TamsPalm – the Palm OS / web OS Blog

Most of you probably already read Sagio’s report-the Windows Mobile Treo will be accompanied by a PalmOS cousin. Immediately, the PIC went bonkers…. and forgot Mike Cane’s editorial about operating systems(act of shameless self promotion: and my answer).

Indeed, I would not really wonder if the Windows Mobile and PalmOS powered handhelds would share the same planar. Actually, nowadays, with all three/four major handheld platforms running on the very same architecture, discussions about the OS are pointless. All the developer/licencee needs to do is get a Platform Builder for the OS he desires-burn the bin file into a ROM and the party is started.

Because of the extremely small effort involved, the idea of Palm releasing a Windows Mobile or even Linux handheld is not as far-fetched as some think. The R&D costs would be about zero for sure. In fact, it is very possible that a few prototypes of a Treo running Symbian exist. Other (reliable, ex-employee) sources rumored that Tapwave had Linux running on Zodiacs shortly before close-up. Actually, we could even see a few determined users porting Windows CE over to one of the old PalmOS handhelds with true RAM-I beleive that NVFS limits interoperatibility quite a bit.

If we continue to think along this track, we will soon see that Palm’s devices for WinCE and Palm OS probably will be very similar and may even appear simultaneously. Why should the wheel be reinvented?

What do you think?

When Apple first deployed its ipod vending machines(Gizmondo has the scoop and images), most people believed that this would not be specially useful because the ipods simply didn’t contain any music and also weren’t charged. Vodafone now follows suite and sells pre-paid cell phones in another vending machine.
Vodafone’s idea is a steep forward, as the phones can immediately be used out of the box. There is cash on the card, you have a number, you just need to charge the phone a bit(if it isn’t already charged like my T630i was) and go. It definitely is a good choice for people who want to steer away from high roaming costs IMHO.

Anyways, there is one company I really miss here: Palm. Palm-lets ignore their sometimes horrid device quality and customer care for now-has everything it needs to power such a shop. It has cheap, simple-to-use handhelds that can be sold easily-and it has NVFS technology. Due to NVFS, the handhelds could survive longer in the vending machines as they needed less current to stay active. The “shelf life” would be limited by the batteries self discharge rate, which is pretty low. If such a handheld is packed up with DocumentsToGo, VersaMail, Blazer and a few games/apps in thr NVFS area, it can be used right out of the box just like a cell phone can.

This would IMHO appeal to many users and would be a very effective way to sell the “low-end” boxen. I don’t mean LifeDrives and Tungsten X’s here, but rather a Tungsten E2, a Z22, a Z31 and such stuff. As long as the device isn’t DOA when you take it out of the machine, it may lead to a satisfied customer(simplifies impulse buying). Palm would become independent of the expensive human-operated stores, and thus could reach even “remote areas” with their handhelds. Usually, people are OS loyal-so if someone once has a PalmOS handheld, there is a high chance that he will stick to it. So, PalmSource could maybe make a buck and some market share here as well-buy a bunch of Palms, and offer it to the manufacturer of the ipod vending machines,…. .

Do you think this is a good idea?