Palm OS: 2 down, 2 up
Unfortunately, the Palm OS world recently lost a licensee. HandEra, formerly TRG, produced two really nice devices -- the TRG Pro and the HandEra 330. Both devices pioneered the Compact Flash form factor on Palm OS, while the H330 was the first experiment in proving a non-square screen with a Graffiti area that could be dismissed.
HandEra indicates that the cost of licenses kept them from producing a new device. This seems to be an artifact of the Palm/PalmSource split, with license fees increasing to make PalmSource successful. I'd expect the Graffiti 2 cost is also factored into new fees, making the OS more expensive than before. Does this mean that we'll see more licensees not renew? I think HandEra is a special case -- a small company that just didn't have the right focus. The H330 was nice, but it never was updated to color, 16MB, or 66MHz, all things that enterprise's would have found useful.
On the positive front, Palm itself seems to be on a roll with the introduction of the Zire 71 and the Tungsten C. Taking positions in the middle and high end of the PDA world, these devices should be really popular, especiall the camera-laden Zire 71. The T|C might finally be the right device for the business environment, with a really smart bundle of software built into the device. I've got both on order, and should be able to tell you all about them next week.
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Copyright © 2004 Benjamin L. Combee
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The views expressed on this website/weblog are those of mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of PalmSource or Metrowerks.
qwertYAK / frobnovich
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