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Nintendo With Possible Palm OS Capabilities
Sammy writes "According to GamerCentric, Nintendo has licensed Palm OS software although there intentions are not clear. "Well there seems to be some clues about this. "Nintendo had recently licensed Palm OS based PDA software without any details on why they had done it. Now Nintendo sources have revealed that V-Pocket trademark concerns this licensing. E3 will be the first witness of Nintendo's complete line of personal organizer tools for its Nintendo DS." So there is a possibility that we could see a Nintendo device with Palm OS organizer capabilities."
I bet Nintendo has new management which are trying to look like they add valuable by making 'moves.' This is a decidedly US style manover which to me is surprising from a Japanese company.
Kids play nintendo.
Adults use palm.
They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time...
That was one of the worst articles posted.
All I see is possibility, rumored, without any details etc.
All from as far as we know, an unreputable site.
According to GamerCentric, Nintendo has licensed Palm OS software although there intentions are not clear.
I have no idea what there intentions are, but i'm sure their up to something good. They're are many cool things they could be planning.
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"So there is a possibility that we could see a Nintendo device with Palm OS organizer capabilities."
You will see the DS with Palm OS capabilities, and they will be provided in a cartridge. The DS already has what all other PDA's have, except much better gaming ability.
This is a pretty smart move by Nintendo. Basically, they give you a simple, handheld game system, and then allow you to decide what add-ons you want through carts. Keeps the "I just want a gaming system" folk happy, while appealing to the "everything and the kitchen sink" folk interested.
Of course, I am a Nintendo fanboy, so my view could be a bit biased.
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
I have a DS, and frankly, the number of good games released so far is disappointing (but there are a few winners, like Feel the Magic, and Band Brothers in Japan).
I no longer have a Palm, but had a VII and Palm Pilot Professional a while back.
If Nintendo released essentially a Palm cartridge that turned your DS into a fully functional Palm OS machine, I would buy it in a second -- ESPECIALLY if it included a browser that took advantage of the DS' built-in wireless. I DO miss having a handheld computer -- I just can't justify it, when I already have a SE T-610 phone, and iBook G4 w/ BT and 802.11b/g. But $50 bucks or so for a Palm that uses my nice DS hardware (when it's sitting idle for lack of games)? Hells yeah!
Many adults are kids at heart.
I have a Palm, and I have multiple Nindendos of different generations. Most of the males from my generation (late 20s) have a better opinion of Nintendo than they do most other consumer electronics companies.
The Nintendo DS has a touch screen on it, that might be useable for writing input -- There comes bundled a little communications package, which accepts 'writing'.
When I first got my DS, I saw how nice it would be to use it as an organizer. Imagine -- being able to claim your nintendo as a tax write-off! [and well, it'd be one less thing to carry with me when I'm travelling].
I'm not much of one for bundling -- I've moved back to an older phone, just so I don't have to wait for java and crap like that to load. But I could see a benefit in this particular combination, provided that the palm wrote out its memory to non-volitile RAM, in case I ever drained the battery from playing games.
And whoever said you'd use them both at the same time? It's possible these days that Nintendo could pack enough memory into one of their cartridges to place the Palm OS on a Nintendo DS cartridge, rather than into the handheld itself.
Although, it'd be rather inconvenient to quit your game, so you could check your address book, it's still a possibility -- but licensing doesn't mean it's going to ever go anywhere. It's good business practice to keep your R&D going, so you can be ready to move in interesting directions. I didn't see anything in the article (which was rather short), saying they were planning on putting it into a specific product, or that we might see it in use in any sort of time frame.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
I don't know why people think that Nintendo is going to launch a new line of hardware. This is clearly meant as an add on to the DS. Really, the only thing holding the DS back from being a decent Palm replacement now is the software, which of course, this license takes care of. The beauty part is that both the DS and the Palm use an ARM processor, so porting the code shouldn't be too awful.
The DS already has a built in touch screen and 802.11b. Once they have the Palm OS added to it, you'll be able to run Palm software relatively easily, which means the DS will gain a web browser, IM client, etc. So, for everyone who's already shelled out their $150 for a DS and gotten bored of Mario 64, this is great news. This unlocks an extra bit of functionality on this versatile bit of hardware. Of course, most kids won't need it, but for those of who game and want to web browser wirelessly on a PDA, it could be pretty cool.
Now, can we please knock off the "Let's play the Graffiti game" jokes?
After reading a lot of replies I see a general theme.
/ask/ my kids where they are rather than a GPS device of some sort like many parents want to use these days.
/don't/ have cell phones already! ...and why shouldn't they have phones? PDAs?
Most people seem to think the DS is for kids. It isn't. Nintendo has stated clearly that the Game Boy Advance is for the market of the original Game Boy (6 to 25 years old or so) and that the DS is for the young adults that had the original Game Boy and are grown up now. The DS is intended for a 16 to 40 market. It's not for kids.
Nintendo has also previously announced plans to launch a VoIP service for the DS that will only work with other Nintendo DS units. I think this was even covered on Slashdot.
To the people saying 12 year olds don't need cell phones, I have to say this:
I was using experimental (read: pre-Newton and Newton-era but not the Newton itself) PDAs when I was as young as 12. I loved them. They helped me in school immensely and kept me entertained, as well. I loved communications equipment at that age, and when I wasn't busy hacking the local BBS I was often on the CB radio with my buddies. If we had cell phones, we would have used those.
There were plenty of times I was out in the middle of the woods or in town with friends that I'm sure my parents would have loved to get ahold of me. I know that when I have kids I will enjoy the piece of mind that comes from knowing you can get ahold of them while they're out playing and having fun.
Yes, I'll still ask them where they're going, but you simply can't lock your 12 year old in the house 24/7. So, a cell phone is often the best thing you can do.
Frankly, I'd rather it be a cell phone that I can call to
From what I hear from parents I know, there are few kids these days in middle school or high school that
Isn't giving a kid a piece of technology and teaching them how to use it responsibly a GOOD thing?
If you think the answer is no, I'd like to say you have a rather anti-Slashdot (or simply anti-hacker) mentality.
There were plenty of times I'd take a long hike in the woods and sit down in the middle of the woods on a log and program on my PDA for a few hours. Hey, it might of been strange, but I was active physically and I was learning, too. I got a good programming job fresh out of high school when a lot of my peers were still at fast food jobs, so it couldn't have been all bad.