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Color Palms Announced
viking099 writes "Palm announces Color Pilots - to be shipped the first half of next year. This should ensure Palms' dominance. " I have to imagine that the battery life is going to be bad on these new Palms - anyone have more details? Still, all things considered, another good move by 3Com.
It's not really color screens that suck battery power. It's the backlight that drains it the most. Look at Gameboy Color for an example of a color LCD device with a remarkably long battery life.
This will be tricky, though. What Palm will have to do if it wants to keep its battery life long is to use one of the super-reflective displays with a backlight that can be turned on and off, as with the current Palm devices. The backlight will still drain power, of course, but only when it's on (as with the current Palm screens), and thus will have only a minimal impact on bettery life (no more than it currently does).
I'm not sure if this actually possible with the current super-reflective LCD's; the backing might be too opaque to allow for backlights (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about that, because I hope I am). It's better than the two alternatives, though: a battery-draining handheld or a clip-on light for the non-backlit screen.
I wonder if someone will be offering a trade-in program for Palm III's...
I almost safe to say that you can compare the color palm to the gbc.
When the gbc was first anounced people did they saem thing they are doing now. Going "WAAHH! what about battery life?" and "WAHH! We don't need color". And "WAHH!! what about the older games?"
Well, turns out that not only does the gc use only TWO batteries(as opposed to 4 on the orginal) they last ALOT longer then 4 on the orginal gbc.
About color. People thought "tetris only needs four colors of cabbage green". Well, also turns out that things really do look ALOT better in color. Even games that weren't ment to have color, using some of the default pallets.
And finally, about the applications. Some people thought that the GBC would split the gameboy market into color and non-color. Turns out that the vast majority of gbc games also work on a normal gb. A couple not all the way mind you(extra maze in Zelda dx is an example) but that's few and far between.
So I think very much will happen with the color Palms. Color will catch on nicely. Battery life will IMPROVE. And there will be nice backward b&w compatability with older aps, and new aps will run in a b&w mode much like most gbc titles do now.
I've never popped open a Palm device, so keep in mind that this is mere conjecture based on external observation. :)
:)
It's a space concern. It may seem like a small deal to up the battery size to AA, but when you look at a Palm Pilot, it's very small. One of their big selling points is size and portability. Increasing the battery size would involve at the very least an increase in thickness, possibly an increase in width and/or height. When you're gunning to have the best size-usability-power ratio in the biz, every millimeter counts.
It's the same deal with CPU marketing. "Yes, that extra $400 is worth 150MHz!"
So, while you may be getting twice as many mWH, that may not necessarily be enough to justify an increase in volume because your target is to produce a product with very low volume.
$.02 in the can
I don't know about you, but my servers run on the power of cotton candy and happy thoughts. -Anonymous Coward
I don't even want color. What I want . . .
Is a portable telnet (actually SSH) box.
Specs:
- fold out "full size" keyboard. I have seen what I want on TV, about 4x4x.5 inches folds out then "squeezes" together to align the keys properly.
- "half height" 80 column display (wide aspect ratio.
- Build in cellular/modem for data connection.
The whole thing folds to 4x4x1.8 or so.
Why? Who cares how fast the proc is. SSH to my home box . . . 400mhz and 26gb of HDD. Great for typing notes in class, coding on the subway/bus, even reading slashdot with lynx!
-Pete
Moderator, read the top again before you moderate me "off topic". Pleeeease don't kill my karma!
Not really. If you lose the notebook, you're toast; unless you have the habit of "backing up" your contacts/other data by regularly photocopying it or keeping double notebooks. A paper notebook will not allow you send and read e-mail using a cell phone, and you will have to be extraordinarily talented to be able to play a game of Space Invaders with a deck of cards.
/. have a very similar and predictable flow? There's the obligatory "Palms are expensive, use paper and pencil" note, the "Woohoo! Beowulf cluster!" note, the "Does it run Linux?" note, the inevitable comparison with Game Boy Color, the even-more-inevitable WinCE bashing, and the quintessential "One shall also consider Psion PDAs" post from a *.uk address...
Ever noticed how all Palm related discussions on
Zigbee Central: A Zigbee weblog
What I really want to know is when will my Palm Pilot be as useful as a Startrek tricorder/phaser?
.357 Magnum Revolver, and it seems to effect a fairly decent phaser...
I don't know whatfor when it comes to tricorders, but I duct taped my Palm III to the top of my
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Take a look at psion's web site for more information.. then take a look at pricewatch to find it cheap. Good luck!
Palm dominates now because they have ease-of-use, battery life, and a form factor that's much better than Microsoft's devices. Not because of color. I can see how color could be an enhancement to some aspects of the user experience (like, for instance, overdue to-do entries appearing in red), but the danger for Palm is that, although current small device color screens are pretty good, they are likely to require a larger form factor and burn more battery.
It all ties in to what a Palm is for "the average users". I, for one, use a Palm not because it has color - this didn't even enter into my thinking when I bought it. I use a Palm because it fits into a pocket, runs for a long time on a charge, and works with my Mac just as well as it works with my PC (except my Mac can't sync AvantGo yet). If color spoils either the size or battery life, I'll stick with my Palm III, thank you very much.
(or maybe I'll get one of those slick HandSprings - but I digress...)
- -Josh Turiel
-- Josh Turiel
"2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
Color displays are not the one-true-way to defeat Mr. Gates CE, but it sure would help.
Considering how much LCD displays have matured recently the color-screen Palm probably wouldn't have to be *much* larger than the III's.
If the unit would be small it would attract a lot of the CE users, as the 'sexiness' is a very important thing for many. Problem is that a lot of people do not realize the difference between the two platforms. They see the PalmV, which is slick, then they see the CE with color-display and cry out "Waoaow, thaaat's what I want daddy!!". And even though such users probably wouldn't add much to the Palm community, their money sure is wanted...
Conclusion: Color displays are not the only thing, but they really would help attract a lot of users - and their dough.