Novatel Cancels Plans for IIIc Wireless Modem

Posted By: Bill Fugina Saturday, October 7, 2000 9:32:46 AM

Novatel Wireless has cancelled all plans to to make a wireless modem for the IIIc. David Vincent, a Technical Support Specialist at Novatel, said, "We were developing a modem for the Palm IIIc, but due to a lack of demand, this project was cancelled. As of now, there are no plans to continue this project."

Novatel is the maker of the Minstrel wireless modems for the Palm III series, the Palm V series, and the Visor.

These modems are resold by wireless ISPs like GoAmerica and OmniSky and a variety of other stores, too.

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Palm IIIc sucks!!!!

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/7/2000 10:16:46 AM #
Not a big surprise. The IIIc is a piece of sh*t! The iPAQ offers MUCH more bang for the buck. Palm said they wouldn't develop a color device until it could be done right. I think they need to go back to the drawing board!

Pocket PC is the way to go if you want color.

RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/7/2000 12:07:04 PM #
Gee, and how much software (much less USEFUL software) is available that runs on the iPaq's ARM cpu?

The best way to make the iPaq useful is to put Linux on it. :D


RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/7/2000 10:49:29 PM #
Yah, we've got all the software...for now. But Palm developers are already porting their apps to Pocket PC platform. TomeRaider, Pocket Quicken...what's next! Palm may not be able to play this card for much longer.

Considering the fact that Palm is no longer an innovator, we may lose a lot of our user base to Microsoft.

Wake up Palm, there is a cougar loose in your back yard! And his name is Bill Gates!

RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/9/2000 12:44:50 PM #
You are nuts. The IIIc is more stable, actually available and from a much more reliable handheld provider. The news about Novatels decision is disappointing, but at least I'm confident that Palm will answer the bell for the second round (read: Win CE 1.0, 2.0, etc.)

RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/9/2000 5:33:32 PM #
The IIIc, more stable!!! Hah! who are you kidding? I went throught five...count them, five IIIc(s). Each one had the same piece of shit digitizer problems. You try writing on the screen, and it doesn't even register. The display is totally unresponsive when tapping on a dialog box, and I especially love the way the device spontaneously does a hard reset all by itself!!!

More stable? A couple of my friends just got their iPAQs and haven't had any crashes. If you think the IIIc is more stable, then you can have it!

RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/9/2000 9:54:38 PM #
Will it seams that the person who has had five IIIc's should my be think about goning to PocketPC spending alarg amount of money on a product line with three strike and your OUT!!!!

And if you can't count the PocketPC software line is so behind and so very few peolpe design software for it in the time frame of three years is it now and also why is it so hard to find good thinks to go with it.

I work in the retail "COMPUTERS" and Palm is getting everything on the market pluse 3 schools in USA with 3000 students using Palm with over 100,000 developers and with 580 peaces of color software and growing everyday also still bing about to use that software.

Your wright, it dose sound like Palm is going out the door! BULL!!!!

RE: Palm IIIc sucks!!!!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/10/2000 9:38:51 AM #
Three strikes and your out? Are you sure you aren't talking about the IIIc?

Considering that Palm will discontinue the IIIc, I'd say the iPAQ is a winner. After all, I don't see people paying nearly $1000 for Palm IIIc's on ebay!

IIIc wireless modem

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/7/2000 4:55:44 PM #
This really dissappointed me. I love my IIIC and wouldn't trade it for anything windows ce has to offer. I called Novatel and they told me about 2 months ago they were cancelling plans. Interstingly through at the Philapug meeting, we heard theri is going to be a big IIIc color push during the holidays. perhaps if the demand increases they will reconsider. What continues to amaze me is the juvemile vehemance of some people. If you don't like the IIIc or any other palm so be it. Same thing with the pocket pc and window PC line. The best handheld is the one that best suites your needs and pcoket book so for god sakes some of you grow up!

RE: Please Share What You Know
Ed @ 10/7/2000 6:13:08 PM #
When you all hear important things like this, please share them with the rest of us. Companies are always happy to trumpet their big plans but they are usually quiet about decisions that might be unpopular. If you learn something significant directly from a company that didn't make it into the Palm press, please use the "Contribute" link on the left side of every page or e-mail it to me at ed@palminfocenter.com. With your help, everyone can know what's going on.

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

E-mail Campaign?

Ed @ 10/7/2000 6:24:30 PM #
Any of you IIIc owners thinking about getting an e-mail writing campaign going to convince Novatel to start development again? They said they dropped it for lack of interest. Maybe they just didn't realize how much interest there was.

The only e-mail address I could find on their site is support@novatelwireless.com so I suggest you send your message there. If they are like most Support Desks, your e-mail will be logged and counted. If they get enough of them... who knows?

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm InfoCenter

RE: E-mail Campaign?
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/9/2000 12:48:27 PM #
I would be interested in participating in such a campaign. Please post info.

IIIc

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/7/2000 9:07:14 PM #
Gee, couple this with the "rumor" about a smaller, color V ( & dis-continuation of the OLD V), and it starts looking like the flagship Vx is the future of Palm.

Palm, please wake up!

aurora95 @ 10/8/2000 3:34:42 AM #
I just bought a new IIIc and just to find out Palm is not producing useful and necessary accessories to enhance their only colored device IIIc. I should have waited for a colored Visor instead. Palm should support all their product lines equally, including the IIIc.
They keep on putting out new hardware for the V and VII and leave the poor III series behind.

It's Novatel, Not Palm

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/8/2000 9:35:48 AM #
Novatel is the company cancelling the IIIc wireless modem, not Palm, 1nc. It's also not necessarily lack of interest (I'm sure many IIIc current owners have interest), it is also lack of demand for the IIIc itself. With only a small percentage of all Palm units being IIIc's, what incentive is there for Novatel to continue development? If you IIIc owners really want to get Novatel to restart this project, start convincing your friends to do as you did and shell out the bucks for a IIIc -now-. I think the difficulty here is the fact that there are several other new color/wireless options on the horizon.
RE: It's Novatel, Not Palm
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/8/2000 9:33:05 PM #
I think it's probably also a factor that Novatel's CDPD technology is not exactly state of the art. I was an Omnisky beta tester with my Vx and that's what I currently use, but I should also be able to connect over my Voicestream 8290 with the infrared port and Voicestream offers unlimited use (that would include my laptop) for only $30/month! I think I would have better coverage, also, though I'm sure there are some places that have better CDPD coverage.

I have all kinds of problems moving between areas with my CDPD modem also, it's common for me to go on a trip and have my modem not work for the whole time I'm there. Eventually tech support will get back to me and tell me is was some kind of routing table problem and it's cleared up, but by then I'm gone!

- Kevin Porter
kporter_dv@roux.com


PRICE REDUCTION!

Eddie Willers @ 10/8/2000 1:37:29 PM #
In a previous post I had mentioned selling my IIIc in favor of the up and coming Visor Prism. UPDATE: Get a Palm IIIc w/ Palm Navigator, Kodak Palm Pix, Silkyboard, Palm Glove, & Cradle for one low price! Was $400. NOW ALL THIS FOR JUST $375! Serious inquires only; eddiewillers@mail.com

Time to Step to the Plate!

Eddie Willers @ 10/8/2000 1:37:29 PM #
Thats right Palm, Inc. it is your duty to step up and produce a wireless option for those of us who have not YET abandoned you. The IIIc is my second Palm handheld, and could be my last if I do not have the options that I want or need. If your third party developers fail to produce, it is up to you to pick up the slack and keep your current & future customers satisfied. If not, it will be Handspring buying Palm in the next round of business mergers, and not the other way around.
RE: Time to Step to the Plate!
I.M. Anonymous @ 10/8/2000 4:45:04 PM #
I agree with you, dude! With all this talk of Pocket PCs and iPAQs, it's becoming clear that we are becoming tire of Palm. Face it, they don't do shit with the OS, and apparently adding features like MP3 audio to Palm handhelds violates the Zen of Palm philosophy. I am so damn sick of hear the same old "Keep it Simple" speeches fom Mark Bercow and Carl Yankowski! Yes, the Palm is simple. But get over it! It's time for our Palm devices to do something new and useful.

I just read an article at Smaller.com that pretty much sums it up in one sentence; "Message to Palm from your customers: "We made you....and we can break you!"

Hello, Palm? IS anyone home?

The iPAQ is looking better to me all the time. I'll wait to see what Handspring's new Prism has to offer, but since it runs on the Palm OS, how can we expect any improvements?

Re: Bitch 'n' Moan

Sabrina @ 10/9/2000 12:29:55 PM #
He/she's right, you know. There *are* more III series users than V series, so even lack of demand wouldn't be a good reason, like it might be with the Novatel wireless modem-IIIc issue. It's quite unforgivable to abandon such a large user base. If they were producing this for *only* the V series... but to produce a V model and a m100 model and pointedly leave out all the III form factor models is not cool.
Plus, it's a valid point that the V series is quite a bit younger and therefore has less accessories.
And the reason III series users can talk about going to Handspring/TRG is that they have the option. Correct me if i'm wrong, but most V/Vx owners bought their units for the size, so their only alternative is the C3. So what i'm saying is that it sucks to give up the nifty size of the V series for the range of accessories of the IIIs and have that advantage taken away.
RE: Re: Bitch 'n' Moan
porter @ 10/9/2000 1:17:36 PM #
Novatel has produced wireless modems for the Palm III series for a long time and I'm sure they will continue to do so, but the IIIc is not the same size as the rest of the III series, and would require an entirely different piece of hardware. The decision not to support it seems perfectly logical to me. The IIIc user base just doesn't provide enough of a payback to Novatel for tooling up machines to create an entirely new product.

Use a Minstrel III with a Palm IIIc

BillFugina @ 10/9/2000 3:40:39 PM #
A user at
http://www.palmstation.com/view_article.py?article=3070&flat_mode=1">PalmStation claims that Novatel told him that the Minstrel III modem can be used with a Palm IIIc if the top clip is removed from the modem. This voids the warrantee on the modem, but allows it to work with the IIIc.

Has anyone tried this? Has anyone gotten it to work?


RE: Use a Minstrel III with a Palm IIIc
BillFugina @ 10/9/2000 3:49:29 PM #
Here is the correct link to the comment on Palm Station:

http://www.palmstation.com/read_comment.py?comment=12208&article=3070

Oh C'mon!!

Alfredo Garcia @ 10/10/2000 4:41:10 PM #
You know that really sucks because i bought my lllc with the illusion of owning the first mobile color PDA. Does anybody know if some other company will make a wireless device for the lllc?

A

I.M. Anonymous @ 10/11/2000 12:07:14 AM #
Whatever device you choose, I hope it has a great spell checker.
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