VisorCentral.com - Interview with Handspring

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VisorCentral.com (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/index.php)
- Visor General Chat (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=31)
-- Interview with Handspring (http://discussion.visorcentral.com/vcforum/showthread.php?threadid=13253)

Posted by agraham999 on 03-20-2001 03:21 PM:

There has been a lot of discussion on these boards lately regarding the announcements of the past two weeks (Clie, Edge, m50?). It seems that we have a lot of opinions and a lot of questions and a lot of debate.

Because of this, I sent an email over to Handspring and lined up an interview with one of their competitive product managers. There are some questions I wanted to ask them, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to have your voice heard instead of mine. I know that I often read interviews and articles and wonder why the writer didn't ask certain questions. Not this time...you are in the drivers seat.

What do you want to know? What questions do you want answered? What statements do you want to make? Now is your chance to be heard by the company itself...but please keep them relevant to the topic...no customer service or techinical support requests, and please no flames or rants.

Some things you may want to remark on or ask:

�What do you want to see from a handheld?
�Where do you want to see Handspring in six months? A year?
� What is missing?
�What are they doing right?

Let's keep it a cool and respectful discussion for all and not let it turn into a gripe session...we'll get more out of a good debate. I'll take as many questions as I can get into a piece...and then I will also do a poll to get a vibe on what everyone is thinking.

Yur pal,

Alan

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Posted by Talldog on 03-20-2001 04:10 PM:

I'd be interested in knowing what they're going to be doing in the future with respect to OS upgrades/flash ROM. Their current position (upgrades via Springboard module) seems unworkable.

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Posted by Soul Raven on 03-20-2001 04:17 PM:

Well, obviously I think Handspring is doing things right, what with my VDX and modules. There are a couple of things I am curious about, though:

Why was the microphone hard-wired to the Springboard slot? Is there any plan to re-route this in furture models so programs in internal memory can access it?

Not so much a question, but I am very interested in wireless capabilities. Sprinboards are fine, but I would prefer wireless built-in, so that the Springboard slot can be used for something else, like a bar-code scanner. I don't mean Internet wireless, but something like Bluetooth or 802.11b.

What does Handspring think about the users bemoaning the fact that the Visor's OS is not upgradeable? I have been on both sides of the argument, sad that I can't upgrade, and not bothered, since I am not losing anything, really, because any OS upgrade would only be needed if I upgraded hardware. Does Handspring think they might include an upgrade capability in the future, or have they deciding it's not really an issue?

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Posted by septimus on 03-20-2001 04:33 PM:

I'd like to know exactly how Handspring plans to differentiate themselves from the crowd as they will soon not be the exclusive maker of easily expandible handhelds

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Posted by yardie on 03-20-2001 05:39 PM:

New Edge Slot

I would like to know if they are gunning for smaller modules with their new Edge slot and the recent announcement of the Tellus CDPD module that fits directly int the slot.

Posted by Modicon984 on 03-20-2001 05:53 PM:

Color Edge soon?

I would really like to know if there are plans for a color version of the Visor Edge, and if so when?

Posted by bookrats on 03-20-2001 05:56 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by dietrichbohn
I'd like to know exactly how Handspring plans to differentiate themselves from the crowd as they will soon not be the exclusive maker of easily expandible handhelds

Agreed -- I think that's the primary "big picture" question. As opposed to an "exact" answer, however, I'd be pleased to hear a general, non-marketspeak reply. ("I don't know" is OK, though unencouraging.

)

I'd also be curious to hear when they think higher-resolution displays will be feasible (and the relative priority of the feature); and whether HandSpring plans to continue using the Palm OS up to Palm OS 5.0 and beyond. (I really doubt they'd answer that; but hope springs eternal.)

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Posted by EricG on 03-20-2001 06:37 PM:

How about a trade in/up program for loyal Handspring customers? I'd love to get a new Visor if they came out with a color version of the edge but I can't justify having two color Visors and not to mention the cost.

"Frequent buyers club "

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Posted by BEN on 03-20-2001 06:44 PM:

I think that my two main questions for Handspring would be weither or not a color edge is going to be released, and if they are ever going to offically include flashROM in their newer models.

BEN

Posted by septimus on 03-20-2001 07:00 PM:

I'd also like to know what they think of the M505. Specifically, I've read that the screen quality doesn't hold a candle to the Prism. If there's going to be a color Edge, will it have decent screen quality?

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Posted by bookrats on 03-20-2001 07:06 PM:

Re: Flash ROM in Visors

quote:
Originally posted by BEN
...and if they are ever going to offically include flashROM in their newer models.

BEN

Perhaps that might be reworded to:

Does Handspring consider Flash ROM to be an important feature in PDAs? And if not, why?

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Posted by mensachicken on 03-20-2001 07:12 PM:

I'm curious why they don't put out a model with 16 mb of memory instead of 8. Obviously it's possible as people are offering upgrades on the web. I'm assuming it's a price point issue but i mean, if thise guy can upgrade for $130 including shipping, i'm sure handspring could do it for less out of the factory.

thanks,

mensa.

Posted by bookrats on 03-20-2001 07:13 PM:

Another crystal-ball gazing question for Handspring:

I understand that a group of talented engineers -- both hardware and software -- left Palm to go to Handspring with Handspring's founders.

With the Visor and Springboard modules, we've seen how Handspring has made innovations to the basic Palm PDA hardware model. Are their plans to make similar innovations to the Palm software model? And how much can actually be done, within the confines of the Palm OS? (E.g., UI changes to the Palm OS? More changes to the "standard" Palm apps, like Datebook+ (which is basically a scaled-down version of Pimlico's Datebk3).

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Posted by ellen on 03-21-2001 07:55 AM:

Re: Color Edge soon?

quote:
Originally posted by Modicon984
I would really like to know if there are plans for a color version of the Visor Edge, and if so when?

...second the motion on this question, with the following addition:
To what extent would an improved resolution affect Handspring's development time and pricing decision?

Posted by purplemd on 03-22-2001 04:10 AM:

Will they be adding in multimedia capability, eg an earplug jack?
Any way to improve the sound (volume and quality)?
Are they considering increasing the RAM in the higher end models?
Anything planned to improve the concerns about the housing, eg the colored plastics which can crumble around the power button, the peeling Prisms (yes...mine is messed up, too), etc?

Generally good tech support HOWEVER given the number of owners who hang out at VisorCentral, they should be a bit more forthcoming about frequent complaints and bit quicker about addressing them (even if the answer is WE DON'T KNOW) eg the FAF application causing corrupted modules, peeling paint on Prism, etc?

What's with the getting refurbished units to replace defective new ones??????

LOVE the multipurpose styli (but recently switched to a purple spring-tipped one...love it!)
LOVE the different color cases (PURPLE PURPLE PURPLE)
LOVE the color screen (Prism)
LOVE the springboard slot
LOVE the clips that hold the Visor in the cases without velcro

Posted by ToolkiT on 03-26-2001 06:12 AM:

320x320 colo(u)r screen??? any time soon? etc etc.

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Posted by Thunderbird291 on 04-01-2001 07:54 PM:

Refurbs

quote:
Originally posted by purplemd

<Snip>
What's with the getting refurbished units to replace defective new ones??????
<Snip>

I'd imagine the refurb replacements are to kept costs low. If you think about it, considering it is a computer and computers have many things that may go wrong, if they were to just throw away defective units they'd be throwing away much more money than if they repair them and use them as replacements. *Most* of the refurbs people get seem to be indistinguishable from new ones, and many of those refurbs don't have anymore problems. For example, say a Visor is returned and it is diagnosed with a bad CPU or RAM chip. If Handspring just replaces the single bad part, then they'd have a fully functional Visor that can be used as a replacement. That's just my opinion, though.

Posted by Morris on 04-02-2001 06:00 PM:

Future of the Springboard?

I'm very interested as a VDx owner in the future of the first-generation Springboard standard. Knowing that Handspring has 2 standards on the market at present with the introduction of the Edge, I'd like to know what the future plans are for continuing/advanced development of Springboards on the "old" platform.

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