VisorCentral.com - New Visors and Cell Phone Mod

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor & Deluxe (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)
-- New Visors and Cell Phone Mod (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=8158)

Posted by qRichardC on 09-19-2000 06:34 PM:

ZDNet has a blurb about new visors (including a color one) due out on October 19 and a cell phone module due out Monday, September 25.

Here's the link:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/newsbursts/0,7407,2629630,00.html

Posted by Hoser_back_home on 09-19-2000 06:43 PM:

wow....this sounds interesting considering the author wanted to be the first on the block with the info (hence th quick blurb and the 'story to follow' comment).

Getting excited!

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Posted by rdanell on 09-19-2000 06:53 PM:

A more complete story is now available:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/n...2629633,00.html
Sounds pretty good as far as I am concerned.

- Ryan

Posted by echinye on 09-19-2000 07:09 PM:

YES! YES! My Christmas Gift is here

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Posted by foo fighter on 09-19-2000 07:11 PM:

About time!

Well pimp slap me, and call me Shirley!

A color Visor (Prism) with 65k color. But I can see three very prominent flaws in this product already:

a.) The display only runs at 160x160 pixel resolution, similar to the Palm IIIc. This means you will be able to see each individual pixel. The result is painful on the eyes. Pocket PCs run at 320x240

b.) Price: $450, ouch! That's coming into Pocket PC territory without adding any functionality.

c.) Form factor. The ZDNET article mentions that these new Prisms will be thicker than the current Visor. That means that it will actually be thicker than most Pocket PCs as well. Especially the iPAQ, which is the hottest seller right now.

My biggest question will be; what functionality will the Prism have? Will it integrate digital audio (MP3 playback) built-in? I doubt many consumers will want to shell out $450 for a color Palm, and pay another $200+ for MP3 Springboard module.

I'll hold off until I know more about the product, but already this seems like a mixed blessing.

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Posted by Hoser_back_home on 09-19-2000 07:22 PM:

If it's going to be pushed as a 'game player' then sound will better, right?

quote:

The ear piece will be in the module, while the receiver will be the microphone built into the PDA. A headset will also come with the module.

YESSSS! they listened!

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Posted by foo fighter on 09-19-2000 07:25 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by Hoser_in_USA
If it's going to be pushed as a 'game player' then sound will better, right?

Yes, but will it play MP3s? As I said, no one will want to pay $450 for this thing only to turn around and spend another $250 for an MP3 Springboard module as well.

We'll see.

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Posted by foo fighter on 09-19-2000 07:30 PM:

Also, since Palm will promoting color in an upcoming ad campaign, it's safe to assume they will be releasing new color handhelds as well. Just in time for Christmas shoppers. The price tag on the Prism is a BIG disappointment. I thought Hawkins would try aggressively to develop a low cost color handheld. But apparently he only planned to "join the club" with other high priced models.

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Posted by Rob on 09-19-2000 07:34 PM:

Re: About time!

quote:
Originally posted by foo fighter
Well pimp slap me, and call me Shirley!

A color Visor (Prism) with 65k color. But I can see three very prominent flaws in this product already:

a.) The display only runs at 160x160 pixel resolution, similar to the Palm IIIc. This means you will be able to see each individual pixel. The result is painful on the eyes. Pocket PCs run at 320x240

Okay 'Shirley'

I don't think the PalmOS even supports greater resolutions yet, so I suppose Handspring didn't have much choice there. It's definitely not as nice as the PocketPC resolution, although I personally wouldn't give up the PalmOS for the greater resolution (I had an iPaq for several days before returning it...after being spoiled by the PalmOS, I couldn't get used to the extra taps and dialog boxes -- not being able to edit ToDos, etc. 'inline' bugged me too much).
Having said that, I do agree that the price is probably too high to get substantial customer penetration (remember, visorcentral members are NOT representative customers). Then again, since Hawkins loves the sounds good module so much, maybe he'll bundle it with the Visor Prism!

Posted by Gameboy70 on 09-19-2000 07:36 PM:

This rocks! I insisted that Handspring wouldn't be releasing a color model this year, and I couldn't be happier about being wrong. And the cell phone module -- gimme! ZDNet is almost always right when they report a rumor, and I don't think "sources" would've leaked such detailed information if Handspring didn't want it that way.

I just hope we're not in for another shipping debacle.

Posted by Trinition on 09-19-2000 07:41 PM:

My thoughts

I agree that while the 64k colors will be nice, the resolution leaves something to be desired. That's another thread. If I could get that color screen for cheap, I would. But to pay $200 more simply for color? NO WAY! OK, ok, it has a rechargable battery ($40 from FullCharge when its available). But it's also BIGGER!

Same goes to the cell-phone module. Great. Maybe it'll have an integrated dialer. But, for $299, I can get a new cell phone with voice-activated dialing for A LOT LESS!

I think HandSpring might get burnt on these. I just hope those prices are off, or they fall quickly. Those were both my most-wanted features, but I've been turned off.

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Posted by Trinition on 09-19-2000 07:44 PM:

What about an OS upgrade for us?!

I'd like to see a PalmOS 3.5 upgrade for existing Visor users. Yeah, I know, no Flash. But, heck, I've got some spare RAM I don't know if I'm feeling bitten by not getting Flash RAM or not. OS 3.5 has a lot of features I'd like to have.

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Posted by PDAENVY on 09-19-2000 07:46 PM:

zdnet rumors

I am so geeked about the VisorPhone:

(from http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2629633,00.html )

quote:
... a new module that Handspring will be announcing on Sept. 25, called the VisorPhone.

The VisorPhone will be a Handspring cellular phone module costing $299. The 3-ounce module will come with its own rechargeable battery.

Once the module is plugged in, the software will automatically launch and integrate with the on-board phone book, allowing users to dial straight from their contact list. The phone will also have caller ID.

The ear piece will be in the module, while the receiver will be the microphone built into the PDA. A headset will also come with the module.

The module will run on GSM cellular networks and will support short messaging capabilities.

The module won't be available until November.

COOL
- dial straight from address book
- rechargeable battery
- caller ID
- "greasy face-print" form factor -or- included headset
- GSM-compatible

uncool:
- won't be available until November
- $299 ouch

As for the new models:
Even if Prism can play MP3s, with only 8M and a possible 8M flash Springboard, they'll need something to extend the memory. Remember, folks, MP3 springboards have 32-128M of memory.

I'm glad to see that Platinum will run PalmOS 3.5 and have a 30MHz Dragonball! What reason would someone have for buying a VDX instead? Anyone hear if Platinum or Prism will come in color bodies like VDX?

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Posted by lennonhead on 09-19-2000 07:54 PM:

I don't think the price of the color unit is bad. It will look a lot better with thousands of color than the palm IIIc and it is the same price. I am disappointed that the technology is still too expensive to be put into a cheap handheld, but that isn't Handspring's fault. When compared to the Sony color PDA (isn't it around $550?), the Visor color will be a much better deal. I'm sure there are some other improvements as well, like the sound, which will make it more competitively priced than the IIIc.

Posted by [email protected] on 09-19-2000 07:58 PM:

I hope that the caller ID is linked to the address book so it will bring up the first address book entry related to the phone number. That would be cool.

If anybody finds out the pre-order list at Handspring for Visor Phone and the Visor Prism post it here!

Posted by foo fighter on 09-19-2000 08:05 PM:

I'm wondering if these new handhelds will be all new designs, or simply specially branded (current generation) Visor designs. If it is all new, I hope they lost the current snap-on lid in favor of a flip lid. I've never been a huge fan of the Visor. The case is too cheap and brittle, and I could never stand the easy to lose lid. The Palm III series spoiled me on the flip design. It may have been ugly, but it always worked great.

I would love to see a new design. Hopefully IDEO is doing the work, although the current Visor was their handy work as well.

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Posted by JHromadka on 09-19-2000 08:10 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by foo fighter
I'm wondering if these new handhelds will be all new designs, or simply specially branded (current generation) Visor designs. If it is all new, I hope they lost the current snap-on lid in favor of a flip lid. I've never been a huge fan of the Visor. The case is too cheap and brittle, and I could never stand the easy to lose lid. The Palm III series spoiled me on the flip design. It may have been ugly, but it always worked great.

To each his own. I hated the Palm III lid and mine went back in the box where it stayed for the entire time that I had a P3. I like the Visor's hard cover more, and love how cases can use a reversed-cover instead of horrid velcro to hold in the Visor.

As the reported Prism will be "pushed as a game player," I hope the speaker has been beefed up as well to allow MP3 playback so I don't need headphones anymore and has DTMF capability.

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Posted by MIKE STH on 09-19-2000 08:19 PM:

...AND if they'll package them in swappable color faceplates, they have a sale...

Would also be nice if us old "war horses" that have spread the VISOR word the last year got first dibbs on the new units...that would be Wayyy cool!

Go HAND go!

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"Stupid Handspring."

Posted by Rob on 09-19-2000 08:21 PM:

Extra shielding needed for phone module?

Hey, I just thought of something -- in another thread, there has been some rants about how the Glenayre module requires a special visor with extra shielding to work (hence it's only available in a bundle). Do you think the new Visor Phone module needs this shielding too? i.e. will the cell phone module work in 'old' visors? I think Handspring will be in for some bad PR if it turns out the phone only works with new visors that have extra shielding.

Posted by perze_a on 09-19-2000 08:22 PM:

Very interesting. We should hear from Handspring anytime soon whether this is true or not. Obviously the guy who "supposedly" leaked this info to the zdnet correspondent is so fired. Unless its one of their spin doctors trying to shake things up. All I can do is wait.

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