1SRC Podcast SeventyTwo

[Alan G]

This week Jeff Kirvin and I wrap up the recent Palm OS news and add our usual banter and commentary. [details (http://www.1src.com/?m=show&id=1516)]

[Alan G]

My PC started acting up again while recording with TeamSpeak, so no, Jeff really isn't in an echo chamber.

Alan G

[Vampire Lestat]

I was all excited to hear Kirvin back on the podcast.

But as he said: "Palm OS II ... notice I say for SMARTPHONES, because handhelds are a dying breed."

Everytime he says that I feel like saying: "F you Kirvin!".

Even if it is true, which I don't think it is, just keep it to yourself. Try being constructive and positive instead. Let us handheld choosers enjoy our products.

I agree that most handhelds will eventually have cellular radios for telephone and/or high speed Internet, but I take objection to this Treo-only world.

[mad2fly]

I am going to ignore the last poster.

I am on the handheld side of things. I like having a separate cell and PDA. I would rather distribute the bulk instead of carrying one big brick. With my TX it is much more like a brick by its self than my T3 (yes I liked the slider). I know the TREO is not that much bigger but I think a TREO with a TX size screen would be much bigger. Now if they came out with a large screen TREO with a slider then maybe I'd think about a smart phone.

It seems to me that the smart phone dominance has been a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. There has been a lot more marketing for and emphasis put on the TREO than I've seen on palm handhelds in a long time if ever. A large chunk of that marketing has been on the part of the cell carriers but it appeared that Palm said, well smartphones are going to be the future so lets make them the future and forget about handhelds.

[Karlz]

OK so I got goonet.com out of it, but can ya try to work on that ECHOOOOOOO next time? :eek:

Karl
www.justsayok.net

[Jimmie Geddes]

Great podcast as usual. I carry a Treo and an iPod, sometimes 2 (video and nano) so I'm on your side Alan. Why run down the battery of my Treo to listen to music that sounds so much better, and was made to use on like my iPod. I'm all for converged devices, but you can't substitute an iPod.

Alan glad you're finally coming to Sprintm you are going to love it. I am looking forward to the 700p as well. I got to review a sPRINT PPC-6700 running Windows Moible 5, and you guys all know I am a Palm fan, but the 6700 tempted me to jump ship. Multitasking makes sense to me after using this device, and it's not slow like I am used to with Windows Mobile. I decided to stick with my Treo 650, and send the 6700 back. I am a "Treo slut" (good one Alan). There are things about Windows Mobile that I see we r still back in the day with Palm OS, but I am still a Palm guy.

I wrote a review at my site in case any of you guys want to check it out. The 6700 came so close to making me jump ship.

http://gadgetsonthego.net/2006/04/grass-is-beginning-to-look-greener.html

See you guys at the chat saturday night.

[Vampire Lestat]

By the way,

I want to thank Alan for his moderate position that handhelds might at least possibly play a role in the future and be a viable market.

I know it will. When some people claim with great conviction that handhelds are dead, obsolete, etc, or when they go on to promote the virtues of the Treo 700w, all they are doing is contributing to creating doubt in the mind of consumers. And remember, when users stop buying Palms or see it surrounded in negativity, they also stop visiting this web site, stop listening to podcasts, stop joining chat, etc.

People have been claiming Palm and Palm OS are dead for years now. Still alive though, so go figure.

Handhelds have a huge role to play hereon forever imho.

Jeff, I apologize if I hurt your feelings with the F word.

Alan, you do a good podcast in the genre a true Palm OS enthusiast should be doing. I see the site activity is slowing down a bit, but stay the course, things will pick up.

Palm OS is the superior mobile experience, and if Palm Inc keeps it in Palm OS II, and stops super promoting the Treo 700w, then it has a bright long term future.

It would be interesting that in your next podcast you discuss what Palm OS II means for Palm OS, the pim. Does Palm Inc have legal rights to heart and soul (layers and gui) of Palm OS? I dont think so. So Palm OS II would have to be totally different; or does it? Who owns graffiti 2, the launch bar, the onscreen writing technology, the menu styles, the launch pad styles, etc.

[Alan G]

There are things about Windows Mobile that I see we r still back in the day with Palm OS, but I am still a Palm guy.

I know. I have an iPAQ in addition to my Palm devices. The iPAQ tempted me to switch from my m505 to the iPAQ, but in end, I stayed with Palm and I'm happy about it.

Alan G

[Alan G]

I want to thank Alan for his moderate position that handhelds might at least possibly play a role in the future and be a viable market.

You're welcome. As it has been pointed out elsewhere, The Palm handheld is a low cost device for Palm to build and support due to it's product maturity. I suspect we'll continue to see Palm handhelds at least until 2009 when the license for Garnet expires. Until then, we'll see a low end device line the Z22 and a mid-range device like the TX which will support entry-level business customers and consumers alike.

As for "Palm OS II", I suspect that Palm still owns more than you'd think. The new PIM applications (Tungsten T3 and later) are a Palm creation. The status bar? Palm. Screen rotation? Palm. CMDA stack on the Treo? Palm. Graffiti? Probably ACCESSS. Graffiti 2? Not sure. I belive that if Palm wrote the enhancement, feature, or software application/utility, they own the code and that should allow them to port that app to the new OS they are building. I'm also sure that Palm will be able to license the UI elements for their new OS or just build their own new interface since Palm does have the Father of Palm OS, Rob Haitani, on the payroll.

Alan G

[ewah]

Hey Alan you mentioned that nobody knows how many apps and what you can do with a palm besides the basic calendar, phonebook. I'd say stop talking about the treo and start talking about all of the thousands of programs you can install and use. Then maybe more people would understand the difference between palm and windows mobile. I for one don't care how many treo's there are I'm never going to care about them, I like having two devices and would rather have you spend time on new releases, and new capabilities of all palm's instead of 30 minutes of how in love everyone is with treo. It is a big yawn.

tim

[lchiu7]

This was the first Podcast from 1src that I have listened to and found it interesting.

I also am in the situation of having two units. A Clie NX60 as my PDA and a Sony Ericcson P910i as my phone. The phone is supplied by work. I sync appointments with Outlook, check corporate mail and use it as a phone! But for most other tasks I prefer my Clie. The Clie has both a CD Wifi card and a BT memory stick.

I use the Clie for my personal diary, address book, e-mail (personal) with Wifi or BT from the Clie to the phone and most importantly as a video player. I convert and store TV shows on a 1G MS which I watch on the road (while the children are having swimming lessons, piano lessons, in the mall etc.!) I looked at the P910i video capabilities and they are not that great - the screen is too small and the video is block and jerky.

Having two phones also means in the weekend I can take out the SIM card from the 910i and slot it into a much smaller phone (I use the T610) and still do my mobile comms over BT.

Would I ever move to a single smart phone? I guess only if they develop one with a good enough screen to do mobile video plus all the other PDA functions I use. The Treo 700p looks intriguing but the screen appears to be too small also