The Palm OS at one time was the absolute leading operating system for handheld devices in the United States, but steep discounting by Microsoft to OEM handset makers and the low overhead of RIM’s BlackBerry OS have taken their toll. That being said, the Palm OS offers simple functionality while retaining the ability to perform complex and advanced tasks, making it a good choice for the first time smartphone user. As far as American smartphones go, it is only available currently on Palm’s extraordinarily popular Treo line.
, is making headway in the United States. Nokia is now selling an affordable smartphone on the Cingular network using a flavor of Symbian, though its popularity is still uncertain. The Symbian operating systems are fairly similar in their user loyalty, ease of use, and expandability.</p>
<p>The Palm OS, however, features more add-on software than other mobile operating systems, in the shareware, freeware, and commercial arenas, most of them sharing the OS’s ease of use philosophy.</p>
<h2>Who, What, Where?</h2>
<p>Currently, Verizon and Sprint offer the Treo 700p, the state of the art Palm OS and CDMA-based version of the smartphone, with EV-DO for blazingly fast mobile internet connections. Cingular sells the EDGE-enabled Treo 650, and is poised to offer Palm’s newest Treo, the 680. This antennaless handset will come in four colors when the carrier begins selling them, ostensibly sometime in the next several days.<img src=)
T-Mobile is the only major American carrier to not offer a subsidized Palm OS device, though this has more to do with the Palm’s hardware than the software. T-Mobile is looking for its smartphone vendors to commit to integrated WiFi, something no Palm OS device has shipped with yet. But, again, this is an issue with the hardware, as the OS has had support for WiFi for several years. That doesn’t mean you can’t run a Palm OS Treo on T-Mobile, but it does mean finding and purchasing an unsubsidized and unlocked unit, which can be a little tricky.
In the end, a smartphone is only as good as what you can do with it, and herein is where Palm OS-based devices shine. With over 65,000 applications currently available for download and/or purchase, users can customize any Palm OS device to be exactly what they want it to be. Since smartphone apps tend to be of limited use on their own, users have the ability to mix and match which features they want via the applications they download, which reduces storage bloat and maximizes efficiency. Finding a location with the Google Maps app, for example, is actually easier than it is via a Web browser. Email is simple, as the contacts have their own application (they work together seamlessly), as do things like tasks and memos.
Which One?
, there are dozens of guides on the Internet to help you navigate your way through the labyrinth of programs to find exactly the ones you need. Installing them is easy; click the icon after downloading, plug your Treo in via the included cable, and it’s loaded. Alternatively, you can just drag the app to your desktop’s Bluetooth transfer program, select the phone, and hit “OK” to load it up. You can even download apps straight from your Palm-sized Web browser, upgrading and customizing a Palm OS device is very, very simple.</p>
<p>All in all, that’s what it comes down to: it’s an easy operating system to navigate, learn, and moreover, use. If you’ve had a non-smartphone Palm OS device before, it will all be familiar, and the vast majority of your legacy apps will function as before. If you’re new to handheld computing, it makes for a perfect introduction to the current market. If you’re an old hand, give it a try. You’re sure to like it.<br />
<table border=)
Phone
Manufacturer
Carrier
MSRP
Wi-Fi
GPS
QWERTY Keyboard
Touchscreen
OS
Weight
Size
Features
Verdict
Treo 650
Verizon, Cingular, Sprint and Earthlink
About $200, depending on carrier subsidies
N
N
Y
Y
Palm Os
5.4
6.3 ounces
2.3x 4.4x
0.9
inches
VGA camera, 320×320 touchscreen, Bluetooth, SDIO, backlit QWERTY keyboard, GPRS/EDGE or CDMA/RTT 1x
The gold-standard for Palm OS smartphones, the one you’ll most often see
Treo 680
Cingular (tentative)
About $250, depending on carrier subsidies
N
N
Y
Y
Palm Os
5.4
6.2 ounces
2.3x 4.4x
0.9
inches
VGA camera, 320×320 touchscreen, Bluetooth, SDIO, backlit QWERTY keyboard, GPRS/EDGE
A newer, sleeker version of the 650, above
Treo 700p
Verizon, Sprint
About $300, depending on carrier subsidies
N
N
Y
Y
Palm Os
5.4
6.4 ounces
2.3x 4.4x
0.9
inches
VGA camera, 320×320 touchscreen, Bluetooth, SDIO, backlit QWERTY keyboard, CDMA/EV-DO
An update to the 650, slightly faster and with a better keyboard
This is a great guide, I really like what you guys are doing. I carry a tungsten T3 and a sony-ericsson phone, and tether the two via bluetooth for my internet connection. would you take a treo over this king of arrangement, even though it has a larger screen?
Nice coverage, but it seems that your look at PalmOS phones left out the GSPDA/GSL models which are being sold (albeit Hong Kong and surrounding areas only lest you import them) and how they are tackling the issues of using PalmOS products. In just that alone, one can see how PalmOS smartphones seem to cater more to regional needs/tastes, even more than the Nokia/Symbian pair.
Nonetheless, tis a great overview and as a fellow writer, I am jealous that I didn’t think of this suite of pieces first :)
Palm OS can’t run two programs at once. You have to shut one down before running anther program. Symbian and Win mobile continue to be improved. Where is Palm OS 6? What will the Palm OS look like in a year or two when the Win OS and Symbian match the similar usability of Palm?
I guess Erik isn’t a fan.
I had a SMT5600 and now a Cingular 2125 Windows based smartphone and they are very nice. Will be ditching the 2125 as soon as I can get my hands on a Treo 680. I prefer applications written for the Palm platform. They are small, easy to use, and do exactly what I need them to do. If a device works now it will always be useful no matter how many competitors update their competing products.
Really, no one sits around and edits Word or Excel files for hours on their phone. If they do perhaps they should consider a laptop.
Thanks for the article!
Its not that I am not a fan. I was just pointing out two issues regarding the Palm OS that I thought the article didn’t touch on.
folks,
i am a palm-fan. but: the mac-palm-relation isn’t that fine it could be. syncing calendar, addressbook, iphoto and itunes via isync is a mess. one need thirdparty-software even to get the pix (attached to each addressbook-entry) over to the palm.
michael.
great write-up. Lots of decisions to make but for a Mac-head like me, all roads keep leading to Palm…
nice articles. thanks