Something "Good" Coming For The Axim?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110421,00.asp">http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110421,00.asp</a><br /><br />"Dell Computer and Good Technology are hinting of an important partnership they'll announce next week. The prospect of Dell's fast-growing Axim handhelds wed to Good Technology's wireless synchronization service could benefit both products, analysts say."<br /><br />Good Technology competes with Research In Motion, the makers of the Blackberry, in wireless email and synchronization technology. Given the future of handhelds will focus on wireless technology, this could be very good news for Dell and its Axim line. You can find out more about the products <a href="http://www.good.com/index1.html">Good Technology makes here</a>.

[kagayaki1]

Good Technology, that's a cleaver company name... :roll:

That was probably suggested as an alternative to a previous idea; maybe something like "Bad Technology" just didn't hold up.

Nice to see they're entering a "good" partnership, though.

[Abba Zabba]

Maybe we might get something like an ultra PPC. Let's say as Axim X9 :roll: , with:

1. 128 mb Ram
2. 64 mb Rom
3. Higher screen resolution
4. longer battery life
5. Wi-Fi
6. Bluetooth
7. SD and Cf slot
8. GSM and CDMA 1xRTT blah blah
.
.
.
1000. Can't think of anthing else, Can you :?:

What is going to be soooo "good' about it? free access to hotspots, or unlimited GSM or 1xRTT? Maybe this will just turn into a supercharged -way pager. :mrgreen:

[Foo Fighter]

I doubt this partnership will have anything to do with Pocket PCs. It seems more likely that Dell will market Good's own Blackberry clone under the Dell brand name and resell it. No impact on the PPC platform, but I would hate to be RIM right now. :byebye:

[bdegroodt]

I doubt this partnership will have anything to do with Pocket PCs. It seems more likely that Dell will market Good's own Blackberry clone under the Dell brand name and resell it. No impact on the PPC platform, but I would hate to be RIM right now. :byebye:

Let's hope it does for the PPC's sake. I've been waiting for the previously announced Palm/Good device/software that will take care of wireless email and sync for the Palm. I'd suggest the PPC could really upstage Palm if they pulled it out first. Of course, the Goodlink software isn't exactly cheap and I'm sure if Dell were to incorporate Good into an Axim, the first complaint will come from Joe Consumer that doesn't want to pay the $1500 for client software.

[Bajan Cherry]

Good Technology, that's a cleaver company name... :roll:

That was probably suggested as an alternative to a previous idea; maybe something like "Bad Technology" just didn't hold up.

Nice to see they're entering a "good" partnership, though.
Register (http://www.register.co.uk) gave the hilarious name to RIM when it sued Good Technology for some patent violation: Law-suite in motion :)

[Cipr0]

I love my Good G100, I don’t know what I did before I had access to my corporate email with true push technology. I stay connected 24/7 and my customers love it!

We have about 60 sales folks and the Good/ G100 has had a greater impact on the way we do business than any other single piece of tech.

I also dig never ever having to synchronize….my calendar, contacts, notes and tasks are always up to date on my desktop and my handheld…..

That being said….I miss my old ipaq and the flexibility that having a real OS gave me...I miss it....but I would not go back to it.....


If Dell can create a PPC device with the goodlink app, I would buy it in a heartbeat…my question is what network will it use……time will tell…

Cipro

[jweitzman]

Good's strategy is supposedly to not be in the hardware business, so I expect this would at least eventually be more than a repackaging of the G100. That said, I LOVE the G100. It is just the right size, and just a killer service.

The challenge for Good (and RIM) when integrating with Palm or PPC is going to be finding the ubiquitous and reliable coverage of the Mobitex network. One of the reasons the Good is great ( :wink: ) is that it works everywhere (even at 35,000 feet for some reason but don't tell the FAA). Mobile phone networks are not that universal yet.

The other key feature is constant synch. If you had to click "synch" or something and wait for it to do so, it would be far less useful. Having a spare minute and doing a quick check of e-mail while on the road is key.

Jeff

[GadgetDave]

The challenge for Good (and RIM) when integrating with Palm or PPC is going to be finding the ubiquitous and reliable coverage of the Mobitex network. One of the reasons the Good is great ( :wink: ) is that it works everywhere (even at 35,000 feet for some reason but don't tell the FAA). Mobile phone networks are not that universal yet.

As I (and others) have echoed here before, I agree with this. As much as I love my PPC, I still carry a Blackberry around because you can't beat the push/no synch get email.

That being said, I have one beef with jweitzman - the Mobitex has great coverage in metro areas - but I love my GPRS Blackberry even more, becuase I can get coverage up in the mountains west of Denver - the Mobitex coverage ended as soon as you started up the hills. So from that perspective, the GPRS blackberries have an advantage to many people who aren't stuck in a Metropolitan area.

I still want the BB radio/software in my Toshiba, though (maybe a CF card?) ... 8)

[bdegroodt]

That being said, I have one beef with jweitzman - the Mobitex has great coverage in metro areas - but I love my GPRS Blackberry even more, becuase I can get coverage up in the mountains west of Denver - the Mobitex coverage ended as soon as you started up the hills. So from that perspective, the GPRS blackberries have an advantage to many people who aren't stuck in a Metropolitan area.


Hmmm...this may be a case of "your mileage may vary" as the Mobitex footprint is much greater than that of US GPRS (Think pager coverage vs. cell phone coverage.). GPRS is catching up, but the Mobitex signal is still more ubiquitous. Again, your mileage in your area may vary :D

[bdegroodt]

One of the pains in the butt about living on the east coast is always having to wait for Californians to get out of bed and get to work. I couldn't wait any longer, so I called the Menlo Park office of Kleiner Perkins to find out when the announcement was going to be made today. She says 3:00 Pacific.

Going back to pray some more for the uber PDA for another hour and a half!

[bdegroodt]

This is BIG news? I wanted so much more, but it only seems to be a loaning of names back and forth.

http://www.good.com/goodnews/press030429_dellannounce.html

I sure hope it bakes into something.

[bdegroodt]

One more bit I found regarding the Axim:

"Our focus in 2003 is on the server and the infrastructure. You will not see a wireless or a cellular Axim until sometime in 2004," Bonadero said of Dell's own handheld device."

[Foo Fighter]

Looks like I was right. Dell is simply reselling Good's G100 handheld under the Dell brand name.