Rumor: Sony to Release S360

How is this setting the pace. I read on this site comments, all the time that, the Palm OS has had no improvements in years (although I disagree with this, it is regularly repeated in comments here). That minor changes in the hardware, i.e. the addition of greater memory is not enough to save Palm.

One could just as easily pose these comments in relation to this device or for that matter any of the Sony devices that have been released over the past year with the exception of their first wave of new devices. Each newly released device has been incremental in nature and has appeared in a remarkably short time after the device it is replacing. In fact, one could argue that this short product span will/is hurting the Palm handheld market. I am not going to go into any Sony bashing here because it is not necessary or appropriate, each of the Palm licensees (including Palm) advance the platform and cater to a different market segment. Too me this is a good thing because I believe that this is the true we to keep Palm alive in the long run, with diversification of the product line. Unlike the PPC devices that are virtually identical at this point, when you shop for a Palm there is real choice.

Anyway, if one is being completely impartial in examining the Palm licensee landscape, the innovator head and shoulders above the other (even without a color screen) is HandEra. But even with HandEra's innovation (dual expansion, high-res screen, virtual graffiti area) they have not set the world on fire. So maybe, just maybe we tech nerds that visit this site and others like it need to have a broader view of the actual market and make room for the realities of the situation.

Finally, while I look forward to the developments that this year may bring, I hope that Palm devices do not become more complicated because of it. I hope, that more capable does not need to be synonymous with complicated.

I have to agree with this comment.

Sony is an excellent consumer electronics company, they stay abreast of the competition and do not hesitate to add new features to their products. Unfortunately, a computer (even a handheld one) should not be on the same type of product cycle. First, when you put a device on this type of cycle the interest of significant customer support is diminished because the device is no longer being produced.

Second, I buy a Sony VCR and two weeks later Sony discontinues my model and releases a new VCR with one more feature, two weeks after discontinues that new model and releases another model with one more additional feature. Six months of this and you might a VCR on the market that truly does something that the one I bought does not but this is not such a big deal because it is still a VCR and it still works and does the job well. Also because the VCR is a consumer product it is probably cheaper to replace it then to get it repaired if it is out of warranty, so the notion of it being obsolete is not a significant consideration. When a computer device is treated as a commodity like this, the value of your $200 - $500 investment is diminished far sooner than one should reasonably expect and all because of incremental, superceding devices. Soon the device you bought just 3 months ago will be on a shelf at a small electronics store for $50 right beside the Sony radio/cassette player.

Is that what we, as users, really want?

For that, SONY ROCKS!!

For that, SONY ROCKS!!>>

I agree with this comment, to an point.

Sony has been very aggressive in pricing their devices. And this has certainly caused both Palm and Handspring to forego the pricing scheme that they enjoyed for so long (although I am sure that the downturn in the economy had a little to do with this as well). But competition is something different from what Sony seems to be doing which is releasing new devices with minimal changes and an incredibly short life span. For example, with built-in memory expansion, isn't addition of increased internal memory a minor upgrade? And doesn't it beg the question that if they can release a device for the same price and form factor, why didn't they do it originally?

Enter handspring and TRG and it picked up again, but the innovation model now was... stay with what we have until a competitor innovates something new, then one up it with the next release. This somewhat shortened the pace of innovation but it was still slow as both companies would only release new product when they felt they needed to to maintain market share, etc. In other words their sales were dropping so its time for something new.

Sony takes a different approach to this for better or worse... they see it as a consumer product like a walkman or minidisk player. They are used to adjusting their products very frequently as the consumer segment is MUCH more competitive than the handheld market is. Its not likely sony will change and their approach will force the competition to keep up or be left behind. Im sure customer support will suffer, and sonys upgrade policy stinks... but on the plus side theres something new to drool over much more frequently and just as frequently you can find old models at great prices on clearance.

As far as innovation goes... most of the licensees have done something... its palm that lags behind in general.

Sony - Highres pixel doubled screen, VFS, Jog Dial
Handera - Proprietary CF support (later VFS), hires reflective TFT, soft graffiti.
Handspring - Springboard, 16mb, first 33mhz unit.
Palm - PalmVII wireless, palmV formfactor.

Im sure im missing some things, but most companies have done some innovation... palm counted on this, and they are the folks that merge all the innovation into the next OS release. I figure they did this so they wouldnt have to spend as much time on R&D but they didnt count on how 'behind' their units seem as it takes a few months or longer for new features to make their way into the Palm OS proper.

Battery Peformance Tests and More at... http://www.pocket-gizmos.com

Well, take your bitchin' elsewhere. If you don't like Sony's than go buy yourself a Palm Vx or the ever stellar m505 with crappy backlight.

'Nuf said.

I bought my 900 mhz dell back in february. A month later they had 1ghz. Then 1.13ghz. Then 1.3ghz. Now they're up to 2ghz!!

Dell doesn't care about their customers! They should still be selling my 900mhz dell for the same price!!

As for Sony dropping support, they still support the ancient S300 and release updates for it. And even if they do "drop support," it's a Palm device. There are a million avenues for Palm support, like this one right here.

Years ago, Palm was the only player (I had a Palm III), then came Handspring with its PDAs (I upgraded to the incredibly thin Edge model), but now Sony is the innovator PDA manufacturer.

I bought a color Sony 610 (upgraded from the Edge) a few months ago, and couldn't be more happier with it. Two friends in my office recently purchased Sony Clies and it seems Sony is now the name of the game.

It's sad that Palm and Handspring got caught napping at their own game only to be surpassed by the newcomer in this market. Good luck to Sony and keep the new models coming...

Second, the palm hardware isn't that great! Isn't the software which make your system overall valuable?
Software like WordSmith, ThinkDB, NoahPro, ActionNames, SilverScreen, AvantGo, PowerOne Graph set the pace to.
Don't they make your palm worth the money?
ThirdParty products like memory expansions, the Stowaway Keyboard ( which i own ) and other think i forgot. They make your palm useful.

yours
SaxonMan
long live the intelligent user!

If u wanna criticize my english and tell me that a person who writes this cant be intelligent...
maybe that's because i'm german.