Palm has announced the new Palm TX, yet another version of its venerable PDA. Over the years, Palm has struggled as the company failed to update its software, released too many overlapping models with a confusing mix of features, split the company into two different hardware and software firms, and then pulled them back together.
Along the way, it became clear that PDAs are a niche market; people that have them love them, or they end up in a drawer. Apple has steadfastly refused to market a PDA since Steve Jobs killed the Newton, the grandfather of all PDAs.
But Palm just might have a winner with the TX; it has WiFi built in, and comes with email and a Web browser, just like the Newton had almost ten years ago. You have to wonder what took Palm so long, and therein sort of shows the problems the company has had.
A PDA that can grab your email and can be used for casual Web browsing can replace a laptop in a lot of situations, and you might ask, "What about a Blackberry?" and other multifunction phones?
The problem I have with them are the tiny screens. Even the popular Blackberry has a small screen compared to the new Palm TX, which is big enough--you can't really say that about any phone, in my opinion. It can also handle relatively large attachments--up to 5 meg, unlike a lot of other small handhelds, which has been a longstanding issue.