The PDA Rebooted

After being told for year that the handheld PDA market is in decline, are technology vendors finally realizing that some customers really just want a great handheld?

A Mature Business

The Personal Digital Assistant, or PDA, took hold in the mid 1990s with the introduction of Palm’s Pilot.  There had been other attempts at a PDA, most notably, the Apple Newton.  It was the Pilot, however, that was really the first commercial success.  Since that time, a number of players have come and go from the PDA market.  Palm and HP are still around, after gobbling up Handspring and Compaq respectively.  Apple left the market, as did Sony and Casio.  Dell hung in longer than most.  And Handera changed their focus away from PDA hardware solutions.

PDAs remained popular into the early 2000s until PDA and cellular phone combinations, often referred to as smartphones, started to take off.  Once again, Palm was a pioneer in this market space.  The interesting thing about the PDA space is the level of devotion to a technology platform.  There are scores of customers who have found the device that works best for them and they haven’t moved on to a smartphone.  People have been particularly loyal to the Palm Tungsten T3, the Treo 650, and the Sony Clie TH-55.  As we approached the 10-year mark for the PDA, many of the PDA companies either left the market space or changed their PDA product lines for smartphone.

Rather than being left out in the cold by the vendors, many PDA owners turned to secondary markets for new devices and upgrades.  I know of many people in the Palm user community who have a second or even third backup device for when their everyday organizer fails.  Are these customers rebels without out a cause or, are they, as Billy Joel might say, “keepin’ the faith?”

What Goes Around Comes Around

As we start 2008, industry analysts keep telling us that the traditional PDA organizer has gone the way of the dinosaur.  Today’s customers favor the smartphone with it’s persistent connection to the Internet.  But a funny thing has happened.  The PDA is still with us, and vendors are showing interest in that platform again.

After getting out of the PDA business, HP has come roaring back into the game with a pair of new devices.  The HP iPAQ 111 Classic Handheld has everything a PDA lover would want in a device: the latest Windows Mobile operating system, a fast processor, a fair amount of persistent storage memory, lots of expansion possibilities, and Wi-Fi.  For people who need even more power while on the go, the HP iPAQ 210 Enterprise Handheld should fit the bill nicely.  The iPAQ 210 offers a larger battery, more storage, and a high resolution screen.

HP isn’t the only company that is taking a second look at the traditional PDA.  Nokia’s N-series Internet tablets gains PDA utility when the Garnet VM from ACCESS is installed.  The Garnet VM adds the familiar Garnet operating system (a.k.a. Palm OS 5) to Nokia N-series devices.  This gives Nokia customers immediate access to the Garnet PIM applications and the thousands of applications written for the Palm OS platform.  While adoption of this device seems to be slow among customers who prefer stand-alone PDAs, it does offer a persuasive alternative to the Palm TX in terms of media and Internet capabilities.  And customers don’t have to give up their investment in their library of Garnet applications.

Lastly, Apple needs to be considered when talking about the PDA 2.0.  Apple recently held a quarterly conference call in which Apple officials outlined a new focus for the iPod Touch as something more than just a media player.  (See AppleInsider.com for details.)

When I see Apple making changes to product focus like this, it becomes clear that the iPod Touch as changed from being just an iPod to the Newton 2.0, and so Apple comes full circle.  Touch customers can now purchase the iPhone software package for $20.  This software update adds the Mail, Stocks, Maps, Weather, and Notes applications in addition to the simply amazing Safari web browser already installed on iPod.  In recent 1SRC chats, some members discounted the $20 software upgrade as being a ploy for the greedy Apple to generate more money for shareholders.  I disagree.  Yes, you could “jailbreak” or crack the underlying Mac OS X operating system to download and install the iPhone software for “free”.  Alternatively, for that $20 you not only get the new software, you also obtain it legally, and more importantly, are provided with a user-friendly method for installing the software.  This is a much easier process than having to hack the device and running the risk of damaging it.

“So what?” you might be asking.  I believe that this is just another public step by Apple showing us that software is coming to Apple’s mobile platform.  Think about Apple’s vision for the Newton 10-12 years ago, and how that vision is now being fully realized in a popular mainstream device.

So where does that leave Palm?  Part of the customer dissatisfaction with Palm is this apparent lack of attention to their PDA customers.  You can still buy a Palm Z22, Tungsten E2, and the TX, yet Palm hasn’t focused on those devices in a very long time.  Many would argue that the Palm TX could be positioned as an alternative to the iPod Touch and the Nokia N-series devices.  To make the Palm TX a viable competitor, Palm would need to do three things:

• Add the latest versions of VersaMail and Blazer
• Add the latest versions of Pocket Tunes Deluxe and DataViz Documents To Go
• Add the FAT32 and SDHC drivers from the Treo

That would be it.  With those small changes, the TX could be seen as a whole new device.  I would be more than happy to pay $20 for an upgrade like that.  Think about it.  With SDHC support, customers would be able to use the new 16GB cards with their Palm.  That would put the TX on equal footing with the iPod Touch in terms of storage.  The TX can already do many of the same things as the Touch in terms of software.

In Conclusion

It is hard to know right now if this renewed interest in PDAs is genuine or just a way for vendors to get refreshed product out into the hands of customers who don’t subscribe to the idea of a converged device.

Apple, HP, and Nokia are stretching a hand out to Palm’s customer base by offering Internet connected media devices that also have standard PDA features built-in.  Having talked to folks in the community message boards, there is still a desire to have a device that is decoupled from a cell phone.  Is Palm resigned to the retirement of their PDA business in favor of the smartphone?  Maybe.  Palm has some serious issues to deal with this year.  If Palm OS II/Nova is not completed and certified by wireless carriers for release on devices in early 2009, the company will be, in my opinion, seriously compromised.  To focus resources on refreshing the TX now would be a mistake.  The opportunity to update the Palm TX would have been in 2007.

Do Internet devices like the Nokia N-series devices and the iPod Touch have the features to make you switch from your Palm PDA?  Do you see HP’s latest iPAQs as a better solution?  Let us know in the 1SRC forums.