Whatever happened to Palm OS powered PDAs?

[mcs328]

They used to be all the rage a few years back but have quietly disappeared. I like them because it's a glorified pen and paper to keep addresses, notes and schedules and other small utilities programs you could buy or dowload for free. Ever since Sony killed the Clie I haven't heard anything new. Has Windows mobile taken over this 'market'?

[ribitch]

the pda market kind of dies. If you go to any office supply store or compusa, they will have next to nothing in stock. I bought an iPaq in the past week, and had to drive all over the place to find someplace that had one in stock. I ended up with a DOA model, so i switched to the higher end model, and ended up having to take the floor model.

There have also been rumors that dell will be leaving the market.

I think the Treos and Blackberry's are winning the war, otherwise everyone is shopping online rather than in the store.

I used to own a Handspring Visor Deluxe, until the LCD cracked. I then waited until 2003 and bought a Zaurus, which collected dust until this summer, when I sold it. My wife got an Axim for christmas, and now I just got an iPaq for my new job.

Oh, I guess this is the official announcement for the new job. I took a position as a network admin for a fortune 500 company here in d-town.

[Devhux]

Dell leaving the PDA market? Gee, it wouldn't be because of the "super" job they did with the Windows Mobile 5 upgrade for the x50 and/or the x51 now, would it? :P

(Last I checked on Aximsite, there were TONS of problems with the WM5 upgrade -- way more than HP).

[_=DeltaForce=_]

Pocket PC PDA phone is the way to Go!

[jstreet]

I've got an AudioVox SMT 5600 & a Palm Treo 700w, both running Windows Mobile. I like it a lot better than Palm and it's disturbingly good at integrating with Windows and Office (well duh, it's all MS products). Call me a Microsoftie but it makes my life 10x easier... I don't think I could live without Windows Mobile these days.

Re the deadness of Palm, I heard they're making a 700p (with Palm's OS) but ehh, whatEVER ;)

[seqiro]

PalmOS is being replaced with the Access Linux Platform by PalmSource.

http://ces.engadget.com/2006/02/14/palm-os-5-rip-access-linux-platform-alp-hello-beautiful/

[neutral]

Oh, I guess this is the official announcement for the new job. I took a position as a network admin for a fortune 500 company here in d-town.

Hey, congrats on the job!

[mcs328]

So excuse my noobness...but does Window Mobile use QWERTY input +/- stylus input? I had a Handpsring Visor Edge a long time ago until the screen cracked. I'm in the market I guess for either a PDA stand alone or Blackberry type phone or the one Ben has.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

mcs328 do you mean by drawing letters and it recognizes it?? You can write wors on the screen and it recognizes it too...

[Devhux]

If you get a device like the Treo, it has a little QWERTY keyboard like the Blackberry. If you just get a PDA though, more than likely it will just use the stylus (I think HP offers -- or did offer one with a little keyboard on the bottom).

[jstreet]

So excuse my noobness...but does Window Mobile use QWERTY input +/- stylus input? I had a Handpsring Visor Edge a long time ago until the screen cracked. I'm in the market I guess for either a PDA stand alone or Blackberry type phone or the one Ben has.It comes in two flavors. My Audiovox doesn't have a stylus and it has just the regular numeric keypad (T9 input and the like). The Treo 700w comes with a stylus, but they put a lot of work into making it a one-handed device (so you wouldn't have to use it). In general, they succeed, though there are just some things it's hard if not impossible to do without it (resize frames, scroll slowly, etc). Like's been pointed out, it also has a tiny, but surprisingly useful, keyboard ala BlackBerry.

[bachviet]

Even Palm powered PDA goes with Windows Mobile nowaday (Palm Treo 700W). I plan to get the T-Mobile SDA cell phone (Windows Mobile 5).

[hapoo]

I personally prefer wm5 over pos (i have an axim and a treo), but the 700w is a disapointment. Whats up with the resolution? the 6700/MDA looks much nicer. I'm looking forward to the 700p though. I want my evdo!

[ribitch]

PocketPC systems are starting to move towards the Treo type design. Look for more in that form factor in the coming months. I am guessing they realized the PocketPC phone blew, so they are going to reinvent it (copy the Treo 700w)

[jstreet]

Your avatar made me wonder if its an area Apple will get into. They've been great so far with style and form, though I hope they didn't have much control over the horrorshow Motorola iTunes phone.

[Merlin]

though I hope they didn't have much control over the horrorshow Motorola iTunes phone.
They made sure the memory on the phone was limited so you couldn't have too many songs stored. Didn't want the phone competing with the ipod.

[LegendKiller]

I have been tossing around the idea of getting a Treo 650 or a Cingular 8125 with Wm 5.0. I don't really like Verizon so the 700w is out until late this year.

[jstreet]

I've heard good things about the Cingular 8125 - they halved the processor speed which is why I think the battery situation that's plaguing the Verizon and Sprint counterparts isn't as much of a problem. If work hadn't sprung for the Treos I'd probably have upgraded my (Cingular) SMT5600 to it.

I am bummed that Cingular doesn't have any phones on their hi-speed network tho. It'll be pretty sweet when Slingbox releases its mobile phone client but Cingular's lagging.

[LegendKiller]

I am bummed that Cingular doesn't have any phones on their hi-speed network tho. It'll be pretty sweet when Slingbox releases its mobile phone client but Cingular's lagging.


I thought EDGE was their hi-speed network?

I am so confused...

[jstreet]

EDGE is their kinda high-speed network. HDSPA or HSDPA, I never get it right, is the really high-speed network meant to compete with EVDO on the Sprint and Verizon side.

[LegendKiller]

Will current phones, like the 8125, be upgraded to the newer network?

[jstreet]

Not that I'm aware of, I don't think it's possible just to do it with software. They've got PC cards that take advantage but no phones yet I don't think... not WM at least.

[eSDee]

I personally prefer wm5 over pos (i have an axim and a treo), but the 700w is a disapointment. Whats up with the resolution? the 6700/MDA looks much nicer. I'm looking forward to the 700p though. I want my evdo!

:stupid: This is exactly what I am waiting for also. My Treo 600 has taken a beating, but hopefully it will last long enough for the 700p to come out. EVDO should be nice.


Your avatar made me wonder if its an area Apple will get into. They've been great so far with style and form, though I hope they didn't have much control over the horrorshow Motorola iTunes phone.

I heard a rumor not too long ago that they were going to buy Palm. Anyone heard any update on that story? I think it would be a great idea. Video iChat on your phone should be possible using the EVDO network as long as the OS supports it.

[_=DeltaForce=_]

The T-mobile MDA is an awesome pocket PC phone for T-mobile...

If you are interested in a smartphone or pocket pc phone, I will recommend browsing www.imate.com. they dont sell phones directly but you can buy it off ebay or from an online retailer. The service center is in FL and they pay for shipping..

[jstreet]

Meant to post this earlier.

Why 240x240 and not 320x320? (http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2006/02/14/531972.aspx)

[Jeffbx]

Your avatar made me wonder if its an area Apple will get into. They've been great so far with style and form, though I hope they didn't have much control over the horrorshow Motorola iTunes phone.

From the 'been there, done that' department -

Anyone remeber the Apple Newton? They were about 5 years too soon for their time: http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,54580,00.html

http://www.oldschool.net/newton/papers/mp130.jpg

I'd be kinda surprised if they didn't have another look at this type of product.

[jstreet]

Hah, yea, I remember the Newton. A friend had one. Man, I feel old...

[hapoo]

newtons kicked ass. my brothers friend had every single model. the software was very nice to work with. The one feature i really love that i miss is that you could "scratch" out words and they would disappear in a puff of smoke.

[ribitch]

http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilecomputing/pdas/0,39028789,40060760,00.htm


According to Hewlett-Packard (HP), the traditional pen-based PDA market will evaporate within the next four years without significant product innovation. The company will therefore continue to focus the majority of its handheld efforts on converged smart phone devices, relegating its traditional PDAs to the entry-level consumer and SMB markets.

At its "magical mobility launch" event in Hong Kong this week, HP's Vice-President for Consumer Products and Mobile Business Group in the Asia-Pacific region, Chin-Teik SEE, told CNET.com.au that "the pen-based [handheld market] is shrinking at a rate of 30 percent year-on-year."

"There's still a market... it's small, but it's still there," Chin-Teik said, citing "entry-level PDA" buyers and SMBs as the primary sources of demand for the sector.

"We are still committed to the pen-based classic PDA product segment... although it's not growing," said Chin-Teik, and as a result HP "is looking more to the converged space" going forward.

This won't come as a surprise to many, as HP hasn't given its traditional pen-based product line a refresh since the launch of the iPAQ hx4700 towards the middle of 2004. It released the iPAQ rx1950 in September of last year, but this was very much an entry-level product and made few waves among the high-end, tech-savvy consumers that dominate the PDA segment.

At the other end of the PDA spectrum, HP continues to add to its rapidly expanding smart phone lineup. At the launch event this week the company added two new products to this range, the iPAQ rw6800 and the iPAQ hw6900 (CNET.com.au will be publishing first takes of these products shortly). Both are based on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system and both offer push-email capabilities -- a direct move into the BlackBerry's territory -- however, the former is being marketed as a portable entertainment device while the latter is more data-oriented. Some of the standout multimedia features on the rw6800 include a built-in 2.0 mega-pixel camera, FM tuner, MP3 playback software and dual stereo speakers.

According to Chin-Teik, HP will continue to look for ways to "redefine the [pen-based PDA] category," but it's safe to say that smart phones will be the company's primary focus -- as far as handhelds are concerned -- for the foreseeable future.

[Cheesypuff]

I just now sold my visor platinum! that thing held up all through college! I took many of notes on that targus foldable keyboard. anywho... that is all.

[Devhux]

I have fond memories of the Visor Deluxe w/Targus foldable keyboard -- that was actually one of my first product reviews ever (back when I did this). Really liked the Visor in its day.

[LegendKiller]

Cingular now has the 3G UMTS LG and Samsung phones for sale.

Now I am really torn.

I like the 8125 and can get a nice deal (65 with emp discount with 2yr contract and data contract all with a 25% overall discount).

Or, I can get the new LG phone, which looks nice.

8125 is nice because it has the keyboard, WM, outlook, larger screen, plus the good contract terms and PDA qualities.

LG phone is nice because 3G (3-4x as fast as EVDO). Still has some email/im (through stylus or what???).


Decisions decisions...

[jstreet]

So many standards... keep in mind though that UMTS won't be that fast:


Actual results from the field that show throughput rates nearly identical to the predictions previously outlined in the Rysavy Research-prepared 3G Americas' white paper Data Capabilities: GSM Evolution to UMTS published in 2002. EDGE more than triples GPRS data throughputs, delivering typical rates of 100-130 kbps.
UMTS is spectrally efficient for high-data throughput services, offering average data rates of 220-320 kbps and very low latency.
UMTS ? HSDPA is expected to provide average speeds of 550-1100 kbps, with even lower latency than UMTS.
Globally, there is accelerating momentum in the deployment of EDGE and UMTS as complementary 3G technologies.
Operators deploying the GSM family of technologies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA) can efficiently use their available spectrum resources for both voice and data services simultaneously.
The white paper Data Capabilities: GPRS to HSDPA is currently available for free download at the 3G Americas' website: www.3gamericas.org. http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/Sept2004/8348.htm

Edit - just found this page too, cleared it up a bit for me: http://www.jiwire.com/cellular-data-introduction.htm

[LegendKiller]

Cingular is quoting the new 3G UMTS phone at 400-700 kbps.