Wednesday, February 4, 2004
PalmSource: "Yeah, Microsoft Has The Right Strategy!"
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THE COMPETITION" @ 01:00 PM
http://news.com.com/2100-1045-5152914.html
"SAN FRANCISCO--PalmSource plans to announce next week a revamped operating system strategy designed to get its OS included on a broader array of cell phones, including lower-priced models. Under the plan, the company will simultaneously develop multiple versions of its OS and aim them at different parts of the cell phone market. By maintaining development of multiple versions, PalmSource is hoping to cover more bases in the market for smart phones and other devices. Historically, Palm OS-based devices have been offered only in the most expensive class of cell phones, which cost several hundred dollars."
While Microsoft does have some Pocket PC Phone devices, which are a full blown version of Pocket PC with phone hardware, they have all along known that having a separate OS written from the ground up would be needed for cell phones, and they knew it for several reasons. Pocket PC is a great platform for mobile computing, but PDA software isn't necessarily the best for all forms of mobile computing. The UI should be single finger navigable with one hand. You should never need a stylus to do things on your phone. The Treo, despite all of the accolades from the press and loyalty from existing users, has not been a market success. It hasn't been a failure to be sure, but PalmSource now recognizes that to be successful on a phone, you must design for the phone, not take a PDA and "phoneize" it.
So now PalmSource heads down the path Microsoft blazed back in 1999 when they realized that the MS SmartPhone OS, then called Stinger, couldn't be a Pocket PC stripped down. It had to start fresh, building a UI that was familiar to Windows and Pocket PC users, but 100% dedicated to a voice centric device. PalmSource's phone OS will build off of the core from OS 6 (which will be renamed) much like Microsoft's software starts with Windows CE, but the end result will be quite different. Different enough, I suspect, that a new software market will have to be developed just as Microsoft has had to nurture for the SmartPhone platform, one that has no touch screen, one that will need a comparatively tiny screen, a smaller RAM footprint, a less beefy processor, etc. Welcome to 1999 PalmSource! :wink:
"SAN FRANCISCO--PalmSource plans to announce next week a revamped operating system strategy designed to get its OS included on a broader array of cell phones, including lower-priced models. Under the plan, the company will simultaneously develop multiple versions of its OS and aim them at different parts of the cell phone market. By maintaining development of multiple versions, PalmSource is hoping to cover more bases in the market for smart phones and other devices. Historically, Palm OS-based devices have been offered only in the most expensive class of cell phones, which cost several hundred dollars."
While Microsoft does have some Pocket PC Phone devices, which are a full blown version of Pocket PC with phone hardware, they have all along known that having a separate OS written from the ground up would be needed for cell phones, and they knew it for several reasons. Pocket PC is a great platform for mobile computing, but PDA software isn't necessarily the best for all forms of mobile computing. The UI should be single finger navigable with one hand. You should never need a stylus to do things on your phone. The Treo, despite all of the accolades from the press and loyalty from existing users, has not been a market success. It hasn't been a failure to be sure, but PalmSource now recognizes that to be successful on a phone, you must design for the phone, not take a PDA and "phoneize" it.
So now PalmSource heads down the path Microsoft blazed back in 1999 when they realized that the MS SmartPhone OS, then called Stinger, couldn't be a Pocket PC stripped down. It had to start fresh, building a UI that was familiar to Windows and Pocket PC users, but 100% dedicated to a voice centric device. PalmSource's phone OS will build off of the core from OS 6 (which will be renamed) much like Microsoft's software starts with Windows CE, but the end result will be quite different. Different enough, I suspect, that a new software market will have to be developed just as Microsoft has had to nurture for the SmartPhone platform, one that has no touch screen, one that will need a comparatively tiny screen, a smaller RAM footprint, a less beefy processor, etc. Welcome to 1999 PalmSource! :wink:
