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gadgetguru · 11-17-2004, 01:48 AM

I disagree with hackers and some of his assumption:
1. There's nothing that says one component of a smartphone cannot be used in another device.
2. It will really depend on the manufacturer ingenuity. Handspring was able to put a decent keypad in the Treo 600. HP was able to put a regular sized screen on the 64xx series. Both devices are not that much larger from a regular PDA.
3. As long as its removable, battery time should not be a problem. In fact smartphone have better battery life than most PDAs if you don't talk on the phone too much because most smartphones have 1700-1800mah batteries while PDA have at most 1400mah (HPs) and 950mah (Palms).
4. Same goes for PDAs. But some OEMs like HP are knows the enterprise enough, that they includes features like biometric security in their handhelds to solve some of those worries. It really about forward-thinking something that's currently lacking in PalmOne and PalmSource leadership.

True, a Sprint phone will not work in New Zealand. But a T-Mobile Treo 650 will and in most other countries. And with the ipaq 64xx, even if you are shut out of cellular networks, you can still connect via Wifi (treo 650 can too via bluetooth and compatibl;e phone).

In the end, smartphones from Palm and Pocket PC are two different beast. Pocket PC are devided into WM Smartphone and WM Phone edition. While Palms smartphone (note: Treo) are basically regular Palm PDA with phone built-in. So if the Treo sells, the Palm developer community would also benefit, since any program they have written for the Palm PDA will also work on the Treo (now that it have the same screen resolution as most PDAs).

Smartphone sells, that's why PalmOne is concentrating on that market. I read somewhere that in 2004, there's something like 15 million smartphone sold and Treo accounted for maybe 1-2 million, the majority of the rest - Nokia symbian 60 phones. It really boil down to price, if Treo is priced cheaper or have a cheaper cousin, and PalmOne has the right connection with the rioght telco, it a big market. It really a good bet for PalmOne.

What's not a good bet for PalmOne was basically abandoning the high-end PDA market. The T5 could have been great even without OS6. If it was faster and didn't break many applications. Basically, PalmOne seem to take what many like about the platform and break many of them - Graffitti 1 was no longer allowed (not everyone like G1 but many do); soft rest times was lengthen to even longer than Window Mobile does; Card backup (a basic function to many) was broken and no fix is available yet; change in connector, etc. Unlike Microsoft which pampers its developers, Palmsource and PalmOne don't...emulators are released late if ever...T5 simulator is still in limbo. Palmsource even charges (and tries to make money) on its developer conferences. I has more rants but it's time for some work so I leave it at that...

11-17-2004, 01:48 AM	#8
gadgetguru Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 6370 Join Date: May 2003 Location: Asia Device: Tungsten T5	I disagree with hackers and some of his assumption: 1. There's nothing that says one component of a smartphone cannot be used in another device. 2. It will really depend on the manufacturer ingenuity. Handspring was able to put a decent keypad in the Treo 600. HP was able to put a regular sized screen on the 64xx series. Both devices are not that much larger from a regular PDA. 3. As long as its removable, battery time should not be a problem. In fact smartphone have better battery life than most PDAs if you don't talk on the phone too much because most smartphones have 1700-1800mah batteries while PDA have at most 1400mah (HPs) and 950mah (Palms). 4. Same goes for PDAs. But some OEMs like HP are knows the enterprise enough, that they includes features like biometric security in their handhelds to solve some of those worries. It really about forward-thinking something that's currently lacking in PalmOne and PalmSource leadership. True, a Sprint phone will not work in New Zealand. But a T-Mobile Treo 650 will and in most other countries. And with the ipaq 64xx, even if you are shut out of cellular networks, you can still connect via Wifi (treo 650 can too via bluetooth and compatibl;e phone). In the end, smartphones from Palm and Pocket PC are two different beast. Pocket PC are devided into WM Smartphone and WM Phone edition. While Palms smartphone (note: Treo) are basically regular Palm PDA with phone built-in. So if the Treo sells, the Palm developer community would also benefit, since any program they have written for the Palm PDA will also work on the Treo (now that it have the same screen resolution as most PDAs). Smartphone sells, that's why PalmOne is concentrating on that market. I read somewhere that in 2004, there's something like 15 million smartphone sold and Treo accounted for maybe 1-2 million, the majority of the rest - Nokia symbian 60 phones. It really boil down to price, if Treo is priced cheaper or have a cheaper cousin, and PalmOne has the right connection with the rioght telco, it a big market. It really a good bet for PalmOne. What's not a good bet for PalmOne was basically abandoning the high-end PDA market. The T5 could have been great even without OS6. If it was faster and didn't break many applications. Basically, PalmOne seem to take what many like about the platform and break many of them - Graffitti 1 was no longer allowed (not everyone like G1 but many do); soft rest times was lengthen to even longer than Window Mobile does; Card backup (a basic function to many) was broken and no fix is available yet; change in connector, etc. Unlike Microsoft which pampers its developers, Palmsource and PalmOne don't...emulators are released late if ever...T5 simulator is still in limbo. Palmsource even charges (and tries to make money) on its developer conferences. I has more rants but it's time for some work so I leave it at that...