Back to the past with HP and Palm

It was a crazy weekend for HP (and Palm, RIP).

First came the announcement of the discontinued webOS devices by HP, which probably means the slow death of Palm’s webOS, which in other circumstances might have been a great competitor to iOS and Android.

Second, came the TouchPad Rush, where hundreds of consumers were unable to put their hands on the webOS-based tablet after the price was cut down to $99.

And if someone imagined there was some hidden potential in HP’s mobile products – came an enormous number of threads where people are looking to port Android OS onto the miserable TouchPad tablet… talk about humiliation…

Palm, Windows Mobile, now HP… Apple & Google keeps burying them all.

August 2011, what a world:

Regimes are falling apart, countries go bankrupt, HP surrenders to Apple and Google, PC is losing to tablets, the company that invented the first cellphone (Motorola) is easily swallowed by Google (to be called: Moogle), and even the Starbucks logo doesn’t look like Starbucks anymore…

Let’s go 9 years back to see how did the HP & Palm looked like back then:

August-September 2002, HP and Palm:

Here are two articles taken from the year 2002, describing HP’s and Palm’s new products that used to be the leading mobile devices back then… check out the highlighted text…

HP iPAQ H5000 series exposed

Rumors have long buzzed about HP’s new iPAQ H5000 series; now we show you the line-up in hi-res and dish out the first bits of top-secret information.

Few handheld manufacturers are as high-profile as the post-merger HP, which is the biggest Pocket PC player and has the largest handheld market share in the world – next after Palm, that is. With interest spiking as wireless connectivity is becoming increasingly common in handheld devices, it is therefore no surprise that information would eventually surface about HP’s new iPAQ H5000 series where wireless is key.

Slated for release either late this year or early in 2003, the new iPAQ H5000 series – still branded under the Compaq name – will according to infoSync’s sources be comprised of 6 models whose exact specifications remain a mystery. We’ve however been able to acquire some general information indicating that one model will feature integrated GPS, another integrated WLAN and a third integrated GSM/GPRS – and it’s also likely to expect a model with integrated cellular connectivity targeted at the U.S. market utilizing CDMA, and perhaps even support for CDMA2000 1xRTT.
Bluetooth is another technology expected to be present, since Compaq/HP so far has brought the H3870 and H3970 models to market with integrated support for that wireless technology.
As is evident from the picture, some models will also feature biometric finger print scanners for increased security – a feature which is likely to be found in models targeted towards the enterprise. The last piece of information available so far suggests that some models will come with 128 MB RAM integrated, while others will have 64 MB to keep price down.

(See the original post in here)

Review: Palm m515

Larry Garfield finds Palm’s flagship device to be simple, elegant, simple, well-engineered, and, well, simple. If only it cost of half of what it does, it would be a killer.
Though some people claim that the company is moving too slowly, Palm still leads the world in terms of handheld device shipments. Though it only releases new devices periodically rather than continually like Sony, its devices are generally solid, well-thought-out, and simple, if a little light on features compared to other licensees. Palm’s current flagship model, the m515, fits every one of those criteria.

The m515 is small at 11.43 x 7.87 x 1.27 cm (4.5" x 3.1" x .5"), and light at 138 grams (4.9 oz). While not quite as light as Sony’s T665c, it feels smaller and lighter because of its tapered design and brushed metal casing. The slightly curved edges, like the Palm V-series before it, make the device fit nicely into the hand. Inside the metal casing is a 33 MHz Dragonball processor, 16 MB of RAM, and 4 MB of Flash ROM for the OS.

Like most of the Palm line, the m515 model is simple, elegant, well-designed, and of limited features. Its high quality case, well designed buttons, and leather cover give the handheld a very "executive" feel, as is the intent. At $250-$300 USD, it would dominate the mid-range market, but unfortunately, Palm has positioned it opposite the Sony CLIE PEG-T665c with a price tag of $399 USD. While the m515 is overall a more "cleanly designed" device with better battery life, the T665c includes twice as many features out of the box.

(Originally written for the mobile spoon)