Treo 700p Update Postponed
Nearly lost amidst all of the recent discussion concerning Palm's Linux and Garnet plans has been the latest chapter in the impossibly long-winded Treo 700p ROM update saga. Ground Zero for comments, criticisms, and unofficial updates about the myriad of issues plaguing the 700p and its eagerly-awaited update has been the TreoCentral message boards. TreoCentral member Bob Caruso (AKA "Bob-C") is maintaining a "Palm Response Tracker" thread in the site's 700p forum regarding his ongoing dialog with Palm's very own Steve Sinclair.
In a nutshell, the 700p update has been delayed yet again due to not having passed either Palm's or the carriers' certification processes. Mr. Sinclair's note closes with the promise of a widespread comunication and a more precise release date from Palm later this week.
This latest communication, dated April 10th, report does contradict the suspicious earlier report from Palm last month that the 700p fix had passed all of Palm's internal testing and they were awaiting only carrier certification of the update.
In related news, the new Treo 755p for Sprint has been all but officially confirmed for release on May 14th. By taking into account Bob-C's correspondence with Mr. Sinclair and the recent Sprint roadmap leaks, the very certification process that has given the 755p the green light for release has caused yet another delay in the 700p ROM update. Palm, not wanting to release a new device and EOL is predecessor while still working on a ROM update, are burning the midnight oil to try and complete this comprehensive 700p fix prior to the 755p launch on May 14th. Some TC members are reporting that Sprint support have advised them not to expect the 700p update until June, however.
As the one-year life cycle of the Treo 700p draws to a close with no update in sight, Palm should take this opportunity to address this matter honestly and openly as soon as possible with the frustrated 700p user community. Their recently-launched Palm Blog would be the ideal venue for such a dialog.
Below is the full text of the latest letter from Steve Sinclair to Bob-C:
Please know that Palm is not abandoning the Treo 700p - the Treo 700p software update will be released once it has passed ours and the carrier's testing. Several weeks ago, we'd notified several of the Treo/Palm community sites that the update was expected later than Q1 and our best estimate was for a release in the month of April. We're going to have to revise that date again, but hope to provide a more specific release date with higher confidence given that we are further along in the testing process. Palm will communicate this info to the user community later this week. Regards, Steve
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Screw the update
RE: Screw the update
My title makes it sound like I don't want the update... I do want it. Badly. I hate the static between my Treo and Palm Ultralight BT headset.
But, if the new OS would be a better solution, I would rather see that. Judging by Palm's track record, I doubt that will happen.
RE: Screw the update
RE: Screw the update
Exactly why I won't buy another Palm
I don't care how fancy Palm OS Garnet + Linux is, or the mythical third business. I won't pay for it. I've learned my lesson.
RE: Exactly why I won't buy another Palm
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Keep it comin'
The new Palm OS Linux is a good move by Palm (at last), but if they want to regain the market share of the old "Palm" days, they have to closely work with developers and get these devices out FAST. The more devices that come out (whether the HAWK or TREO), the more developers will come on board and develop applications. If they don't, Palm will more like become a niche player in the smartphone (and PDA) area ($25 million for the marketing AD campaign can't last for more thatn 18 months, that's stretching the limit; in fairness to Palm, I do see a chunk of that $25M scattered in various ads across the globe) and most developers are already branching out to WM, Symbian and Blackberry as these are the dominant phones on the market.
Let's face it, given the current state that Palm is in, developers won't wait for them to regain their market share within the next 12 to 24 months. That just won't happen overnight. Developers need users to buy their application and porting them to other platform is right thing to do from a business perspective. And I believe Palm knows this and is working very hard to win them back (or at least let them develop native Palm linux apps).
This will be an uphill battle to Palm (once the dominating force of the PDA world and now the underdog of both the PDA and smartphone world, ironic isn't it?). If it fails to capture significant market share in the future, its not a pretty picture.