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palmOne Announces Tungsten T5

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the everyone-likes-little-computers-right dept.

btornado writes "palmOne has officially announced the Tungsten T5, which is due out in early November. It features 256 MB of flash memory, Palm OS Garnet 5.4 with a 320x480 display, and Bluetooth connectivity with support for the SDIO Wifi card. It is also the first device to support the Multi-connector, which allows you to trickle charge from the USB cable. You can also configure the T5 as a USB drive to transfer files."

55 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. New features? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Charge from the USB connector?

    Oh my, that's what a two yeard old Zire does!

    1. Re:New features? by Tomahawk · · Score: 2, Informative

      So do my Tungsten-T and my m515 - but you have to use a Belkin USB cable to do it. The Palm cable doesn't charge from the USB port.

      T.

    2. Re:New features? by shellbeach · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Charge from the USB connector?
      Oh my, that's what a two yeard old Zire does!

      And my Tungsten E. What's interesting to me is that in design this looks a lot more like an upgrade of the Tungsten E than the T3: no sliding thingy, the buttons and finish (oh no! you'd think Palm'd learn from their mistakes!) and form appear identical to the TE, and there's no voice recorder, the speaker's on the back, etc, etc.

      So I'm guessing that the T5 uses the same connector as the Zires and the TE. Which has always seemed a great idea to me (I love that the hotsync cable is just a mini-USB cable and I can charge from it), but will piss-off those who like their universal connector products ...

    3. Re:New features? by Mr.+No+Skills · · Score: 2, Informative

      It does, but it doesn't charge while the device is on. I believe the USB doesn't deliver enough juice to run the device and charge the batteries, but if the device is off it will charge the batteries. Perhaps the T5 uses less juice to run?

      I think when plugged in the car (12V adapter) it will run and charge.

      I was puzzled by this comment also.

      --
      Sleep is for the Weak
    4. Re:New features? by Sancho · · Score: 2, Informative

      The T2/T3 had a very nasty hardware design (bug|feature). A large enough number of forum posts came across detailing the fact that after opening/closing the slider, the digitizer would be way, way off (meaning that taps would be offset). Recalibration every time this happened was the only solution other than sending the unit back and hoping for one that didn't have this problem. After the T2, I assumed they would find some way to correct the problem on the T3. Nope, it has the same issue.

      In that regard, the non-slider design of the T5 seems to be an upgrade. Hopefully it won't have the dreadful digitizer problems that the T2/T2 had, although the inability to reduce the size certainly is a drawback.

      What concerns me is the flash memory. Isn't this going to reduce the life of the handheld, as eventually it will become corrupt/unwritable?

  2. Wifi Support by Metatron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Support for a WiFi card ... why does it not have WiFi in it ?????

    1. Re:Wifi Support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Think about how how much wifi has changed over the last 3 years, then 5 years, and for a stretch over the last 10 years. Wifi changes will occur in the future therefore, the component shouild be user upgradable instead of hard built in.

    2. Re:Wifi Support by jayhawk88 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Because Palm has this mad-on for Bluetooth for some reason. They've only had one model (Tungsten C) that has had built-in 802.11.

    3. Re:Wifi Support by BorgDrone · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Bluetooth and WiFi are not competitors, but aim at a completely different market.

      I'm very pleased with my TH-55, which has Bluetooth AND WiFi, both of which I use, bluetooth + my T610 on the road, WiFi @ the office.

      Oh, and the TH-55 has a voice recorder too, can't believe PalmOne left that one out of the T5.

      Too bad Sony stopped selling Clié's in US/europe.

    4. Re:Wifi Support by Chess_the_cat · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Its good to be able to swap components and enhance current in hand hardware (even if its removing 5 lug nuts).

      Yeah but people don't ship cars without tires. Throw a WiFi card in there and make it user upgradeable. But don't ship it with an empty slot. That sucks.

      --
      Support the First Amendment. Read at -1
    5. Re:Wifi Support by jht · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, WiFi is probably more of a niche for a PDA than Bluetooth for the most part. WiFi support (probably just 802.11b) will only get you networking over a short distance wherever a network is available, and it sucks power rather quickly. Odds are, though, that you're more likely to use WiFi with your laptop.

      A PDA, OTOH, needs mainly to talk to it's "mothership" desktop, or to a cell phone, or some other "personal" device. Right up Bluetooth's alley. In fact, probably the best way to think of Bluetooth on a PDA is as an expansion port that just happens to be wireless.

      I use Bluetooth to sync my Palm and my PowerBook, to connect my cell phone to my Jabra headset, to iSync everything, to connect my iMac to peripherals, and in a pinch I use Bluetooth to get GPRS internet access with my cell phone from my PowerBook when I don't have any other form of access available. I also have used my cell phone with the Palm (a Tungsten T) the same way.

      And though I don't use it as much, I have a Dell laptop with Bluetooth, and the cordless phone at my office uses it both to talk to the base station and to sync with a PC.

      OTOH I have a Pocket PC as well (an iPaq 1935), and I use a Sandisk SDIO WiFi card with it. Very rarely. There's just not much I'd do with it that isn't better served by the laptop, and the SDIO card sucks power so quickly you can practically see the power meter drop.

      Mind you, I'm not dumping on WiFi. It's great, and useful, but it's just good for one thing - networking. In PDA's that's enough of a niche compared to what you can do with Bluetooth that I'd rather have Bluetooth in my PDA given a choice of only one.

      --
      -- Josh Turiel
      "2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
    6. Re:Wifi Support by Enigma_Man · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The Subaru STi Ships without a Radio (wireless, heh) from the factory. It's a brand new top-of-the-line boy-racer mobile.

      -Jesse

      --
      Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
  3. USB Drive? by el_benito · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Okay, I know that I can navigate to my iPaq's memory (or CF & SD cards) via explorer, but how easily can you access the Palm's memory? Is there any installation necessary on the local computer before you can access this? I'm going to bet that this is more of a marketing ploy than anything. Attach the latest buzz word and hope people snatch it up.

    --
    http://liquidben.com - Aspiring to an 'under construction' gif
    1. Re:USB Drive? by wizrd_nml · · Score: 5, Informative
      From the Brighthand Preview:

      What's most unique about the Tungsten T5 is it can be plugged into the USB port on almost any computer and the 160 MB segment of memory will appear on the computer as a removable drive. The Palm Desktop software doesn't have to be installed on the computer. What's more, if an SD card is inserted into the T5, it will also appear as a removable drive.
    2. Re:USB Drive? by Zugot · · Score: 3, Informative


      Use your handheld as a USB drive.2 When you're away from your own desktop, just turn on Drive Mode, plug the Tungsten T5 handheld into another computer and access your work.

      and


      With the new File Transfer application, you can actually drag-and-drop files and folders from your desktop to your handheld and back again. It couldn't be easier to transfer the files you need from home or your office and access them on the go.

      --
      -- Bryan
    3. Re:USB Drive? by paxil · · Score: 2, Informative

      I use card export on my original Tungsten T and it works great. Don't need to install anything on the windows computer and the palms card shows up as a drive in explorer.

  4. Where is OS6? by cgenman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I remember distinctly that palm OS5 was supposed to be a stopgap measure between the classic OS4 and the modern, BeOS based OS6... Essentially OS5 was OS4 with some badly needed modifications to make it run on faster hardware. And now that we're up to 5.4, the patches keep rolling in and in, as they add more ram and expand the featureset ever towards what OS 6 is supposed to contain, which is supposed to be in parallel development.

    When are we getting the real Palm OS 6, with such badly needed features as multiprocessing and a file system?

    --
    The ______ Agenda
    1. Re:Where is OS6? by Samus · · Score: 2

      Slashdot put spaces in your link. Use this one instead.

      --
      In Republican America phones tap you.
    2. Re:Where is OS6? by Bronster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Imagine a beowulf...

      No, don't. Just imagine running your mp3 player in the background while you actually do something else on the device - then go read up on the difference between multiprocessing and multiprocessor and be elightened.

      Sheesh. I guess IHBT.

    3. Re:Where is OS6? by Tomahawk · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think he means running more than 1 application at a time, not multi-processors.

      I probably should have said 'proper multitasking'.

      The Palms can do that at the moment, but not very well. You can run an MP3 application, and leave it running in the background while you run something else. But that's about as far as it goes.

      Don't know if you really need a fully preemptive OS on the Palm, though. Like, if you really need a lot of power, bring a laptop with you. The Sony Clie ones are not really all that much bigger than a Palm, and run Windows or Linux...

      T.

    4. Re:Where is OS6? by MadChicken · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree with multitasking/threading in a LIMITED way, but certainly not a file system. That's the stupidest contrived need for a PDA I've ever heard of. For those of you with Winboxes, open up your "Program Files" folder. You really want something like that on your limited memory PDA? Yikes. I used an iPaq for a year, and file systems... what a waste (Ever heard of a program called WIMR? Don't need one on Palms). The database idea Palm had 'way back was well ahead of its time... the only thing that was missing was being able to install generic files on that "file system"; like MP3s or DOC files. Nice if/when desktops catch up to that (WinFS?)

      As for Multitasking, again, CE machines are a nightmare of "wanna be a desktop" os overkill. This is a sweet and smart way to do it, instead of "Start | Settings | Memory | Running Applications | End Program" or loading a program to make the close button actually close something.

      My iPaq is now sitting in the cradle, and has been for about 3 months, untouched, while I carry my Tungsten E upstairs and downstairs just in case I need it.

      OK! Ignition started, pour on the kerosene!

      --
      SYS 64738 NO CARRIER
    5. Re:Where is OS6? by ceeam · · Score: 2, Informative

      Imagine MP3 player in the background? Well, I imagine I stretch my arm, pick my OS5 Palm and do it. What's the problem?

    6. Re:Where is OS6? by BenjyD · · Score: 2, Insightful

      PalmOS needs some serious updating. The problem at present is that it doesn't provide many more facilities for applications than it did in the v3ish era.
      Because of this, every app has to implement functionality itself. Want a hierachical directory structure? An onscreen keyboard that works without a text control focused? A Save/Load dialog? A decent clipboard? A high performance 2D library?

      The answer is always the same - "implement it yourself"

      PalmOS 6 looks like it might solve some of these problems, but there aren't going to be any devices using that any time soon.

    7. Re:Where is OS6? by RevAaron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah so Palms technically have no multitasking. It's also not a computer. It's not a washing machine either.

      I was talking about OS 6, which has a form of multiprocessing, though a limited one. But Palm OS 4 and 5 has had some multiprocessing as well, although it didn't come from PalmSource that way. Sony added it, both in Palm OS 4 and 5 for their own Clie line. Specifically, they added the functionality of having *one* background thread, in addition to the regular single process. They added this for playing music in the background, though that means piping the file to the MP3/ATRAC decoder chip, not doing decoding in software.

      Palm OS 6 (see subject- topic of discussion) has a little more in the way of multitasking, though not in the way most folks are accustomed to. It has the ability to have more than one background thread, though no additional full on processes. If a developer specifically writes an app to take advantage of the new POS 6 backgroudn thread API, it can use it- but if I want to put some random OS 4 or 5 app in the background, that is something I cannot do. Let's say I've got some cool IRC app (say, upirc), but they haven't done the substantial work of converting it to Palm OS 6 thread savvy. I don't want to have to reconnect every time I go back into IRC. That isn't that much to ask for, is it? Maybe after a few months, there'd be a version for OS 6 that kept the connection alive in the background, but even with every developer wanting to spend a lot of time any money retooling their apps, it still doesn't cover every contigency. As any power user knows, the original developer never thinks of everything the end user will want to do with their software, and unless they have thought of it in advance and made it so it could live in a thread, I'll be confined.

      I guess what you mean is, it's not a Windows computer, right? It can't play Doom 3 so it can't play games. It can't run OpenOffice, so it can't edit or view documents. It can't serve files so it has no storage. You don't have a 21" monitor so it has no display. It doesn't multitask like Windows, so you can't possibly do two things, ever, on it. Drat, I paid $300 for a block of wood!

      Who said anything about playing Doom or running OOo? One could say that the Newton OS didn't "multitask like Windows," but it still was powerful enough in the way of software and hardware to allow me to use it as a computer, not just a $300 organizer. I've no specific love for Windows CE or any desktop Windows, but since the Newton, there has not been any other real alternative for someone wanting to do more with their PDA. I don't pretend I'm not a minority- starting with my Newton MP2100 and more recently a Jornada 720 and Sigmarion 3, I've used my so-called PDA as my primary computer when at home. I've no need for a 21" monitor- most recently, my main computer at home has had a 5" 800x480 screen, which is more than I'm used to working with. This day in age, I'd prefer nothing under 640x480, though I'd settle for 480x320 (my Clie NX70V, Newton MP2100) if the rest of the device was right.

      It's not that I want Palm OS to have a POSIX-compatible API, so that I could port tons of *nix apps to it, like exists for Windows CE and Linux PDAs. But I do want multitasking, because it is something I need to do, but more importantly something I *want* to do. I don't need a C compiler for Palm OS, and I'm not asking for one- but as you say, there are languages on the Palm OS for which you can get an on-board compiler... Is it too much to ask for to be able to put that app in the background and do something else- play solitaire, read an ebook- while it compiles? You may be willing to put up with the additional work and time wasted of single-tasking, but why should your needs decide it for the rest of us?

      We're talking about 400 MHz CPUs here. Adding the ability to multitask to Palm OS is not going to "bog it down," or cause some 2000 lb. cancer of bloat to grow on the POS. If Palm OS is as efficient as f

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  5. As always, underwhelming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Palm's announcements are always underwhelming.

    The $400 sounds okay, until you realize it does not include built-in WiFi. The screen is half VGA.

    And it doesn't have the new version of the PalmOS. Instead we get 5.4, which as far as I'm concerned, the entire 4.x and 5.x OS's have been disappointments. The IP stack in the 5.x OS is what I'd consider unstable and unusable. Imagine that when networked apps crash, they actually crash inside the IP stack, not the application.

    Don't get me started on the lack of multitasking.

    Very disappointing.

    1. Re:As always, underwhelming by hattig · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Given the size of the screen, Half VGA is good.

      Much better than the Quarter VGA that was until recently the standard for PocketPC devices.

      Which in turn was a mile ahead of the old 1/12th VGA original PalmOS screen. Now *that* wasn't adequate, although a lot of the apps were designed carefully and the devices were worthwhile.

      As for PalmOS 6 ... I hope it will be shipping in devices soon. I've seen screenshots and it looks rather good.

    2. Re:As always, underwhelming by ceeam · · Score: 3, Informative
      Probably not, when you have a weighted checklist and put "It does what I need" on top. As for other people - there's always Microsoft.

      As for half VGA.. Do you realize that it has the same DPI as 15" panel capable of 1600x1200. Sure, you usually look at it at closer distance, but it's very, very crisp. Doubling its DPI would be an overkill.

    3. Re:As always, underwhelming by dara · · Score: 2, Insightful

      First of all, nobody is talking about doubling the existing DPI (dots per inch). Moving from 1/2 VGA to VGA is an increase in DPI of sqrt(2) not 2.

      Secondly, you said it yourself, you usually look a lot closer (from my rough estimate right now), about twice as close. I agree, 15" 1600x1200 (i.e., 133 DPI) looks pretty good from a 20" laptop viewing distance. Therefore 266 DPI is about what we need for a PDA viewing at 10". VGA has this DPI at a 3" diagonal which is pretty small, (the T5 has a 3.8" screen, so the DPI if it had VGA would only be 210). To really get the resolution of the monitor you suggest from twice as close on a 3.8" screen will require 800x600 (SVGA).

      We will definitely get PDA SVGA screens in the future, and we will probably have a lot more comments like yours that it is overkill. I may not need SVGA, but I'm looking forward to it. I do want VGA though, and I won't be getting a Palm T5 because it doesn't have it. (I can't get the Zaurus either since I want GPS software with voice instructions - I'll probably end up with an ASUS or Dell VGA PocketPC.)

      Dara

  6. Rotate screen by Lurker+McLurker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Forget the arguments about processors, wireless connectivity and other technical issues, it's little things like this that make me want to buy a device.
    Simple but useful features, that's what makes a product stand out

    --
    Mod parent up!
  7. Zap! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Although the connector may be new, the charging feature is not. Palm's Tungsten E is also capable of trickle charging from its USB cable.

  8. What, you can't trickle-charge now? by Fencepost · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That's a heck of a surprise to me since I did just that on a recent trip.

    --
    fencepost
    just a little off
  9. Power consumption... by blueZ3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    WiFi sucks power like crazy. It reduces battery life by over 70% if the SDIO WiFi card is any indication.

    And, as another poster mentioned, WiFi seems to change about once a year - and I'd rather buy a new $100 SDIO card than a new $400 PDA.

    --
    Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
    1. Re:Power consumption... by DrXym · · Score: 2, Insightful
      WiFi might suck power like crazy, but it's an important feature these days. And to not have smacks of enormous oversite. Extraordinarily stupid in fact. At least it has bluetooth, but IMHO wi-fi is just as important and it strikes me as odd that they wouldn't include both.

      And I'm not some Pocket PC fanatic dissing Palm. I loved my Palm Vx, but it was the lack of wi-fi that made me choose an iPaq (although that sucks for other reasons). Being able to turn on a PDA and sync up or browse from anywhere is a very useful feature.

      Okay, so someone can buy an SD wireless card - if they like an expensive snappable thing protruding from the top of their device. But that ruins the looks of the device and is impractical anyway if like me you happen to use the SD for storage.

  10. With these specs.... by ShatteredDream · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why didn't they just modify BeIA so that it could run on their hardware? BeIA, the stripped down internet appliance version of BeOS, could easily run on their hardware now. I had BeOS running in half that memory on a PII 450 and it was FAST. Whoever made the decision to buy Be's IP and not fully exploit it at Palm should be shot.

    --
    Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
  11. I'm confused by djupedal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No Wi-Fi built-in... no microphone... no Cobalt...no sliding case - can support stereo speakers and portable file transfers, yet it is targetted at business users? RealPlayer required on it and your desktop machine (ouch).

    Why does it feel like PalmOne wants me to buy a product from another company to replace my m515?

    A review link... - And an accessory list link...

    1. Re:I'm confused by jayhawk88 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...can support stereo speakers and portable file transfers, yet it is targetted at business users?

      This has been Palms biggest problem in recent years I think. They can't seem to decide if they're making Palms for business customers, or consumers, or both.

      Sony has (had) this great thing going making shit-hot Palms with all the latest features for bleeding-edge Palm junkies, while their lower models had all the cool new features (for their price range) for Joe Consumer. Palm has this "5x-m500" reputation of building nice, solid, business minded Palms, but since the majority of new features to come out on Palms the past couple years have been consumer-related (cameras, MP3, etc), Palm has been in an identity crisis.

  12. Cheaper T3 by TonyZahn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the real news here is that the price of the T3 has dropped to $350 with the releaase of the T5.
    Another $50 and I'll be all over it...

    --
    - sig? who is this sig of which you speak?
  13. slashvertisement by spoonyfork · · Score: 2, Funny

    This article links only to the company's product page. This article is nothing but an advertisement. It has been deemed a slashvertisement.

    --
    Speak truth to power.
  14. while officially dropping Mac support...not really by adzoox · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually ... no.

    The address book works with vcards and will still sync bluetooth.

    The unit itself can now just be mounted like a hard drive on the Mac desktop - so you just drag whatever straight into an appropriate place.

    Besides the palmone spec page says - full mac support

    --
    Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
  15. Development by BenjyD · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What I would really like to see from Palm is a decent C++ API for their OS. Being stuck with a C API is so annoying for C++ development.
    In a C++ API you could just derive a subclass of a control and overload the parts you want to, just as KDE does with Qt.

    1. Re:Development by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Informative

      Only if their linker is good at striping out unused code. Modern OO languages tend to pull in everything at link time resulting in huge apps--which is still a problem on PDAs. (For the want of a nail, the kingdom was linked.)

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  16. Nothing to see here. Move along.... by jbarr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Really, this is really nothing more than a T3 that can't be "collapsed". It has some "extras" like more RAM, more Flash RAM, but everything else is just software addons that can be found for the T3 in one form or another.

    This certainly is not a revolutionary device, and the lack of WiFi is VERY disappointing. A colleague just bought one of the new HP ipaqs that has a FULL VGA screen and integrated WiFi, and it simply smokes anything Palm has put out. Yes, it was almost double the cost, but still, the T5 is a real disappontment.

    Now, if Sony would have released a UX-50 with either no camera or a removable camera (to comply with many business restrictions) it would be our device of choice...

    --
    My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
  17. It's still better than PPC by a_nonamiss · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lord... The PalmOne crowd will never be happy... Frankly, I an kinda tired of reading people bashing P1 for this unit. Sure, it's not revolutionary, but it's an improvement, especially on battery life. I don't really think the T3 needed a whole lot of improvement, (again, battery life) and I don't think this was intended to "unseat" the T3. I'm in the (seeming) minority of people who don't need WiFi, don't want WiFi and frankly could care less if P1 ever makes a WiFi radio on their devices. I get along just fine with Bluetooth and my Motorola v710. I can browse the Internet, get my email, and do everything I want Internet-wise. I've never been sitting in an airport or coffee-house and said "Damn... if I only had WiFi! Now I'm ruined!"

    I'm willing to admit that Dell devices still may have higher tech specs, but honestly, until they can run PalmOS, I'm not the slightest bit interested. PPC sucks. It's not stable, it's a resource hog. It has more moving parts, and having supported both PPC and POS, can say without hesitation that in my opinion, POS is still far superior.

    In conclusion to my rant, I'm not going to say "Way to go PalmOne!" They made some mistakes. (Plastic case? Oops!) On the other hand, I don't think this is a miserable failure. It's an evolutionary device that is slightly better than the T3. I think that everyone's expectations were simply too high, and mostly unreasonable. If P1 had come out with a device with WiFi, people would complain about battery life. If it had a voice recorder, people would complain that it turned the device on in their pockets. I don't think that Palm could have satisfied people after having such a long break since their last release. And to those of you wondering, I don't work for Palm. Let's just hope that the long-term reliability of this unit is an improvement, because that's where P1 could go horribly wrong. My T3 had far too many hardware problems, and if the T5 exhibits the same problems, then P1 could really be in trouble.

    --
    -Arthur
    Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
    1. Re:It's still better than PPC by RevAaron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not stable, it's a resource hog. It has more moving parts, and having supported both PPC and POS, can say without hesitation that in my opinion, POS is still far superior.

      And that's just it- in your opinion. In my opinion, the Newton OS is still far superior to any other option out there, past or present. But, that being dead, the next best thing is Pocket PC. It has a number of things wrong with it, and I'd still rather use a vanilla WinCE.NET 4.2 machine over a PocketPC one, but unlike POS, it gets the job done for me.

      I have owned many, many PDAs. I liked my Sony NX70V enough that I kept it. But unlike even the older iPAQ 3650 I got from/for work, it lacks a lot of functionality... Stuff the Newton had 10 years ago that POS still doesn't have. Multitasking is a big one. A full-screen HWR system. A good note-taking app. While I've not found any notetaking app for any platform that is as nice as the built-in Newton OS 2 Notes app (except that wiki-like system for NOS 2 that sat on top of it), there's nothing on the POS that is even close to the one that comes with PocketPC (Notes) or older WinCE (InkWriter)! I'd love to be proven wrong- where can I find a notes app for the Palm that provides these very basic features:

      1. The ability to add typed notes, entered through Graf, Jot, or Decuma.
      2. The ability to draw notes and diagrams- within the same note, the same canvas- side by side along the text.
      3. Have an "unlimited" canvas, such that the notes page is always one page ahead of me in blank space. Naturally, nothing is unlimited, and this would be confined by the memory available to the device. Something even the first Newton, with a measley 640 KB of RAM had.

      --

      Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
  18. Enough to get it? by aussie_a · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The differences are between this and Tungsten T3: * better file transfer * flash memory * favourites view * 102 more MB * USB device only 2 of those features would cause me to even consider upgrading from my Tungsten E, and I'd be more inclined to just get a USB stick. Are PDAs so good that no "wow" features exist for them? Cause they're all looking much the same to me (except for features such as built-in cameras, but that isn't so much PDAs getting advanced features as people trying to converge technologies).

  19. Bigger != better by srussell · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The last really good Palm was the Palm V. If I wanted to carry a brick around, I'd buy a Zaurus and get a real computer.

    Palm has forgotten the mantra of the original developers that made the Palm III such a success -- keep it small. The Tungsten T is just barely carryable, and the newer versions just keep getting bigger. Personally, I'd rather see Palm spend their energy reducing the size of the T series than increasing the features.

    1. Re:Bigger != better by gobbo · · Score: 2, Informative
      The last really good Palm was the Palm V.

      I guess you're right in the sense of form factor, but until they came out with the Vx (or IBM's rebranded C3), the V was too short on storage to run stuff like eReader and a collection of reference docs--unless that's all you wanted it for. I still use my (8MB) Vx... just wish I could set it up for wifi, surfing on a modem is so... 90's!

      --
      Damn those pesky terrorists
  20. Zodiac Rules by computechnica · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Tapwave Zodiac is superior. It has a much nicer form factor, can use 2 SD cards at the same time, Nice loud stereo speakers, a real 3d GPU, and good battery life. It also has several good EMUs for just about every cartridge console system. made.:

    http://www.palmsource.com/interests/emulators/
    http://www.palmemu.com/
    http://www.kalemsoft.com/
    http://www.codejedi.com/

    --
    Science is the Real TRUTH!
  21. What Happened to COLBALT?!? Palm OS 6 by lnewton64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Palm source released Colbalt almost 10 months ago. I was expecting the T5 to have palm OS6, does anyone know what the scoop is?

  22. C++ API? How about any decent API? by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm just hoping and praying that with OS 6 they clean up the horrible accreted apology for an operating system that is OS 5. But chances are PalmOS 6 will just be the same mess as before with even more extra functions and layer after layer of backwards compatiblity functions and even more horribly it will be both little endian with big endian for the legacy functions and so on. Yeuch! Asking for a C++ API is like asking for sugar coating on a turd.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  23. Re:Treo vs T5 by hey! · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have a treo. I love it, but I'd never buy it for myself, because you can't get them serviced. Palm1 won't service them, and your carrier won't service them without a very expensive "protection plan".

    All in all, I'd skip the convergence thing for a better phone and a better, smaller PDA.

    Plus, I miss graffitti. The keyboard's OK, but cramped for my (large) hands.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  24. PalmOS, because tha's all there is at the moment.. by simp · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Call me an old fart, but I liked the way my Psion 3 and Psion 5 worked. I've played with WinCE devices, had a Palm 3c and now a Sony TH55. The hardware is great: nice small package, good color screen, wifi & bluetooth. But the PalmOS is not my thing. What I hate is the way that all the information is scattered through the whole damn thing. I need to go to the addresbook to get some addresses, then browse to the memopad to find memo's, then browse to a spreadsheet to get some data.
    On an old Psion I could make a subdirectory for a project and gather all my address files/database files/spreadsheets/memo's for that project in 1 place. Just tap on the file and it opened. Brilliant concept. But maybe I'm just not getting the "Palm" way of thinking.

    But Palm is the only reasonably working PDA at the moment. Psion 5 is to old hardware-wise and the PocketPC2003 tries to hard to be a windows machine with a too small screen.

  25. End of UC? Bad by steveha · · Score: 2, Insightful

    PalmOne just abandoned the Universal Connector. This is mind-bogglingly stupid.

    Every time they change their connector, they kill all the accessories that work with that connector. I don't know why any third-party companies would ever make accessories for PalmOne PDA ever again.

    If I bought a T5, I wouldn't be able to use my folding keyboard with it, my modem, or my rechargeable battery pack. I guess I could buy new ones, but no thank you, since the ones I have work so well.

    I suppose they are doing this because the new connector costs them less money. The Universal Connector has both USB and a serial port, and a whole bunch of little pins. If I were in a good mood, I might say that a manufacturing company does need to keep an eye on their cost of goods.

    But Palm has changed their connector so many times now! The third-party accessory makers were unhappy when Palm adopted it, but Palm promised this was the last connector change, honest. Last for three years, I guess.

    And what kind of crack are they smoking... stereo out through the connector? Oh, I guess they weren't trying to keep an eye on costs after all. An iPod has stereo out through the connector, and that's valuable because you can have hours of music on one. A Palm PDA can play music, and that's valuable because you have it with you wherever you go, and you don't need to carry both a PDA and a music player. But how valuable is it to have a PDA that can play a couple of hours of music while it is in its cradle? How hard is it to plug speakers into the stereo headphones jack, anyway?

    steveha

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
  26. Re:End of UC? Bad by Mike+Buddha · · Score: 2, Informative

    The Universal Connector has both USB and a serial port, and a whole bunch of little pins. ...And a lousy connection. The Palm UC was hardly the end all be all of connectors. It was a crappy interface, because it failed on the one primary function that connectors MUST succeed: connection.

    Trying to use a cable attached to the UC was/is an annoying task. The damn thing jsut doesn't stay connected. I say good bye and good riddance.

    --
    by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
  27. PalmOne's Declining Market Share by Mike+Rubits · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Unfortunately (depending on who you ask - personally I'm a PocketPC fan) Palm-powerred devices are going down the drain in terms of market share. They made the right decision in splitting off their hardware and OS department. I'd expect to see PalmOS go into more appliances - the Tapwave Zodiac is a great example of this. One thing that's always irked me is the attitude of the Palm community in general with new features. It's basically "we don't need that!" when presented with a competing platform's feature, and lo and behold, 2-3 generations later, it's being touted as a huge feature, and people are clamoring over it! For reference's sake, I've used a PalmOS IIIxe, a iPaq H3600, H3900, and a Tapwave Zodiac. Carry the Zodiac, but primarily because of emulators.