Slashdot Mirror
First Look At The New Palms
Jason Prini writes: "Take a look at ZDNET for pics of the new Palm pilots." They talk about the wireless models, as well as the new entry level models to compete more with Visor (which feature 25% smaller screens, but only a $150 price). I find it amusing that they offer changable color face plates (ala those Nokia phones).
Well, actually, a higher screen resolution would be required too.
Right now, the Palms are really locked-in to 160x160 resolution. Someday, they are going to have to crack out of the 160x160 box.
If I were Palm/Handspring, I would be prototyping new units with 360x360 resolution, and a backwards-compatibility mode for older apps that treats each 2x2 square as a single pixel, thus providing 160x160. And I want one of those!
Long-term, someday we will be carrying palmtops that have 1200dpi resolution, and really excellent contrast... in other words, we will have palmtops whose displays are about as readable as paper is. When that day comes, I want a box the size of a paperback book, waterproof, with enough storage to contain a whole bunch of books.
Any guesses how long I must wait?
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
They shouldn't. I suspect that the older Gameboy games are written like Apple ][ and Commodore 64 games were: they depend on the clock speed of the system, and if you speed up the system, the games run too fast and are unplayable.
Possibly the action games on the Palm are written like that, but I doubt it; we already have a substantial speed difference between the basic Palm models and the Handspring Visors.
Actually, the 2600 used a 6502-related microcontroller, the 6510 I believe. Contemplate, for a moment, a chip even less capable than the 6502! (The 6502 can address 64KB, and I believe the 6510 can only address 4KB.)
The Palm devices all run on a Motorola 68000-family microcontroller, the Dragonball. When Motorola releases new, faster versions of that chip, you will see new, faster Palm devices.
But keep in mind: one of the best things about the Palm devices is that they don't suck the batteries dry too quickly. Moore's Law stands mute on low-power devices. Expect even low-power devices to get quicker and better, but don't expect them to improve as fast as desktop CPU chips.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I think I just saw my IIIx get more valuable on the used market. I don't like the new design at all. I agree that the screen is about as small as it should get to maintain useability. Whether they shrunk the size and/or the resolution -- bad move.
I don't mind a move into a new market demographic, but please oh please continue to make and sell the present models.
I may have to go out and try to find a IIIxe or a Vx soon or start shopping for one on ebay.
Also, I haven't seen anyone address the wireless issue for those of us that don't live in a big city. The VII is right off my list. There is no wireless network here (Flagstaff, AZ) so the price difference is just not worth it. Maybe with a bluetooth adapter to talk to my cell...
And Palm, where are the slots? Expandability is going to be essential.
I see this as an iterim solution on the way to slots and bluetooth wireless. I'll pass thanks.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength. - George Orwell or George Bush?
I've heard it said before that US companies don't understand the European mobile market - particularly SMS services, and this helps confirm that theory. Mobile phone usage in the UK has now hit 50%, and this is behind other European countries like Italy.
If Palm don't do something soon, they're going to lose out to other manufacturers, and that's a pity, because I firmly believe theirs is the best PDA product out there. But for GSM PDAs, the new Ericsson R380's looking pretty good...
I mean ok, 8 megs of RAM instead of 2 is nice (just like how Gameboy games got bigger size-wise with the advent of cartridges that hold more memory), but is the processor any beefier? Is there some correlation between hand-held devices and a power increase that is more sluggish than Moore's law would predict? I had it in my head that it should actually grow faster on new kinds of devices, but copmpact devices (Palms, mp3 players, videogame systems) seem to not get beefy as fast as they should. Am I crazy?
sig:
sig:
See the "..for smart people" banners Wired runs here? Look elsewhere guys.
I dunno... is it me or we all thought the logical expansion path for Palm was color? at least i thought so.. i've own a palm for a long time now and the only problem i see with it is the absense of color, it does everything else i need it to. their IIIc version wasn't that great a success, but i thought they would keep on trying...
.1 release, not a major upgrade...
so now the question, why are these new models better? IMHO if they were software they would be a
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with good memory.
You're welcome.
--Shoeboy
Style wise they where going in the right direction with the PalmV (which I bought). All the new models (excluding the Vx) have been cheap plastic steps backwards. Making my "same or better" garantee almost worthless. (When "better" to them is "worse" to me).
Technolgy wise, they are beeing too conservative. Now, I like the simplicity of the Palm, and I don't think they should take the WinCE road, but there are tech improvements that could be made, and not just hardware ones (which could affect price or battery life), but programming ones.
How about adding "hyperlinks" to the OS so that I can insert a link to an address book record into my diary, or to-do list, and vice versa. Now *that* would be cool.
Thad
Thad
i just want a 200MHz CPU, 24 bit LCD, 64MB RAM, 128MB flash, linux and X windows and sound/accelerated video/scsi connections/pcmcia slots on a device the same form factor as the palm. and it should last a month on 2 AA batteries. anyone know where i can get one of those ?
Skins are cool for software applications. In the real world they're just a pain in the arse - you've got to put them somewhere when you take them off. I know I'd just be losing the case, or my girlfriend would move them to somewhere with all my other missing junk after I've left it laying around the living room for a couple of days.
I love my Palm III, and am glad to see the prices of PDA's falling. The only think i would add to mine is some sort of electric-shock-thingy so I could zap all the people who come up to me while I'm reading something I've downloaded onto it and say "Ooo, can I play Hardball?" or something.
========
Stephen C. VanDahm
Sure, I've been using rechargables for a long time - they are definitely worth it. I have a total of four rechargable ones (+ some normal ones for backup, which I've never needed to use). The batteries might not last as long as normal ones, but with Palm III it's a non-issue. The lifetime varies from a week (CPU-intensive/backlight) to about a month.
So, it is beneficial to use rechargables in a Palm, although not as much as with high-draw devices.
Sounds a lot like the Cross Pad.
"Sweet creeping zombie Jesus!"
At least with digital cameras (which have high current draw), you get a very significant benefit by using NiMH batteries. For example, my Nikon Coolpix gets over 100 shots per charge, as opposed to about 6[!] for a standard run-of-the-mill alkalines.
Anyone know if you get a similar benefit in low draw devices like the Palm? I've been looking at PDAs, but after having my old Velo I (WinCE) tune Channel One while I was on the way to an interview, I've been reluctant to make the investment.
-
bukra fil mish mish
-
Monitor the Web, or Track your site!
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
I'm not surprised at this one bit. The Palm Pilot has become the new tech toy on the block, and it would naturally follow the path of business-oriented tech evolution - to be stylish.
Business people are snatching Palm Pilots up like crazy, and many want to add their own dash of individuality. It's a given that some want to be chic while being productive. (i.e.: The Nokia Faceplate.)
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
Whew, dodged the bullet one more time. I dread the release of each new generation of PDA, because I know that one of these days they're going to begin offering voice recognition for input. Then, in addition to the construction guys and their offices shouting back and forth via Nextel phones, the yuppies chatting up their brokers, the teenagers with their pagers, and the dweebs who set their watches to beep every ten minutes, we can look forward to everyone bellowing into their fruit-colored brain-crutch. Where's a High-Energy Electro Magnetic Pulse when you need one?
Use The Bridge to connect your Palm V(x) to third-party accessories designed for the Palm III series.
For more information, click here.
For that matter, the Palm IIIe has a full sized screen and starts at $150 ($130 if you look hard enough.
Finkployd
I've got a Palm III where the glass screen cover is cracked. The LCD's fine, but the digister won't work because the glass is gone.
How'd this happen? Fall of maybe 3Com onto lino, out of a pocket. I can't believe 3Com never thought that sort of thing would happen when they designed it...
What it really makes me wonder, though, is why use glass? Surely perspex would be lighter, just as rigid yet less fragile? And scratching isn't an issue as there's a separate screen protector on top of the glass anyway... Or, for that matter, why design the glass and LCD to be totally inseparable. Makes it a non-economic repair and absolutely guarantees I'm leaving PalmOS.
It's getting replaced with a Psion 5. Bigger screen, easier data entry - I just got sick of having to do too much in Graffiti. And, from what I can see, no glass in that screen.
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
The [Newton's] handwriting sucked for most things. Great for notes, useless for anything else
Verus what? Graphiti? Where you have to write things out one letter at a time in a tiny little box? After using a Newton, this aspect of the Palm experience immediately turned me off to them. I've been trying to become interested ever since. I don't think most people really realize that with a Newton, you could write anywhere on the screen and have the thing recognize it.
I honestly don't know what you mean about the handwriting recognition. I thought the MessagePad 120 did an exceptional job of recognizing my handwriting. What I will grant you is that the Newton was too big and too expensive. If Palm had just taken the Newton and shrunk it and reduced the price, I would have been onboard right away. But I feel the Palm had a significantly less efficient UI than the Newton, large due to the constraints of Graphiti.
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
There is a /. PQA someone made. Check palm.net. I use it and it works very well. On the VII, you can either go per K, or a flat rate plan for like $40/month.
By making it all curvy, like an iMac, and colorful (like an iMac), and giving the user the ability to change the color to match their mood (like a Nokia cell-phone), 3Com is letting the rest of the competition know that they have simply run out of technological ideas, and are ready to be replaced as the leader in the PDA market.
So it is your belief, then, that 100% of Palm's core engineering department was deployed to put colored cases on the devices? And you do not think that Palm is continuing to develop technological advances in parallel with the redesigned casings? I hope you're not one of those people that feel that every single device, OS and application in the world should have the visual appeal of a lead pipe. Heaven forbid we think of humans as visual beings. Careful not to make the industrial design too bold or creative, it might steal cycles from the processor.
BTW: What's up with the car industry? Why all the color choices? Isn't VW just telling their competition that they've run out of technological ideas? Why can't all cars just be beige and shaped like a 80's Volvo?
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
Pretty see-through colors don't increase useability
None of the pictures of ZDNet depict see-through cases.
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
I think Palm is making a mistake in playing Handspring's game with the "iMac" principle of computer design, which seems to be "cheerfully colored case == better!" Frankly, I think I might be embarrassed to whip one of these M100s out on the subway or wherever
Exactly! What would people would say if you had a PDA that was in a color other than black? Just think about what a metallic blue or gold case suggests about you to the casual onlooker. I won't even mention anything about the silver case. Yikes.
Black casings forever, I say!
I think Palm is making a mistake in playing Handspring's game with the "iMac" principle of computer design, which seems to be "cheerfully colored case == better!"
Again, agreed. I definitely subscribe more to the "Model-T" principle of computer design.
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
I had the dubious pleasure of owning a MP120 5 or 6 years ago. It wasn't the 2100, which was supposed to have repaired some of these problems, but it wasn't the first model, either. My palm does a lot more for me that's useful than any of the messagepads ever could, and while they were a nifty piece of technology at the time, I can understand why Jobs gave them the axe. For example(s):
All of those relegated newton to the niche market, and that's not what apple wanted. Had they have done more research a la palm, we might have something here.
What palm should do is work on getting the processor speed up without hurting battery life too much. This would enable a lot of applications that aren't possible right now, like handwriting (although graffiti does well for what it was intended to do). Color isn't important. If the screen went from 160x160 to 320x320 - whoooeee, baby. Or, paper white on black. I remember those notebooks back in the day.
This wasn't meant to flame anyone, but just put things in perspective. IM(ns)HO I think the vaio and the palm are a superior combination.
..don't panic
looks like it was designed by an engineer
Well, I don't know about you, but I will take a Dilbert Palm over a Calvin Klein Palm any day! (Palms are mainly about function, not form.)
I do agree that the Palm V is smaller (thinner). And that is one of its benifits.
I contrast the devices like this:
Palm III: Upgradable
Palm V: Sealed, upgradable if you void warranty
Winner: Palm III
Palm III: Hard Plastic Cover, offers excellent protection
Palm V: Cute leather cover that turns the unit on when in your pocked due to bad design!
Winner: Palm III
Palm III: Long Life on 2 AAA batteries
Palm V: Rechargable
Winner: Palm V (Unless on long trip away from base)
Palm III: Flash upgradable
Palm V: Nope
Winner: Palm III
Palm III: Ugly, but does not slide out of my hand
Palm V: Digs into the edge of my hand and has a habit of sliding out of my hand and plummeting to the floor.
Winner: Palm III
Palm III: Has large number of PDA accessories avalible
Palm V has large number of PDA accessories avalible (pretty much) only from palm.
Palm III: Original Hot Sync contacts, compatible with nice toys like digital compasses and GPS'es
Palm V: Hot Sync contacts not compatible (won't even sync on an old Palm/Palm III cradle!!!!!)
Winner: Palm III
And the winner of this bout by completley biased judges is:
THE PALM III SERIES AND FORM FACTOR!!!
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
One of my friends, who works at a prestigious private school where the staff was given Palm Vs, noted that one of the Palm's great advantages over the Visor was that it looked more professional--by comparison, the Visor looked like some kind of hand-held computer game.
Well, even the Visor has it all over those things. Ugh!
And a 25% smaller screen? That's just not going to be very useful to people.
--
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Not keeping up on Palms at all, I suppose this is as good a time to ask as any. What are the chances of there being 802.11 Palms in the forseeable future? A wireless modem is nice, but I'd much rather be able to use a Palm anywhere on my home network.
From the looks of it, they've actually made this particular new version of Palm worse than the previous ones. Technology has a trend of making things better, but making them cheaper at the same time. This new Palm only follows the second rule. The screen is 25% smaller (and this article markets it as if it's a feature), and the thing runs on Alkalines - it's back to the Palm III!
Personally, I'd rather have a Palm Palm V when they reduce the price (or discontinue and find them clearanced) down to $150. That way I can have my pretty nice-looking screen (after you install the hack to make the backlight look normal instead of reversed as by default), built-in lithium ion batteries (incredibly preferable over alkaline or do-it-yourself NiMH), and a convenient dock. The changable plastic pieces don't do anything for me, I kinda like the silver Palm V myself (why don't they just offer different colors but not make them changable? Everyone loses those things anyway).
Anyway, I hope the generation after this one provides an improvement over what we already have.
"The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent." --Carl Sagan
jeesh... does anyone actually like the new cases? looks like marketing approved some bad-designer's "1950's vision of the future" because they were told it was good. ugly and non-ergonomic.
as for screen real-estate... they should concentrate on putting more buttons onto the screen, this way:
a) the buttons can be redefined according to the context (what app, etc you're in)
b) the buttons can be removed altogether if the app you're in doesn't need them, freeing up more screen space
a good place for some proper buttons would be on the side of the Palm, where your index finger and thumb lay when you hold it in the palm of your hand - these could be used as Ok/Cancel, Yes/No, Forward/Back buttons depending on the application.
It seems instead of actually improving the interface, they just want to put it in different coloured boxes.
I see they also haven't included Springboard module support, the expandability that made the Visor so great. If more companies use it, it would be a fantastic standard to upgrade PDAs by. But no, profits come before usefulness.
sad.
A friend of mine recently picked up a color Palm. I played around with it this past weekend and basically found the color to be more of a "wow, look at me" factor. I was really disappointed in the display, each pixel has a black outline which made the image appear as if viewed thru a screen. Also the screen resolution of the Palm seriously limits what you can do (the palm is 160x160, the MP2100 is 320x480).
I guess I'll stick with the Newton, haven't seen anything better come along yet.
The pricing for Palm VII service isn't great, especially compared to Omnisky service. But it's competitive with American web-enabled phones, so there's not much to complain about there.
I think the month of solid use I get out of a pair of AAA alkalines on a VII is just fine; granted, it's not as good as the 6-8 weeks I got on a Palm Pro or III. And it's much more convenient than having to worry about buying weird batteries or having to carry around a cradle when you travel just so you can charge the thing.
It really did need more RAM, though; thank goodness they've bumped it to 8MB. As far as I'm concerned, that should be the norm for anything they sell for $200 or more at this point.
I love the palm. I've had a III for ages and really appreciate what it does well (and am fairly irked by the few things it doesn't do well).
But this connectivity model is for the birds. The recurring costs are high, the PQA infrastructure is not an open standard (as far as I can tell) and it's too easy to go over the limit. The model of the VII just doesn't work for me (I like the design and size of the V better anyway).
What we need is something the size and weight of teh V with color with full net access for $15 / month (how much data could you really transport with that damned stylus). The US would really do well to get off our collective butts, scrap our analog cell phone network, finish building some of the digital networks, and then allow them to be used for packet-switched data.
I really don't understand the motivation behind using a smaller screen. IMO the screen is already as small as it can be without sacrificing usability; I can't imagine shirnking it would make the thing better. I really hope they just resized the screen, making everything smaller. Reducing the resolution of the thing would be silly, IMO.
I guess they are trying to compete with Handspring on cost, but I think they missed the boat. These things look ugly, have smaller screens, and are only marginally better than entry level Visor (I understand the M100 has more RAM). We're supposed to think its that much better?
RESOLUTION matters a bit more than size to me. More pixels == more information. Bigger size != more pixels (well, not necessarily). Or maybe this isn't true for LCDs?
baldeepYay, another palm that is completely the same as the rest of the palms, but different!
I can't wait until 2010, when palm announces the palm MMMIX, 10 megs of memory, a new screen size and a completely different case, YAY!
Geoff
They seem cute but one of the biggest problems I have with my palm is that the screen is not big enough. A larger format screen would allow more info to be viewd at once. I use it to read books on flights as it is eaiser to hang on to. It would be nice if the LCD was perhaps longer. Cutting the screen by 25% will make it much more diffucult to read. IMHO always.
marv
it is better to light a flame thrower than curse the darkness. -Terry Pratchett Men at Arms
Tried Palm. Just not the same. Tried CE. Puked on my shoes and had to buy new ones. Tried some of the off-brand PDAs with teensy no-name embedded "operating systems" and had a good laugh. After it all, dug out and looked at my MP2100 with its cracked screen and bawled like a baby...
Don't get me wrong... Palms/Visors/&co. are light and cute and run a long time on batteries... But they're also impossible to read, inelegant when it comes to handwriting, low-res, low-powered, and just plain primitive.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
What's the resolution of those smaller screens?.. If we're shrinking pixels, it could be a good thing, if we're cropping I would think that would cut a bit of the useability out of the Palm.. I use mine to read various new sites through avantgo, and the 160x160 screen is OK for that, but I wouldnt want to go much smaller..
air and light and time and space
Interesting -- the new G4 cube is touted as smaller too. I wonder whether we're starting to get infected with the Japanese mania for tiny things? It wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Probably the new tiny palm is going to be a dud, though. There are ergonomic issues with reducing the area. It's a bitch to design software to fit on the screens already. Thickness is a different story. I'd like to see something like the IIIxe with a rechargeable battery. Most of the III series thickness is to accomodate the AAA batteries.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Disclaimer: I own and adore my Handspring Visor Deluxe.
...
With the M100, Palm is repositioning its entry point. Obviously the cell phone custom-cover idea is carrying over to treat this as yet another consumer electronics device. The features set is pretty much established: you can hit 80% of the market with 20% of the functionality. Make it smaller, put on bright colors, keep the price low, and you've instantly targeted a new demographic.
The Palm has amply proven itself in the business market, and they're clearly not abandoning that with their high-end models. The VIIx (mentioned later in the article, but not pictured) will up the ante for wireless PDAs with more RAM and custom software. Personally I think this is just a lot of experimentation since Bluetooth is going to be the real future in this area, but there is a market for the well-connected businessman or geek.
People are saying things like "gosh, same old Palm, just with colors". Well, yes. It's a proven product that they are now trying to expand the market for. "It's the iMacification of everything". Well, get used to it. Most people don't care about the Megahertz or the Level II cache on their motherboard. The iMac does what they want for a good price and it looks attractive in a den. But the iMac hasn't made towers or big beige boxen disappear, has it? This M100 isn't going to hurt the PDA market at all. In fact, this will be the starter PDA for a lot of people, who will later realize they need wireless modems and web-browsing-on-the-go (or whatever). But a lot more people are willing to experiment at the $150 price point than spend $500+ on yet another electronic toy that turns out to be useless to them.
Also, some people have complained about the wedge at the bottom -- don't forget this is a smaller size case. I haven't used a Palm V... series so I can't comment on how it feels. I do think that it would actually be easier to hold if the bulge were at the top, but maybe that's just me.
As for replacing the IIIe and competing with the Visor, I think they have a good chance. I've bet on Handspring, mainly on the strength of their expansion technology, but the long delays in getting Springboard modules released is getting frustrating (e.g. still no GPS unit; only two games, both golf!). I was also hoping for more movement towards a high-end Visor. I think the M100 is clearly a much stronger competitor than the IIIe ever was, and if it had been out last fall it would have been a more difficult decision for me.
Get ready for the M100 to be under a LOT of Christmas trees.
P.S. M100 is also a nice spiral galaxy, as well as a classic Mercedes Benz sedan
----
lake effect weblog
{Network engineer in Chicago--looking for work!}
I can see the influence of the visor (which IMO is a better product) the colors are very visor like.
I don't know what they are thinking with the bulbous bottom of that thing, The palm III series (I myself own a IIIx) tapers downwards at the bottom and thus it makes it comfortable in your hand.
The V series (which I truly dislike) has this stupid outward taper to the bottom, that digs a little edge into your hand. It also makes the thing harder to hold on to.
Palm makes good organizers, but they are going to be up against some stiff competition with the Visor, its just better designed. (Jeff Hawkins has still got it I guess...) Of course, we all know that the better product does not always win.
It either case it seems that the OS (palm) has already won, its just a debate over the form factor and the peripherals. (The Visor cartiges kick ass over the upgrade slots in a Palm.)
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
It's nice that they decreased the price, but aside from making an already too small screen smaller, I don't see what innovation this brings? I mean, it'd be nice that new versions meant new stuff...new stuff that doesn't include the "iMac-ification" of every piece of electronics on the market.
Pretty see-through colors don't increase useability. I'd prefer a better res. screen, a larger screen, or a 25 dollar lower price tag over pretty colors; but that's just me.
-Jer
Smaller? Hell no, I already had trouble when I tried using a friend's normally sized Palm -- I'd like a larger display so I can more easily write. (I guess I just have trouble moving the stylus accurately on a small area.) Maybe when something close to a letter- or A4-sized sheet of paper becomes conveniently priced, I'll try this. The pocket-sized form factor just doesn't do it for me.
"How many light bulbs does it take to change a person?" --BMcC-->
...as well as the new entry level models to compete more with Visor (which feature 25% smaller screens, but only a $150 price).
The wording of this is slightly confusing. The new Palms have a 25% smaller screen and a $150 price. The Visors have a full-sized screen and start at $150.
--
Sam
"It's called free enterprise, and it's a Good Thing. "
Only a fool blindly excepts that free enterprise is a good thing. There are plenty of examples where it can be detrimental. Take health care for example. The US applies free enterprise here. Guess what, the US spends the highest proportion of GDP per capita than anybody else. Does that get them anywhere? No. Recent rankings from the WHO place American health care 39th in the world. American healthcare stinks if you happen fall ill between jobs. Free enterprise hasn't worked there. Another example is the environment. In an attempt to encourage free trade, the WTO will impose sanctions against any country that will not accept products due to their environmental un-friendliness. That is just stupid.
Don't apply such hard and fast rules to the world around you.
"When you make a product, and people want it, they give you money. There's no force involved."
That's not entirely true, and you know it. When an item becomes fashionable, there becomes a lot of peer pressure. Unless one shuns society completely, one can never be completely immune to social pressures such as fashion trends. In some parts of the world, successful marketing by Nokia has made their products major fasion accessories. There might not be any physical coercion, but that doesn't mean there isn't any. Free enterprise relies on psychological coercion. Otherwise, how would anybody learn about new products, or decide that they need one?
"I'm going to go out on a limb here. I bet you have a PC. Does anybody MAKE you buy every sound card on the market? "
Damn you! How did you guess that I have 23 sound cards?
"Say it with me. Providing options does not constitute coercion. Write it on the chalkboard 100 times. "
Adopting a patronising tone when you've already demonstrated your lack of intelligence only increases your image of stupidity and foolishness.
Seems as though these new palms are just buying time. They mimic the style of the new WinCE devices to an extent, bad choice in my opinion, but it seems that Palm is reacting to WinCE without matching them in cpu power and screen quality.
What Palm needs to do:
1) don't discontinue the old styles (remember "new Coke")
2) carefully engineer a new line that includes a faster cpu, more memory and color screen, but retains the form factor, long battery life and efficent OS that made Palm so popular in the first place. Also, stick with a standard peripheral connector so people don't lose their investment in addons if they upgrade.
We know WinCE sucks, but on a 200MHz cpu and 32MB of ram, it has room to suck and still deliver performance.
jcc
Or the pictures don't do it justice. It might be thinner or smaller than it looks, but that bulgy-curvy bottom looks enormous. And it doesn't look like any existing accessories will fit it. One of the major plusses for the TRGpro is that I can use all the Palm III accessories. Pick a case/interface standard and stick to it Palm.
I intend to get a palm VIIx and use it to read my horoscope online. Nothing like predicting the future by reading palms.
I told you it was a stupid joke.
--Shoeboy