Nintendo With Possible Palm OS Capabilities

Sammy writes "According to GamerCentric, Nintendo has licensed Palm OS software although there intentions are not clear. "Well there seems to be some clues about this. "Nintendo had recently licensed Palm OS based PDA software without any details on why they had done it. Now Nintendo sources have revealed that V-Pocket trademark concerns this licensing. E3 will be the first witness of Nintendo's complete line of personal organizer tools for its Nintendo DS." So there is a possibility that we could see a Nintendo device with Palm OS organizer capabilities."

Let me guess

[dnoyeb]

I bet Nintendo has new management which are trying to look like they add valuable by making 'moves.' This is a decidedly US style manover which to me is surprising from a Japanese company.

Kids play nintendo.
Adults use palm.

They do not mix. To be sure, I am an adult and I do both. But never at the same time...

N-Gage

[Space_Soldier]

They'll probably add cell phone components too. So Nintendo wants to turn the Game Boy line into N-Gage. The problem is that N-Gage is not successful, so what makes them think that Game Boy with PDA and maybe phoning will be successful? I don't think that a 12 years old kid needs a PDA in his Game Boy, nor do I think that he should have a mobile phone. What are your opinions on this?

Re:N-Gage

[jmcmunn]

I would agree completely with your point, young kids have no need for that kind of crap. It only makes them spend more time with their gadgets instead of going outside and getting exercise, or playing with their friends (in person, not online). However, the PalmOS could be used for a lot of things. One simple thing it could be used for is to keep around your "buddies" in a convenient matter so kids can use the fun little wireless chat thing that the unit already does. Also, it could be used to maintain high score lists (both local and online) and to simply provide for a powerful (for a game unit) interface for browsing your firmware/game menus. Just because they licensed the PalmOS doesn't mean it will be a full blown PDA. Of course it could, and I can't say for sure that it won't be, but it could just be for a code base that they want to use for their own design.

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http://www.jiggybyte.com/gmail [jiggybyte.com]

I would buy Nintendo Palm IMMEDIATELY

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a DS, and frankly, the number of good games released so far is disappointing (but there are a few winners, like Feel the Magic, and Band Brothers in Japan).

I no longer have a Palm, but had a VII and Palm Pilot Professional a while back.

If Nintendo released essentially a Palm cartridge that turned your DS into a fully functional Palm OS machine, I would buy it in a second -- ESPECIALLY if it included a browser that took advantage of the DS' built-in wireless. I DO miss having a handheld computer -- I just can't justify it, when I already have a SE T-610 phone, and iBook G4 w/ BT and 802.11b/g. But $50 bucks or so for a Palm that uses my nice DS hardware (when it's sitting idle for lack of games)? Hells yeah!

Probably not a PDA

[Primal_theory]

The nintendo ds IS NOT THE NEXT GAMEBOY if you read some of their reports, they said this is not the new gameboy, their working on that, this is the nintendo DS, a completely new console... Old uninformed people shouldn't talk about stuff that kids want either... I am infact a high school student, and me and quite a few of my friends have nintendo ds's, we have spent lunch playing eachother, and we have even cheated on tests by talking to eachother via pictochat... And if we were to get internet, either by using ds and school network or ds and network running from my locker, then i would pay any sum of money for that!

Re:This is clearly aimed at the DS

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree that that's the most likely use for Palm OS, but also I think there is one more possibility that has been overlooked in this discussion. If you look at some things from the development stage for the DS, you can see it was not designed to be a GameBoy replacement. Originally, it wasn't supposed to play Game Boy Advanced games or even have a traditional D-pad. Nintendo wanted to bust things wide open by selling two handheld system at once, to two different markets. The DS is designed to "level the playing field" for new gamers, since everyone has to learn how to use a touch pad, as though gaming for the first time. In the end, however, Nintendo decided that releasing a handheld that wasn't compatible with the uber-popular GBA was suicide, and moderated the DS's design by adding a D-pad and whatnot.

However, there is still some rumbling afoot that Nintendo is still developing a "true successor" to the GBA. This system would be without a touch screen and with a more powerful processor. Essentially, it would be more like a PSP (although undoubtedly with a better battery life ;D ). No one really knows much about the Super GBA project, but it's possible that Nintendo is looking for software to use as an OS for this handheld. Maybe Palm OS could play a role similar to WinCE on the XBox?

Still, I agree that the most likely point of such an alliance would be to release a web browser and other internet utilities for the DS, since they do both use an ARM chip and doing so would greatly increase the utility of the DS for those in the 18+ bracket.

Re:Gross overgeneralization.

[Anonymous Coward]

You may be able to write off your DS now, legally. First, it's an electronic media device, and if you have _anything_ to do with electronic media, interface design, etc., then you can write it off as research or a regular expense item. That is, unless I am mistaken. Get an accountant (not some H&R Block doofus), tell her what you do, what you've bought, etc. You might be surprised.

Maybe they just want the handwriting recognition?

[ProppaT]

Maybe they're leasing Palm's software just for their handwriting recognition? Really, all they need to do is integrate an AIM client w/ handwriting recognition from Palm and they'd have a MAJOR hit on their hands. Of course, it would be nice to have the Palm software too. But adding an AIM client to the package would make it a killer ap IMO!

tapwave zodiac?

[Anonymous Coward]

i assume that sombody here has to have heard of this little gizmo. if not, its a palm powered pda that is set up to orient itself more toward gaming. a company developing palm software was making a gameboy advance emulator that would run on high end palm devices such as the zodiac, but nintendo sued the company and put it out for a while. perhaps this is why they put up a stink about an emulator being put out for palm but look the other way with PC emulators? http://www.tapwave.com/ [tapwave.com] if you are in the market for a high powered palm based pda.

DS is for adults. Besides, Tech + Kids = Good!

[metalligoth]

After reading a lot of replies I see a general theme.

Most people seem to think the DS is for kids. It isn't. Nintendo has stated clearly that the Game Boy Advance is for the market of the original Game Boy (6 to 25 years old or so) and that the DS is for the young adults that had the original Game Boy and are grown up now. The DS is intended for a 16 to 40 market. It's not for kids.

Nintendo has also previously announced plans to launch a VoIP service for the DS that will only work with other Nintendo DS units. I think this was even covered on Slashdot.

To the people saying 12 year olds don't need cell phones, I have to say this:

I was using experimental (read: pre-Newton and Newton-era but not the Newton itself) PDAs when I was as young as 12. I loved them. They helped me in school immensely and kept me entertained, as well. I loved communications equipment at that age, and when I wasn't busy hacking the local BBS I was often on the CB radio with my buddies. If we had cell phones, we would have used those.

There were plenty of times I was out in the middle of the woods or in town with friends that I'm sure my parents would have loved to get ahold of me. I know that when I have kids I will enjoy the piece of mind that comes from knowing you can get ahold of them while they're out playing and having fun.

Yes, I'll still ask them where they're going, but you simply can't lock your 12 year old in the house 24/7. So, a cell phone is often the best thing you can do.

Frankly, I'd rather it be a cell phone that I can call to /ask/ my kids where they are rather than a GPS device of some sort like many parents want to use these days.

From what I hear from parents I know, there are few kids these days in middle school or high school that /don't/ have cell phones already! ...and why shouldn't they have phones? PDAs?

Isn't giving a kid a piece of technology and teaching them how to use it responsibly a GOOD thing?

If you think the answer is no, I'd like to say you have a rather anti-Slashdot (or simply anti-hacker) mentality.

There were plenty of times I'd take a long hike in the woods and sit down in the middle of the woods on a log and program on my PDA for a few hours. Hey, it might of been strange, but I was active physically and I was learning, too. I got a good programming job fresh out of high school when a lot of my peers were still at fast food jobs, so it couldn't have been all bad.

Re:N-Gage

[NanoGator]

"The problem is that N-Gage is not successful, so what makes them think that Game Boy with PDA and maybe phoning will be successful?"

A.) The DS is already successful.
B.) The DS already has the components to make a decent PDA. Add a sprinkle of software and you're done.

C.) Although I'm not terribly impressed with the idea of turning it into a phone (unless they made a new all-in-one-unit), phones are very simple very standard devices so it really wouldn't (shouldn't?) hurt the machine.

" I don't think that a 12 years old kid needs a PDA in his Game Boy, nor do I think that he should have a mobile phone."

I don't think you've got a clear idea of who all bought a DS.