Dear Palm: It's time for an intervention
By Peter Rojas 
posted Aug 21st 2007 12:38PM
posted Aug 21st 2007 12:38PM
Man, what a crazy year, right? We know things haven't really been going your way lately, but we want you to know that we haven't given up on you, even though it might seem like the only smartphone anyone wants to talk about these days is the iPhone. It can be hard to remember right now, but you used to be a company we looked to for innovation. You guys got handhelds right when everyone else, including Apple, was struggling to figure it out. And it was the little things that made those early Palm Pilots great -- you could tell that someone had gone to a lot of trouble to think about what made for a great mobile experience, like how many (or rather, few) steps it took to perform common tasks.
The problem is that lately we haven't seen anything too impressive out of you guys. Sure, over the past few years the Treo has emerged as a cornerstone of the smartphone market, but you've let the platform stagnate while nearly everyone (especially Microsoft and HTC, Symbian and Nokia, RIM, and Apple) has steadily improved their offerings. So we've thrown together a few ideas for how Palm can get back in the game and (hopefully) come out with a phone that people can care about. (And we're not talking about the Centro / Gandolf.) Read on.
Frankly, you've taken a turn from being the respected underdog and innovator to repeat offender in stale gear. Every press release you issue or "leaked" photo we see these days is another dent in your already banged up armor, and really, we're not sure how much more we can take -- our loyalty has practically become an embarrassment among peers. The New York Times totally nailed it when they said "Palm is about to release a new model in its Treo line and photos leak out to silence." That said, we humbly submit a few (mainly practical) suggestions for how you can turn things around, organized by hardware, software, and other.
Hardware
Get thin - Three words: FIGURE IT OUT. If HTC, Apple, and Motorola can offer thin (and we mean friggin' thin) smartphones, you can too. We know you think the Treo is perfectly proportioned, but it's not. It's chubby. No excuses any more, ok? It doesn't have to be as thin as the iPhone, but you've gotta trim some of the fat.
Bigger, higher resolution displays - Make the screen bigger and up the resolution and you'll go a long way towards winning us back. There's no reason the 750 shouldn't have 320 x 320 (or higher) -- Windows Mobile 6 supports that, or didn't you hear? But for new devices you might want to have the keyboard slide out, like with the HTC Hermes or the Samsung i730. It's a really smart move. The long and short of it is this: if you can find some way to marry the expanse of something like the iPhone's or G900's massive, high res screens and still retain the spirit of the Palm keyboard, people will be very interested.
Speaking of the keyboard, don't mess too much with it - Apple may or not add a physical keyboard to the iPhone (our money says it won't happen), but the one the Treo has now is pretty good and it's pretty much the one thing that's keeping a lot of Treo owners from jumping ship. And from what we hear, the Centro is going to have a keyboard that's "impossible to type on" -- not a good sign. Then again, HTC's signature sliding QWERTY form factor is really compelling too, so you might do good to whip up a really messaging-heavy device built around that kind of design. But again, don't be tempted to mess too much with what's good about the Treo's input.
Make it look nice - We know Jeff Hawkins thinks Palm (well, technically Handspring) nailed it with the Treo form-factor, but it's been almost FOUR YEARS since you introduced the Treo 600, and apart from a few long-overdue improvements here and there (losing the antenna stub, making the casing a few millimeters thinner, tweaking the keyboard), it's essentially the same phone. The Treo used to win design awards, but now it looks really clunky compared to devices like the Dash, the Curve, and the iPhone.
YOU NEED TO MAKE THE PHONE LOOK NICE. Phones are a big part of people's lives now, and if they're going to spend $400 and up for one, they're going to want something they won't be embarrassed to use in public. C'mon, even RIM has figured this one out. How have you failed to see that innovative and engaging design is necessary to win (or even compete) in the mass-market consumer cellphone world? We know that's where the Centro is aimed, and we're not so sure it's going to hit the mark.
Add WiFi - Is it really almost 2008 and the Treo STILL doesn't have WiFi? No excuses any more, sort it out.
Think about adding some storage - There was a time when just having expandable storage via a memory card slot was enough, but that time's passed. People won't mind sideloading via USB if you make the Treo appear as a mass storage device, meaning you can add embedded flash memory (a few gigs would be nice). 8GB in a cellphone is now the new bar. Meet or exceed it, but don't ignore the fact.
Finally, put the kibosh on the Centro / Gandolf / Treo 800p - You're going down the wrong path with these devices, and everyone knows it but you. We don't want to harp on this, but if what we've heard in the initial reports, and seen in blurry photos is what you're really going to offer, then believe it or not, you'll actually be able to expect a reception from your community roughly twice as lukewarm as it was for the Foleo. Palm, put your ear to the ground and listen. We hate to be jerks, but now appears to be the time for some tough love.
Software suggestions
Completely overhaul the OS - We know you're working on a Linux-based mobile OS to succeed Palm OS Garnet -- which was already REALLY showing its age two years ago -- but we're sorta worried that you're going to just port the old UI to a new kernel. It's too late for that. Apple's winning converts because they totally rethought how we should interact with a mobile phone, and Palm needs to do the same thing.
We hate to keep bringing up Apple, but there are so many accurate analogues. Like when Apple introduced OS X: it made a serious gamble that the stability and features they were offering in their new OS outweighed the compatibility with older apps and user interface comfort which already existed. They took an old, once great, but very dated OS (sound like anyone we know?) and trashed it. And it worked for them.
If you've demonstrated any true wrongdoing in the way you've sustained your operating system, it's been your inflexibility in cutting ties and moving forward. Believe us when we tell you that's not an attitude embraced by a culture of techno-fetishists -- your core customer. So don't be scared to kill backwards compatibility, or threaten a little bit of what users are used to in order to gain important advances for your OS and devices. Sometimes you have to tear down to rebuild, and honestly, you have a lot to tear down.
So if Palm, which has been around for around 15 years, doesn't have the user interface design and OS engineering expertise to pull this off, then you should just get out of the game right now. Seriously, if this new OS you're going to introduce is just the old Palm OS with some slightly fancier graphics, your customers will just come to resent you all the more. Respect their intelligence.
You guys need to go back to the drawing board (and back to your roots) and figure out how to optimize the smartphone experience of 2007/8 just like you optimized the PDA experience ten years ago. That's how Palm won its first fans and kicked off mobile computing as we now know it. So you don't have to go in for the same kind of gesture-based touchscreen-focused UI as the iPhone (though it might not hurt), but you do need to make the UI cleaner, faster, sexier, and more fluid and intuitive -- and that doesn't mean throwing on a new skin.
Be open - Here's one place you can really gain an edge over the iPhone: be REALLY open. If you're running the new Treos on Linux, this shouldn't be too difficult anyway, right? Give us the ability to really tweak the phone. Not just to create new applications and skins, but entirely new interfaces -- whatever your users can come up with. Give the community an SDK and all the tools necessary to improve the things they don't like -- and you'll end up with a Treo that users can make better and more useful -- and thus necessarily more desirable than the cookie cutter devices Apple's pumping out.
True multitasking - Having to ask for this is almost embarrassing. Palm OS Garnet just wasn't made for multitasking, which was only barely acceptable even when Garnet was introduced nearly five years ago. We're going to assume that you're on top of this with Linux, but we still have to mention it.
Embrace developers - Just being open probably won't be enough -- you need to win back developers who have abandoned you and court new ones. You know how we knew you guys were in trouble? When people stopped making Palm apps. Yeah, there have been a few here and there -- Google shocked us with a Palm version of Google Maps -- but we all know that the once vibrant community of Palm OS developers has withered in recent years.
It's going to be tough at first. A lot of people feel burned by you guys, your reluctance to keep the platform alive. Others might shy away from devoting time, energy, and money to developing apps for the new Palm OS when (at least for awhile) the user base will be a lot bigger for other mobile platforms like Windows Mobile, Symbian, etc. Stick it out. Invest in innovation -- even if that means enabling others to innovate with your platform.
Add a better browser - Blazer ain't cutting it anymore. Apple's set a new standard with Safari on the iPhone, but pay attention to what people like Dave Winer and Michael Gartenberg are saying about its limitations. For starters, trying to replicate the desktop browsing experience on a mobile device (ANY mobile device) isn't always a good idea. Mobile-formatted web pages work because they're designed for smaller screens. Blazer has done a decent-enough job of formatting sites for the Treo's screen, but you need to improve a TON of stuff.
Ajax support, tabs, the ability to toggle between WAP and regular versions of a page, and not having to reload every time you go back a page would be a good place to start. (Your new browser should be able to cache till the cows come home because mobile device users are already fighting an uphill battle against slow and spotty connections.) Just look at some of the other competition in Opera, S60, etc.; it's not hard to see how much mobile browser innovation there's been in the past couple of years while you've let Blazer rot.
Offer great Mac support out of the box - A lot of people use Macs now -- it's not 1999 anymore. Making it tough for them to sync their phone is a dealbreaker, especially considering how well the iPhone syncs not only with Macs, but with PCs. And the most vexing part is all it takes is a native iSync plugin -- super easy, you know? Trust us, it'll be worth it. You want the Mac community on your side.
Multimedia - The multimedia aspects of the Treo are really underappreciated, and that's probably because they're very poorly integrated right now. Pocket Tunes, TCPMP, and Kinoma are alright, but -- love it or hate it -- the iPod functionality and integration in the iPhone completely redefined multimedia convergence in cellphones. But remember: a lot of people (us included) aren't really into the whole iTunes ecosystem, and would love a viable alternative. Again, make loading multimedia on the Treo as simple as drag and drop, and make playing it back as simple and sexy as Apple has.
Get with Google - You've already taken some baby steps here -- it's great that you're pre-loading Google Maps and all that -- but you need to go deeper. Offer a great mobile versions of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, etc. and you'll have a good shot at winning over some of the millions and millions of people who have migrated to Google's ecosystem. Besides, it's not just about syncing with the desktop anymore, it's about syncing with the cloud.
Other Stuff
Stop wasting money on the Foleo - We all know this isn't going anywhere. And even if it does do alright -- and let's be real, it's never going to do better than alright -- it's really just a distraction from the main business you're already neglecting. Besides, how many Treo companions do you expect to sell if the Treo itself isn't up to snuff? The Foleo is not the way to make the core product better.
Make better ads - We know this is easier said than done, but all this "It's not a phone, it's a Treo" crap isn't cutting it. Even stodgy old Sprint and Verizon have gotten the message on advertising -- look at the Chocolate, connectile dysfunction, and flashlight commercials, which have been really successful. If you can't match them at inspiring current and potential users to spend money on you, you need a new ad agency.
Stop keeping us in the dark - A lot of former Treo fanatics we've spoken with have abandoned Palm because they're just tired of the complete lack of information about stuff like where the platform is going and when much-needed software updates will be available. We don't expect you to reveal all your secrets (that's what Engadget is here for), but it would be nice to get some confirmation about when we'll finally see some the first Linux-powered Treos, not cagey answers and misleading statements. If you're worried about cannibalizing sales, don't be, because a lot of people who might stick around for a new-and-improved Treo are already jumping ship for iPhones, HTCs, and BlackBerrys.
Look, we know what we're talking about here won't be able to happen today, tomorrow, or next week. It's going to require some serious time, dedication, and faith in the brand you've built. Your stock is tumbling, the lowest it's been in months; your customers have lost faith, and those buying Treos seem to be just going through the motions; your efforts to expand your business have gone unfulfilled, and perhaps most importantly, your consumers are unhappy and looking for the next great thing -- that you're not providing. But it's not entirely hopeless. Your biggest competition's already shown its hand, and you've seen how successful they've been. Look at what they've done right (and wrong), and build upon it.
Even if you only implemented half the suggestions we've laid out here we think you could really turn things around. And we do, honestly, want you to make it through this thing. We want to love Palm like we loved it in the old days, and know somewhere, deep down, you've got some fight left in you. And believe you us, this is your shot. The bottom's about to drop out on the Treo, and if you can't make it happen soon, you may never get another chance to get a foothold on innovation.
Your friends and fans,
Engadget
By Peter Rojas, Ryan Block, and Joshua Topolsky
WELL writen as a owner of a 755p i could not agree more...
Agreed, very well written and thought out. -- Long time Palm and Treo owner
700w here...Never was a big fan of Palm because of pretty much everything stated in the article. Which is why I junked it for an HTC. Lack of software, small screen, and general hideous appearance deterred me almost indefinitely. If these changes could be made (especially creating an open platform) I'd definitely reconsider.
My peeve with their suggestion is that they didnt specify that it needs to have a minimum of a 800 pixel width LCD display. Lack of technology is no excuse. LCD's of the size that is on the Treo with 800+ px resolution have already been demonstrated (call up Samsung or Hitachi).
Oh yeah and they forget to ask to include GPS .. and CRUCIALLY make the GPS software UI decent .. license from telenav, tomtom, garmin, etc. Make easily it be work with google or mapquest maps.
Oh my god. I just couldn't agree more with every single point in this letter. I have gone through every Treo from the 600 to the 755p and I can't stand to give them my money anymore, it's an insult to my intelligence - I actually get depressed thinking about how Palm has squandered everything they built up to the Treo 600 by being such a completely dysfunctional company. The Foleo is the cherry on top that screams "we don't give a sh1t about our customers!!!"
I've sworn to drop Palm forever unless they get their crap together in the next 6 months.
Me too don't wanna see Palm leave, but fact is they're leaving soon and for good...
Coz I don't think none of them in Palm never thought of what's need to be done and changed like you people suggested. It's a no brainer, but obviously hit us real hard on why didn't they do it..? But came out something like Foleo crap instead.
Can never understand what's the people up there in Palm were thinking, they knew it, trust me, but they just don't do it.
Yes, absolutely.
I've been a Palm user since the Palm Pilot Pro (1997? EGAD!). I've gone through Palm III, Palm IIIxe, Palm IIIc. When I saw the first big pivoting screen Sony Clié NR70V, I switched. It seemed even then, 2002, that Palm was in design stasis.
When my Clié died, I was bereft and reluctantly moved back to Palm and the TX. It's not a bad thing, but the OS just seems like it hasn't changed much since version 3, maybe 2. The mystery Garnet or OS 6 or whatever Palm is/was calling it never seems to materialize. And I thought Palm had Apple roots (shipping, stable products), not Microsoft's (delayed, bloated, stolen or acquired) bastard heritage.
I looked at the Treo line. While somewhat compelling, I HATE those nasty little keyboards; I have adult fingers. Call me crazy, but I like using a stylus and Grafitti.
I always thought that a truly GREAT Palm PDA phone would combine all the best features of the Palm TX... 128MB RAM (or more), big screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, SD card slot, on-screen keypad OR Grafitti ... with the phone guts of the Treo line, sans the crappy smurf keyboard.
Apple beat 'em to it, in some ways, with the iPhone. But I STILL like some of my old Palm software: DateBk 6, SuperNames, Brainforest, Vindigo.
So, why can't Palm do something like this instead of existing in it's un-dead state?
Had a Treo 650, Zire 71 before that, and a Palm V prior to that. I got a brother started with the Zire 21, and my mother on a Treo 650. Sadly, since I had seen no real innovation since my Zire, I moved on. Durring the course of 8 years, I went from what was at the time a VERY sleek device to a Treo, which, although it had added phone functionality, a higher res screen with color, it was more than TWICE the thickness. Palm waited too long for me.
Proud new owner of an iPhone.
Palm, I would love to come back, but you've got a lot of work to do. Hope to see you in 2 years.
As a Treo 680 (and former 600) user, I couldn't agree more... I'd love more my Treo if it had Wi-Fi...
Data connection rates in Mexico are overkill, and I'm surrounded by Wifi connections everywhere... it's a waste not to use them properly!
Here here. My very last Treo is on my hip now. I won't buy another unless something radical changes with Palm.
I agree, and you know what? The main reason why is because my treo is just too unstable! Palms used to be hallmarks of stability. My old Palm V ALWAYS worked, instantly - very gratifying. The 700p i have reboots all the time. Even the software update released was bunk, Sprint users had all sorts of problems.
And you can't say: well the devices do much more than the old V did. Tech has updated enough that yes, you can create a device that can do more, but tech has updated enough that you can create a platform that is robust and reliable (especially after 5 iterations of the same basic OS).
My fav line in the letter: "You guys need to go back to the drawing board (and back to your roots) and figure out how to optimize the smartphone experience of 2007/8 just like you optimized the PDA experience ten years ago."
Maybe a little too much of an 'all-I-ever-wanted-in-a-smartphone' list, but hopefully the reach of Engadget will prompt Palm to pull their finger out.
I had such high hopes when I first bought my Treo 180 (then 600, then 650), but I'm a Nokia user now and the speed that they are moving with their platform just leaves Palm in the dust.
It's tough to see if they'll ever catch up.
I have owned a 600 and a 650. I now own an iPhone and I don't think I will ever go back to palm unless they really start to bring their A game. With the emergence of the Korean and Chinese cell phone market, I would surprised if the Treo is on its' way out.
I had a Palm IIIc. When it came out it was amazing.
It is now very dated.
Problem is, Palm hasn't really made radical changes since then.
*sighs and fondles an iPhone and contemplates.....
Alex
I remember when the Palm IIIc came out, the developer community got simulators that supported color a full SIX MONTHS before the product shipped. They didn't even *say* they were going to have a product, just that "you probably better think about color."
Now you can't even FIND OUT what is going on-- or even get clues.
Palm should be asking their developers for help, not ignoring them so they go off and write for Windows Mobile.
8GB is not the new standard...
We didn't say the new standard. We said the new bar -- it's the number to beat.
misread that
new bar? guess so
argh, Ryan beat me to it.
if the commenting didnt take so long...
Amen!
Particularly about the OPEN platform and tinker-ability!
I still have my Tungsten-E and though I was pretty annoyed by the lack of Wifi ability (you saved that the for E2 instead, and I can't use an official card of any kind with it). I have to admit, I am one of those people looking elsewhere for a replacement when this one dies... I'd prefer a Palm, but you aren't giving me (us) much of a choice right now!
Same here....the 'Vx' I had before the 'E' was also great. I keep looking for something compelling enough to use when the 'E' dies and right now I'd say is was Nokia E65. My son just bought one and he now only laughs at my 'E'!
Of course we'd all love an open platform, but there is a reason no mobile device is. No carrier would support an open device. They make good money charging a monthly fee for every app installed and there not about to change that. Our only hope as consumers is that Google buys the 700mhz spectrum and changes the rules.
fkn signed
Ever since Jeff Hawkins left there hasn't been much innovation in the palm arena. He was the genius behind everything at palm, the whole story behind his career there and why he was fired is one of the best examples of tech mismanagement.
Jeff is a part of Palm now. He left Palm a while back to form Handspring, and then Palm bought Handspring for the Treo 600. Now Jeff is back with Palm.
Anyone else need a history lesson?
Actually Jeff left shortly after the buyout, to do work with his next venture, Numenta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Hawkins
he founded Numeta but he did not leave Palm - he's behind the Foleo. There are plenty of videos of him announcing it and talking about it. He's still with Palm.
Triple pwnage! Awesome.
Well said. I already regret buying my Treo 680 and can't wait to replace it with a Curve or iPhone.
Well done Engadget. You have captured exactly how I have felt about my Palm relationship since I purchased my 700p last summer. I have felt that they have been way too silent on all of the 700p's issues, and what and when their proposed remedies would be. I loved the Palm line, having used them since the Handspring days, and I truly wanted to stay a faithful user. However, the taste in my mouth was so bitter, that when Sprint offered me a HTC Mogul to try out, I agreed, and now find myself no longer in the Palm camp. The Mogul has some bluetooth issues, and a keyboard bug, but they are scheduled to release a new maintenance release sometime next month to fix these issues. Now, that is only a couple of months since the official release of the phone, unlike the 12 plus months it took Palm to address the 700p bugs, which were major and many. Would I ever consider going back to Palm? At this point, they'd have to look at your many suggestions in this "open letter", which suggestions I concur with, and implement them...period!
Amen! I just wish Palm would listen.
Isn't it interesting how much the Treo 755 has come full circle to look more like the original Treo? And oh, let's see. The Treo 90 was .2 THINNER than the 755!
The other thing is, you've gotta make everyone WANT it. It's gotta be craveable. When the Treo came out, it was craveable because Palms were a big deal, and combining it with a cell phone was unbelievably AWESOME. Like combining an iPod with a smartphone. Now, THAT's an idea. They need to innovate with it, not just improve it.
Treo 90 was just a PDA, not a smartphone.
Sounds to me like people want Palm to invent an iPhone.
Ya, but open to 3rd Party Software.
No, we want hard buttons/keyboard, 3rd party apps (including apps that don't require a wireless connection), voice dialing, and stylus support (all Palm/Treo features not on the iPhone).
p.s. - I'm a long-time Palm fan: Pilot 500, Pro upgrade, Palm III, Palm V, Palm Vx, Clie 655c (why did Sony drop the line!?!?!?!), currently a Kyocera 7135 Palm phone.
The 7135 is getting a bit old, and can't run OS5 apps, but I just bought a ton of accessories cheap on eBay (keyboard, batteries, car kit, etc) and refuse to replace it until there's a new Palm phone that's a clamshell, or at least slider design. I'm so tired of all the Treo owners/websites spending half their time and money on stupid/bulky cases/clips. My 7135 just folds shut. No case - perfectly protected. It's dropped on the floor many times in four years and still works perfectly with no scratches on the screen of keys. I've got a 2GB SD card, and with BeBopper it makes a pretty good mp3 player.
because Apple nailed it.
Written from my iPhone.
What's sad is that everyone with half a brain could see these points are what is needed to keep the company going, but all of the people getting paid millions will not follow anything you've written. My Sony Clie was the best Palm that I've seen, I could only imagine how great it could be now with the advancements in technology over the last 4 years. How sad that the Clie came out from Sony and not Palm, and that the only semi-innovative thing Palm came out with was the Lifedrive, which was the size of a 1970's hard drive and had about the same amount of storage as one.
Palm devices used to be my favorite gadget, I used to buy the next new model when they came out, but now there is no point. You get the same features buying one that was released this year as you do from one released 6 years ago.
I bought the treo 600 when it first came out, I remember it was 600$ but i got it for 250. That was 3.5 years ago. Just last month I gave up and bought a Moto Q (new to sprint). Well although its slicker I really miss my treo. The contacts, the SMS, switching to silent or airplane mode, locking the screen, Syncing, and the speed!!!! (it could keep up with my typing and the Q can not, apps loaded right up), it was all so much better. I wanted Ev-DO though and couldn't justify spending another 250+ bucks for a newer treo that has awful bluetooth support (no stereo), a bad browser and the same shape. I don't need that kind of attention in my left pant pocket. oh and as far as the Folio goes, why wouldn't create a small app that lives in your phone, when you bluetooth it with another computer,you can unload the app and have it do everything the foleo does. I buy smart phones so that I can check my mail on the go, not so I can use a lightweight laptop to check my mail on the go. They are taking the purpose of the smart phone and putting it in to the folio. Why don't we just press the folio against our faces to talk and and eliminate the smart phone....
"Why don't we just press the folio against our faces to talk and and eliminate the smart phone...."
You are teh Foleo diss king!
THANK YOU for this article, expressing everything that is wrong with Palm in a coherent, logical manner. You gave criticism with love, as a parent would. I too have been disgusted with Palm as of late. They are dying a slow death, and it is sad to see the savior/creators of the PDA market end so ingloriously. It's really stunning how they've let themselves go...it's a little like seeing that really hot girl from high school who got by on her looks and personality 10 years later, only now she's fat and not as fun as she used to be. Sad sad sad. I'm really hoping that this article gets printed on banners and hung all over Palm HQ to redirect them. They were great once and could be great again.
Fantastic and wonderfully written article. I agree with every one of the points presented. Palm has the resources to change around, hopefully they have the determination to do so as well. I really hope to see a major improvement in Treos to come (2008). HTC has definitely been on the ball with the Mogul/Hermes, Cavalier, Kaiser and Touch. Hopefully Palm gets on the ball. What amazes me the most is that it's not like Palm has hundreds (exaggeration) of devices in its stable (recent devices), HTC is pumping out devices all the time (even though most are just different carrier versions of the same thing, there still are various tweaks that go into the design and such). Palm has no excuses for 2008.
Amen brothers!
I heartily second that emotion, as a very bored 700P owner and owner of Palms all the way back to the Pilot. Well-written article, gang!
That was very well written, Peter Rojas, Ryan Block, and Joshua Topolsky. It's writing like this (and most of your other writing) that keeps me reading Engadget.
Add speaker independent voice dialing that works with a press of the button on a Bluetooth headset, otherwise people can't use it (safely) in their car. Any Motorola free phone can do it, should be easy for a more serious phone but it lacking from almost ALL smart/PDA-phones.
These are your customers talking Palm. Try to listen.
I bought a 600 & a 680 the day they came out.. now I'm looking for a new phone but am not able to find anything from Palm that meets my standards. My fiancee wants a smartphone as well but I'm not letting her buy any of Palm's current offerings either. STEP UP TO THE PLATE OR GET OUT OF THE PARK.
Well written, to the point, and brutally honest.
Well done!
"the only smartphone anyone wants to talk about these days is the iPhone."
not a smartphone by conventional terms, being that a smartphone is a platform device that allows software to be installed
IPHONE is closed and controlled by Apple, whereas smartphones are supported by a third-party ecosystem in which independent software vendors compete to create commercially successful apps.
"Feature phones have third-party applications too, but these are relatively weak and limited applications that work with the middleware such as Java and Brew," explained Solis.
"Applications designed for smartphones can be written to access core functionality from the operating system itself, and are therefore usually more powerful and efficient.
"The competition in an open environment also yields more cutting-edge, rich applications."
IPHONE=smartphone don't think so
No expandable memory.
No removable battery.
No Exchange or Office support
Clearly if you are complaining about it you don't have one. Why can't you just leave it at that. you think by adding comments on engadget that Apple will sudenley process all of your complaints and change the phone so it matches your every need. We would all love for that to happen, but unless you're Steve Jobbs, it won't. People should stop complaining and deal with it. there is no need for you to constantly write messages pointing out the flaws of the phone. just buy it if you like it or don't if you don't.
@Andy
He's only suggesting what should be added. No need to get defensive about your "uber" iphone which, alike the iPod, has a limited feature set.
Now if you please don't mind, I have an app that needs signing...
I realize that US-based users will flame me for this, but here goes...
Who cares about Palm? For 90% of the world, the Nokia 9000 series was the beginning of smartphones as we know them. Over the years, there have always been models ahead of the Treo curve, from the SonyEricsson P800/900 series to the current flood of HTC models. I live in Europe and I've known maybe 2 people with Treos while half the businessmen on the continent were running around with P900s.
The HTC phones are dominant everywhere outside the US. You want a QWERTY keyboard with one-handed operation? The HP 6900 series is the model of choice for most people around here.
The Treo has no Wifi while others have had it for years. Years! GPS? Yes, HTC, HP, Eten and Fujitsu-Siemens have phones with it built in. Fujitsu-Siemens PocketLoox smartphone even has 3G. That's right, 3G!
So, time to forget about Palm. The problem isn't that they haven't kept up with the times. The problem is that smartphone users in the States haven't figured out that there are a lot better options already on the market and let the Treo go the way of the dodo.
um...no
the point is, none of those other phones run palm os. i don't think we're merely talking about the hardware. the software is also what makes treo different IMHO.
(yes, i don't give a sxxt about the WM5 treos, because it's 240x240 and it's useless when it comes to WM5, since not a lot of software supports that resolution, and yes, you may say i'm a palm fanboy)
While I do agree, I still think the previous generation of Palm Treo Devices have a good leg up on other such WM5 devices. As an owner of the XV6700, the allure of having a PDA/Phone wore off after a week, especially after the initial OH SHINY! PDA Part wears off and you're left with a great PDA and a shit phone. The XV6700 does everything PDA right, but everything phone wrong. MY 700w is enroute now to replace it, because its a solid phone, and a decent PDA. Palm needs a change, but their current WM5 offerings are very nice (w/WX).
I agree 90%. However, don't touch the keyboard at all unless there are options (one with and one without). My favorite thing about my old Treo 650 was its keyboard--the layout, the feel, and the fact that it was a candybar vs. a slider. I had an 8525 for a week and HATED the keyboard and the fact that the phone kept "squishing" around in my pocket as the keyboard opened and closed. IF it had to slide, I'd still prefer a portrait mode slide. It just works better in the hand (millions of BB users can't be wrong, can they).
Aside from adding GPS and/or A-GPS (I truly believe LBS will be even bigger as time goes on), I think your spot on. Unfortunately, I think it is probably too late, especially given the calamity of the Foleo and the oh-my-goodness-how-ridiculousness of the Centro. Unless they are hiding something REALLY well, I just think they done.
You are right that the article missed the need for GPS and Location Based Services. I've had my Treo 650 for almost three yeas now and the two things I'm waiting on are wifi and GPS built-in. I probably would jump into the iPhone world if it did have a GPS. Can you imagine how great google maps would be if you could find the closest ATM/Wal-Mart no matter where you were??? THAT alone would keep me with Palm.
As it stands now, I've been using Palm devices for ten years (Pro>Handspring>Clie>Treo), but unless they can come up with something this article describes in the next 6-12 months, I will probably not use a Palm when I decide to replace my Treo.
Spot on. Please, Palm, sort it out or you'll just end up another Psion.
That pretty much sums it up. I switched from a Treo 650 to a Hermes because the 650 had a bad habit of rebooting at random, and crashing from time to time. The interface looked like something out of 1998, software was hard to find, and the design just looked aged. Call quality was pretty bad too.
The Hermes fixes most of those things, but the keyboard is too big, and I'm starting to dislike the sliding form factor. It's also true that towards the end there I was getting embarassed to admit that I'd even been a fan of Palm.
Exactly what I wanted to say.
Bravo!!!
Excellent article. I agree with all of the hardware and software suggestions. I'm a Treo 650 owner, looking to upgrade but I don't see any exciting product from Palm.
One thing the article should mention is the business influence of the wireless carriers. We all know they don't like wifi. So blaming Palm for not adding this feature is a little harsh. Palm doesn't have Apple's clout to do whatever they want.
Another thing to consider is the release cycle of the carriers. Yes, Palm is really slow in releasing new products (and their new releases are just rehashed of old products anyway) but so are some carriers (Verizon in particular).
I think everyone that supports this article should send it to Treo and see if they'll read it. Maybe it'll knock some sense in their noggins.
Sony Clie was a good choice but later Sony decided to drop the entire line.
I've been a palm fan since my first Palm Pilot back in the day, but I'm at the end of my rope. This last palm update to the 750p was a disaster; it has become slower and less stable than ever, with freezes, crashes, and keyboard delays. I don't care about getting any new hardware from Palm. I want an OS that works! If Palm doesn't have an up-to-snuff OS out soon I will be switching. It makes me sad, but I just can't take it anymore. The love is gone. There is this cute little iPhone I noticed batting her eyes at me from the corner and I just might take her out for a spin...
Spot-on critique, I'd say. There's no way I'd buy my wife a new Palm if I could help it - HTC's Windows Mobile phones destroy them in almost every way. About the only thing Palm has gotten right is the form factor and the battery life, and while those are important, there are other things to be considered.
I keep hoping the 800w will turn things around.
Dead on guys. I hope this is the shot heard around the world. I've already traded up to a Mogul.
I think Palm management is basically in zombie mode and does not care a single bit about its customers. They spend way to much time and money on useless products like the Foleo and the Gandolf. They do not realize that their most important product, the Treo, is foundering with an OS that is basically unchanged since 1998. Jeff Hawkins already made his millions from Palm and doesn't seem to care that the company he started is now pretty much the laughing stock of the smartphone industry. All he seems to care about is his cool new Foleo project and the royalties he's making off of his brain book. Boo hoo Palm, you had so much going for you.
Nicely stated, although I think you were too generous. Palm hasn't done anything new in ages, and it's been embarrassing for ages. The only surprise is that they're still in business.
mcepat: Talk about missing the point...
Magallanes: And why do you think Sony dropped Clie?
Morbyd: We should care about Palm because they were a force of innovation in the market, and the last thing the market needs is *fewer* choices. Thankfully, Apple showed up recently to wake everyone up in what was becoming a stagnant market ("what color RAZR is coming out this month??!!", "hey, it's WM6 with nicer icons than WM5!!")
i can agree with almost everything in the article. i love my crackberry but competiton is always good for the consumer. as much as i don't like the mac brand, the iphone is very innovative. if it was $200 cheaper and on the Tmobile network i think i would be a iphone owner. it will be hard to get me to switch from blackberry once the wifi and 3G is built in. the opera-mini browser works great.
Maybe a partnership with Motorola could help things?
Is there any interest at all in a device that is NOT a phone? I can't take a phone to my office, my commute is 7 minutes, and I don't need to be that contactable, so my Sony Clie was a great companion for my personal life (also couldn't take that to work - gotta love SCIFs). Now that it's about dead, I'd like to replace it. Looking around at the market today, the only option that seems to fit that market niche, albeit poorly, is the Nokia Internet Tablet series.
What happened to the handheld market, sans phone?
What happened to the handheld market, sans phone?
Palm OS is PERFECT. Stop dissing a perfectly good OS. Just see what Sony could do with the same OS. The icons in the Application Launcher, the forms and UI elements are NOT that OS. There is nothing more you need in a mobile phone that you can't find in a 3rd party software. And yes, even a better browser - that WILL be developed if they come up with a better looking phone, and stop using the ugly interface for the Palm OS - it's ALL in the interface, the OS is good for just about anything...with 3rd party apps, the way it should be. See Clié for reference, and I’m talking about 5 years ago. David
DOS is perfect too.
GOES for the commodore 64 is better! :-D (Can u sense the sarcasm?)
U know iPhone created a great challenge for Palm. We are all suffering from the Palm crown being lost to Apple for top smartphone; we all want Palm to get back on top. It's like a Rocky movie. So Palm get back on your feet and go kick some ass. Your products are still delightful - let's not forget that but they need some new gloss and a slimfast diet.
Engadget:
Thanks for getting these words out, which is exactly what I wanted to tell Palm
Palm: seriously work on your OS and hardware.
ex-owner of Palm
Handspring Visor (retired)
T2 (sold at eBay)
Treo 650 (sold at eBay)
E2 (sold at eBay)
Palm's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory never ceases to amaze me. They've been working on a next-gen OS for how many years now?! First they buy the remains of Be in 2001 in order to develop Cobalt. Then they spin off the OS division into a seperate company. Then they decide to ignore Cobalt. Then they decide that maybe spinning off PalmSource wasn't such a hot idea (you think?), and try to buy them back...only to get outbid by Access. Access spends the next 2 years developing a linux-based, Garnet-compatible smartphone OS from the ground up, and Palm decides at the 11th hour to not use it and develop their own instead. So now it's nearing the end of 2007, and Palm has nothing, zip, nada to show for six years of effort to replace Garnet, and their best estimate of when "PalmOS II" will be available is in early 2008. Meanwhile, the one actual no-argument star in their engineering department has been spending the last two years working on...a subnotebook.
Palm's shareholders should be demanding the heads of the entire executive team and board of directors on pikes.
Heads! Heads! We want their heads! They have been just wasting time and money and have ZIPPO to show for it. It is time to pull their heads out of their (where the legs meet), and get moving on something WE want!!
Harsh, but I can't disagree. The Treo 750 is a great device, but it was hard to settle with it's features from the 8525. Now with kaiser coming out, I can no longer settle with 2 years ago hardware, and neither will 'the average' guy (as I recognize I'm an early adopter.)
Palm, you have 1 good year left in you the way I see it, otherwise you'll be in such bad financial trouble it'll be too late to turn around. Just like SGI who was screwing around with supercomputers while the industry created cheap computers that did what they did at 1/4 the cost.
Drop some projects and send those resources to the drawing board and come up with a new killer new device. Keep those things that have been so successful (the keyboard for example) even if it becomes a slider or whatever, you know how to make keys.
And like RIM, find a way to come out with new models (eventually) every few months even if they change only 1 small feature.
Stick with the colors, it's a huge selling point.
Please, please, do something drastic, or we'll all have to buy imports.
How about: Dump the Stylus
I can remember sitting down with Ed Colligan just before the first Palm Pilot was released and being overjoyed that someone finally understood what people needed in a device of that type. I had tried to get along with the Newton and failed because, despite its technical excellence, it was just TOO BIG. And here was a device that did exactly what I wanted AND you could put it in your pocket. But over the years the company has repeatedly failed to properly capitalise on its initial domination of the market. This post so COMPLETELY hits the current problem on the head that I (and, I'm sure, many other people) could have written exactly the same words themselves. Come on, guys, wise up. Don't throw it all away!
Two points I would reiterate - firstly, drop the Foleo - it's nothing more than a distraction and a blind alley. It doesn't do anything that anyone really wants. Secondly, your support for Macintosh users is absolutely atrocious - it took something like 6 months to get a recent Treo 680 update in a Mac version after the Windows version was available. And the Macintosh sync software is a total disgrace. This is just commercial suicide when Mac users are still (just, but only just) a relative stronghold for Palm. Crazy.
Sort yourselves out before the market does it for you!
Amen. I lost a lot of faith in Palm when they spun out the OS. That made no sense. After acquiring a T|X, I discovered (in my 3-year absence from the platform) the apps are missing, the support is negligible. and the hardware is good, but could be better. I don't see a single thing here I disagree with.
The sad part? Palm won't do ANY of this. My prediction? No more Palm in 3 years. Treo will be sold to Sony or Samsung or someone else...
One more thing, get rid of the proprietary connectors. Add a mini USB.
amen to all that! Iv been waiting for years for palm to shape up, and it just hasnt happened!
you forgot one other thing: put a decent processor in there. My 700p is slow as dirt (especially browsing the web... bandwith isnt the issue since I can stream a 128k mp3 stream w/o any buffering).
I faithfully followed the Treo and have owned the 600, 650 & 680. With my wife's IPhone my 680 feels more and more like the red headed step child of the family.
As a happy 755p and former 700p, and IIIx owner I have to agree with this article, however, I really like the evolution of the 700 series from the 700 to the 755. It’s not a new device but the changes are significant and the feel is improved. Like HTC I think that Samsung has done a lot for new device design and think that Palm should look at the SPH-M8100 which is available in Korea and maybe even look at adding traditional Palm apps to something like the new YEPP YP-P2. I'm also intrigued by the bottom sliding keyboard versus the side sliding keyboard ala HTC because that way Palm can keep the one handed texting title.
Yes, yes, well spoken. If Palm cannot innovate and improve their product, I too will be forced into the Windows Mobile domain after 6+ years as a Palm loyalist. It started with the Palm V, then to a Samsung i300, and now my current Treo 650. I do not really want to trash all I invested in Palm over the years...
FANTASTIC and well written! I'm a 650 user desperately wanting to upgrade, whats the point??? I've also been looking other directions. I really like the touch screen. Its the only thing keeping me as a user of the Treo right now, and thats plain sad. But, not enough to stop me from better upgrades, more space and better reception.
It's funny that this just came out cus I've been on the fence about selling my 700wx and picking up a PPC 6800. Every thing listed above are all of my complaints with my Treo (had a 600 before, but it was great cus it was the best thing out there). I had a 6700 before and loved everything about it except it was too damn slow and I missed the single handed usability of my old 600 (screen died on it or I'd still likely use it).
However, I can't slag the Treo 700wx too much either. It is a GREAT PHONE that does everything you need it to do. And if you don't believe me, then you should by my phone. It will be listed on Ebay next week...
I for one HATE WM devices, I've owned palms and all generations of blackberry (well since the cellular versions) and have used many WM devices as well, and the blackberry, to me, has been the best experience of them all...I used to call the blackberry OS the "mac os of the smart-phone world." I said this because of their ease of use, their stability and speed, and the overall clean appearance of the os as well as the devices themselves. With the newer blackberries (pearl and beyond, but really more-so the curve) their media implementation has been great. And man, my 8800 was SO loud playing back music through the built-in speaker. Now, obviously, that has all changed with the iPhone - now the sexiest, easiest os...with what seems to be great stability and phenomenal media implementation. My gripe, even with the 8gb iphone, is the lack of external memory and hardware keyboard...3g..etc (yes i know the blackberries are edge, sigh). It would be great to be able to store pictures and other files to the memory card, and keep the 8gb for music and video (media that would tend to stay on my phone for much longer periods of time than a photo or document). Obviously palm has some work to do to keep up with the jonses...I say better media support, sexier interface, more stable OS and more attractive (and varying) device choices...i've stayed away from anything past the 650 for the complete lack of innovation and style...the only step forward (in my opinion) was the shaving of the antenna nub, whoop-dee-doo...its still big.
Amazing article. I really hope palm gets their act together- they need to save themselves before its too late.
I agree with many of the points my friends at Engadget have made. Let me leave you with this thought:
What would you get if you merged Palm's 2005 LifeDrive, with it's 480x320 touch screen, 4GB storage, and WiFi, together into a 2005 Treo 650, with its smartphone capabilities, and then ran it all on a Linux-based OS? Something an awful lot like an iPhone, I'd say.
Palm had all the pieces to make a iPhone rival 2 years ago. And they still can do so today, if they can see their way through to take the leap, rather than just making the cautious baby steps they have been taking with the Treo over the last three years. Apple upped the ante for everyone in the "smartphone" game with the iPhone. Palm has the cards to play, if only they can put them all together correctly.
A-W-E-S-O-M-E
The suggested changes you mentioned are right-on. Perhaps the most true fact (for me anyway) is that the keyboard is the only thing that is keeping many from jumping away. Well, I am from those many. Were it not for the convenient keyboard and one hand typing...then I would abandon Palm in a second
I abandoned the Palm platform back in 2001. I loved my Handspring Visor Deluxe, but I couldn't see myself using that today. I have gone Blackberry and not looked back once.
Excellent points. Palm, it may just be too late. And this from an owner of Palm III, Palm V, Tungsten, Treo 650, and Treo 700p who has spent hundreds of dollars trying out innovative software programs designed for the Palm OS. Already the software developers have left you, with few programs receiving significant updates in the past few years. If nothing new appears on the horizon by year-end, you can count me out of Palm's future. With regrets.
Read this letter and had to "sign" it. We've been defending the Treo vigorously on bronzefinger.com for a while now but are running out of steam. Really (really) hoping that my 700p stays stable until the iPhone moves over to Sprint with an SDK some day. Windows Mobile is *not* an option.
This is exactly how I have felt for just over a year now. Sadly, I dropped my Treo for the sexier Blackbeery Curve. And since I run the IT dept. for my company, I am slowly migrating all mobile users to a Blackberry. I would love to see a viable competitor to the iPhone. The Curve comes very close, but if Palm comes out with something better (not equal to), I will gladly switch over and bring my entire workforce with me.
I just got tired of following Palm around the various carriers just to get their newest lame phone. Compared to the Curve, the Treo looks and feels like a brick.
I'll agree with 95% of your letter. I hope Palm reads it and responds QUICK. I love my Treo, but am afraid that it may be my last one. Not because of me, but because Palm might not recover from their terrible quality control, poor marketing, lack of innovation, and failure to listen to their customers.
Too late Palm, I've already switched to the iPhone. I'm not going back.
I've owned 4 or 5 Treos starting with the 300 up to the 700p. I've had Sony Clie's, palms and handsprings for years. Palm and I go way back.
The Treo does a lot more stuff than the iPhone, GPS, DUN, and offline apps. But the iPhone does what I want to do most: web, email, music, and video. The iPhone does those things so much better, there's no comparison. So much better that I don't miss the Treo at all. Apple knows what people want and gets it right.
Palm blew it.
GREAT article. This is exactly the conversation that has been going on in my geek circles for a while now. Palm has always been an option in my phone upgrades, and it usually won, except for this last upgrade to an iPhone. As a treo owner from 2001-2006, I was really ashamed that I could not even consider the newest Treos compared to the other phones on the market.