Tuxtops

It may not be long before you can input data into your smart phone using a space-age Etch-a-Sketch. IBM has come up with an experimental keyboard system that lets users write by connecting the dots.

I am a known PDA/gadget junkie and having used devices with WinCE PPC2002/2003/SE and PalmOS 3.5/4/5 for years, I thought I should write a comparison article between PocketPCs and Palm/Clies (there's no comparison between PalmOS 6 & Windows Mobile 5 as these are not available on real commercial devices yet).

Let's start first with Windows Mobile and PocketPCs.

Advantages:

1. It has some form of protected memory and so when applications crash the OS stays alive (well, most of the time).

2. OS looks better, more modern, than PalmOS. Support for Clear Type.

3. It has good support for the Exchange server that most businesses care about.

4. Internet Explorer and Outlook are more robust than WebPro, Mail and Blazer.

5. More input options than PalmOS (e.g. transcriber, speech addon from MS).

6. "Today" default screen more relevant than "Applications" (because of the very nature of PDAs in the business world).

7. WMA/WMV and ASF built-in support.

8. Automatic support for USB host connector, when available.

9. Runs on faster XScale hardware than PalmOS usually.

10. DirectX/3D support, more multimedia capable.

11. Apps use the full 320x240 resolution (instead of the 160x160 that most PalmOS apps use and double-pixel at 320x320).

12. Able to run more complex games, some 3D games too.

11. Better office format compliancy, MS Office is usually bundled with the PDA.

12. ActiveSync rocks, it allows for direct internet connection and can mount the PDA to your desktop (PalmOS' drive mode is a hack, and only available to recent models)

13. Programming APIs similar to Win32, porting is easy, development too.

14. Basic and .NET available if C/C++ is not desired.

15. Able to install/run apps from flash addon cards and built-in storage.

16. Better localization than PalmOS (e.g. support for Greek, and support by MS' office there)

17. More PocketPC devices include a microphone for voice notes.
18. Supports resolutions up to VGA and there are already at least 5 devices shipped with it.

Disadvantages:

1. Usually more expensive than basic PalmOS devices, however prices go down

2. You need to find .cab installation files if you want to use it with a Mac or Linux. No ActiveSync for other OSes.

3. Cab files by default install in the memory, which is not desireble most of the time (freeware cabinst helps the situation a bit)

4. Drivers are not always compatible between major versions of the OS.

5. Internal file manager and image viewer are crap (Total Commander and XnView save the day).

6. Some optimizations to the UI could be done to save an extra 10-15 pixels vertically (without making it look squashing).

8. Not as efficient as PalmOS in battery life.

9. No easy way to close applications without navigating to "memory" utility (freeware vBar to the rescue).

10. No way to view the memory & battery status on any given screen (again, vBar).

11. Not possible to use more than one keyboard layout (commercial Resco Keyboard to the rescue).

12. Not compatible with Smartphone apps or older Pocket/WinCE devices.

13. Requires 7.5 MBs of RAM to start up with, PalmOS 5 can run on 2 MBs (admitedly, that's nothing in front of the 16+ MBs Linux requires with Qtopia).

And now, PalmOS' turn:

Advantages:

1. Designed from the ground up to be used with one hand.

2. More apps than PPC (~30,000 over ~20,000)

3. Better Mac & Linux compatibility and support.

4. Battery, bluetooth and other information easily viewable through the status bar.

5. More versalite when it comes to network connections

6. Smaller, lighter devices than PPCs.

7. Compatible with very old PalmOS apps, as far as back to 1998.

8. Much faster than PocketPC, it runs well on slower hardware.

9. Doesn't need much memory.

10. When Palm uses the standard resolutions your input is outside the window area, so you can enter data easier, without taking over the active window.

11. Palm devices are usually more stylish than PocketPCs.

12. Great battery life.

13. Real Player support on some models.

14. 4 GB of storage for the Lifedrive model.

Disadvantages:

1. OS crashes too easily, too often, when apps are crashing.

2. Most apps run at 160x160, even if the screen is capable of 320x320 or more (they double-pixel).

3. Palm's sync software sucks, doesn't share internet and can't mount the PDA automatically (requires "drive mode"). And it's unessarily complex and confusing.

4. If you have more than 1 Palm, especially a mix between Clies and Palm devices, it can be a nightmare because of the drivers needed for each device (PocketPCs use the same driver, regardless the manufacturer).

5. PalmOS doesn't let you install applications on built-in storage or flash cards, at least not without third party, nasty, hacks. Only data can be installed on flash cards.

6. The Clie & Palm modifications to the OS has left many third party apps not working with all devices.

7. No OpenGL or other accelerated 3D support built-in in the OS (Zodiac's is a home-brewed solution).

8. No compact flash to be found on most Palm devices. This means, considerably less accessory support (e.g. cameras, radios, ethernet, modem, wifi, gps etc).

9. Hey PalmOS, the mid-90s called, they want their UI and fonts back.

10. Doesn't use memory as efficiently as PPC does.

11. No VoIP support from third parties. Usually Skype or Stanaphone require 300 Mhz and a microphone and only few PalmOS devices feature these.

12. Driver API is problematic. Even PalmOne's WiFi card doesn't support all of their own PalmOS 5 devices.

13. Its C API is archaic.

Conclusion:

If you are after gaming, multimedia, good WiFi+Bluetooth support, a lot of accessories and versatility, go with Pocket PC.

If you are after small and stylish devices with good battery life, simple interface and simple PIM apps, go with PalmOS.

There is room for both, however most modern or tech-oriented new PDA users are more likely to opt for PocketPC instead. In fact, PocketPC's market share *growth* is bigger than Palm's the last few years, but Palm is still ahead in overall market share. This is changing rapidly though, especially with the many PocketPC phones that are scheduled to be shipped later this year.

Related reading: Pocket PC freeware software suggestions.

Gabor Kovacs has just released TCPMP 0.66 (ex-BetaPlayer), the next generation media player for both PalmOS 5 and PocketPCs. BetaPlayer has been one of the most downloaded applications in the PPC world and now PalmOS 5 users will be also able to enjoy DivX, mpeg1-4, ogg and more.

We gave TCPMP a whirl and we found that it's much faster than before when playing WMV on PocketPC (where it used to framedrop on our Axim X5, now it doesn't), however WMV playback is buggy on the Axim x50v if the 2700G driver is used (had to soft-reset the PDA). DivX plays great though, on all of our devices, including PalmOS (very usable 320x240 DivX playback on our 126 Mhz Sony Clie TH-55). Screenshots here, here and here.

Two contradicting editorials about PalmOS, here and here.

When Palm, Inc. split into palmOne and PalmSource in 2003, the two companies agreed to share the rights to the "Palm" trademark. In late May, palmOne announced that it was buying the full rights to this trademark from PalmSource, and was going to change its name to Palm, Inc. More here.

LG Electronics, Inc., and PalmSource Inc., announced that LG Electronics has signed an agreement to license Palm OS worldwide. Under terms of the agreement, LG Electronics can develop and market smartphones based on Palm OS.

No more need to fret about all that wasted time waiting in line for the buffet at your favorite casino. Or those tedious talks in a convention room just a few yards from the casino floor. Help is on the way to make it possible to gamble any time - in fact - all the time, by using a PDA.

The head of research for Microsoft's Windows Mobile software for handheld computers, Ya-Qin Zhang, was in Taipei last week talking up the company's latest major operating system release, Windows Mobile 5.0.

Tired of Linux v. Windows flamewars on the desktop and servers? Check out the Great Gadget SmackDown, pitting Linux against Windows in the arena of embedded/device computing. The article counts up how many devices are actually shipping with each OS, in nine categories such as mobile phones, audio/visual entertainment devices, and robots. In all, just over 600 devices are included, and the results are surprisingly close.

One of my favorite PDA game companies around is CrazySoft, developing arcade shareware games mostly for PalmOS and some for PocketPC. We had the pleasure to interview its CEO, Giorgos Sarris, from the sunny Greece.

1. How difficult is to port an application from PalmOS to PocketPC and the other way around?

Porting an application can be easy but can also be very difficult. It depends on the developer and many times the PDA manufacturer. To make it easier you must have in mind the porting when you first design an application.

A frustrating thing for a developer is the resolution of the PDA screens. Palm OS have 160x160, 320x320, 480x320 or 320x480. Imagine that we develop a game for most of these resolutions and then we want to port it for Pocket PC. We have to re-design all the graphics and most of the routines to fit in 240x320 and 480x640! This is the hard part.

If all PDA manufacturers agreed to use similar screen resolutions, porting would be a lot easier and all of you would see our applications in most of the models. But I don't see this coming'¦

2. Which platform yields the most revenue for you?

For us Palm OS is far more profitable. But this has to do that we are years in the Palm OS business and we have established marketing channels and alliances. We are new to the Pocket PC world and we cannot really say. Everybody can easily see the strength of a platform by many ways. For example go to Handango where you can download demo applications for both Palm OS and Pocket PCs and find a popular game that has a trial version. Compare how many downloads it has for Palm OS and how many for Pocket PCs. This will give you an idea of the market but only that.

3. Do you have plans to support the Smartphone PocketPCs?

They way they are now, NO. We have many difficulties when porting our games and it just does not worth it. But this seems to change with the launch of the new 2005 Windows Mobile Platform. As I have seen Microsoft tries to unify Windows Pocket PC and Windows Smartphones with this new platform. In the next days we will port our best seller '˜PaintBall 2' for Pocket PCs 2003 and 2003 VGA and we will try also the new 2005 platform. After that we will decide if we should make the port to the 2005 Smartphone platform.

4. Do you have any plans to support Symbian?

Yes we have. Symbian market is growing rapidly. We have plans to port some of our games and apps in Series 80 Symbian PDA phones and maybe Series 60. We will have to see about that. If screen resolutions were more compatible we would already ported most of our applications. I'm not sure what do companies think when designing a new Pocket PC, Palm or Symbian PDA. It would be in the benefit of all if they used similar screen resolutions. But this problem started way back when they first established and I suppose they just continue it to be compatible with their previous modes.

5. You are a Greek company. How popular PDAs are in Greece?

This is a nice question. In Greece Palm OS is not popular. It never was and I suppose it will never be. Maybe because it was never really supported be Palm inc or by Greek companies. For example I'm not sure how many Treo 650 they sold here. I hope I'm not the only one.

Pocket PCs are commonly used by companies. They are really popular when it comes to business and not so popular for personal use. I think Pocket PCs in Greece is a strong market and it has to do with Microsoft's support. Translated OS and technical support near the customer is some of the reasons PPCs are preferred.

But this scene changes when it comes to mobile phones and symbian pda phones. Greeks have a passion for Hi-Tech mobile phones. 8 months to a year is usually how long they keep their phones. Everybody wants to have Hi-Tech features regardless if they use them or not. So Sybian PDAs are very popular in Greece. Every hi-tech, expensive, new, gadget technology that has to do with mobile phones and communication is well appreciated in Greece.