okay, so where's this "new palm-like net device", eric?....
on 3/27/00, we had this from reuters:
CANNES, France--3Com will launch a new consumer
Internet appliance this summer which it hopes will be
"bigger than Palm," the top-selling handheld
computer unit spun off earlier this month, 3Com chairman Eric Benhamou
said today.
"It is the sort of appliance you might enjoy having on
your kitchen counter, but it will start much more
quickly than Palm because there is already a base of
Palm users, 6 or 7 million well-connected people who
are primed for the kind of product we are bringing
onto the market," he said."
and....
"We expect the new product to be introduced in
about three months," he said. "It is a consumer
appliance which leverages all the things we learned about Palm, and our
expectation is that this will be bigger than Palm."
additionally...
Benhamou said 3Com would use multiple distribution channels for the new
product, tapping into the thousands of stores through which it has sold modems and other communications products, while also selling through the Web.
"We expect that service providers will also be attracted to selling the product because it will provide access to your favorite brands and
content, like the Palm VII, but being at home you would also
have access to other kinds of networks such as broadband,
cable and DSL," he said, referring to the possibility phone
companies might sell it as an alternative to traditional
handsets."
the entire article can be found here...
news.cnet.com
then, a month and a half later, we find this from bloomberg.com....
3Com's Internet Appliance Division Teams With
QNX; QNX
Technology to be Integrated Into Upcoming Internet Appliance Line
Business & Technology Editors
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2000--3Com Corporation
(Nasdaq: COMS) today announced it is working with QNX(R) Software
Systems to develop a platform for 3Com's upcoming Internet
quote.bloomberg.com
so i've got to wonder if we aren't going to have a nice little surprise from eb & co. on earnings announcement day... either something smashing along the lines of a product rollout that hopefully lives up to some of the hype benhamou was throwing around on 3/27/00 ("bigger than palm, blah blah blah"), or a disappointing surprise in the form of a product postponement, delay or, worse, abandonment.
but i've got to think that we are definitely coming up on the time where eric and the boys need to deliver this palm-like net device. believe it or not, i actually think their relative silence (at least i haven't heard much of anything) is a good omen. yes, i'm choosing to look on the bright and shiny side, but i think that if eb really has something, he's going to keep his yap shut so his thunder will be louder on earnings day.
thoughts, anyone?
:)
mark |
