Sony Closes New Clie Developer Support

Posted By: Ryan Monday, July 12, 2004 3:44:39 PM

Shortly after Sony announced they were going to suspend their conventional PDA business, they have now closed off the Clie Developer Support Site registration to new members.

In June Sony revealed that they will not be releasing any new Clie Handhelds products in the coming fall. The company decided to suspend new Clie product development for the US and Europe while they reassess the direction of the conventional PDA market.

Sony pledged to continue the same level of service and support for Clie handheld users and to honor all existing limited warranties. The current Clie lineup is contining to be sold and supported while supplies last. The lineup includes the TJ27, TJ37, UX50 and the TH55 handhelds.

Just recently the company has stopped accepting new registrations for the Clie Developer Support program. Support for existing registered developers will still continue. This specialized section for software and hardware developers provides SDKs, documentation and technical information used for programming and supporting Sony Clie features and models.

New developers attempting to register a new account are given the following message:

Dear Developers,

As a follow up to Sony's recent decision to reassess the direction of the conventional PDA market, it has closed the CLIÉ Developer Support Site registration system to new members. Existing registered developers may continue to use the tools and services on the CLIÉ Developer Support Site at this time subject to the Membership and License Agreements contained therein.

Sincerely,
The CLIÉ Developer Support Desk

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No Surprise Here

Hal2000 @ 7/12/2004 8:10:09 PM #
Boo Hoo, first Clie is dead post.

Zodiac2/T616
1.128 gigs under the hood.
RE: No Surprise Here
Hal2000 @ 7/12/2004 8:11:41 PM #
Why support (millions?) of units?

Zodiac2/T616
1.128 gigs under the hood.
RE: No Surprise Here
ballistic @ 7/18/2004 6:54:59 PM #
Hal2000,

No surprised here either. Right after Sony made the announcement about killing the Clie, I made the jump to a Zodiac 2. I put my NX70V up for sale on ebay yesterday.

I suspect (and highly recommend) that a lot of Clie owners seriously consider the Zodiac.

work harder. play smarter. visit [url=http://www.tapland.com]tapland[/url].

Thought so....

vesther @ 7/12/2004 11:58:39 PM #
Well, I guess if I was a Clie developer, then I was automatically doomed anyway, hopefully, Sony, once they reinstate their handheld offerings, won't alienate us just like they did on their first phase of Clie handhelds.

Intel PXA27X, Motorola's ARM Processor, or Texas Instruments OMAP? Pick one Palm Enthusiasts, the choice should be yours. When handheld makers make you choose the ARM Processor, you win.
RE: Thought so....
Token User @ 7/14/2004 2:06:49 PM #
Well, I guess if I was a Clie developer, then I was automatically doomed anyway, hopefully, Sony, once they reinstate their handheld offerings, won't alienate us just like they did on their first phase of Clie handhelds.

A Clie developer? Oh, you mean a PalmOS developer that provides support in their application for things like the Clie's Jog Wheel ...

Its not such a big deal. All the developer libraries for existing Clies are out there, and (apart from some of the quirky audio Sony implemented) PalmOS apps work well on the Clie, so its realy not a loss.


~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: Thought so....
vesther @ 7/17/2004 1:19:54 PM #
One thing that Sony's gotta fix on their second wave of Clies from their hiatus from the US Handheld Market--support the SD/MMC/SDIO standard and remove the Memory Stick Standard from the Clie handhelds--that's one of the "things" that killed Sony's reputation in the US Handheld Market. I agree that all Palm OS-based applications will work with Sony's handhelds, but I think that Sony should've used some sort of Navigational Controller rather than a Jog Dial.

Intel PXA27X, Motorola's ARM Processor, or Texas Instruments OMAP? Pick one Palm Enthusiasts, the choice should be yours. When handheld makers make you choose the ARM Processor, you win.

Sobering dose of reality

Foo Fighter @ 7/13/2004 12:04:47 AM #
This should silence all of the blind fools who believe Sony is just "retrenching" while they secretly design a new killer Clie. It's over, folks. Time to pack up and go home. There will never be another Clie.

-------------------------------
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
RE: Sobering dose of reality
achitnis @ 7/13/2004 1:28:05 AM #
Actually, I dont think so.

I suspect we are about to see a massive round of device consolidation coming out of Sony. It may be a la Treo, but it could also be something completely different/new.

Time will tell.

(p.s. I am not a Sony/CLIE fan-boy, and I have my Palm III, Palm Vx, Palm Zire 71 and PalmOne Tungsten T3 to prove it)


Atul Chitnis
http://atulchitnis.net

RE: Sobering dose of reality
MikeInDM @ 7/13/2004 8:48:28 AM #
Unless the next Clie becomes a PocketPC device. ;-)
RE: Sobering dose of reality
abosco @ 7/13/2004 10:03:37 AM #
>>It may be a la Treo, but it could also be something completely different/new.

It may also be a handheld gaming device like.. oh I don't know.. a PSP. No, it won't run the PalmOS.

Know what your only hope for Sony getting back into the PDA game is? Hope the aging rumors of PalmSource being in talks with Sony Ericsson are true.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: Sobering dose of reality
JonAcheson @ 7/14/2004 12:30:10 AM #
I think Sony saw the Nintendo DS at E3, realised they were going to lose a TON of money on the PSP, and are cutting costs ruthlessly to salvage the end of the year earnings reports.

Jon Acheson


"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

RE: Sobering dose of reality
abosco @ 7/14/2004 10:00:50 AM #
What? If anything, they saw how weak the new Gameboy was and began salivating over how much better their PSP looked in comparison. The Clie division wasn't much of a money maker or R&D drain, but they saw that after half a decade, they couldn't do much in the market and wouldn't be able to do much in the forseeable future either. So they dropped out.

The PSP will be a huge force for Nintendo, and if they think two (useless) screens and an ugly design is going to stop them, well... I think you can finish my statement for me. I think everybody in the whole universe is tired of Gameboy, and we need some competition and refreshment. PSP will be a big seller.

-Bosco
NX80v + Wifi + BT + T616

RE: Sobering dose of reality
JonAcheson @ 7/14/2004 3:52:31 PM #
Everyone is tired of the GBA? That must explain why it's the #2 console. It's sold more units than XBox and GameCube combined!

From where I stand, it looks like the PSP is going to be too big, too proprietary, and have too short a battery life to make any headway against DS.

Whereas the two screen thing on the DS makes sense when you look at the device. Especially with the one screen being a touch screen.

Though, ultimately, it's all about the games. I would give DS the edge on that too, though.

Jon Acheson


"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

Notice from Clie developer website

asiayeah @ 7/13/2004 3:35:32 AM #
Here's the notice from the Clie developer website

http://www.cliedeveloper.com/develop_info/index.html



--
With great power comes great responsiblity.

They should have at least left the downloadable tools

wilco @ 7/13/2004 12:59:28 PM #
They should have at least left available for downloads the tools for new developers. Never mind the support. Or maybe Palmsource should request Sony for the tools and offer it themselves to new developers.

If not, then goodbye to new developers' support for the Nr/NX/NZ line... :(

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
whitemiata @ 7/13/2004 4:28:27 PM #
why would any developer in their right mind want to support a dead line anyway?

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
wrlee @ 7/13/2004 6:04:33 PM #
There ARE sill clie devices in Japan. And, presumably, they are still releasing new ones.

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
Winter_ @ 7/13/2004 7:30:19 PM #
why would any developer in their right mind want to support a dead line anyway?

Do you mean they will raid Clie owners' homes to annihilate existing devices this side of Mars?

(I mean: current owners surely will keep using their current devices, more so when a part of them surely got a Clie because they didn't like other kinds of Palm devices. And as long as there are users, there will be developers, and even some paid-for software, I guess. Look at Newtons - or Mac OS classic!)

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
hkklife @ 7/14/2004 3:09:55 PM #
Speaking of Clies in Japan (new ones, at least) is someone like Dynamism going to start inporting Jap-spec Clies to the USA and writing English instructions etc for them, kinda like how they do with all of these cool Sony & Sharp sub-notebooks?

It'd make for an interesting niche market for the Sony diehards, especially if developer support continues stateside for the forseeable future...

I think that Sony's betting the farm on the PSP. I wouldn't even be surprised the only reason for the constant crippling of Clie hardware buttons was to "prep" the market for the PSP...

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
KathyLa @ 7/17/2004 12:56:20 PM #
I agree with Winter, and I will continue to use my Clie NX 80V. It's my second Clie, I got it because I liked it better than any of the Palms. Developers, please don't stop developing, I know there are many others out there like me. Sony, How could you do this to us?????

RE: They should have at least left the downloadable tools
ballistic @ 7/18/2004 7:07:22 PM #
Not me, I just got a Tapwave Zodiac 2 to replace my NX70V. The Clie line is dead, make no mistakes about it. The PSP and other content delivery devices (all with DRM) will be the core of Sony's future mobile device offerings.

I'm not going down that proprietary, fair-use limiting road. The Zodiac handles all of my portable gaming requirements and has all of the multimedia capabilities of the Clie line without Memory Sticks (price premium) or crippled slots. The Zodiac has 2 SD slots, 1 of which supports SDIO, plus Bluetooth built-in, something Sony decided not to offer in the US on their last device, the TH55.

I loved my NX70V, but it was a love hate relationship because of the fact that it was made by Sony.

work harder. play smarter. visit www.tapland.com.

New signups

wrlee @ 7/13/2004 6:03:11 PM #
Wow! I guess I just made it... I signed up last week with no problems.

RE: New signups
SeldomVisitor @ 7/14/2004 7:15:57 AM #
So, does that mean you actually are going to develop software for a discontinued device?

RE: New signups
Ezra4no1 @ 7/15/2004 9:09:45 AM #
Ummm... Gee let me think..

If I'm a developer and my end goal besides making the software is to get paid for it... um duh, what you think? Sony had 20% of the market, what am I going to do, shoot my self in the foot and not take the chance of getting some additional sales? At the very least it can build loyalty for those who did buy the software and they can wind up buying from me again when they buy another Palm OS device. We're not talking about the Newton here, adding simple support for the jog dial and so forth isn't a big deal.

RE: New signups
asiayeah @ 7/15/2004 12:27:37 PM #
I am a Palm developer. My software has been supporting the PalmOne's 5-way navigator for while.

And I have just add Sony Clie's jog dial support. Although adding jog dial support is not a totally trivial development task, it is a pity if one do not make use of the jog dials on those lovely Sony devices, such as the TH55.

One of the funs or challenges of developing a Palm software is actually supporting all those different hardware features on Palm devices.

Of course, I wish jog dial support will make some Sony users happy.

--
With great power comes great responsiblity.

RE: New signups
KathyLa @ 7/17/2004 1:10:36 PM #
Right on the money, Ezra4no1. Developers, keep on developing!!! I love my Clie NX80V, use it all the time for work and play. There are a lot of us out here.

Clie guys invited to sleep on Handera guys' couch, poker too

Strider_mt2k @ 7/17/2004 11:15:50 PM #
Luckily, the Handera guys have very graciously allowed us Clie guys to crash on their couch for now.

There has been a big poker game sheduled until dawn or when everyone's batteries run out, whichever comes first.

(One might imagine an "Odd Couple"-like scenario as well.)

"Can two discontinued handheld lines share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"

;)

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