http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/ Engadget Comments for Palm's license to next-gen ALP to expire this December! http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
BTW: first! :P]]>Jul 29th 2006 5:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
BTW. It's not hard to get first post]]>Jul 29th 2006 5:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Jul 29th 2006 5:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
(Read the writing on the wall. Palm is dead.)]]>Jul 29th 2006 6:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
Umm, okay. I guess this is the Internet and every flaming idiot has the God-given right to spout whatever drivel. I know the Treo 650 and Treo 700P are very hot sellers right now, though. So it looks like somebody's still using it. Total Treo revenues were 1.1 Billion, according to the same 10K with this stuff. Are you claiming that's all from the Windows model???

Not only that, the Treo model with Windows Mobile gets crappy reviews everywhere.

I don't even think this is the death knell for Access, let alone Palm. Just more corporate footwork before we find out what will actually happen when products are actually released and we find out if they actually sell.]]>Jul 29th 2006 6:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Jul 29th 2006 7:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
I think cell phones must have had these poor guys thinking they were dead in the water. They seemed to keep missing on features and convergence while phones just leapt ahead over Palm's old stalwarts.

Still there is a lot of ground to cover in the PDA field. It's nice that I can now listen to music and work on a spreadsheet or document at the same time while my daybook tells me I'm running behind. It's getting there. Better network access, a really good GIS (that is yet to come) and even a few simple things like a sync system that deals with the fact that most of us interact with a number of computers throughout the day and not just a PDA and a single other unit. Why can't these machines all talk behind my back and keep me up to date, float other people's daybooks, know where they are and remember what is on what SD card?

Oh, while I'm at it, on the hardware side, where's the universal power input, that'll take anyone's juice including the aux battery pack in my case? And another thing, after 20 bloody years of R&D you still can't make a screen that needs to wear a condom or it will be ruined by a speck of dust under the stylus -- you've got to be kidding!

I'm trying to be nice here, I'm not asking for the moon, like making the device a central personal processor that has distributed components, like the wireless 80 gig HD in my pocket (leave it alone, I'm not glad to see you), the wireless microphone under my lapel, they little camera that uploads to it, finger-tipped mouse, optional 6 inch wireless screen, and such. Yeah, a much more wearlable design in general...

Don't get me started... Hurry up future!



]]>Jul 29th 2006 7:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
The fact that Palm had to resort to using Windows on the mobile devices was clear indication that not even Palm has faith in PalmOS anymore.

Let it die, its time has come.]]>Jul 29th 2006 8:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Jul 29th 2006 10:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Please, think of the kittens... ;-)

http://www.galleytech.com/Galley/images/palmkittens.jpg]]>Jul 29th 2006 10:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
Hooray for the Sharp Zaurus SL-C1000!]]>Jul 29th 2006 11:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
Read the statement more carefully. There's NO license that expires in December. And Palm has NEVER licensed ALP, so it can't expire.

Palm's license for PalmOS actually continues through 2009. Under that license, Palm was required to make minimum payments to ACCESS. After December, it is no longer required to do so. This is hardly "trouble."
]]>Jul 30th 2006 4:23AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
1. The Treo 650 does play MP3 without buying third party software.
Pierce states that it does not.

2. J2ME support is not built in, but by downloading the free J2ME package, I was able to run Opera, giving me a better browsing experience than the built-in. Since the J2ME module has been upgraded over time, I would have had to download it anyway, even if it had originally been built in. Pierce states that it is shameful, which is hard to quantify.

3. The Treo650 has excellent bluetooth support for my needs. I use bluetooth mainly with a TomTom GPS unit and with Salling Clicker as a remote control for computers. These have both turned out to be excellent and trouble free applications. Both are applications where high reliability is extremely important.

4. There is plenty of software available for the Treo650 and a high degree of awareness of the Treo650 among software vendors, who frequently advertise Treo650 compatibility separately from or instead of Palm. Pierce implies that there is not plenty of software by saying that he returned to Symbian to get plenty of software, etc.

Pierce is plainly confused between the enormously successful Treo650 and PalmOS. No doubt everyone would like PalmOS to be replaced by a version of Linux that would be able to run existing Palm apps.

In the meantime, software vendors have done a great deal to make it work for consumers on the Treo platform. Advanced phones are routinely crippled by carriers so that the only enabled functions can be billed monthly. It's great to have a device like the Treo650 that can bypass carrier restrictions and provide terrific functionality that doesn't come with an additional monthly bill.]]>Jul 30th 2006 8:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
I wouldn't say Palm is dead, but they are certainly becoming more and more anachronistic. I'd almost say we'd be better off waiting for Motorola's JUIX. :P]]>Jul 30th 2006 8:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Jul 30th 2006 10:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
The original idea of Palms and the PalmOS has been so utterly mismanaged that it's a joke now.

It's over. It ended a while ago. Any motion you see is purely Brownian.]]>Jul 30th 2006 11:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/> "What I want to know is why has Palm been so resistant to using even PalmOS Cobalt?"

Uh...maybe it has something to do with the fact that Cobalt is garbage. A mangled, poorly performing codebase that neither Palm nor any other few remaining PalmSource licensees chose to adopt?

>> "A PDA doesn't need half a dozen pages of configuration screens or start menus that don't fit like Windows Mobile"

Agreed, a PDA (which is a dead segment of the mobile device market by the way) doesn't need a half dozen configurations screens. Or Start menu that doesn't fit on the screen. Unfortunately for your argument, Windows Mobile has neither or those qualities. What OS does? More mindless bitching from the fish n' chips brigade. What I find so comical is that despite your constant bashing, Windows Mobile far outsells PalmOS in the mobile device market. So despite your incessant bashing, Windows Mobile continues to grow and lead over PalmOS. That must really piss you off, doesn't it?]]>Jul 30th 2006 2:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
Anyhow, I'm so depressed, because everytime I use another OS it's just so convoluted and crappy. I'm going to be depressed to move to something else. Multitasking is the last thing on my mind, I need usability. WM's UI is a hodgepodge, and the thing is a mess already internally (I actually see my friends with them messing with the registry. Nightmare). Symbian has no software and still has way too many configuration options and junk. Well, maybe Apple will do it right, it seems they're the only one capable of doing anything well any more.

So many good products are killed by shitty management and Palm's seems to be the shittiest around. Reminds me a lot of Commodore's handling of the Amiga. ]]>Jul 30th 2006 3:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/1. The Treo 650 does play MP3 without buying third party software.
>Pierce states that it does not.


Palm licensed RealPlayer for MP3 support (they buy) and if you want to use an MP3 as a ringtone you have to pay for Ringo or similar (you buy). If you want to counter this, please state specifically the application/methodology of PalmOS/Treo650 which does this.


>2. J2ME support is not built in, but by downloading the free J2ME package, I >was able to run Opera, giving me a better browsing experience than the built->in. Since the J2ME module has been upgraded over time, I would have had to >download it anyway, even if it had originally been built in. Pierce states that it >is shameful, which is hard to quantify.

The last update of the J2ME module was in Feb of 2005 and it doesn't even support all of the APIs that phones that are given away for free support - try to audio,video capture on the phone. Hope you know how to write native code and bind it to the J9.


>3. The Treo650 has excellent bluetooth support for my needs. I use bluetooth >mainly with a TomTom GPS unit and with Salling Clicker as a remote control >for computers. These have both turned out to be excellent and trouble free >applications. Both are applications where high reliability is extremely >important.

That's great and I'm glad that worked for you, however I wanted to write an application in J2ME that used the standard bluetooth API that every phone in a store supports and the Treo that I spend 4 times the price for did not.

>4. There is plenty of software available for the Treo650 and a high degree of >awareness of the Treo650 among software vendors, who frequently advertise >Treo650 compatibility separately from or instead of Palm. Pierce implies that >there is not plenty of software by saying that he returned to Symbian to get >plenty of software, etc.

Count the number of Treo titles and compare them to the number of Symbian titles. Its simple numbers folks, Nokia and Symbian make up the bulk of devices shipping followed by 15% for Windows and 7% for PalmOS.

>Pierce is plainly confused between the enormously successful Treo650 and >PalmOS. No doubt everyone would like PalmOS to be replaced by a version of >Linux that would be able to run existing Palm apps.

Successful compared to what? Its having its ass handed to it by the other smartphone vendors in the market. Sure its successful in the sense that they keep getting people to buy dated inferior technology, but not much else. It is the most underfeatured handheld operating system out there and shipping on a decreasing number of handheld devices.

>In the meantime, software vendors have done a great deal to make it work for >consumers on the Treo platform. Advanced phones are routinely crippled by >carriers so that the only enabled functions can be billed monthly. It's great to >have a device like the Treo650 that can bypass carrier restrictions and provide >terrific functionality that doesn't come with an additional monthly bill.

Yeah, keep on spinning. Let me know when the promised blackberry connect will be made available for the Treo650 in an update as promised. Oh wait, they're upselling you to a Treo 700p to get that functionality.

Zorg you sound just like every other "PalmOS will live forever" zealot out there, unable to recognize that the platform is horrible and willing to simply make continuous excuses for Palm.]]>Jul 30th 2006 4:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
Palm ignored their customer base and kept turning out rehashed products with marginal improvements in functionality.

Check this post in a few years. Palm will still be using an archaic, limited, crappy OS 5.4 Garnet on devices with a max resolution of 320x320. ]]>Jul 30th 2006 4:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
They repeat the "Windows is unstoppable, any alternative is doomed" all the time, and sadly some newbies start to believe it.

Me? I wouldn't touch any bloated WinMob device, I prefer to go back to 800Mhz AMPS analog phones.

The reality is quite different, however, and outside of Microsoft-only corporate shops, the end users seem to have preferred the PalmOS running 650 and 700p over the 700w.

What WinMob users criticize is exactly one of the biggest features of PalmOS 5.4.x Garnet: small size, less hardware requirements, simplified user interface, not to mention that PalmOS apps are significantly smaller than WinMob equivalents.

PalmOS revived with Treo 700p release
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31706

Treo 700p: Palm in PalmOS comeback, claim
Like a 650 and 700w put into a blender, WinMob-free
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=29519

GroupSense and Qool Labs make nice PalmOS GSM phones,
with almost no marketing, poor distribution
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31366

NY Times and WSJ blast Windows-powered Treo
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28776

How Palm Inc.'s CEO shot himself in the foot
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=27591
]]>Jul 30th 2006 7:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/Jul 30th 2006 11:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
The Treo is actually doing amazingly well after I believed it would die. In the US it is Blackberry and Treo that dominate the smartphone category. Symbian is non existent. The Moto Q will lift M$ significantly in the future. I have heard that Nokia may be moving away from Symbian soon. I guess they can't afford not to be in the US smartphone market in the long term.

For most users, the version of the OS is unknown and unimportant. When they buy a Treo they get a great user experience and that is what is important to them. I use both a WM handset and a Treo 650. The 650 is my personal choice right now.]]>Jul 31st 2006 11:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/29/palms-license-to-next-gen-alp-to-expire-this-december/
1. Vibration alerts
2. Voice recording
3. Slower CPU speeds
4. A change in the type of memory (flash) used has caused compatability and performance issues

In addition to waiting for a new hardware device to be released, I am no longer interested in purchasing software for my T3. I feel better about waiting until I get a new device and then getting something compatible with it. If my T3 dies before a new Palm OS is released, I will probably switch to Windows Mobile. ]]>Aug 1st 2006 10:53AM