Palm Q4 FY07 Conference Call Highlights

Palm Inc today reported its fourth quarter fiscal year 2007 results and held its quarterly conference call with investors and analysts. Palm's CEO Ed Colligan went over the results and provided updates on Palm's business strategies and future products.

Read on for my summary of the call and notes from the call.

CEO Ed Colligan began the call stating he was pleased with the 34% growth in year over year smartphone sell-through. Smartphones make up 80% of Palm's revenues now. 750,000 Treo's made their way into customers hands this past quarter. Smartphone sell trough was a very modest 3% increase from the previous quarter, but was still a record high for the company. Smartphones now represent 80% of Palm's overall revenue.

The fourth quarter saw continuing declines in Palm's handheld business. There was a 37% decline in year over year handheld revenue and Palm expects that trend to continue going forward. 314,000 handhelds were sold during the quarter.

Palm ResultsInternational sales growth was flat from the previous quarter. 24% of revenue came from International sales, while 74% was from the US.

Foleo

Colligan stated that he was very confident in the future potential of the Foleo product line. He remarked that while today the Foleo is a smartphone companion product, he says 'tomorrow' it will represent a full fledge mobile computing platform as the line grows. He, as well as Hawkins, strongly believes that this will be another major growth category for Palm, and the dawning of another major design era of mobile computing.

He went on to say how the industry 'pundits' have given the device mixed reviews, however he has seen an overwhelmingly positive response and demand from customers. He said Palm is on track to deliver the Foleo this quarter, as Palm has previously said it would be available sometime this summer.

Restructuring Efforts

Colligan announced some new long term planning changes around a recent internal restructuring effort at Palm. The company is being reorganized around two distinct product groups -- A Windows Mobile division that will take on a more ODM focused model in developing Windows Mobile based products; and a Consumer group responsible for Palm OS, Foleo and other consumer and small business products.

More effort is being focused Windows Mobile products, which now make up roughly 50% of the Treo smartphones sold. Palm intends to better leverage their brand and partner relationships while working more closely with its ODM partners, which mostly specialize in Windows Mobile. Products will still be designed internally at Palm, but more 'execution of the products' will be done in conjunction with ODM partners. Ed believes this will enable Palm to get a broader range of solutions to market faster as they are seeing more demand for Windows Mobile based solutions.

Colligan also talked about the recent job cuts. Approximately 100 people were laid off. The efforts were focused around flattening the management structure and improving efficency and effectiveness. Palm now has around 1,100 employees. Palm is also consolidating its email and messaging division back to Sunnyvale, and is closing down the facility which operated in Andover, MA.

Future Products

Some hints of future products and release timing were discussed. Colligan promised a range of new smartphone products in Fiscal 2008. He also mentioned that new devices using both Windows Mobile and Palm OS were due before the end of the year.

When asked when the next-generation Linux based platform would be ready, Colligan remarked that products based on this new Linux OS would debut sometime in calendar 2008.

Finally, I will leave you with Colligan's remarks on the impending iPhone launch in response to a question about how the iPhone would impact the guidance for the next quarter.

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Just a couple comments before a transript is available

SeldomVisitor @ 6/28/2007 6:48:22 PM # Q
== "...Approximately 100 people were laid off..."

I believe that number had to do with LAST quarter's layoffs. PALM is currently "in" next quarter and have been for a month...

As such, the 100 number (nor even the 1100 number) is not necessarily current.

Asked about Windows versus PalmOS "growth" in their product (revenue? units sold?), they laughingly replied they started at 100% PalmOS, went to about a 50%/50% mix, and EXPECT THAT TREND TO CONTINUE.

Yet, surprisingly contrarian, they said they were going to outsource everything Windows.

So, if they get rid of their PalmOS guys, get rid of their Windows guys, maybe have a few Linux guys (or contractors ONLY) then they have become even more of a virtual company than Colligan himself said they were.

That is to say, they are downsizing like there is an end...

===========

BTW - contractor contract terminations don't usually get counted as layoffs, nor even mentioned. Wonder how many ex-PALM-contractors there are now.

===========

When the transcripts are out there can be a lot more discussion, I'm sure!


RE: Just a couple comments before a transript is available
Ryan @ 6/28/2007 6:54:19 PM # Q
I'm positive he said they currently have a 1,100 person headcount.
RE: Just a couple comments before a transript is available
SeldomVisitor @ 6/28/2007 7:06:18 PM # Q
== "...headcount...?"
==
== "...At the end of the quarter - somewhere in the range of 1100..."
==
== "...during the quarter reduced approximately 100 people..."

Almost exactly 30 minutes in:

-- http://web.servicebureau.net/conf/meta?i=1112943783&c=2343&m=was&u=/w_ccbn.xsl&date_ticker=PALM

RE: Just a couple comments before a transript is available
Ryan @ 6/28/2007 7:23:22 PM # Q
k, my bad didn't have the audio to reference.

How bout those crazy RIMM numbers, eh?

BlackBerry-maker profit surges, declares 3-for-1 split
Gekko @ 6/28/2007 7:28:40 PM # Q

wow

BlackBerry-maker profit surges, declares 3-for-1 split
RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares 16.9 percent higher to $193.53 in after-hours trade.
June 28 2007: 6:27 PM EDT

TORONTO (Reuters) -- BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion reported a higher first-quarter profit Thursday, beating expectations as it added more subscribers for its popular wireless e-mail devices than it had forecast.

The company also announced a 3-for-1 share split, which it plans to implement through a stock dividend.

RIM said it earned $223.2 million, or $1.17 a share, for the three months ended June 2. That was up from a profit of $128.8 million, or 67 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Adjusted profit was $1.20 a share in the quarter, handily beating predictions made by RIM in April as well as the expectations of analysts.

Investors appeared impressed by the earnings report, driving RIM's (Charts) Nasdaq-listed shares 16.9 percent higher to $193.53 in after-hours trade from their regular session close of $165.59.

"Outstanding blowout results! What iPhone?" asked Peter Misek, global technology strategist at Canaccord Adams in Toronto, shortly after the earnings report.

Some analysts have raised concerns that competition from the upcoming launch of Apple's (Charts, Fortune 500) iPhone could hurt sales of RIM's smartphones, including the multimedia-laden BlackBerry Pearl and its new BlackBerry Curve.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said it added about 1.2 million BlackBerry subscribers -- higher than the 1.15 million top end of RIM's April forecast.

Revenue rose to $1.08 billion, up 76.5 percent from $613.1 million in the same quarter of last year.

For its second quarter ending Sept. 1, RIM forecast revenue would be between $1.3 billion and $1.365 billion. It said it expects to add between 1.325 million and 1.375 million subscribers and have net earnings of $1.37 to $1.49 a share.

The company reported its earnings after the end of the regular day trading session. Its shares closed 38 Canadian cents higher at C$175.22, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/28/technology/bc.rim.results.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007062818

RE: Just a couple comments before a transript is available
SeldomVisitor @ 6/28/2007 7:34:53 PM # Q
> ...my bad didn't have the audio to reference....

Actually, neither did I - in my feeble old age I simply "remembered" (very much in quotes!) what I posted in my first post of this thread, only checking after you contradicted that "memory".

Damn, I'm STILL good!

Giggle.

RE: Just a couple comments before a transript is available
SeldomVisitor @ 6/29/2007 8:51:38 AM # Q
> ...When the transcripts are out there can be a lot more
> discussion, I'm sure!

The transcript is available.

-- http://seekingalpha.com/article/39702


Reply to this comment

Laid off from Palm/Handspring

wildmantrader @ 6/28/2007 8:03:49 PM # Q
Wow, some on this board knows how that feels but not me.
RE: Laid off from Palm/Handspring
SeldomVisitor @ 6/28/2007 8:13:28 PM # Q
Why bother here?

RE: Laid off from Palm/Handspring
wildmantrader @ 6/28/2007 10:03:17 PM # Q
First to speak is the guilty one
Reply to this comment

Focusing on WinMob

rmhurdman @ 6/29/2007 12:31:44 AM # Q
This is nothing new from Palm. First they ignore the PDA line and not give it the R&D it needs. People lose interest. Then Palm cites the lack of interest for the reduction in R&D. And it spirals down from there.

Now, they have ignored the PalmOS for much too long. People have lost interest in PalmOS and WinMob is selling better. So Palm cites that as the reason for reducing their focus on PalmOS.

The management is basically a bunch of morons who are obviously making it up as they go along. They better milk this thing for all it's worth, because I don't know who would hire such a band of fools once this company implodes.

It's been entertaining...

RE: Focusing on WinMob
sgiga @ 6/29/2007 9:36:22 AM # Q
I think this is a matter of practicality. The PalmOS is hardly an OS at all. It is simply an non-multitasking application launcher, more like DOS.

A new multitasking OS would have to be written from the ground up, and when there are at least 3 other wheels already available (Windows, Symbian and and Linux), it is insanity to reinvent yet another wheel. A new OS will have to be at least as good as Windows and Symbian, and to develop such a thing is probably way beyond any budget that Palm will have, now and future. Besides, with Linux already existing, free to use, why even bother - at all?

Windows Treos are selling, and this is infinitely more important than a handfull of geeks being emotionally attached to an outdated OS.

RE: Focusing on WinMob
LiveFaith @ 6/29/2007 10:02:55 AM # Q
Speaking of a "Smartfone OS", I think a pretty interesting one may be launched today around 6PM.

** A new OS will have to be at least as good as Windows and Symbian, and to develop such a thing is probably way beyond any budget that Palm will have, now and future. **

I think Palm has answered that question about a month or two ago.


Pat Horne

RE: Focusing on WinMob
rmhurdman @ 6/29/2007 10:03:32 AM # Q
You're calling Palm's Developper community a handful of geeks?

Ouch!

RE: Focusing on WinMob
sgiga @ 6/29/2007 10:52:42 AM # Q
The iPhone is using OS-X as far as i know - basically UNIX, nothing really new there.

>You're calling Palm's Developper community a handful of geeks?

He he. Well, life goes on, things changes. If Windows is a better platform for the Treo than the outdated PalmOS (which everything seems to suggest), then for gods sake get over it, move on. If anything, there is nothing more pathetic than geeks being trapped in the past. I mean, can they even be called geeks?

RE: Focusing on WinMob
rmhurdman @ 6/29/2007 3:17:53 PM # Q
You're the geek who's trapped in the past if you think OS X is roughly equivalent to UNIX.

I was not arguing against the fact that Palm OS is dead, only pointing out that it was Palm who allowed it to die (slowly and painfully). My point was that they seem to have the opposite of the Midas touch.

Reply to this comment

PDA sales up 13,5%

vorlon @ 6/29/2007 4:57:11 AM # Q
PDA sales Q4 314k, Q3 277k. Yay! Or is the 314k sell-through?

If someone in Palm figured out that there is a big professional market for non-cellular PDA's, for example in hospitals, and in companies where workers must use company issued crapphones. Even a Garnet OS PDA (max 320x480 screen, 128 Mb RAM) with voice recording (important for businesspeople and doctors, and complements the iPhone) would sell over a million in a year or two. Or better, a test device for the PalmLinux (no carrier approval needed).

Reply to this comment

Today's Headlines

craigdts @ 6/29/2007 5:21:21 AM # Q
Lets help out the media. What headlines would you like to see?

Ed "Failagain" has done it again!

Ed Pleads with Open Palms for a Buyout

Palm Comes Empty-Handed to the Smartphone Party

Closed-Palms, Tight-Fisted Ed Blames Apple

RE: Today's Headlines
craigdts @ 6/29/2007 5:25:31 AM # Q
Palm Brought to Its Hands and Knees

RE: Today's Headlines
SeldomVisitor @ 6/29/2007 6:22:14 AM # Q
Palm Slaps Itself Upside the Head.

RE: Today's Headlines
craigdts @ 6/29/2007 6:43:08 AM # Q
Palm Bites the Hand that Feeds It

RE: Today's Headlines
LiveFaith @ 6/29/2007 10:04:10 AM # Q
Palm Sundae with an Apple on Top

Pat Horne
RE: Today's Headlines
Poopie @ 6/29/2007 11:30:24 AM # Q
Palm releases Treo 756p with PalmOS 5.492 - now compatible with Windows Vista!
Palm releases Treo 757w with Windows Mobile 6
Palm releases Treo 699p with PalmOS 5.491 - now available in pink and purple!
Palm releases Treo/Foleo bundle - buy both and get Documents To Go 10 and Agendus 10 Free!
Palm update for Treo 750p pulled off website - again!

Reply to this comment

... meanwhile at an Apple Store ...

ob1 @ 6/29/2007 4:51:31 PM # Q
What I read strongly deceives me, yet it's terrificly true.
Palm becoming a virtual company,
Palm selling Foolio (Mike Mace : it's a PC dummy)
Palm selling 80% of Treos, 50% of which are WinMob
Palm disgarding handleds (my favorite products) even with a 13% raise since last quarter
... but where in the world is Zen of Palm ?

Meanwhil, an iPhone is coming right to you.

And you wht deceives me the most ? Palm could have made the iPhone.
What a waste !!!
As already said : "it has been entertaining"

(anyway, just membered of Palm Developer Network)

Reply to this comment

Colligan: iPhone may stall our sell-through

The_Voice_of_Reason @ 6/30/2007 2:33:39 AM # Q
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSWEN907720070629


"It's likely that as people try (the iPhone) out, there may be some stall in our sell-through," Palm Chief Executive Ed Colligan told Reuters on Thursday.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After putting Palm's Q4 FY07 conference call through "TVoR's Babelfish B.S. -> Truth Translator™", here's what we learned:

Smartphone sell trough was a very modest 3% increase from the previous quarter, but was still a record high for the company. Smartphones now represent 80% of Palm's overall revenue.

Translation: Our smartphones sales have plateaued and since we put all our eggs into the smartphone basket, now that the iPhone has been released, we are in BIG trouble.

The fourth quarter saw continuing declines in Palm's handheld business. There was a 37% decline in year over year handheld revenue and Palm expects that trend to continue going forward. 314,000 handhelds were sold during the quarter.

Translation: We willingly killed off our PDA division and maybe that was a big mistake. Oooops!

24% of revenue came from International sales, while 74% was from the US.

Translation: Despite playing lip service to international expansion, in reality most people outside the USA wouldn't want to be caught dead carrying a brick-like Treo.

Colligan stated that he was very confident in the future potential of the Foleo product line. He remarked that while today the Foleo is a smartphone companion product, he says 'tomorrow' it will represent a full fledge mobile computing platform as the line grows.

Translation: We've wasted three years on developing this stupid FOOLeo and it STILL isn't ready. So now we've had to throw it out as-is and market it the best way we can - as a castrated microlaptop as a smartphone companion.

He went on to say how the industry 'pundits' have given the device mixed reviews, however he has seen an overwhelmingly positive response and demand from customers.

Translation: Actually, EVERYONE thinks that the FOOLeo is a piece of crap that is about to bomb massively. But my mommy told me that she thinks it looks pretty and asked me to bring her home one from the office.

Colligan announced some new long term planning changes around a recent internal restructuring effort at Palm. The company is being reorganized around two distinct product groups -- A Windows Mobile division that will take on a more ODM focused model in developing Windows Mobile based products; and a Consumer group responsible for Palm OS, Foleo and other consumer and small business products.

Translation: We've finally decided to become Just Another WindowsMobile Licensee (JAWL) since Windows Mobile is easier to sell to businesses, is actually supported by its developer, can multitask, and can potentially run PalmOS applications if Microsoft lets us graft StyleTap Platform onto it. The carriers have become sick of supporting unstable PalmOS Treos, so we are likely going to phase them out if a certain large American carrier really rejects the Treo 800p. Of course, we'll keep selling PalmOS Treos to consumers if they keep buying them. Meanwhile, will keep marketing the Windows Mobile Treos to businesses and to professionals. We wish we could cut our losses with the FOOLeo right now, but this would be too much of an embarrassing setback and would probably make it impossible to find a buyer for Palm.

Palm intends to better leverage their brand and partner relationships while working more closely with its ODM partners, which mostly specialize in Windows Mobile.

Translation: In order to be able to churn out devices quickly we're going to start slapping the Palm logo on whatever device is the latest and greatest thing to be released by HTC et. al. Badge engineering at its finest! If it works for the carriers, maybe it can work for Palm...

Approximately 100 people were laid off. The efforts were focused around flattening the management structure and improving efficency and effectiveness. Palm now has around 1,100 employees. Palm is also consolidating its email and messaging division back to Sunnyvale, and is closing down the facility which operated in Andover, MA.

First we tried rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, now were going to start throwing some of the deck chairs overboard in an effort to lighten the load and stay afloat. The less staff we have on the books, the more attractive the company may appear to a potential suitor. The 1100 employees we currently have is still way too many given their lack of productivity. As we start doing more badge engineering of devices and start cutting back on our commitment to PalmOS devices will be able to slash more positions from the payroll. Outsourcing and contract engineering might not be good ideas in the long run, but we just need to focus on trimming the fat so that we can get the company sold as quickly as possible.
In 2000 we bought MultiMail for $4 million from Lorraine Wheeler (Actual Software Corp, based in Andover, MA) and then promptly butchered it into the buggy carcass known as VersaMail. This year, now that we've bought ChatterEmail for $5 million from Marc Blanc we will be shutting down the old Actual Software Corp. offices in Andover and creating and email "department" in Sunnyvale consisting of Marc and a couple of interns.

Colligan promised a range of new smartphone products in Fiscal 2008. He also mentioned that new devices using both Windows Mobile and Palm OS were due before the end of the year.

We will be releasing the evolutionary Treo 800p and Treo 800w in a few months. Please try not to yawn too loudly as you look up from your iPhones at our press release conference for the Treo 800 models.

When asked when the next-generation Linux based platform would be ready, Colligan remarked that products based on this new Linux OS would debut sometime in calendar 2008.

The FOOLeo PalmLinux testbed is helping us work the kinks out, but we're still having problems grafting POSE onto PalmLinux and getting all the syncing to work out properly. Fortunately, we can always put StyleTap Platform onto a Windows Mobile Treo and advertise it as "The best of both worlds™"

TVoR

RE: Colligan: iPhone may stall our sell-through
SeldomVisitor @ 6/30/2007 6:16:39 AM # Q
> ...Approximately 100 people were laid off...Palm now has around 1,100 employees...

As already noted elsewhere, those were the numbers as of the end of the quarter, not as of now; the "rumored" Wi-Fi group hit, for example, is not in those numbers (nor anything else not yet announced that happened June 1 forward).

> ...Colligan promised a range of new smartphone products in Fiscal 2008...

His promise was a little more vague AND amusing than that (from the transcript):

== "...Yeah. Well, in general a new platform strategy I think that's,
== next calendar year is the timeframe. We are not going to get in to
== specifics on that. I think the reality is we will deliver some new
== smartphone products through the rest of this calendar year on both
== our Windows Mobile and Palm OS platforms. And product based on the
== new Linux-based platform that we are working on, that won't be until
== some time next year..."

And a Yahoo poster's (not mine!) appropriate response to that:

-- http://tinyurl.com/2njphk


Reply to this comment

slow motion car crash

Gekko @ 6/30/2007 7:19:49 AM # Q

that's what we're watching.



RE: slow motion car crash
SeldomVisitor @ 6/30/2007 8:56:56 AM # Q
Relative to "normal" corporate lifetimes, one can hardly call what we are watching "slow motion".

Reply to this comment

Palm: You're SO Dead

mikecane @ 6/30/2007 3:44:20 PM # Q
I’ve Fondled The iPhone!!
http://tinyurl.com/2cdyyd

My God, next to my LifeDrive -- it makes the LifeDrive look like a prehistoric brick!

And the screen is like a billion times brighter too. You can *see* it outdoors. I can barely see my LD screen full-blast outside.

Apple has done so many things right, it just *humiliates* all their competitors: Microsoft, Nokia, and Palm.

Flopeo? No chance.

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
mikecane @ 6/30/2007 4:15:31 PM # Q
And Sammy just ran my picture comparing the two:

http://palmaddict.typepad.com/palmaddicts/2007/06/iphone-vs-lifed.html

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
SeldomVisitor @ 6/30/2007 4:20:55 PM # Q
Damn! That Fooleo Version 1 looks great!

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
hkklife @ 6/30/2007 4:37:38 PM # Q
The iPhone still lacks, hardware-wise:

-Removable memory card slot

-Removable batttery

-"standard" fullsize headphone jack (have you heard the reports how it's so recessed hardly any standard 'phones work on it?)

-True 3G capabilities


All of the above will probably be remedied in the 2nd or 3rd generation iPhones. I am certain Apple will continue to nicely tweak its software. Stuff like 3rd party apps may or may not remain a major issue down the road.

But still, Apple's brought more to the table with version 1 of the iPhone than the Palm/Handspring crew has in 6 years of Treos.

Just imagine if Apple were to integrate a real d-pad and two to four hard button along the bottom of the iPhone....bingo! Instant Nintendo DS-killer for adults!!

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
palmato @ 6/30/2007 5:34:55 PM # Q
Removable storage is probably out the question (see ipod), the rest is probably already on apple's todo list. 3G coming first despite Jobs recent statements to wsj (I think it was wsj), otherwise the european market would be out of reach. Far east even more.

Other than that it looks like an awesome product. Palm id being hit by a really fast train ...

--------------------------
Hey Admin: Why do we have to keep two profiles?

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
twrock @ 6/30/2007 9:12:33 PM # Q
I don't know how the iPhone is going to be able to compete in east Asia (maybe I should limit that to Chinese speaking countries, but I'm guessing it is similar elsewhere). The Asian OEM's can crank out "lookalikes" in a couple of months (it's already started) for whomever wants something that initially costs half as much and then is heavily subsidized by the carriers as well. One might emphasize the OS factor, but I don't think that is an issue in people's minds at all.

Where is Palm really selling "internationally"? I don't know, but I'm guessing that their Asia sales are not that significant (vs. population numbers, etc.).

I doubt that the iPhone will be the "disaster" for Apple that some of the critics have claimed. It should sell fine to the very same people who think "everything Apple" is "nothing but the best" and "Steve told me I wanted it". But I don't think a billion people in China are ready to jump on that bandwagon. (Heck, even Google is only a "niche" search engine in China.)

Did you notice the articles on people camping out in front of Apple stores starting five days before availability? There really are people out there who need help.


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
mikecane @ 7/1/2007 5:11:11 PM # Q
>>>-Removable memory card slot

Oh that just cracks me up. So, you've got a *Treo* with 4GB or 6GB *internally*, do you?

ROTFLMAO!

RE: Palm: You're SO Dead
mikecane @ 7/1/2007 5:12:41 PM # Q
Damn typos (or my failing eyes!) -- 4GB or ** 8 ** GB.

Dammit.

Reply to this comment

Man o man, the ill will towards Palm is vicious!

VampireLestat @ 6/30/2007 7:30:52 PM # Q
rotfl

See, all this hate was spawned from Palm abandoning handhelds and not support existing products; and changing strategies all the time.

Even though I now have a Treo 680, I sitll maintain Palm should release new handhelds.
Not everyone needs or can afford a PDA with cellular telephony. Also, some people may be stuck with or may want a seperate handheld from a cell phone.

With the iPhone release it is more important than ever to diversify the product line and get back into the handheld market.

Now that I have a Treo 680, it is so clear that Palm was intentionally abandoning all efforts on PDAs. They have the 'know how' because all the goodies are found in the Treo 680.
I bought the 680 because it was unlocked, somewhat affordable and it is in preparation for a Foleo purchase. because I easily see how someone could only want a TX|2 with all the 680's pros but without have cellular. Without cellular, the TX|2 most likely would be slimmer.

Anyways, diversity.
And get into the MP3 market somehow for God's sake.

With 50% of all Treo sales being WM... that does not spell good news for us Palm OS fans. I have a suspicion that Palm plans to go 100% WM eventually. But we all knew that the day colligan, Gates and Verizon all sat on stage and indirrectly trashed and bashed Palm OS; didnt we?



RE: Man o man, the ill will towards Palm is vicious!
twrock @ 6/30/2007 9:45:40 PM # Q
It's a combination of "jilted lovers" and people with an axe to grind. (I am sympathetic toward the former and feel nothing but disdain for the latter.)

Abandoning the PDA market was just plain stupid, particularly when the only upgrade path they offered was to a device that many PDA users saw as a "downgrade". I'll say it once again: Palm, notice that your competitors are offering large screened, keyboardless smartphones. Notice that you could have done this years ago with the smallest of R&D and effort. Notice that you would have been perceived as a "leader" still (vs. the distinct possibility that if you ever do finally do it, your competitors will be on to their third of fourth version of their products). Notice that there were plenty of us who had been asking you to do this for a very long time. Notice that your unwillingness to listen to your user base is costing you dearly.

Palm, can you hear me now?!


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Man o man, the ill will towards Palm is vicious!
VampireLestat @ 7/1/2007 12:13:52 AM # Q
twrock,

I have to say, the keyboard on the Treo 680 is very good.
It makes entering text a lot more fun.
I didnt think I would like it so much.

Im not sure anymore if a handheld without a keyboard is such a good idea.
a front keyb has instant stable access (unlike a sliding one, which Ive never tried).

As for the the iPhone software keyb... I dunno.

Im not sure of anything anymore.

RE: Man o man, the ill will towards Palm is vicious!
VampireLestat @ 7/1/2007 12:14:39 AM # Q
but I can tell you very honestly, I actually enter more PIM entries and much faster than ever before.

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