palmOne could be on an evolutionary path
This CNET article writes up about the impending launch of the Tungsten X LifeDrive handheld from palmOne, and goes through the usual stuff in these kind reports; sticking references to other content that we already digested elsewhere … no biggie.
Catch the LifeDrive update below
What caught our attention and perhaps some over-active imagination is when the report mentions palmOne could be “heading a new trend in the handheld industry with LifeDrive” …
The initial LifeDrive is just the first model amongst an entirely new sub-brand of palmOne devices; current sub-brands being Zire and Tungsten. The LifeDrive sub-brand is being billed as the multimedia line of palmOne products; a line of devices that will focus on AV playback and recording - definitely more than what the Zires were initially made out to do.
If this is so, and like CNET says - it will be a serious contender for an entirely different market than plain-vanilla PDAs - it would take on the likes of hard drive based digital audio/video players from Apple (iPods) to Archos (portable video players.)
Which means that this could turn out to be an extremely brilliant move by palmOne to ensure its very own business survival by using its speciality - making elegant handheld devices with solid PIM functions - and morphing it into a handheld multimedia gadget. Very smart.
Given if all we have prophesized above is on the money, we could then expect some really great gadgets from palmOne in the very near future!
Update: engadget has got news that Amazon.com is already rocking the palmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager ahead of its May 18 launch. Price? $499.98.
