PalmOne Releases 4GB PDA [updated]

davidconger writes "PalmOne has introduced the first device in their new line of Mobile Manager handheld devices. The LifeDrive includes an embedded 4GB Hitachi Microdrive and additional software for file/folder synchronization. The device includes both WiFi and Bluetooth. Price tag on the device $499. PocketFactory has done a complete review of the LifeDrive." Reader gandell adds a link to Brighthand's review. Update: 05/18 18:08 GMT by T : An anonymous reader corrects this story's original headline, writing "Despite rumors the LifeDrive would run Linux, it runs PalmOS 5 (Garnet). However, the device seems to have a Linux-friendly design, and is likely to run Linux soon, whether supplied by PalmOne's sister company PalmSource, or by Linux hobbyists. PalmSource is likely to offer a Linux OS upgrade for the LifeDrive, once it is ready to support the huge variety of legacy Palm apps under Linux." Update: 05/18 18:44 GMT by T : One more review, this one at MobileTechReview.

Comments

Linux

[DrXym]

It runs PalmOS so where's the Linux part come in?

Re:Linux

[spotter]

future versions of Palm OS 6 (Cobalt) is supposed to be built around a linux core. Current versions of Cobalt aren't.

But that's totally a different point, as the life drive (According to the review) is built w/ Garnet (PalmOS 5.4) which has more in common w/ PalmOS 3/2/1 than Linux.

Re:Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

It runs PalmOS so where's the Linux part come in?

I develop third-party apps for Palm OS, so let me explain this. It's a bit complicated.

Palm applications are built against a set of application level APIs. Through the history of Palm OS, they have changed the kernel underneath the APIs without changing the APIs appreciably. At first, they used a licensed kernel from a third party. Then, I believe they switched to their own kernel. I'm not sure, but I think this was at the time they switch from Motorola 68000 processors to ARM (RISC) processors, which was the time of the switch from OS 4.x to OS 5.x.

A few years ago, PalmSource (the software people -- PalmOne are the hardware people) decided the non-multitasking nature of the OS wasn't that hot, and it was time for an update. So, they wrote OS 6. OS 6 has, I believe, yet another completely new kernel. This makes sense because it has a much more complicated task: to provide preemptive multitasking and better security. To date, neither PalmOne nor any other hardware manufacturer has actually released a device that runs OS 6.

Now, the complicated part: Palm OS is an embedded OS, and they do a new build of it for each new type of hardware that is made. It is not an OS that you install from CD-ROM onto any old hardware. Unfortunately, the process of bringing it up on new hardware seems to be quite painful and difficult, probably involving writing new device drivers just about every time you make a new device.

Meanwhile, Linux has taken the embedded world by storm. Virtually any embedded device that comes out now comes "for free" with Linux drivers already available for it. So, why is PalmSource switching to Linux? Pretty simple: (1) they've already proven they can switch kernels and maintain application compatibility no problem in the past (two or three times, even), and (2) they want free drivers because that'll make bringing up new devices dramatically easier.

As you may have guessed by now, if they ever do release a Linux Palm OS device, it's probably going to be just the Linux kernel and not any of (or not much of) the Linux userland stuff. That is to say, it'll be Linux, but it won't be GNU/Linux. The user will probably be totally unaware that it has Linux behind the scenes, as will the application programmer as well (most likely).

Furthermore, it's my prediction that until this Linux-based Palm OS transition is complete, no hardware devices will be released that run OS 6. Since Linux promises to make it that much easier to bring up the hardware, and since OS 5.x is still selling fine, there isn't a big motivation to do the extra work if it's all about to become lots easier later on (in months or hopefully not a whole year) anyway.

It's not a Linux PDA

[ArsEric]

It actually runs PalmOS 5.4, not Linux.

Re:Are PDA's even still relevant ?

[Harbinjer]

Better input capabilities, and a much larger screen. So you can watch movies, and do some work perhaps?

I think Cell phones are too small for many pda-ish things, currently.

Unless someone comes up with a better display method, perhaps holographic, they are limited. Oh, and they need a better input interface

Re:Rip off Britain

[fatted]

It costs a lot of money to get everything tranlated into English!

Yawn

[KFW]

I'm really disappointed by this. I've been holding off on a new PDA, but I don't think I'll be getting this one.

The good:

• Built-in WiFi (with web browser)
• Nice screen
• 4 GB drive
• Nice photo viewing
• Multimedia features (although I doubt I'll use them)

The bad:

• inadequate cache RAM (read the review that was linked to [and is probably now Slashdotted]). There is now a noticeable lag when starting applications. Thrashing the drive will probably impare battery life as well.
• Still running PalmOS 5. C'mon, where's the innovation? What did they do with BeOS?
• No camera

Personally, I'm glad it's not part of a phone. I want a seperate phone and PDA. I carry a thumbdrive in my pocket for toting files, which is very convenient because I don't have to mess with cables if I need to transfer files to another PC. If it's done well, I suppose the ability to carry along, edit, and then synch MS Word, etc., files could be handy. The music features aren't something I'll use. I'll stick with my iPod (which has way more than 4 GB of songs on it). Now an iPod with better PDA features--there's something I'd like to see.

/K

New Tungsten E2 is cheaper and more interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure why the LifeDrive is getting all the press. Existing PDAs can get multi-GB HD using their SD cards.

The real news item is the huge number of improvements PalmOne made to their best-selling Tungsten E (top-selling PDA across all OS last year). Although the E2 has a slower cpu than T5, the E2 is reportedly even faster for many common tasks! Some changes from E to E2 include (cut/paste from palmone.com):

1. about 30% brighter than the Tungsten E display and with 40% better color saturation.

2. data is safe even when the battery is completely drained--if you recharge it a year later, all your data is still there.

3. built-in Bluetooth

4. Much better battery life. About 12 hours of continous MP3 playing according to one review.

5. compatible with wifi sd card.

6. Much-improved bundled software: NEW Documents To Go® 7.0 and VersaMail® 2.7.1 email client. The new versamail can finally be used with Google.

7. Improved processor. The faster Intel 200MHz XScale processor. Not the speediest but reviews indicate that for many common tasks, the E2 easily outperforms the T5 which has a much faster CPU.

8. Multi-connector port. I don't care about this feature but you might.

The E2 is about $100 cheaper than last year's average selling price of PDAs in the USA.

What is missing:

1. voice recorder. Sometimes, we don't want to pull out the pen and write. As a PDA targeting business users, the lack of voice recording is not good.

2. extra SD slot. Having only 1 SD slot and no built-in wifi means forcing the user to choose between extra storage and wifi. Not good. Provide at least 2 SD slots unless wifi is built-in.

3. >=64MB RAM. Since it only has 1 SD slot, it should provide at least 64MB RAM. At least provide a more expensive version of the PDA with this option. Yes, I know 64MB RAM in Palm device is more than 64MB RAM in PocketPC but still...

On the bright side, I've seen some multi-function SD cards hitting the market. Like wifi + storage combo SD card.

Re:I dumped my PDA and don't miss it

[utexaspunk]

I have an iPaq h6315 that I use all the time, and I don't think I'd find a Palm all that handy (I know, terrible pun). I think the PocketPC's more powerful processors make them a lot more useful- as you mentioned, they can be used for music and movies, but I also use mine for games (I'm addicted to snood), for checking the bus schedules (I've got the PDF's saved on my phone. They're not really very PDA-friendly, but they certainly suffice and are frequently useful), I keep mine synched with Money on my PC (which is great since I'm terrible about keeping a checkbook register), and I surf the web (and not just the limited stuff you get thru a cell phone) and check my e-mail with it as well.

Sure, some of those things I could do with a laptop, but a laptop has a shorter battery life, won't connect to GPRS by itself, doesn't fit in my pocket and I wouldn't want to carry one around all the time.

I just don't get it

[el_womble]

I used to love the concept of PDAs. When I was at uni I used one to take notes and keep track of lectures, but I was fully aware that it was a toy more than a tool. As important as I like to think I am I don't need to put my shopping list, occasional creative thoughts on a PDA. I even sampled 'surfing' the web on it, but to be useful you had to do it through a mobile phone and that was less than useful. I still used it over my laptop because it was lighter and powered on imediately.

Then I bought a Powerbook and a T610 and most importantly of all - a pencil and notebook. I use my laptop for real computing and my phone holds and synchronises all of my PIM data so much more efficiently than my old PDA that I simply don't need a PDA, with one exception: taking notes. For that I find the notepad invaluable. The data is difficult to copy as I use a unique encryption system that only I can decipher (my handwriting), the power consumption is incredible, I haven't had to replace the battery once! It's instant on, the stylus can be replaced for pence and are universally availble and best of all you can use it to annotate the notes they give you when you go to meetings without any previous training. The price is good too, I'm not a rich man by any stretch of the imagination, but I can easily afford to have a notepad and pen in a selection of my pockets at all times, and if I want to share my data I can simply give the whole pad to that person! I've also noticed that I can freely mix drawings, and text in the same area and it doesn't constantly tell me how bad my handwriting is.

I'm sure there must be a situations where PDAs using current technology must be useful, I'll even hazard a guess: mobile, local database access for doctors, engineers and stock controllers, but really that's an industrial application for a consumer product.

Whatever happened to PDAs?

[rho]

This is a nice device, to be sure, but I'm not sure why I should be excited about it.

1) The main factor for making something "seem small" is to make it thin. The 15" Powerbook is actually quite large, but because it's thin it seems small. This thing is 3/4" thick.

2) Brighthand seemed to indicate that it would make a good portable storage device for your digital camera. I don't get that either. The casual photographer who might want to offload vacation pictures isn't likely to buy a $500 device to do so. You can buy a lot of huge SD cards for $500. The professional photographer, who WOULD find this device useful, all use cameras that use CompactFlash. If this USB-thing Brighthand mentions actually works, then maybe--but the idea of having a seperate device is to pull out the card, put it in the device, replace the card with another card, and keep shooting. Also less than 4GB isn't much when you're dealing with 4-7MB RAW files (which I guarantee the LifeDrive app won't be able to read, although it may be able to pull out the JPEG preview). This may be quite the swell device for a Brighthand reviewer, but that's a terribly small niche market.

3) What is the deal with WiFi on PDAs? People are obsessive about this, just as they all clamor for megapixel cameras on their cell phones. WiFi is a power hog. If I wanted to use WiFi on a Palm, I'd go for one of the Enfora portfolios where I don't have to use my Palm's battery. Battery life is king on a PDA. At some point you would do better to simply go with a 12" Powerbook or iBook, and a 3/4" thick device with WiFi but no keyboard is probably that point. (And getting a megapixel camera on your phone is stupid so long as the image is taken through a shitty, fixed focus plastic lens. You get more blurry pixels--that's a Big Win there, chief.)

4) Too expensive. I understand that in order to offer all these goodies, you have to charge for them, but if you drop this thing on the ground, or into the toilet, you've just ruined a $500 device. Everybody's tolerance is different, but for me, $200-ish dollars is that cutoff where I feel like I can replace 2 or 3 devices a year and not feel royally screwed. If I have a $500 device, I'm less likely to take it somewhere out of fear of busting it.

5) Related to 4), but unrelated to the LifeDrive; professional reviewers suck for this reason: they didn't have to buy the damn thing with their money, so they aren't interacting with the device like other people would. If a professional reviewer accidentally sits on the fucking thing, they just phone up Palm and say, "Oopsie, send me another please." They also tend to parrot specs and press release material, and are pathologically uncritical. I've hardly ever seen a review where the reviewer revisits the device after using it for a few months--mostly because after the initial review, the reviewer has moved on to using whatever the next latest-and-greatest toy is, because, you know, everybody has endless time and money to constantly upgrade. Jesus Christ, I'm still using a IIIxe because it works, it's reliable, and I'm not swimming in free time and cash. (The best reviewer in the world is probably Dan even though he does have goodies provided to him on occasion.)

6) No poofters.

Re:I dumped my PDA and don't miss it

[sremick]

This is not a flame, but...

I do all that with my Palm. And you don't need a LifeDrive for it... I do it with my Tungsten T3, which has been around for a long time now.

So I don't get why you say you wouldn't find a Palm useful and then list all those things as reasons why...?