Wow!

We are excited to see the amount of comments. Thank you for your encouragement and support, and it's great to see such in-depth comments.

We are taking your feedback very seriously, so I want to take this opportunity to address a few of the comments:

-Will you be the only commentator or will others join you?

• Nope, I won't be the only person contributing to the Palm blog. Lots of people from Palm are eager to contribute; I just kicked it off and have the privilege of keeping it up and running.

-How often do you plan to post?

• We are planning to post a couple times a week - it will vary depending upon what's going on each week.

-Several people mentioned the topic of a Palm forum

• I don't have a specific answer at this time, but thank you for sharing your thoughts. Currently, there are a lot of great forums that are run by independent sites focusing on Palm products and Treo smartphones (which we read regularly). Here are a few:

           -1SRC

           -Brighthand.com

           -EverythingTreo 

           -MyTreo.net

           -PalmAddict

           -PalmInfoCenter

           -TreoCentral

           -Treonauts

• Also, there are the Palm Help Forums, and of course you can feel free to leave comments here on the palm blog.

-Several people have also brought up the Treo 700p maintenance release

• Look for an update on the Palm blog next week.

Keep watching this space for more Palm info and product updates. Until next time, keep the comments coming!

Paul Loeffler

Comments

[bob]

Enough back patting. This can be either a good thing or . . .

I will stay tuned to see how this goes.

Sign me up for a "Me, Too" for an 700p update/fix for it's issues.

bob

[Merlyn 3D]

Re: "Looking for a 700p update on the Palm blog next week."

Steve Sinclair himself promised us more information by the end of this week, why has this AGAIN been postponed? It really seems like everything Palm does is postpone. Of course, by my standards, it's almost a year later and you shouldn't just be giving info on the update, you should have the update ready and given to all your 700p customers. It should have been out months ago, but that's a whole different issue. How do you expect your disappointed 700p customers to ever spend so much money on a Palm device again after this lack of initiative to fix issues and lack of support?

Lastly, there are MANY of us who have intel macs now and are highly disappointed in the fact that Palm hasn't even updated the hotsync client to support them. When are we going to see a Universal binary for Palm Desktop? EVERY OTHER APPLICATION on OS X is universal now (with the exception of Microsoft's, but that's a whole different story).

[Lithium]

You're missing two excelents spainish forums: PDA Expertos (http://www.pdaexpertos.com/) and PDA Mexico (http://www.pdamexico.net).

Congrats, i hope you're blog will be awesome

[Ignobilitor]

"Several people have also brought up the Treo 700p maintenance release"?

Looked more like about 40-50% of the comments to me, so perhaps "Many people have also brought up..." would be more indicative of the interest in this update.

Add me to the list.

[ignobilitor]

"Several people have also brought up the Treo 700p maintenance release"?

Looked more like about 40-50% of the comments to me, so perhaps "Many people have also brought up..." would be more indicative of the interest in this update.

Add me to the list.

[PacManFoo]

You forgot to mention PDA's. I hope this was just an oversite. To tell you the truth, I will never be buying a Treo product or any smartphone for that matter. I have bought at least a dozen Palm PDA's over the last 9 years. I am just waiting for an excuse to spend money and upgrade from my Palm TX. Over the years I have convinced numerous friends and co-workers to buy a Palm. I'm sure hope I can continue to be a Palm evangelist.

[Imabug]

There are enough Palm PDA/Treo forums out there that I think Palm doesn't need to duplicate the effort.

What I would like to see out of the blog are insights into what's going on inside Palm and what kinds of things we (users) can expect to see in the future. Palm used to be pretty cutting edge and innovative with handhelds, but the last few years I really haven't seen anything coming out of Palm that makes me want to replace my T3. That's the kind of thing I want to see in this blog: evidence of Palm being innovative again, fresh new ideas and devices, hints of things to come that make me think Palm is coming back to the forefront of handheld tech.

[Bob Russell]

Great job. This is starting to look like it may be real communication rather than generic PR. I like it!

[tk421]

Why the surprise? Do you guys have any idea how much we love our Palm OS devices? More and more, my TX feels like an extension of myself. I never leave home without it. It is even making the girls in my life jealous!
Still can't wait for the "third business" to start. In the meantime I'll gladly take a TX 2 with SDHC support, 4GB Flash memory, and the new Linux OS! (Oh, and kick in a quality screen while you're at it.)

[e2mtt]

We will be watching and waiting... Any chance you could release beta versions of the upcoming Linux based OS so we could all test them on out old Palms? :-)
The newly release PalmBackup is a great idea.
A really great thing would be if you at Palm could somehow buy Verichat from whoever owns it now, include it on Palm CDs as an extra, and host the servers yourself. It was such a fantastic program, despite not being updated very often.

[Jeremiah Owen]

So 700p fix.... any chance at a 700wx WinMobile 6 update? The 750 is getting it why not the 700wx?

[AndySocial]

I keep seeing discussion about new Treo models. I have no need nor desire to own a cell phone (my workplace is a secure area that forbids them and my commute is measured in minutes not hours). So, my interest lies with the future of the traditional handheld line. I'd hate to see the PDA completely disappear. The UMPC is a bit more than I want to lug around, and my Clie is no longer holding a charge.

[Merlyn 3D]

RE: Mac support for Palm Desktop

I wanted to add to my comment before. Why hasn't Palm paid much attention to the mac version of palm desktop? It still doesn't sync categories properly with calendar and contacts in OS X. Doesn't Palm understand that most Mac users don't want to use a Windows Mobile PDA and therefore turn to Palm (well until iPhone is launched I guess)? Why wouldn't Palm want to capitolize on this and make the Mac version of Palm Desktop/Hotsync shine? Why wouldn't they want it to be universal given that all macs sold now have Intel chips in them, not PowerPC?

[Garman]

The palm device has been around for years and years. I seem to have missed the hundreds of thousands of complaints that lead to the singular choice of the treo keyboard on all new Palm devices.

It's as if there was an expiration date for graffiti (or virtual keyboards) but I don't believe we have reached an expiration date for pen & paper and that is actually much older than graffiti yet still widely used I hear. Cough!HipsterPDA

Does the adoption of blackberry type keyboards also take into account blackberry thumb and the fact that companies can now be liable for this? I certainly haven't heard about liability issues for graffiti?

Is it known that with a stylus speeds of up to 75 WPM can be reached? With the numerous requests for a TX 2 why not an even offer it as an option during treo days? If you won't do it Graffiti who will? Will it become extinct - killing off one of your most important contributions? Keyboards are for desktops. By the way did I mention 75 WPM?

[rmhurdman]

I will never buy a Treo for two reasons. I don't need a phone and can't see the day (while living in North America) that I will. A cell phone just doesn't make sense for me. I used to love my Tungsten C, until I had to return it to Palm twice in 13 months. And I can't find any accessories for it (new stylus, to start) because Palm doesn't support this model. Further, Palm has never allowed a user of an older device to update the OS to a newer version. With this track record of little to no support and undependable quality, why would I shell out for new product? And if I never buy another product, I will never develop another app as a hobby.

[Stu]

This is fantastic! I'm so glad that Palm now has an official blog. I can't wait to hear about all of the exciting things going on in Palm.

Keep up the great work - the new Linux OS sounds exciting!!!

Stu :-)

[Concerned Fan]

It was very interesting to learn that there are people inside Palm who read forums run by independent sites.

Have any of the big shots in Palm read our comments already?

People... we need to consider that the total amount of money spent buying a PDA is shrinking. If selling a PDA is not profitable, then it might be unreasonable to expect Palm to continue making them (even if Palm would love to).

[Concerned Fan]

Not being able to use a regular 3.5mm headphone is unfortunate.

Not being able to hotsync with an up-to-date Palm Desktop for Mac OS X is unfortunate.

Palm and Apple have a common competitor in Microsoft, shouldn't they try to work together? Of course, the tiny population of Apple customers makes it difficult to justify the expense.

Expanding my comment on the first post, is there some reason why there cannot be three versions of the same Palm OS Treo (same case in front, maybe thicker rear case for other version)?

Budget
160 x 160 screen
16Mb memory, no camera

Regular
320 x 320 screen
64Mb memory, camera

Luxury
At least 1Gb memory
At least 2 megapixel camera
maybe with wi-fi... maybe...

If the luxury model was only sold on the Palm web site, it would reduce the expense of maintaining inventory in retail outlets. But how can we be sure that a luxury model will improve the appeal of the Treo brand name?

[Ricardo Pereira]

Hi!
Nice idea to openm this blog!
Maybe this time we can hear the official reason why Palm never released the WiFi drivers for the Treo 650, as Ed Colligan promised. (http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/479-1.htm )

Surely, Palm doesn't lie to their customers, right?

[DrunkEagle]

Well. If you add linux cernel so may be you will add Unicode support? People from Eastern Europe will be very pleased to see cyrillic fonts in next versions of POS.
You cann't imagine how many Palm fans live in Russia, Ukrain, Belarus etc. It's a big market, btw. Pls, pay attention to us and our problems.

[Rick]

Unfortunate that by not responding to the dedicated heavy user population that was willing to plunk down a lot of money for a device without full functionality, you are losing customers every day....customers that show off their devices, that convince their bosses to buy the devices en mass for work use, etc. I think a detailed comment about precisely why the 700P was essentially abandoned by Palm would be appropriate.

[brian]

This blog is an encouraging step by Palm to embrace their loyal users and developers. I immediately added it to my RSS reader.

If this blog is really about "Naked Conversations" between Palm the Palm community (fans and developers), direct responses to comments that contribute to the conversation should appear *in the comments*.

Palm has some of the most interesting, bright, and creative employees in the industry who are passionate about their jobs, so I'm looking forward to seeing their posts. Upon hearing the news of Paul Mercer's hire, I immediately ordered the book "Designing Interactions" by Bill Moggridge. I hope Paul is on the shortlist.

Here's a thought: It would be interesting to see some videos along the lines of MSDN's Channel 9 without giving away too much ;-).

[Mike Cane]

It will be interesting to see if this blog and the upcoming Linux-based OS really signal a change in Palm. Personally, I'd like to see you guys semi-officially approve LifeDrive->LifeFlash conversions. That is, whip up a utility that will allow owners to swap out the Microdrive for Compact Flash. And if I'm not being demanding enough, I'd like to see the OS for this modified to allow CFs *larger* than 4GB. I don't want a Treo; I want an iPhone. But I *do* want a Palm PDA. I have a LifeDrive I'd like to convert, but I'd like a larger than 4GB CF in it too. Really, the OS isn't good for anyone other than LifeDrive owners, so what's the fear preventing this? (Yes, lack of manpower can be an excuse, but there's *always* one coding maniac in every company who likes a challenge! Both Microsoft and Apple each had *one* person who did things with their OSes that were amazing)

[TracerRx]

In regards to the 700P Update:
"Look for an update on the Palm blog next week."
My fingers are crossed.. We have heard this more than once... --I think we've heard the linux thing more than once as well --

[Shawn]

Glad to see that Palm is listening. Please, please, please don't forget the PDAs. I have owned the PalmPilot, III, V, Vx, Clie, Zire 71 and 72. I am heavily invested in the Palm PDA and have even bought a spare Zire 72 to ensure continued service. I can't imagine operating without a PDA/mobile computer. I don't want a smart phone (too many compromises) and I REALLY don't want a WinMobile device. I am hopefully waiting for Palm to introduce a new PDA with at least the Zire 72 feature set and an OS that is true to the "Zen of Palm."