[gadgetluva]

The iPod Touch is primarily an MP3 player/Video Player/Picture Viewer with some other functions added. The webOS is primarily...a Web OS.

[ADGrant]

why do you guys think old PDAs are not attractive?

Because they don't have a phone and I don't want to carry two devices (actually three if I include my work Blackberry). I won't ever buy another PDA, unless you count the iPod touch as a PDA which I might consider just because the media features in PalmOS are frankly lousy. I would not use the touch as a PDA though and would only carry it if felt in the need of some A/V entertainment (and in place of my PSP or Sony eReader).

The other major advantage of a Smartphoen over a PDA is of course the address book. On a Smartphone I can actually dial numbers or send messages from it.

[frantid]

I don't use my (palm based) garmin ique 3600 as a pda anymore, it's a good gps though. I got tired of carrying 2 devices, that's why I got the 680. We're a family of 5, I've tried to convince my wife about pda - but there's too much maintenance in it for her. She loves the calendar hanging on the wall and a pen. I sold my dad on a pda (palm E2), based on a golf scoring app which integrates bluetooth gps for performance tracking. My eldest son uses one for the English, Spanish dictionaries and thesaurus, plus calculator on it (palm E2) - less weight in his backpack. No one besides me, uses the calendar, tasks or contact apps.

I think the old pda users are now smartphone users, those that use them for work. Everyone else, doesn't use their calendars on the phones or computers that they own. I think palm did think why the pda's are dying - so they're going after those people that actually use cloud services - facebook, youtube, google calendar, blogging, IM, etc. It's a big market.


However, I still think a webOS based magnetic, touchscreen pda with wifi on the fridge might work. That is if we could get the kid's sports coaches, music teachers and schools to put their schedules in the cloud -- with the internet for recipes, tv schedules, movie times. IM would be great, my kids respond faster on IM or SMS than they do by voice -- be it phone when out, or when standing outside of their bedroom doors.

It could work, but I'd have to do all the work - putting all the calendaring in the cloud -- I'd still probably be the only one using it in the family though. Like I said the wife loves paper and pen.

[publicid]

iPod Touch is a decent product, im sure with superior WebOS, a Palm WebOS PDA would be great. I have no problem putting out $300 for it.

Would Palm ever consider this?

A smartphone have many aspect that are not device related (network, contract, plan, etc), a PDA would have no problem at all.

It should be easy to adjust webOS for a PDA that is not always connected. think about it, WebOS is the closest thing to a real computer that any Mobile device ever be, a truly multi-tasking device that can in many situations, replace a computer in finishing the task.

This would be a huge hit. I don't believe PDA market is dead, its just nobody had come up with right product. iPod touch has nice UI, but fundamentally is not multi-tasking so it can't in anyway be used to replace a computer. But WebOS CAN.

This is right product to revive the PDA market. Palm should do it.

What do you think?

I am all for this idea. In fact, I would go one step further, why not a netbook (foleo -remember?) runs the WebOS. The OS seems to be "powerful" enough to power a netbook with always-on Wifi... Life would be good...

[clevin]

I am all for this idea. In fact, I would go one step further, why not a netbook (foleo -remember?) runs the WebOS. The OS seems to be "powerful" enough to power a netbook with always-on Wifi... Life would be good...

That sounds good to me.

I just want to emphasis that,the potential of WebOS is that it is a near complete OS that is capable of replacing a computer OS.

It can be deployed to devices beyond a smartphone. The opportunity should be explored.

Its fundamentally an Linux Core, and I have little doubt others will follow, It might take them some time, since I think this is a major milestone of mobile OS history and may not be very easy to adapt for other producers. I don't see apple doing it in iPhone 3, but I would be extremely surprised if they didn't do anything of real multi-tasking in iPhone 5.0. I dont think apple is dumb enough to overlook this new trend.

So I think Pam should occupy as much area as they can with this WebOS ASAP. This is golden, and it should be used to its maximum potential.

I see people are applauding for Palm, but I have the feeling that many people still didn't see the true potential of this WebOS. I hope Sprint and Palm marketing it right, and pushing it out to devices other than a smartphone.

People who just want one device for everything can choose to do so, for sure, but Palm shouldn't be limiting webOS to one field.

[ADGrant]

I just want to emphasis that,the potential of WebOS is that it is a near complete OS that is capable of replacing a computer OS.

No it really isn't. A computer OS typically comes with a full set of development tools, WebOS's SDK just supports Web style development. The OS has been specialized for Smartphones.

[clevin]

No it really isn't. A computer OS typically comes with a full set of development tools, WebOS's SDK just supports Web style development. The OS has been specialized for Smartphones.

I am not sure, OS is how user interact with the platform, how the work flows,

not what apps people can use. Or what certain tasks people can do with it.

[ADGrant]

I am not sure, OS is how user interact with the platform, how the work flows,

not what apps people can use. Or what certain tasks people can do with it.

An OS is about much more than the UI. There's the filesystem, the thread scheduler, the memory management system and the APIs exposed to app developers. An OS with no apps is no use to anybody.

[clevin]

of course, but its extremely possible to build apps for WebOS with limited internet requirement.

[RC46]

Since WebOS assumes a wireless connection this seems a silly idea.

Not a bad idea at all. And who says it can't be a wireless PDA. I would buy one. It would give me a chance to slowly migrate my data to the WebOS and get familiar with it before making it my primary device.

Actually Palm has made a wireless PDA before. The i705. It was really cool in its time and got reception about everywhere. There was also the Tungsten W but that was *almost* a phone.

[ADGrant]

Not a bad idea at all. And who says it can't be a wireless PDA. I would buy one. It would give me a chance to slowly migrate my data to the WebOS and get familiar with it before making it my primary device.

Actually Palm has made a wireless PDA before. The i705. It was really cool in its time and got reception about everywhere. There was also the Tungsten W but that was *almost* a phone.

The Tungsten W was a phone. BTW if what you want is a Pre which can't make voice calls, buy one with a data only plan.

[jhoff80]

The other issue is how it appears to everyone else. Palm wants their focus to clearly be on smartphones. If you remember, when the Foleo was announced, Palm was yelled at for concentrating on additional products when their phone is what they really needed to work on. By concentrating first on phones only it gives the appearance of wanting to do everything right on that first before they move to other areas. That's why I also think a Foleo 2 is a long long ways away.

[clevin]

The other issue is how it appears to everyone else. Palm wants their focus to clearly be on smartphones. If you remember, when the Foleo was announced, Palm was yelled at for concentrating on additional products when their phone is what they really needed to work on. By concentrating first on phones only it gives the appearance of wanting to do everything right on that first before they move to other areas. That's why I also think a Foleo 2 is a long long ways away.

I understand, but there is an opportunity there, and I don't believe the opportunity window will open forever. iPod Touch already exist, how possible or how long will it take for apple to develop multi-tasking OS for it? I bet no longer than 3 years. Last time I checked, iPod touch just got a HOT sale over the xmas

Multi-tasking OS is a trend that Im sure every other player will follow. Its just too good. And it can't be patented.

Palm has an idea advantage right here, but technical advantage doesn't exist. google, apple can do this very soon. Palm need to fill every opportunity ASAP.

[meyerweb]

I think a Pre sized device w/o the phone is a non-starter. These days, everyone carries a phone, so why carry a phone and a phoneless Pre?

The iPod Touch doesn't sell as a PDA, it sells as an iPod. Yes, it has minimal PDA functions, but I'm willing to bet very few owners use them. My son has an iTouch. He uses it to play music and games, and occasionally play games on the web. I'm not sure he even knows it has a calendar.

But a WebOS Foleo might have a huge market, especially if it still has EVDO capability built-in. A big screen, keyboard, and the ability to truly access the web almost anywhere, rather than just where there's wi-fi, could be huge. A netbook on Steroids. But I also think it would need a wired connection. There are lots of places I can jack in to a network but not get a wi-fi connection.

A Foleo that doesn't have it's own connectivity, and still needs a phone? Maybe, with WebOS. The problem with the first Foleo was that it really didn't do much. But with all the capabilities of the Pre, and a large screen, it might work.

[clevin]

I think these are all good opportunities Palm should explore, do some massive market investigation first. Im sure there will be potentials. Just don't tie down WebOS on a smartphone, especially in US there are so many restrictions among networks.

Apple can just rename iPT as iPDA or something else when they got multi-tasking figured out. and I think it will sell...

[ADGrant]

Apple can just rename iPT as iPDA or something else when they got multi-tasking figured out. and I think it will sell...

Apple already has multi-tasking figured out. The iPhone OS is quite capable of multi-tasking. Apple has restricted developers from taking advantage of the multi-tasking, presumbly due to resource concerns.

Palm has already said they plan to get out of the standalone PDA market. The iPod touch is not really a PDA, its an entertainment device.

[cgk]

Who is actually actively developing PDAs those days?

[B-model#CB]

This sounds good to me as well.

But really, isn't this just the foleo ???

[meyerweb]

This sounds good to me as well.

But really, isn't this just the foleo ???

No. The Foleo had very limited capabilities. The WebOS, with the full capabilities built in the Pre, would be a very different best althogether.

Apple can just rename iPT as iPDA or something else when they got multi-tasking figured out. and I think it will sell...

But why? There is no market for PDAs. Even Palm, who invented the category, can barely sell enough to bother building them. Are there any WinCE PDAs left? PDAs are ancient history. Smartphones ARE the new PDA.

[ADGrant]

No. The Foleo had very limited capabilities.

That was more because of the apps Palm chose to include, the OS was linux based just like WebOS.