Palm OS-based handhelds have captured an estimated 76 percent of the market. Here's why.
The Palm is what Apple's Newton should have been.
Product: Palm III (the IIIe was discontinued Aug. 7, 2000 in favour of the m100)
From: Palm Computing (www.palm.com)
Price: US$149 and up.
Pros: Easy synchronization of data with desktop PC or Mac. Palm III adds Infrared data transfer, a backlit screen, more memory (2MB RAM total) and a flip-top cover to the design that made the original Palm Pilot a success.
Cons: Back-lit screen is dimmer and smaller than that of some competing offerings. (There isn't any official support for drawing in grayscales in the Palm OS!) The Graffiti handwriting system is quirky. Optional 14.4 modem is slow. Palm is not providing even an estimated release date for an integrated wireless solution in Canada.
As we noted in our review of the Windows CE-based Casio E-10 and Pocket PC articles, Palm has some new competition in the "Palm-size PC" marketplace. And, unlike Apple, which unceremoniously discontinued its Newton line of products, Microsoft isn't about to roll over. Indeed, even Windows CE 2.1 was more full-featured than the 3.0 version of the PalmOS operating system built into Palm's offerings, and the handwriting recognition character strokes in Windows CE are easier to learn, too.
So, what is the secret of Palm's success? Focus. The very simplicity that Palm's more limited selection of functions brings to the product is, we think, the key to its appeal. Windows CE is full of hidden menus and clever options, but the Palm Pilot keeps it very simple. Four buttons on the exterior of the unit call up a calendar, Address List, To Do list, and Memo list. Well, that's not all it does, actually. Part of the Palm success story is due to the enormous variety of third party developer support that has resulted in the appearance of literally hundreds of add-on programs for the unit. If web browsing or e-mail's your thing, an optional modem (unfortunately, limited to a pokey 14.4kbps connection speed) allows it. And, when the time comes to sync up your data with a desktop PC (or Mac -- this isn't Microsoft we're talking about here!), an included cradle automatically syncs the data with your desktop PC's calendar, contacts, tasks, and inbox data. Unlike the Casio E-10, the Palm III doesn't have any ridiculous rubber port covers to lose, either. The electrical connector that it uses to attach the diminutive modem or connect to the docking cradle is concealed by a clever auto-retracting cover. Not so clever, we thought, was the plastic flip-top cover of the Palm III. It is handy for keeping the screen from being scratched while in a bag or purse and it does have a sort of Star Trek communicator chic, but we wished it could be flipped all the way back, as now-discontinued Newton clones from Sharp could do. Thankfully, it can be easily removed if it's not to your liking.
It's not surprising that the Palm Pilot counts among its development team former members from Apple's Newton division. The Palm Pilot parallels the "no brainer" experience of the Mac. In fact, the built-in Infrared transceiver on the Palm III makes it possible -- and downright convenient -- to "beam" data to Apple's iMac or Windows-based computers with IR capabilities. For example, you need only to open the IR control panel on the desktop PC, press and hold the Address Book button on your Palm III, and the contents are transmitted to the other machine. Some HP printers also allow for IR "connections."
While we were generally impressed with the functionality of PalmOS, we did encounter a nasty crash -- during a demo to a colleague, of course -- that left the machine in a state where it couldn't be powered down and, after removing the batteries, it wouldn't even power up again! We had to stick a pin into the reset hole on the back to recover. Strangely, we were simply using the stylus to backspace, after demonstrating the unit's bizarre predilection to substitute "x" and "d" characters in approximately equal amounts when we wrote a series of lower case "y" characters, using the built-in Graffiti handwriting recognition system. We can't imagine why a "y" looks like a "d" to Graffiti, but it does. It's also worth mentioning that one of our colleagues, who is a long-time (and happy) user of his original Palm Pilot, now notes that the constant scrawling with the stylus on the lower portion of the screen has left so many scratches that, he says, the quality of the handwriting recognition is starting to decline.
Of course, Palm offers other models, too. The Palm V, code-named Razor, was launched in November 1998. This unit is slimmer than Palm III series offerings, yet offers improved handwriting recognition, a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery, a speedier processor, and more memory. The unit provides 4MB of memory, including 2MB of Flash ROM, allowing users to more easily upgrade the units.
And then there's the IIIc, currently the only colour unit in the family. Our Pocket PC vs. Palm report has more details on this model. We expect Sony's forthcoming PEG-S500C, a Palm-compatible colour PDA, to quickly take marketshare away from the IIIc. The Sony unit goes far beyond Palm's offering, offering USB connectivity, "Memory Stick" expansion (plus expansion options including GPS receivers, FM radio tuners, camera, MP3 players, modems etc.) and even a video player for MPEG, AVI and QuickTime files.
As expected, Palm on Aug. 7th announced a new, lower-cost member of the Palm family with a curvy new case design and a flip-top cover with a transparent window for easy viewing of the data and time. Retailing for US$149, the new model is dubbed the Palm M100. It comes standard with a black faceplate, but US$19.95 buys you one of five colourful front plate replacements, wistfully named silver mist, ruby pearl, blue mist, green mist, and pacific blue.
The m100 may (or may not) be a step forward in terms of aesthetics, but its (monochrome) screen is 25% smaller than that of its predecessors -- a fact which Palm manages to turn into a selling point by claiming the display is "sharper." The unit -- which is incompatible with accessories designed for the Palm III, by the way -- ships with a mere 2 megabytes of memory and a hot-sync cable instead of the cradle shipped with more expensive models. Palm says the m100 is phasing out the IIIe device. See Palm's website or the review at pdalive.com for details.
And what of the the Palm VII? Palm says it is "not currently providing a release date for an integrated wireless solution in Canada." Zzzz.
The company has, however, been busy striking a deal with supermodel Claudia Schiffer and plans to offer an exclusive "Claudia model" of the Palm Vx (apparently, Claudia is an avid Palm user). It can only be ordered, starting this fall, through the Claudia website: www.claudiaschiffer.com.
In what may be a harbinger of things to come, Palm PDA online sales plummeted in Q2 of 2000, an analysis of online sales data collected at OneChannel.net's participating retailers shows. Sales for Q2 were about 45 percent lower than Q1 sales. Even more tellingly, sales at the end of Q2 were about a third of what they were at the beginning of the same quarter. Analysts attribute this to seasonal spikes increased competition from Handspring and other brands.
Recommended Software for Palm III
Palm III Resources:
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