PalmSource Day 1: Palm OS 5 Golden Master Coming Late Spring

Yes Thank you Ed. I eagerly await further news about OS 5.

Oh and have you seen PalmOS 5 running on any non-dragonball hardware? What applications are they using to demo the software? Anything about bluetooth??

Post X:
Oh and have you seen PalmOS 5 running on any non-dragonball hardware? What applications are they using to demo the software? Anything about bluetooth??

Post Y:
OS 5 will not run on any Dragonball devices at all. It is for ARM processors only.

Humm ... I think X just wanted to know if Ed saw some OS5 action.

"They showed Bluetooth working. Very dull. Made a call, used a headset... yawn. Nothing you can't do with any of the 3rd party Bluetooth sleds/springboards."

No ****, what were you expecting? A bluetooth foot massage?!

You are correct, the m515 and m130 will both be OS 4.1 machines. The m130 will likely clock in at $299 with color which is a market price point not previously attacked by Palm. The m515 serves as a quick fix for the m505 by adding memory, fixing a USB sync problem, and brightening a dim display.

The true OS 5 units are not yet announced nor will they be I imagine until almost available this fall. Palm does not want the debacle they suffered last year when they announced the m50x series early and watched as Palm Vx sales disappeared. For now I imagine the push will be m130 / m515 and little else.

Thanks for the excellent summary so far!
Can you give any more info on the UI themes: Which elements are going to be customizable - look of menus & controls, font, icons, background? Any screenshots?

oh well, the link is being a jerk, so just go to news.com and click on the "Intel revs up handhelds at PalmSource " link in the right hand corner...looks like a fast processor...

The reason they aren't showing screen shots is the GUI hasn't changed AT ALL, NOT ONE BIT from OS 4.1... wow, I was expecting OS 5.0 to be a break from the OS 1.0 view of the world, but I guess it isn't to be.

...That is fantastic news. It's exactly what most people want. The ease of use of the Palm os with a modern, multitasking...

We, the user, had this already with the Apple Newton 2100 years ago in hand - and much, much more.
The Newton could play videos with sound without flicker or interruption.
Besides a ton of other usefull and efficient features (clever assistant) unknown nowadays.
The Newton was / is running of course on a extremely efficient strong ARM processor / multitasking of course - so far for the big hype of Palms transition to the Arm processor

Sorry that it takes Palm so long to follow / stumble / copy the right Apple path.

A dedicated layman may make it in the far future up to the former master - hopefully - but not sure.

I keep my fingers honestly crossed for Palm and remain sober - I cannot share the global enthusiasm and hype about so little in hand so late.

Boris

Considering the time the Newton was build his price was steep but still reasonable - the technology was 5 years ago not as advanced as today. The whole machine was another state of quality as the PDA's today. The glass used in the Newton was a high polished optical one – hard to scratch in years. Only this glass costs nowadays probably more than a m100. The Newton incorporated the state of the art of his time – but even further.
If the Newton would have been further developed the Newton would surely fit in a Palm formfactor today.

With nowadays technology much more could be achieved as the sad stupid bricks we have in hand now - given a true dedication of a creative company. (With less vice presidents)

If the Newton would be on the market today, I doubt if Palm would still be around.

Anyhow the intelligence of the Newton OS and interface is not matched by far by any PDA build today.

And that’s what many so badly miss on so many fronts in the PDA buz as well as in our day to day life – a grain of salt of the passed away Newton intelligence

... and that my friend is the true difference.

... Shut UP about the Newton!

Done - your wish comes true - I shut up about the Newton but this does not relive you poor boy from unvirtual reality - and thats, as I can see a solid intelectual desert

First a Newton slam, then an AMIGA slam? You'd better know your history, you sassy little whippersnappers. The Amiga is to desktop PC's as the Newton is to PDAs: a bit expensive, 3 or 4 GENERATIONS ahead of its time, made with exceptional quality paired with great hardware and software engineering, and utterly disrespected and forgotten by uninformed DORKS!!!

In other words, mainstream desktop PC software and hardware have only exceeded the Amiga in the past few years, even then, that would be the Macintosh. Amiga was the first to get many desktop computer luxuries right. Like more than 256 on-screen colors, or 3D, or good video editing on the cheap.

Similarly, the Newton had networking, internet access (remember, this was BEFORE the web was affordable), storage, REAL handwriting recognition, nice (monochrome) screens, speed, and multimedia all bound up in a nifty interface YEARS AND YEARS ago for the lowest price it could be done for. If Apple hadn't given up, or if they started licening NewtonOS, there would BE NO POCKET PC. PERIOD. The Newton has NOT been equalled, although PalmOS 5 puts Palm in the same ballpark at least in terms of usability, while PocketPC 2002 has the bells and whistles. Symbian seems to stake out an eerie middle ground, and looks interesting, but I can't afford one :(

PalmOS 6 will be something to look out for, and I'm sure MS will not stop with PocketPC2002, Symbian is still chugging along, and that Danger hiptop looks sweet. Still, when you boil it down, the Newton is still the king of the hill this year.