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Boston Globe Article on Handspring

Saw this interesting article in the Boston Globe today.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/1...eir_grip+.shtml

article seems spot on to me.

..though i really can't figure why the treo isn't selling better, it's nearly the ideal device for me and would be for a lot of people, I think. It's too bad Handspring can't afford to do some serious marketing--or won't because they're too skittish about their reserves.

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Agreed. Handspring has not marketed the device whatsoever in the New England area. I like the Palm commercials. HS just can't compete with the ad budgets of big wireless phone manufacturers.

For example, i have a Motorola i90 for Nextel and I see commercials for this thing every night. While its only a phone and not a PDA, it just shows the marketing might of the wireless phone companies, even in a sagging economy.

One brightspot is that I read over at Brighthand that HS will be partnering with SprintPCS to releae the color model in CDMA. SprintPCS phone generally have a cool look about them, with a nice silver finish. A color Treo model, with added features, silver finish, and hopefully a hi-res screen to rival Sony's would dominate the Smartphone market IMO.

If that really is Handspring's strategy, to focus on high-end Treo's and drop the low-end, then Handspring is toast. I am at an absolute loss as to why they think people are going to buy $500 Palm OS phones when phone companies are selling phones with "reasonably equivalent" PIM functionality for well to far under $200. The only way such a focus could at all be practical was if they had a lot of high quantity business contracts lined up (my assumption when the Treo first appeared), but that seems to absolutely not be the case.

This high-margin, high-end PDA market is reaching the endgame. Despite all the recent criticisms, Palm is the only company that seems to understand this picture.

What is worse for Handspring is that they seem completely willing to give up the only market they ever had (the just slightly better features than Palm for the same price market) for a high-end market that they have NEVER, EVER had a share of. If somebody else can explain their business strategy, I'd love to hear it, because it makes absolutlely no sense to me.

Muddled future

I think the springboard is getting a bad wrap. I picked up a prism last fall, along with a GPS springboard, Minijam, and a Minstrel S modem. Total cost was around $600. Thats about what a PocketPC would have cost, but without a modem or GPS. Most such devices dont even have an option for GPS available, and quite a few dont have wireless options - and for those that do its quite expensive. The VisorPhone and new Sprint PCS springboard effectively give a Visor the functionality of a Treo, and you still have the flexibility of the springboard (plus the VisorPhone is free with service activation).

I can understand moving to integrate the functions into a "communicator". What I dont understand is the lack of expansion options. Without that springboard, HS becomes just like everyone else. I can already buy a palmos phone from Verizon among others - and its a heck of a lot cheaper than the Treo. I don't want a cell phone when I buy a PDA, its a bonus not the primary function of the device.

The problem is, I dont see ANY PalmOS devices with all these options available except HS with the springboard. Yeah you can get extra memory for Sonys and Palms, but can you turn them into phones, GPS devices, 802.11 compatible network devices, bluetooth devices, barcode scanners, digital cameras? Can you connect them to ISPs over the phone, or LANs via ethernet? Can you choose what kind of expansion memory you want to use, to make it compatible with other devices you have (ie CD SD MMC?) NO. You can do all this with a Handspring, and more.

Already springboard development seems to have slowed or stopped, and if HS really nixes their PDAs and hence the springboard then it will force me and many others who want the expansion options to abandon PalmOS and head for PocketPC. That wont happen for awhile, but I am certainly not about to invest a lot of money into more springboards or handspring products while HS has left us in limbo as to the future of our PDAs.

Most of us bought HS / Palm because they were simple, cheap, reliable, functional, and expandable. HS seems to be throwing that out the window. Maybe its good news for Palm and Sony.

-Dan Davis

I agree with dan. the only reason i bought HS in the first place was the springboard slot. it's the only reason i still own a handspring. when i upgrade (which will be this year), if HS does not offer a pda with springboard slot (so i can keep using my soundsgood) then they're losing me as a customer. it's that simple. they have absolutely nothing else going for them. as a canadian, their support absolutely blows. they've given me every indication that they don't care in the slightest for this market. basically, the reason i still own a plat is because of the quality in Good Technology's soundsgood, which i'd love to be able to use in my future pda.

Springboard RIP

The Springboard's time has past. The Springboard was too big for the Edge. Springboard development has come to an abrupt end. Most people don't care about expansion capabilities. Retail Visor inventories have risen to alarming levels. HandSpring should immediately cease Visor production and sell stock on hand at firesale prices. Simultaneously HandSpring should slash its workforce by 25 - 50% so it can stay afloat until smartphones really catch on in a year or two.

Re: Muddled future

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Originally posted by danied
The problem is, I dont see ANY PalmOS devices with all these options available except HS with the springboard.

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HandSpring loses little by dropping the Springboard. Current Visor owners just aren't enough to keep HandSpring in business. HandSpring has relied too much on a feature most people don't consider a 'must have'. These days color screens attract the most attention.

I think the Treo has not sold as well because the announced the 270 and 180 at the same time. I personally think a lot of people who are excited about the device have decided to hold off a few months and pick up the color version, apparently due out next week.

However, I do think it would be in Handspring's best interest to seriously team with a cellular service provider to push these and market them.

Still, the treo is a great device for the highly mobile professionals to whom they are primarily marketed. I know my mom is absolutely interested in picking one up. I think I will likely trade up my prism when the color one comes out.

Later all.

I think the reason the treo hasn't sold is because it costs too much and is too limited WRT service carriers.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

quote:

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Originally posted by dick-richardson
I think the reason the treo hasn't sold is because it costs too much and is too limited WRT service carriers.

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quote:

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Originally posted by septimus
that and bad (read: virtually nonexistent) marketing. I can tell you it certainly isn't poor functionality or usability. It is hands down the best PDA AND the best cell phone I've owned.

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-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

Part of marketing is to educate the public about the usefulness of a new offering. Treo desperately needs this, and does not seem to be getting it.

Of course, the technology being used limits where it can be sold and used as well, which seems pretty dang foolish to me as I sit here in Omaha- a decent sized market that apparently cannot support them (I still have not seen one 'live'.)

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Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

I handled a couple of Treo display models at both Staples and Best Buy and I was not impressed at all. The Treo 180 simply feels cheap and not rugged enough to be worth $399. Perhaps these display models were simply worn out from being handled so much, but the Treo doesn't seem to have that solid and firm feeling that other phones have when you flip open the lid or that nice sound of plastic smack when you flip it closed.

When the average joe customer goes into Best Buy looks at the Treo, feels its poor build quality, looks at the so-so kinda cheesy purplish color, and then sees the ridiculous price, THEY WILL PASS ON IT. Why? Because of the aforementioned reasons and because Handspring has not marketed the device much (as mentioned by other posters). And no one can convince me that being displayed in weekly circular ads or being in the Dell catalog is effective and wide-ranging 'advertising'.

So what about the Treo 270 which will be sold through Sprint PCS? This will be a real gem, if the price is right. Sprint is a master of marketing cool devices. First of all, Sprint will lose the cheesy purple color of the Treo 180 and probably want a silver finish like most of its Samsung or Motorola models. Secondly, SpintPCS will hype its CDMA/Wireless Web/3G capabilities on the Treo 270. Pretty soon, you'll be sseing commercials and full page newspaper ads with that trench coat guy pimping the Treo 270 to the masses.

Finally, price: SprintPCS is a large carrier and a successful and profitable company. They will probably try too keep the price of the Treo 270 at $499 and eventually move it down to $449 or $399, while the Treo 180 will drop to $200 or $175 and then the trash heap once color takes over at lower prices. At a pricepoint of $449 or $399, the Treo 270 will compete effectivley with all cellphones and the Palm i705. With the marketing of SprintPCS and their preferences for phone design and appearance, the Treo 270 should dominate.

Re: Re: Muddled future

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Originally posted by ganoe

I can do most all of those things, plus probably a few others not listed with my HandEra 330. The TRGpro as well.

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Re: Re: Re: Muddled future

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Originally posted by danied
I don't see it on their site.

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Other than chargers and battery backup options, the only expansion I see for the Handera is an 802.11 card made by Symbol - which means its going to cost an arm and a leg.

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The big thing the Handera products have going for them is memory expansion - ability to use both CF and SD/MMC memory out of the box makes them infinitely expandable, and the screen is probably the best black/white screen around.

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[...] I think the idea about HS coming out with a new Visor that has built in expansion (CF, SD, MMC or whatever) and a springboard is a good one.

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Right now the ultimate PDA for me would be something with memory expansion, able to play MP3s out of the box, 16Meg RAM, the new 66Mhz Dragonball VZ, and a springboard slot.

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HS needs to maneuver to use the springboards popularity to sell higher end variants of the Visor.

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Problem is, their most recent pure PDA is a Treo 90 that is basically a Prism with no expansion capability. Yuck!

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I still dont see anything with the expansion capabilities the Springboard allows.

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I can probably go for another year or two with my Prism and be just fine, but unless someone comes out with a more expandable Palm device with some kind of standardized expansion capability, my next handheld will be a PocketPC with a PCMCIA card slot.

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...

my daddy works for the boston globe!!! yay!

Re: Re: Re: Muddled future

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Originally posted by danied
...but unless someone comes out with a more expandable Palm device with some kind of standardized expansion capability.

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__________________
-Joshua
Abortion: Darwinism at its finest.

I read all these threads before and all of you are speaking about hardware. Our problem as developers is still the software. HS is not able to give us a good new model until a good multitasking OS is out. And this is still far away. Don�t expect a lot of OS5. It is only a small steps far away from OS4. We are testiing a lot of devices and we are really disappointed from the new NR70V. This is hardware at its best and the effect? Nothing! I would buy an iPAQ 3870 before I purchased an NR70V again.

Though you are right, HS has the most worst concept of all PDA manufacturers. It seems they are playing some kind of Bingo. If this don�t work lets try another handheld, but it seems they don�t learn anything ... I saw a lot of devices we will never see on the market. Great devices with good concepts. Produced for developers, only 100 - 200 each. Devices everyone would cry "Give it us". But nothing happens.

Why is there no GPRS update for the Treo out? I think 6 Months is time enough. We can produce much more than an GPRS Update in this time with only 3 employees.

My opinion is, HS will die before the end of the year. Useless devices combined with bad marketing and no concept - is this the future?

The Treo has one of the best cell phones you can get. But thats not enough HS! No I am waiting for the colored one. If this device is disappointing too, you�ll find me at Staples, buying another PocketPC and starting developing Windows apps.

Good Night.

@Toby: You are right. The best PalmOS PDA out is the Handera 330.