I hope they will at least release a WM 6.5 update for Treo Pro

I expect that they will stop to make device running on Windows Mobile after WebOS comes out. But I hope that they will release a update for Treo Pro with WM 6.5

This is very sad news! I just swore I would only buy PALM Windows Mobile devices from now on after my recent experience with HP. I've been a Windows Mobile user since it was called Windows CE, with no plans to jump OS's.

I guess I will use my Treo Pro until the buttons fall out.

Way back when I was one of the people who was most dismayed by Palm opting to offer a Treo version that ran Windows Mobile. It felt like surrender to many Palm and Treo fans. At the time, it was made clear by Palm that it was just an interum step while they finished developing Cobalt, which was to be their "next generation OS". Once they had a replacement for Garnet, they would drop WinMo in favor of their own Palm OS again.

Five years of so later, we finally HAVE a next generation Palm OS, so I am not surprised that Palm is finally dropping WinMo and focusing on their own software.

I love my Treo Pro, but applaud Palm's decision to reassert themselves as a software company. If there is one thing Rubinstein learned at Apple, it was to control all aspects of a device, hardware and software alike, and to go all in. He is not likely to continue hedging his bet with a couple stray WinMo phones pulling sales from WebOS devices.

If there is one thing Rubinstein learned at Apple, it was to control all aspects of a device, hardware and software alike, and to go all in.

Sometimes that works (the iPod and the iPhone), but other times not so much (the Mac, at least marketshare-wise). By that logic, device makers like Samsung, Motorola and Sony-Ericsson would be creating their own OS, yet they still seem to use Windows Mobile, Android and (maybe?) Symbian.

He is not likely to continue hedging his bet with a couple stray WinMo phones pulling sales from WebOS devices.

I reject that premise. I think people who really want WebOS will get WebOS. However, people who want Windows Mobile (like DR and me) will now have no opportunity to choose Palm, so we'll go elsewhere.

Now, if Palm isn't making money on Windows Mobile phones, I can understand why they're dropping them (and perhaps reading between the lines indicates this), but if they were profitable, I think this is a bad move for Palm.

It would be really "funny" if Microsoft refused to license future revisions of ActiveSync to Palm. :D (They probably won't do that, of course. They license it to Apple, after all.)

Steve

It sounds like whether Palm made a profit or not is debatable. According to their statement (if you can read that stupid white text on light blue), they said:

Non-GAAP Net Loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $(13.6) million, or $(0.10) per diluted share. This compares to a non-GAAP Net Loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 of $(12.8) million, or $(0.12) per diluted share.

That's a non-GAAP number, so I'm not sure which is more useful. Also, I read that revenues will be down in Q2 compared to the consensus.

As for dropping devices, does anybody remember Palm saying that WebOS would be Palm's consumer OS, and that Windows Mobile would be their business OS? Of course, that was Ed Colligan, before Rubinstein took over.

Steve