[miles4000]

My only concern is that it will be alittle to top heavy with the keyboard out for one hand use.

[swieder]

What ever they announce on Thursday, I hope that its less than 90 days for general availability!

[rambo47]

Sliders are tricky things as far as quality control goes. Nokia has had slider mobiles in their lineup for ages and it's still hit-or-miss with quality of the mechanism. With Palm operating at a zero tolerance level for mistakes, I find the slider form a curious choice. While the slide concept solves some problems, it opens up other issues and avenues for complaint. Wobbly sliders or loose ones can ruin the image of a mobile so fast it's scary. How many of the first batch will wobble slightly and start the complaining? These initial reviews are going to be crucial for sales as everyone pours through the reviews to make a buying decision. If they get a "meh" rating for QC sales will suffer. If sales suffer, well, we all know what happens to Palm then.

[rambo47]

Two other factors that will be huge in determining the success/failure of the new device are:

Timing of availability (like swieder said in the post above).

Availability of apps right out of the box.

[miles4000]

"I hope that its less than 90 days for general availability!"

They did mention in the past that they will be available in the 1st half 2009. So that sounds like more in the May - June time range.

[doctoss]

Two other factors that will be huge in determining the success/failure of the new device are:

Timing of availability (like swieder said in the post above).

Availability of apps right out of the box.

Are apps that important as long as backwards compatable? I took back the bb storm in anticipation of Nova and because I could not find adequate apps fit for the storm.

[PalmKing]

Here is another mock by Rob Beschizza:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/0...the-itreo.html

[Caduceus]

Now if that design is true and it included either a touch pad for the mouse or a trackball.... THAT would be a homerun. Im also wondering if it (screen) spins like the other mockups we saw last month leaked.

That is a cool thought. A screen that could rotate as well as slide would solve the problem of the keyboard being at the side if you wanted to use the device in landscape mode... That would be so cool but I don't know how feasible a design like that would be.

[Geo-Treo]

The trend towards big, capacitive-touch screens necessitates some sort of hidden keyboard (unless you go with a soft keyboard). A device similar to the Treo Pro with a larger screen and a slider is logical. A Treo Pro form factor with the new OS will be needed, too, because many people don't like sliders with their added bulk and big-screen power consumption.

The (many) remaining questions are how good is the OS, are the core apps complete, can it run Palm apps effectively, what carriers will it run on, and when will it be available? A lot of pieces have to fall into place for this to be a success.

[Milenkod]

Sliders are tricky things as far as quality control goes. Nokia has had slider mobiles in their lineup for ages and it's still hit-or-miss with quality of the mechanism. With Palm operating at a zero tolerance level for mistakes, I find the slider form a curious choice. While the slide concept solves some problems, it opens up other issues and avenues for complaint. Wobbly sliders or loose ones can ruin the image of a mobile so fast it's scary. How many of the first batch will wobble slightly and start the complaining? These initial reviews are going to be crucial for sales as everyone pours through the reviews to make a buying decision. If they get a "meh" rating for QC sales will suffer. If sales suffer, well, we all know what happens to Palm then.

If its an HTC built device, should be no worries...

[Dieter Bohn]

I didn't put this in the article, but I am 80% sure the ODM is Foxconn, NOT HTC.

[dslunceford]

I didn't put this in the article, but I am 80% sure the ODM is Foxconn, NOT HTC.

That's a pretty big deal as well.

Any info on timing and network (CDMA vs GSM)? As Rambo47 mentions, timing could be big deal here....unveil at CES and wait until late summer/fall would be a big yawner; get something out this spring would be huge.

[Milenkod]

I didn't put this in the article, but I am 80% sure the ODM is Foxconn, NOT HTC.

That's the ODM of the the 700/755p...right?

[west3man]

No offense, guys, but I am calling B.S. on this one. I've been waiting on something "spectacular" from Palm since at least 2000 and I don't have any reason to change my pessimistic stance...yet.

I just don't see how Palm is going to be able to handle a lot of stylus-heavy legacy Garnet (and earlier) apps to Nova without being able to support native stylus support. Just think of the impossibly small onscreen buttons used by some older Palm OS apps & games that might not have ever been updated to be Treo-friendly. You'd go nuts trying to jap that with a fingertip....unless, of course, Palm sees to include a special capacitive stylus with the unit.

Bingo.

Some complain about the very existence of the stylus, but I think they're particularly useful on the smaller screens we've had up to this point.

It's great that this device may sport a larger screen, but it's not necessary that great if it won't be any wider than what we've got now. I don't want a (vertically) longer screen. I want a bigger screen.

High resolution + Big screen = Happy camper.


What good would it do me to have a loooonnger screen besides not having to scroll down quite as much? Most webpages are so long that I'd STILL have to scroll down, so it sounds like a very limited benefit.

So far, it seems I'd have preferred the so-called Roteo form factor to what's rumored, at this point. I hope the reality is better, though.

[miles4000]

"feature some pretty snazzy transitions and animations "

Could these be based on using JavaFX mobile?

[Darth Pooh]

Foxconn, hmmm, I have a nvidia clone MoBo from them, it's a good build. I'd like to think they have decent quality control, but I've heard people who bought the same model as me have issues.

YMMV.

[Milenkod]

who was the ODM for the 700/755 and current 800?

[miles4000]

Also thinking how that story regarding Graffiti being a major feature of OS doesnt make sense if Qwerty Keyboard is included. I guess they could still use it in landscape mode, but I dont think so.

[mclark2112]

What about looking to the Palm Heritage for an idea. I'm feeling a T|3 type of slider, with an always exposed keyboard.

The Keyboard is palm's killer feature. So rather than the keyboard sliding out from under the screen, I see the screen sliding out from behind the keyboard, going from square to 16:9 for media and browsing duties.

[samkim]

I'm not sure what "software bazaar" means. Is it a room filled with software vendors at tables showing off new products for the new OS? Or is it a quirky term for an online store?

Sliders are tricky things as far as quality control goes. Nokia has had slider mobiles in their lineup for ages and it's still hit-or-miss with quality of the mechanism. With Palm operating at a zero tolerance level for mistakes, I find the slider form a curious choice. While the slide concept solves some problems, it opens up other issues and avenues for complaint. Wobbly sliders or loose ones can ruin the image of a mobile so fast it's scary. How many of the first batch will wobble slightly and start the complaining? These initial reviews are going to be crucial for sales as everyone pours through the reviews to make a buying decision. If they get a "meh" rating for QC sales will suffer. If sales suffer, well, we all know what happens to Palm then.

They've got the Sidekick designer on their team, so I think they'll be able to make a reliable slider mechanism.