of that "history". All of that previous R&D. All of that time. All of those suggestions from your loyal (previously loyal) fan base. Come on Palm!

I'm still waiting for the mythical color HandEra.
Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt

They hardly touched the ball, after all the time they've had the treo line, they managed to subtract the stick out top and change the screen to the one Handspring originally wanted but couldn't afford. Oh, and add Bluetooth.

The lazy sods deserve the trip to the unemployment office that this will bring them. If I added as little value to my company as they have to Palm I would be down at the dole office now.

No, please Palm employees tell me what the hell you've been doing to earn those pay cheques, ‘cos I ain't seen squat from you guys in years.

It's like when you were in school and you hand in the effort you did on the bus coming in and it's compared to something that was worked on for weeks; lavishing love and attention on it, creating something they were proud of, whereas you couldn’t be bothered.

It's embarrassing. Actually, Palm, I'm embarrassed for you. Look at what Apple have done and go and think about what the hell you're going to do next.

I wouldn't want to be in Palm HQ, if you guys aren't depressed tomorrow it's 'cos you don't actually give a crap any more.

RIP Palm (1992-2007/8)

If Jobs delivers anywhere near this chart, then it's Game-Set-Match!
http://images.macrumors.com/gallery/mwsfkeynote_iphone1/photos/Img0064.JPG

... at least they think the Treo is easiest of the smartfones. Palm at least it's a moral victory. :-o

Pat Horne

Uhhh, the choice for Palm seems to be akin to either a rock or hard place.

Pat Horne

I don't think that's an OLED screen. I think it's a samsung tft screen, but i'm guessing.

May You Live in Interesting Times