Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 12

Check this out y'all. This is Super Cool...

I copied the text from ZDNet News. Copy this ling to your address bar to see a picture of it --http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2445796,00.html?chkpt=zdhpnews01

Quartz: The Palm-killing PDA?

It's a cell phone that streams multimedia, browses the Web, sports a Palm-like interface -- and might just be given away by telecos.
By Andrew Orlowski, ZDNet News
UPDATED February 24, 2000 12:40 PM PT
Is the stand-alone PDA dead?
With the unveiling of the Symbian consortium's Quartz devices at the CeBIT computer show in Germany this week, analysts say current handheld devices, such as the Palm, face competition from a new breed of integrated handheld device that packs telephony, streaming multimedia, Web browsing and Palm-like computing.
By Christmas, European cell-phone subscribers should be able to upgrade this year's digital handset to a Quartz "communicator," giving them the full functionality of a Palm organizer or handheld Windows CE device at no extra cost.
In the United States, meanwhile, Symbian CEO Colly Myers confirmed the consortium has held discussions with America Online Inc. (NYSE: AOL), and these are likely to continue. AOL has touted an "AOL Anywhere" access device but has yet to publicly decide on a platform.
Symbian's color devices, featuring a 320-by-240-pixel "quarter VGA" screen, provide enough horsepower for multimedia playback, supporting MPEG, MP3 and video conferencing. The devices double as a conventional cell phone by plugging in a headset -- or wirelessly using a Bluetooth headset or ear clip. Bluetooth will even allow the device to be left in a jacket pocket or briefcase, with voice activation triggering the call.
Analyst: Game over
"If I was Palm I would be beside myself with panic," said IDC analyst Jill House. "In Europe, where there's a good wireless infrastructure, the competition is pretty much over."
Symbian -- whose shareholders include handset giants Nokia (Nasdaq: NOK.A), Ericsson (Nasdaq: ERICY), Matsu****a (Panasonic) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) -- has modeled the Quartz interface closely on Palm's operating system. The reference design, or DFRD, calls for an upright tablet-style device with two or four buttons. Like the Palm, there is no built-in file manager, and a simple, task-based applications screen.
But the deathblow for today's PDA manufacturers may be the price: zero.
After demonstrating an interactive route-finding application on Quartz at the Symbian Developer Conference last week, Ericsson executives indicated that the device would be sold much like today's cellular handsets: through subsidized contracts with carriers. Today's phones sell for upward of $350 retail, but the vast majority of subscribers instead pay a modest monthly rental.
And the low cost is expected to see "smart" phones and communicators take a slice of the cellular market predicted for 2003.
"Even if only a tenth of devices are data-enabled units, that is a hundred million WIDs -- (today) Palm's doing quite well at 2 to 3 million," said Symbian's Myers.
Java powered
Speaking to ZDNet News, Myers denied similarities between the Palm and Quartz platforms. "The devil's in the detail: On the face of it, Palm-size PCs look like Palm, too, but they aren't being successful," he said. "Unlike Palm, we're running Java, and our true voice integration makes it quite a different product."
But there's more to the PDA than just the device, according to IDC's House.
In the United States, where roaming between networks is expensive and coverage is patchy, and where no single air-interface standard rules, House said PDAs such as the Palm have a fighting chance.
"The U.S. is going to be harder for Symbian. The infrastructure just isn't set up to handle that kind of solution," she said. "It needs a buy-in from the carriers, and, unlike Europe, carriers are much more interested in having their own play."
In addition, users who've recently bought into Palm may be loyal while the devices remain useful: "People won't ditch what they already own," she said.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

This idea has been bandied about on the Springboard forum several times actually. If someone is to build a Springboard phone, probably the best solution is to include a wired or bluetooth earclip.

Again I say it's a cool idea and many people will want to have it. It will also be an introduction to things to come.

But Palm killer? Not even close. It's evolutionary but definitely not revolutionary. I sometimes wonder if the analysts ever use the equipment they talk about all the time. In addition, Palm is already working with some of these companies. Quite the contrary, I think what this means is that companies like Handpring and Palm are going to make A LOT more money in the coming years. Indeed if I only had an in for the Palm IPO...


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Eugene Hsieh
Editor, VisorCentral FAQ
Come visit my homepage.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Posts: 406

I thought Apple had already registered Quartz as the name for their graphics subsystem in Mac OS X. I smell a lawsuit.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: bright side of the moon.
Posts: 996

I agree with you Eug,

Ever since i got alittle more knowledgeable of palm computers i find reading these articles annoying at times. The authors obviously haven't (or barely) used a palm computer and don't know about what's out in the market.
I am still amazed (and i don't say this because i'm a visor owner) that many haven't really grasped the fact that the visor RIGHT NOW can be capable of alot of this stuff. Not 3 years from now. It's just a matter of getting some of these developers off their behinds and designing the appropriate modules (on time!) and hanging them infront of our faces.
I like the idea of having a phone/PIM/voice recognition/MP3 player/MPEG player/toilet flusher all in one unit without carrying around multiple modules. BUT, these authors seem to be selling and raving about the capability more than the convenience.
The just don't realize that the Visor is capable of all this. Now.

...and that's what i think.

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 434

". . . i find reading these articles annoying at times. The authors obviously haven't (or barely) used a palm computer and don't know about what's out in the market."

Yep. And have you seen the amount of misinformation in some of the IIIc reviews? More than one claimed that this is the first Palm device to support graphics. Hmmm. Guess no one bothered to tell the makers of AvantGo, iSilo, TealDOC, ImageViewer III, etc.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Baltimore MD, USA
Posts: 717

quote:

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Originally posted by Eug:

But Palm killer? Not even close. It's evolutionary but definitely not revolutionary.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

quote:

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Originally posted by Winchell:
I'm not so sure. What makes me fearful of the viability of the Visor/Palm is the price of the Quartz: zero.
It will be like cell phones are now. Your typical cell phone costs about $400. But if you sign up for a long term contract, they'll throw in the phone for free.
Handspring and 3Com will find it very hard to compete on price.

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 434

P.S. (Dunno if that new phone is gonna be Bluetooth or not but...) Until Bluetooth and wireless 802.11 LAN can co-exist, I might avoid Bluetooth products altogether. I would love to wirelessly network my new home, but Bluetooth has the potential of interfering with the whole setup since it runs on the same frequency.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Mac Airport users when they start buying new Bluetooth gadgets.

------------------
Eugene Hsieh
Editor, VisorCentral FAQ
Come visit my homepage.

Registered: Dec 1999
Location: DFW Metroplex, TX USA
Posts: 58

Just a small reality check, speaking as a customer of Psion / Symbian.

I have a Psion Series 5 (S5) handheld that I don't use.

Why? Because the tools that Psion / Symbian supply make it very difficult to get data in to or out of the handheld. This is particularly true of volatile data (calendar / agenda entries, for instance). The synchronization software is poor. The only function of their sync software that I've found to be reliable is the backup / restore function.

The latest version of the software (the upgrade costs, basically "full retail) works no better for me than did the version of the software that came with Series 5.

If one is going to make a "Palm-killer" unit that provides PDA type function, data synchronization is going to be very important.

In considering my dealings with Psion / Symbian on this issue (data sync) in the past, I don't imagine they'll be any better at:

- listening to the customer;
- fixing the technical issues;
- responding to customer email

than they have been in the past.

Psion / Symbian promise a lot. IMO, they don't deliver when it comes to interfacing with the outside world.

Now, having said that, the Series 5 (S5) handheld is a great stand alone unit!!! Unfortunately, I rarely could get the data I needed from the outside world in to the S5 without resorting to manual re-entry. To be fair, I'm sure this isn't the case for all S5 customers. But I know enough people have had problem with this to make it an issue (check out the psion oriented newsgroups for verification of this issue) for a large part of the Psion user community.

That is why the Palm platform is my platform of choice for the PDA functions I need.

-- Michael