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The Palm Year in Review: 2002

© Janice Karin

2002 didn't really bring us many surprises. The Handspring Treo devices were finally released (as expected) and OS 5 devices finally shipped (also as expected). The split between hardware and software groups at Palm into the Palm Solutions Group and PalmSource continued, albeit at a slow pace.

Sony was first to market with OS 5 with their Clie NX-60 and NX-70 devices but Palm followed very shortly thereafter with the Tungsten T. Both companies released several additional OS 4.x devices this year, Sony continuing its quest to bring new devices to market every three months and Palm finally breaking the $100 price barrier with its very basic Zire device.

The big thing in accessories toward the end of this year seemed to be IR keyboards, with several companies either releasing or previewing at Fall COMDEX this November. Bluetooth keyboards are also starting to appear.

SDIO cards also finally started appearing at COMDEX, more than 18 months after the release of the first Palm with an SD slot. Most notable of these is an SD camera from Veo.

Palm OS also branched into larger devices with the release of the Dana Alphasmart device. Closer to a small laptop than a real PDA, this device showed the versatility of the OS and that Palm OS can have a place outside of the traditional PDA market.

Since Handspring announced new devices would not support their proprietary Springboard slot the release of new Springboard modules has ground to a complete halt. The latest Handspring Treo has instead adopted the SD slot used by Palm and HandEra, leaving Sony as the only major Palm OS device manufacturer who doesn't support that slot. Sony still places its proprietary MemoryStick slot in every device. The Clie NX-70 also has a CompactFlash slot (joining the HandEra 330 and the TRGpro) but it cannot currently be used for anything other than 802.11 support.

Probably the biggest disappointment of the year was that HandEra failed to release a color quarter VGA device. Symbol did show a prototype color QVGA device at PalmSource this February but unfortunately nothing ever came of that model.

What does next year hold? New OS 5 devices, for certain. Probably more Bluetooth accessories and more SDIO cards. Given the way the last two years have gone, most definitely new keyboards. For everything else your guess is as good as mine.