Editorial: Palm Pre's Fat Chance

[ADGrant]

Originally Posted by Zyphlin

I think he GREATLY misrepresents how "simple" it will be for the iPhone to catch up to Multitasking. The current "push" system going in for 3.0 isn't really even that close, and I doubt you'd see anything greater than that in a year. And, even then, it sounds like from what Palm's saying that it'd take an entirely new architecure and possibly new hardware for it to handle true multitasking on the iPhone without killing battery.

It wouldn't take any new hardware to add 3rd Party Application multitasking to the iPhone nor would it take an "entirely new architecture". It might require some additions to the SDK though (and probably the UI code).

[Zyphlin]

Originally Posted by ADGrant

It wouldn't take any new hardware to add 3rd Party Application multitasking to the iPhone nor would it take an "entirely new architecture". It might require some additions to the SDK though (and probably the UI code).

See, perhaps I've gotten bad information. From what I understand jailbroke iPhones that utilize multitasking tend to have horrible battery life during it. Similarly, Apple has stated the reason they don't allow for full multitasking is because it causes severe battery drain for the device.

If this is simply a software issue I imagine they could change that but if it was a simple fix I don't see why they wouldn't have done this by now. If its a hardware issue then would it not need new hardware for it to work in any way that wasn't a horrendous battery drain?

It seems like, from what Apple has said, getting it to multitask in a battery consious way would take a large overhaul of the OS. Granted, I may be wrong, just cobbling together from what they've essentially let on about it.

[jayzun]

Originally Posted by Zyphlin

See, perhaps I've gotten bad information. From what I understand jailbroke iPhones that utilize multitasking tend to have horrible battery life during it. Similarly, Apple has stated the reason they don't allow for full multitasking is because it causes severe battery drain for the device.

If this is simply a software issue I imagine they could change that but if it was a simple fix I don't see why they wouldn't have done this by now. If its a hardware issue then would it not need new hardware for it to work in any way that wasn't a horrendous battery drain?

It seems like, from what Apple has said, getting it to multitask in a battery consious way would take a large overhaul of the OS. Granted, I may be wrong, just cobbling together from what they've essentially let on about it.

You're right, AD is wrong. You can enable multitasking on the iPhone but it would be severely limited. The OS is just not made for running multiple applications at the same time while reducing battery drain. Think of webOS as the iPhone web browser. Within the iPhone browser you can open multiple web pages and run them concurrently. The webOS is basically the same concept, so it's not a big battery drain because they're just web pages! It really is quite brilliant.

[cary328is]

I think a lot of Pre's success depends a lot on the developer support and how Palm will grant more direct access to the hardware. If you look at the number of support from PreDevCamp alone:

preDevCamp

I think just the sheer number of developers (without direct sponsorship from Palm) who are looking forward to this phone and the way they have all organized is a great sign that good things are to come.

Yeah I know there will most likely be a lot of "iFart" type of apps that will be available but I just have a feeling that there will be a lot of "killer apps" As long as Palm isn't so restrictive with the development process - more people will be encouraged to bring some great things to the table

[TonyTurboII]

Im not sure who William Van Winkle is, but Ill put it this way. It looks like a subsection of Tom's Hardware. When I want an a review of a phone this will be the last place I look. Stick to what you know, computer hardware.

[jhoff80]

Originally Posted by TonyTurboII

It looks like a subsection of Tom's Hardware. When I want an a review of a phone this will be the last place I look. Stick to what you know, computer hardware.

Hahaha, right. Tom's Hardware is notoriously bad for computer hardware reviews as well.

[TonyTurboII]

I don't do much with building PCs, but it is even funnier that their hardware reviews are bad too.

[ksom]

The hard part to beat RIM is the tight integration and support of secure email. Just like Apple has its specialty, RIM has a very special appeal to businesses. I always liked Treo more than Blackberry, from the screen, apps, PIM, etc. However, Treo never got approved by our IT department. For a big business, the most important thing is security. Treo is not secure or at least not easy to be made secure.

I think the writer has some points, though I would be more than happy if our company support Pre, I don't see it can happen. So the question of target market is valid. iPhone has a huge advantage now on media heavy apps, so that really leave a very small area for Pre, small businesses and big heavy PIM users. One possibility is that Pre may kill Android, if Palm can forge a good relationship with Google. If Palm can prove to Google that it can do better to provide Google services through Pre, Google can shift away from supporting Android to Pre (or maybe even acquire Palm ?).

[philips]

Is it just me - or does anyone else get the feeling that a lot of these "Palm-Pre-DOA" articles seem to be planted by short-sellers?

There was heavy short interest in Palm stock, last I checked, and I am sure a lot of them are getting squeezed with the stock's run-up.

This article was SOOOO lame...

[philips]

Originally Posted by ksom

The hard part to beat RIM is the tight integration and support of secure email. Just like Apple has its specialty, RIM has a very special appeal to businesses. I always liked Treo more than Blackberry, from the screen, apps, PIM, etc. However, Treo never got approved by our IT department. For a big business, the most important thing is security. Treo is not secure or at least not easy to be made secure.

See, this is something I never understood. What is is that makes the Blackberry so secure? And why can't the same be done with the Treo or other WM phones?

Or, is it the 'Berry's 'push' e-mail that makes it so attractive? Doesn't EAS do it pretty well too?

[meyerweb]

The iPhone had no "killer app" when it debuted. In fact, it was app starved. This guy simply has no clue as to what motivates buyers.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by philips

See, this is something I never understood. What is is that makes the Blackberry so secure? And why can't the same be done with the Treo or other WM phones?

Or, is it the 'Berry's 'push' e-mail that makes it so attractive? Doesn't EAS do it pretty well too?

The BB was designed from the ground up to appeal to corporate email users, and corporate email admins. You can lock down the device(s) completely from the BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server), you can require the device to check in, and wipe it clean if it's lost or stolen, you can set password policies, you can control which apps can and cannot be put on the devices, and a ton of other stuff that I haven't tried or simply forgotten.

ActiveSync on Exchange is getting there, but it's not there yet.

BTW, I believe this, and other factors, will speed it along.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by cary328is

...
Yeah I know there will most likely be a lot of "iFart" type of apps that will be available
...

How about one that has the an iPhone farting??

[philips]

Originally Posted by hparsons

ActiveSync on Exchange is getting there, but it's not there yet.

BTW, I believe this, and other factors, will speed it along.

So, you don't foresee BES's lead in the corporate sector being overtaken anytime soon?

By "this", are you referring to the Pre?

[aero]

Originally Posted by jcunwired

I beg to differ - synergy and multitasking (on a smartphone) are indeed solutions to the difficulties we have in communicating in a human-multitasking, mobile environment.

yes, but webOS is not the first to bring these to smartphones. WM is highly synergistic and of course multitasks.

[hparsons]

Originally Posted by philips

So, you don't foresee BES's lead in the corporate sector being overtaken anytime soon?

No, not overtaken. However, challenged, most definitely. The first step has been corporations that have little to moderate need for the level of control that BES provides will use those other systems (BES is relatively expensive, other solutions to other email systems are much less so). Then, those other systems will offer more and more features coming closer to a parity with what BES offers.

Competition is a good thing.

Originally Posted by philips

By "this", are you referring to the Pre?

Well, in the post, I was actually referring to Microsoft licensing Active Sync to other push server platforms. However, it can apply to the Pre as well. Pre, out of the box, is going to rely on Active Sync. That means that other solutions will provide Active Sync capability (assuming the Pre is as popular as I think it's going to be).

Here's an example. Novell has included (for those that purchase software maintenance) GroupWise Mobile Server for several years. This is a push service for GroupWise systems, as well as a calendar/contact/memo synch service, for Palm OS's and Windows Mobile. This was an OEM'd version of a product originally from Intellisync, subsequently purchased by Nokia. Nokia has announced they are discontinuing the system. Novell has announced they will be offering another solution as part of their package, and that it will include ActiveSync.

You can bet that the capabilities of that new version of GroupWise Mobile Server (whatever they choose to call it) is going to have more capabilities that are more in line with BES.

You can also just about bet that it will be easy to add the Pre to that "cloud system", since the Pre is going to use Active Sync out of the box.