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Handhelds Hardware

More Of Palm Product Line To Go Wireless 70

Posted by timothy from the drillmeisters-think-partners-not-www dept.
Spasemunki writes: "The NYTimes has an article lurking in their tech page today on Palm's plans to add wireless connectivity to their whole product line. Wireless connected versions of the Palm III and Palm V lines should start appearing "in the reletively near future", with some changes to the product line appearing by the end of this year. Free registration required; you know the drill." From this article, it's not even clear what sort of wireless they're going to choose, but even so: the ubiquitous, wireless personal computer is crawling up onto land. If you had a nearly-a-billion-dollar IPO, you might want some wireless tools / toys, too.
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More Of Palm Product Line To Go Wireless More

More Of Palm Product Line To Go Wireless

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  • Re:Bluetooth Palm ... range (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Actually, the strengh of Bluetooth is in its ability to let many small devices talk with each other, as well as a tranceiver running on another system (PCS Data for example). If your Palmpilot has Bluetooth, it can talk to your PCS phone on your belt and access the Internet via PCS data. The same would go for your portable MP3 player .. Imagine shoutcast on a bus.. The MP3 player wouldn't be talking to the outside world, but it would be using a gateway.

  • blackberry (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Is this a response to RIM's new blackberry pager?

    I don't know if it is best to respond to product changes from another company when you're not fully ready to release your latest product. Look @ intel and AMD.... intel seriously didn't want to compete with 1ghz AMDs......... instead they wanted everyone to associate their name with 1ghz, since they are the 'name brand' people will think that they should buy from them, instead of the 'no name' or 'little name player'

    this is the story with Palm and RIM.

    I like RIM's products, but still the monthly charges are ridiculous considering you don't have a cell phone only a pager...... likely the same story with palm....... just give me a phone PDA any day that can sync with linux!!

    nil*
  • How do all these various devices stack up? Seeing how it's going to be a cold day in hell, or 2016, before web pads will exist (besides at these trade shows), do any of them have something like the ability to just download a bunch of stuff, web pages, email, etc and view it elsewhere? Sure it'd be heavenly to have a PCMCIA card i could plug something into, but that just never exists without driving the cost up a few thousand. Those ones that are really wide, are they any good for this? It would seem web browsing would be much easer on those than the palm-like, narrow ones. Heck, they've even ported BSDs and stuff to some of the pads, just text mode, no X server yet.

    I'm a bitter old man and want to browse the web from a nice comfy couch. Is there anything, a laptop just seems like overkill for something simple like this...
  • Because my TVs weigh a lot. It makes it harder to take it wherever I go (the caching side, travel anywhere and read mail, etc) or take it from one room to another (online via wireles lan pcmcia card or somethin). I've got plenty of stationary computer-type things already.
  • > Lesse... out of all the exisitng Palms, here's > > what I want in my new one:
    >
    > Color (IIIc)
    > Wireless (VII)
    > Rechargable (V)
    > 8MB or more (x)

    Actually, the Palm IIIc doesn't have one of those, and the only one that it's missing is "wireless". It comes with 8MB of RAM and is rechargeable.

    >I want it to function as a pager.

    Palm Computing has been known to sell a module for earlier PalmPilots that allow them to act as pagers, and adding no significance to the form factor. I don't think they sell a 3+ model (yet?)

    >I want real IP (could be there now... I've never used the VII) so that I can do
    >(painfully slow) telnet, ssh, VPN, etc..

    What do you mean, "real IP"? The PalmOS since version 2.0 Professional has had full IPv4 support.

    --

  • I don't think they were suggesting that it was. The article was all about "ooh, wireless is cool, we must have wireless". Some models may have
    short range sync solutions and others long-range wireless networking. Hopefully, some will have both.

    --

  • I wonder what they're going to consider the 'Palm III Version'. If you think about it, the Palm VII is essentially a Palm III with wireless capabilities. More specifically, the same form factor, and the same screen as the original Palm III (the 4-shade display versus the newer and clearer 16-shade display). CPU power probably doesn't really fit in it here since the difference is minor (for normal use). Maybe this newer version wold be the better display? Then it would be more of a Palm IIIx? Oh, just create it as another number for crying out loud...

    My two cents...

    --

  • I'm not looking forward to this. Okay, maybe it's great for 99% of the population, but I work in a high security government installation, and we aren't allowed to have devices with wireless conductivity. Once it starts becoming a standard integrated feature, we won't be allowed to carry them anymore.

    Right now there are hundreds of us carrying palms just to do standard PDA type stuff. Security doesn't have a problem with this as they're all used only for unclassified information, the IR port can be disabled and even if it wasn't, the range is too short for there to be a danger of inadvertant capture of classified information.

    But the spread of wireless technology has already had an impact where I work: all the machines and especially printers with IR ports on them that are going to be used for any type of classifed work have to have the IR port physically removed. Not a trivial task for some of these new printers with the fancy injection molded shells.

    Anything with any real range, like a cell phone, is right out. Even if it's turned off, because most of these devices don't really turn off, they just go into standby mode which allows for the potential of them being turned on remotely and used for the capture and transmission of sensitive material. We are allowed to carry government owned cell phones, but only if the batteries are removed. Obviously, this isn't an option with the palms.

    So keep in mind that the umbicious (sp?) wireless network is probably not a good idea because there are still plenty of places that that is exactly what is not wanted.

    Of course, I speak only for myself. Nothing in this message should be considered to be the view of my employeer or the government. I'm not giving away any national secrets - all my info is from the stuff they tell all employees, regardless of whether or not they have a clearance.

  • Not sure where you get your facts, but if you use AT&T wireless they charge a few pennys per K.
    So 1 meg costs under a buck..
    And if you ever just transmit text 1 meg is alot.

    -IronWolve

  • They use the AT&Ts Wireless CDPD network.

    Not Bluetooth...

    Check out http://www.omnisky.com/products/index.html [omnisky.com]
    for the wireless palm pilot modems.
    Unlimited National CDPD Wireless Service with no roaming..

    Side note, Each mobile has its own IP.
    Just ssh/vnc into your box remotely, via your palm... oh yeah..

    PS. That wap phone that article is talking about is the AT&T Pocketnet phone. (Out now)
    http://www.attws.com/business/gov/explore/plans_ph ones/pocketnet/mitsubishi_t250.shtml [attws.com]
    Check it out, the phone rocks! (I have one)

    -IronWolve

  • Thank you. The Palm as the screen, the Mobile as the connection, Bluetooth to connect the two. It's called Personal Area Networking and it will slaughter that Qualcom PQA and even badly mame the Nokia 9110...
  • The other day, I asked if anyone had got Blogger [blogger.com] running with a Palm. When I checked yesterday (it's in the "Feedback" section) there was still no response...

  • "Free registration required..." (Score:4)

    by Guppy ( 12314 ) on Saturday April 15, 2000 @12:17PM (#1130869)
    "Free registration required; you know the drill..."

    Yup, we sure do...
    http://partners.nytimes.c om/cnet/CNET_0_4_1697833_00.html [nytimes.com]
  • too bad I already signed up for a free account, man. I should read the comments next time.

  • is the site slashdotted? I can't get in
  • Check out the Psion Netbook... mmm, i want one. http://www.enterprise.psion.com/public/netbook/net book.htm
  • Word is that major wireless service providers are going to supply bandwidth on their CDPD networks for wireless-enabled palm devices.
  • no, it is not a wide area solution. I think CDPD is the way these will connect.
  • <i>the palm has a crappy OS which crashes pretty often</i>

    Well, it's extremely difficult to make an OS stable without the aid of a MMU (the reason databases are protected on the palm is because there's hardware RW protection - databases automatically get marked RO). I've found it to be remarkably stable (depending on the app), but without a MMU, it's hard to determine the extent of the damage (trash the stack, trash the heap) since bad memory addresses (due to bad pointers) are not tracked if they fall within the R/W region.

    It *is* possible, I suppose (early Suns used two
    68k processors, one of which took over if the other exception'ed out and had to be reset), just complex. I have no idea how uCLinux handles this, though.
  • Lesse... out of all the exisitng Palms, here's what I want in my new one:

    Color (IIIc)
    Wireless (VII)
    Rechargable (V)
    8MB or more (x)

    That would be a superset of all the exisitng Palms, and do a lot to eliminate some confusion. Sure, I suppose there will still be a use for models that are cheaper, so they have some of the features knocked off.

    Now, for software/sevices..

    I want it to function as a pager. This is probably pretty easy.. someone just needs to do the telephone front-end. Possibly a slight improvement in sound would be needed. I could forego a vibrate mode.

    I want real IP (could be there now... I've never used the VII) so that I can do (painfully slow) telnet, ssh, VPN, etc..

    And of course I want the service to be reasonably priced. Ideally, flat-rate.

  • On a different note, why does a $99 Rio have 4x the memory of a $400 palm?

    Well, why does a $400 Palm have 10x the display space as a $99 Rio? Obviously, the devices are designed to do different things. The Palm is much more versatile than a Rio.
  • The stock price of some random linux-focused company has no relationship to the quality of Opensource code or the vibrance of the opensource community.
  • They have already ran out of little litters for the III, IIIe, IIIc, IIIx, IIIex, I guess the new oneis going to be IIIsex?


    /_____\
    vvvvvvv../|__/|
    ...I../O,O....|
    ...I./. .......|
    ..J|/^.^.^ \..|.._//|
    ...|^.^.^.^.|W|./oo.|
  • Why nobody make fun of the ridiculous name of troll tech? You tell me. Mayve in the first ever Qt article of slashdot?


    /_____\
    vvvvvvv../|__/|
    ...I../O,O....|
    ...I./. .......|
    ..J|/^.^.^ \..|.._//|
    ...|^.^.^.^.|W|./oo.|
  • the palm has a crappy OS which crashes pretty often (although its databases protection stuff ensures your data stays without getting corrupted) ..i hate to think of what its like with a wireless connection...there is content mainly the DOC (unrelated to any m$ software) e-books although the palm is difficult to read. battery life is very nice. simple webpages with text only are probably a helluva lot easier for the palms to parse..in general lynx friendly=palm friendly.
    i wish 3com would improve the OS tho.

  • Wireless-in-office... a huge market segment (Score:4)

    by marcsiry ( 38594 ) on Saturday April 15, 2000 @12:31PM (#1130882) Homepage
    Many posters here are presuming that wireless automatically means internet access over pcs networks etc. There's another, "unseen" market, that I think Palm is going for.

    Just about every office worker in America sits in front of a computer, which is anchored in their office/cubicle. However, they still have to get up and walk around to ask people questions, deliver papers/material, and have meetings. Questions and appointments generated during these trips usually have to wait until the user walks back to their computer and either queries it or enters the commitment in their calendar.

    With a short-range wireless Palm device, users could keep continuous contact with their e-mail and time manager software. They'd be able to take notes in meetings that save straight to their desktop, rather than transferring a note from their Palm. The Palm device would serve as a mobile terminal to the desktop.

    IMHO, Palm is looking to create a "must have" accessory for every office worker in America, rather than build more expensive geek toys for those of us who need to check our e-mail fifty times a day (it's a bigger market segment, after all).
  • http://www.wap.com.sg/ have a WAP browser for Palm units other than the Palm VII. I think Palm OS 3.0 and above includes a TCP/IP stack (which is not active over the Palm VII's wireless link). I could be wrong about that.
  • Palm VII Service can now be had at a flat rate of $40/mo w/no roaming charges and no per-byte charges (with nation-wide service).
    By comparison, the charges for digital connect time on my PCS cell phone (PacBell in the SF Bay Area) looks like:
    ~$25/mo for minimum phone service with data.
    $.15/min for data connection for the first 30 minutes during weekdays or the first 250 minutes after hours.
    $.55/min for each minute after the above freebies.
    Tack on another $.60/min if you're roaming (PacBell's service area covers most of California and bits of Nevada only).
    If I did the calcs right, for your $40, you'll get a total of about 49 minutes of wireless connectivity for $40/mo if you stay in your home region.
    Oh, and I think you'll need an ISP as well.
    Include the fact that you've got to carry a cable and deal with hooking things up each time you want to connect versus raising the antennae on the PalmVII to initiate connection and suddenly the cell-phone/cable solution isn't so attractive.
  • It's worth noting that Palm has technology deals with Sony, Qualcomm, and Nokia.
    Why keep all your personal information on the not-so-secure, pain-to-navigate-on-a-PDA-size-screen, DOS-vulnerable, slow-connection web when you've got the only-in-your-hands, built-for-the-small-screen, always-available, directly-connected, Palm address book already in your phone?
    I agree with you that the Palm Pilot device will lose a lot of ground to PIM-enabled phones, but I think the Palm OS will be the OS of choice in those phones.
  • No, not all the linux companies stock is going down to zero. They are low right now because the entire market is low. I fully expect companies with a tangible product (and services) such as RedHat and VA to recover. Pure-content businesses such as ANDN (Andover) though, arent even worth the $10 or so that it dropped to (and I wonder how many losers paid the $80-$90 it peaked at) Just looking at slashdot, how much ad revenue can it be pulling in when at over half the ads displayed are from other companies in the Andover group??

  • I've seen their wireless service and it just looks like an oppressive monopoly waiting to happen to me. You are limited to the content they make available.

    As an example of an alternative, I have a handspring [handspring.com] visor and a modem. I can dial into my computer at home or in the office and get my email and such. I even have a telnet program (I would kill for ssh on this thing). Once I find a cell phone that I can plug into it I'll be set.

    I hope that this kind of freedom will be available to palm users, but I kinda doubt it.

    On a different note, why does a $99 Rio have 4x the memory of a $400 palm?

  • I'm going to be buying a green-screen Visor in a coupla weeks. I recently discovered that the local Franklin-Covey place has IIIc's on display that you can acually turn on and use, unlike the other places which yank the batteries and put a fake-looking sticker over the screen.

    I found that the color screens are actually less readable than the green screens because the color ones are so pixelated. They have so much more glare, too; not much easier on your eyes. Add to this the added couple hundred bucks and the decreased battery life, and you have a dubious feature indeed.

    -JD, Certified geek [geeky.org]
  • So buy a Palm Vx and an OmniSky like I have. Full IP connectivity with a static IP. But, the web clipping works well for most things. To get information for weather, movies, airline tickets, etc it is quick and effective.
  • "I don't know if it is best to respond to product changes from another company when you're not fully ready to release your latest product."

    That's Microsoft's usual tactic.

    The key difference is that the BlackBerries are always on, while the Palm needs a login/check-your-email sequence. RIM is tagging datebook stuff onto a pager interface, while Palm is tagging wireless onto an organizer.

    Mike van Lammeren
  • "Web clipping" is nonstandard, and simply sucks. Palm should provide standard TCP/IP and/or WAP; and a lot of very innovative applications will pop up in no time.

    The success of wireless Internet is pretty much a given, considering the success of i-mode in Japan and the WAP wave hitting Europe as we speak. I hope Palm chooses a better technology this time around, rather than the lame "Web clipping" that I could only stand using for about two weeks.
    --

    BluetoothCentral.com [bluetoothcentral.com]
    A site for everything Bluetooth. Coming soon.

  • Available Content? (Score:3)

    by DanMcS ( 68838 ) on Saturday April 15, 2000 @12:21PM (#1130892)
    I don't own a palm. I've thought about it, but at this point in my life, a nice TI calculator is really more useful for me :)
    My question to those with these things is: is there any content out there for you to read? I imagine they can do email, which is nice. But can they read any regular webpages (the point, for most people, of an internet connection)? With wireless devices like this apparently increasing in popularity, is there anything we should do to our webpages to make them more palm-friendly?
  • With the standard for web devices available, more devices being enabled, and promised faster connections we must be getting very close to a decent way to use a wireless web.

    Colm Atkins
  • Palms are already wireless for short distances, and if you've got a PC or other device with a stronger IR than the Palm, you can get more than a couple of feet away. So if that red glass on top of your Nokia phone actually *did* anything (on the 6160, it apparently doesn't, but on some models it does), you could use that. Wouldn't be tough to build a gateway system, since all you need is PPP on an IRDA port on a PC.
  • Re:Is this a response to RIM's new blackberry pager?

    From the article: "Palm is now in a situation where they have a direct competitor (RIM) which has a technological advantage over them," said Matt Sargent, a handheld analyst with ARS. "This makes huge sense for Palm."
    ___

  • I've been useing a PalmV 8meg for about 6 months now and I have to say, I love it. I'm very happy to see the Palm OS beating ms to market and stepping out ahead of the pack.

    a quote from the article: In the relatively near future, Palm will market versions of the Palm III and the Palm V that contain built-in capabilities for wireless communications. These new products could contain all the technology necessary for direct wireless communications, or they might contain Bluetooth chips. Bluetooth chips are radios that allow devices to hook into networks without wires.

    This sounds like it may help get rid of the sync cradle, but is it really a solution for wide area access?
    ___

  • I've been using a PalmV with 8M of storage and I love it. To answer your question about content, the answer is Yes, and a lot of it.

    First of all, I synced my Palm with our companies mailing list and it slurped up all 5498 contacts (addresses, names, details about each acount) with one push of the sync button. Very kewl

    Using AvantGo (www.avantgo.com [avantgo.com] the software and service are free when you buy the thing) When my PDA is synced with the desktop, it goes out onto the net and puts the sites I would like into the avantogo browser for later reading. There are some sites with spacific content dedicated to the Palm screen, but even if the content isn't optimized for the small screen, avantgo does a good job to make sure the page "degrade gracefully" so that the content is still viewable.

    One of the nicer things is you can add whatever website you would like to view. Using this feature, we now have a team of salesman who, on their drive into work, can be more educated and informed while they make phone calls (they used to have to wait till they got to the office to get answers).

    I'm not even mentioning the wireless modem from OmniSky or the many choices for GPS. In short, 2 thumbs up!
    ___

  • Re:Bluetooth Palm ... range (Score:3)

    by Money__ ( 87045 ) on Saturday April 15, 2000 @12:37PM (#1130898)
    I took a moment to look up more information on Bluetooth [bluetoothcentral.com]
    From the FAQ:
    Q: What is the range of Bluetooth transmitter/receivers?

    Bluetooth is designed for very low power use, and the transmission range will only be 10m, about 30ft. High-powered Bluetooth devices will enable ranges up to 100m (300ft). Considering the design philosophy behind Bluetooth, even the 10m range is adequate for the purposes Bluetooth is intended for. Later versions of the Bluetooth spec may allow longer ranges.

    Given the range limitations noted above, I find it doubtfull that bluetooth can be employed as a wide area access solution. I think bluetooth will be a replacement for the IR port, and may help get rid of the sync cradle, but it is hardly a "confirm the-fedex-shipment-from-the-back-of-a-cab" kinda thing.
    ___

  • Where I live (University of North Dakota) there isn't WAP or the Palm VII service available. In fact, cell/digital phones are the only sort of wireless service around here, and judging from the service maps i see on the website of some major wireless providers, there isn't going to be service around here for quite some time. And why should there be? There are plenty of people in the midwest, but we are scattered out enough that wireless really isn't cost effective. So why bother? Like the saleman at office max here said, it is silly for them to even carry the palm VII. All adding wireless onto these devices is going to do is drive up the price. I mean, people in areas with service are still going to want palms for what they were desgined as -- organizers. If there is going to be wireless hardware on the new palms, it should be available as an ad on... then again, that may be the line of thinking that comes from being a handspring visor owner.

    ---

  • you know what? i don't think i'm going down with any ship, and i don't own stock in them. i'm a geek and a programmer, and i care about the quality of a product, not the stock price of a company that makes it

    ---

  • True, but I'm not sure I want to pay 10p per minute just to add an address...

  • Come on, nice people at 3Com, let's see a GSM-enabled Palm... Look at the mobile coverage in Europe, look at the use of WAP that's rising, look at the number of people willing to use poxy UIs for their text messaging, look at the substandard design gone into the first generation WAP phones...

    Frankly, if I could find a reasonably-priced PCN/GSM enabled PalmOS PDA, I'd buy it tomorrow. And I know I'm not the only one. It's far too footery linking it up via IR to an Ericsson SH888, uses up too much batteries... And when wireless broadband comes in this year... Wow.

  • I'm very happy to see the Palm OS

    No you're not, historical M$ has never beat anyone to any market. That's not their business plan, they wait for the time to be just right and then pull the carpet out from under their competitors using FUD and TV ads. Millions where spent on that stupid 'Where do you want to go today' ad campain a couple years back. The only purpose of that ad was to cripple Netscape. Now we are seeing ads for MSN Instant Messagener (which for they who have never heard of it: It is a direct ripoff of AIM, and it doesn't even work properly.)

    I reckon that soon, after Palm has spent millions developing this technology that M$ will start selling Windows CE at an exterme loss, just to get the market after the technolog has matured.

    Anyways..

  • Not to flame you, but where is the proof?
    It's easy to say that 65% of the code is stolen. But back it up.
    Be thankful you are not my student. You would not get a high grade for such a design :-)


  • For those with a Nokia phone (and suitable cell service) you can get one of these [tdksys.com] cables and connect to the internet wirelessly for much cheaper (again, depending on your cell service) than the seemingly ridiculous high prices charged for the VII. Combining this connection and the wealth of great Palm online apps you are all set...

  • For the 75%+ of people interested palmtops who are also in range of wireless, the added expense of wireless as an add-on would be unpleasant. The economies of scale would probably result in an extra $5-10 manufacturing cost. This would give $20-50 at retail. You'd never get that kind of price for a retail add-on.
    Then there's installation....
    That having been said, an add-on would be nice for me. I just bought a IIIe and I don't intend to upgrade anytime soon.
    --
  • OmniSky is a division of Palm.

    I own an OmniSky too and getting a signal on a Palm VII is easier, not to mention the networking seems a bit faster then the OmniSky.

    earache


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    post "First Post?". Don't even bother to add anything else here.
    "First Post?" then bail. Leave the thinly veiled content to the
    registered users who "First Post?" and try to make it seem that
    they've added it as an afterthought. And if you're wishing to take
    AC to new heights, wait a couple hours after the topic is posted.
  • it means i can buy more shares =) Palmpilot is almost a household name... kinda like nintendo and aol. It can only be good for business right?
  • Very recently I was exploring wireless options to support customer service for the start up I work for. I contacted Aether, a "wireless solutions provider" figuring that I'll be needing some combo of pagers/phones/PDA's. I was directed to a No. Cal. Service Rep who happened to have had his company recently absorbed into Aether...thus making him a fairly wealthy fellow who subsequently owns one of about every wireless device on the market (and some not yet released). He was very nice and started talking to me about REAL options..

    He shunned PalmVII for their per dl and roaming fees. Etc. and Suggested that I get a Palm Vx and aquire a Minstrel modem from Omnisky. Cheaper, more reliable (more established network), better CS...you name it! I remember wondering at the time just how dominant was Palm VII feeling that they could justify the Service Plans being so outrageous.

    A little more research revealed that PalmVII had, not more than 5 days prior, wised up and slashed/remodeled their Service plans.

    Really makes me wonder just what prompted this latest descision on Palm's part and I'll be curious to watch prices and such for hardware and Service Plans as Palm starts to lose its "mini-monopoly". Capitalism at work, folks!

    Ruthless
    The light at the end of the tunnel is undoubtedly the headlamp of an oncoming train." - Mrs. Murphy

  • There are several problems with that setup. First and foremost is that it only runs on GSM networks, which are practically nonexistant in America. Secondly, it only gives a 9600 connection, which may not be a big deal now with monochrome palms. In the future as more devices go color and pictures become more important this will be seen as quite a limitation.

  • I live in Reading, England and just bought a Palm. The ability to hit the Net via my GSM mobile is the only missing feature that I need. Roll on Bluetooth or something that saves the hassle of storing 100s of numbers on mobile phones!

  • I think everyone is missing the point of Bluetooth, at least in the context of this article. If you read the article (all the way to the end) you will realize that they are speaking of using Bluetooth in the Palm to connect to a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone, which is where the actual access will come from.

    I thought this was kind of obvious though. The first time I heard of Bluetooth, the first thing I thought was a PDA/Phone combo.
    --
  • If you use bluetooth properly, it's not just the office that can benefit. The big "thing" in a lot of circles is home networking. Bluetooth is perfectly fast enough for control commands. No, it won't do streaming media, but then neither does the Palm. Imagine using a Palm III-Bluetooth as a one-stop universal remote, home security system controller, light switch, family calendar, and more. You would all have an automatically synched shopping list (so your son with his new car would have no excuse for not stopping by the grocery store on his way home for you, since he had the list with him. :-) And you would save on wires, since you wouldn't need to rewire any part of your house.

    Remember the consumer market, Palm.

    --GrouchoMarx

  • This is acutally what i've been waiting for. Wireless technology coupled with the Palm IIIc, and you have a computer on the internet, no cords, only batteries. And with nanotechnololgy, this could be the beginning of the ultimate goal....
  • just give me a phone PDA any day that can sync with linux!!

    Welll...they do run on i386 processors...why not just run Linux on it? Any takers on starting the RIM port?

  • I've had a pilot for at least 3 years now, and I don't find that they crash often. A few gimmicky apps will crash consistently but my old standbys of phone, calendar, drawing prog., web page viewer (AvantGo), map viewer and image viewer never cause crashes.

    Avantgo does a good job of processing web pages for the tiny palm screen. It reduces the size and depth of the graphics (which look pretty good in 16 shades of grey) and optionally preserves tables. I'd definately rate it better than lynx, though it isn't as good as a WebTV or Dreamcast.
  • wireless devices like this are cool, especially when the wireless service doesn't cost an arm and a leg. the nice thing with palm pilots is that they don't need all that fast of a connection, so that should keep costs down.
  • I predict that the Palm Pilot will lose almost all of its usefulness andcachet once cell phones let you deal directly with websites.

    Who needs to sync up a palm pilot address book when you can use your yahoo (or other) address book directly through a cell phone?

  • I've been toying with the idea of getting a wireless networking Palm so that I can update GeekPress [geekpress.com] while I'm out and about.

    So my question is: Is the web browsing good enough that I could do simple updating of a news review site? Do enough news sites have Palm-friendly versions? Or should I just get a cellular modem for the very portable Sony Viao I already have? Any thoughts?

    -- Diana Hsieh

  • Great, Now the Palm V and the Palm III are going to run up another $150-$200 ... The Wireless Palm is the next best thing to useless... Unless you have a HECK of alot of money to blow it's DEFINATELY not worth it ... for instance, this is the rate plan for the Palm VII wireless:

    for 300KB of data transfer per month you end up having to pay $40/month .... you can get away with paying $45/month and get unlimited use ....

    If I was to purchase a Palm Pilot, it would indeed be the Palm Vx, it's not wireless, it's got a nice aluminum case, it's much lighter weight than the VII and it has 4 times the memory ... Where do you want to go today?


    DaiTengu
    --------
    Damage Inc. BBS

  • cost is right from Palm's web site, and of course, you can only use Palm's services ....
    DaiTengu
    --------
    Damage Inc. BBS
  • Join the club! Yet another US-centred techie toy that the rest of the world is unlikely to benefit from...but still has to pay for to get the hardware.

    I'm contemplating ditching my PalmPilot with PalmIII upgrade card for a Palm Vx - but I don't see the point of the VII, or any other wireless connectivity solution, while I'm living in Edinburgh, Scotland.

    evilrooster

    - the email of the species is deadlier than the mail -

  • I agree. Wouldn't it be cool to SSH into your freenix box during a hike?

    Seems to me that any web page with a decent text-only version (i.e. one that renders well on lynx) should work on a Palm.

    When you surf on a Palm, you're looking for content, not presentation.

    Geoff

  • I looked at the OmniSky web site; too bad they only support the V (and I have a IIIx). From their service map, Southern Arizona (where I live) seems well covered. Maybe I could hack a patch cord together :/

    Also, the website seems to imply that the wireless modems are not shipping yet; are they currently available?

    For those, like me, who didn't know about OmniSky, one review I google'd is at The Gadgeteer [the-gadgeteer.com].

    Geoff

  • ... a Beowulf cluster of these?

    Thank you.

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