BY ROBERT VAHID HASHEMIAN

A few days ago, Rich Tehrani (President of TMC) called me into his office to show off his new gadget: A brand-new Palm VII with all the bells and whistles to connect to the Internet, send and receive e-mail, browse the Web, and of course organize and manage personal data. Rich was as excited as a kid in a candy store, and in fact, I was also quite impressed. And that says a lot considering that I am not as gadget-crazed as Rich is.

Truth is, I have never had a Walkman, a pager, or a cell phone, and I haven’t even worn a watch in years. I must admit that PIMs (personal information managers) and organizers have been as exciting to me as heading over to the elevators in the local 3-story medical office building to listen to Muzak. Ok, ok maybe it’s not that bad, but the Palm certainly got my attention. With its integrated wireless system, it gives users the freedom to go anywhere and stay connected. The services such as Web Clipping and iMessenger allow one to browse participating Web sites from stock trading to map sites, all the while keeping in touch with the rest of the world through e-mail.

SHREWD MOVES
The Palm has certainly come a long way from its beginnings before it was taken over by 3Com. Many people questioned the wisdom of 3Com buying up PalmPilot a few years ago. After all, what would a networking company have in common with a PIM company? Considering the plans that 3Com had for the Palm, in retrospect we can see that these two companies had a lot more in common than appeared at first glance. And the marriage turned out to be a good one. With Palm revenues doubling every year and accounting for nearly 10 percent of 3Com’s revenues, it’s difficult to fault 3Com’s wisdom and logic in acquiring the Palm. The Palm has undoubtedly been a success story and other competitors have taken notice and are biting at its heels. But who would want to take on 3Com? You probably know this already. Yes, Microsoft.

RUMBLES IN REDMOND
It sometimes amazes me how this company operates. It is tenacious and persistent. When it wants something, it goes right for it, holding nothing back. Here are some examples:

Remember the big fight it had with Intuit. Rumors had it that Microsoft was very interested in Intuit’s money managing program, Quicken, and it tried some strong-arm tactics to absorb the company. While it was unsuccessful on that attempt (so far), Microsoft clearly has won the war against Netscape Navigator with its souped-up Internet Explorer browser. When it wanted a good HTML editor, it went after Vermeer Technologies and acquired FrontPage. Most recently Microsoft acquired Visio, the well-known flow-charting company. When it can’t buy something, it develops it and tries and tries again until the market gives in. The IE browser was one example. The Windows platform itself is another one as it positioned it squarely against OS/2, MAC, and Motif, and won the war. Right now as you read this there are several fronts where Microsoft is fighting on, namely:

• COM versus CORBA (the component battle);
• MSN versus AOL (the Instant Messenger battle);
• Visual C++ versus JAVA (the development language battle);
• Windows versus Linux (the operating system battle);
• SQL Server versus Oracle (the DBMS battle);
• Windows Media Player versus Real Player (the multimedia battle).

The list goes on and on. And Microsoft has won many battles just through its software savvy. Not being a particularly strong hardware company (I would give them a good grade for the mouse, although I don’t care for the new built-in wheel), Microsoft has used its strength in software to overcome the challenges to penetrate various markets. It is simple to see how. Today software is like water. We all need it to survive and it just about penetrates everything. Microsoft is not a car company, but that hasn’t stopped it to peddle Auto PC. Microsoft is not a bank, but it offers Microsoft Money as well as tools for financial transactions. And Microsoft is not in the personal organizer business, but it offers Windows CE, or WinCE as it is often referred to. WinCE is a stripped and slimmed down version of Windows designed for embedded systems. It offers some familiar applications such as Word and Excel, e-mail, and Web browser, but it has a much smaller footprint than its better-known cousins, Windows 9x and NT. This has allowed manufacturers of subnotebook and handheld devices to concentrate on the hardware, leaving the software to Microsoft. Pretty much the same arrangement as the PC companies who preload Windows on their systems prior to shipping.

The companies utilizing WinCE today are some of the biggest names in the electronics and PC businesses. These include Compaq, HP, Casio, Sharp, and NEC, and together with Microsoft they want a piece of growing personal communication business where the Palm has had a commanding market share.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
For all the success that the Palm has achieved there is still a lot more work to be done to make this device a true personal communication system. Some of the areas that need work are:

• Connection to the Internet — the transmission rates are still too slow and cost too much for the power user.
• Typing — it is still difficult to compose a message with the Palm. There have been some improvements in the handwriting recognition areas but I still find it crude and difficult to work with.
• Voice/fax communication — there is none of that happening and therefore no unified messaging.

THE ULTIMATE PCS
WinCE may be the answer to some of these shortcomings. One of the greatest benefits of WinCE is standardization. I personally wince (get it?) every time there is potential for Microsoft to monopolize a sector, but you have to admit one thing. A Windows program can run on 85 percent of all installed PCs in the world today. That’s the power of standardization. If WinCE can achieve some level of standardized personal communication system, why reject it? And it would also offer tighter integration with our PCs running Windows as well. So here is my wish list for the ultimate Personal Communications System (PCS):

• It must have its own IP address. If a PCS is to be effective, it should be given its own identity on the net and that starts with an IP address. Hackers would love this one!

• It must do Internet telephony. Having achieved its end node status by acquiring an IP address, it should be able to run a program such as NetMeeting for real-time voice (and eventually video) transmission.

• It must handle unified messaging. We’ve covered this a million times: Voice, fax, and e-mail in one inbox.

• It must do voice recognition. Until mind reading technology becomes readily available, good voice-rec is the only salvation from the arcane typing/
  writing methods afforded by PCS devices.

There you have it. What are your thoughts on WinCE versus the Palm? What about other devices such as Motorola’s i1000plus or Psion? And how about Visor, the Palm-like product from the startup Handspring headed by the former founders of PalmPilot? Drop me a line.

Robert Vahid Hashemian provides us with a healthy dose of reality each month in his Reality Check column. Robert currently holds the position of Director for TMCnet.com — your online resource for CTI, Internet telephony, and call center solutions. He can be reached at rhashemian@tmcnet.com.