New Year’s Resolutions

With all eyes on Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein and his senior management team in 2008, here are some New Year’s resolutions the company might take under consideration.

Closing the Books on 2007

2007 was a tough year for Palm.  Earnings were down for two consecutive quarters.  The Treo 755p failed to meet the target delivery date for the crucial holiday shopping season for carrier partner Verizon Wireless.  The Foleo mobile companion was cancelled just weeks before it was due to begin shipping.  No new handheld PDAs were shipped.  And Palm CEO Ed Colligan suggested that the new Linux-based operating system, “Palm OS II” as I call it, would not appear on devices until 2009.

There have been a few successes for Palm.  The new Centro smartphone has been a hit.  Currently available only from Sprint and in black onyx and ruby red, there are rumors of the imminent release of a new pink Centro on Sprint and the launch of a white GSM Centro on AT&T Wireless.  And Palm sold about 27% of the company to private equity firm Elevation Partners.

Looking Ahead to 2008

This New Year, Palm should consider the following resolutions:

1. Drive “Palm OS II” to Completion

The single largest liability for Palm right now is the age of its Palm OS 5 operating system.  The current code base that powers the Treo 680, 755p, and Centro was never really intended to power smartphones.  The new Linux operating system needs to be completed this year and certified by Palm’s major wireless carrier partners.

Some of the features that customers will be looking for in Palm OS II include:
• a true multitasking operating system (voice and data at the same time)
• an updated modular user interface that still preserves Palm’s ease of use
• robust file management tools that will interact with other Palm devices
• robust web browser and email client
• support for multiple active wireless radios (cellular, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi)

2. Deliver on New Hardware Designs

Palm has been using the same Treo form factor since 2003 with only minor stylistic design changes.  Internalizing the antenna on the Treo was a good first start.  The Centro shows that Palm is warming up to the idea of new form factors.  In 2008, I would like to see a new redesigned Treo smartphone that gets people excited about Palm’s products again.  The two most common form factor requests I keep hearing are slimmer devices and converting the Palm TX handheld into smartphone.  (Ever wonder what would have happened if Palm released a “TX smartphone” before Apple released the iPhone?)  New hardware designs are something that doesn’t have to wait for Palm OS II to be ready.

3. Update Palm Desktop

Palm Desktop needs to be overhauled.  On the Windows side, Palm needs to bring full Windows Vista compatibility to Palm Desktop and the HotSync Manager.  An updated Palm Desktop needs to include 64-bit processor support and USB drivers.  The Palm Desktop 6.2 Beta 1 release provides limited support for 32-bit Vista customers but Palm’s own Community Help Forums are awash with posts from customers still having problems with Windows Vista.

Palm Desktop for the Mac also needs an update.  I suspect that with all of the other development work going on, a Universal binary rewrite of the Palm Desktop for Mac OS X isn’t likely going to happen anytime soon. Palm should just cut their losses and sign a licensing deal with Mark/Space to provide Mac customers with a more robust synchronization experience.  To keep costs down, Palm can arrange the deal with Mark/Space to only pay for the number of downloads of The Missing Sync for Palm OS by Mac users rather than for every Palm OS handheld or Treo that Palm ships.

4. Give Palm TX Customers an Update

I’ve talked to a lot of Palm’s customers via email and the various Palm community forms who say they like their Palm TX handheld and prefer to keep their cell phone separate.  These customers would rather not see Palm abandon the PDA business all together.  Since Palm appears to be content to keep selling the Palm TX “as-is”, they should consider releasing a new maintenance upgrade for the TX.  This software only update should include:
• VersaMail 3.5 or 4.0
• Blazer 4.5
• SDHC card support
• Pocket Tunes Deluxe 4.0
• DST patch rollup

In Conclusion

In conclusion there are a number of high priority projects going on at Palm.  Chiefly among them are Palm OS II and a new redesigned Treo smartphone.  Analysts and customers alike will be looking to Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein to drive Palm to meet the company’s internal milestones and project delivery dates.  The initiatives under taken in 2008 will either make or break Palm in 2009 and beyond.  I for one would like to look back at 2008 as the year that Palm turned things around and became a mobile computing innovator again.

What New Years resolutions do you think Palm should adopt this year?  Let us know in the 1SRC forums.