Palm OS today - thoughts from PC World

PC World posted an article today taking a well-balanced and comprehensive look at the Palm OS in today's landscape. Calling the Palm Centro one of the best values in smartphones today, PC World says, "Palm's smart phones still offer a mix of features, software, ease of use and affordability."

Check it out!

-Paul Loeffler

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Is the Palm OS Dying? Should You Care?

Some believe Palm OS smart phones are a dying breed--but there are good reasons not to count them out yet.

James A. Martin

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Recently, I was talking to an executive at a smart phone software developer. The company had recently released new versions of its software for RIM BlackBerys, Windows Mobile Smartphones, and other devices--but not for Palm OS smart phones. I asked why.

"It's a dying platform," she replied, matter-of-factly.

Her reaction wasn't surprising, given Palm's long, slow slide from top PDA maker to third-tier smart phone vendor. There's been uncertainty about the Palm OS's future for years. Palm Treos running Windows Mobile became available in January 2006. And Palm has been developing a new, as-of-this-writing-unreleased Linux-based OS for what feels like an eternity.

Still, the software executive's comment aroused mixed feelings.

I've been a Palm loyalist since 1997, when I became hooked on the Palm V. Currently, I use a Treo 755p. I've always found the Palm OS to be easy-to-use and efficient. Palm devices are reliable and sturdy; I've rarely encountered problems with the five I've owned.

And yet.

My Treo has been looking extremely dowdy of late, compared to the Apple iPhone, AT&T Tilt, LG Electronics Voyager, and other slick smart phones. Neither the Palm OS nor devices running it have evolved noticeably in years.

In short, I've got a strong urge to stray from my Treo. I have no doubt many of you have felt similar urges--and even acted upon them.

What You Get

Does that mean it's time to ditch our Palm devices? Not necessarily. Here are four reasons why Palm OS smart phones are still worth owning.

1. The Treo Touch Screen Isn't Too 'Touchy.' The iPhone/iPod Touch screen is gorgeous, bright, and big, by smart phone standards. But it can be a bit too "touchy." For instance, on my iPod Touch I've often clicked accidentally on an e-mail and opened it when I was simply trying to scroll through the list of messages. The more I use the iPod Touch for e-mail, the less it happens, but still, it's annoying. The iPhone/iPod Touch screen also makes it a bit too easy to accidentally click a link on a Web page. I've rarely had these problems with the Treo's touch screen.

By the way, current BlackBerrys don't have touch screens, though there have been rumors that a touch-screen BlackBerry is on the way.

2. Palms Come Fully Loaded. Palm smart phones ship with tons of useful software preinstalled, including Dataviz's Documents To Go (for editing and viewing Microsoft Office files), Voice Memo, Camcorder, Camera, Memos, Tasks, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging, Web browsing, Calendar, Contacts, and software for playing multimedia files.

Windows Mobile devices offer a similar variety of included software, but I find the Palm OS versions easier to use.

The iPhone currently lacks a camcorder, voice memo, document editing, and other capabilities. BlackBerrys don't include document editing software, though a few third-party options are available, and enterprise models don't have built-in camera or camcorder functions.

3. There are Beaucoup Third-Party Applications. More than 30,000 third-party Palm OS applications are available, according to Palm. It will take the upstart iPhone a while to beat that. Admittedly, some Palm OS apps are junk. But you're bound to find goodies by cruising through sites like PCW Downloads or Handango.

4. The Keyboards Are Actually Usable. My Treo 755p's keyboard keys are nicely spaced, for a smart phone. They're firm but not too stiff, and I rarely hit the wrong key. The Palm Centro's keys are smaller and closer together, however, and aren't as easy to type on as the Treo 755p.

By comparison, I find the iPhone/iPod Touch software-only keyboard frustrating to use. Others I've talked to have expressed wildly diverging iPhone keyboard experiences. One friend says he's able to easily touch type on his iPhone's keyboard using two thumbs. Another says that because of its keyboard, he uses his iPhone primarily for viewing and rarely for input.

What You Don't Get

That said, Treos and Centros lack some features other smart phones offer.

1. Built-in Wi-Fi. Current Palm models lack built-in Wi-Fi, though Palm CEO Ed Colligan said last year it would be added to future Palm devices.

2. Built-in GPS. Given how clueless GPS-based driving directions can be, I don't see this as a terrible loss. Also, Google Maps came preinstalled on my Treo, and it has often served me in a pinch.

3. A Pleasurable Web Browsing Experience. Surfing the Web on my Treo is painful, even using Sprint's fast EVDO network. If a meaningful mobile Web experience is crucial, your best smart phone choice currently is the iPhone.

4. Style and a Large Screen. I'd love to see a sleek new Palm OS handset that combines a large touch screen with the usual sturdy Palm keyboard.

Boiling It All Down

In my opinion, Palm's smart phones still offer a strong mix of features, software, ease of use, and affordability.

People looking to buy their first smart phone or to replace their aging Treo or Windows Mobile Smartphone, might consider the Palm Centro. At $99 (with a two-year AT&T or Sprint contract), it's one of the best values in smart phones today. We gave the phone a PCW rating of 82 (very good).

If it's excitement you crave, however, a Palm smart phone is definitely not for you.

Comments

[Ethan R.]

Would someone please answer the question. Is Palm dying??? The most important part of this article is the first paragraph that says that software and hardware developers don't build new Palm tools because of the widely held belief in Palm's imminent demise. Palm desperately needs to show that PALM believes it isn't down for the count. I'm a T|X user -- I like the larger screen and my office pays for a "secured" BlackBerry. I'm worried because I don't see an update anywhere on the horizon. I LOVE MY PALM and I don't want to lose it. Please save my Palm.

[lfabiani]

I'm a treo lover but I don't agree with you. Let's see why:

What you get:

1.- Touch screen. I'm sorry to say that yours is a personal opinion. As you say, you're getting used to its performance. The more you use it, the less it happens. Soon you won't notice. Or, agreeing with you, it's difficult to use, but many people are being introduced to touch screens by these gadgets and they can't compare. Or the understand there are differences between a gadget and another but the important is not being worse or better in an aspect, but the global score. And Treo is not improving it's global score, it's always the same (as far as now).

2.- Fully loades. You say it: "Windows Mobile devices offer a similar variety of included software". And you find... I repeat myself: "yours is a personal opinion", "many people are being introduced to " mobile interfaces " by these gadgets", and for many people Windows is a known trademark, that gives confidence to consumers. Palm is losing its fame.

3.- Third-party applications. How does Mr. Martin start his article? "An executive at a smart phone software developer" thinks that palm is dying. The number of third-party applications for palm is not growing as fast as for other platforms. It's easy to find old applications for palm, and new applications for WM.

4.- Keyboards. Now my personal opinion: keyboards are dying. I lov my treo's keyboard, but the future is big touch screens. I've seen my girlfriend writing on her HTC iTouch. She's faster than me. Phisical keyboards have been a perfect solution for a time, as floppies were at their time. But time moves. Will we continue using keyboards on 20 years, when flexible screens? I love keyboards, but I thing it's a mature -and enriching attitude- to look at the future and the new solutions available.

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I think Palm is now like Apple at the early 1990's. It still can find a way to recover, but I don't believe it's going to be an easy job. Without an Steve Jobs, maybe it will become a new commodore - an antique.

The best points at the PalmOS platform are becoming obsolete. It's losing all its advantages (name, usenes, number of apps...). Now Palm is not evolving, it's just trying to reach its competitors. Maybe it will be too late when they get it. It's difficult to be a leader just following the other's path.

I'm still a Palm lover; I'll wait 'til the next Palm smartphone before changing my old treo.

[Albert Gilles]

Hey Paul,

What happened to Google Maps Mobile with My Location? I've got a 755p and Centro and am waiting for it. Please give us some news on this front.

Thanks.

[tk421]

The problem is not just that Palm has stagnated over the years. I think that networking has completely changed the way use their mobile devices. Communication (web, e-mail and voice) and entertainment are now the main attraction. Palms are still by far the best organizers out there. As a productivity and personal organization tool, nothing beats a Palm OS device even nowadays.

Devices like the iPhone and Blackberries seem like toys and gadgets to me. My Palm is a tool. It will take a long time before the iphone gets the functionality that Palms have had for years. (No categories on the calendar is a good example of that.)

I'm still sticking to Palm in the hopes that we'll get a TX phone some time next year. Otherwise I'll just take my business elsewhere.

Please don't disappoint us Palm!

[Branedy]

I just recently bought a T/X to replace my old Vx. I bought it after careful comparison with iPhone/iPod Touch, Nokia 8xx systems. It does what I wanted, and cheaper, than it's competition. But it's dying, not because of the development comunity, but because of Palm managements unwillingness to promote PalmOS and innovate new harwdare. If the T/X had a GSM/Edge transceiver added, it would nearly be an iPhone killer.
Add a new case, bigger screen more memory. Simple, but has it been done? NO! Move, or the business will move away from you.

[Gavin Greig]

I fear that executive might be right. I'm still clinging on to my Palm Vx because I can sync it with 64-bit Windows Vista (it uses the serial port, so doesn't need a 64-bit USB driver) and because new Palms aren't compelling enough.

I love Palm OS; I want a big touch screen with no onboard physical keyboard; and I want to be able to use the device with a Bluetooth folding keyboard. I want it to be an excellent PDA, that also happens to be a phone - rather than the other way around. I don't see much sign that Palm's interests coincide with mine any more.

[John]

Yeah yeah, just get your new OS out the door already. I'm sick of the same OS on the Treo 600,650,700, and 755p. Don't get me wrong, I love the Treo's, and like a previous poster said, it's a tool, not a toy. But the landscape has changed, and Palm is not keeping up.

My next Treo is not going to be a Treo, unless it's got the new OS on it.

Get it together, or you will lose, big time.

[Matt]

While we are all (probably Palm employee's & leaders included) ready for "what's next" at Palm, it has been stated and repeated ad infinitum that they are working on it.

Having users and critics sitting in the back seat screaming "are we there yet!?" doesn't make it happen faster. In fact, if it has ever happened to you, you know that it simply frustrates the driver and could make it take longer as they have to deal with the flurry of noise.

Having said that, it might be a good strategy of deflection to begin offering "tidbits" on the progress. One simple, but impressive, screenshot might ignite the pundits for weeks.

Palm - work hard, stay focused on the task - and keep great products coming. You still have a base of true users who will keep working with you.

One other thought I had - not that you asked - was that one way that you might draw attention to the value of the next Palm OS is to show the SDK as a strength. Apple has dropped the ball here. It continues to get press and developers like the small company I work for are still unsure what is actually going to be allowed through Apple's gate-keeping. You have an opportunity to differentiate...advertise it.

Keep working. Let us know your getting close.

Matt
Houston, TX

[Pat]

Just thought I'd point out that my TX has 2 of the 4 things on your "what you don't get" list: Wifi and a large screen.

Seems to me that Palm should keep updating their handhelds, in addition to smartphones.

[Ulrich Hahn]

As a PALM user since 1999 (PALM 3, m505) I am still waiting for the smartphone from PALM without that pseudo keyboard. Lots of other vendors offering such products nearly always with Windows mobile.
PALM started the idea of touch screen and graffiti - why has it abandoned this great idea.
I am using my m505 regularly for business and private use. I love the interface of PALM OS - but I want a big screen and no keyboard (as on my m505) - have I to switch to other smartphones?
That missing feature may be one of the reasons of diminising market share of PALM OS.

[Jeremy]

How can you possibly post a link to this well written article, which poses the ultimate question to Palm, and you pretend that the question isn't even asked?! Instead, you spin it to sound like the Centro is the greatest thing since sliced bread?! Wow.

PALM: Is the Palm OS Dying? Should I care?

[Gareth Wells]

Palm, I have to completely agree with Matt from Houston. I'd guess you know handhelds are important too. I mean, just look at your own revenue streams: your existing range of 3 handhelds *still* attract customers (and I'm one of 'em!). Compelling as the Centro is (and it's a cool little device) not everyone needs/wants a smart-phone. Not everyone wants a small screen and a thumb-board.

Y'know, screen real-estate is absolutely great for web-browsing, performing any meaningful document editing, watching media... All that 'Web 2.0'/digital lifestyle stuff.

Look at your compadres over at Apple and their iPod Touch and iPhone. They're proving handheld devices can a) be very cool, b) very useful and c) very profitable. I'd wager that it won't be too much longer before the apps are in place for the iPod Touch to become more like an iPDA.

Handhelds can be compelling with the right blend of capabilities in the device. As I happen to be a TX user, you might be interested in my own personal wish-list for a 'TX2' device.

Communications: Cutting edge wireless capabilities: 801.11n wi-fi and the latest iteration of Bluetooth. Man this thing should be fast. Some sort of 3G capability might also be worth considering.

Battery included: awesome battery life. Could we at least have a removable battery? You can do it with Treos, so why not a TX2?

Super-Brains: A fast, efficient processor, a goodly amount of storage (and I'm thinking several GB here), an expansion slot compatible with the latest media cards.

A New Hope: Nova. Palm, I think we'd both agree this is the main event. The USP. Nova has to be a lean, mean and rock-solid OS with utterly compelling applications (fast, efficient web browser supporting industry standards and a mail app that can sync with Outlook et al would be two good ones). Some eye-candy would be great too, especially for attracting new converts.

Essentially the new OS needs innovative and thoughtful touches/great apps and industry standards built-in.

Nay-sayers be damned: Palm, who says the PDA is dead? Or your OS? So forget the Nay-Sayers and blaze an innovative trail and one that includes PDAs. No matter what people say, the Palm name resonates. Palm Pilot anyone? 18 months ago I bought a TX over a Treo or any other handheld 'smart' device, partly on the Palm name but also it did everything I wanted and didn't come laden with Microsoft's offering. Today the TX travels everywhere with me, is used everyday for mail, web-browsing, editing documents, media...

Palm, I bet I'm not alone.

Thanks for the bandwidth.

Gareth Wells, Edinburgh, Scotland.

[Cliff]

The one thing this article doesn't touch on is the lack of built in A2DP. Palm has ignored users requests and desire to add this simple bluetooth profile to our hardware for many generations of phone and it is a huge reason why I want to dump my Treo.

If you want to make a Windows Mobile Treo that I would buy widen the Treo or make it longer so that we can have a rectangular screen instead of a square screen.

All in all the Treo has been a great phone, but it is starting to feel old and dated. I've been mulling trading it in for a Blackberry for months now.

[leftystrat]

I'm truly glad that the Centro was acknowledged. I'm a loyal Palm guy (700p), as are most of the people who post (or else they'd have abandoned the platform). My phone is about 3 years old. From what I've read, the Centro has nothing over my 700p (except price). Since I'm with Verizon, my only `upgrade' is the 755. What does that have? No antenna. Let's get serious, folks. I'm a business and hobby user and I don't care about the color of the case or if it will show Flash. Less antenna means less signal, or so physics would indicate. What do I want? I'm pretty reasonable. 1. I want a stable OS that's not as easy to confuse with third-party apps. I've been hearing about a linux OS for a while now, which would be nice (I use it as my primary OS). 2. Faster is better. Certainly we have more muscular processors by now... 3. Multitasking would be nice, hardware and software permitting (not critical but nice) 4. serious sync software for linux, w/file xfer to card 5. [suggestion] How about a linux Palm? Meaning it runs the same linux as a desktop. It could compete with the ultra-portables and wouldn't require their horsepower or batteries. A computer, not a PDA. Again, I'm loyal - I complain because it feels like we aren't heard. My company is Treo-only; we won't support anything else. Between stability and bad out of box issues, it's not looking too good. I like the keyboard. I like the screen. I'm fine with size and weight. There isn't enough money in the world to make me use WinMobile. But if Palm's `innovations' are going to consist of pretty colored cases and no antenna bumps, they're going to be left eating dirt.

[Paul Loeffler (Palm, Inc.)]

Re: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2008/04/palm-os-today-.html#comment-113200362

Jeremy,

We posted it because it’s a fair and balanced article that offers both sides of the Palm OS story, including all the great things people still like about it, and the things that are annoying. As Ed Colligan stated in a previous post, we’re working to address those issues and offer the best mobile solutions possible.

[Mike McBride]

For me, as an IT guy who is also in charge of our cell phones, I get to play with a few to get a feel for whats out there. On the most recent round of upgrades, most of users went from their old 650's to Blackberry Curves, have a few Tilts, and myself went from my 700p to the 750 with WM6 (we switched providers from Verizon to AT&T).

I love my 750 over all of them. I'm hooked on the perfect layout of the keyboard (for me), the 5 way Nav button, love the Treo form factor. for me it is still the easiest to use, most powerful and truly ONE HANDED smartphone out there. (I personally hate slide out keyboards..yes I am talking to you Tilt...lol)

BB are great for rock solid email, calendar and contacts, but I am sure the heck ain't listening to my Sirius radio or Slingboxing to it (though I think that is in the works, but on AT&T's lame Edge, it doesn't matter). With WM6 HSDPA, I get 700k+ on my phone and 1.4 MB USB tethered to my laptop.

Have played with the Iphone, and as a corporate phone I think it is junk (mainly because I cannot type on the darn thing worth a dime..lol..but also because until version 2 comes out with Exchange support, guess what, it isn't a corporate phone no matter how slyly you circumvent around to get all your email, calendar and contacts to it). If an end user canot simply pick up their phone and have it all there for them (mail, calendar, contacts) to access with no user know how or need to tweak (believe it or not there are very unsophisticated end users out there with smartphones..lol), then it isn't a proper corporate smartphone. If an end user can make it work for them, power to you, but it still isn't ready for mass deployment in a corporate environment.

Hence the BB popularity... a monkey can operate one of those things..lol.

Anyway, JMHO and as we all know they are like #!@#$%, everyone has one and they all stink! :)
hahaha!

[AndAl]

My TX has completed two and half years old now. I use to buy a new palm device every two years, but there is no replacement for my TX until now. No, I am not asking for a new TX PDA. I am asking to a new TX with cell radio. why all the Treos must have keyboards? I just prefer a big screen to read documents and watch movies over a tiny square screen and I even smaller keyboard.

[Troy]

Coming from someone who has had a blackberry yeah it's good for business aspects but the web browsing experience on them sucks in my opinion.
The only problem I have with Palm is the Palm/Garnet os come on already it's a good starting point but it's to old redesign it even though it's more stable than windows mobile it could learn a thing or two from them so if you're not going to create a new os hope on the bandwagon and offer windows mobile for all of your phones preferably the 755p for sprint because i plan on getting one instead of the 700wx(because the 755p looks better) and i would like to use windows mobile or at least have a choice between the two......so please comment back on this because in a recent post i've read that palm is the least successful in customer service mainly due to the old os and for failing to develop a new one and unfortunately i have to agree with that but hopefully the company will improve

[Ben]

great posts, but I feel that palm is dieing. . .Not dead yet, but if they don't put the D's portion of R&D feet to the flames, we will see Palm go the way of beta, laser disk, and Sega (dreamcast anyone??). I have both a TX and a Hx 2795b. I like the memory, screen, and resolution I get with both devices, the security is squirrelly on the 2795 so I disabled it till I really need it. I use the 2795 as my main PDA for now because it does everything I need it to, and some things my TX can't without voiding the warranty (built in mic. . . would it have killed you??). I am a nursing student that will graduate in less than a year and use it to record lectures, voice notes from the book, and watch movies and view pics I need for school. I also use my 2795 to brows the web. the problem with both devices for this purpose is the are slow and take tooo much time to load the page. I like the feature of multiple "windows" open so that I can play a little solitaire while my web page loads. I can click a link and go back to playing till I really need to be productive. Improvements that can be made with firmware update. . . bluetooth connection with my current mobile phone so I can dial from the palm, and pick up the signal from my bluetooth earpiece. 3 devices that do the same job as 2, but what other option do i have (except to loose screen real estate). second, Flash compatibility; would it kill palm to allow flash to play on the fast and capable processor in the TX huh?. . . Improvements I would suggest; All previous posts noted plus the addition of voice recording and video playback native in the browser or on the device. sorry for the long post, but these are the reasions I don't use my TX. I love it for ease of use, but my 2795 almost has me house broken (?windows broken?) so I am used to having to soft reset every 2 days. Palm I am begging you to save me from making another bad choice and trying the iphone. . .(eye candy anyone)

[Michael]

When it came time to buy a new Palm last summer, instead of the smartphones, I was one of the few who purchased the T/X. It's big screen, easy to use OS, Graffiti data entry (which I love), WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity were the main reasons. Phones are cheap (especially on upgrade) and with Bluetooth connectivity to the PDA, give the T/X better performance than the iPhone in many instances. This issue with Palm is not so much their technology as their failure to market what they've got effectively.

[Benoît HERVIER]

Hahaha ... really good post ... i ve really laught ...

[Sieg Lemke]

I believe the only reason people believe the Palm OS is a dying platform is that it's not being marketed properly.
I just returned to a 680 after 6 months using the ATT Tilt. The Windows operating system is a real pain.
Where Palm OS is easy to use and intuitive the windows is windows.
Outlook is clumsy both in the calender and contacts. When making appts you go to a sepearate "window". Not just in the calender screen.
And just like windows on a PC it also pauses "hangs" on the phone at odd times, leaving you wondering if the phone is even working or not.
Give me the simple to use Palm OS anytime. It was such a relief to come back to it.
Go ahead and add WiFi. (dont need it for me)
Add any feature you want. But keep the OS. Improve it if you must but dont change it to a copy of windows wanna be.