Recieved this in an email from the IT guy at my company.
"As a one of my preferred accounts I wanted to share with you the information that is shared with me regarding our products.
Please let me know if this decision will impact your business in any way that we will need to take appropriate actions.
Summary:
In light of the pen-based market decline and relatively small size of the market, Dell has no plans to offer an Axim X51 follow-on PDA. Note that the Axim x51 is NOT going away any time soon and will be available for sale at least through all of calendar year 2006.
The US pen-based handheld market has been steadily shrinking for some time (past ~7 QTR's). The decline in the pen-based market is expected to continue as more and more handheld customers make the switch to Converged devices (Treo, Blackberry, etc).
Dell is continuing to study the Converged device (Treo, Blackberry, etc) market but at this time is not prepared to announce availability of a product available for sale through Dell.
Axim Roadmap Implications:
Dell will commit to make the Axim X51 available for sale through CY06.
Dell will continue provide technical support and warranty coverage for Axim handhelds and Dell-branded Axim peripherals per the terms defined in the service agreement sold with the device. In addition, Dell will offer batteries, power cables, AC adapters and sync cables for the Axim X51 through 2009. All other Dell branded Axim X51 peripherals will be available through August of 2007. During the remainder of Axim X51's life, Dell will continue to introduce OS improvements (patches, bug fixes, etc) as they become available from Microsoft. "
Most of the big players have already brought out converged devices to the market (HP, Audiovox, Siemens, etc) so Dell is behind on this.
Who's to say the next device won't be another Axim but with a cellphone.
I think this notice that your tech guy received is more of a probing by Dell of what kind of reaction they might see if they discontinued the current design.
Doesn't mean much. It's public knowledge the standalone-PDA market is shrinking, but that doesn't mean the handheld market is.
I'm all for smartphones, but I'm looking for one with a VGA screen. If Dell can make an Axim x51v + Cellphone, I don't really care what they call it, I'd buy it.
Besides, it's not like the Pocket PC market is being discontinued and there won't be apps made for our PDAs..If anything, there will be more support for WM2005 as more and more phones are pulled into the Pocket PC OS.
__________________ Dell X51v + Motorola e815 | HP HX4700 | HP 2215 | iPAQ 3950 | iPAQ 3835
I checked out the Samsung i735 (smartphone) and while I liked it I wish it had two features that my Axim has - one is a CF slot and the other is a bigger screen.
I am not surprised by this. Since cell phones are so big, naturally people would rather have a smart phone. I hope this isn't the end of 2700g though. Hopefully companies will start to put it in phones.
My problem with getting a converged device from a cell provider, is that cell providers are notorious for removing/disabling features to force you to pay for services through them. For example Verizon and Telus cripple the V710 to try to force you to download ringtones etc through their pay service. Who's to say that a cell provider will "let" you surf the net on your own 802.11 network, maybe they'll prevent that so you surf via their wireless, at $.xx per minute?
Call me a conspiracy theorist (pass me my tin foil hat) but I don't trust the cell providers....
I checked out the Samsung i735 (smartphone) and while I liked it I wish it had two features that my Axim has - one is a CF slot and the other is a bigger screen.
I agree completely. Converged devices have too many compromises on features. Plus I want a large screen on my PDA, but not on my phone. So two devices will always be my ideal setup. :approve:
My problem with getting a converged device from a cell provider, is that cell providers are notorious for removing/disabling features to force you to pay for services through them. For example Verizon and Telus cripple the V710 to try to force you to download ringtones etc through their pay service. Who's to say that a cell provider will "let" you surf the net on your own 802.11 network, maybe they'll prevent that so you surf via their wireless, at $.xx per minute?
Call me a conspiracy theorist (pass me my tin foil hat) but I don't trust the cell providers....
O yea. Ofcourse. Verizon cripples the most. They killed my cellphone! sch-a970. I heard they also crippled the dun in the new treo. I hate verizon. They are really good, but expect to pay ALOT and expect nothing for free.
Looks like I'm going to be using my Axim for a long, long time. I don't want two devices. There's nothing to be gained for me by having my primary note taking device up by my ear when I need to be taking notes on it... Yes I could get a headset, but I don't feel the need to look like I belong in a pilot suit or on the bridge of a starship.
Oh well.
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I first looked into the Dell and HP PDAs about a year ago after Nextel quoted me something like $50 per month extra to use a Crackberry on their system, not including the additional charges for the email message traffic. Fine for a marketing executive or politician sponging off the corporate/public t!t, but I pay my own bills thanks!
I can only assume that Verizon and the others are as bad or worse with their Crackberry/Treo options. Until the hybrid devices become so ubiquitous that the price becomes affordable for the family guy, the basic PDA will survive, even improve.
Looks like I'm going to be using my Axim for a long, long time. I don't want two devices. There's nothing to be gained for me by having my primary note taking device up by my ear when I need to be taking notes on it... Yes I could get a headset, but I don't feel the need to look like I belong in a pilot suit or on the bridge of a starship.
Oh well.
I guess I'm not surprised that pen computing might be shrinking - I guess it's not for everybody. I find having the Axim on hand all the time to be very handy. I don't think I'd want my phone to be part of the same device, though - just seems a bit unweildy. The Axim replaces several devices already (Calculator, MP3 player, etc.). Who knows, though ... if they came out with a phone that had the same capabilities in an equivalent form factor - maybe.
Sometimes I'm torn between whether I'd prefer to have my notebook or my Axim with me. I like 'em both. I like having a cell phone, too - and my digital camera; but cramming them all into one device? If it got broken or lost, there go 3 or 4 items down the tubes at once.
Maybe we just haven't seen the "perfect" pocket device yet, eh?
If Dell can make an Axim x51v + Cellphone, I don't really care what they call it, I'd buy it.
First of all, if they don't call it an Axim - what will happen to the name of this site?
Second, I don't really care who makes it or what they call it, if it has:
-good form factor so it fits in my pocket - about the size of current Axim;
-touch screen, good screen size, VGA - about the size of current Axim screen, or larger;
-swappable battery;
-CF and/or SD slots;
-internal hard drive;
-WiFi and Bluetooth;
-built in cell phone - preferably GSM;
I'd buy it. A slide out thumb keyboard would be a plus.
To me, I prefer to have 2 devices instead of one. Let's say I want to go to the beach, I would just take my cell phone with me. If it gets wet or sand gets in there, I can just replace the phone for cheap. If I have a pda/phone device, it could be expensive to replace it. Plus, if I am going to the beach, I don't think I will be using my PDA(at least for me).
Really bad news, I really don't like the converged devices, I like my AXim and I really like my cellphones small and simple, with good long lasting battery and separate from my handheld (think about you waiting for an important call and your battery runs flat cause you just had to send a few emails... while playing Myst ...hehe) Plus the price, the price is outrageous...
And I'm not even talking about how ridiculous one looks with this huge thing stuck to his ear while talking to someone ...
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