SonyStyle Japan Has Discontinued the NR Series
Sony is a notoriously closemouthed company. As people are eagerly awaiting news of new Clié models running Palm OS 5, probably the best indicator is what the company is doing with its current high-end handhelds, the NR70 and NR70V. And with Sony being based in Japan, any word of a change is likely to come from there first. Recently, Sony has been showing signs that it is close to phasing these out in its home country. Last month, it stopped supplying them to retailers in Tokyo. A few weeks ago, SonyStyle Japan dropped the price of both models by 10,000 Yen. And today, they are listed on SonyStyle Japan as discontinued.
Of course, this leaves the company with a large hole in its product line which it will probably fill in the near future. The question is, with what?
Many are hoping that the replacement will be a Palm OS 5 model with an ARM-based processor. Specifically, people seem to want this to have the same form-factor as current NR series. This isn't outside of the realm of possibility, as the pieces are pretty much in place. PalmSource shipped the new operating system to its licensees back in June and Sony demonstrated last week that it has it running on a hi-res+ screen. It's possible that Sony was waiting for the new Web browser for OS 5 that, just yesterday, PalmSource announced was finished.
However, this isn't the only option. Last month, the Hong Kong Palm Users Group posted details of a new Sony model that it said had been leaked by a source in the Hong Kong PDA industry. This model, called the NR90, does not have the clamshell design from the earlier NR series models but it does have many of the same features. Most importantly, it isn't a Palm OS 5 device. Instead, it runs Palm OS 4.1 on a 66 MHz Dragonball Super VZ. It has 16 MB of RAM and 4 MB of ROM.
It does have the 320 by 480, hi-res+ screen with virtual Graffiti that many were asking for on the T665C. It also has a built-in camera and an MP3 player. An audio remote controller and headphones will come with it.
It still may be several weeks before Sony makes an official announcement of any new models. In the past, the company has discontinued handhelds and then not immediately announced replacements. For example, the S320 was discontinued around New Year's Day last year but the S360 wasn't announced until January 15.]
Thanks to Eugene, PIC's unofficial Tokyo correspondent. -Ed
Related Information:
- PIC: Rumor: Sony Beginning to Phase Out the NR Series (August 23, 2002)
- PIC: Sony Demoing Palm OS 5 (September 11, 2002)
- PIC: Sony Forum
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RE: SONY
I agree with your sentiment--it'd be nice if we could avoid the usual bitching.
BUT, your statement is incorrect. The discontinuance of a model does NOT make it obsolete. It makes it just what the term says--"discontinued." Obsolete would mean that the product is no longer useable nor supported. Last I checked, ALL Sony models are still useable, because the only PalmOS units that can truly be called "obsolete" are those that cannot run OS3.0 or later--most PalmOS software will still run on OS3.0 or later.
What "discontinued" DOES mean is that the model is no longer the latest offering, no longer the top-of-the-line, and obviously, no longer being produced. My NR-70 will still work for a long time (No MS problem, knock-on-wood), regardless of what model replaces it at the top of the Sony PDA line.
Perhaps if the knee-jerk nerds on this site were more aware of this, they would be less likely to gripe when Sony discontinues one product and releases a new one.
RE: SONY
Thanks, Robrecht
RE: SONY
RE: SONY
Good news!
RE: Good news!
Instead, I think that all of the new machines will hit the market at the same time and Sony's flashier offerngs will overshadow Palm's more subdued Tungsten.
Furthermore, the Zire will probably be the first "new" unit that Palm unleashes. However, every day that it's withheld from the market means that many more m105's are sold and all the newbies out there get a _real_ entry-level PDA instead of a 2-button, cut-down joke.
P.S. For what it's worth, I was in 2 Office Depots yesterday and I saw all flavors of m1xx styli on clearance, as well as the i705 styli and cases. So perhaps Palm is about to do some serious pruning of their product line?
RE: Good news!
I disagree
It really won't matter who releases an OS5 unit first. I'm pretty sure all will release one within weeks, maybe even days of each other anyway.
Its an exciting time. I think we will all hear something more concrete by the end of this month
RE: Good news!
I'll likely live with a Palm OS5 device, even if the memory is a bit skimpy, as long as my peripheral stuff still works.
Chris Scullion
RE: Good news!
I agree with this.
But does anyone really think Handspring is going to release a compelling OS 5 model? HS did tons with OS3.x, but they've done squat with OS 4. They might not EVER release an OS 5 model.
RE: Good news!
My bet is that you'll need to buy something new. Yes, I know Palm promised that the UC would be for a few years, but remember, they also promised that the SUDS problem wasn't real, that the m505 screen was "bright color," and the m130 could display 65,000 colors. They might use the same physical connector, but I'd be willing to be that something inside the machine will cause UC peripherals not to work on the new line, unless you buy some software patch or hardware adapter...at a price, of course.
RE: Good news!
That said, Palm are about to make things more complicated at best and totally nightmarish at worst.
Assuming the worst, the Zire will NOT use the UC, as has been rumoured, and there will be the terrible problem of companies like Belkin etc having to redesign their peripherals (again) to accomodate a new formfactor and connector design. Palm will cite some feeble excuse (greed,cost, and more greed being the only real motivation) for not adhering to their UC promise (a promise that is not yet even two years old!)
To top the whole mess off, Palm's going to have to explain to all the kids why they have to download patches for their games so the lack of buttons can be remedied, if the game is even supported at all.
It's more likely the Tungsten will retain the UC compatability but by this point it doesn't really matter. I know that myself as well as several colleagues are already miffed that there won't be an OS 5 unit in the m500 formfactor so that we can retain our styli and cases. All it takes is one misstep (Zire) to upset the consumers, the retail buysers (you think Best Buy are happy every time they have to make more shelf space for 3 different types of cradles and keyboards like was the case with the UC/III/V series peripherals?
It seems that Sony has at least learned a few lessons and are sticking to standards, even if they are not that great. I'd rather have a substandard "standard" (like the T-series stylus) than a slew of incompatible accessories (palm m100 vs. III vs. V). Look how successful Motorola were as they stuck with the basic Startac design for so many years.
RE: Good news!
I'm amused by the suggestion that people are so mad at Palm because it changed form factor for the first time in 18 months that they will switch to Sony, which hasn't ever kept the same for factor for more than a couple months. Jeez, you can't put a T665C in a T615C hardcase!! These were released in the same YEAR!!
I think you Sony guys are stealing a page from Microsoft's book and trying to spread some FUD.
RE: Good news!
Actually, it can be argued that much of the new functionality of OS 4 was introduced by Handspring in its version of OS 3.5:
16-bit colour support
Expansion support (unless you count the "so-called" expandable Palm IIIx)
Although I will agree that I haven't been very impressed with the company's direction lately...
rgds,
RE: Good news!
I'll likely live with a Palm OS5 device, even if the memory is a bit skimpy, as long as my peripheral stuff still works.<<
If you can stick with yesterday's technology (ie Palm's technology) and do without such swanky new capabilities, then why do you need to upgrade to OS5?
Adios NR70V
Hope this doesn't mean the end of the clamshell
I, for one, am hoping that this isn't the end of the clamshell.
RE: Hope this doesn't mean the end of the clamshell
I'm worried because my NR70 has occasionally had the Memory Stick problem (though it seems to have gone away by itself in the last month). If it gets really bad and I have to take my device back to BestBuy, what OS5 POS am I going to be stuck with? Don't get me wrong--progress is wonderful and OS5 will be an important step forward, but it's just not something I want to have to adopt early.
RE: Hacks
Phil
RE: Hope this doesn't mean the end of the clamshell
My thoughts EXACTLY. The NR70 is best PDA I've owned, and I've owned 3 different Palms, a Handspring, and a Jornada (the low point of my PDA ownership timeline). I'm hoping the NR90 is real, because if my NR70 ever breaks down, that sounds like the only PDA I'd be willing to trade to. The T665C would be OK if it had virtual graffiti.
Just say no to clams
I don't want to crack walnuts with the thing, just use it as a pda that FITS IN MY FRONT JEANS POCKET.
Sony, we wear jeans over here. They fit snugly. Forget the clamshell debacle and give us back our traditional flat 2-D PDA.
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
Debacle? DEBACLE?
"I don't like it, therefore it is a debacle."
Not exactly high-level logic. The clamshell design has sold pretty well, and near as I can tell, the clamshell has NEVER been a support issue for Sony. Only the MS problem has.
So take a logic course, then just say that you don't like the clamshell design and hope that Sony makes an OS 5 device that doesn't have it. They can do both a standard design and clamshell, you know.
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
______________________________________
The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.
-Hubert Humphrey
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
> they are great for protecting that expensive lcd
They are useless for protecting the LCD, since I have no interest in flipping, twisting and folding the display just to get a useful form factor.
I completely disagree with the article that, "Specifically, people seem to want this to have the same form-factor as current NR series." Do a survey, or whatever, but I guarantee the vast majority of people would pick your typical PDA form-factor over that of the NR (assuming all other features equal).
RE: Just say no to clams
RE: Just say no to clams
This is why I LOVE Sony!
I feel like a junky waiting to get his fix. I can't wait for the next model so I can dump my NR70V (although I've only had it for 3 months! but Oh well...).
Hopefully the new models will have at least 64mb of Ram and a dedicated video processor so I can watch my favorite movies at school....I love it.
RE: This is why I LOVE Sony!
RE: This is why I LOVE Sony!
TRANSLATION: Hopefully the new models will have features that allow me to waste time when I could actually be learning something. That way I can beg my parents to let me burn some more of their money. Dude!
RE: This is why I LOVE Sony!
RE: This is why I LOVE Sony!
I am confused about how discontinuing the NR series is innovation. Other than sticking a larger than life clamshell keyboard on a PDA, Sony hasn't "innovated" since the N710C.
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SONY
I think the T665C form factor with a voice recorder, true landscape mode functionality, OS5, and better battery life would be ideal.
Thanks, Robrecht