Handspring Planning Wireless Visor

Posted By: Ed Friday, April 13, 2001 9:13:46 AM

During yesterday's earnings announcement, Donna Dubinsky also revealed her company's plans to develop a handheld with integrated wireless capability like Palm's VII series. She said Handspring's wireless model should debut by the end of their next fiscal year in June 2002. She declined to give any more details.

Handspring is also going to focus more on corporate customers. "We'll be evolving our products to better meet Enterprise needs over the next 12 to 18 months," Dubinsky said.

Handspring already offers the VisorPhone, a wireless Springboard module that acts as both a mobile phone and modem.

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Handspring Wireless PDA

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/13/2001 4:02:40 PM #
I, for one, really like my Palm VIIx and have used it (and its VII predecessor) as my primary PDA for almost two years. I have found its all-in-one package superior to any other available combination -- such as those offered by Omnisky or using a PDA combined with a cell phone.

That said, I think the VIIx is dowdy and long overdue for a major cosmetic facelift (sleeker design, maybe color) and technologically has, like too many of Palm's products, rested on its laurels a bit too long. How could Palm have allowed Research in Motion to make its Blackberry devices with "always on" connection to e-mail become the sexy standard with no response until -- supposedly -- sometime much later this year?

I very much appreciate that Palm has not, as has Microsoft, automatically made its old devices entirely obsolete each time a new model comes out. And I still believe that until MS makes the PocketPC more user friendly it will continue to have the edge in the non-technophile market (i.e., people who don't read sites like this!). But innovation is the byword in all things technology related, and I welcome the fact that Handspring is around to get Palm moving on a new wireless device.

Henry Ford had a brilliant idea with the Model T and, in so doing, made cars mainstream by selling millions of them. But he waited so long to upgrade the original that Ford was passed by as the biggest car maker and has never again regained its leadership in sales. It was passed by whizzier competitors like GM (which is admittedly not doing so well today!).

If Palm doesn't watch out, Handspring or somebody else may turn it into an Edsel maker!!

Dan Prizer

RE: Handspring Wireless PDA
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/14/2001 12:19:58 AM #
GM is still larger than ford in both revenues and profits.

RE: Handspring Wireless PDA
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/14/2001 2:38:12 PM #
But GM has seen a steady decline in both for the last 10 years.

RE: Handspring Wireless PDA
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/17/2001 1:13:48 AM #
Then explain how, according to the latest Fortune 500, its profits increased over last year?

Buy an Ipaq

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/13/2001 8:24:35 PM #
Palm will be dead by then.

RE: Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/13/2001 10:00:28 PM #
hey we don't need useless comments like "Palm will be dead by then" here by die-hard PPC users who have been brainwashed till their eyes show the MS logo every single second of their life.



RE: Buy an Ipaq
mashby @ 4/14/2001 1:03:05 AM #
I wish you'd put your name in your post so we could rub it in your face next year. :-)

RE: Don't buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/14/2001 10:46:28 AM #
You Microsoft trolls are pathetic. You've been saying that CE is going to kick Palm's butt for 4 or 5 YEARS now but I don't see any signs of it yet. Ooo, Microsoft has gained on Palm a percentage point or two. I am so scared. They sell what, 3% of the handhelds?

RE: Buy an Ipaq
Nate @ 4/14/2001 5:12:22 PM #
No really. WinCE 7.0 will blow you guys away! Just you wait! By 2011, Palm will be history!

:P



_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com

RE: Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2001 11:29:41 AM #
Does it really matter by 2011? Who really gives a flying f**k about something 10 years from now?
You don't have to post PPC stuff, go away already.

RE: Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2001 12:23:19 PM #
it was a joke! i see nates posts a lot...

RE: Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 11:40:37 AM #
Hey...

Can your Palm do this??? Oh yeah.. thats right it can..Only if your palm is holding a PPC :-)

5 years???? What world have you been in.. Pocket PC and WinCE was not around in 96.. Boy.. I guess when you do nothing but use outdated technology like.. (well know need to say it.. everyone in the PDA world really knows which company that is.. and adding color, 16 bit or not doesn't really count, seeing how other manufactors were doing this years ago) it just rubs away on your facts...
Did you know that the 8track has been obsolete?
Well I guess Iwont tell youwhat other invoations they have out there if you're still using a Palm than.

(guys lighten up here...it's a PDA.. a glorfied calculator. If you are really that offended..than I suggest you put down your pda sometimes and try getting a life).


RE: Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 12:08:33 PM #
no reason to flame him with anti-microsoft remarks. He said "buy an iPAQ" and not "buy an iPAQ with Windows CE". Linux for PPC is a great OS that can be installed on the iPAQ. The iPAQ is a GREAT and POWERFULL device that can run aother OS than Windows CE.

/Michael

RE: Don't Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 2:49:26 PM #
Some moron said:
> 5 years???? What world have you been in.. Pocket PC and WinCE was not around in 96.

It gives me great joy to point out that you are wrong. Windows CE 1.0 was launched in late 1996. Open mouth, insert foot, chew vigorously.

Here's proof:
http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,318626,00.html



RE: But do Buy an Ipaq
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 4:14:05 PM #
Like I said.... Go get a life man.. who really cares when Wince CE came out... Or at least go hang out with your girl friend... I mean your Palm.

Blackberry Killer

Nate @ 4/14/2001 5:14:51 PM #
I think both Handspring and Palm recogize that the Palm VII is not the wireless model that they should be pursuing, but instead it's the RIM. Always on email is the killer app, and the PQA model can be incorporated into that, making it the superior platform. In contrast to the CDPD modems, the RIM 2-way paging network uses a lot less power.

I've been contenplating buying a Blackberry 957, but I just can't bring myself to give up the Palm OS and the great 3rd party apps. If Palm and Handspring combine RIM style wireless with the Palm OS, especially if they can incorporate the existing PQA library, that would be a great product.

_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com

RE: Blackberry Killer
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2001 2:06:01 AM #
I don't understand what is so great about instant-on email/messaging?

The PalmVIIx is great for e-mail. I average about 10-20 emails/day and when I need them, iMessenger and Thin Air is there to give them to me. Why would I want to answer each and every email?
IM would be cool but what comsumer (save for folks with $ to burn and early adopters)would flip for $40/month for chatting?

Isn't the whole point of having an inbox is to access it at your incovenience? If I needed always on, I'd use a cell phone.

I just convinced a VP in our company to get a Palm VIIx even though I told her that it would be obsolete in 6 months. (actually make that 3 months). All she wants is wireless e-mail access. I couldn't convince her of the oh and ah of m505 or HandSpring Prism with OmniSky. She didn't want to spring for the $40/month hit.

HandSpring will come out with their wireless model hopefully incorporating their Qualcomm licensing and Bluelark acquisition. But by 2002, the playing field will look very different.

I don't think hardware is going to make a very big difference. As they say, 'It's all in the Plan!'
If the carriers can be a decent about monthly plans maybe consumers can get a little more action. There would be better adoption in enterprise. The grass would be greener and the skies would part for a shining sun.

The wireless web isn't suffering from a lack of technology, but rather a lack of frigging access.

The day will come when information is a utility and we will all be screwed by the Utilities.

Invest in Telcos!

RE: Blackberry Killer
frauen1 @ 4/16/2001 8:54:56 AM #
The m700 from Palm is supposed to be their blackberry killer - rumors are palm m505 form factor and always-on messaging. If they add color (Palm OS 4.0 supports color PQA's) and SD expansion it could be a cool device.

RE: Blackberry Killer
Nate @ 4/16/2001 12:56:49 PM #
Having your Palm beep every time an email comes in would be a pain in the ass, but you wouldn't have to be notified on every message coming in. The "always on" wouldn't be necessary at all times, but would be convenient at some times, like when you're waiting for important messages or whatever. Checking email on the VII isn't a major inconvenience, but not having to do it would make it even easier. Plus, as you said, the IM side would add a new level of communication. Motorola and others are making a killing off these two-way pagers because people do find them easy to use and not as intrusive as a phone call.

You're right about the price - $40 a month is a lot to pay for a pager. Motorola has a two-way that you can use for $14.95 a month, and that seems more reasonable. Hopefully Handspring and Palm will have different tiers - one for people who just want email, another for those who want to get more web access (though I wouldn't want them to return to the kind of pricing they had when the VII first came out!)


_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com

Dan, Not Really

Eston Bond @ 4/15/2001 9:50:56 AM #
Actually, the only people that buy WinCE devices are technophiles. It is rare for a new user to spend in excess of $400 on a handheld device. The non-techies would much rather buy an m10x device than the iPaq I am writing on. Not to say the technophile would buy an m505, though. If Handspring can stick this in something the size of a Visor Deluxe it will be the Palm VII killer almost instantaneously.

Eston Bond
CEO Pine Tree Software
http://www.pinetreesoftware.net/

RE: Dan, Not Really
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 3:39:01 PM #
Sorry, reading it over I realize I wasn't too clear: I meant that Palms are for non-technophiles and the people who buy PocketPCs are, at least in my experience, much more technologically savvy.

Just as when someone without much computer background wants a dial-up ISP I tend to recommend AOL because it is much easier for someone without computer skills. When someone asks for an electronic organizer, I invariably recommend a Palm. They are easier to set up and are much less prone to have crazy software lapses. Somebody I know, by no means a computer newbie, recently decided to ignore my advice and bought an HP Jornada instead of a Palm as his first PDA. While he loved it initially, after two weeks, ActiveSync just stopped working on him. He spent over six hours on the phone with HP and Microsoft and finally gave up and brought the Jornada back to the store for a refund!!

That's not to say that the PocketPC isn't MUCH IMPROVED over earlier versions of WinCE, because it is. As I think I hinted at above, if they had a competitive wireless solution, I'd likely jump at it, as for me that's the killer app. on a handheld. But just as many ISPs have made it much easier to sign on with a new account than just a few years ago -- AOL has still maintained its lead in overall ease-of-use, as much in perception as in fact.

Maybe that same sort of ease-of-use will continue to translate into dominance for Palm in the months and years ahead, as it has for AOL. I just think hardware (like cars and stereos) is a different beast from software. Sure, if you have an AOL e-mail address, everyone knows you're probably not a part of the "digerati". But how many people would prefer to drive a sensible Honda Civic around town over a flashy Jaguar -- especially if the price differential were as narrow as a couple of hundred bucks?

Dan P.

Color on Wireless?

Jubuman @ 4/15/2001 2:32:54 PM #
I want a Palm OS handheald like the m505 but with a built i wireless modem. I am shure im not alone. Companys like Handspring shuld make something like that!
RE: Color on Wireless?
I.M. Anonymous @ 5/5/2002 3:45:53 PM #
hey jubuman, this doesn't have to do with wireless but i think we're old friends. e-mail me digx55@hotmail.com asap. thanx bye

technophile

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/15/2001 7:39:17 PM #
i am a "technophile" and i bought an m100 after much research. there is no reason that i can see to buy a more expensive handheld except for color screens. I like my m100 better than a V. It offers everything i need. those who call it a non-technophile devise are mistaken. I can do everything users with V's can do.

Okay Then...

Eston Bond @ 4/16/2001 6:04:03 AM #
Nate,
This isn't the place to be slamming the Palm. I'm sure not going to buy Cognitive Root, I don't think it's right to attack people's thoughts.
RE: Okay Then...
Nate @ 4/17/2001 10:15:03 AM #
Er... who's thought's was I slamming? I assume that your comment was in response to my first post, under the "Buy an Ipaq" title. The WinCE 7.0 comment was a joke. I am a Palm user, and a Palm developer. You might even say I'm a Palm fanatic (hence my presence on these boards). I don't take sides in the OS wars, since I think everyone should pick the PDA that works for them, but I personally don't need a multitasking, MP3-playing OS, so my little Vx does just fine for me.

I did think the original "buy an ipaq" comment was out of place in this thread, so I was just spoofing it a bit. If we can't all take a slightly light-hearted attitude towards all of this, it's time for a new hobby. :)

_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com

Oops
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/17/2001 12:16:54 PM #
Sorry Nate, didn't take it as a joke. I apologize.

Eston Bond
CEO Pine Tree Software
http://www.pinetreesoftware.net/

RE: Okay Then...
Nate @ 4/17/2001 12:36:10 PM #
That's cool. Sometimes my dry sense of humor doesn't work in plain text, even with emiticons. :)

_________
Syncplicity. Redefining Simple. www.cognitiveroot.com

Cheaper Plan?

Wescott @ 4/16/2001 7:56:49 AM #
I hope they develop a less expensive user plan. Palm's is way too expensive for what you get.

Ipaq inroads

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 2:27:49 PM #
"Palm has already said it's going to spend around $165 million this quarter promoting its new PDAs, which are intended to defend the company's dominance at the high end of the market from PocketPC - and Compaq's iPaq in particular - which has been making significant inroads into Palm's marketshare."


RE: Ipaq inroads
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/16/2001 3:10:25 PM #
Source?

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