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Apple PDA... Again
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smart phones are for a niche of a niche market...
siliconaddict is right, in most cases they are tougher to enter info on, and most people dont want to have to reset their phone if something goes wrong...and battery life on a smart phone is often an issue.
plus they are expensive, plus they require working with a national carrier. there are a few smartphones that work well today, but i dont see them as being such a hot item that phone companies are going to jump to carry an apple smartphone, nor do i see apple starting their own wireless company or partnering with one in-store, one of which would need to happen for a smart phone to work.
so whether or not apple has a pda in the wings is one thing, but i say no way to an apple smartphone. too much mess for too little reward.
-carly
siliconaddict is right, in most cases they are tougher to enter info on, and most people dont want to have to reset their phone if something goes wrong...and battery life on a smart phone is often an issue.
plus they are expensive, plus they require working with a national carrier. there are a few smartphones that work well today, but i dont see them as being such a hot item that phone companies are going to jump to carry an apple smartphone, nor do i see apple starting their own wireless company or partnering with one in-store, one of which would need to happen for a smart phone to work.
so whether or not apple has a pda in the wings is one thing, but i say no way to an apple smartphone. too much mess for too little reward.
-carly
dude. . . i want one of those. . . but its not availble until fall 04
man, apple needs to drop a micro-sized G3 (G4 would melt in you hands if its anything like my 12"pb) in one of those. that is just cool. especially the docking part. just imagine a 'computer lab' would be a bunch of monitors and docks. . . . you just drop your computer into a dock and start working. its a nice dream for M$, but lets face it, only apple could pull off a device that could drop in and out of a dock with periferals that easilly (w/o having to install drivers for everything eight times over like windows)
oh well, maybe in some future computers will actually be that cool
one more thing. . .
a couple guys that work for oqo used to work for apple!!! maybe apple has been developing something similar. . . ceartainly would change the world of computing if apple could pull of such a product for a reasonable price (similarly priced to a laptop)
a couple guys that work for oqo used to work for apple!!! maybe apple has been developing something similar. . . ceartainly would change the world of computing if apple could pull of such a product for a reasonable price (similarly priced to a laptop)
do a search for the oqo on brighthand or any of the other handheld related sites...oqo has been promised for years, im fairly certain it was voted one of the best vaporware by wired magazine...maybe apple can get it right but the makers of the oqo havent yet.
did anyone ever see the video for the inexus? 
it's awesome, and if someone can host it, i'll mail it.
it's awesome, and if someone can host it, i'll mail it.smartphones
I find it interesting that people are saying 'smartphones won't replace pdas' when they already have. Now I know the US is a bit behind when it comes to phones but... Last year the biggest selling pda in the world was the SE P800... which, to all intents and purposes... is a phone!! The phone market is huge. The PDA (as it is) is a tint market and is doomed. Most people don't want an over-blown WidowsCE pda when they can get a P900 that does so many things more than competently.
I find it interesting that people are saying 'smartphones won't replace pdas' when they already have. Now I know the US is a bit behind when it comes to phones but... Last year the biggest selling pda in the world was the SE P800... which, to all intents and purposes... is a phone!! The phone market is huge. The PDA (as it is) is a tint market and is doomed. Most people don't want an over-blown WidowsCE pda when they can get a P900 that does so many things more than competently.
Re: smartphones
i know the p900 has enjoyed popularity in other parts of the world, but here it seems like palmone and sony still hang on to the top spots with hp popping up...and the only smartphones are made by palmone (the treos, from the handspring merger) and i believe hp may have one in the works.
frankly, you may be right, but i dont see it happening here for a long time, given how very $$$ they are compared to a bluetooth phone and pda combo.
thats just my view of the market from my tiny corner of the world...if we suddenly see price drops on smartphones things might change, but too expensive for too little benefit.
and the psion/symbian os the p900 uses still has not gained the same following palm and wince have over here, which is too bad because i've heard great things about it.
i know the p900 has enjoyed popularity in other parts of the world, but here it seems like palmone and sony still hang on to the top spots with hp popping up...and the only smartphones are made by palmone (the treos, from the handspring merger) and i believe hp may have one in the works.
frankly, you may be right, but i dont see it happening here for a long time, given how very $$$ they are compared to a bluetooth phone and pda combo.
thats just my view of the market from my tiny corner of the world...if we suddenly see price drops on smartphones things might change, but too expensive for too little benefit.
and the psion/symbian os the p900 uses still has not gained the same following palm and wince have over here, which is too bad because i've heard great things about it.
pda ish idea
As people get new phones once a year and as SE, NOKIA et al are pretty good at making phones, I think Apple are best off avoiding this market.
But if the next iPod (or iPod+pda) had bluetooth functionality so that the phones would cut out the music and function as your bluetooth headset - you could leave your ugly phone in your pocket.
You could also buy it even if you were mid-contract with your phone.
Now if this device had AddressBook and could dial etc... it would seem like it had phone functionality without apple having to try and catch up SE.
Infact you could hold this thing to your face and use it like a phone while all along its just hi-jacking via BT...
As people get new phones once a year and as SE, NOKIA et al are pretty good at making phones, I think Apple are best off avoiding this market.
But if the next iPod (or iPod+pda) had bluetooth functionality so that the phones would cut out the music and function as your bluetooth headset - you could leave your ugly phone in your pocket.
You could also buy it even if you were mid-contract with your phone.
Now if this device had AddressBook and could dial etc... it would seem like it had phone functionality without apple having to try and catch up SE.
Infact you could hold this thing to your face and use it like a phone while all along its just hi-jacking via BT...
Here's another "Palmtop" that seems to be beating the Oqo to market and has slightly better specs... http://minipc.vulcan.com/
Looks interesting... especially since, like the oqo, it will run a full OS, not something scaled down for portability. If this comes in around $1000, it could be a big thing.
Looks interesting... especially since, like the oqo, it will run a full OS, not something scaled down for portability. If this comes in around $1000, it could be a big thing.
plus life goes on and new technical equipment is developed.
As I said, I am quite sure that these gadgets will integrate more and more over time. Could you imagine to have an iPod 10 years ago ? No ! So it will be really interesting what will come out in 5 or 10 years from today.
...looks like a normal sub-notebook ...but the keyboard looks funny ....
i doubt a price about 1000
i dont care i dont care
if anything they bring back the newton, but i think apple have bigger fish to fry!!!
if anything they bring back the newton, but i think apple have bigger fish to fry!!!
i think you are right about bigger fish...the handheld market is contracting, and most companies are posting losses...
but i do wonder if they wont do more with isync, the ipod and the dock connector.
what about a mini or even full size keyboard wiht a dock connector for notes, etc? its fairly straightforward, if you already carry your ipod, and if its a minikeyboard attachment you can use it to update addresses etc on the go without compromising the portability of the ipod by adding a touch screen (touch screens are just inherently more delicate, and dont really belong/need to be on an mp3 player meant to be carried everywhere, at least imho.)
but still, more likely someone in a bar somewhere in the general vicinity (50-100 miles) of cupertino began to speculate on an apple pda, and voila! this rumor emerged just hours later on brighthand and then macrumors!
a PDA from apple is like Mac OS X on a PC, it's not going to happen unless they ENJOY losing money, hah
Apple have a way of reinventing things with a twist that makes me think they could make this work. I think the key would be to have an iPod liek device with a decent harddisk, allowing you access to all your working files from any apple, coupled with on the road access to iCal, address book etc via a touch screen.
In my view, the Samsung SPH-i500 is a successful PDA/phone, the first that doesn't dwarf its contemporary mobile only-phones. So there's a smart phone that doesn't suck for entering data.
I agree that PDA/phones won't make plain mobile phones obsolete. The hippest phones will always be a little slimmer and sleeker since they don't need so big a screen. More to the point, there appears to be a fairly large chunk of the population that isn't at all interested in PDAs and won't pay any extra to get a PDA in their mobile phone. Then again, low-end "organizer" functions are showing up even in the phones you get for free from the carrier.
I agree that "each market has its own use", as with all the other specious "either-ors" in technology -- Mac vs. PC, Windows vs. Linux, PocketPC vs. Palm, CDMA vs. GSM, and so on. Pundits like to preannounce "victors" in these "struggles" for market dominance, but there is room for consumer choice and it's a good thing.
[Edit: But I doubt Apple will get into PDAs. It's a tough market, and we know Steve the Newton-killer doesn't fancy it.]
Cheers,
Crikey
I agree that PDA/phones won't make plain mobile phones obsolete. The hippest phones will always be a little slimmer and sleeker since they don't need so big a screen. More to the point, there appears to be a fairly large chunk of the population that isn't at all interested in PDAs and won't pay any extra to get a PDA in their mobile phone. Then again, low-end "organizer" functions are showing up even in the phones you get for free from the carrier.
I agree that "each market has its own use", as with all the other specious "either-ors" in technology -- Mac vs. PC, Windows vs. Linux, PocketPC vs. Palm, CDMA vs. GSM, and so on. Pundits like to preannounce "victors" in these "struggles" for market dominance, but there is room for consumer choice and it's a good thing.
[Edit: But I doubt Apple will get into PDAs. It's a tough market, and we know Steve the Newton-killer doesn't fancy it.]
Cheers,
Crikey
Originally posted by SiliconAddict
Smartphones are never going to replace PDAs just like laptops will never kill off the desktop. Each market has its own use. You are going to see smartphones sit side by side with PDAs. Smartphone features will become standard in ALL cellphones in the future but progressing tech will allow features to advance in the PDA that no cellphone can hope to have.
That is until you get a device like the Sci-fi series Earth: Final Conflicts device that is called a Global. A retractable screen that can slide into the main body. When you can fit the 3 screen of a PDA in a cellphone while maintaining the cellphones diminutive stature and sill allowing ease of data manipulation is the day you will see the two totally merge. For the time being we will have the likes of the Pocket PC: Phone Edition and the Handspring Trio series. Where you have a cellphone shoved into a PDA instead of a PDA shoved into a cellphone.
"people don't get it"
At the risk of repeating myself...
As the se p800 (a smartPHONE) was the worlds biggest selling... wait for it...
PDA!!!! - Smartphones are already killing the pda market.
A smartphone could be seen as a pda + phone functionality... So, in the future, will you want your pda to be able to get on the internet, or not!
In the same way, knowone's buying phones without cameras, people will want there phones... smarter
Believe me, your kids will laugh at the idea of a PDA that can't get on the internet, send emails... video conference.
This is one market where convergence is king
At the risk of repeating myself...
As the se p800 (a smartPHONE) was the worlds biggest selling... wait for it...
PDA!!!! - Smartphones are already killing the pda market.
A smartphone could be seen as a pda + phone functionality... So, in the future, will you want your pda to be able to get on the internet, or not!
In the same way, knowone's buying phones without cameras, people will want there phones... smarter
Believe me, your kids will laugh at the idea of a PDA that can't get on the internet, send emails... video conference.
This is one market where convergence is king
Re: "people don't get it"
but not yet, and not until two things happen in the american markets: there is a reasonably priced smartphone (500-700usd in our economy is not reasonable and is not going to break into any sort of real marketshare) and cell phone plans wiht data need to be cheaper. yes, the p900 was a big seller but not over here, because its too damn expensive. and apple is not in a position to create a new wireless network, and none of the current carriers has made any moves towards reducing prices considerably. im willing to concede convergence might be king, or it might evolve beyond pda entirely...but not now, and i dont think apple has the resources to create it.
but not yet, and not until two things happen in the american markets: there is a reasonably priced smartphone (500-700usd in our economy is not reasonable and is not going to break into any sort of real marketshare) and cell phone plans wiht data need to be cheaper. yes, the p900 was a big seller but not over here, because its too damn expensive. and apple is not in a position to create a new wireless network, and none of the current carriers has made any moves towards reducing prices considerably. im willing to concede convergence might be king, or it might evolve beyond pda entirely...but not now, and i dont think apple has the resources to create it.
Anyone who thinks a smartphone can replace a PDA has never really used a PDA. In my current PDA I have 87 memo files, 30 or so short notes, 250 things to do, and about 400 contacts, complete with multiple addresses, multiple phone numbers, and multiple emails. You can't work with that amount of information on a smartphone.
hmm...maybe apple will join the fray after all.
Motorola releases new smartphone with innovative design.
after all, can't let motorola get ahead.
seriously though, if you look around on brighthand today, there were two new smartphones announced, a new pda, and rumors of two more. this is getting to a point of such saturation that apple would be better off waiting until the market truly evolves to something that will allow for more players on the field...with how tightly controlled and proprietary each pda is theres less and less room to maneuver and more and more pdas trying to crowd in.
Motorola releases new smartphone with innovative design.
after all, can't let motorola get ahead.
seriously though, if you look around on brighthand today, there were two new smartphones announced, a new pda, and rumors of two more. this is getting to a point of such saturation that apple would be better off waiting until the market truly evolves to something that will allow for more players on the field...with how tightly controlled and proprietary each pda is theres less and less room to maneuver and more and more pdas trying to crowd in.