Groupsense Palm OS phones quietly pass away

ASIAN FIRM Groupsense - or GSPDA for short - long known for its attractive yet poorly promoted and distributed Palm OS smartphones has replaced its offerings for a single yet uninspiring Linux based "PDA phone".

We wrote some time ago about this Asian firm and its line of then-promising Palm OS smartphones. We even tested the Xplore M98 and found much to like about it, despite the poor plastic quality.

The firm's previous PalmOS based line-up

The firm's latest offerings

This scribbler has always thought there is room - and the Centro's success proves that perhaps there still is - for a clamshell PalmOS based phone, properly marketed and promoted by Palm itself.

What was once a complete line-up with four or five Palm-based units has been now decimated to the firm's single smart phone product, the WF100. Even the Java-OS (SavaJe) based Jasper is algo gone with the wind.

The new WF100 sports an unimpressive 1.5-inch screen with 128x128 resolution. The firm calls the WF100 "real smart".

Renewed Palm OS advocate blogger Tams Palm has dubbed it a "Dumbphone". We're sure the market and time will probe the intelligence or lack thereof of the firm's latest move. µ