Comments on: Colligan: No New Palm Handhelds
Palm has finally come clean and confirmed what has been widely suspected, that it will no longer develop any new traditional handheld PDAs. Word came straight from Palm CEO Ed Colligan during yesterdays conference call, but it bears mentioning again for posterity. The announcement was made practically off the cuff when asked by a financial analyst about the possibility of shutting down the handheld business.
Read on for the full audio clip of the question and response. In short, he states that Palm will continue to "push them out" as long as there is still sufficient demand. He continues by adding that they are not developing new ones, and as such there is an inevitable end to the product line.
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PDA end
Bluetooth, Wifi, email, sms, multimedia player [coreplayer, kinoma, pocket tunes], web [better with Opera] 32+GB flash [via PowerSDHC] voice recording, advanced PIMs, MS Office compatibility, advanced stat, DBM, endless games etc. etc. - it will even make calls via Wifi+VOIP? - - I simply can't imagine.
... but I am certainly happy to have a reserve, factory sealed TX + extra bits against future need.
RE: PDA end
why would you save such a fossil? do you have an IBM PC with DOS v1 saved in reserve somewhere too just in case??????????????
stop fearing the future! EMBRACE IT!
RE: PDA end
"Its easy just kill everybody till the trator stops being a trator and starts being dead."
RE: PDA end
The last known classic PDA user.
RE: PDA end
You keep pumpin' out those pink smartphones Eddie.
The last known classic PDA user.
RE: PDA end
It's not a matter of fearing the future. It's a matter of having a device that does what you want, not what some schmuck in an internet forum or company press conference tells you to want.
I'll buy a smartphone when they provide me the usability I desire, and not before.
-
PalmPilot Pro (1997) -> III (1998) -> Vx (1999) -> m500 (2001) -> m515 (2002) -> Tx (2007)
RE: PDA end -
PDAs have been available for the past 15 years but most people prefer a phone.
Yes, there's a market for PDAs in the same way that they'll be a market for buggy whips, valve amplifiers and typewriters, but most people find phones more useful than PDAs.
Most of the world doesn't want nor need a PDA. Live with it!
RE: PDA end
no surprise there: why would anyone want a device with a 320 x 480 touch screen... blah blah blah, miserable attempt to make Palm Tx's dated 2005 specification relevant to 2009
Well the Touch Pro HD:
http://www.htc.com/www/product/touchhd/specification.html
Has EVERYTHING you mention plus:
-GPS
- 5 megapixel camera with autofocus
- 800 x 480 touch screen
- 802.11 b/g wi-fi
Yet is smaller and lighter than a Tx!
Oh did I mention it's a 3g phone as well!
Available in all good stockists (well at least in Great Britain) now!!!
THE PDA is dead. Live with it!
RE: PDA end
The last known classic PDA user.
RE: PDA end
But Colligan was so accurate about Apple's big fail in the Phone market compared to the market-leading Treo smartphone, I'm sure he's correct in saying the day of the PDA is dead too. Apple might sell a few of those "iTouch" devices to rabid Apple fanboys, but other than a few thousand of 'em Apple will have ANOTHER fail by entering the "dead" PDA market.
Poor Apple, their stock prices must be in the toilet by now for developing that phone and then foolishly providing a PDA too. Since Palm's wisdom is so brilliant, perhaps Palm can swoop in right now and purchase the braindead Apple for a pure stock deal...?
RE: PDA end
RE: PDA end
As a web tablet, my TX has always been mediocre at best, Blazer is too primitive and Opera is kludgey and unstable. And I still haven't gotten my PowerSDHC registration despite buying the program over a month ago. Being able to edit Office docs is nice but Dataviz has already announced that it will port Documents to Go to Android. So there really is very little that my Palm TX can do that my G1 can't do and that list will continue to shrink in the coming months. Going forward I don't really see a niche for non-phone PDAs beyond basic PIM functions and you don't really need a 480x320 screen for that. The truth is that most people have been carrying cell phones everywhere they go for well over a decade and it makes sense to integrate as many functions as possible into them.
Yes, if Palm were as big or as smart as Apple, they could have made something like the iPod Touch years ago. Certainly, the TX and the LifeDrive each had features that if combined could rival or surpass anything Apple has put out recently but that's life. Palm doesn't have the resources to put out six devices per year or to do the R&D needed to design them. While that may be sad for Palm, the competition has basically caught up enough that I don't think there is a huge need (from a user perspective) for them to be competitive. Judging from Colligan's statement, Palm will continue selling their outdated but useful TX's and Zires so long as people keep buying them. So while it's a shame to see my beloved Palm devices relegated to secondary roles, the upside is that I have plenty of them in my desk drawer and that I will probably be able to get a new one pretty easily if I ever need it.
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: PDA end
anybody who pulls out a PDA in public in the year 2008 should be embarrassed and ashamed.
RE: PDA end
Finally, a valid use for my LifeDrive: To crack your skull with it when I see you!
(Hey, it has a CF inside, it won't break!)
RE: PDA end
-
PalmPilot Pro (1997) -> III (1998) -> Vx (1999) -> m500 (2001) -> m515 (2002) -> Tx (2007)
RE: PDA end
I still have my original 4 MHz z80-based rocket "downstairs" albeit it predates Trash-80s somewhat...
Wheeeeee!!
RE: PDA end
it's almost 2009. do use a TRASH-80 too?
As a matter of fact I do. Not literally of course but what do you think that netbooks are? Small, cheap, underpowered computers which conceptually are not unlike the original TRS-80. The Model 200 even bears slight resemblance to the original EeePC:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TRS-80_Model_200_and_Vaio.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ASUS_Eee_White_Alt-small.png
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->T-Mobile G1
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: PDA end
yes, and a Neanderthal bears a slight resemblance to modern man but the Neanderthal has evolved and so should you.
Shame
You know, sometimes a person wants a handheld device with PDA functions without having to sell their soul by getting into some monthly contract that costs them more than the handheld in just half a year.
RE: Shame
PDA doing what it does best, phone doing what it does best.
I tell ya, the time has come!
- http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=33796&highlight=communicator
Giggle.
RE: Shame
I agree that there is a market for this type of thing: I have bought two Ipod touches since they came out...as well as owning almost every Palm device back to 1996.
I am still interested in the Nova devices, but Palm is down by three runs, bottom of the ninth, with two outs. and nobody on base. Going to take a heck of a miracle to get back into the game....
RE: Shame
Myself, I'd love something like that, but anyone who thinks a new PDA is what Palm needs to spend $ on right now is tripping. It's Nova or Black Hole for Palm and Co., and I don't see a lot of light at the end of the event horizon right now.
YojimboE
Professional Amateur
RE: Shame
Fair enough, maybe Palm doesn't have the resources right now to tackle this market but it shouldn't kill it off completely!
RE: Shame
RE: Shame
No, Fooleo is that idea up there in a different form factor.
RE: Shame
RE: Shame
RE: Shame
This announcement by Colligan is simply an acknowledgment that the present management of Palm is completely clueless about how to design and market a good device. They have been creating these crummy Centros because they're cheap and they seem to get kickbacks from the carriers. The aged Tungsten TX hasn't even been improved in years, while Palm twiddles around with colors and adding memory to the Centros. Meanwhile they're still busy building Windoze Mobile clones to appease their Redmond masters - even though (for a small device) it's an inferior OS to Palm Frankengarnet.
Sometimes I think Colligan and his crew are heavily invested in shorting this company. They certainly have had a shortage of creativity and listening to their customers for many, many years. What's next: "we will no longer build phones with screens"??
Colligan stupid not to see: Phone + PDA
If I were Colligan, I would've designed a PDA that makes up for the weaknesses of a cellphone, whether smart or not, and market it as a consumer's "Cellphone+", and this'll allow Palm to capture a niche market. But I'm a lot smarter than Colligan.
Features of this PDA:
1. great keyboard, something like Blackberry's best keyboard configs and w/ same quality
2. I'd have the PDA have bluetooth, wi-fi, infrared, USB attachment so it can easily share info w/ cellphones and computers, and I'll include drivers/software to allow this. It can backup your cellphone. There's an iPod/iPod Touch app that lets you send files via wi-fi through a browser so this'll allow such a PDA to share files w/ an iPhone/iPod touch.
3. Documents to Go full edition (or something similar) so I can write, make spreadsheets, presentations, pdf files on the fly.
4. I'd have great drawing/paint program w/c is very responsive to stylus and can save in png, gif and jpeg and send it via the mentioned communication software as well as via email and SMS.
5. It'll have a great eBook reader software.
6. supports MMC/SD cards.
7. Can run all Palm apps (can run older apps in emulation).
8. Be super thin and light so won't add bulk to user already w/ a cellphone
9. Can act as a flash drive.
Now not everyone's going to get this device, but a lot of people, including those w/ iPhones, will want or even need such a complementary gadget and Palm could have the niche all to itself. But then again, Palm only sees one step forward and can't think out of the box.
RE: Colligan stupid not to see: Phone + PDA
1. I'd also add a great comic reader (can read the various comic book reader formats) and make it very easy to zoom from seeing the full page to reading the text.
2. It'll have a browser like Opera and be able to run Flash (full-flash), Shockwave, Java.
3. voice/sound recorder
4. alarm clock (loud and w/ sleep feature), calendar alarm, timer, stopwatch
5. tuner for guitar, piano, drums, etc.
6. great note taker - one can draw maps, scribbles, etc. (some Palms have it and some don't, but this should be standard)
7. can be SMSed to destroy all data if stolen
8. as a Flash drive, it can write the files to an MMC/SD card which you can then eject and give to someone else
9. has games built-in: Texas Hold'em Poker, multiple-user Scrabble, Towers of Hanoi, 15 Puzzle, solitaire, multiple-user gin rummy, maybe can run old console games in emulation, etc.
10. super-fast OS, runs for a minimum of 7 days on full battery charge, replaceable battery.
extras/attachments:
1. pedometer - measures the distance you've walked for exercise fans
2. can read from heartrate monitors
RE: Colligan stupid not to see: Phone + PDA
There will be no more PDAs, you do not need or want them. You must buy a cell phone with a crummy little screen, or accept the ancient TX that won't even handle SDHC without unofficial third-party drivers.
How about a camera with more Pda functions?
Sony's cybershot offers a GPS add on so that all the pictures you take are automatically printed with a GPS location. The Camera also plays music while viewing a slideshow.
True that a camera doesn't need a touchscreen but sometimes you want to leave a memo about every picture you take.
Small screens will always hurt people with poor vision for items that are close up. I'd bet you the average person needs a laptop size screen...
RE: How about a camera with more Pda functions?
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/
Clueless 101
Hello, eejits.
Everything has been getting *smaller*.
Intel has its flopping MIDs out there - basically smaller computers. The iPhone will get bigger (but as a *computer*, it will still be wee).
Someone in another thread brought up the fact JavaFX Mobile "isn't ready." Who the hell cares? I maintain Palm will not be using a dinky-ass ARM CPU. They'll use something that will run *full* JavaFX. The Mobile will be ready for their *phone*, *mid-year.*
Do all of you really think Palm busted its ass on an *entirely new OS* just for *phones*? What maroons!
RE: Clueless 101
== "...It is in this space in general and the amount of innovation that's
== going to happen in this space, the opportunity to bring unique applications
== over higher performance networks with really unique device designs that are
== going to compel more and more people who buy standard smartphones today to
== move to these more sophisticated devices..."
Elsewhere someone who's foaming at the mouth but posts as if he has some sort of inside information also says faster comms/offloaded functionality is where the new OS is at.
RE: Clueless 101
I wonder how many "mainstream" people are wishing they hadn't pooh-poohed universal healthcare for years, now that they've lost their "secure" jobs and can finally see the reality of $1000.00/month COBRA payments - or if their company went belly-up: NO COBRA and the reality of the "market."
RE: Clueless 101
Palm is absolutely coming out with a phone (and it'll suck). To suggest that they're coming out with anything else is foolish. I would bet any amount of money on that fact.
Next year, Apple will come out with an iPhone 16 GB free with two-year contract, or 32 GB for $99 with two-year contract. These companies (Samsung, Google, HTC, RIM, LG, Nokia) spend so much time trying to catch up with Apple that they don't try to beat them to the punch anymore. They try to beat the iPhone's $199 pricetag, and Apple is going to blow them all out of the water once again next summer for free. Then the companies will scramble for the next three months to match that price. By then, Apple will be so far in the lead that they will simply be competing for second place in the U.S..
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Clueless 101
Correction: the best healthcare in the world as long as you're wealthy enough to afford it. On the other hand, Canada, England, and pretty much every other industrialized western nation runs on single-payer, and you'll find that over there, everybody gets access to their healthcare system.
Personally I wouldn't bet on Apple running to the bottom with the iPhone. They've got a good thing going right now where people are willing to fork out hundreds of dollars for the iPhone, bypassing free-with-contract smartphones, because it's a status symbol. They're not going to throw away their profit margin to compete with people they're already beating.
RE: Clueless 101
>>>I would bet any amount of money on that fact.
And you'd lose.
RE: Clueless 101
Sorry but it IS apparently the answer now since we've partially nationalized Wall Street and Detroit. (Jeez, I can't believe I'm actually saying this and its true.)
Back to the topic, here is what I find important and everything else irrelevant:
* Everyone who has seen the new stuff coming from Palm-Palm's star ex-Apple engineers, investors, carriers and developers-are blown away. These folks are very familiar with iPhones, Blackberrys, G1s and what have you, but they are still unanimously blown away. What to make of this?
In this market, things can turn on a dime next month. Take the BB Storm:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/12/is_the_blackber.html
According to some folks deemed "credible", Verizon Wireless retail shops are seeing a return rate for the BlackBerry Storm anywhere between 35% and 50%, depending on the market. That's an outrageously high number.
RE: Clueless 101
Personally I wouldn't bet on Apple running to the bottom with the iPhone. They've got a good thing going right now where people are willing to fork out hundreds of dollars for the iPhone, bypassing free-with-contract smartphones, because it's a status symbol. They're not going to throw away their profit margin to compete with people they're already beating.
I disagree. It's all about finding new markets for Apple. They've tackled all the people willing to make the jump at the current price. They'll drop the price again and raise the monthly fee on the contract by $10 (same as they did with the 3G release).
Just imagine how many new people would look at the iPhone next to a feature-phone for the same price, for only an extra $15-20 per month. It would be a no-brainer for our buy-now-ask-questions-later generation of Americans.
Jaysus, abosco, have YOU been listening to Limbaugh now too? And worse - while driving a Lexus?
Worse - I actually form my own opinions and believe in the free market system that propelled our country past Europe in the last 150 years instead of following their lead like the Democrats want us to do.
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Clueless 101
So basically you're saying you'll ignore any facts because the ones you make up prove your argument better?
RE: Clueless 101
ROTFLMAO!! Don't cry to ME, kid, when you're paying more than half your income basically to the BANKSTERS because they need the bailout money or they'll again threaten to crash the entire system. Wake up, you eejit!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/20/chronicles-of-depression-20-480-fail/
They're distributing TARP money as &^$ing BONUSES! Where's your capitalistic spirit in letting these bastards drop dead?
Back on topic:
Elevation just plunked another $100M into Palm. This is a BIG vote of confidence (I just hope it's not the kind of "confidence" MADOFF used!). I'm telling you, Palm Has Something.
RE: Clueless 101
Elevation just plunked another $100M into Palm. This is a BIG vote of confidence (I just hope it's not the kind of "confidence" MADOFF used!). I'm telling you, Palm Has Something.
By that logic, our financial system "has something" considering we're blowing through almost a trillion dollars of taxpayer debt. Actually, given a trillion dollars, Palm could still screw up.
-Bosco
m105 -> NX70v -> NX80v -> iPhone -> iPhone 3G
RE: Clueless 101
@abosco: Oh, the HyperI is coming, baby.
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/12/01/chronicles-of-depression-20-449-usa-zimbabwe/
The difference between Palm and the United States is that Palm has been *creating* something. That's not to say Depression 2.0 won't flush all that down the toilet due to lack of buyers with money, however. Our country, OTOH, has created nothing but massive fraud.
RE: Clueless 101
"You see, there's a sweet - there's no sweeter day than each new one because here in our country, it means something wonderful can happen to you. And something wonderful happened to me. We lit a prairie fire a few years back. Those flames were fed by passionate ideas and convictions, and we were determined to make them run all - burn, I should say, all across America. And what times we've had! Together we've fought for causes we love. But we can never let the fire go out or quit the fight, because the battle is never over. Our freedom must be defended over and over again. And then again. There's still a lot of brush to clear out at the ranch, fences that need repair and horses to ride. But I want you to know that if the fires ever dim, I'll leave my phone number and address behind just in case you need a foot soldier. Just let me know, I'll be there - as long as words don't leave me and as long as this sweet country strives to be special during its shining moment on earth. Twilight, you say? Listen to H. G. Wells. H. G. Wells says: "The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn." Well, that's a new day - our sunlit new day - to keep alive the fire so that when we look back at the time of choosing, we can say that we did all that could be done. Never less. Thank you, good night, God bless you and God bless America.'' - President Ronald Reagan Remarks to 1988 Republican National Convention
RE: Clueless 101
typical liberal Democrat. no surprise here -
Child porn sting snags ex-Clinton aide
Child porn investigation catches California lawyer
* Story Highlights
* Wade Rowland Sanders admitted to having 600 images of minors on his computer
* Sanders was chosen to introduce John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic Convention
* Sanders will be sentenced March 30 and could get up to 10 years in prison
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/23/porn.conviction/index.html
RE: Clueless 101
But...anyway...did you see how much this guy was a "Clinton aide"?
Sheesh.
With THAT amount of affiliation =I'm= a Clinton aide!
As before...Look OUT for that Me-Too Media!
Gack!
RE: Clueless 101
maybe it's time we send the Gestapo to search your hard drive too? and imagine what we'd find on MikeCon's???
RE: Clueless 101
And so Gekko publicly shows his Dollar Uber Alles MoneyNazi core that we all new he had. Welcome out of that cloest, Gekko. Go embrace your Inner Stormtrooper.
They'd find plenty of free eBooks on my HD, Gek. Free and LEGAL eBooks. Besides, the NSA has *everything* I send through the Internets. Even though *that* is *illegal*.
Who is relevant?
I will continue to use my T3 and Garnet GVM until something better replaces them. A phone is not a PDA. A phone dials a number and lets you communicate with someone. A computer runs specialized programs to make life more efficient and better (hopefully). Just as I use my Mac as a computer and not a phone (although I could) my PDA will remain separate from my phone.
Looting
"When you have strong managers, weak directors, cooperative accountants and passive owners, don't be surprised when the looting begins." – John Bogle
Latest Comments
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Palm went a wee-bit further than 'No new handhelds'
Their words were ambiguous, but they noted the consumer/prosumer market as being the target of Nova. This =may= have been a transient mis-speak.