PalmAddicts

Will Graffiti Make A Comeback in Palm Nova OS?

When you look at Palm and the history of mobile computing, they introduced a number of breakthrough concepts which redefined how we interact with a handheld computer.  Yes they weren't the first to create a handheld computer (Apple's Newton was the pre-eminent mobile machine then) but they were the ones who got everything right, and created the first machine that everyone wanted to buy.  They did not make the first attempt at it but they are the ones who figured out how to do mobile computing right. I think they are planning to do the same thing again with their next generation of devices. 

Hotsync was a breakthrough computing process.  It was groundbreaking.  "Syncing" was a computing concept never heard of in any device before the Palm Pilot came along. They made it simple and straightforward.   Today, the term "syncing" is pretty much colloquial language, and that was because of Palm HotSync.  Today, everyone is making an attempt to do the next-generation form of syncing.  Cloud Syncing.  So far everyone has failed. MobileMe. Google. No one has made it to work reliably and consistently.  Will Palm do it again and be the first company to do this right?

Which brings us to the second concept Palm pioneered... GRAFFITI.  The concept behind Graffiti was to teach people a language the computer will understand, and not the other way around.  It was invented by Palm's Founder Jeff Hawkins, who came to a conclusion that graffiti is something that people will try to learn to use their computers.  Today, different concepts have been introduced which are ways users can input data into our mobile computers short of hardware keyboards.  The iPhone's Touch keyboard. Touch Flo. Multi Touch. Haptic Response.  Many have tried to innovate in this field, and none have actually come out on top.  This made me think... Will Palm try to innovate again and introduce a new form of Graffiti in their upcoming devices?

Imagine doing finger swipes on your mobile device's screen which are not just reminiscent of the strokes of Graffiti, but are actually recognizing normal handwriting strokes. For example... doing a real letter "A" with our fingers and not just an inverted V like the old graffiti did, or, to take it even further, a software that can actually understand your handwriting which is pre-programmed when starting up the OS for the first time.  Will a handwriting software be built into the device which will easily recognize such swipes with our fingers?  This takes "humanizing" computing to a different level that Apple has tried to do with their multitouch interface and Microsoft is attempting with the Microsoft Surface.  It must not be that hard to write such a program, because I still remember an old Palm OS app called "Graffiti Anywhere" which allowed us to do graffiti anywhere and everywhere in the screen. 

What do you think? Will that be a better alternative to the onscreen keyboards of current devices?  I think that is very possible.  It is a very INNOVATIVE concept and one that can actually turn heads and redefine mobile computers once again.

Traveling Utilities For My Treo

I just came from a trip to Atlanta GA this past weekend and had my Treo 755p as my traveling companion and guide.  I don't travel that much and I discovered just how many utilities Palm OS offers for frequent travelers.  I thought I'd share how i was able use my Treo and what programs i used.

1.  Planning the Trip with Agendus Pro - the Agendus Pro for Palm OS has a feature which allows you to create trips and create flights, meetings, tasks, transportation arrangements, hotel accommodations under an assigned trip, and have all of them lay out in your Agendus Calendar in a way that is very easy to understand and very easy to draw information from.  For the Flight information, Agendus handily listed down a whole assortment of Airline names and you could easily put down Flight numbers, Airport Codes, Date and time of departure/arrival.  You can also input the Hotel name, telephone number and website, as well as check-in and check-out times.  Of course, the weather panel in the Today page is always handy.

2. Using Pocket Tunes as my iPod - i have preloaded my 8gb SD card with audiobooks and podcasts that i can listen to while in the plane and at the airport.  Using my Shure i2cT headphones, there was enough noise reduction to calm down the noise of the plane engine and let me enjoy my music inside the plane.  I think the Treo is such an underrated media player.  With the right kind of headphones, you can rock your music the ipod way.  And ain't it ironic that i do have the iPhone skin for my Pocket Tunes :)

3. Monitoring Flights with FLIGHT STATUS app - this was a gem of an app that i recently picked up in the Treocentral forums.  You can input the airline and flight number, and this will give you expected times of arrivals/departures, even Gate numbers! For the entire trip i never had to scramble for the nearest Flight monitor screen in the airport to get the Gate number.  All i needed was FLIGHT STATUS, and i must say it is very accurate.  The utility of this app is IMPRESSIVE!

4. Streaming videos from my home hard drive using myOrb and Kinoma - while passing time in the hotel room, i was able to access my vast collection of movies and TV shows in my home hard drive by using myOrb software on my home computer and Kinoma 4EX on my Treo.  I was able to catch up on some shows i was watching at home from my hotel bed! :D Sweet!

5. Time Zone support of Palm OS - i thought this deserved a special mention.  Before Palms, when traveling, i had to keep track of differences in time in the different places i travel to.  I also had to adjust and readjust my wrist watch to keep track of time.  Those days were gone.  With the calendar's great support for Time Zones, you're Palm can get you the real time and give you a better idea of how much time you had between flights and never miss any again.  Turning off your Treo before flying and turning it back on upon landing does have its benefits.   

While i did see a lot of people using their iPhones in the airport, in the plane, I dont think they have some of the utilities that Palm OS has to offer for frequent flyers.  Most have them just for the coolness of it, and not really have any use for it in helping them travel and organize their trips.  It is again a testament to the versatility of Palm OS, and again gives us hope that with Palm's new OS, we will continue to have different utilities at our disposal for whatever needs we have.

Palm Systems Software: Mobile Computers First, Mobile Phones Second

Palm has been having a re-emergence of sorts these past few weeks with the release of the new Palm Treo Pro.  It represents a lot of the things that many Treo users have been clamoring for - Wifi, GPS, Thinner, Sleek Form Factor, Flush touchscreen, 3.5-mm headset jack. And it has garnered pretty positive reviews around the web (or at least it seems to be getting better reviews than they ever had for their previous devices).  The release of its second Windows Mobile smartphone in the past 2 months also tells us a lot about Palm's current device map.  It seems clear that Palm intends to focus on their Enterprise market while waiting for their new Palm Operating System.

This brings me to the topic for this article.  With the focus on smartphones today, people seem to focus more on Palm's business of making smartphones, and forget one essential thing about Palm Incorporated.  It is a mobile computing company first and foremost and not a phone maker.  They are not like Motorola, or Sony Ericsson, or Nokia, who trace their roots to the mobile phone business.  They are not Apple either who are primarily in the personal computing space, giving them their strengths in desktop software and the desktop experience.  You can also say that Apple was initially and still is the best mp3 player in town.  The reason Apple had success with the iPhone is that they were able to translate the desktop experience into a mobile phone.  And also, they were able to work on their strength as media players and incorporate that to a phone as well.  But the question remains... Does the desktop and media experience equate to Mobile Computing? Is that what we really need on our mobile computers... a desktop that plays music and videos well?  Do we really need all that power on our handhelds?

In comes Palm, whose rich heritage lies in pioneering mobile computing itself.  It's who they are.  They make devices that we carry and hold in our palms that will serve all we need when we are out and mobile.  They pride themselves in knowing what we need for mobile computing.  They don't care about carrying our desktops in our pockets.  They care about replacing our desktops.  Why do you think Palm persists in putting in 400MHz processors in their devices while other makers are already topping 500MHz.  It's because they believe that if you make mobile computers the right way, they will not need higher processor speeds.  You need to optimize how your computer runs and not rely on faster computing power.  Thats what they have proven in making their last 2 Windows Mobile devices.  While not possessing the highest processors in the market, many argue that the Treo Pro and the 800w are the fastest and most responsive Windows mobile smartphones today.  Look back at the Palm Garnet OS. It is a simplistic operating system, stripped of any noncritical fancy enhancements, focusing on instant-on, instantaneous, rapid response times.  I believe this is the same thing that Palm is trying to achieve with their new operating system.  They are building an operating system optimized for the mobile computing experience.  They do not care about creating a desktop type of computer in a small device.  They are gonna focus on everything that matters when we use computers that fit in our hands.... instant-on, instant response, no lags, simple, intuitive, reliable. 

In a recent article about mobile computing, Ben Worthen from the WallStreetJournal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121917541603754113.html?mod=MKTW) talked about what will define mobile devices. What will define mobile computing?  Its connection to the internet.  With the coming mobile platform wars, he says that what companies need to do to succeed in the mobile computing business is to write software for connecting to the internet.  And that's exactly what Palm is trying to create with their new Palm OS, which they have often called "Palm Systems Software".  They are trying to focus on computing activities that we are going to be doing when we are connected to the internet on our mobile devices.  Email. Web apps. Cloud syncing.  Some believe that people are going to be using mobile devices to surf the web, Apple being one of the leaders in this arena.  Safari is bar none the best mobile browser today... but is that really what Mobile Computing is going to be about going forward? Going to websites? Youtube?  I don't think so.  I believe that is one of the reasons why Apple cannot topple RIM in the smartphone arena today.  Its because it misses what really Mobile Computing is going to be about - EMAIL, ACTIVE SYNC, PUSH SERVICES.  And unless Apple takes care of those things, the iPhone will remain to be just the best-iPod-ever with Phone and Internet capabilities. 

Palm knows this and understands what mobile computing will be about going forward. This is why they are focusing their new operating system on connecting to the internet and taking advantage of web services.  Of course, push email will also be an emphasis.    Ed Colligan has said it himself.  They do not think of creating a Mobile Phone.  They think first of making a great Mobile computing device. Data is where mobile computers will excel in.  Voice is just a killer app.  So expect to see not just smartphones in the next couple of months as Palm introduces the new OS.  Expect to see data and internet-centric devices as well, which may very well be able to make VoIP calls.  Palm is going to get back in the game.   It may be that they are not going to come up with the best smartphone in the market, but expect them to build the best mobile computer with their new operating system.

Cloud Computing Race Still Wide Open

With all the mystery (and doubt) surrounding Palm's next generation Palm Operating System, there is one thing we know for sure about it... that it will be based heavily on the Web.  Quoting Colligan from an interview some months back, it's a "next-generation operating system with much more capabilities, driven around the Internet and Web-based applications".  He has also mentioned rewriting the HotSync concept and applying it to the Web, most probably syncing your PIM data to the Cloud instead of the desktop.

While this was not exactly a revolutionary concept, it definitely makes sense for this beleaguered company.  They have licensed the Garnet OS from ACCESS, but they have lost their right over the Palm Desktop and the entire Hotsync system.  Syncing with the Web will definitely be a nice cost-cutting move to continue with their syncing ways, leveraging the internet much like the they are leveraging the open-source Linux OS to create their own operating system.  I was very hopeful that Palm will be able to offer this service and start a whole new age of Personal Information Data management.

And then came Apple with the MobileMe service earlier this year, and then i said to myself, oh no, Palm got beat again.  Here is the Cupertino giant introducing the very concept Palm was trying to develop on their own.  Once again, Palm will be left behind a technology they were actually pioneering. Much like the smartphone and netbook businesses.

But call it another stroke of luck for our Palm Inc.  MobileMe has hardly taken off, and has been plagued by numerous complaints and bugs.  As it turns out, their service is not ready for primetime yet, even Steve Jobs admitted to this.  Again, just as Palm's coffin is about to be laid to rest, they have dodged another nail, and a glimmer of hope once again appears.

Maybe, just like Palm was able to solve the problem of making our computing tasks mobile with the Palm Pilot many years ago as other companies have failed, Palm will once again solve this problem of Cloud Computing.  No one has gotten it right yet. And it is still a wide open race.  I don't know how they are going to figure out how to make this Cloud Computing experience seamless and effortless, but I believe Palm has the tradition of creating simple and easy-to-use solutions for everything mobile computing.  It's who they are. It's what makes Palm the Zen of Palm.  I will continue to light my candle for Palm, and with a million other more, the future of their business should not be so gloomy at all.

3rd Party Apps: A Double-Edged Sword

Just recently, I have been running into spontaneous phone shut downs on my Treo, an experience that is not uncommon for Treo or Palm Users.  I did the usual thing that most experienced Palm OS users would do to isolate the problem... do a hard reset, restore PIM data, and one by one  try to install other software.

This process reacquainted me with just how FAST and RESPONSIVE the Palm OS is when running only its native apps.  I would dare to say that it is even quicker than the iPhone with the way you can pull up your data.  I also reacquainted myself with the numerous short-cuts built in into the Palm OS.  The Phone app on my 755p is a little known productivity suite!  You can post any shortcuts to  your favorite contacts, apps, bookmarks in Blazer, and assign any of your hardkeys as quick keys for your favorite links/apps. 

One app that takes off without any other 3rd party software running was Blazer. Launching Blazer was so quick!  With minimal software on the phone, dbcache provided an almost instant launch of Blazer, which is really empowering.  One long press on "Y", i am brought to my Yahoo Mail on Blazer, "H" would bring me to my Hotmail, "W" it would bring me to the weather channel page and get a quick snapshot of the current weather.  All of these without the usually white screen lag we get when we launch Blazer in more usual circumstances.

I don't know when was the last time you got rid of your 3rd party software, but i suggest you take the bold step in doing it and try to do all your 3rd party app activities thru Blazer.   

This whole process also reaffirmed that 3rd party software is indeed a double-edged sword.  Yes it makes us more productive, makes our devices "cooler", but at the price of what? #1 Stability, and with it, #2 Reliability.  That has been the story of the lives of us Palm OS users. We have become so dependent on 3rd party software that we just put up with the soft resets and deal with it.  Slowly, the iPhone 2.0 users are beginning to realize this truth as more and more applications are made available thru the App store.  As more and more people install apps on their iPhones, we hear more stories of iPhones hanging up, resetting... all too familiar scenarios for long-time Treo users.  I dare to say that this trend for iPhones and 3rd party apps will continue, the iPhone will become the new Treo, and become just as unstable.

In The Talk About Mobile OS, Don't Forget Palm!

In a recent news article, rumors were that Android and Nokia's Symbian were going to merge and form another arm in the ever growing army of Mobile Phone Operating Systems.  Even though it was eventually denied by both sides (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/25/analyst-says-android-and-symbian-to-merge-nokia-and-google-to-g/) it did get the whole tech world into a falsely fast spin of talks about the emerging mobile OS's in the smartphone market. 

I could not help but notice how the entire blogsphere is  a buzz about the impending war of the mobile OS's - Apple's iPhone OS, Microsoft's Windows Mobile, Google's Android, Nokia's Symbian - and the ever so obvious absence of another major player in the mobile computing business, whom people are forgetting actually defined mobile computing as we know it - Palm.

People seem to be dismissing already Palm as a footnote in this talk.  You could see how the tech writing community seem to be leaving out Palm OS. They are forgetting that they are the PIONEERS in this space.  Thanks to Palm, we are now walking around with real powerful handheld computers.  And thanks to Palm, more and more companies are getting involved in the development of more advanced handheld devices.

This is just a reminder to everyone out there that Palm is still alive.  Talks about Palm's impending doom have been lingering for forever now.  Everyone has been proclaiming "Palm is dead", "R.I.P Palm", but guess what...

Palm is still around.

They have had 2 successful products in the past few months, and these products have been well received not only by the phone buying public, but by their critics as well.  To quote Ed Colligan:
“We’re focused on executing our own system, mostly because we really believe that to create the most compelling solution it should be an integrated package much like we started with the Palm OS and doing the original Palm Pilots: we did the operating system, we did the hardware and we did the whole synching architecture and the desktop tie-in, which is equivalent to the Web these days. One of the things we wanted to do is to make sure that we had an end-to-end solution we really controlled and could deliver the end-user experience we want to deliver. We think it’s going to be stunning and breakthrough in its execution, and we’re working on some very exciting new devices to go with it”.

Don't Count Palm out just yet.  I think we loyal Palm users have to remind the entire tech world about that.  It's like David and Goliath, but I have always gone for the underdog.

How Long Is Palm Going to Wait?

Time is running out.

Palm as they stand right now is falling behind the curve of advancement in the smartphone world.  In about 3 weeks time, Apple is about to unleash the 3G iPhone and again, Palm is set to lose more users to the mighty Jobs regime.  In the year that the iPhone has come out, it does seem that Palm is the company that has suffered the most from it.   

Back in 2004, Palm dominated the smartphone market with more than 50% of the US marketshare, but in the succeeding years, this has dropped dramatically.  This was reduced to more than half in 2006, to about 23%, and this was before the iPhone came out.  And when the iPhone came out, Apple just made lunch out of Palm's market share and reduced Palm's share to a single digit, 7.9% to be exact in the quarter before last.  And according to a survey when the iPhone came out, a majority of new iPhone users were previous owners of Treos.

I think these facts are shouting out that Palm has been the company hit most by iPhone's ascension into power, and with the new iPhone 3G coming out, there will be more Treo Users who will be flocking to the iPhone.

Is Palm worried at all? Are they aware that they are the ones who are about to lose the most with the new iPhone 3G?

I am sure the Centro will continue to sell, but majority of these are going to be first time users. I hope Palm does not rest on the Centro too much.   There remains to be millions more Treo users today, and Palm is going to risk losing these Palm Users when the iPhone is coming out.  Surely Palm needs to show something NOW to these current owners of Treos to keep them from going to the "Dark Side" and have them hold on to their Treos longer, or more importantly hold on to Palm OS longer.

Ed Colligan, I have no doubt that you love the Palm community dearly, and unless you show us something to look forward to, i am not sure if current Treo users love Palm enough to hold on for one more year.  Please..... give us a reason to hold on to our Treos.  We really want to keep them, but as the other smartphone makers continue to show what they have up their sleeves, it is getting HARDER and HARDER. 

Help us out Ed. Help us out Palm.

The New HotSync

Palm made its mark in the mobile computing arena not only with its PIM suite, but with the concept of HotSync.  It was innovating.  The ability to sync your data with your desktop and ability to holdover edits you made with your documents between the two devices.

It then grew to a new type of Hotsync with the release of the LifeDrive.  I owned this 4GB monster of a PDA and one of its most useful aspects was the ability to sync not just your PIMs and Documents but almost any type of data in LifeDrive's hard drive with any of the folders in your desktop.  It was easy and very useful.

But then Palm Desktop hit a roadblock with the advent of Vista.  Even though Palm was able to release a Vista compatible version, there were still reports of numerous bugs and inconsistencies with the software.   Palm was lost without own Palm Desktop, something they lost with the sale of PalmSource to ACCESS.

Then came Missing Sync for Mac.  This took Palm's Desktop Syncing to the next level.   It came with the ability to sync not  only your PIMs, not only your data and folders, but also your iPhoto pictures and even your music in iTunes, and a lot more.  But it was not Palm's.  And there was no way that Palm had enough money to buy this fantastic piece of software and make it theirs.

With Palm Desktop and Hotsync in ACCESS's hands, Palm had to look for another alternative to Hotsyncing.   Another way they can innovate.  And it looks like they have found a savior in somewhere up the clouds...

Quoting Ed Colligan in his latest interview:

“We’re focused on executing our own system, mostly because we really believe that to create the most compelling solution it should be an integrated package much like we started with the Palm OS and doing the original Palm Pilots: we did the operating system, we did the hardware and we did the whole synching architecture and the desktop tie-in, which is equivalent to the Web these days."

Cloud Hotsync.

Is the Cloud really the new Desktop?  With the advent of Web 2.0, Palm seems to think it is.

But Palm is not really innovating with this.  They are not the first one to do this.  GooSync for Google has been available for different mobile platforms for sometime now.  However, it has not gained the proper traction to get mainstream use.  It is not yet built into the people's consciousness.  It's not yet part of their lifestyle.  And that is where Palm has to make its mark. 

Apple actually has introduced the MobileMe service, which provides very much all of the functions that i have described above.  But it is not free.  Actually $100-a year more-than-free.   

Having to pay for a service like this will not make it mainstream, especially given the hard times we are facing today.  And this is where Palm should come in.  Palm's Cloud Hotsyncing  should provide not only a flawless end to end solution for syncing all of our data with multiple devices, but more than anything, it should be free.  It should be part of the software package that will come with the new Palm devices, much like the Palm Desktop was.

Again Palm is trying to make its mark in the mobile computing world with this. 

Let's put this in a historical perspective:

Palm may not have made the first handheld computer.... but they were the first ones to do PDA's right, and make the PDA's that everyone wanted to use. 

Much the same way, Palm may not be the first to introduce syncing with the Cloud, but they will try to be the ones who will do it right, and make Cloud Syncing part of the world's consciousness, part of our culture.