Sunday, October 09, 2005

Palm feature phone credible after all?

Just when Palm-watchers thought things couldn't get weirder, they do. When I first heard it I discounted the report that Palm was ready to release a Linux-based mobile phone this year, so many months in advance of the release of PalmSource's Linux OS. It wasn't just Ed Colligan's statement that Palm didn't need another OS. They'd also said quite definitely that they were waiting for Palm OS for Linux. And that made sense: why go to such great trouble only to duplicate PalmSource's soon-to-be-released effort in this area?

But something kept gnawing at me. This wasn't the first time we'd heard something about Palm looking into Linux. Wasn't there a report about this last year, even before PalmSource announced that the next version of Palm OS would run on Linux? Sure enough, there was:

The Milpitas, Calif.-based firm has evaluated both Microsoft-based operating systems as well as at least one version of Linux as a potential alternative operating system to the Palm OS for its handheld devices.... Sources familiar with the tests said PalmOne has been quietly exploring operating systems to augment the Palm OS for some time. The company has also been exploring partnerships that could let it use a tailored version of the Linux OS to run on its devices, according to a source familiar with the company's efforts.

But a Linux feature phone? What unique value could Palm bring to a mobile phone that not only didn't run the Palm OS, but didn't even run 3rd party applications (except crappy J2ME MIDlets)?

Well, the answer is quite simple: they could create Palm-like PIM and email applications that are data-compatible with the ones on every Palm OS device and add their HotSync technology so the data would sync with Palm Desktop or Outlook. Many low- to mid-range Palm users don't use their PDAs for anything but contacts, calendar and ToDos, so a phone that provided these features, plus wireless email, without the complication and high cost of the Treo 600 series would be a very logical upgrade.

In fact, it would be a device that directly targeted the consumers that RIM's BlackBerry has sold so well to. Few BlackBerry users bother with installing 3rd party applications. In fact, the BlackBerry in many respects is a feature phone--just one that delivers push email instead of the kind you have to go out and fetch. If Palm released a $250 feature phone with the Treo form factor, Palm-like PIM apps and the BlackBerry Connect software in ROM, they would clean up.

If they'd been working "for some time" on this last November, it wouldn't be terribly far-fetched that they'd be ready to release this much simpler version of the Treo before 2005 was out.

What about Palm's statements about "waiting for Palm OS for Linux"? From the context of the remark, that was in reference to Palm's handheld business, not mobile phones. There's still Colligan's remark about "no more operating systems," but I have to say, that looked like a mighty sly grin he gave to Bill Gates the moment before he said that! Could he be that kind of liar? Sheesh... I really don't know.

Posted by cervezas at 22:36:58. Filed under: Palm OS

Comments

Watched Palm's "Analyst Day" webcast last night, which firmly convinced me that LinuxDevices is wrong about these phones being Palm feature phones. Jeff Hawkins was quite specific that "we don't do feature phones" and emphasized a "mobile computing platform" theme that recurred throughout the presentations.

While that leaves open the possibility that Wind River was leaking news about a Palm *smartphone* running on their Linux platform, I think this is pretty unlikely. I firmly believe that would only happen if Palm OS for Linux were ready for prime time and and I doubt that is the case.

Could there be an *announcement* about an upcoming Palm OS for Linux Treo before Christmas? Maybe, but I still doubt it. It'd be too early to announce a phone running Palm OS for Linux and I can't persuade myself that Palm would either build their own middleware (not their expertise anymore) or just buy any old middleware from a vendor like Wind River. Not for a high-end Treo smartphone product. Basically, I think the LinuxDevices article is just wrong.

Posted by cervezas at Tuesday, October 11, 2005 06:54:03

Now, there *is* a rumor from someone I believe is a credible source that Palm is preparing to release a Linux-powered clamshell device. It's not a phone, but it could be one of the Linux devices that Wind River said will be coming out "before Christmas." Interesting, no?

Posted by cervezas at Tuesday, October 11, 2005 11:43:03

David,

I agree with your first comment and thought the same thing after I watched the Analyst Day presentation. Here's a quote straight from Jeff Hawkins:

"Remember, we are a mobile computing company. We have never done a product, and I don't think we will do a product, that isn't a platform product, that doesn't have an operating system with third party software and developers. We don't do feature phones, we don't do music players, we don't do iPods. A gentleman was asking me at lunch, "You know, do you want to follow Apple's strategy?" So, we don't do those, we're not really a consumer electronics company. We are a computing company, and that influences all of our decisions, it really does, and if you think about going forward, that's how we think. And if you think about going to products we're going to build, that's going to be a criteria."

That rumor of a clamshell Palm device running Linux sounds intriguing. If done right, it could really become a true desktop and laptop replacement, and give the term "Palm Desktop" a whole new meaning if it had a desktop optimized GUI to use with a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Add multiple wireless radios and a hands free wireless headset, and you could leave it right on your belt and make VOIP calls or cell calls, depending on which network you're connected to.

I've also heard some rumors of some pretty cool devices coming from Palm soon, and Ed Colligan did say at the Analyst Day meeting that Palm has a few "tricks" up their sleeves before the end of the year when he was asked if the Treo 700 would be the only product announcement. I don't quite think that the T|X and Z22 could really qualify as "tricks", do you?

Posted by Brian at Monday, October 17, 2005 11:47:18

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