Saturday, April 13, 2002
Overview of Pocket PC 2002 and the PDA market
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "ARTICLE" @ 07:31 PM
http://wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/17233.html
C. Marshall sends us this link of an article entiled "Reality Check: Pocket PC 2002." Has some pretty good comments.
• Since its debut last fall, Pocket PC 2002 has helped handheld device makers using the platform cement its popularity in the enterprise market. But observers say Pocket PC 2002 still has a long way to go to win the hearts and dollars of users outside the workplace, most of whom prefer Palm (Nasdaq: PALM)
• "They did a good job updating the things that enterprise buyers want," Dulaney told Wireless NewsFactor. "But they didn't wow me on the applications that the rest of us use these things for -- scheduling, e-mail, etc."
• Among the improvements Gold cited are features making it easier to attach Word documents to e-mail and the capability of streamlining connections between the device and a company's back-office infrastructures.
• While Pocket PC is looking to improve its standing in the consumer sector, device makers are not shedding tears over the situation. In fact, said Meta Group's Gold, the Pocket PC is likely to reach a 50 percent penetration among enterprises over the next three years. "The Pocket PC is going after the higher end of the spectrum," Gold said. "It's not really meant to be in direct comparison with Palm."
So what do you think? Sure the Pocket PC has room for improvement. What device doesn't? Obviously Palm thinks they have room for improvement or they wouldn't be finally abandoning their 6 year old OS when OS5 ships this year. You have got to love some of the stuff Pocket PC's in general and Pocket PC 2002 in particular enable you to do. Email attachments, voice recording (I use this heavily while driving), music, remote access to Terminal Server or XP Pro, keeping the important data from Outlook right in my pocket, etc. Do Pocket PC's compete with Palm OS devices? Not the $100 device to be sure, but what about plunking down $400 on a Sony Clie that lags far behind what a $500 iPAQ 3700 can do? Will consumers want to use their PDA as a cell phone? Handspring, Samsung, HP and others are betting the answer is yes.
Tune in next year, same bat time, same bat channel, when all of these multifunction devices have shipped to find out the answer. Meanwhile, click the discussion link and tell me where you think it is headed. :-)
C. Marshall sends us this link of an article entiled "Reality Check: Pocket PC 2002." Has some pretty good comments.
• Since its debut last fall, Pocket PC 2002 has helped handheld device makers using the platform cement its popularity in the enterprise market. But observers say Pocket PC 2002 still has a long way to go to win the hearts and dollars of users outside the workplace, most of whom prefer Palm (Nasdaq: PALM)
• "They did a good job updating the things that enterprise buyers want," Dulaney told Wireless NewsFactor. "But they didn't wow me on the applications that the rest of us use these things for -- scheduling, e-mail, etc."
• Among the improvements Gold cited are features making it easier to attach Word documents to e-mail and the capability of streamlining connections between the device and a company's back-office infrastructures.
• While Pocket PC is looking to improve its standing in the consumer sector, device makers are not shedding tears over the situation. In fact, said Meta Group's Gold, the Pocket PC is likely to reach a 50 percent penetration among enterprises over the next three years. "The Pocket PC is going after the higher end of the spectrum," Gold said. "It's not really meant to be in direct comparison with Palm."
So what do you think? Sure the Pocket PC has room for improvement. What device doesn't? Obviously Palm thinks they have room for improvement or they wouldn't be finally abandoning their 6 year old OS when OS5 ships this year. You have got to love some of the stuff Pocket PC's in general and Pocket PC 2002 in particular enable you to do. Email attachments, voice recording (I use this heavily while driving), music, remote access to Terminal Server or XP Pro, keeping the important data from Outlook right in my pocket, etc. Do Pocket PC's compete with Palm OS devices? Not the $100 device to be sure, but what about plunking down $400 on a Sony Clie that lags far behind what a $500 iPAQ 3700 can do? Will consumers want to use their PDA as a cell phone? Handspring, Samsung, HP and others are betting the answer is yes.
Tune in next year, same bat time, same bat channel, when all of these multifunction devices have shipped to find out the answer. Meanwhile, click the discussion link and tell me where you think it is headed. :-)
