Do You Believe In Magic?

No, I’m not talking about the song; I’m talking about the rumors of Palm’s latest smartphone, the “Gandolf.”   Gandalf (slightly different spelling), as you may recall, is also the popular white wizard from J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.   I have to wonder if Palm is trying to conjure up some magic with this rumored new device.    

What we think we know

The news of the supposed existence of Gandolf started appearing late last week on Palm enthusiast websites.   As near as I can tell, the blog Morning Paper broke the story.   The first thing to hit you is that the Gandolf looks different from any of the past Treo smartphones.   The screen appears more rectangular than square, there is a button bar with a LifeDrive-like D-ring navigator, and the standard Treo keyboard.   The Gandolf looks like a mash-up of the Treo and the Z22.

The rumors also hint that the Gandolf will come in a Palm OS (likely Palm OS 5) and Windows Mobile flavor.   The pictures that have been posted, which very well may be “Photoshopped”, are also in two colors: white and black.   Because Gandolf is suppose to be a low cost device, the rumors also state that the Windows Mobile device won’t have a touch screen as all previous Treo devices.   The rest of the rumors talk about standard features of the Treo (SD card slot being replaced with Micro SD , camera, and Bluetooth).

Let wild speculation begin

While the Gandolf may be real, we need to reserve final judgment until an official announcement is made.   Many of us were left felling let down to learn that the Palm “Hawk” was the Palm Foleo and that it wasn’t a uber-PDA device to counter the tide of the iPhone.   (I actually like the Foleo a lot.)

Palm’s executives have, on different occasions, hinted at the fact the Palm was experimenting with new form factor designs and that they wanted a fuller range of devices with a multi-tiered pricing structure.   A low cost Treo would help round out that vision with Gandolf at the low end, the Treo 680 and 755p squarely in the middle of the line up, and the rumored Treo 770, 800w, and 800p holding down the high-end market.

A mix of form factors, cellular radios, operating systems, and applications should give even the pickiest of Palm’s customers a device that will work well for them.  

In previous editorials and podcasts, I have speculated that a “ very low cost platform ” could be a Treo that looks like flip phones from Motorola that run Palm OS 5, don’t have a touch screen, and can synchronize the PIMs with either Palm Desktop or Microsoft Outlook.   While that may still happen, it would seem that the Gandolf looks more like it could fill the very low cost price point nicely if the Internet rumors prove to be true.    

In conclusion

Palm finds itself at a vital crossroad.   They are juggling a number of high profile hardware and software projects that can’t afford to be wrong out of the gate.   Currently on their plate is the Foleo Mobile Companion launch later this summer.   There is also the MyPalm portal and Palm Backup application in the works.   And Palm is also working on a Linux-based OS, which I’ve been calling Palm OS II, for use in their Treo smartphones.

Palm will need to focus an enormous amount of quality testing to avoid the sins of recent Palm OS 5.4.x devices.   These issues include such problems as application lag, Bluetooth connectivity issues, and battery life problems.   In short, Palm needs to ensure that Palm OS II and the rest of their software works well out of the gate.   If any bugs are discovered after the initial product launch, Palm should have a team whose job it is to test and address these issues in a timely manner.   (Please, no more Treo 700p MR sagas.)   And there are the inevitable changes that are coming as part of the Elevation Partners $325 million re-capitalization agreement announced last week.

Palm’s project plate is full; there is no question about it.   If the Gandolf is real, Palm needs to get that device out in the hands of some of the users in the target market and get their feedback.   Palm needs to make sure that if Gandolf ships, it is done correctly with no usability or stability issues.   If Palm pays attention to detail, I don’t see why rumored devices like the Gandolf and the Treo 800w can’t be winners.   Palm employs some very talented people and is an innovative company.   However their attention seems to be divided between hardware and software efforts.   Their hardware house seems to be in order.   Now it is time to focus on the software.   If they do that, Gandolf can conjure up some magic for Palm.

What are your thoughts of the rumored Gandolf device?   Let us know in the 1SRC forums.