Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 1

Does anyone know if or when a color Visor will come out?? Also, does anyone know if Handspring is going to put Flash ROM on Visors in the future (I know that there isn't Flash ROM currently)??

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 28

i don't think you should plan on it anytime soon. so far they've only said, "maybe in the future..." if you want a color pda, buy one of the ones that's already out there.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

We're worried about color and flash and the first units haven't shipped. I'd bet that Palm will have a color unit out before Handspring. Reason....unless Handspring starts developing the OS which I'd bet their liscense agreement prohibits, they'll be dependent upon Palm for the OS.

Also, any bets on a color version coinciding with the IPO when Palm is divested of 3COM?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 42

I've seen a lot of questions popping up asking about color and a lot of speculation about when Palm might introduce color. So here's my speculations. Sure, eventually Palm will intoduce a color handheld, but it won't be anytime soon. It definately won't be a part of OS4. I don't think there is a market for it. People who "need" color probably also "need" sound, video, etc (WinCE's current market). Todays color LCD technology is not advanced enough for the needs of most Palm users. I know I'm just restating a lot of things that have been said before, but a color LCD is hard to read and eats batteries. Palm would be shooting themselves in the foot if they attemted to introduce color now. What I do think OS4 will bring is better integration with wireless technologies. That's what a good majority of Palm users are looking for. Maybe we'll color in a few years when the technology gets better. Perhaps I'm wrong. If anyone disagrees I'm open to any other opinions.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Posts: 599

Ok more speculation....with the national release of Palm VII the marketing department will down play any future "techy" items until the hype is over with regarding the Visor and the VII.

Now let's look at that comment coupled with my "bet" regarding the IPO and color. When you spin off a company from an existing one you'd better have something new to offer the market to coincide with the offering otherwise it will be stuck in the mud. The logical progression states that the PalmVII will have 8MB of ram added to it with in the next few months. That fact along will not be enough to jump start the IPO especially since the Visor has come along and will raise doubt on Palm's market share.

I know I am speculating but I'd still bet that a color version will be annouced at the same time as the IPO.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 13

You know... Handspring made a very unwise choice in not using Flash ROM. One of you made the comment that they are dependent on 3COM for the PalmOS; and I've seen the concession that PalmOS updates are usually minor update... BUT! What is going to stop 3COM from deliberately releasing a major update of the OS and leaving Visor owners high and dry? Ick!

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Durham, NC, USA
Posts: 47

While that might be a valid point in the future, it's not enough to keep me from buying a Visor. Visor ships with OS 3.1 and that's fine for absolutely every program I've wanted to run. I doubt very seriously that I'll get the Visor, then Palm releases another OS (that doesn't require a hardware upgrade, but still provides a significant software upgrade), vendors develop applications that run ONLY on the newest OS... I just can't take that scenario seriously enough to think it would happen that way. Anything I want to run on my Visor (with exception of flashram products like FlashPro) will run on OS 3.1 just fine.

Registered: Sep 1999
Location:
Posts: 13

Well, looks like it's happened. They've now released PalmOS 3.3... I'm *VERY* liable to cancel my Visor order now--it was VERY short sighted for them to not put the OS on a flash device--or, at the very least, allow you to run updated OSes out of the 8MB of ram. How big is the OS itself?

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Pittsford,NY,USA
Posts: 223

Have you seen the OS 3.3 feature list? Is there anything that you really need that the Visor doesn't already support? This URL details the features in the 3.3 version: http://www.palmstation.com/view_article.py?article=655

-Eric

Registered: Sep 1999
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 48

OS 3.3 vs Springboard, what would you rather have ...?

I am of the opinion that the updates to the O.S. are not major enough for me to rescind my decision to "go Visor". The Palm units do not have the Springboard ... that's a biggie.