Brighthand Wonders Why Palm Doesn't Fully Commit to Windows Mobile

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.brighthand.com/article/Palm_Should_Make_WinMo_Handhelds?site=PPC' target='_blank'>http://www.brighthand.com/article/P...dhelds?site=PPC</a><br /><br /></div><i>"During this week's press conference, Ed Colligan, Palm's CEO, kept emphasizing that the Windows Mobile Treo is intended to reach a new market, not cannibalize his company's current one. This is because, for whatever reason, some people and companies will never buy a Palm OS smartphone. What Palm needs to accept is that the same is true for its handhelds. Putting out a version of the LifeDrive running Windows Mobile would attract many new customers who wouldn't consider getting the Palm OS version, bringing additional revenue to Palm."</i><br /><br />Ed Hardy of Brighthand continues the string of commentaries that we've seen this past week on Palm's move to produce a Windows Mobile-powered SmartPhone. Ed believes that Palm should go all the way and start producing both SmartPhones and Pocket PC Handhelds. His arguments have some merit as both Palm and Microsoft run their handheld devices over similar hardware specifications and now that they're getting their feet wet with the Treo, it's probably safe to assume that they've already invested in Windows Mobile development expertise. So what's the hold-up? Should Palm completely switch over? Is this as simple as Ed Hardy seems to suggest? Give us your thoughts.

[Felix Torres]

Realistically?
No. Not now.

Nobody leaves money on the table and abandoning the Palm OS legacy market now is forgoing a market that is generating measurable income for Palm. No question the market is trending downwards but the die-out can be managed and milked for a *lot* of money from the diehards.

Lets face it, there is a strong contingent of ABM'ers in the POS camp that will never consider anything with MS tech. And there are also some who don't want to learn new ways of doing things. Orphaning them now would only annoy them and drive them away from Palm instead of getting them to migrate to newer Palm products.

Two years down the road, yes; by then the POS market have learned to separate Palm apps and hardware from the core OS and all but the rabid ABM fanatics will be ready to move on, but not now.

There is still money to be made off POS fans. 8)

[IpaqMan2]

My thoughts mirror this. I think Palm should go forth and make a WM PDA. The name Palm brings alot of weight and many times it's still common to see people call all PDAs in general as Palms. I think Palm should make the name work for them even more and release WM PDAs with their brand on it. If Palm were to do this... they may even release some PDAs that would raise an eye or two since selling PDAs is their business and could be their complete focus, unlike all other OEMs that release PDAs, (HP,Dell, and so others that sell mostly other products for their income.)

[IpaqMan2]

I never figured they'd leave the Palm OS completely. But I can't see why they couldn't do both.

[Silver5]

I wonder why Brighthand doesn't fully commit to being interesting. I really liked that site alot, at least a few years ago I did, but there rarely seems to be anything new there anymore. The forums are dead. The "news" isn't news anymore. The articles are about as interesting as the average forum posts (like this one) all over the internet. Even the horrible green color of the site seems sickly.

I have a feeling Palm will eventually fully commit to Windows Mobile, unless there is a breakthrough with Palm OS, but for now it wouldn't make sense. There is still room for improvement with what they currently have going and the Treo 650 is still doing well. With a few nice features, like a better web browser, and maybe a prettier user interface, I think Palm OS in the Treo still has good life left in it. I still visit Brighthand, but they could learn ALOT from PocketPCThoughts.

It's weird, I only found out about this site because of Brighthand! Now they could learn from you...I guess everything comes full circle...

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I never figured they'd leave the Palm OS completely. But I can't see why they couldn't do both.
Palm would essentially be doubling their staffing needs (R&amp;D, development, support) in supporting two different platforms. My thought is that they're probably monitoring how well the Windows-powered Treo does VERY carefully to assess what the uptake is. If it's high, they may keep support staff for the legacy Palm devices and then invest solely in Windows Mobile technology for everything else, but they need confirmation from the consumers first.

Hence, the Treo would just be a pilot test for them. While I have no evidence myself, it wouldn't surprise me if Palm were relying on outsourced developers for the development and support of the Treo device until they know for sure which direction makes the most sense for them.

It's weird, I only found out about this site because of Brighthand! Now they could learn from you...I guess everything comes full circle...
Trust me... a LOT of us started out at Brighthand and eventually found our way here!

[felixdd]

It's weird, I only found out about this site because of Brighthand! Now they could learn from you...I guess everything comes full circle...

I came from BH too. IMHO they need to start doing news again, not editorials, which they've been doing entirely too much of. If I want to read someone's opinion, I'd go to their blog or something. But I digress.

I think eventually, Palm will have no choice but to migrate to WM. With the current state of things, I don't see PalmOS to last all that much longer -- 2 years tops. Unless Palm decides that the rumored new devices will run Cobalt...that may give the OS a new lease of life. But seriously, PalmSource is losing licensees bit by bit (i.e. Samsung, Garmin); they're going by the way of the slippery slope.