Mossberg Weighs in on New Smartphones

Way too late? I certainly would have liked to see them standardize these things sooner - but a 10% jump in marketshare in the U.S. suggests that they weren't "too late". PalmSource has WAY less resources (ei: money and people) than MS - so they let their liscensees work out the APIs first - then integrate similar features later. It's not ideal - but there are a few advantages to this (one being that you know that a given feature will be used because it already is being used - no wasting resources writting code that no liscensee plans to use).

>>Furthermore, Microsoft does give manufacturers a choice: if you don't want to be tied to a particular kind of device, just use Windows CE.

You do realize why thats stupid don't you? I mean - asside from the joy of the horriblly integrated CE versions of Office (which can always be couinte on to be their regardless of the 'subset' of CE on offer) - exactly who the hell would be such a 'custom' ce device without any software. And before you retort that Palm OS devices frequently require some degree of customization in order for software to run well - the effort in such cases (when required) is freakin' minimal compared to re-tooling an app built for say PPC - to run on a handheld PC. Why the hell do think there are so few 'custom' Win CE devices? I know there out there - but they don't sell well. Why - NO SOFTWARE!

I found the basic OS very unintuitive and hard to use from many different standpoints. I echo everything Walt says, I mean the device itself ran a 100+mhz chip and was still sluggish at basic tasks. Not to mention the lack of 3rd party software but there is no office compatibility at all and it takes "6 taps" to get to an accurate battery meter.

And the Treo 600 really is an amazing piece of work - a lot of thought went into its design. I haven't actually used one, but I have read up on it a good bit and heard comments from other reviewers. I hear very few negatives about it.

I still don't think it's perfect; I probably wouldn't actually buy one. The design still needs some work from my perspective, but I favor clamshell over candybar. Still, the Treo 600 is a very good device with lots of potential.

Dave

If any of us here in the states have a GSM phone, we can switch between GSM carriers. As of November 24th, many of us can even take our numbers with us (but not all of us yet...that won't happen until May) just like you can. Also, in the US you sign a contract for your cell plan with one carrier. The contract might be for a year, or two years, but either way you will be charged money if you break that contract and leave before it's up. Some carriers go so far as to lock their phones so that they are unusable on other carriers (unless you unlock them). Now that number portability is in effect, we are seeing some more competition. One carrier even goes so far as to offer a plan that isn't a contract. So things are getting better. We accept it because there is no other choice.

His point is that the 600 has won, overwhelmingly, the vote of the public and critics as being the best and most intuitive and usable converged device out there.
And as someone who started down the converged wireless path with a PalmVx and Omnisky (boy those were the days), then to Kyo6035, and then to a Treo300 and now with a 600, I can say the 600 is by far the best-designed of all. And, to echo Walt's point about the data plan cost playing a LARGE role in the overall value of the device, having unlimited data from Sprint for $10 a month (I'm grandfathered, thank you), makes the whole experience all that much better. It's the sum of the parts - the design and usability of the device, the low-cost data plan, and the carriers' high-speed networks - that will win the day in the end. All these things work together, for the 600, to provide an unbeatable combination.

>His point is that the 600 has won, overwhelmingly, the vote of the public and critics

Well, actually, my point was that different people like different devices, and you really see that when you put together all the reviews and buying guides. The common thread in all those articles is that Palm Powered devices are very prominent. We've been saying for several years now that diversity is the future of the mobile market, and I think the reviews confirm it.

Mike
CCO, PalmSource Inc.

Maybe a valid point but the more you cram inside, the bigger it is.

2. Nix the Thumboard. Or at least provide a NO-Thumboard version.
It's a matter of taste but I was anti-thumboard until I tried it. If you are going to compose email and do a lot of text entry it is a nice interface. Also the treo 5-way is functionally way superior to the Tungsten style 5-way, you can navigate most programs without a stylus easily. One handed use is a definite plus once you get the hang of it.

3. Nix the 160x160 screen. Do 320x320 or 480x320.
A 320x320 screen draws 4 times the current of a 160x160. High res is mostly eye candy in my opinion, I'll take excellent battery life over eye candy any day. I honestly don't miss my Tungsten 320x320 screen, especially now that my battery (including the additional phone activity) lasts longer than my TT did.

4. Offer a TDMA version.
TDMA is dying. Nobody and I mean NOBODY makes a TDMA smartphone. Why would somebody sink the R&D into a dying market?

and you know that from??? Since most of the power is for the backlight/sidelight, I suspect if the screen doesn't change size you're looking at the same light. Yeah, the draw is going to be higher, but I doubt it is close to 4 times.

and you know that from??? Since most of the power is for the backlight/sidelight, I suspect if the screen doesn't change size you're looking at the same light. Yeah, the draw is going to be higher, but I doubt it is close to 4 times.
[/quote]
Simple math my friend. A 320x320 screen has 4 times as many pixels. 4 times as many pixels means 4 times the current. It takes 4 times as much current to drive 4 times as many pixels.

David

>>Simple math my friend. A 320x320 screen has 4 times as many pixels. 4 times as many pixels means 4 times the current. It takes 4 times as much current to drive 4 times as many pixels.

Pixel count doesn't compare to screen brightness and size. If the screen were 320x320, it would have to push four times as many pixels, and it would draw four times the battery power, but in comparison to the backlight, the effect is negligable. We're talking maybe an extra half hour to an hour standby.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20031210.html