TamsPalm – the Palm OS / web OS Blog

iambic’s COO Adriano Chiaretta took the time to sit down with us for a detailed look at the state of his company. He may be the last, but he’s got a lot to say…let’s go!

Please tell us more about yourself and your company!
iambic was founded at the end of 1993, starting off developing solutions for one of the very first PDAs, the Apple Newton. Making it easy to do time and expense tracking while on the go was the primary focus. Later in 1994 the company expanded its area of focus to include personal information management (PIM). As a result, Action Names was born.=20

Through the years, that application evolved to what is now Agendus, currently available for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry, as well as Windows desktop PCs.=20

During the last few years, we expanded our portfolio with the introduction of a number of titles of broader reach in areas such as personal productivity, vehicle managers, health and diet applications, call management and action taking. This across most mobile platforms — including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Android, and soon iPhone.

In a nutshell, our mission is to empower users to make the most out of their time wherever they are -on the go or at the desk-, through the creation of easy-to-use, yet powerfully customizable solutions.

Did the resuscitation of PalmGear affect your sales?
So far we didn’t notice much of a difference from the time when Palm OS titles were sold through Pocketgear, and now that they are back on PalmGear.

Do you feel the effects of the American sub-prime crisis?
Well everyone at some extent is feeling the effects of this global not-so-great moment in time and we certainly are not immune to that.

Then again, even when things are not bright there’s always someone doing great no matter what, just like when things are bright there’s always someone not in great shape. All this said, every down moment is followed by an up moment, and we are looking forward for that to start taking place.

In General, are you (still) happy with the sales rates of your Palm OS products?
Things have been slowing down on the Palm OS side, not surprisingly. Hence everyone scrambling onto more popular and promising mobile platforms. This has been the same for us.

Did the fast-selling Centro affect your sales?
Not much. My feeling is that the $69.95 audience is not exactly incline / interested / tech savvy enough to bother getting apps on their mobiles. And if they do bother, they stay away from anything priced above the $0.99 mark.

For the most part at least, then as always there are exceptions, but not in a number large enough to sensibly show up as a positive effect from Centro sales.

How long do you expect to stay in the Palm OS market?
As long as it makes sense to, i.e. as long as we have a certain audience there. For the moment the Agendus for Palm OS audience is still rather strong, and we are actually working towards a major new version of our flagship title.

Do you plan any new Palm OS products?
Not in the immediate. Then again, things these days change so quickly and we’ve seen so much turmoil in the mobile operating systems in the past year or so, that nothing can really be set in stone.

Do you see any future for Nova?
Haven’t looked deep enough into it or into the rumors surrounding it to be able to come up with a meaningful answer. From a quick goggling around last news about it goes back to May 2008. Guess that tells us something. If there is any future for Nova, not much has transpired out so far.

What is your future platform of choice?
These days I’m carrying around an iPhone and a BlackBerry Bold. The iPhone OS and the BlackBerry OS are the two where I see the most activity in terms of innovations, while Android is another one I’m closely watching.

So I’d say 3 platforms of choice rather than one… or perhaps I just can’t make up my mind quite yet, or perhaps these days we just can’t afford the luxury to have one platform of choice only

Anything you would like to add?
Not at this time. I meant to write one liners to the questions above, ended up writing novels… I think I said too much already

Apparently, MSI has just increased its server capacities by 100x – their update web site is now back up:

In case anyone of you owns a Wind: get the update here before it vanishes again…

One of the most-anticipated features of my MSI Wind U100 was that orange icon next to the F10 key – it currently allows me to underclock the machine while on the go. However, MSI originally promised a 20% overclocking feature…and just fulfilled its promise.

According to ElectricVagabond, BIOS version 1.09 enables overclocking and generally increases performance by a few percent – this unfortunately comes at the price of less available RAM (more graphics RAM):

* Bios 1.08 | Stock score 685 | 24% Overclock score 868
* Bios 1.09 | Stock score 716 | 24% Overclock score 929

Not only will installing the bios give you an approx 5% increase over 1.08 (and even more over older bioses) but enabling a 24% overclock will roughly give you a 30% increase in performance.

BTW: in case anyone of you plans to get the update now – forget it. MSI’s web site has collapsed due to overwhelming demand…looks like my U100 will have to wait a bit.

Just a quick hit to all Linux/Mac users here at TamsPalm:

While I certainly do not condone the use of nonfree software I felt this worthy to pass on:

So on Tuesday, all of CodeWeavers products, which allow Mac and Linux users to run Windows applications, can be downloaded for free — instead of $40 each — at the company’s website, www.codeweavers.com.

not sure exaclty the time of its expiration, but I am currently watching a friend blast away on Battlefield 1942

Original source: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/33338904.html?elr=KArksUUUU

The boys at Resco’s have created a few really lovely Palm OS applications – while most of you probably already know Viewer and Explorer, I would like to remind you of a few uncommon (but highly useful) ones:

Resco BackUp
Ever lost some data due to a crash? If yes, you probably already have Resco BackUp! If not, get it ASAP – these 11$ will save you loads of grief!

Resco IDGuard – WITH DESKTOP
Stop putting your personal data at risk! Get IDGuard now, and keep your passwords, passport numbers, credit cards, etc safe!

Resco Neeews
Resco Neeews is the best news reader for the Palm OS. If you wish to stay on top of TamsPalm or any other Tamoggemon news service with your handheld or smartphone, get this ASAP!

The program also includes a variety of other (booh ) channels for you to choose from – expand your horizon and get Neeews for just 16$ with the discount code below!

Resco Sudoku
I absolutely loath Sudoku – but if your boy/girlfriend likes it, this 12$ program can buy you a lot of peace…

Hit the links above to get them in the TamsShop – the discount code JANISTAM gets you 20% off the purchase price until the 1st of November!

This one is very important for all Austrian readers of Tamoggemon’s content network. Austria’s governmental carrier A1 has suffered an extensive network outage, leaving parts of Austria without voice, data and SMS service.

As Three shares A1’s network in some (rural) areas, this outage can also affect 3 handsets outside of their home 3G network. Three customers can thus try to fight back by forcing their handset into 3G only mode, while A1 users have to sit it out.

Once again: do NOT change your A1 handset’s settings. You can NOT do anything on the client side!

P.S. In case you feel like further information on Three’s network – hit this URL for a nice interview!

A recent report by Standard&Poor’s names Palm one of the few companies endangered by the current sub-prime crisis. I personally am not surprised – here is why I think that Palm is the worst possible place for money invested into mobile computing.

We best – ignore industry trends
In the last years, Palm has repeatedly ignored industry trends. As an example, let’s take proper web browsing. Insider sources have told me that Opera repeatedly approached Palm with an offer to create a web browser for the platform…only to be ignored.

Palm seems to live by the NIH syndrome – if it’s not invented here, it sucks.

We don’t need money – ignoring the Palm faithful
While we all agree that the PDA is a dying breed of handheld, I wonder why Palm doesn’t offer a step-gap solution for its customers. HP still offers PDA’s, and furthermore offers smartphones that combine big rectangular screens with a keyboard and a phone.

We gamble – betting all on one form factor
Continued from above: if Palm wants to make smartphones only, why do they have to bet it all on one form factor. Yes, the Treo is well-done – but it takes many phones to make a world. Why not offer a touchscreen-only device, a flip phone and a slide-out keyboard one?

This diversification of the platform would make selling Palm devices (and the Palm experience) much easier. Instead of forcing customers down one road, why not let them choose which way they wish to go?

We great – kicking third-party developers in the butt
The final – and very grievous – topic involves Palm’s handling of its developers and enthusiasts. Web sites like the PocketPC FAQ have existed for ages; developers have created PocketPCfoo apps enhancing the operating system.

Palm, on the other hand, feels that this is not needed. In fact, it even is impossible to advertise products for Treo on AdSense nowadays – if that isn’t an effective way to slow down the Palm ecosystem, what is?

In the end, it all comes down to the age-old problem of self reflection and proactive management. Palm’s management seems to lack both capabilities: the company’s recent life can be described as luck and turmoil (IMHO). Palm needs to refocus on its old core values of “being the platform that works best” – unless they do that quickly, we can IMHO short their stock…

What do you think?

Let’s be honest: if you wish for a smartphone with a good camera, this is not the right blog to follow. Nokia has managed to outpace Palm significantly when cameras are concerned: once again – if you wish for high-res cameras, hitting TamsS60 is the only reasonable thing to do.

Palm’s concept is different. For them, the camera is all about sharing – it must capture an image that looks well on-screen and is small enough to MMS/email out quickly. As we have had a Centro in our office (courtesy of Palm Germany) and lovely lit buildings nearby (courtesy of Vienna), it was time for a shoot-out!

The Centro is always on the left – click the images for the full and unedited files

First of all, it was time for night scenes. The Centro overexposed the images more and also had worse issues with “leaking” on overexposed areas:

Don’t ask me why the absolutely useless Viennese traffic service sent a train right when I needed one – as you can see, the Train is barely visible on the Treo, and completely blurred on the Centro’s. This clearly shows that the Treo has the shorter shutter time:

Finally, it was time for a really dark object standing in a non-lit Turkish airways shop. The Treo managed to crank up its sensitivity and got the image (even though it is insanely noisy) – the Centro “gave up”. Its image also shows the plane, but needs editing to unveil it:

In the end, neither of the two boxen manages to create truly printable (aka 15×10cm) results. Nevertheless, the Treo 680 remains the more universal device of the two. Even though the Centro has the higher physical resolution, its slower shutter speed and lower sensitivity make it even less desirable in low light.

What do you think?

It’s this part of the month once again – AdMob has provided me with a new Metrics Report. For all these of you new to the topic: AdMob is a company that focuses on serving up ads to mobile devices. Thus, they find themselves in an unique position for gathering data about market shares – and gladly pass that data on to the press.

As usual, I have picked out the most interesting bits of info – links to the full report can be found at the links below:
Palm OS – US market share takes decisive blow
The Palm Os finally is out of the US top 20 except for the Centro. The figure on the left is from August, while the figure on the right is from September. The single big winner is the iPhone, which now has about 3.2% of market share compared to the 3.4% of the Centro:

US – carriers and manufacturers
Our next char looks at which carrier deploys wich mobile phones. One can immediately seer that Sprint is the single biggest user of Palm devices, while MetroPCS acts as a game reserve for dead or dying phone manufacturers:

OS market share analysis
When it comes to OS shares all around the world, the Palm OS still manages to take in 6%. Symbian dominates the market, Windows Mobile and RIM OS fight about the second place:

Further reading
September 2008 – PDF
August 2008 – PDF

P.S: Should the PDF links ever go down, please let us know – we have them archived!

The folks at PalmInfoCenter’s have just managed to get their hands onto one of Palm’s new Centros: you may recall Sprint releasing pink and green versions with more RAM a few weeks ago.

Anyways, the devices appear to be overhauled significantly. The changes are as following:

• Soft-touch rubber on case (Zire 72, anyone?)
• Keyboard texture improved to feel less “smooth”
• 124MB of RAM free after hard reset
• Improved Google Maps, Facebook client and AstraWare Sudoku in ROM

Sprint will replace their existing Centros on the 19th (aka a few days ago); Palm themselves will start to peddle the box on their web site on the 2nd of November. The devices will cost 80$ after a 100$ mail-in rebate…

Further information and a bunch of images can be had at the URL below:
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/7346/a-look-at-the-olive-green-centro/

I have already stopped to expect Nova devices hitting the road ever – but the odds have just improved significantly. A PEF member has just posted the following bit of info after trying to get his broken Treo 680 repaired:

I went to the local AT&T store here in CT and they couldn’t help me obtain a new one, and tried to sell me on a Centro (2G, yecch!). Then the salesperson hinted that I should hold off on buying a new PalmOS-based Palm, because he was recently sent to an all-day training where there was a Palm rep there who demoed and trained them on how to use, market and sell the “new” Palm devices coming at the end of the year. The AT&T person I spoke with said it is nothing like anything that’s already out there, including the iPhone or Android. I pushed for more details, and he said it wasn’t the device from ACCESS.

So that piqued my interest quite a bit… and I’ve decided to hold off upgrading my Treo 680 for the next few months, but I need to replace the one I have.

As of not, nothing is known about what these boxen will be and about how developers feel about them. Nevertheless, I always appreciate to hear sth positive from Palm’s end – no matter how small…

Aceeca has always impressed me with its almost insane level of customer support. Folks, the MEZ1000 is now over four years old – but ROM updates still come in every few months!

ROM507rc4 is currently in beta, and improves the following:

a) CF Driver – This update allows a much wider range of CompactFlash cards to be used.
b) Serial Driver – This update now empties the RX FIFO 100ms after the transceiver is enabled.

Further information can be had here:
http://www.aceeca.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114

So far, most carriers (except for Hutchison/Three) have loathed and feared VoIP applications like Skype or its mobile cousin Fring. In fact, some data plans prohibited users to use VoIP programs.

However, this is now set to change – Austria’s biggest carrier A1 just announced a cooperation with Fring:

….
announced today the first ever deployment of fring’s mobile VoIP and mobile internet community application for a Tier 1 network operator.

Under the agreement, mobilkom austria will give its customers access to a dedicated version of the fring mobile client, containing fring’s entire open-platform, feature-rich suite of internet based mobile communications & community services, allowing A1 over IP users to talk, chat and interact with each other & all of their online communities, and access fun mobile web applications, using the internet connection capability of their mobile device
….
Avi Shechter, fring’s co-founder and CEO commented: “Today’s announcement by fring and its new partner, mobilkom austria, represents just the beginning of a sea change in the relationship between mobile VoIP and traditional mobile carriers.
….

I am not exactly sure myself as to why A1 chose to take this rather radical step, as the carrier traditionally is known to be the exact opposite of offensive when it comes to adopting new technologies.

This combined with the Telefonica statements (coming soon) make me think that we are looking at a significant change in the carrier landscape. Traditionally, carriers have been afraid of innovation..this policy seems to change all over the board currently.

What do you think?

It is a truly paradox situation: you go to a Symbian Smartphone Show, only to find out that the actual show is organized by attendants wielding now-ancient Palm OS bar code sensors from Symbol.

As this is sure to evoke nostalgic feelings in the heart of every Palm OS fan, I asked all attendants I saw if they were ready to pose. Some gladly complied: