Quickies: NR70V, Stocks, SJ20, ZLauncher, KeyContacts

PC Mall is offering the Sony NR70V for $500, which is $100 off the list price. Click on "Buy Now!" to get the reduced price. -2palm

For some reason, Palm's stock went up almost 40% yesterday, rising from 71 cents to 99 cents. Scuttlebutt is this was caused by rumors that Palm will be bought out by Dell, Sony, or Apple. Handspring's shares went up about 28%. -Ed

Despite Sony's statement last week that the SJ20 would be in retail stores on Monday, August 19, the device doesn't appear to be on sale anywhere but SonyStyle, which says the SJ20 will be available on or before August 28. -Ed

ZLauncher 1.0 is a new application launcher and file manager from ZZTechs. It supports hi-res, VFS memory cards, and jog wheels. It costs $12. -spacebar

Chapura has released KeyContacts 1.1, an update to its app that lets users of Microsoft Outlook carry more of their detailed Contact information on their handhelds. The new version can display all populated contact information fields in the “View” screen, without entering “Edit” mode. In addition, phone numbers and e-mail addresses in KeyContacts are now searchable from other applications. Also, smartphone users can dial a phone number from inside KeyContacts. It is $25 and version 1.1 is a free upgrade for current users. -PR

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12-bit screens a positive thing!

I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 8:38:38 AM #
Obviously Palm stock is up on the news that the m130 uses a 12-bit screen instead of a 16-bit screen. I really don't know why PIC readers thing it is a bad thing :-)
Enlighten us...
costein @ 8/23/2002 8:43:58 AM #
as to why you think that a screen res has to do with stock movement...?

costein
RE: 12-bit screens a positive thing!
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 10:10:12 AM #
come on! The first poster was obviously joking.
RE: 12-bit screens a positive thing!
Token User @ 8/23/2002 11:44:37 AM #
I'd have thought the connection was obvious ... using a 12bit screen instead of a 16bit screen saves 25% bits per screen, which equates to Palm effectively getting every 5th screen free.

Now, that is cost cutting at its finest. I am glad that the stock prices reflect the internal restructuring and cost cuting measures Palm Inc have put in place.

RE: 12-bit screens a positive thing!
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 3:01:01 PM #
That's hilarious

palm stock goes up

I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 8:42:57 AM #
because it went down in recent weeks for no good reason. It went down because Palm announced a reverse stock split and because they were taken out of the S&P. Thus they were down for reasons not related to their buisiness.
RE: palm stock goes up
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 8:53:48 AM #
This is the first I've heard that Dell is a possibility for buying Palm. I don't want them owning PalmSource 'cause that should be independent but it would be great if Dell owned the hardware side.

I don't want Sony buying it because then there would be few handhelds available and less competition.

Apple is OK I guess but it scares me that Apple had a great handheld platform in the past (Newton) and dropped it. I don't want Apple to have a bad couple of quarters in Mac sales and suddenly they don't make Palms any more because they are short on cash.

RE: Additional Review Comments
EdwardGreen @ 8/23/2002 9:01:19 AM #
If sony bought Palms Hardware business then they would maintain the Palm brand because of its unique market presence. Think SonyPalm as in SonyEricsson.

As for Apple, rumour has it that they will rebadge the Sony Ericsson device which looks really really really nice.

http://tinyurl.com/14p8


-
kHiTeDev

buyout
jayhawk88 @ 8/23/2002 9:39:20 AM #
Wow, there's a new one! Palm...to be bought out by another company? Never heard that one before ;)

I wouldn't put too much into the Dell rumor. Dell's sort of like the Apple of the PC world: every time a peripheral company of any kind comes up as a possible acquisition target, Dell's name is usually first on the list.

I´m happy, that Microsoft isn´t a candidate
Schorsch @ 8/23/2002 9:50:13 AM #
I vote for Sony:-)

No matter who comes, anyone else, except Bill Gates, will do a better Job as the managment of Palm.

May be Handera will catch the fisch?????


Georg

RE: palm stock goes up
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 9:59:32 AM #
Sony didn't buy Ericsson. Sony and Ericsson created a join-venture between Ericsson Mobile Communications and Sony's mobile phone division, whatever it is named.
Palm to Apple
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 10:05:18 AM #
Apple makes Newton. Apple ditches Newton.
Apple hires Gassée. Apple fires Gassée.
Gassée creates Be. Be creates BeOS.
Palm buys Be. ¡Apple buys Palm!

(cut in music ...)
Ring around the roooosy,
a pocket full of pooosies,
ashes, ashes ¡WE ALL FALL DOWN!"
(cut out)

RE: palm stock goes up
ardee @ 8/23/2002 10:36:28 AM #
Sony seems like such a likely buyer. (Dell seems sort of out of the blue.) Sony makes numerous very fine Palm OS devices already and is a large but innovative international corporation -- why not control the standard for the platform?


RE: palm stock goes up
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 11:04:00 AM #
Palm is not going to be bought by any company,
especially PalmSource.
PalmSource needs to maintain a neutral stand
among all its licensees.

The chances are Sony, Apple, might invest money
in PalmSource. But it should not be a dominat
position.

ted

RE: palm stock goes up
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 11:17:07 AM #
believe me out of all 3 companies, only sony got the slightest intention to buy palm.
RE: palm stock goes up
EdwardGreen @ 8/23/2002 12:19:11 PM #
"Sony didn't buy Ericsson."

I was refering to a marketing POV. Why else would Sony want Palm apart for the brand name?

-
kHiTeDev

ZLauncher

I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 8:49:10 AM #
Excellent start, but why can't I hide tabs! I hate the "All" and "Unfiled" categories, I want them hidden

but support for the treo's jogdial is nice!

RE: ZLauncher
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 8:57:40 AM #
It does need work, but... Yea! All and Unfiled tabs. Just what I needed that others wouldn't/couldn't provide.
RE: ZLauncher
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 10:14:05 AM #
Very impressive for a first release!
If you're tired of waiting for Launcher X...
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 12:38:55 PM #
This looks like a lot of what Launcher X is supposed to be, possibly with a little more, and may prove to be a little cheaper in the end as well.

I've been running Launcher III for the last 6 months (the free ad-supported version, not the shareware version at $9.95), and would gladly have paid the price for Launcher X, but at $12 for ZLauncher (with a 30 day trial), I may throw my money in another direction...

JS

NR70V

I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 11:37:46 AM #
Looks like PCMall isn't the only one that does the same - I just checked out ecost.com and, similarly, it's $499, buydig.com is $506, etc.
RE: NR70V
volcanopele @ 8/23/2002 11:55:54 AM #
I am planning on getting an NR70V next week. Has anyone purchased anything from PCMall and if so how would you rate their service?

Jason

RE: NR70V phase out?
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/23/2002 11:57:34 AM #
Is this an early sign that it will be discontinued soon? Isn't its Sony standard, six-month product lifespan about up?
RE: NR70V
Ed @ 8/23/2002 12:09:51 PM #
I've just posted an article with more evidence that Sony may be close to phasing out the NR series:
www.palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=4070

---
News Editor

SJ20 in SonyStyle store in Wellington New Zealand

nzjss @ 8/23/2002 7:00:00 PM #
Costing NZ$599 including local taxes (where NZ$=approx 46 US cents)
My first impressions are:
It looks small but is very deep/thick (30% more volume that the T665)
The screen looks coloured at first glance but this is the grey shades looking bluish.
The grafitti area is a lot bigger than the cramped 665.
When viewing gMovie videos on the SJ20 the screen looks a blurry mess compared to the 665/NR70v.
The new buttons are so much nicer that my 665 but still not as user friendly as the M500/515.
The ON button is in the logical area at the top where you reach for the improved (but still a skinny stick)black stylus.
Overall it seems good value for the price (where the T665 is NZ$1199 with our sales Tax.)

RE: SJ20 now REMOVED in Wellington New Zealand
I.M. Anonymous @ 8/25/2002 11:29:03 PM #
Today the SJ20 has been removed from the shelves and the price label is gone!
Staff say it was recalled to the distributor Sony NZ
Whats hapenning ??
nzjss

Unrelated

PIC mobile user @ 8/24/2002 6:43:27 PM #
I have a Handsping T90 and am wondering if anyone has information about Palm SD cards (particularly the bluetooth card) adapting to Handspring units .

James W. (Houston,TX.)
RE: Unrelated (Treo 90)
Ed @ 8/25/2002 3:17:28 AM #
Rumor has it Handspring will be releasing a software patch for the Treo 90 that will allow it to use SDIO, which means it will be able to use the Palm Bluetooth card. However, I seem to remember there being a question about whether Palm would release the drivers for said Bluetooth card.. Hopefully this has been ironed out.

So the answer is, not right now but possibly in the future.

---
News Editor

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