Gadgets

In a move that not so much shocked as awed technophiles everywhere, Palm (the artist formerly known as PalmOne, which was formerly known as, well, Palm) today lived up to everyone’s expectations by unveiling its hotly anticipated Treo 700w smart phone. Running the latest incarnation of Windows Mobile, version 5.0, the 700w otherwise closely matches the comfortable look and feel of the Treo handsets we’ve already come to know and love. But its Windows Mobile interface offers some genuine innovations, including the ability to use SMS messaging to politely decline incoming calls and the ability to fast forward or rewind voice messages as you listen.

The question on everybody’s mind, however, has less to do with the particulars of this new device than with the future of Palm in general. Over the past few years, Palm has dug a chasm between its hardware and software businesses even as Windows Mobile has usurped Palm’s once-utterly-dominant position in the marketplace. Releasing Windows-powered Palm devices only begs the question: Is Palm OS doomed?

The Analysis

I’ve been covering technology long enough to know better than to pronounce anything truly dead.

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Managing the task of getting video onto your PSP has sprouted a cottage industry of software solutions, all of which are about as irritating and cumbersome as an afternoon at your local DMV. Now Sony has released a DVD player/digital video recorder that converts video to the PSP’s MPEG-4 format without forcing you to deal with any lame third-party shareware apps.

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