OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/21732/Licensing_webOS_It_s_Not_a_Religious_Issue_for_Us_ Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:01:53 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370543 http://osnews.com/thread?370543 Most reviews I've read of the new palm can basically be summed up as great OS lackluster hardware. So letting companies with more experience build hardware using their OS is probably the best bet for spreading the OS. Looking back at the palm of old, much of the best and most interesting hardware was made by Sony and Handspring.

The only kink in the plan would be one of money. Can they charge enough for licensing to recoup their costs, while still being competitive with Android? Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dagw) Comments Sure! Why not? http://osnews.com/thread?370546 http://osnews.com/thread?370546 As a Pre owner, I love the WebOS. My main issues are with the hardware. But the OS...I love it. Although I'd be a little afraid of the potential effects of it becoming a commodity among wireless devices, I think it would be an overall good idea. It will get WebOS into more hands, and the more hands that use it, hopefully, the more developers will get creative and develop cool apps. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (runjorel) Comments RE: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370557 http://osnews.com/thread?370557
Most reviews I've read of the new palm can basically be summed up as great OS lackluster hardware. So letting companies with more experience build hardware using their OS is probably the best bet for spreading the OS. Looking back at the palm of old, much of the best and most interesting hardware was made by Sony and Handspring.

The only kink in the plan would be one of money. Can they charge enough for licensing to recoup their costs, while still being competitive with Android?


I don't think experience has anything to do with the problems with Palm. It has more to do with a lack of leadership by management to know where they want to see their company and in what form they expect by way of products.

The problem is that too many times organisations have clueless executives who are either all technical and no understanding of what customers want or they're all business with little or no understanding of what the customer is demanding. Unless you have your finger on the pulse, there is very little chance that you'll deliver products that meet the expectations of what end users want.

What is worse is their refusal to sell their product world wide - what is so hard about selling direct to the customer off a global shop front? It is though they have a death wish on their products and organisation. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE: Sure! Why not? http://osnews.com/thread?370581 http://osnews.com/thread?370581 What are your issues with the hardware? The only thing I've heard is that battery life could be a bit better. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Moochman) Comments RE[2]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370584 http://osnews.com/thread?370584
What is worse is their refusal to sell their product world wide - what is so hard about selling direct to the customer off a global shop front? It is though they have a death wish on their products and organisation.


Two reasons why the Pre isn't sold worldwide just yet:

1) It's a CDMA phone (Sprint is CDMA) not GSM. Even if you did get one, it would be useless outside of the US.

2) Like Apple and the iPhone, Palm needs to make deals with other carriers around the world. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments RE[3]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370585 http://osnews.com/thread?370585
Two reasons why the Pre isn't sold worldwide just yet:

1) It's a CDMA phone (Sprint is CDMA) not GSM. Even if you did get one, it would be useless outside of the US.

An even better reason to license the OS. Let someone who makes GSM phones have a license to WebOS and you've instantly increased the potential size of your market by an order of magnitude. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dagw) Comments RE[3]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370587 http://osnews.com/thread?370587
Two reasons why the Pre isn't sold worldwide just yet:

1) It's a CDMA phone (Sprint is CDMA) not GSM. Even if you did get one, it would be useless outside of the US.


So what about it being CDMA; New Zealand (Telecom) and Australia (Telstra) are both CDMA; in fact, both New Zealand and Australia are using WCDMA at 850Mhz. Nothing stopping them from bringing it over.

2) Like Apple and the iPhone, Palm needs to make deals with other carriers around the world.


Its amazing how quickly LG and HTC were able to get their products to New Zealand - maybe they have voodoo magic.Edited 2009-06-27 10:06 UTC Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE[4]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370590 http://osnews.com/thread?370590
in fact, both New Zealand and Australia are using WCDMA at 850Mhz

Is that a typo?

WCDMA = 3G GSM, a.k.a. UMTS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCDMA
cdma2000 = 3G (Sprint/Verizon/...) CDMA Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (drewunwired) Comments RE[5]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370592 http://osnews.com/thread?370592
Is that a typo?

WCDMA = 3G GSM, a.k.a. UMTS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WCDMA
cdma2000 = 3G (Sprint/Verizon/...) CDMA


Thank you for the correction; Telecom NZ used to have CDMA but they have launched XT Network which is the gradual roll out of WCDMA. Which ever the case maybe, it would still work on the NZ network - I can't work out, mind you, why they settled for CDMA2000 when so few carriers use it. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (kaiwai) Comments RE[3]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370595 http://osnews.com/thread?370595
2) Like Apple and the iPhone, Palm needs to make deals with other carriers around the world.


That's not how the mobile phone market in Europe works. Before the iPhone, almost all phones could be bought from any carrier (mostly unlocked) or bought without contract and subsidy. Apple, unfortunately, changed that and some other vendors (HTC, Palm) seem to following. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sphere2k) Comments RE[4]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370601 http://osnews.com/thread?370601
That's not how the mobile phone market in Europe works. Before the iPhone, almost all phones could be bought from any carrier (mostly unlocked) or bought without contract and subsidy. Apple, unfortunately, changed that and some other vendors (HTC, Palm) seem to following.


Barely anyone buys an unlocked phone in The Netherlands (where I'm from and live). People use the contract method. Belgium is a country where tying this way is illegal, but it's by no means the norm in Europe. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments RE[5]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370613 http://osnews.com/thread?370613 It indeed is the norm to buy your phone in sweden atleast. You use phone credits bought at local stores. And that is the way it should be... As you dont pay for "services" (as in meaning jamba scams and others) as easily. Also there is the benefit of not getting a bill at all and can be anonymous as in sweden you dont have to register your name or adress when getting a GSM/3G card if you dont want to.Edited 2009-06-27 18:12 UTC Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (judgen) Comments RE[4]: Probably their best bet http://osnews.com/thread?370739 http://osnews.com/thread?370739 So what about it being CDMA; New Zealand (Telecom) and Australia (Telstra) are both CDMA;

Telus / Bell Mobility in Canada are also CDMA (and, reportedly, due to start carrying the Pre later this year). Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (StephenBeDoper) Comments