Dell To Offer Windows Mobile 5 Upgrade For X50 Series

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2004/2005_05_10_rr_000?c=us&amp;l=en&amp;s=corp">http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2004/2005_05_10_rr_000?c=us&amp;l=en&amp;s=corp</a><br /><br /><i>"Dell will offer a Windows Mobile version 5.0 software upgrade for the Dell Axim X50 handheld family later this year. The new software is expected to enable users to take advantage of several new productivity and multimedia enhancements, like updated Microsoft Office programs and Direct3D Mobile support. It also supports persistent storage capability, helping to protect against the loss of personal data and applications when batteries discharge completely.</i>"<br /><br />No word yet on pricing or if it will be free to those that buy an X50 after a certain date. The upgrade CD is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2005. If you have been holding off waiting for Microsoft's new OS and like the X50 line, there is now no reason not to go ahead and jump on board.

[Mike Temporale]

Way to go Dell. :way to go: I hope this is just the start of what will be a long list of manufacturers providing this upgrade. :mrgreen:

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Way to go Dell. :way to go: I hope this is just the start of what will be a long list of manufacturers providing this upgrade. :mrgreen:
Check back in a few minutes! ;)

[Mike Temporale]

Check back in a few minutes! ;)

I've got my email blasts going on full tilt! :mrgreen: I'm really hoping a couple of the Smartphone vendors are listening. ;) ;)

[nutzareus]

Nice job, Dell, of ditching the X30. I bought this PDA not even one year ago and it's considered "obsolete" already. Not completely surprised, I got no upgrade for my HP Jornada 420 or 540. At least I was able to get WM 2003 on my iPAQ 3835. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the Blue Angel I have will be upgradeable to WM 5!

[Foo Fighter]

Hmm. Now I have mixed feelings about having sold off my X50v. What I really want is a VGA WinMobile Smartphone. :(

[Mike Temporale]

What I really want is a VGA WinMobile Smartphone. :(

Here! Here! oh, and WiFi would be nice too. ;)

[Dave Conger]

Here! Here! oh, and WiFi would be nice too. ;)

Native WiFi support in Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone. :D

[Mike Dimmick]

Nice job, Dell, of ditching the X30. I bought this PDA not even one year ago and it's considered "obsolete" already. Not completely surprised, I got no upgrade for my HP Jornada 420 or 540. At least I was able to get WM 2003 on my iPAQ 3835. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the Blue Angel I have will be upgradeable to WM 5!

That it isn't listed doesn't necessarily mean they won't offer an upgrade for the x30. I'm hoping they do as well - I bought mine less than a year ago too.

Going off-topic - do you have the WiFi version? If you do, do you have problems with it staying associated with your AP if you turn the power management on? I have to turn power management off or it keeps searching for other networks.

[Jonathon Watkins]

I hoped Dell would do this. :D I think paying for the upgrade is fair as we've had a fair bit of use out of it, though all folks buying one now should get a free upgrade.

Good support there Dell. At least two generations of OS supported on a device 8)

:grumble: (Though offering an upgrade to PPC2003SE on the X5 would have been nice).

[ADBrown]

Going off-topic - do you have the WiFi version? If you do, do you have problems with it staying associated with your AP if you turn the power management on? I have to turn power management off or it keeps searching for other networks.

I've had problems like this with my Axims. It's often the access point--I have an AP that works perfectly, and another that won't let my X30 or X50v browse the if I don't turn off power management.

[Darius Wey]

Nice job, Dell, of ditching the X30. I bought this PDA not even one year ago and it's considered "obsolete" already. Not completely surprised, I got no upgrade for my HP Jornada 420 or 540. At least I was able to get WM 2003 on my iPAQ 3835. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the Blue Angel I have will be upgradeable to WM 5!

To be honest, I'm surprised the X30 was still selling in the American market. The X30 was phased out a long time ago (October/November 2004) in Australia.

[Darius Wey]

I hoped Dell would do this.

And they did! There's a reason why I'm choosing to stand by Dell.

I think paying for the upgrade is fair as we've had a fair bit of use out of it, though all folks buying one now should get a free upgrade.

Asking for something like this would be easily done over the phone when ordering. In the past, I've discovered that persistence pays off.

[Sven Johannsen]

What I really want is a VGA WinMobile Smartphone. :(

I think it will be a while before you see anything like that. I think we just got a QVGA smartphone. Now a VGA PPC Phone Edition...That's the HTC Universal.

[wocket]

Does anyone know if Dell will be only offering the Update via CD or will there be a download option?

[Ed Hansberry]

Does anyone know if Dell will be only offering the Update via CD or will there be a download option?
The upgrade CD is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2005.
"Dell Axim X50 customers will be able to purchase the upgrade, expected to ship during the third quarter, on compact disc. (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2004/2005_05_10_rr_000?c=us&l=en&s=corp)"

[Jonathon Watkins]

Does anyone know if Dell will be only offering the Update via CD or will there be a download option?

At this point it looks like CD only. They got burned last time with downloads during the PPC2002 to PPC2003 update cycle. Shame they can't get downloads organised properly. :?

[wocket]

Does anyone know if Dell will be only offering the Update via CD or will there be a download option?
The upgrade CD is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2005.
"Dell Axim X50 customers will be able to purchase the upgrade, expected to ship during the third quarter, on compact disc. (http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/en/2004/2005_05_10_rr_000?c=us&l=en&s=corp)"

Does anyone know if Dell will be only offering the Update via CD or will there be a download option?

At this point it looks like CD only. They got burned last time with downloads during the PPC2002 to PPC2003 update cycle. Shame they can't get downloads organised properly. :?

Cheers guys. (Ed I was more concerned with the download option. Probably my bad use of grammer :lol: )

Yep deffo a shame if there is no download option though.

[Sven Johannsen]

Shame they can't get downloads organised properly.

Yea, shame on Dell for people stealling their software.

[Darius Wey]

Shame they can't get downloads organised properly.

Yea, shame on Dell for people stealling their software.

My thoughts exactly. At least by offering a CD, they can slow down the piracy process. I can imagine if Dell opted to go ahead with downloads, it would be leaked across multiple file-sharing networks within the first few hours. Then there goes potential sales. Dell suffers. We suffer in the long run.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Shame they can't get downloads organised properly.

Yea, shame on Dell for people stealling their software.

:confused totally: I remember there being problems with Dell's downloads corupting due to congested servers. What are you referring to?

[Jonathon Watkins]

At least by offering a CD, they can slow down the piracy process. I can imagine if Dell opted to go ahead with downloads, it would be leaked across multiple file-sharing networks within the first few hours.

So how does this differ from someone getting a CD and putting it on a file sharing network? Another problem last time was the glacial pace. There were weeks and weeks of delays for some people, while others got thier upgrades straight away. This encouraged quite a few impatient folk who had ordered already, to get it elsewhere, along with the usual pirates.

[Darius Wey]

So how does this differ from someone getting a CD and putting it on a file sharing network? Another problem last time was the glacial pace. There were weeks and weeks of delays for some people, while others got thier upgrades straight away. This encouraged quite a few impatient folk who had ordered already, to get it elsewhere, along with the usual pirates.

That time delay is what makes the difference. By offering a download, from the moment someone purchases it and downloads it, there is an increasing likelihood for it to be spilt on to file sharing networks within a couple of hours. This would deter many morally-challenging users from purchasing the download, when they could instead acquire it by devious means. However, offer it by CD, and those who are too impatient to wait would probably decide to sacrifice a bit of money just to get the upgrade. Of course, those willing to wait would probably still be able to acquire it by devious means once someone receives their upgrade CD and spills it on to file sharing networks. It may sound insignificant, but when you factor in how many Pocket PC users there are in the world, I'm sure it makes a huge difference.

Of course, Dell may have their own reasons. This whole piracy concept is merely a hypothesis.

[wocket]

At least by offering a CD, they can slow down the piracy process. I can imagine if Dell opted to go ahead with downloads, it would be leaked across multiple file-sharing networks within the first few hours.

So how does this differ from someone getting a CD and putting it on a file sharing network? Another problem last time was the glacial pace. There were weeks and weeks of delays for some people, while others got thier upgrades straight away. This encouraged quite a few impatient folk who had ordered already, to get it elsewhere, along with the usual pirates.

I agree. But i'd also like to think that most of us are honest enough to pay the small fee for the update (or am I in a land of dreams).

In the past couple of weeks I bought a 600mb worth of a development package which the company distributed via a download manager of their own. Which was quite speedy. Of course quite a few of us are on higher speed broadband which we may not have had a few months ago.

[Sven Johannsen]

Shame they can't get downloads organised properly.

Yea, shame on Dell for people stealling their software.

:confused totally: I remember there being problems with Dell's downloads corupting due to congested servers. What are you referring to?

I recall that the upgrade was available on Warez sites minutes after being avialable as a paid download, prompting a shift to CD distribution. Might be confused though.

[Jonathon Watkins]

I recall that the upgrade was available on Warez sites minutes after being avialable as a paid download, prompting a shift to CD distribution. Might be confused though.

I understand, but still don't see how it will help the battle with piracy. A file copied from onto a computer from the net or from a CD just as easily, and is just as easily uploaded to wares sites.

I just don't buy the delay argument I'm afraid. The important thing is, as soon as the first person gets the software, it's available for piracy and it does not matter whether the files are downloaded or from a CD.

Personally I think the shift to CD is Dell trying to reduce Technical support costs, what with corrupted downloads and the problems that they bring. If they reduce the complexity to themselves, they keep cost down.

[drop]

You would know if you had monitored the situation on Dell PDA specific forum. I think some of people who downloaded illegally were perfectly willing to pay for the software. But they downloaded because of availability issue. They wanted to install and try it when so many people were commenting on different forums.

CD-only distribution is not going to solve piracy problem. But I think the point is making the process slightly more difficult. Many are waiting and watching Dell's release day to "order" rather than download. By the time the orders are shipped, many probably wouldn't bother to download illegally.

[Jonathon Watkins]

You would know if you had monitored the situation on Dell PDA specific forum.

I did, as my posts there at the time show. The exact details are hazy after nearly two years though.

[Sven Johannsen]

I recall that the upgrade was available on Warez sites minutes after being avialable as a paid download, prompting a shift to CD distribution. Might be confused though.

I understand, but still don't see how it will help the battle with piracy. A file copied from onto a computer from the net or from a CD just as easily, and is just as easily uploaded to wares sites.

I just don't buy the delay argument I'm afraid. The important thing is, as soon as the first person gets the software, it's available for piracy and it does not matter whether the files are downloaded or from a CD.

Personally I think the shift to CD is Dell trying to reduce Technical support costs, what with corrupted downloads and the problems that they bring. If they reduce the complexity to themselves, they keep cost down.

I agree. I think you are correct on support issues. It is much easier to control support for legitimate and authorized upgrades with hard media. Support is one thing many people don't consider when they argue that all the OEM has to do is throw the new bits on the web for download and let everyone have the new OS.

[rasputinj]

This is great I have been holding off on purchasing a new X50v, waiting to see if they are going to upgrade, well I guess my wait is over.

[Darius Wey]

This is great I have been holding off on purchasing a new X50v, waiting to see if they are going to upgrade, well I guess my wait is over.

You posted on a great X50v deal the other day too! :D