Tuesday, November 12, 2002
PalmSource CEO: Dell Doesn't Worry Us
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THE COMPETITION" @ 06:00 AM
"PalmSource CEO David Nagel was in London to promote the Palm OS 5 operating system for mobile devices. "Dell certainly will have an impact in the handheld computing market...but mainly because of their distribution and sales (expertise). They will bring Microsoft Pocket PC pricing closer to that of Palm (OS-based devices), but even Dell can't close that gap completely."
Can't close the gap completely? Let us take a look at that.
The Dell Axim X5 comes in two flavors. Both have a transflective screen, CF slot and an SD slot (thought not SDIO). The $249 version has 32MB of RAM and ROM and the $349 version has 64MB of RAM and 48MB of ROM. Those become $199 and $299 repectively after the $50 rebate available at launch.
What does PalmSource offer us? Well, on the Sony Clie PEG T665C/D, a $349 offering, we get a 16MB RAM device, a Memory Stick slot and the ability to play MP3s. Keep in mind Memory Sticks are limited to 128MB right now, whereas CF slots go to 1GB and SD slots are starting to see 512MB cards with 1GB available in a few months. So, 2-4 hours of music on the T665, 12-24 hours on the Axim, depending on the bitrate of the recordings. The $249 Sony Clie PEG SJ30 is very similar to the T665, but has no music capabilities. Both Sony's have a 320X320 screen, compared to the Pocket PC's 240X320.
From Palm Inc, we have the Tungsten T. A 16MB device coming in at $499. It has integrated bluetooth and an SDIO slot, but no music player. They tell us a third party app will be available in the future to play music, taking up some of that precious 16MB of space. It also has a 320X320 screen, complete with dust. Palm also has the $199 (after rebate) M130, a 160X160 screen with an unknown amount of colors, somewhere above 256 but below 64,000. :roll: It also has 16MB of RAM and an SD slot, but no music capabilities at all.
Note that the PalmOS devices have a nice suite of software that allows you to view and edit Excel and Word documents, sometimes an email application and maybe a messenger client. All of that, of course, goes in that small 16MB of RAM whereas the Pocket PCs have all of that and more in ROM.
So Mr. Nagle, the Dell and other sub $300 devices don't "close the gap?" I'd say they not only close it, but with a resounding THUD when doing so. :) "Nagel's main message, however, was that Microsoft will back a market of clone, Wintel-based handhelds, whereas Palm is looking at allowing manufacturers to maintain profit margins through various types of specialized devices." I'd say that is one heck of a confusing message. In my opinion, the beauty of the Pocket PC is every device has an astounding base feature set. 240X320 screen, voice recording, Windows Media Player, Messenger, Pocket Word/Excel, VPN, Terminal Server client, MS Reader/Audible support, Inbox, full screen handwriting recognition, soft input panel, a simple to use file system for storage cards, Pocket Internet Explorer, etc., all in ROM. Palm's "specialized devices" means some have a few of those features, others might have one or two, and none have all of them.
This is just another verse in the old old song "You don't need it until we have it." I can't wait to see how the OS6 verse comes out when Palm Source finally opens up the available RAM, the ability to multitask and puts in a real file system.
Can't close the gap completely? Let us take a look at that.
The Dell Axim X5 comes in two flavors. Both have a transflective screen, CF slot and an SD slot (thought not SDIO). The $249 version has 32MB of RAM and ROM and the $349 version has 64MB of RAM and 48MB of ROM. Those become $199 and $299 repectively after the $50 rebate available at launch.
What does PalmSource offer us? Well, on the Sony Clie PEG T665C/D, a $349 offering, we get a 16MB RAM device, a Memory Stick slot and the ability to play MP3s. Keep in mind Memory Sticks are limited to 128MB right now, whereas CF slots go to 1GB and SD slots are starting to see 512MB cards with 1GB available in a few months. So, 2-4 hours of music on the T665, 12-24 hours on the Axim, depending on the bitrate of the recordings. The $249 Sony Clie PEG SJ30 is very similar to the T665, but has no music capabilities. Both Sony's have a 320X320 screen, compared to the Pocket PC's 240X320.
From Palm Inc, we have the Tungsten T. A 16MB device coming in at $499. It has integrated bluetooth and an SDIO slot, but no music player. They tell us a third party app will be available in the future to play music, taking up some of that precious 16MB of space. It also has a 320X320 screen, complete with dust. Palm also has the $199 (after rebate) M130, a 160X160 screen with an unknown amount of colors, somewhere above 256 but below 64,000. :roll: It also has 16MB of RAM and an SD slot, but no music capabilities at all.
Note that the PalmOS devices have a nice suite of software that allows you to view and edit Excel and Word documents, sometimes an email application and maybe a messenger client. All of that, of course, goes in that small 16MB of RAM whereas the Pocket PCs have all of that and more in ROM.
So Mr. Nagle, the Dell and other sub $300 devices don't "close the gap?" I'd say they not only close it, but with a resounding THUD when doing so. :) "Nagel's main message, however, was that Microsoft will back a market of clone, Wintel-based handhelds, whereas Palm is looking at allowing manufacturers to maintain profit margins through various types of specialized devices." I'd say that is one heck of a confusing message. In my opinion, the beauty of the Pocket PC is every device has an astounding base feature set. 240X320 screen, voice recording, Windows Media Player, Messenger, Pocket Word/Excel, VPN, Terminal Server client, MS Reader/Audible support, Inbox, full screen handwriting recognition, soft input panel, a simple to use file system for storage cards, Pocket Internet Explorer, etc., all in ROM. Palm's "specialized devices" means some have a few of those features, others might have one or two, and none have all of them.
This is just another verse in the old old song "You don't need it until we have it." I can't wait to see how the OS6 verse comes out when Palm Source finally opens up the available RAM, the ability to multitask and puts in a real file system.
