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Palm and RIM to Collaborate on Treo Software

Posted by Hemos on from the what's-the-sound-of-two-hand(helds)-clapping dept.

Rayaru writes "Palm and RIM have apparantly signed a deal allowing the Treo 650 to use RIM's email software. "The partnership with RIM is unique in that it is Palm's first chance to give Treo customers automatic synchronisation with calendaring." It's interesting that the deal also includes "future Treo products with the Palm operating system." Perhaps a Treo 670 Palm version is in the works?"

26 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Good Move by jamesgamble · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a really good move on both sides. RIM's software is proven, while their hardware still has some crazy quirks. Palms hardware is proven, as is Palm OS, but a combination of the two pieces will make a great product.

    1. Re:Good Move by 3TimeLoser · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I hate PDAs and I have to support several of them (Palm & Blackberry). Those little bastards can take up more time and cause more interruptions than most of the servers I deal with.

      However, the beauty of the Blackberry (with a BES sever on the backend) is that desktop sync is not necessary for mail & calendar. It's all managed at the server, happens over the air, and it's one less thing to deal with at the desktop. Add this to the Treo 650 and you have a pretty potent combination. Now, some Treo users will still most likely sync with their desktop, but at least the mail & calendar sync issues should ease.

      I have a Treo 650 and BES server. The sooner I get my hands on this, the better.

    2. Re:Good Move by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Informative

      Note that this announcement is for BlackBerry Connect, which essentially gives Palm access to the protocols that BlackBerry devices use to talk to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). You still end up using the Treo's mail client -- the actual BlackBerry software (which is all written in Java and runs on top of RIM's own VM implementation) is not part of this deal. (That's covered by a different program called BlackBerry Built-In, which includes the VM and everything needed to run the standard BlackBerry software.) This is all about improving the Treo's ability to connect to different mail/contact servers. It won't improve the software on the Treo itself.

      Eric
      BlackBerry programming stuff
    3. Re:Good Move by Val314 · · Score: 2, Funny

      and if any manager has something to say, the'll end up with RIM's Hardware and Palm's software (emulated under WinCE)

  2. Patents? by anonicon · · Score: 4, Informative

    I may have missed something, but wasn't RIM's Blackberry software found to infringe on a software patent held by someone else, and they were ordered to shut down their wireless e-mail service in the United States? I'm wondering if they will be developing software based on the patented tech that RIM was already slapped down for.

    1. Re:Patents? by jamesgamble · · Score: 5, Informative

      Apparently RIM just needed to change a few key parts of their push software to get around the patents. It makes you wonder if going to court was really worth it. They should have just made the changes when the other company complained and been done with it.

    2. Re:Patents? by og_sh0x · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So does this mean that Blackberry service will definitely not be shut down? Could you cite a source, such as a news article?

    3. Re:Patents? by jamesgamble · · Score: 3, Informative

      I work for T-Mobile. :) BlackBerries are a large portion of our business. Trust me, I know.

    4. Re:Patents? by Jonny_eh · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's like Jack Bauer on 24: "There's no time! You have to trust me!"

  3. Palm goes both ways by skitheboat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Could Palm have a strategy that is any more confusing? I hope that they have some master plan in all of this and that it doesn't leave out making their hardware (smart phones) more reliable. Mine crashes more than Windows and my friends in on his 5th one. I can't imagine how they can improve quality when working on so many platforms.

    1. Re:Palm goes both ways by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      wierd I have the exact opposite eperience..

      my Treo 600 is rock solid. my Journada was nothing but a reboot moster that ended up smashed and thrown in a drawer the 12th time it lost everything just when I needed to use it.

      I can not stand pocketPC devices while ever cince I switched to palm with Sony and then to the treo, I have yet to be disappointed. I even run unstable software. I watch mpeg4 videos on my treo every day and that app people mention about crashes due to the beta software.

      There really is no rhyme or reason to pda instability.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Palm goes both ways by Monkelectric · · Score: 2, Interesting

      My 650 crashes constantly, and my dell axim does as well :)

      --

      Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

  4. Yoinks... by gowen · · Score: 5, Funny

    Palm and RIM to collaborate?

    Look, there are those of us looking to make a cheap, sexually explicit joke about the headline and get some (+5 Funny) love.

    But guys, you're just not making it difficult enough anymore.

    --
    Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  5. Good by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 3, Insightful
    "...unique in that it is Palm's first chance to give Treo customers automatic synchronization with calendaring."
    Maybe I didn't understand this statement, but I have always had automatic calendar sync, albeit with GoodLink software.
    1. Re:Good by topham · · Score: 2, Informative

      Palm was going to include this functionality before, but (if I recall correctly) RIM sued them over a patent violation.

      Amusing considering RIMs current legal problems with patents.

    2. Re:Good by Darkforge · · Score: 2, Informative

      They mean automatic "push" synchronization, where your phone's calendar and e-mail are updated wirelessly over the cellular network. That's where the Blackberry has the default Treo beat. (Though there is a really nice piece of non-free software called Chatter that can do push e-mail for the Treo 650 with IMAP servers like fastmail).

      --

      When I moderate, I only use "-1, Overrated". That way, I never get meta-moderated!

  6. With any luck... by MoxCamel · · Score: 4, Funny
    Hopefully this will lead to more Palm and RIM jobs. The world needs more Palm and RIM jobs...

    Mox

  7. Support for open source calendar servers? by IGnatius+T+Foobar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ideally, I would like to see this fancy new combined software package contain support for either SyncML or GroupDAV. It would be nice to connect to open source calendar servers, using a sync server like Sync4J or even natively on standards-compliant calendar servers.

    --
    Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
  8. Still comes up short. by Eric_Cartman_South_P · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From what I read, it will sync Mail and Cal. People are getting used to the latest Blackberry Enterprise server, which also does Contacts and Tasks. MS Outlook 2003 Exchange + Mobile 5 (read: Treo 700) will support Mail/Cal/Con/Task/Notes. If this really is only e-mail and Cal, it's not enough IMO and people will flock to Treo 700 because they want "all of outlook" and not "some of it".

    Palm has also said this was in the works for well over a year and a half, with no resolution. What gives that they finally got this out the door, all-be-it in a feature-missing version?

  9. Re:Now that this deal has been signed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    A friend of mine got a RIM Job some time ago and he really enjoys working there, but he's had some problems in the work place. His private member is a dangling pointer which can only be accessed by his friends. He could always make his private members public, but then he might lose his RIM Job.

  10. still "synchronizing" with desktops? by Douglas+Simmons · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I'm thinking that by now these devices are advanced enough and people are dependent on them to the point that coordination with a "primary" unit at home with the on-the-go device is getting phased out.

    By the way, way back I remember a slashdot article about a thing you hook up to a PDA that projects a laser keyboard onto any flat surface, and with it you can type away and it would somehow detect which non-existing keys you're hitting. Are they any good (if they're still being sold that is)?

    1. Re:still "synchronizing" with desktops? by Eric+Giguere · · Score: 2, Informative

      If your company doesn't install the agent on the Exchange server, then yes, you have to do it to the desktop but that's not what it was designed for.

      Actually, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) came later. The devices (remember when they were called the Inter@ctive Pager?) were originally designed to sync via your desktop. The direct sync to the mail server was a later addition, and of course now that's the standard (and most reliable) way to do it.

      Eric
      Some BlackBerry programming stuff
  11. +4 Insightful? by HugePedlar · · Score: 2, Funny

    Here's an "insightful" link to go with that...

    http://www.zug.com/gab/index.cgi?func=view_thread& head=1&thread_id=31642

    For some reason firefox won't let me cut & paste, so I hope I got the link right.

    --
    Argh.
  12. Palm - Mail and Calendar SYnc by futuresheep · · Score: 3, Interesting

    We've been using the Intellisync Mobile Suite for our enterprise users with great success. The client does an excellent job of providing email/calendar/contact sync via sms push. It's almost as fast as the Blackberry's we support, depending more on the users phone provider than on our Intellisync server.

  13. It will be a great move if... by StressGuy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Palm and RIM are smart enough to realize that simplicity could be thier greatest asset. Let Windows based handhelds have all the toys while the business world sucks up units that can perform the necessary day to day functions reliably with minimal power consumption. If you want toys, add a way to store photos of your kids (great to show to customers/clients on the road) or an MP3 player to listen while stuck in the airport.

    If I want to play video games or watch movies, I'll go with something that has a bigger screen. If I want to type a document, I'll use my laptop (I usually need AutoCAD when I do documentation anyways).

    Simple and elegent is the real power here.

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  14. Smart Phones just aren't a mature product yet by skitheboat · · Score: 2, Informative

    After 3 stages of support I got to a high-level support person at Verizon and he said they see far more problems with all of the combo devices than phones only. It's still just too tough to pack the combined functionality and get a reliable product. Some will work just fine but the stars really have to align.