Rumor: Palm i705 in Staples' System

A Staples employee who asked to remain anonymous has found Palm's upcoming wireless model, the i705, already listed in his company's inventory system. It's priced at $450 with SKU# 479208, which is the first indication available of what this model will cost. There is also a keyboard in the system for it, too. The i705 Mini Keyboard (SKU# 479209) is listed for $60.

The release date for the i705 is still not known. Palm originally intended to release the i705 before the end of this year but announced in September that it wouldn't make this deadline. At the time, a source at Palm said the device would only be delayed a few weeks, which seems to place it coming out sometime in January.

The entry in the Staples' system is a fairly typical occurrence as a product gets close to its release date. Retailers need to get their systems ready before the actual release.

The Palm i705 has "always on" wireless access, which means it has the ability to check for e-mail even when the handheld itself is off. However, it lacks any voice capabilities. It has a monochrome screen and uses Palm's Universal Connector, which means it can use most peripherals designed for the m500 series and the m125.

According to rumor, Palm is working on the i725, a handheld that can do double duty as a mobile phone but that isn't expected until later next year.

Handspring is developing wireless phones of its own that run the Palm OS. The Treo series has both wireless data and voice capabilities and will defintely be available in January.

The market is getting increasingly crowded. Kyocera has had a monochrome PalmOS smartphone on the market for months and Samsung recently released one.

All of these have monochrome screens except the Samsung SPH-I300, which has an 8-bit color screen.

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no color, bleah...

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 12:20:58 PM #
the kyocera was created about a year ago or so, and the treo already has a color model in the works... I really doubt the i705 can be a hit with a mono screen and this "bulky" look... specially outside the US, where gprs networks are the latest!

RE: no color, bleah...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 12:26:29 PM #
I agree 110%. This thing needed to be out THIS YEAR, this last August/Sept at the outside latest. Coming when it will (even if early Jan/Feb) it will be too little, too late. :(

RE: no color, bleah...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 2:04:25 PM #
"Bulky" look?

Do you realize they were designing this thing to rival the V/m500 series in terms of form factor? Do you really make that kind of snap judgement from a small picture, with no size reference whatsoever?

Let me guess...you're one of those people who labelled the Visor Edge and Clie 710 "bricks" based on posted pictures. Sheesh! Some people's parents shouldn't have had children...

RE: no color, bleah...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 2:28:45 PM #
yeah really!!!

I want a Palm mi725!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 3:55:46 PM #
Thin like an m505, 32MB Color Hi-Res of the m525, and wireless capabilities of this i705.

But unfortunately, "mi" stands for "Mission Impossible" at Palm, Inc.

Hey Palm - CAN YOU ASTONISH ME FOR ONCE??!!! You are always a Day late and a dollar short.

Microsoft Spys?
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 8:45:45 AM #
I swear that Microsoft sends spys to this website to attack the Palm OS. Every article has these nasty little "Palm-Haters" that attack any PalmOS product and bash palm.

The 705i looks like a very nice replacement for the VII. I would assume that the "Always On" feature is a constant battery draw, and implementing a color screen would probably butcher the battery life. I am sure that Palm does not want a recurrence of the "M505" screen disaster.

It is a common misconception that "everyone" wants color. I have a Prism and would not trade it for a Mono device, but many of my corporate clients need their Palm OS device strictly for business, and most business apps don't really need color. It may come as a shock, but palm does not just market to the gadget-freaks and tech-heads that visit this site (like myself) - They market to the real world.

Doug

RE: no color, bleah...
eha1990 @ 12/11/2001 9:08:17 PM #
I can't believe that Palm is going to waste money putting a device like this out on the market. They need to focus on improving their color handheld line up before they are knocked out of the PDA playing field by Sony. Sony has done a marvelous job with the color PDAs and the Palm i705 is another indicator that Palm is heading in the wrong direction. If a PDA isn't color it won't have a life longer than 6 months tops. Besides, if Palm OS 5 isn't that great then Palm will surely end up like Apple did with their handheld, and that is out of business.

I love Palms, but I am tired of watching everyone but them improve their device. Sony has taken the Palm platform the the next level while Palm has been shooting in the dark with the waste of time m505 and know this. In the next 2 quarters we will know the future of Palm all to clearly.

eha1990
eadeleye@hotmail.com

RE: no color, bleah...
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/15/2001 11:29:25 PM #
yah, i agree with the comment on the Microsoft people.. or should I say brats.. but really Microsoft, the form factor reflects the overall philosophy of creating thin apps, something I dont think you profitably understand.. and I think Palms decision to spin off the hw is a great idea... and I think you should consider opening up the ppc platform like the pc if you want to be pc... and by the way, I just love my Opera browser and winamp player!

i70(5)

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 12:41:04 PM #
Now, this may sound stupid, but it's been bugging me for months. If the m505 is the color version of the m500, why is this monochrome device the i705 instead of the i700? and if the next version (the i725) isn't going to be color, either, then what are they going to call the color model if they ever make one? with the exception of the m100 series, palm seems to be following their old naming scheme: 5 for aluminum-cased, higher-end handheld, 7 for wireless data-enabled handhelds. So why be inconsistent with the rest of the naming? 00 for monochrome, 05 for color. Is that really so confusing?

RE: i70(5)
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 2:32:51 PM #
I agree with you on this totally. The way palm companys name their devices is so strange. Sony, Palm, Handspring, Handera, all have these weird number model names that mean totally nothing in the long run.
Sony:
PEG-N760C/PEG-N710C/PEG-N610C/PEG-S320
PEG-S300/PEG-T415
Palm:
m505/m505/m125/m105/m100

Even the Treo Handhelds are confusing for most people. Treo 180 G/K Treo 270k
What is up with this? How did Handera go from TRGPRO to a 330 model. Is it me or is this just a bit insane? Is it so hard to name a product by something eays to understand. IMHO, the visor line is best for this, visor solo, visor deluxe, visor plat, visor neo, visor pro. Easily remembered names. If you are gonna stick with numbers why not something like this; Name of Handheld, i.e. palm visor clie whatever. Then the model so lets say 1, then noteable features. Palm 1CM translates to Palm model 1 with Color and a mp3 player. Or is that still too confusing?

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.

RE: i70(5)
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 3:45:23 PM #
Think of the BMW and Mercedes numbering scheme, this is where I think the Palm marketing guys were going with the naming convention.

Personally I like how Apple does it now (as opposed to the old number system that they used to do). It is always the iMac or iBook, they don't change the name when they add more memory or make it look different. An added bonus is that it forces them to get the old devices out of the channel before shipping a new device, which is very smart.

RE: i70(5)
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 5:41:40 PM #
You can't use BMW in that argument... their cars are consistently named in a very understandable fashion. Example... the 330i. The first number is the car series, "3", which defines a certain basic styling of that line of the car. All cars with the "3" in front have similar styling. The next two numbers, "30", refer to the engine, as in 3.0 litre. The "i" desingation always goes to sedans whereas "ci" goes to the coupe models. ALL of BMWs cars are named this way, which means THEY MAKE SENSE!!!

This is definitely in contrast to the numbering scheme of the Palm/SONY/HandEra handhelds which tell you very little about the handheld's features. Visor has licked this altogether by assigning names that tell you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the handheld... unless you've read up on them like us goof balls that read PIC all the time ;-)

Of course, one could simply argue that the naming scheme isn't supposed to provide details about a handheld's features... but Palm in particular (and SONY to some degree) have already started a trend to the contrary. You can't really bash HandEra because they changed their companies name... and only had one previous handheld. So, the new naming scheme wasn't much of a trend-breaker!

RE: i70(5)
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 7:32:40 PM #
it is the Volvo naming scheme ...

RE: i70(5)
mrscarey @ 12/11/2001 9:19:07 AM #
If you want to be really scared about naming conventions, how about Sony? They use a different name for the same model in different markets.
Why worry?
I think we ought to go back to giving these things proper names, but not misspelled names like Jornada...

mrscarey

palmist and visionary

RE: i70(5)
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 9:56:15 AM #
My favorite is the Visor "Deluxe", which is one of their weaker models.

I'm not sure what Sony was smoking when they came up with "Clie" (pronounced klee-ay). I know it is an acronym but it isn't even as good as some of their other names, like "Vaio".

I also wish Palm would follow their own naming scheme. Your right, the b&w wireless PDA should be the i700, the color one the i705.

If they actually have this device,

peter167 @ 12/10/2001 12:41:45 PM #
they should lower the monthly cost of the plans to get popular.

By doing this, more users are subscribed and hopefully it will counteract the lower price. Also, there is another positive is that you sell more this high-margin handhelds at $449.

The price plan should be:
$28.99 Unlimited
$19.99 150 kB

Are you listening to me, one of your customers, Palm?

RE: If they actually have this device,
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 1:05:03 PM #
Stop complaining!!!

RE: If they actually have this device,
peter167 @ 12/10/2001 1:07:11 PM #
As a matter of fact, I am not COMPLAINING at all.

It's only a SUGGESTION, Mr./Mrs./Ms. I.M. Anonymous.

RE: If they actually have this device,
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 1:12:39 PM #
whatever pete!!

RE: If they actually have this device,
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 2:49:16 PM #
You are so right pete, I think the monthly price was something that really killed the palm7, omnisky, and yadayada, and maybe soon go america. I really can't find the will to believe that people will pay monthly for inet access for their handheld when the price is equal to or more that they pay for broadband at home. I pay $30 a month for my cable modem service. No way in frell will I pay that much for wireless on a handheld. Minutes is another thing, if its a cell phone combo like the airprime, kyocera, visorphone, samsung, or treo devices its different, people don't see the price when its in minute. But when people get a bill for $30 a month for something that is really not worth $30, the sales of the product go down the crapper.

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.
RE: If they actually have this device,
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 2:55:26 PM #
Is it me or did anyone see an anonymous post that was about 500 lines explaining why the i705 won't sell well? I swear I'm seeing things. I see dead posts.

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.
RE: If they actually have this device,
peter167 @ 12/10/2001 2:57:48 PM #
Yes, I saw it too.

In addition to what I say, I think the Treo cost a lot even with service contract. And I bet the monthly fee will be a whopping $50+ per month if you want GPRS also.

There is no free lunch in the world.

P.S. And by the way, that is always-on email that I always talk about. E-mail finds you.

RE: If they actually have this device,
Ed @ 12/10/2001 2:58:54 PM #
> Is it me or did anyone see an anonymous post that was about 500 lines explaining
> why the i705 won't sell well?

It was from some guy who has posted the same comment about 10 times now under various articles. I've deleted all but the first. You can see the original under the article on the price drop for the m125. He originally posted it about five times under that article and I deleted all the repeats. He's really close to being permanently banned. I don't like to do it but sometimes its necessary. I keep hoping he'll get the hint.

---
News Editor

RE: If they actually have this device,
peter167 @ 12/10/2001 3:00:47 PM #
The design of this site ate my word 't' for my last post.

It should be bet instead of be.

You could do a copy and paste with your mouse and you will understand.

Is that something about the font my browser is using? Or is everyone not okay?

RE: If they actually have this device,
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 3:02:31 PM #
Email that finds you? You mean email that is delivered to you as it comes. My blackberry does that, treo is supposed to aswell.



---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.

RE: If they actually have this device,
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 3:03:49 PM #
Note to self, make sure to never paste the same annoying thing I said twice as it might bring on the wrath of ED :)

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.
RE: If they actually have this device,
peter167 @ 12/10/2001 3:05:53 PM #
Always On, Always Connected®
With RIM Wireless Handhelds you don't need to retrieve your email. *Your email finds you.* No dialing-in. No initiating connections. No antennas to raise. No effort required. The handhelds are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, allowing you to be discreetly notified as new email arrives. Now you can easily stay in touch with your colleagues and clients while you're on the go.

That is quoted from RIM website.


RE: If they actually have this device,
Coyote67 @ 12/10/2001 3:10:19 PM #
Yeah, but thats wat GPRS is pete. Always on. All you need for the *email to find you* is the client and server to do this.

---------------------------------------
When you have a Clie shoved up your mouth, you can only talk in vowels.
RE: If they actually have this device,
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 3:42:19 PM #
Cingular hosts Palm's network. Palm has to charge the customer more than Cingular charges Palm or they lose money on the deal.

The key is to have the phone companies be the ISP for this type of service, then the price can come down and the networks can get faster.

Whiners

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 4:46:35 PM #
You guys always cry that this PDA isn't this - mine is and this PDA isn't that - mine is. Good, perhaps others feel the same way about theirs, shutup and get over it

RE: Whiners
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 5:22:49 PM #
Amen brother.

The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/10/2001 11:07:04 PM #
Problem is, the my palm portal still does not allow bookmarking. And no refresh command. Imagine that.

If Palm wants to make the i705 at least mildly competitive with the competition, they need to allow some semblance of a web experience. Come on Palm, this is a no-brainer.

RE: The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 12:51:12 AM #
the MyPalm portal is a whole different can of worms. Palm really has some issues to work out with it before it can be what they want it to. They tried making it a portal for everyone, which they've recently given up, and hopefully they'll add some features and update the whole thing a bit before this is released, especially since palm seems to want to get a lot of new subscribers as well as maintain their old ones (which i fear may give up and move on to the new handspring models or RIM handhelds).

RE: The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 10:17:14 AM #
Correct me if I am wrong (like you have to state that on this site!), but Mypalm portal was just announced as going off-line soon. January, I think. There will be no more updates...

Doug

RE: The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 10:43:30 AM #
Only the web calendar and free email is going away. My Palm web email and the mobile portal will still remain for wireless palm users.

RE: The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 6:47:43 PM #
The facts about MYPalm portal...
1. Palm bought Anyday.com and Wesync.com
2. Palm licensed USA.net's defunct email program
3. Palm found out that Palm VII users were complaining about paying for name@palm.net when someone can sing-up for name@palm.com for free through the Mypalm portal. See the confusion? The technology from Anyday.com only allowed for one way wireless datebook syncing with the Palm VII's, whereas Wesync.com offers two way wireless syncing from the Palm VII's.
4. To this day the Anyday staff still could NOT work out the bugs in the portal. Hence, layoffs...
5. Palm found that Palm VII users could not effectively manage their email from the Palm VII devices alone. The Mypalm pqa did not allow access to manage the deletion of emails once they were deleted from Imessenger. So all those emails just sat on the Mypalm portal until the user logged on form a PC and managed the same emails for a second time. Very tedious and redundant.
6. $50 for unlimited service from Palm.net was not bad. Companies were coming out with PQA's, daily. We were able to surf the web with DPweb, look-up stocks with Bloomberg,read the news with Headhound and even get all kinds of detailed flight info form United. Not most of those PQA's are gone or not being updated regularly. So, my question is: Why would I want to pay $50 for an sms service using Imessenger on a Palm VIIx?
Finally,
Palm now understands that if they give a service away for free, why would anyone want to pay a premium for it?

DPWeb-Is it Dead
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/11/2001 9:52:05 PM #
They have been down for a week, and their web page says they don't know if it will be back up. A major blow to the Palm VII/i705 user if they don't come back.

RE: The My Palm Portal-Badly in Need of an Update
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/17/2001 3:22:50 PM #
"To this day the Anyday staff still could NOT work out the bugs in the portal. Hence, layoffs..."

Let's not assume the anyday.com staff could not do it...let's assume that palm corp could not decide what the wanted to do with the MyPalm portal (PIM, etc)...so they just let it die.

It's True

I.M. Anonymous @ 12/15/2001 2:10:49 AM #
I work at another office supply store (not staples, but one that gives u the MAX) and its in our system too.

According to what I hear from my Palm/Sales reps that do the training, a "new" palm, the i705, is coming 1st quarter of 2002...which means March 31 at the very latest and January 2 at the very earliest...

The entry has actually been in our systems for about a week and a half, I just never noticed it till now...

RE: It's True
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/15/2001 10:00:25 PM #
Is there anything in your system for a Sony T600, T615 or most hopeful of all.....T700 or T715?

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