Matias Duarte, designer behind Sidekick and Helio, now developing Palm's next-gen UI

So we heard from a very reliable source that mobile user interface guru Matias Duarte -- who you may know as the man behind the Sidekick and Helio UI / user experiences -- actually left Helio late last year to join up with Palm. Although no announcement was made, we hear he and his gang of designers jumped ship (well before Helio completely flooded) to take on the monumental task of designing the UI for Palm's next-gen mobile OS (aka "Palm OS 2.0 or II"). His resume online now lists him as "Senior Director, Human Interface and User Experience" doing "Something new..." since September 2007; we got in touch with Palm, who confirmed that he's now under the company's employ.

Of course, expectations should be pretty high -- Palm's only been promising this supposedly game-changing OS since around 2004, and the company's reputation and pedigree is (or at least it used to be) in groundbreaking mobile UI design. But this news also kind of makes us wonder: if they didn't have a killer UI and user experience team already in place and long-since working their asses off by late 2007, exactly how far along are they on this thing, anyway?

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:41PM]

Bout damn time Palm OS got a facelift.... it looks like windows 95 compared to other UI's.

[thedesolate1 @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:45PM]

Oh and lets all thank apple for getting the rest of these device makers to step their game up.... It sucks that it took an Iphone for these mofos to get creative.... round of applause people.... I cant wait for android though and ubuntu mobile..Compiz fusion on a phone any1?

[DefPo3t @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:53PM]

The iPhones ui is good but all it did was put a nice face on things and make it easy to use and nothing else. Sidekick had a good hi way before the iPhone came out and Helios was nice to use to.

[derX @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:07PM]

Really, when you get down to the heart of the matter (a great song, btw), the issue is less about the UI and more about the phone's form and pricing as the Palm Centro has proven.

Nice, work on the Palm OS, but also work on the form. Seriously, they all look the same. Their keyboard needn't ever be touched--I love it--but the recessed screen and the thickness are unappealing.

[Quikboy @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:31PM]

@thedesolate1: Don't you mean the LG Prada?

I'm just kidding. :^)

[jdog @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:13PM]

good job palm! Start working on your next OS 5 years after the last one was overdue. Awesome business model, you should do well.

[PSM @ Jul 4th 2008 1:08AM]

Actually I think Palm OS bears a more striking resemblance to Windows 3.1. I wish I was kidding or exaggerating.

[iofthestorm @ Jul 4th 2008 2:26AM]

Aren't there skins for Palm OS though? I saw some that look pretty nice, even though the default does look exactly like Windows 3.1

[Joe H @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:41PM]

You mean AKA Nova.

[Malatesta @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:47PM]

Probably pretty far but it was terrible. Elevation (i.e. Rubenstein) joined the board of Palm in June 2007 and began revamping/hiring for some teams, dismissing others (hello Foleo).

Basically this sounds like part of the restructuring by Elevation Partners, which is what you'd expect theme to do--otherwise it's admitting nothing was wrong at Palm to begin with.

[Fusion Fuzo @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:04PM]

About time they started to work on the next palm OS,

the current palm OS is dated and looks dated and is useless, i feel sorry for the people that have to suffer and use a useless OS

6 years in the making, let's just hope it dosen't look dated before it comes out,

[Kate @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:02PM]

This dude is still around here!!!!!!!!!!!

I tought he was banned for his constant iPhone trolling.

[Cormac @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:04PM]

Yesterday's Man, Yesterday's machine

[Ellianth @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:21PM]

I'm curious as to who you think is today's man and machine. I have a pretty good guess of who and what you're gonna say.

[derX @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:05PM]

I'm not wanting to sound like a troll or anything and I truly wish Palm the best, but I've used SideKicks before and I wouldn't be proud to say I've conceived that.

The Sidekick audience is completely different from the typical Palm user audience so they're going to want completely different things. It's interesting to see how this pans out.

Palm, I'm in your corner!

[Kris @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:42PM]

I agree 100%. The Sidekick was kludgey, old looking and slow. This news, IMO, sounds bad for the new Palm OS. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[OziD @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:13PM]

On the sidekicks defense: It does what it was meant to do (decided by Danger) very well. It IM's and texts like a mofo. The web interface is okay, at best, everything else is just okay.

If Danger opened up the platform a bit, it could have been a really great PDA phone, I think.

The UI on Sidekicks was never great thanks to the horrible screens they had always had. The new LX has a beautiful screen, but the downfall is that they had to translate that mediocre look thats already 5 years old to it.

Hopefully Microsoft evolves the sidekick and not changes it completely because I feel its a great jumping off point.

Palm was (and still is) great. The problem is, as everyone is aware, the OS has never really evolved. The centro is all around a very good phone... hopefully this guy can take it to the next level.

[OziD @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:14PM]

Oh and also, the sidekick basically made T-Mobile a legit provider. I'd be proud that my creation, whether or not its up to standards of others, was a cornerstone in the market it was targeted at.

[derX @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:36PM]

I was being a bit of a jerk when I said I wouldn't be proud, it's not *that* bad, but personally I do not like it.

As you said, it does exactly what it's supposed to do, but these functions aren't what the average Palm user would need. Also, T-Mobile was a well-established carrier long before it's North American foray turned success. And today, T-Mobile is the furthest behind technologically both in terms of its network and and devices. And it's didn't turn it "legit," it just brought it further into the mainstream. I believe in giving credit, but let's not get too liberal in its dispersal.

[i961vw @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:07PM]

Dont like much of either brand he designed for. Wonder what he will come up with to sway my opinion.

[tbirdman @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:14PM]

the are probably as far along as guns n roses is on appitite for distruction.

[GatgetMan @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:15PM]

Who the Hellio is that guy?

[niclet @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:17PM]

About Time!!! When I hit on my Treo 650's screen, there is like 8 bit cobweb n' dust coming out !

[Graham @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:19PM]

I just hope it works with previous devices like my centro. I hate their os as it is (I had WM5 before, it was sooo sleek). Ive had phones before where they update the OS and it isnt compatible with my phone that I have and it pisses me off to no end. I just hope it isnt that way with this one.

[Kris @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:46PM]

It will be incompatable. You didn't think they were going to offer you a free upgrade, did you? Just like every other phone provider, you're locked into an OS and you'll _never_ get an upgrade unless it fixes things or it's released just before a new OS release and even then you're lucky to get it.

All current Palms will _not_ get an update to the new OS. I can guarantee it.

[Fernando @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:23PM]

Palm is really developing a next gen UI? Surprising :P

[Reality Check @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:28PM]

This is nothing to be proud of. The Sidekick UI (nor Helio) was neither commercially successfully nor groundbreaking in terms of ease of use.

*YAWN*

Wake me up when this purported OS 2.0/Nova actually materializes.

[caramelzappa @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:47PM]

Ever used a sidekick for more than a day?

[Wayne Schulz @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:34PM]

Whatever happened with Paul Mercer?

Wasn't he the design savior of Palm about this time last year?

[Freakin Ijit @ Jul 4th 2008 6:45AM]

We better check HIS LinkedIn profile!

[Andrew @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:39PM]

The usability is the only thing about PalmOS that's NOT broken.

I don't miss the butt ugliness of my Treo 650, but I do miss flying around that clear, straightforward, UI.

I can do all the same stuff on my TyTn II, but it took a lot less tapping on the Palm (not to mention no lags and way less resets)

[Epedemic @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:55PM]

The Palm software is a bit dated but its mostly just outdated with its visuals and a few technical things. I just got a Centro and love it. What are the chances current palm devices with be able to upgrade?

[2fast4u @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:17PM]

This would definitely be a big game changer for Palm and the whole smart phone market. If Palm made another hit like the Centro with a slammin' UI they would probably give Blackberry a big run for their money. Seeing as Matias Duarte's work for Helio was excellent, I have no doubt that Palm's new interface will be very graphical and intense.

[Freakin Ijit @ Jul 4th 2008 6:56AM]

Oh brother.

[Virtuous @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:25PM]

It took Apple only 2 months to sell 1 million iPhones.

[brokenkeyboard @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:23PM]

good for them. and?

[0megapart!cle @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:54PM]

Well, hopefully they had a lot of the underpinnings of the new OS done by that time, and he just came in to refine and polish the UI.

[Jim Nichols @ Jul 3rd 2008 11:48PM]

I am very happy with my Sidekick. Show me another phone that lets me e-mail, IM with Yahoo, AIM & MSN, Unlimited SMS, yes I said UNLIMITED SMS!, Unlimited Data, QWERTY Keyboard, Copy & Paste of text, All for $29.99 per month (20¢ per minute calls, but I don't make calls many with it 2-3 minutes per month). Sure I'd go with a Palm or Blackberry or iPhone if they could match this, but they can't. And I'm not even in the demographic age for the Sidekick, I'm over 40. For what it is the Sidekick delivers. For those ripping on it, have you owned one?

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 4th 2008 12:02AM]

But this news also kind of makes us wonder: if they didn't have a killer UI and user experience team already in place and long-since working their asses off by late 2007, exactly how far along are they on this thing, anyway?


NO SHIT! What are they thinking waiting to get a good design team in place? I have to assume they did and it didn't work out...

On a related note, Why does is seem as if there are only a few dozen excellent UI designers on the face of the earth? Why does it seem like 90% of software has terrible UIs, including the interfaces for cellphones, PMPs, and just about every other consumer electronics device?

[dukemang @ Jul 4th 2008 2:31AM]

Because device companies assume that programmers can develop UIs ( it needs 4 buttons) or they assume that marketers can develop UIs (why can't it just be one button that looks like a woman's breast all the time?) instead of getting an actual developer that has experience in programming, marketing and human factors engineering (it only needs two buttons with obvious symbols that morph depending on what functions are available and have pop-up help if someone lingers on a button to long).

[DR0D @ Jul 4th 2008 5:19AM]

"If they didn't have a killer UI and user experience team already in place and long-since working their asses off by late 2007, exactly how far along are they on this thing, anyway?"

Ryan, Paul Mercer was working at that since January 2007, and Engadget have reported that back in March last year - so why you don't mention it here?

[bebaboon @ Jul 4th 2008 5:49AM]

ok so that will be crap then palm should have got someone else to do it SIdekick might be successful in some spot like US but it didnt manage to will the global crowd and Helio was a failure so Palm is again doing a stupid move......

[Freakin Ijit @ Jul 4th 2008 6:48AM]

>>> "So we heard from a very reliable source that mobile user interface
>>> guru Matias Duarte ..."

Did your very reliable source name him as a guru?

And supply the nice photo, too?

Gosh...

[moonmen @ Jul 4th 2008 6:54AM]

Too little, Too Late...

[Baz @ Jul 4th 2008 8:32AM]

While putting a pretty face on the Palm might be nice, that frankly is the least of the problems with Palm and their device.

A refresh of their current OS and software programs (say, to make them compatible with current computer OSs) and to reclaim and revitalize their computer desktop would certainly be higher up the priority list in most user's books, I suspect. Well that, and making the devices more reliable.

A touchy, feely UI that visually might do iPhone or HTC-like tricks is all very well and good, but if the underlying OS and programs are dated (or simply don't work as advertised) and its all crammed into an ever-decreasingly smaller screen on hardware that is poorly supported by the manufacturer, its all a bit pointless, isn't it?

[Chuck @ Jul 7th 2008 10:56AM]

Hmm, what doesn't the Palm software work with? All the PIMs are EXCELLENT and sync perfectly with Vista (I use outlook for syncs, so I can't testify that Palm Desktop works as perfectly).

I really don't know what you're talking about when you say things don't work. Besides, with the 20000 software titles, chances are you'll find something that fits your needs.

[Larrysyr @ Jul 4th 2008 10:13AM]

Hopefully, a new operating system for Palm will be backwards compatible with the old one. As a long time palm user, I have a lot of programs that I use that I hope will still work on the next version of the treo or centro. My treo 650 can use programs that I have from 10 years ago that worked on a palm IIIxe. The whole problem with the merger of phones and PDAs is that phones seem to be more of a disposable device. All the carriers want you to update to the latest and greatest model, but if you are actually using the PDA functions of the phone, and have invested time and money in learning how to use the programs that you have purchased for it, it's a big hassle and expense to keep buying new programs, and learn all over again how to use them

[Chuck @ Jul 7th 2008 10:57AM]

I'd say certainly. Palm has promised a Garnet VM on the new OS on several occasions. If not, I'm sure StyleTap will come up with something.

[bugmat @ Jul 4th 2008 11:46AM]

That is good nws but yea I hope it has compatibility ingrained in it. Now all we need are slimmer treos :)

[nick.carrasco @ Jul 4th 2008 11:52AM]

okay so they've brought in people from Apple and now Matias Duarte, great... now please just finish the project and release already.... at this rate, by the time you're done, it will be old already