Textware Halts Development of FITALY for PalmOS

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://fitaly.com/board/palmfitaly/posts/5082.html">http://fitaly.com/board/palmfitaly/posts/5082.html</a><br /><br /><i>"We are terminating all Palm OS Developments as of today, October 17, 2005. Our future PDA developments will all be based on the Pocket PC operating system. This is where we are likely to meet Palm devices again -- such as the Treo 700w. In Addition, we will concentrate on the Tablet PC and continue to expand our very successful Instant Text business on the PC."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/hansberry/2005/20051018-fitaly.png" /><br /><br />I am sure much of this has to do with Palm continually changing how the soft input panel works with little or no documentation to developers on what the changes are, meaning it is a lot of trial and error and essentially a new code for each and every device Palm puts out. This has been brewing for a while now and <a href="http://fitaly.com/board/palmfitaly/posts/4972.html">seems to have finally come to a head</a> when the same FITALY that had worked on all other Palm brand PalmOS devices would install on a LifeDrive and continually soft reset. In stark contrast to that, I think the Textware team simply has to make sure FITALY works OK on a given Windows Mobile OS (2003, 2003SE, WM5, etc.) and then knows it will work on every device using that platform.<br /><br />I am sure there are some that will not buy the new T/X because of this. I know if Textware said that they would refuse to support Windows Mobile 5 for similar reasons, I'd be very hard pressed to upgrade. There are some apps that are just key to the device and FITALY is one of those apps for me for which there is <i><b>no</b></i> substitute. What about you? Do you have that one or two killer apps that if they stopped development for a next generation platform it would make you seriously consider not upgrading?

[Tim Rapson]

Ed, you and I have had some "spirited" differences over the relative value of POS and WinMob, but we have always agreed 100% on FITALY. I simply won't do without it.
Right now, I am doing a LOT of looking over the fence. I want an X51v with a built-in camera. I was considering a TX. But, if FITALY doesn't ship for it, I will never get one. Same if they update the Zire 71 (my current sollution) the same way they did the TX, I will not be getting one without FITALY. I will limp along missing the multi-tasking, true fonts, and real files that my Zire 71 lacks in order to continue using the inferior but workable FITALY sticker that covers the hard grafitti area on my Zire 71 that should never have been there at all. WinMob is built just perfectly to support the huge diversity of text imput schemes. It is baffling to consider the wealth of options you have, but choice is fine as long as the one choice I want is one of them, I don't care if someone else is addicted to another sollution.
This is especially sad for me as FITALY was so nice on my mono Ipaq 3100 that it was about the first program I sought out for my Clie NR70V and I actually helped beta test this version that was the first software version as that NR70V was the first.....oops, the Handera 330 might have had FITALY and Virtual Grafitti first....anyway, Textware did a superb job with FITALY. It even premiered the icons for instant launches along the bottom of the HVGA POS screens. I bet POS would never have thought of using that extra space. The POSs have those extra pixels because Palms dedicate 1/3 of the screen to the text imput area whereas the PPCs only use 1/4 for this.
Yep, if I upgrade it won't be for any model that doesn't have FITALY.

[TMann]

As a bigtime FITALY user, (Palm Tungsten T3, T5, HP 4155, Dell x50v,) it would seriously affect my decision on whether to purchase a given device if this software was not going to be available for it. (Unless, of course, it had a thumboard.)

While, I'm sure that there is two sides to this story, it sure sounds like Palm is going out of their way to make it hard for third-party developers, like the folks at Textware.

Dumb, dumb, dumb...

TMann

[bvkeen]

I do wish they would do a WM5 version. There are a number of softwares that do not work [or work satisfactorily] on my x51v, and FITALY is the one I'm missing the most. However I am refamiliarizing myself with Calligrapher [after upgrading to version 8], and it is neat. I still really miss FITALy, though, and had been using it since my Palm days.

[Toshi]

Man, now maybe, just maybe they will FINALLY have more time to finish and release FITALLY 4. I have been waiting FOREVER!

[TMann]

I obviously missed the Fitaly news updates...what does version 4 offer that 3.5 doesn't?

TMann

[crimsonsky]

I do wish they would do a WM5 version. There are a number of softwares that do not work [or work satisfactorily] on my x51v, and FITALY is the one I'm missing the most. However I am refamiliarizing myself with Calligrapher [after upgrading to version 8], and it is neat. I still really miss FITALy, though, and had been using it since my Palm days.

Huh? In my brief stint with WM5 on my hx2415, Fitaly worked just fine. The only caveat was that it could not be selected as the default SIP, else on a soft reset, you'd get NO SIP! (At least that was my experience).

I've since reverted back to WM2003SE on my 2415, but not because Fitaly doesn't work - it does.

I will ABSOLUTELY not buy any device on which Fitaly doesn't work unless it has a thumb board. End of story.

Don

[Toshi]

I obviously missed the Fitaly news updates...what does version 4 offer that 3.5 doesn't?
TMann

They haven't released 4 yet. THey always have delays, yada, yada. Anyway, 4 will have additional features like better text expantion that include keys like ctrl, shift, backspace etc.

It seems like I've been waiting for years ;-)

[ticot]

Being a fitaly owner in both PocketPC and Palm, I don't have to explain how essential this keyboard is for me. Sadly, the cease of development on the palm has finally prompted me to switch to MessagEase. I don't know why, but every time there is a new palm model i really like and makes me switch from pocket pc, (the Zodiac and the T3 being the latest examples) textware has trouble with the new version, while Exideas MessagEase is more quick to have the software ready.

I really enjoyed using fitaly for the past few years and wish them the best of luck. It's just that I value choice more than learning a new input method.

[wouterk]

I have to agree what Crimsonsky has said. Fitaly 3.5 does work on my K-Jam. The only thing is that it should not be set to be the default input method. Other wise big, big trouble.
Just choose it after every soft reset and you're fine. No problems and everything seems to work as on a 2003 machine.
Wouter

[Glint]

When I moved from a Palm to a Pocket PC one of the things that 'enabled' me to do so was the availability of FITALY for the Pocket PC - it was the first piece of software I purchased for my new machine. And it actually works better on the PPC than on the Palm!

It really seems like PalmOS is on the downward slide to oblivion - why anyone would buy a PalmOS machine now is beyond me - if you desperately need to run software that is only available on the Palm you can run it under Styletap on a PPC.

Just my two bits.

[bvkeen]

I do wish they would do a WM5 version. There are a number of softwares that do not work [or work satisfactorily] on my x51v, and FITALY is the one I'm missing the most. However I am refamiliarizing myself with Calligrapher [after upgrading to version 8], and it is neat. I still really miss FITALy, though, and had been using it since my Palm days.

Huh? In my brief stint with WM5 on my hx2415, Fitaly worked just fine. The only caveat was that it could not be selected as the default SIP, else on a soft reset, you'd get NO SIP! (At least that was my experience).

I've since reverted back to WM2003SE on my 2415, but not because Fitaly doesn't work - it does.

I will ABSOLUTELY not buy any device on which Fitaly doesn't work unless it has a thumb board. End of story.

Don

Based on your experience, I will go ahead and give it a shot on my x51v. I didn't try it because it shows on two WM5 compatibility lists as not being compatible, and I haven't been willing to risk it because I've had enough hassles with stuff that is stated to be compatible with WM5. I've never used FITALY as the default input method, anyway, as I always like to limit what's loaded during start-up. I just switch to it when I go to inputting.

If it causes me any problems, I have actually become very good at hard-resetting the x51v.

[Tim Rapson]

I have actually become very good at hard-resetting the x51v.

Ouch! That is not encouraging.
How long does it take to do a hard reset on your X51v? Is all your information still there due to the new persistent memory? How long for a soft reset? Are you a software tester or doing something extraordinary to need so many resets?

[bvkeen]

I have actually become very good at hard-resetting the x51v.

Ouch! That is not encouraging.
How long does it take to do a hard reset on your X51v? Is all your information still there due to the new persistent memory? How long for a soft reset? Are you a software tester or doing something extraordinary to need so many resets?

Actually, the data is no longer there after a hard reset, so it is just as painful as with any other PPC.

I am involved in one closed beta, but it turns out not being problematic. Some of the biggest problems I have had were with not realizing in advance that I should install and run Tweaks2k before installing and running anything else. Tweaks2k turns off the security install "feature" in WM5, which, while not a real bad idea, is very poorly implemented within WM5: when you are installing, you get a box that asks something like "do you want to install this, since it doesn't have a security certificate?" If you say yes, the OS authorizes the executable file associated with the installation but not any of its associated DLLs. You wind up with stuff that runs incredibly poorly. And, no software seems to have a certificate. Not even the latest MS Voice. One of the reasons I bought the x51v was to be able to run MW Voice without worrying about how much memory it takes up. But, MS Voice command is not fully compatible with the x51v implementation of WM5, in that saying "show contact name" shows a blank screen (as does "call contact name," although one user reported that the latter actually works for him). So, to get to the point, finally, a lot of the resetting has been to get back to a performance level that was acceptable, and finding out what software really works on it and what does not. You can see why I have been reluctant to load FITALY, given that some have reported it to be incompatible, since some stuff does not work that you would think for sure would work.

Sorry for the rambling.

[Phoenix]

I'm looking ahead, and call it a hunch or an instinct, but for some reason to me, I think this whole thing marks the beginning of the end for the Palm OS.

[PetiteFlower]

Are you kidding? The "beginning of the end" for Palm was a long time ago - probably when PalmSource announced they would not be developing the OS in its current form anymore but would start working on a Linux-based version not to be released for at least 1-2 years. This is just another nail in the coffin!

[unxmully]

I suspect few people associated with the Pocket PC world have a reference at Wikipedia. Sort of puts his comments about Palm's handling of versions into perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ichbiah

[bvkeen]

Okay, after having three White Screens of Death on my x51v today, and two non-power-ons, (both are probs that some others are reporting on aximsite), I did another hard reset and have installed, so far, only two programs, with one of them being FITALY. It seems to work just fine, and apparently (from what I have read above and confirmed on the fitaly.com forums), as long as I do not set it to my default SIP, it'll continue to work fine.

For at least the next few days, I'm not going to install any other programs on my x51v. The x50v will go back to being my primary device until I am convinced that the x51v can run okay. If, after a few days, it still runs okay, then I may add other programs one by one.

But, back to the topic at hand: Thank You for letting me know that FITALY really does work on WM5, despite what the compatibility lists report. I am DELIGHTED to have it working, as it is one of the things I missed the most. (Still miss MS Voice Command and I understand that iSilo is a bit buggy for now, but I am convinced it will be fixed by the second or third beta).

BTW, I concur that FITALY's announcement to bail out of Palm is just one more sign that Palm OS is dead. It was a good idea that just never matured while everything else around it did.

[Phoenix]

Are you kidding? The "beginning of the end" for Palm was a long time ago - probably when PalmSource announced they would not be developing the OS in its current form anymore but would start working on a Linux-based version not to be released for at least 1-2 years. This is just another nail in the coffin!

:) Well, yes, you're right. I believe that Palm has been on a downward slope for a number of years now - they've consistently lost percentage point after percentage point of market share to Microsoft, and I've anticipated their demise for quite some time. But someone could argue that they would lose market share only up to a certain point and then maintain. Not that I believe that myself, but still...

This, however, just made things clear to me more than ever before.

[elbowz]

I'm looking ahead, and call it a hunch or an instinct, but for some reason to me, I think this whole thing marks the beginning of the end for the Palm OS.

You're not the only one:

http://www.digireader.com/view_blog.asp?blog_id=183&amp;author_id=7

[Steve Jordan]

Actually, I haven't been using FITALY on my PPC, I never quite got used to the non-qwerty way of typing. But for me, the (original) question should be turned around: "How many new applications that I want, but that won't run on my present PPC, would FORCE me to upgrade?"

I don't automatically upgrade just because I can... if everything I use works, and I don't need anything else, I don't upgrade. I'm good with WM2003, and wasn't planning on moving up anytime soon... I don't know of any new apps I want or need. (I'm still using Windows 2000 at home and work, and see no reason to upgrade that, either.) In fact, if I had to replace my PPC today, I'd try to get WM2003 for it, to maintain my present apps and operability.

Steve
www.SteveJordanBooks.com

[Jean Ichbiah]

I do wish they would do a WM5 version. There are a number of softwares that do not work [or work satisfactorily] on my x51v, and FITALY is the one I'm missing the most. However I am refamiliarizing myself with Calligrapher [after upgrading to version 8], and it is neat. I still really miss FITALy, though, and had been using it since my Palm days.

It always takes some time but it is here now and it features a new and powerful Macro capabilityhttp://www.fitaly.com/board/winceforum/index.html