Palm Clinging to 1% of US Market Share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pu4atg6Kow

Gary,

Thanks for all your contributions. I actually am one of the few that actually posses a new device around here, so it's kinda crickets for anything more than market discussion and Gekko being envious of my homebrew apps.

Thx for doing the hardware that Palm refused to do. Keep the contributions coming.
Pat Horne

Thanks Pat & HyperScheduler :-)

I'll keep it going for a while, still selling a few mics/week and a little of the other stuff. When I do take it down you can find me on the web and I'll always have left over inventory available. I still can't believe that a company could be so clueless to think they could dump everything that built them and start over. Well, I'm happy that Apple & Google are providing what Palm failed to, we need our cool toys!

Gary
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Well my crystal ball says that Access thought they had a captive customer. I believe they figured they owned the next Palm os. We see how that worked out. I was always hoping that after Palm passed they would sell it to past Palm device users. You know like the other os companies put their hand in our wallet every so often.
I will be sad when WebOS is dead and gone, but I got over IBM os passing into the great os heaven. However before we get too weepy lets wait on some of HP Palm phones and tablets. Some of us may get a surprise when it rises from the dead. I've been using my Pre and it is the closest thing to Palm os that is out there. But that doesn't mean I am not hedging my bets. I still use the Droid, wifi of course, to surf when riding the stationary bike or don't feel like firing up the MacBook.
OBTW, CalorieCounter for Android just got an update and is now more like BalanceLog for Palm than ever before. We're almost there. Absolute Fitness for WebOS needs an update because it is lagging far behind. It's usable but barely.
Have a nice day!
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why did Access buy Palm OS?

I suspect Access is asking itself that very question!

Knowing what we now know, was Palm correct in snubbing Cobalt/ALP and creating WebOS?

Cobalt's and ALP's hardware requirements seem modest for today's hardware; were they too far ahead of the hardware of the time?

Let's not forget that unlike Cobalt and ALP, WebOS actually made it into consumer's hands.

If Palm hadn't distracted itself with the Foolio then maybe it would have been a different story today.

I think even Access have now conceded to Android; they've produced Graffiti for Android.

Android is the coffin, nail, shovel and dirt for ALP.

i believe Cobalt was an unfinished mess by the time they needed it and Colligan et al passed. they decided to run with PalmOS and WinMob until they could rush out webOS. regardless - i don't think Palm had the talent or resources to compete with the iPhone and Android Tsunami that was coming in 2007-2009 - so it's all a moot point. Cobalt or ALP would not have saved them - even if they weren't both an unfinished mess. iPhone and Android simply changed the game in such a drastic way that Palm's fate was sealed.

RIM is screwed too.

http://gizmodo.com/5708768/can-you-figure-out-wtf-rims-ceo-is-talking-about

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20101207/rim-co-ceo-mike-lazaridis-live-at-dive-into-mobile/

there's an old saying - "Anybody that CAN play in the NFL - IS in the NFL."

think about it.

Building on what was said here, perhaps Sony was a driver for the split? Maybe they felt there was a conflict of interest between Palm licensing the OS and making products which competed with Sony CLIEs?

Can anybody remember whether Sony announced the discontinuation of the CLIEs before or after the PalmOne/PalmSource split?

What if Sony had purchased the Palm OS or even the pre split Palm itself? Would we have a super duper CLIE smartphone today?

As I've stated before, Palm's best chance to save themselves would have been keeping Palm/PalmSource intact and pushing Cobalt out in a timely manner in 2005ish. If they'd done that, then followed it up with a natural next-gen (likely Linux-based) successor in 2007-2008ish or so, there probably wouldn't be any Android or MeeGo as we know them right now and iOS would look drastically different. And of course, avoided the Fooleo entirely!

Sony did quite a bit of good early on in the Clie days by pushing Palm to improve their devices with color screens, multimedia, more RAM etc. But towards the tail end of the Clie era, those devices became "me too" rehashes with questionable design decisions and quirks software. In a way, Palm, PalmSource, and Sony are all culpable for fragmenting the Palm OS market too much with having to write different versions of apps varying DIA standards, high-res screens support, etc. Same essential thing is happening to Android right now, just at a magnitude of about 1000x bigger.

Sony basically took what they learned with the Clie line and applied it to the PSP, so I doubt if they ever even looked backwards.
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Gekko> why do people constantly cling to the notion that a giant company who failed in the smartphone space can save a smaller company who failed in the smartphone space? what changes? what's the magic? what's the catalyst? how does 1 + 1 = 100?

Gary> A failed because they didn't have the talent, B failed because they didn't have the bucks. A + B = success! That's why.
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Stick with your Evo, Gekko. I wouldn't trade my Droid X for this thing at all. We will hopefully have our respective Gingerbread updates within the next 4 months or so. No worries!

I am extraordinarily disappointed by this POS. Why?

1. No removable storage. That is unforgivable and, IIRC, the first for an Android device. Totally limits the flexibility and expandability of the devices and makes it looks like Samsung it doing a cheap & lazy Palm/Apple/Microsoft cash-grab to force users to buy new devices instead of being able to expand their onboard storage. I have 8gb built-in + 32Gb & 2x 16Gb microSDHC cards for my Droid X now. One is full of movies, one is full of high-bitrate songs and the big one has maps for offline navigation plus plenty of room for "whatever" else, since I have taken to just using my phone in lieu of a USB thumbdrive 90% of the time if a microUSB cable is present. This really sucks.

And the WHOLE point for the big Froyo hoopla was "Apps2SD". This may also break compatibility for a lot of older apps (think GPS) & games that download a lot of data to external storage and expect there to be a microSD card. What if they're not updated to be Gingerbread-friendly? This is going to be a very weak phone for developers and will only further fragment the Android market...again, unless Google's wanting to push for non-expandable storage in all future devices.

2. Only 16gb offered for internal storage. This is almost 2011, people. It's not 2008-2009. Another lame move that looks like something Palm would've done.

3. Lame Samsung plasticky build quality

4. No AT&T-compatible 3G bands. So you're stuck on T-Mobile and with EDGE most elsewhere.

5. No HSPA support. Also a shame, especially with the surprisingly nice reports of T-Mobil's beefed up "almost 4G" network.

6. No dual-core CPU. While the 1Ghz Hummingbird should be PLENTY fast for most peoples' needs, this isn't a true Nexus One successor at all. It only marginally improves on the CPU/GPU front, Bluetooth, and wi-fi and takes a step backwards in expandability, build quality, and network flexibility. It also loses the nifty trackball from the Nexus.

Samsung & Google should've just released a special "limited edition" unlocked version of the Galaxy S running stock Gingerbread and left it at that.
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Gekko;

Funny you like it so muhc--others are calling it the worst ad of the year:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/google-nexus-s-ad-is-it-_n_792980.html

I agree that it doesn't do much to showcase the device. Weak ad, weak device. Bring it on, HTC & Moto!
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Tablet and Smartphones in 2011. Possible name change.
http://tinyurl.com/2bcu6qk
The last known classic PDA user.

grandpa - what in the hell are you talking about? if you keep talking like this we're going to have to send you away to the old folks home.

As mobile use continues to grow and the market booms, Google will undoubtedly have its plans set out to capitalise on the increase take-up of its OS. Not bad for a company that releases a "free" operating system.
= trap slamming shut, punk.

Tech Center Labs
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www.iTalentProductions.com

You got most of it right except the customer looses, they are in the add business and by the time they are through your android device will be inundated with so much trash it will make Apple's iAdds seem a pleasure. You bring back memories of raising my children ;-)

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-analyst-apples-closed-iad-system-gives-android-room-to-grab-market-shar/
Tech Center Labs
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I am becoming increasingly concerned about some of Google's moves--dropping the requirement for a microsd slot on new Gingerbread devices starting with the Nexus S and now cutting the Market return period down from 24 hours to a mere 15 minutes? Will drag & drop storage be the next thing to go? Or will they remove the activation screen bypass ala Palm?

It just worries me that Google is so blatantly putting their hardware partners and developers first and making the customer a distant 3rd, yet the platform is still becoming more fragmented by the day.

As an example, have any you guys ever tried to deal with Google's so-called "support" or gain access to a Gmail account where you forgot the password? Total futility! I know several people (myself included on Droid 1 launch day last year) who had their Android devices "set up" by a VZW or Sprint employer in-store and never knew what their new Gmail pasword was. The rep just made up something on the fly and/or didn't write it down or give alternate contact info for the customers' account. Little goofs like this become major debacles when you want to switch devices or do a hard reset!