11-10-2004, 06:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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PalmOne To Release PalmOS 6 devices in 2006. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.
http://www.brighthand.com/article/No_Palm_OS_Cobalt_Devices_Until_2006
"Ed Colligan was speaking to analysts in London when he said this, and a reporter from NewsWireless was there. Mr. Colligan wasn't saying that there definitely won't be any palmOne handhelds or smartphones running Cobalt coming next year; instead, the company refuses to commit to doing so by any particular date. "Nobody knows when we'll start the shift to Cobalt, OS 6, or on which devices," Mr. Colligan said. "For now, we're saying that we've built the functionality we need into the Treo and the Tungsten T5 and there's no need to confuse developers by switching. I'm not even prepared to commit us to a change next year, or the year after, at this stage." (emphasis added)
Cobalt was finished up a few months ago and is the code name for PalmOS 6. PalmOS 5, currently shipping on just about every Palm OS device, was meant to be a transition OS, moving from the original Kadak based kernel to a 32bit OS with full multitasking, just like Windows Mobile and your desktop. With PalmOS 5, most apps run in PACE (Palm Application Compatibility Environment) which emulates the 68k processor. PalmOS devices now run with the ARM processor.
Cobalt will allow more robust background processing and multitasking. Currently, when you push an app to the background with OS5, a background thread stays alive, allowing email to download for example, but the UI completely shuts down so when you switch back to that app, you aren't necessarily back where you left off. Apps will be able to be written in native ARM code, bypassing the need for the emulation environment. Oddly enough, OS5 simply doesn't allow full blown apps to be written to take advantage of the ARM processor.
So, as usual, PalmOne is saying they have the functionality you need. "For now, we're saying that we've built the functionality we need into the Treo and the Tungsten T5..." You won't need the more advanced stuff until OS 6 devices ship. :roll: And what is with that bit about "confusing developers?" Any Palm developers reading this? Which is more confusing, OS 6 or Ed Colligan's statement? Meanwhile, PalmSource has released OS 6.1 already and you can run it on your desktop - which may be the only place you can run Cobalt in the near future. ;-) On a related note, anyone know when PalmOS will have a true native file system?
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11-10-2004, 06:36 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,734
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Im not a Palmista, but I suspect he is actually talking to consumers, telling them "Dont wait for OS6 devices to come along. Buy now, because you may wait a very long time". They have had inventory problems due to people anticipating devices in the past.
The danger is though that Palm loyalists will decide their platform has become stagnant, and decide to switch to pocketpc, which at least seem to have incremental upgrades every year.
On the palm boards there seem to be a feeling hanging over palm, a "stench of death", even though they still have a 50% market share. It is looking like another Netscape vs IE.
Surur
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11-10-2004, 06:44 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 43
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It's reading things like this that make me glad I switched to Windows Mobile a few weeks back. PalmOne, for whatever reason, seem to have little desire to produce either a high-end device or a device using OS6 (which still suffers from their odd file system). This kind of stagnation might suit the less adventurous or demanding users but I am now starting to think that there is little for power-user to hang around for. I also find it worrying that there are so many problems with the new T5 with regard to third-party software (http://fitaly.com/board/palmfitaly/posts/4725.html).
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11-10-2004, 07:02 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 115
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Re: PalmOne To Release PalmOS 6 devices in 2006. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
On a related note, anyone know when PalmOS will have a true native file system?
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when palmOne thinks we are ready for it 
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11-10-2004, 07:06 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WolfUK
http://fitaly.com/board/palmfitaly/posts/4725.html
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Hahahahahahahahahaaaa :rotfl:
That developer does look confused! I would be too if I was having those problems. Holy cow. 8O That PalmSource introduced a product that is so bad with such a popular app is nothing short of astonishing.
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11-10-2004, 07:59 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 498
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Does the "a few month" include 11 months ? Cobalt was released 11 month and 10 days ago.
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11-10-2004, 08:08 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,055
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Re: PalmOne To Release PalmOS 6 devices in 2006. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Cobalt was finished up a few months ago and is the code name for PalmOS 6.
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A few months ago?? No, Palm OS 6 was released in January by PalmSource, and OS 6.1 was released a couple months ago. PalmSource is at version 6.1, yet nobody is using the OS! What's wrong with PalmOne? Man, I'm so glad I switched....
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11-10-2004, 08:16 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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Man oh man, I am SOOOOOO glad of all the time spent researching the Palm vs. PPC question back in the winter of 2000. My initial impulse was to get a Palm, as clients had said they were reliable and lon-lasting per battery charge. Seems those things Palm was best at are no longer very relevant, with battery times being roughly similar now, and reliability getting shakier the closer Palm versatility gets to what PPCs have done all along. I was like this close - || - to getting one back in April 2000... and would no doubt have continued down that path after the first device.
Luckily a local magazine store brought in the first issue of Pocket PC Magazine that month, about a week before I was ready to drop some cash, and Casio's blurb in that issue just blew me away. Palm is going the way of all once-great technologies.
When I tried a friend's Palm for map navigation in California back in 1995 or so, I was duly impressed. Brilliant, simple, with only the Graffiti nonsense alphabet making me annoyed. Now they've finally relented and put in a natural letter recognition input method... I guess partly for legal reasons owing to that patent thing, but no doubt also because 'the user didn't need it before, but the user needs it now'? How clever. It's been noted again and again in the PPC community that Palm's PR is thin, that they spend a lot of energy (and vitriol against Microsoft) justifying their shortcomings as being tied to user needs. It's weak, and they should just admit it.
But of course they cannot, as that would just mean a faster death. So what we'll see instead is a sloooooow fading away, with little blurbs now and then about hotfixes or flashy new hardware. Meanwhile, the high-end Pocket PCs continue to take large leaps towards full desktop functionality and power. Bye Palm. Been nice not knowing you.
__________________
Gerard Ivan Samija
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11-10-2004, 08:29 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 15
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Re: PalmOne To Release PalmOS 6 devices in 2006. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.
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Originally Posted by Zack Mahdavi
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
Cobalt was finished up a few months ago and is the code name for PalmOS 6.
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A few months ago?? No, Palm OS 6 was released in January by PalmSource, and OS 6.1 was released a couple months ago. PalmSource is at version 6.1, yet nobody is using the OS! What's wrong with PalmOne? Man, I'm so glad I switched.... |
Actually, Palm OS 6 was given to developers at the end of December, 2003. But who cares, it was still a while ago anyways.
And I love the part about confusing developers by switching. Gee, I thought the whole point of creating OS 5 was to ease the transition between OS 4 and OS 6, and to not "confuse developers." Developers have had access to OS 6 for almost a year now. Also, if the apps designed by developers are written properly, most should run fine under OS 6.
You know, if the T5 had been released with OS 6, you might not have heard as much bickering and disguist about it. Oh well, leave it to palmOne...
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11-10-2004, 08:32 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Re: PalmOne To Release PalmOS 6 devices in 2006. Maybe. Or Maybe Not.
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Originally Posted by Lucky Bob
You know, if the T5 had been released with OS 6, you might not have heard as much bickering and disguist about it. Oh well, leave it to palmOne...
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Indeed - it would have been "Hmmm... maybe I need to look at Palms again". I've maintained for some time that if they fix multitasking, categories, and a few other nits, they would be worthy competitors for my dollars.
--janak
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