Palm's new strategy

Well I have all but given up on my Zire 72. I allowed the battery to run out again (before trying the backup software) and it got completely reset. Since I've stopped using it, I haven't really missed it. Especially all the time it took to keep it running and in sync.

My wife Fran has the Treo 650. It has several improvements over the Zire like a QWERTY keyboard, more memory and wireless HotSync. But it crashes alot and she sounds like she's calling from Sealab 2021 most of the time.

I've been a long time fan of PalmOS, and I hate to abandon it. There aren't any good alternatives either. Windows Mobile is okay, but people say it's lowsy for the phone part of the smart-phone. Nokia now has the E62, which is a decent contender with the Symbian OS.

I just read this article on TreoCentral about Palm's upcoming Treo 680. It's not a more advanced model, but a more stylish and user-friendly one. The article's author believes that Palm is not just trying to get a bigger slice of the smartphone pie, it's trying to make a bigger pie by attracting new users. I hope he's right.

In the meantime, I'll hold on to my Nokia 6820.