Comments on: Latest Android Handset Is... The Treo 650?

AndroidThe calls for Palm to adopt Android have never particularly made sense to your correspondent. What benefit would there be for a little fish like our favourite gadget company in adopting a platform that will soon be inundated with a veritable swarm of me-too devices? Still, there's a certain appeal to the idea of having a PalmDroid of your very own, and one YouTuber appears to have taken it upon themselves to make the dream a reality. After the break, behold: a video of Android running on the venerable Treo 650!

PIC has reached out to the YouTube poster hoping to find more details of exactly how this was accomplished, but has yet to receive a response. A phalanx of Google searches has also proved futile. Do please drop us a line if you can assist, because we'd love to give it a shot ourselves.

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Android Palm

Amroth @ 11/15/2009 3:04:23 AM # M Q
My wife just got the VZW Droid Eris. I like this phone, actually better than the big Motorolla Droid. Having said that, neither compair to either an iPhone or a Pre. The operating system, while more flexible than WinMo or Blackberry, cannot compare the the smooth, elegant UI that WebOS or Apple have. Palm got it right developing their own OS instead of prostituting themselves to Android.
RE: Android Palm
SeldomVisitor @ 11/15/2009 3:16:17 AM # Q
RE: Android Palm
Tim Carroll @ 11/15/2009 3:55:08 AM # Q
webOS is a hell of a lot more than just a user interface.
RE: Android Palm
Amroth @ 11/15/2009 10:39:36 AM # M Q
Thanks for the gentle correction, but I did mean to be referring to the way WebOS is easy for the casual user- (is that 'user interface')? Anyway, in my opinion better than the Android experience.
RE: Android Palm
Tim Carroll @ 11/15/2009 11:39:20 AM # Q
^^ (I was addressing SV, not you Amroth. (In case you were addressing me with that last post, not SV.) Bloody internet conversations. Keep on truckin'! )
RE: Android Palm
CFreymarc @ 11/16/2009 9:33:46 PM # Q
To let you know on a secret, it has been rumored for over a year that a few dozen Treo 650's were the target hardware during a lot of Andriod development.

We told there has sighting around the downtown Sunnyvale and downtown Mountain View of Treo 650's running a "custom skin" in the lunch crowd held by people with their Google badges off their belt. Wouldn't be a surprise if getting Android on the 650 was a pet project of a few engineers letting their girl having a coming out.

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Here's a link...

SeldomVisitor @ 11/15/2009 3:11:43 AM # Q
...from the Engadget article about this that I posted here:

http://www.palminfocenter.com/comments/9964/#156322

a couple days ago (I TinyURLed it):

http://tinyurl.com/tre650android

RE: Here's a link...
Tim Carroll @ 11/15/2009 3:57:03 AM # Q
I read through that thread, and followed it from there to Hack & Dev, but proper instructions are non-existent, and I really don't have time to go experimenting with compiling kernels myself....


(btw, SV, I did credit you for the tip ;) )
Sometime PIC blogger
Treo 270 --> Treo 650 --> Treo 680 --> Centro --> Pre
I apologise for any and all emoticons in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.

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add value with unique software

Gekko @ 11/15/2009 4:34:56 AM # Q

Steve Jobs: I truly believe the challenge for IBM is that they can't survive by selling the same thing you can buy from somebody else for 30% less money. Their cost structure doesn't allow them to compete with companies that don't do massive amounts of R&D, that don't have twice as many employees as they need, et cetera, et cetera. So IBM has to do one of two things: One, suffer continuous erosion of its market share until eventually it goes out of business, which I hope doesn't happen. Or two, come up with some way to add value. In my opinion the way to make your machines unique is with unique software.

August 26, 1991

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1991/08/26/75409/index.htm

RE: add value with unique software
DarthRepublican @ 11/15/2009 1:34:34 PM # Q
Gekko wrote:

Steve Jobs: I truly believe the challenge for IBM is that they can't survive by selling the same thing you can buy from somebody else for 30% less money. Their cost structure doesn't allow them to compete with companies that don't do massive amounts of R&D, that don't have twice as many employees as they need, et cetera, et cetera. So IBM has to do one of two things: One, suffer continuous erosion of its market share until eventually it goes out of business, which I hope doesn't happen. Or two, come up with some way to add value. In my opinion the way to make your machines unique is with unique software.

August 26, 1991

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1991/08/26/75409/index.htm

This nicely explains why Apple is so determined to lock the Palm Pre out of iTunes and why they disabled Hackintoshes with their most recent OSX update. The mentality is keep their products unique and proprietary. Sabotage any and all attempts of third parties to achieve compatibility with your products. And above all cultivate a cult-like following of fans who will buy anything that bears your logo and make it as difficult as possible for them to switch to a competing product.
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: add value with unique software
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 3:08:26 PM # Q

well whatever Apple is doing, it's working. their shareholders, customers, and employees are happy. and in the end, that's all that really counts.

RE: add value with unique software
brum @ 11/15/2009 4:48:36 PM # Q
The App Store has a fair amount of dirt on it's face with devs and customers... Just thought I'd point it out.
RE: add value with unique software
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 4:56:20 PM # Q

success washes away a lot of dirt and sins.
RE: add value with unique software
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 4:59:40 PM # Q

"In a commodity business, it's very hard to be smarter than your dumbest competitor." – Warren Buffett

RE: add value with unique software
CFreymarc @ 11/16/2009 9:38:13 PM # Q
Apple is a fashion company first and a technology company second.

If you have style and spirit of play with good product, you can take that to the bank. If you want a good comparison to Steve Jobs, don't look at Silicon Valley, look at Park Avenue. People like Tommy Hillfinger, Bill Blass and Halston are his peers and not Andy Grove or Jeff Hawkins.

Steve Jobs and company is laughing to the bank. The big thing that IBM was missing when they were on top was any sense of style or spirit of play. Apple has that and it will drive their sales as the rest of you in your parents basements bitch.

RE: add value with unique software
nastebu @ 11/16/2009 10:14:28 PM # Q
Just because your products take design seriously does not mean they aren't serious products.

In the sense that a high fashion design company like Marni or Prada take style very seriously, yes, that's like Apple. It's also worth mentioning that Marni and Prada make clothes are are of very very high quality too, in the sense of durability, fit, wear, etc. and if you pay for clothes from those companies, you're paying a big markup on the assumption that the clothes come with a very high guarantee of excellence that is out of the range of mass market retailers.

Apple isn't like that. They're selling mass market items, at a high markup, but still mass market. That's nothing like Marni or Prada.

RE: add value with unique software
mikecane @ 11/17/2009 6:51:13 AM # Q
>>>well whatever Apple is doing, it's working. their shareholders, customers, and employees are happy. and in the end, that's all that really counts.

So what kind of leftist hippie creep does that make him?

Gekko quoting Steve Jobs?! The end of all things is nigh.

(Another sign of that is AMC's goddammed The Prisoner.)

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Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone

Gekko @ 11/15/2009 11:40:43 AM # Q
RE: Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone
DarthRepublican @ 11/15/2009 1:39:25 PM # Q
Gekko wrote:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/13/dell.android.smartphone/index.html

Best quote from this article:


But does the world need a smartphone from Dell? The device will have plenty of company: Android phones have begun arriving on the market in larger numbers in recent months.

Look for Dell to eventually offer a bundling deal with people able to buy a Dell laptop or netbook and get a free Mini 3 smartphone with a two year contract to the carrier of your choice.
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 3:09:40 PM # Q

i remember the bundle prediction for the Dell Axim. i don't think it ever happened - at least not on any great scale.
RE: Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone
DarthRepublican @ 11/15/2009 4:54:57 PM # Q
Gekko wrote:

i remember the bundle prediction for the Dell Axim. i don't think it ever happened - at least not on any great scale.

And that was a mistake on Dell's part. In any case, I distinctly recall getting a couple of advertising emails from HP offering a free netbook with some of their high-end laptops. So the idea is hardly a new one and would seem to be good way to grab market share when moving into a new product category.
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: Dell unveils Android-based Mini 3 smartphone
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 4:58:36 PM # Q

Dell kind of does it with the Netbook - offering it as an "add on accessory" when you configure/buy a Laptop online at dell.com. with the phone you have additional distribution challenges - ie cellular carrier issues.
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Kewl!

DarthRepublican @ 11/15/2009 1:46:42 PM # Q
This sounds like a good way to repurpose an old Treo or Palm TX in a just for kicks sort of way. For somebody who has a lot of old PDAs and smartphones in his desk drawer, the idea of being able to pull one out and drop a new OS into it is pretty appealing.

Btw, as I write this in PIC's tiny little comments box there is an Amazon.com ad for Palm products. The Palm TX is priced at $499.99. Haven't these people ever heard of eBay?
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: Kewl!
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 3:12:50 PM # Q

loading Android and having it actually function correctly (if at all) and fast enough on antiquated hardware is too different things.
RE: Kewl!
DarthRepublican @ 11/15/2009 4:47:24 PM # Q
Gekko wrote:

loading Android and having it actually function correctly (if at all) and fast enough on antiquated hardware is too different things.

You misspelled "more fun than a barrel of dead monkeys."
Palm Apologist
Shouting down the PIC Faithful Since 2009
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

RE: Kewl!
Gekko @ 11/15/2009 4:55:06 PM # Q

two different things
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