October 29, 2002

ZDNet: Is Tungsten too bright for Handspring?

My spin:The PDA market is very tough for PDA vendors. Competition is fierce, prices are coming down while vendors must still innovate and produce new products. Only the strongest will survive. I've been using Handspring's products every since I had my first PDA about 2 years ago or so. Before that - it as the "data banks" CASIO B.O.S.S. and Sharp Wizard models.

As of yesterday, Palm Inc. officially entered the converged PDA/phone market with its GPRS-enabled Tungsten W handheld. There's also a Bluetooth-enabled non-GPRS version called the Tungsten T that targets mobile pros who don't want a converged device. It's one of the first devices to run Palm OS 5.

If the Tungsten W's future burns brightly, its primary position in the market will be as a RIM BlackBerry 5810-killer. Like the BlackBerry, the Tungsten W is capable of voice communications via a hands-free headset -- its emphasis will be on data communications like e-mail. (It will also take on other Palm-based converged devices like those from Samsung and Kyocera). But the Palm-based device that could be most threatened is Handspring's Treo. (full story)

Avantgo users: To see links to the "full story" you must have live access to the Internet.

0 comments