A Look into the Future of the Axim

[Ed Hardy]

A source familiar with Dell's plans has reveled to Brighthand this company's product roadmap through the end of 2006.

Read more at http://www.brighthand.com/article/De..._for_2005-2006

[NewtonDKC]

I am very glad to see Dell has a roadmap for its incredible Pocket PC line. With the lackluster line of HP's current lineup of iPAQ's, and the troubling lack of support for its flagship 4700 series, Dell turned out to be "THE" maker of affordable but powerful, feature-laden but ATTRACTIVE (are you listening HP?) Pocket PC's that hit every price point and feature list.

I hope Dell has done very well with their current line up. They certainly deserve to with the wonderful models they offer, and prices that allow the Pocket PC to be affordable to almost anyone. Not only does it make HP look embarrassingly overpriced (the 1700 series being the worst offender in the price/performance & features ratio ever, with Dell offering full wireless capabilties, generous RAM and much more for the same price!), but Dell even makes Palm look like they are greedy by overpricing its supposed flagship model while being quite stingy with the feature set (the T5 being soundly stomped in every area by Dell's offerings at a similar - even lower - price point! Add in WiFI - which was $129 for an add on card that stuck out of the top and took up your only expansion slot - made comparison with the x50v at the same price (or again, lower with Dell's frequent promotions and discounts) look absolutely ludicrous. Even discounting the WIFi card to $99 does little to help).

ANyway, good work Dell, and I look forward to your new products!!! :-)

[pocketfactory]

Ah...so based on this roadmap Dell is getting out of the handheld business next year and moving into cellular-based devices. Interesting.

[Timothy Rapson]

This is my favorite part of owning a PDA, guessing.
If the scenario you describe come to fruition, DELL would have X50 models at the low end. This makes sense. The more pictures I see of the X50 next to an X30 the more I wonder why they make both. The prices are getting close too as the X50 goes on some crazy sales sometimes. If they dropped the current sales prices by $75 per model, they would have X50 low, medium and v selling for about $190, $225, and $285. Those are low enough to compete with any full-featured PDAs on the market (I don't consider the PalmOnes below the TE full-featured)

Then their high end splits into a PalmOne XDrive and iPod photo competitor and a HP 6500 and Treo competitor. I am not sure how well Dell will do with a smartphone like this. We'll see. This model might include camera and cameraless styles. For that matter both their high models would have cameras if it were up to me. But, I think the non-camera models are clearly winning mind share. Too many employers are afraid to let their employees carry cameras these days. I guess that is up to them. It is bad news for me, as I love having the camera right there.

The X50v has been the model I would most likely upgrade to for more than a year. I am happy to see that this model, or some form of it is being continued.

[grapeape]

I dont really see the appeal of the crappy cameras that are currently offered on phones and pda's the best i have seen so far is 1.3mpxl which is now low enough to be included on 20.00 camera's at wal-mart. I guess a camera would be ok if it didnt add to bulk and didnt add more than $1. to the final price..otherwise I'd pass.

I dont see how his is concidered leaving the handheld market...just because the only product supposedly in the scope for 2006 is a smart phone. The multimedia product wasnt mentioned as having phone capability and its not out yet.

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by Foo Fighter
Ah...so based on this roadmap Dell is getting out of the handheld business next year and moving into cellular-based devices. Interesting.

Yes, up until now Dell has avoided making a cellular-wireless handheld or smartphone because it would have to go through the wireless service providers. It has always been successful by selling directly to consumers, without middlemen.

But I am a bit confused why you say Dell is getting out of the handheld business. That device looks to me like it's going to be the X50 with a cellular-wireless modem in it. You aren't one of those people who call any device with a cellular-wireless modem a "smartphone," are you?

[pocketfactory]

I don't classify traditional PDAs and smartphones in the same category, nor should they be. These are two different device categories that play in different markets. The fact each runs the same or similar operating systems is irrelevant.

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by Foo Fighter
I don't classify traditional PDAs and smartphones in the same category, nor should they be.

I disagree completely. A handheld with a cellular-wireless modem is still a handheld.

Yes, you buy it from Cingular instead of CompUSA, but I don't think that's a significant enough difference to say that it's a completely different device.

In the future, almost all handhelds will have cellular-wireless capabilities. The ability to access the Internet from anywhere is just too useful.

p.s. Just so we're clear, you would define the iPAQ h6300 as a smartphone, not a handheld, correct? Let's make sure we're talking about the same thing here.

[Ed Hardy]

Originally posted by Foo Fighter
Ah...so based on this roadmap Dell is getting out of the handheld business next year and moving into cellular-based devices. Interesting.

Oh yeah, there's a second point I should have brought up. It doesn't seem to me that Dell is leaving the traditional handheld business at all. Instead, this company seems to think that professionals want cellular-wireless connectivity, while consumers do not.

But whether one agrees with that or not, the company is broadening its offerings, not reducing them. Professionals can buy the non-connected device, and consumers can get the cellular-wireless model if they want.

[imported_johncruise]

I like the idea of DELL shifting to cellular-based Pocket PC. But a mini HD? I like big storage and everything... but not via HD on a small enclosed PDA unit.