Does Palm Need Android?
A newly posted editorial article has been published at Fortune entitled "Why Palm needs Android." The piece attempts to make the case that Palm would be better off going with Google's Android OS instead of forging ahead with its own longstanding Palm OS Nova plans. Mainly, the author feels that the "old reasons" for developing a mobile OS - "cool factor, pricing power and influence – don't carry the weight they used to" and that Palm is too small of a company to challenge its more powerful competitors.
It would certainly be an extremely risky strategy for Palm and would mark a complete turnaround from their own publicly stated plans. Personally I feel the argument here is a weak one, however the author does make one good point in the conclusion, "Palm needs bold moves, and it doesn't have much room for error."
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RE: Been saying this for years
Maybe some of you Palm users can tell me too. What happened to Datebook command: Journal (Menu J) and Floating events (menu i) on later Palms? I bought a 650 but returned it because it seemed like instead of adding features they started removing them.
palmdroid
i agree with the editorial. i think palmdroid makes sense.
1. palm can customize it with their own special sauces - GUI, look, and programs to differentiate and make it zen / palmos-like. maybe they can offer an emulator?
2. android is free.
3. android is open - developers can develop for palmdroid.
4. keep selling winmob as needed.
5. nova is DOA and time is running out.
RE: palmdroid
funny that nobody mentions ALP as a viable alternative. in theory, it should be. thoughts?
RE: palmdroid
p.s. he's still out there... waiting.... watching....
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Do we now deal with too much technology?
11-22-2007, 11:53 PM 148117 in reply to 147799
* e-tellurian is not online. Last active: 09-27-2008, 4:48 PM e-tellurian
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The motor cycle and car replaced the horse yet these same people no longer want to ride a horse to work. The baby boomers had much support for their ideas good thing that thinking has followed them into their aging years.
New thoughts does not = no choices. i worked with a guy that used to offer technical solutions in the plastic enabled e-com and later in telecommunications data industry. Then while working on the next generation of e-com well we-com choices his crew got asked to offer solution for peace as a consequence of people not having the choice for peace. Now this guy is working on some old fashioned thing called Atlantis this mobile village concept that will be in international waters where we can do what we want including having peace while interacting with our we-com technology of choice. Offering more space for people on land may offer more peace too. Funny thing tellurian = person from Earth yet most of our planet is water.
Well thank goodness for good old ingenuity. No need to battle for space when we can make our own. Eh we could fly the proposed Vinland flag on Atlantis eh we could re-name Atlantis Vinland and fly the Vinland flag here and all the Raven (Research Advanced Virtual electronic Nation) people could meet here for gatherings of festive joy and peace.
Peace,
E-T
http://communities.canada.com/shareit/forums/2/117875/ShowThread.aspx
RE: palmdroid
They could have gone kept Palmsource and kept working on PalmOS. They could have gone with Cobalt. They could have gone with ALP. They could go with android. But they will continue their stubborn pursuits to make a new OS, and when and if it comes out it will be about 4 years behind the competition.
Palm=Commodore.
Palm Pilot 5000->Palm Pilot Professional->Handspring Visor->Handspring Visor Prism->Handspring Visor Neo->Handspring Treo 180->Handspring Treo 270->Palm Treo 600->Tapwave Zodiac 2->Palm Treo 650->Palm Treo 680->...
Samsung i780!
Goodbye Palm
RE: palmdroid
Don't worry, Palm is never going to release Nova or adopt ALP or Android. They're going to continue to trot out a few more mildly revamped WinMob Treos & flog the existing Centro in every color under the rainbow like they've flogged their final three PDAs. Then sometime in a year or so they'll quite announce a strategic refocusing as a "wireless solutions" company and spin off the hardware line. Or they'll just end up being acquired for pennies on the dollar by a hungry competitor (perhaps HTC) just for their IP & carrier agreements.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: palmdroid
(waits for the laughter to die down)
(waits longer)
...anyways, I'm still interested to see what they come out with. There's better business potential in inventing your own delicious secret sauce, rather than bottling someone else's.
RE: palmdroid
> customers to sell to, and it's yet to be proven in the consumer space...
Not to nit a pick but...you know...Nova hasn't really been proven anywhere, either.
RE: palmdroid
RE: palmdroid
hmmmmmmmmmmmmnnnnnnnnnnn............
what a difference 2 years makes.....................
Sleeping with the enemy
The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a PLAM TX to a Newton MP2000!
http://newtonpda.googlepages.com
RE: Sleeping with the enemy
>Internet Tablets, gaming devices, dare I say it..PDA's, and maybe even Universal Remotes.
yes, low margin commodity markets and dead markets are the keys to profitability.
RE: Sleeping with the enemy
Just for that he gets a free NHL Schedule Tinybyte!
The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a PLAM TX to a Newton MP2000!
http://newtonpda.googlepages.com
RE: Sleeping with the enemy
Phones aren't exactly high margin anymore.
(Well, unless you're Apple, but Apple could sell the iLoo for 10x the price of a regular toilet.)
Like they need a bullet in the head.
Yeah, Palm could jump on board the Android bandwagon, but unless they buy Access, they will be stuck making their own compatibility layer, again, this time out of Java. So that's another start from scratch situation. And in the meantime, Android will be killing the Treo market dead. Without their one basket full of eggs, Palm is not likely to be around long enough to try and finish yet another new version of Palm OS 6.
"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
Probably have it done before year end...giggle.
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
Make that 'one basket full of rotten eggs'. Barring the Pro, everything Palm has looks like an "egg" left out of the fridge too long and beginning to stink. Four years of moving like a glacier can do that.
Now that being said, the article says that it's "risky" for Palm to develop it's own OS. Well folks, risky is better than guaranteed death. That's what Palm will get if they try to go head to head with other hardware manufacturers using a the same OS. Palm has proven for years that it has neither the will nor the ability to be on the cutting edge of hardware tech. Their "just enough to make it" hardware philosophy (m5xx, T|W, T|C audio, Treo650 32mb, T|T5, missing WiFi, inching Treo upgrades etc.) will be a joke in the long run even if the Android platform becomes profitable.
Now, I hold about a 15% chance that Nova actually ships on any device. But even if I happened to be accurate, I would still roll the dice with it. Something radically productive that others cannot easily duplicate is Palm's only hope. They did it with the Pilot and they did it with the Treo (they?), but they have not excelled at retaining leads. From a historical standpoint, they either innovate a "new" and needed solution, or they die. Taking the risk of Nova is no risk in my book.
Pat Horne
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
I'd love to bet against you with those odds.
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
> is Palm's only hope...
Too late - Microsoft already demonstrated it!
- http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/01/microsoft-research-codex-project-tries-two-screens-on-for-size/
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
The good news is, there might one day be an upgrade path for us PDA users who Palm has kicked to the curb.
The final Palm killer app.
Double entendre intended...
RE: Like they need a bullet in the head.
Android is a Linux-based system; Palm could have easily put their own software on it, along-side the Java based applications.
I think they missed the boat, though. As a first mover, they could have made a name for themselves again. As is, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung would kill them with better and cheaper hardware.
ALP might've been palm's answer
It's a slick system which has a ton of customization and app development potential. The core suite of apps are very tight and polished (if you've ever used the Netfront browser you know exactly what i'm talking about).
I don't understand palm's desire to continue locking down their OS. It's not like they've produced a bulletproof hardware/software ecosystem on any of their phones (or put together a to die for hardware platform - they always miss the mark slightly).
I think that i feel the same way as many other people about palm: i'm willing to give them one more chance, but that's it. Palm's incremental enhancements to the OS aren't getting it done. As mentioned above, it's time for a totally new direction. If they haven't put something together for next year which is at least as good as ALP (and bears minimal resemblance to Garnet) i know i'll be walking. I can imagine i won't be the only one.
The initial implementation of android isn't going to kill palm or anyone else...it's just not that sophisticated and polished. I don't expect that to last for long though. Palm should be hearing yet another set of footsteps behind/beside them...i just hope that they're innovative enough to deal with it.
RE: ALP might've been palm's answer
If we're going for the road not taken, though, the real mistake was in ever splitting off the OS from the hardware company. It did absolutely nothing for them, and crippled OS development.
"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."
RE: ALP might've been palm's answer
Between Palm's seeming ineptitude at releasing something the past few years worth buying that runs PalmOS apps and Sprint's inability to bill in accordance with the agreement their representatives make, I'm nearly ready to go back to a Daytimer and land line.
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: ALP might've been palm's answer
Internationally, Linux and Symbian split the phone OS market, by the way. Windows Mobile, Palm, Blackberry, and others are mostly US phenomena.
Google should buy Palm
RE: Google should buy Palm
From what I've seen online-video-wise, Android has plenty of capabilities NOW and Coming-Soon and, again from those eyeballings, lacks only shocking speed of actions. Google could put up a small billboard across from Palm HQ saying they're looking for someone who has experience in optimizing phone software to work for megabucks part-time and could probably solve that one pretty fast...
RE: Google should buy Palm
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: Google should buy Palm
Before Palm Adopts Android...
Granted, Android is obviously farther along than anything that Palm may or may not have in the works, but before Palm goes on another search for the next big thing, they should probably first establish that the thing actually is big..,
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
I thought there were many confirmed Android devices with one ready for release any day now.
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
I thought there were many confirmed Android devices with one ready for release any day now.
I think it's only been HTC and Motorola that have even announced plans, with HTC being the one to confirm an actual phone.
It probably wouldn't be that hard for any Linux device to run Android, theoretically. My only point was that Palm might want to wait to see how Android does "in the wild" to see if it's going to catch on.
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
"They've (Google) got one handset maker, we've got 55. They're available through one operator, we've got 175." - Steve Ballmer, Microsoft
RE: Before Palm Adopts Android...
"It's (Android) version one... and it looks like version one." - Steve Ballmer, Microsoft
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Been saying this for years