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To: Grislee bear who wrote (38715)	1/31/2000 9:07:00 PM
From: Mang Cheng	Respond to of 45548

"Palm to tap color for next release" John G. Spooner, ZDNet "Palm Computing is bringing color to its world." "The company, soon to be spun off from 3Com Corp. (Nasdaq: COMS - news) as Palm Inc., is expected to begin shipping the latest version of its Palm operating system, as well as the first color Palm handheld, in February. Sources say the company will begin shipping the new OS, version 3.5, by installing it into Palm handhelds such as its Palm Vx sometime before the operating system's official announcement later in February or possibly as late as early March. Palm OS 3.5, released to developers last October, is significant to Palm users because it is the first Palm OS to support color. The OS will allow application developers to take advantage of color for purposes including creating different color text in an application. Aside from color, the new OS includes many little enhancements including subtle user interface changes. One source familiar with the OS says Palm may be taking advantage of the full 4-bit depth of the screens in its newest devices in order to a provide deeper and more crisp, almost 3D-like quality, to the way icons are displayed. Other enhancements include a new "what's going on today" view in the Palm calendar application. When combined with new device hardware, which could include faster Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT - news) DragonBall processors, the OS is "noticeably faster," said another source. Power-management capabilities added The new OS also includes power-management enhancements that should help maintain decent battery life for even the more power hungry color devices. A device called the Palm IIIc will likely be Palm's first color handheld. It is also expected in February, sometime after Palm Computing becomes Palm Inc. in an initial public offering. While Palm has introduced color support into its operating system and applications, it is now up to developers to make the best use of the expanded pallete. Palm has some 6,900 software developers. Some vendors will have support for color at the launch of the new OS and Palm IIIc device. Others, however, may wait to determine the viability of color devices. "I would think for most applications, (developers) will integrate some basic rendering of color as soon as possible," said Jill House, industry analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. "Some will come out at launch ... others as they see how popular the devices are." Color isn't an automatic winner Color's popularity with the public isn't a given. Many Palm fans will purchase the new devices as soon as they come out. But color just for the sake of having color may not sell well. New users will likely compare the Palm IIIc with the similar, but lower cost, Palm IIIe and the much sleeker Palm V devices before making a buying decision. "All things being equal ... unless you had a need for color, I'm not sure it would be a selling point," House said. "It's just one factor in an equation. I'm not convinced it's going to override price and size and battery life." At least not for a while. Palm's monochrome devices will continue to do well at least through the end of the year, House said. Eventually, "I think color is going to make some strides to make up about half of the market," she said. "I don't expect it to take hold ... until there are applications that really capitalize on color, and until the OS takes full advantage of it." Once they begin shipping, the color Palms will need to contend with a forthcoming release of a new user interface for Pocket PC (formerly known as Palm-size PC) from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - news). The release, known by the code-name Rapier, is geared towards adding greater ease of use in the form of "single tap" to select applications, and multimedia support including Microsoft's eBook reader and an MP3 audio player. Rapier is expected in April or May. Palm Computing is also expected to reduce prices on its existing Palm hardware, before announcing its Palm IIIc. Once those device are shipping, Palm will likely make the Palm OS 3.5 available as a download for other Palm devices. dailynews.yahoo.com Mang