Palm was so big that Palm Pilot almost became a generic term kind of like Xerox. It really didn’t matter what type of PDA you had, most people referred to it as a Palm Pilot.

It is kind of sad seeing where Palm has fallen to. 10 years ago they were on top of the world. Today their stock has been downgraded to sell and is sitting at $5.76. Research in Motion, on the other hand, moved into the top 5 of wireless handset manufacturers and opened up today at $137.50.

[Source]

 
Even a company that is dwindling away into nothingness like Palm that is known to build some of the buggiest PDA’s known to man can get a good cheap shot in when you can’t keep your service up for more than a few months at a time.

Sure, you’ve got to reboot your Windows Mobile running Treo once or twice a day, however, when it’s up, you can pretty much send and receive email without worry.

Well leave it to Palm to put bad spin on that too. Engadget Mobile is reporting that Palm doesn’t plan to have Palm OS II devices out until early 2009. This right, the one glimmer of light that could possibly better the companies position in the wireless market is over a year away.

If Palm really wanted to right the ship they needed to release this new OS about 6 months ago. With it coming out over a year from now, not only have they missed the boat, but the lake that boat sailed on has completely dried up.

Someone please explain to me how a Palm Pilot with no cellular technology can cost so much more than a Treo that does all of the same stuff plus doubles as a cell phone? I just don’t get it.

I guess that Best Buy wouldn’t sell them if people weren’t buying them. I just had no idea that the $500 PDA that isn’t a cell phone also market was still a big one.

The latest post over on the Official Palm Blog is a message to Palm customers, partners, and developers from Palm CEO, Ed Colligan, saying that he has decided not to stick the last nail in the Palm coffin to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration.

To make a long story short, Palm needs to focus on making Treos and its development platform only. The Foleo, a laptop sized, full QWERTY keyboarded, laptop like device that is not intended to replace your laptop, is developed on a different platform from the mobile devices it is supposed to be a companion to.

That’s right, the ROM update intended to fix hardware and software bugs itself has bugs. Classic…

[Source]

Sprint?

I have to be honest, I couldn’t tell you if Sprint regularly releases Palm devices on their network first, however, it is rare for a BlackBerry to hit their network before it hits Verizon. What does that say about Verizon? I will leave that question for another post.

Both the BlackBerry Pearl 2 and the Palm Gandolf should hit stores late Summer or early Fall.

I can see the question coming in the comments so I will just answer it now. Would I leave Verizon to get the BlackBerry Pearl 2.

Heeeeeeeeeecks Nooooo!

[Via intomobile]

BlackBerry Pearl 2, Palm Gandolf

Palm has had a rough go it over the passed little bit. There have been numerous rumors about them being bought out. They just recently announced a crippled, Linux running, $599 laptop-like device called the Foleo, a device they are touting as a smartphone companion device. (I am still scratching my head on that one). It is becoming difficult to take Palm seriously any longer.

Just when you think, however, that Palm is about to go the way of the Dodo, they come out with new device that possibly could breath some life into company that used to reign supreme in the PDA world.

The device in question is called the Palm Gandolf that is a very grainy picture of it up top.

The Palm Gandolf is clearly still in the rumor mill stage, however, the folks over at Treo Central seem to think that it is the real deal.

I am not going to do a feature to feature comparison to the BlackBerry because it either runs the new Palm OS or possibly Windows Mobile Smartphone and their really is no comparison. What the Gandolf is, however, is cheap. Projected to sell for $199 it is really cheap. Sprint supposedly will carry this thing and chances are you could get the Gandolf for free if you sign up to the right plan.

If Palm plays their cards right and release this thing amidst the hype of the iPhone, a device with a $500 or $600 price tag, they could pick up residual sales from folks caught up in that hype but not willing to shell out a couple car notes or a months rent on a cell phone.

Palm Gandolf

Palm Foleo

I only have one question to ask. What in the world is Palm thinking?

Palm inadvertently posted the press release for their new device their feeds introducing the Palm Foleo, a device they are calling “The First Mobile Companion”. Brighthand.com actually has a screen capture of the feed as Palm has since taken it down. We have the text here:

Palm, Inc. today announced the Palm Foleo, world’s first smartphone companion product.

Foleo has a large screen and full size keyboard to view and edit email and office documents. Edits made on Foleo automatically are reflected on its paired smartphone and vice versa.
Foleo and its paired smartphone stay synchronized throughout the day or at the touch of a button.
Foleo turns on and off instantly, features fast navigation, a compact and elegant design, and a battery that lasts up to five hours of use.
U.S. availability for Foleo begins this summer with pricing expected to be $499 after an introductory $100 rebate.

“Foleo is the most exciting product I have ever worked on. Smartphones will be the most prevalent personal computers on the planet, ultimately able to do everything that desktop computers can do. However, there are times when people need a large screen and full-size keyboard. As smartphones get smaller, this need increases. The Foleo completes the picture creating a mobile-computing system that sets a new standard in simplicity.”

What??? Is Palm frigging kidding me? If I am reading this correctly Palm’s latest invention is a $500, Linux running, laptop sized but not a laptop device that synchs with a Treo. Why would anyone ever buy this instead of just buying a cheap laptop, which, last time I checked, synchs with a Treo.

I cannot wait until the official press release comes out. Maybe it will clear some of this nonsense up.

Palm Foleo