As posted at PalmAddicts...

On WiFi for the Treo...

You know... it seems that every other day or so someone is yelling about the lack of 802.11b(g) for the Treo. TreoCentral's review of the Enfora WiFi sled is just another example when you read the first paragraph:

"Sometimes I think that calling the Treo a smartphone is a misnomer—it's almost criminal for Palm to not offer WiFi drivers for its 802.11 SD card. Treo users have been begging for high-speed access. The Enfora WiFi Adapter is a sled for the Treo that finally delivers for those wanting to use the Treo on a wireless LAN."

But I have to ask if we really want WiFi for our Treos? Think about it a bit... most other Palm devices either have WiFi built-in or have drivers to use an SDIO WiFi card solution. Why not the Treo? Well, I think the latest Samsung i730 shows us why. The review at PC Magazine says it all. Looking beyond both its bulk when the keyboard is slid out and its sub-par battery, the article brings to light what many early reviewers and purchasers also mentioned, namely the hassle of not being able to use the cellular portion (CDMA & EVDO) when using WiFi, etc. In other words, there's some issues of not being to make/receive phone calls when using the WiFi, etc. There is presently no hand-off between the cellular and WiFi networks. I recall seeing some news of a company/partnership that is working to address this very issue. But right now, it doesn't exist.

Now what differentiates our Treo from other Palm devices? Mainly its the cellular (GSM/CDMA & GPRS/EVDO) capabilities. Palm has always made a stable device. Everything they include allows for one-handed navigation. Palms are simple in terms of how they operate, but this simplicity is what makes them so solid and stable. Consider their SD card support. Sure, they provide access to the cards, but not a single, stock Palm application allows for defaulting to an SD card. Why? Simple. They're removable. If you make an app default to a card, then remove it, the app will fail. This will generate both more tech support calls/emails and bad PR for Palm. Its been argued/mentioned that Palm could make an app (such as Blazer or the camera) look for a card first, and default to local memory if one is not found, but there's also the problem of people being able to use different cards. Not everyone has a single 2GB card that never leaves the device (such as I do).

Palm see the same issue with WiFi. Sure, its great and they've already demonstrated that it works well on other Palm devices that don't have built-in cellular connections. But on our Treo, it would likely cause more issues than good. The Treo is designed to have 24/7 voice availability and 24/7 data capability at the same time (granted, you can't receive an email while on a call, but they arrive immediately after you hang up). Introducing WiFi would introduce the same issues that we're now seeing with the Samsung i730. For some (especially advanced users such as ourselves), we could manage this just fine. But for the average guy that doesn't frequent Treonauts, PalmAddicts, or TreoCentral on a daily basis, this would be seen as a headache and as a poorly designed device. This is why Palm isn't releasing WiFi drivers for the Treo or shipping a Treo with built-in WiFi. This could change in the future. According to this article at Engadget, processes are in place to handle seemless CDMA/GSM-to-WiFi handoffs, but the technology isn't here yet. And until it is, and is proven to be stable and reliable, I don't expect Palm to ever mix WiFi with the Treo line.

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