Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Access Anywhere, Anytime. Cell Phones/PDA's join the Net -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: appro who wrote (272)	2/27/2000 6:32:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 332

Quartz: The Palm-killing PDA? By Andrew Orlowski, ZDNet News February 24, 2000 2:40 PM ET zdnet.com Is the stand-alone PDA dead? With the unveiling of Symbian consortium's Quartz devices at the CeBIT computer show in Germany this week, analysts say current handheld devices, such as the Palm, face competition from a new breed of integrated hand-held device that packs telephony, streaming multimedia, Web browsing and Palm-like computing. By Christmas, European cell phone subscribers should be able to upgrade this year's digital handset to a Quartz "communicator", giving them the full functionality of a Palm organizer or palm-size Windows CE device at no extra cost. In the United States, meanwhile, Symbian CEO Colly Myers confirmed the consortium has held discussions with America Online, and these are likely to continue. AOL has touted "AOL Anywhere" access device, but has yet to publicly decide on a platform. Symbian's color devices, featuring a 320- by 240-pixel "quarter VGA" screen provide enough horsepower for multimedia playback, supporting MPEG, MP3 or video conferencing. The devices double up as a conventional cell phone by plugging in a headset, or wirelessly using a Bluetooth headset or ear clip. Bluetooth will even allow the device to be left in a jacket pocket or briefcase, with voice activation triggering the call. Analyst: Game over "If I was Palm I would be beside myself with panic," says IDC analyst Jill House. "In Europe, where there's a good wireless infrastructure, the competition is pretty much over." Symbian, whose shareholders include handset giants Nokia, Ericsson, Matsushita (Panasonic) and Motorola, has modeled the Quartz interface closely on Palm's operating system. The reference design, or DFRD, calls for an upright tablet-style device with two or four buttons. Like the Palm, there is no in-built file manager, and a simple task-based applications screen. But the deathblow for today's PDA manufacturers may be the price: zero. After demonstrating an interactive route finding application on Quartz at the Symbian Developer Conference last week, Ericsson executives indicated that the device would be sold much like today's cellular handsets: through subsidized contracts with carriers. Today's phones sell for upwards of $350 retail, but the vast majority of subscribers instead pay a modest monthly rental. And the low cost is expected to see smartphones and communicators take a slice of cellular market predicted for 2003. "Even if only a tenth of devices are data-enabled units, that is a hundred million WIDs -- (today) Palm's doing quite well at 2 to 3 million," said Symbian's Myers. Java powered Speaking to ZDNet News, Myers denied similarities between the Palm and Quartz platforms. "The devil's in the detail: On the face of it Palm-size PCs look like Palm too, but they aren't being successful. Unlike Palm we're running Java, and our true voice integration makes it quite a different product," he said. And there's more to the PDA than just the device, says Jill House. In the United States, where the roaming between networks is expensive, and coverage patchy, and where no single air interface standard rules, House thinks PDAs like the Palm have a fighting chance. "The U.S. is going to be harder for Symbian. The infrastructure just isn't set up to handle that kind of solution," she said. "It needs a buy-in from the carriers, and unlike Europe, carriers are much more interested in having their own play." In addition, users who've recently bought into Palm may be loyal while the devices remain useful: "People won't ditch what they already own," she said.