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More Of Palm Product Line To Go Wireless
Spasemunki writes: "The NYTimes has an article lurking in their tech page today on Palm's plans to add wireless connectivity to their whole product line. Wireless connected versions of the Palm III and Palm V lines should start appearing "in the reletively near future", with some changes to the product line appearing by the end of this year. Free registration required; you know the drill." From this article, it's not even clear what sort of wireless they're going to choose, but even so: the ubiquitous, wireless personal computer is crawling up onto land. If you had a nearly-a-billion-dollar IPO, you might want some wireless tools / toys, too.
Actually, the strengh of Bluetooth is in its ability to let many small devices talk with each other, as well as a tranceiver running on another system (PCS Data for example). If your Palmpilot has Bluetooth, it can talk to your PCS phone on your belt and access the Internet via PCS data. The same would go for your portable MP3 player .. Imagine shoutcast on a bus.. The MP3 player wouldn't be talking to the outside world, but it would be using a gateway.
Is this a response to RIM's new blackberry pager?
I don't know if it is best to respond to product changes from another company when you're not fully ready to release your latest product. Look @ intel and AMD.... intel seriously didn't want to compete with 1ghz AMDs......... instead they wanted everyone to associate their name with 1ghz, since they are the 'name brand' people will think that they should buy from them, instead of the 'no name' or 'little name player'
this is the story with Palm and RIM.
I like RIM's products, but still the monthly charges are ridiculous considering you don't have a cell phone only a pager...... likely the same story with palm....... just give me a phone PDA any day that can sync with linux!!
nil*
How do all these various devices stack up? Seeing how it's going to be a cold day in hell, or 2016, before web pads will exist (besides at these trade shows), do any of them have something like the ability to just download a bunch of stuff, web pages, email, etc and view it elsewhere? Sure it'd be heavenly to have a PCMCIA card i could plug something into, but that just never exists without driving the cost up a few thousand. Those ones that are really wide, are they any good for this? It would seem web browsing would be much easer on those than the palm-like, narrow ones. Heck, they've even ported BSDs and stuff to some of the pads, just text mode, no X server yet.
I'm a bitter old man and want to browse the web from a nice comfy couch. Is there anything, a laptop just seems like overkill for something simple like this...
>
> Color (IIIc)
> Wireless (VII)
> Rechargable (V)
> 8MB or more (x)
Actually, the Palm IIIc doesn't have one of those, and the only one that it's missing is "wireless". It comes with 8MB of RAM and is rechargeable.
>I want it to function as a pager.
Palm Computing has been known to sell a module for earlier PalmPilots that allow them to act as pagers, and adding no significance to the form factor. I don't think they sell a 3+ model (yet?)
>I want real IP (could be there now... I've never used the VII) so that I can do
>(painfully slow) telnet, ssh, VPN, etc..
What do you mean, "real IP"? The PalmOS since version 2.0 Professional has had full IPv4 support.
--
Brian Fundakowski Feldman
short range sync solutions and others long-range wireless networking. Hopefully, some will have both.
--
My two cents...
--
Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
I'm not looking forward to this. Okay, maybe it's great for 99% of the population, but I work in a high security government installation, and we aren't allowed to have devices with wireless conductivity. Once it starts becoming a standard integrated feature, we won't be allowed to carry them anymore.
Right now there are hundreds of us carrying palms just to do standard PDA type stuff. Security doesn't have a problem with this as they're all used only for unclassified information, the IR port can be disabled and even if it wasn't, the range is too short for there to be a danger of inadvertant capture of classified information.
But the spread of wireless technology has already had an impact where I work: all the machines and especially printers with IR ports on them that are going to be used for any type of classifed work have to have the IR port physically removed. Not a trivial task for some of these new printers with the fancy injection molded shells.
Anything with any real range, like a cell phone, is right out. Even if it's turned off, because most of these devices don't really turn off, they just go into standby mode which allows for the potential of them being turned on remotely and used for the capture and transmission of sensitive material. We are allowed to carry government owned cell phones, but only if the batteries are removed. Obviously, this isn't an option with the palms.
So keep in mind that the umbicious (sp?) wireless network is probably not a good idea because there are still plenty of places that that is exactly what is not wanted.
Of course, I speak only for myself. Nothing in this message should be considered to be the view of my employeer or the government. I'm not giving away any national secrets - all my info is from the stuff they tell all employees, regardless of whether or not they have a clearance.
So 1 meg costs under a buck..
And if you ever just transmit text 1 meg is alot.
-IronWolve
Not Bluetooth...
Check out http://www.omnisky.com/products/index.html
for the wireless palm pilot modems.
Unlimited National CDPD Wireless Service with no roaming..
Side note, Each mobile has its own IP.
Just ssh/vnc into your box remotely, via your palm... oh yeah..
PS. That wap phone that article is talking about is the AT&T Pocketnet phone. (Out now)h ones/pocketnet/mitsubishi_t250.shtml
http://www.attws.com/business/gov/explore/plans_p
Check it out, the phone rocks! (I have one)
-IronWolve
Thank you. The Palm as the screen, the Mobile as the connection, Bluetooth to connect the two. It's called Personal Area Networking and it will slaughter that Qualcom PQA and even badly mame the Nokia 9110...
The other day, I asked if anyone had got Blogger running with a Palm. When I checked yesterday (it's in the "Feedback" section) there was still no response...
"Free registration required; you know the drill..."
Yup, we sure do...
http://partners.nytimes.c om/cnet/CNET_0_4_1697833_00.html
too bad I already signed up for a free account, man. I should read the comments next time.
yah, I brake it all.....
Check out the Psion Netbook... mmm, i want one. http://www.enterprise.psion.com/public/netbook/net book.htm
Word is that major wireless service providers are going to supply bandwidth on their CDPD networks for wireless-enabled palm devices.
no, it is not a wide area solution. I think CDPD is the way these will connect.
the palm has a crappy OS which crashes pretty often
Well, it's extremely difficult to make an OS stable without the aid of a MMU (the reason databases are protected on the palm is because there's hardware RW protection - databases automatically get marked RO). I've found it to be remarkably stable (depending on the app), but without a MMU, it's hard to determine the extent of the damage (trash the stack, trash the heap) since bad memory addresses (due to bad pointers) are not tracked if they fall within the R/W region.
It *is* possible, I suppose (early Suns used two
68k processors, one of which took over if the other exception'ed out and had to be reset), just complex. I have no idea how uCLinux handles this, though.
Lesse... out of all the exisitng Palms, here's what I want in my new one:
Color (IIIc)
Wireless (VII)
Rechargable (V)
8MB or more (x)
That would be a superset of all the exisitng Palms, and do a lot to eliminate some confusion. Sure, I suppose there will still be a use for models that are cheaper, so they have some of the features knocked off.
Now, for software/sevices..
I want it to function as a pager. This is probably pretty easy.. someone just needs to do the telephone front-end. Possibly a slight improvement in sound would be needed. I could forego a vibrate mode.
I want real IP (could be there now... I've never used the VII) so that I can do (painfully slow) telnet, ssh, VPN, etc..
And of course I want the service to be reasonably priced. Ideally, flat-rate.
On a different note, why does a $99 Rio have 4x the memory of a $400 palm?
Well, why does a $400 Palm have 10x the display space as a $99 Rio? Obviously, the devices are designed to do different things. The Palm is much more versatile than a Rio.
For more information, click here.
The stock price of some random linux-focused company has no relationship to the quality of Opensource code or the vibrance of the opensource community.
Why nobody make fun of the ridiculous name of troll tech? You tell me. Mayve in the first ever Qt article of slashdot?
/_____\. .......|
vvvvvvv../|__/|
...I../O,O....|
...I./
..J|/^.^.^ \..|.._//|
...|^.^.^.^.|W|./oo.|
the palm has a crappy OS which crashes pretty often (although its databases protection stuff ensures your data stays without getting corrupted) ..i hate to think of what its like with a wireless connection...there is content mainly the DOC (unrelated to any m$ software) e-books although the palm is difficult to read. battery life is very nice. simple webpages with text only are probably a helluva lot easier for the palms to parse..in general lynx friendly=palm friendly.
i wish 3com would improve the OS tho.
Many posters here are presuming that wireless automatically means internet access over pcs networks etc. There's another, "unseen" market, that I think Palm is going for.
Just about every office worker in America sits in front of a computer, which is anchored in their office/cubicle. However, they still have to get up and walk around to ask people questions, deliver papers/material, and have meetings. Questions and appointments generated during these trips usually have to wait until the user walks back to their computer and either queries it or enters the commitment in their calendar.
With a short-range wireless Palm device, users could keep continuous contact with their e-mail and time manager software. They'd be able to take notes in meetings that save straight to their desktop, rather than transferring a note from their Palm. The Palm device would serve as a mobile terminal to the desktop.
IMHO, Palm is looking to create a "must have" accessory for every office worker in America, rather than build more expensive geek toys for those of us who need to check our e-mail fifty times a day (it's a bigger market segment, after all).
Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
http://www.wap.com.sg/ have a WAP browser for Palm units other than the Palm VII. I think Palm OS 3.0 and above includes a TCP/IP stack (which is not active over the Palm VII's wireless link). I could be wrong about that.
Palm VII Service can now be had at a flat rate of $40/mo w/no roaming charges and no per-byte charges (with nation-wide service).
By comparison, the charges for digital connect time on my PCS cell phone (PacBell in the SF Bay Area) looks like:
~$25/mo for minimum phone service with data.
$.15/min for data connection for the first 30 minutes during weekdays or the first 250 minutes after hours.
$.55/min for each minute after the above freebies.
Tack on another $.60/min if you're roaming (PacBell's service area covers most of California and bits of Nevada only).
If I did the calcs right, for your $40, you'll get a total of about 49 minutes of wireless connectivity for $40/mo if you stay in your home region.
Oh, and I think you'll need an ISP as well.
Include the fact that you've got to carry a cable and deal with hooking things up each time you want to connect versus raising the antennae on the PalmVII to initiate connection and suddenly the cell-phone/cable solution isn't so attractive.
It's worth noting that Palm has technology deals with Sony, Qualcomm, and Nokia.
Why keep all your personal information on the not-so-secure, pain-to-navigate-on-a-PDA-size-screen, DOS-vulnerable, slow-connection web when you've got the only-in-your-hands, built-for-the-small-screen, always-available, directly-connected, Palm address book already in your phone?
I agree with you that the Palm Pilot device will lose a lot of ground to PIM-enabled phones, but I think the Palm OS will be the OS of choice in those phones.
As an example of an alternative, I have a handspring visor and a modem. I can dial into my computer at home or in the office and get my email and such. I even have a telnet program (I would kill for ssh on this thing). Once I find a cell phone that I can plug into it I'll be set.
I hope that this kind of freedom will be available to palm users, but I kinda doubt it.
On a different note, why does a $99 Rio have 4x the memory of a $400 palm?
I'm going to be buying a green-screen Visor in a coupla weeks. I recently discovered that the local Franklin-Covey place has IIIc's on display that you can acually turn on and use, unlike the other places which yank the batteries and put a fake-looking sticker over the screen.
I found that the color screens are actually less readable than the green screens because the color ones are so pixelated. They have so much more glare, too; not much easier on your eyes. Add to this the added couple hundred bucks and the decreased battery life, and you have a dubious feature indeed.
-JD, Certified geek
So buy a Palm Vx and an OmniSky like I have. Full IP connectivity with a static IP. But, the web clipping works well for most things. To get information for weather, movies, airline tickets, etc it is quick and effective.
"Web clipping" is nonstandard, and simply sucks. Palm should provide standard TCP/IP and/or WAP; and a lot of very innovative applications will pop up in no time.
The success of wireless Internet is pretty much a given, considering the success of i-mode in Japan and the WAP wave hitting Europe as we speak. I hope Palm chooses a better technology this time around, rather than the lame "Web clipping" that I could only stand using for about two weeks.
--
BluetoothCentral.com
A site for everything Bluetooth. Coming soon.
Zigbee Central: A Zigbee weblog
I don't own a palm. I've thought about it, but at this point in my life, a nice TI calculator is really more useful for me :)
My question to those with these things is: is there any content out there for you to read? I imagine they can do email, which is nice. But can they read any regular webpages (the point, for most people, of an internet connection)? With wireless devices like this apparently increasing in popularity, is there anything we should do to our webpages to make them more palm-friendly?
Communication is only possible between equals
With the standard for web devices available, more devices being enabled, and promised faster connections we must be getting very close to a decent way to use a wireless web.
Colm Atkins
Palms are already wireless for short distances, and if you've got a PC or other device with a stronger IR than the Palm, you can get more than a couple of feet away. So if that red glass on top of your Nokia phone actually *did* anything (on the 6160, it apparently doesn't, but on some models it does), you could use that. Wouldn't be tough to build a gateway system, since all you need is PPP on an IRDA port on a PC.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
From the article: "Palm is now in a situation where they have a direct competitor (RIM) which has a technological advantage over them," said Matt Sargent, a handheld analyst with ARS. "This makes huge sense for Palm."
___
a quote from the article: In the relatively near future, Palm will market versions of the Palm III and the Palm V that contain built-in capabilities for wireless communications. These new products could contain all the technology necessary for direct wireless communications, or they might contain Bluetooth chips. Bluetooth chips are radios that allow devices to hook into networks without wires.
This sounds like it may help get rid of the sync cradle, but is it really a solution for wide area access?
___
From the FAQ:
Q: What is the range of Bluetooth transmitter/receivers?
Bluetooth is designed for very low power use, and the transmission range will only be 10m, about 30ft. High-powered Bluetooth devices will enable ranges up to 100m (300ft). Considering the design philosophy behind Bluetooth, even the 10m range is adequate for the purposes Bluetooth is intended for. Later versions of the Bluetooth spec may allow longer ranges.
Given the range limitations noted above, I find it doubtfull that bluetooth can be employed as a wide area access solution. I think bluetooth will be a replacement for the IR port, and may help get rid of the sync cradle, but it is hardly a "confirm the-fedex-shipment-from-the-back-of-a-cab" kinda thing.
___
---
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
---
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
True, but I'm not sure I want to pay 10p per minute just to add an address...
Come on, nice people at 3Com, let's see a GSM-enabled Palm... Look at the mobile coverage in Europe, look at the use of WAP that's rising, look at the number of people willing to use poxy UIs for their text messaging, look at the substandard design gone into the first generation WAP phones...
Frankly, if I could find a reasonably-priced PCN/GSM enabled PalmOS PDA, I'd buy it tomorrow. And I know I'm not the only one. It's far too footery linking it up via IR to an Ericsson SH888, uses up too much batteries... And when wireless broadband comes in this year... Wow.
Not to flame you, but where is the proof? :-)
It's easy to say that 65% of the code is stolen. But back it up.
Be thankful you are not my student. You would not get a high grade for such a design
For those with a Nokia phone (and suitable cell service) you can get one of these cables and connect to the internet wirelessly for much cheaper (again, depending on your cell service) than the seemingly ridiculous high prices charged for the VII. Combining this connection and the wealth of great Palm online apps you are all set...
For the love of $DEITY, loose != not win!!!!!
I own an OmniSky too and getting a signal on a Palm VII is easier, not to mention the networking seems a bit faster then the OmniSky.
earache
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it means i can buy more shares =) Palmpilot is almost a household name... kinda like nintendo and aol. It can only be good for business right?
He shunned PalmVII for their per dl and roaming fees. Etc. and Suggested that I get a Palm Vx and aquire a Minstrel modem from Omnisky. Cheaper, more reliable (more established network), better CS...you name it! I remember wondering at the time just how dominant was Palm VII feeling that they could justify the Service Plans being so outrageous.
A little more research revealed that PalmVII had, not more than 5 days prior, wised up and slashed/remodeled their Service plans.
Really makes me wonder just what prompted this latest descision on Palm's part and I'll be curious to watch prices and such for hardware and Service Plans as Palm starts to lose its "mini-monopoly". Capitalism at work, folks!
Ruthless
The light at the end of the tunnel is undoubtedly the headlamp of an oncoming train." - Mrs. Murphy
I live in Reading, England and just bought a Palm. The ability to hit the Net via my GSM mobile is the only missing feature that I need. Roll on Bluetooth or something that saves the hassle of storing 100s of numbers on mobile phones!
1000s Warcraft Gold while you sleep
Remember the consumer market, Palm.
--GrouchoMarx
--GrouchoMarx
Card-carrying member of the EFF, FSF, and ACLU. Are you?
This is acutally what i've been waiting for. Wireless technology coupled with the Palm IIIc, and you have a computer on the internet, no cords, only batteries. And with nanotechnololgy, this could be the beginning of the ultimate goal....
wireless devices like this are cool, especially when the wireless service doesn't cost an arm and a leg. the nice thing with palm pilots is that they don't need all that fast of a connection, so that should keep costs down.
Don't be mean or my friend Oog will smash your head
Who needs to sync up a palm pilot address book when you can use your yahoo (or other) address book directly through a cell phone?
So my question is: Is the web browsing good enough that I could do simple updating of a news review site? Do enough news sites have Palm-friendly versions? Or should I just get a cellular modem for the very portable Sony Viao I already have? Any thoughts?
-- Diana Hsieh
-- Diana Hsieh
GeekPress: The Weirder Side of Tech News
for 300KB of data transfer per month you end up having to pay $40/month .... you can get away with paying $45/month and get unlimited use ....
If I was to purchase a Palm Pilot, it would indeed be the Palm Vx, it's not wireless, it's got a nice aluminum case, it's much lighter weight than the VII and it has 4 times the memory ... Where do you want to go today?
DaiTengu
--------
Damage Inc. BBS
I'm contemplating ditching my PalmPilot with PalmIII upgrade card for a Palm Vx - but I don't see the point of the VII, or any other wireless connectivity solution, while I'm living in Edinburgh, Scotland.
evilrooster
- the email of the species is deadlier than the mail -
evilrooster - the email of the species is deadlier than the mail -
I agree. Wouldn't it be cool to SSH into your freenix box during a hike?
Seems to me that any web page with a decent text-only version (i.e. one that renders well on lynx) should work on a Palm.
When you surf on a Palm, you're looking for content, not presentation.
Geoff
I looked at the OmniSky web site; too bad they only support the V (and I have a IIIx). From their service map, Southern Arizona (where I live) seems well covered. Maybe I could hack a patch cord together :/
Also, the website seems to imply that the wireless modems are not shipping yet; are they currently available?
For those, like me, who didn't know about OmniSky, one review I google'd is at The Gadgeteer.
Geoff
... a Beowulf cluster of these?
Thank you.
Thank you.