Palm Announces the Impending Closure of MyPalm.com

Posted By: Kris Keilhack on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 4:25:35 PM

MyPalm FAIL After years of dormancy, it appears that the "MyPalm" URL curse has returned with a vengeance (long-time Palm OS users may recall the past turmoil surrounding the MyPalm trademark and domain).

Palm has now just announced rather quietly that its MyPalm online portal resource for Treo and Centro owners will be closing on September 1st, 2008. No details as far as why the service failed to catch on or ever leave its lengthy beta status are given. However, the main benefit of the service, members-only telephone support, is being discontinued with no alternative offered, so it's likely just another cost-cutting move facing the beleaguered Palm in light of several consecutive quarters of losses. Additionally, with Palm's near-exclusive product portfolio of smartphones, Palm's carrier partners can be expected to shoulder a majority of the issues arising with new and/or in-warranty devices.

At this time it is also unknown if the MyPalm portal app pre-loaded on all recent Palm OS smartphones will be replaced with a different program or simply redirect to a new URL; Palm is simply saying that "alternate channels" of support will be provided.

The most recent incarnation of the MyPalm service has been in existence for well over a year but after a strong start, it has failed to offer any compelling services aside from a handful of free games and a convenient online repository for the downloadable apps such as VersaMail and VoiceSignal voicedialing bundled with Palm's various smartphones

Additional details and a short, vague FAQ from Palm are available here.

From MyPalm.com:

NEW MyPalm Beta Program Closing
The MyPalm Beta will be ending on September 1, 2008. Palm product and support offerings will be available to customers through alternative channels after that time.
The current functions and features of MyPalm Beta will be supported until September 1, 2008. You will be able to enjoy all the benefits of the MyPalm Beta membership until the program ends.

Beginning September 1, 2008:
MyPalm Beta will conclude and you will no longer be able to log in to the MyPalm Beta site. When you go to HYPERLINK "http://www.mypalm.com" MyPalm.com, we'll show you how to access product and support information previously available on MyPalm Beta. Bonus software and learning tutorials, which today are part of the MyPalm Beta, will continue to be available through alternate channels. Members-only phone assistance will no longer be available.

Related Media: MyPalm Screenshot (July 9, 2008)

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Article Comments
21 total comments

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So Long, Farewell, Au'voir, auf wiedersehen

PacManFoo @ 7/9/2008 10:35:31 PM #

So Palm is closing it's doors...what, oh it's only MyPalm. Guess I'm early.

The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a Palm TX to a Newton MP2000!

RE: So Long, Farewell, Au'voir, auf wiedersehen

JonAcheson @ 7/10/2008 9:59:19 AM #

Last one out the door, turn off the lights.

"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

good move

RussianGuy @ 7/10/2008 4:22:44 AM #

Bravo Palm!
Let carriers provide support - Palm should direct its cash towards new phones/software development

RE: good move

hkklife @ 7/10/2008 10:57:37 AM #

That "pass the buck" mentality has already gotten Palm on many, many users' sh*t lists: "Support? Updates? Bah, let our customers figure it out for themselves or over at PIC/TC/1src or just wait and buy our new hardware that'll some of the problems of the previous model"

Now, let's see if the carriers can somehow lean on Palm to either produce more less problematic hardware and/or incur some of the support costs in another manner. A good (and affordable) start would be to either kill or totally revamp the currently-worthless Palm Blog & Palm support forums.

Palm should actively monitor (NOT censor), read, and respond to as many reasonable user requests & concerns on both of those sites.

A shame about MyPalm, really. It really looked like they were on the right track to a compelling one-stop resource for Treo owners...assuming, of course, Palm wouldn't have eventually tried to transition it into a "fee-for-everything" service that tried to nickel & dime users to death. It's funny how all of those rumors of Palm looking to push a service-based business model last year totally tried up this year. The Rubinstein effect at work?

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: good move

LiveFaith @ 7/10/2008 1:37:36 PM #

C'mon Palm, just send your folks over here to PIC. We'll treat em' real good and tell em' just what they need to hear. Just trust us on this one. :-)

Seriously, I've lightly followed the MyPalm for some time. My impressions were "what's the point"? If you have a web portal for users with all those functions and no real activity it seemed so useless. Over time I just wrote it off, like a website with an "Under Construction, Check Back Soon" spinning .GIF graphic.

What if they called a war and nobody came?

Pat Horne

PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/10/2008 9:51:20 AM #

a "PalmSync" service would have been nice. similiar to GoogleSync, allowing you to wirelessly sync your Centro/Treo PIM data to an online "Palm Desktop". i was free from the sync cable for a few years and i'm not yet fully comfortable going back to one.

thoughts?

RE: PalmSync

JonAcheson @ 7/10/2008 9:58:41 AM #

I wouldn't trust Palm to back up my data. You'd be likely to try to connect one day and find the whole thing 404'd.

"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/10/2008 10:01:16 AM #

true. of course i'd keep backups of the backups. but isn't the online wireless-sync Palm Desktop concept intriguing?

RE: PalmSync

cstamper @ 7/10/2008 10:21:47 AM #

Of course it is! Apple is doing it, it must be!

:extreme_sarcasm

http://tinyurl.com/2ooncg

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/10/2008 10:57:43 AM #

Apple wireless sync link please? thanks.

RE: PalmSync

wildmantrader @ 7/10/2008 11:18:03 AM #

New service for iphone.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/10/2008 12:11:25 PM #

thanks.

1. has anyone tried syncing by Bluetooth recently? fast? reliable? easy?

2. is there a Palm app out there that let's me sync to my own "server" Palm Desktop wirelessly?

RE: PalmSync

JonAcheson @ 7/11/2008 11:12:21 AM #

No, it's not intriguing. It doesn't solve any problems for me, and poses potential issues.

I want my desktop software to do two things, primarily: back up my data against loss in case the PDA fails or dies, and make it easy to get info off my PDA and into other apps on my computer. Web-based sync would be weak at either of those.

"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/11/2008 11:46:28 AM #

>I want my desktop software to do two things, primarily: back up my data against loss in case the PDA fails or dies, and make it easy to get info off my PDA and into other apps on my computer. Web-based sync would be weak at either of those.

WTF? it sounds like it would do exactly both of those things perfectly.

RE: PalmSync

DarthRepublican @ 7/15/2008 1:03:51 AM #

1. has anyone tried syncing by Bluetooth recently? fast? reliable? easy?

2. is there a Palm app out there that let's me sync to my own "server" Palm Desktop wirelessly?

I just got a new Bluetooth dongle for my HP laptop running Vista and it is ridiculously easy to hotsync my Treo 680 to my laptop. I just had to let to the two devices "discover" each other and create a new Connection that paired my computer with my Treo. That's it, no additional applications are needed other than the latest version of Palm Desktop and Hotsync Manager. It's fast, reliable, and easy.

Of course syncing my TX over wifi is even easier.

Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/15/2008 8:12:24 AM #

what about speed? how fast or slow is it relative to USB cord sync?

RE: PalmSync

Gekko @ 7/15/2008 8:13:07 AM #

and how are you syncing over wifi? the 680 has no wifi!

RE: PalmSync

hkklife @ 7/15/2008 12:11:36 PM #

I've tried Hotsyncing twice with my Palm devices. The first was on an XP machine running an older (BT 1.1) Belkin USB dongle and (I think) my T5. This was back in '05 or so.

It was a pretty painful process and I never got it working 100% reliabily.

Recently, for shiits'n giggles, I tried it on my new C2D laptop with integrated BT running Vista Home Premium and a Reaktek BT chipset. It worked flawlessly with the latest Vista-compatible version of Palm Desktop (one of the few areas where the Access Palm Desktop clearly trumps the older Palm/PalmSource version). I still do a tethered Hotsync just because I seldom activate BT on mh 755p due to battery concerns and I like gaining a bit of trickle charging over USB. While I wouldn't call BT Hotsync "slow", it's definitely slower than doing it via USB, especially if you're being silly and trying to install any apps or larger media files etc. For just doing PIM DB stuff, it's totally fine. Remember, BT throughput can be considerably affected by nearby interference and distance between the paired devices.

Syncing a TX over wi-fi is definitely MUCH faster but the BT process is just handier due to the ubiquity of BT in nearly all recent Palm devices (both handhelds & smartphones).

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: PalmSync

DarthRepublican @ 7/15/2008 7:18:03 PM #

what about speed? how fast or slow is it relative to USB cord sync?

I just synced my Treo 680 six times. Three times with the USB cable and three times through Bluetooth. I timed each sync with my old Treo 600 using Stopwatch. Here are the results:

USB:
58.3 seconds
41.3 seconds
40.2 seconds
Average: 46.6 seconds
Bluetooth:
59.4 seconds
62.3 seconds
64.0 seconds
Average: 61.9 seconds

So it's a little slower but only by about 15 seconds. Given the time that it usually takes me to find and connect the USB cable, the convenience is definitely worth it.

and how are you syncing over wifi? the 680 has no wifi!

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear. I was referring to my Palm TX which syncs through wifi.

Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

DIE ALREADY!!

Tuckermaclain @ 7/11/2008 8:15:06 AM #

Palm takes last breath after last breath. Die already so we can go on with our lives and look for another platform.

RE: DIE ALREADY!!

Gekko @ 7/11/2008 8:18:40 AM #

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059465/

Palm Software on sale