700p maintenance release

[RichC]

Can Palm slow down the Treo 700p fixes -- these continual updates are killing me. [/tongue 'n' cheek]

Anatomy of a Software Update + 700p Maintenance Release Info

Product managers like me have needed a place to communicate with Palm customers and fans about what's happening at Palm, and now we have it with the new Palm blog! We're looking forward to future blogging and to reading your feedback and comments.

One of the hot topics on the Palm/Treo community forums has been about software updates and I noticed that folks often wonder why we can quickly post a patch for some issues, but others sometimes take a full ROM/firmware update and take more time to deliver. Let's look at a couple examples...

Shortly after the release of the Treo 680 smartphone, it was discovered that using the camera could cause an excessive battery drain on the device. We quickly diagnosed the problem and figured out that a small change to the camera application could solve the problem. We cranked out the updated app, wrapped it up in an installer and got quick approval from the carrier to post it. Case closed, but how could it happen so fast? Two reasons - it was a small change limited to one app, and that one app happened to be a component that we could replace with a new version in user storage. Since the change was localized and didn't touch any of the radio/telephony software, we could push out a patch quickly.

Now maintenance releases (MRs) are a different story. When we release a MR that replaces the ROM image and radio firmware on a Treo, the process becomes more rigorous and requires more steps than a patch. Once you start mucking with complex components like the radio, power management or the file system, then you are way beyond a patch. Case in point: we started working on Bluetooth improvements for the Treo 700p as a patch so we could get it out quickly. More than a few months into the effort we decided that a patch wasn't going to work because the changes touched too many other components - we'd need to build it into a full MR.

MRs are usually big efforts - the deeper into the wireless functions we dig, the more careful we need to be to avoid breaking something else and the more testing Palm and the carriers have to do. So when we do an MR, we try to make it count. That means we batch together a number of changes that come from a variety of sources - call centers, online forums, carriers, retail stores, etc. Once Palm is done with the MR development work, we beta test the software internally and externally, run through pre-certification checklists, and hand the MR to the carrier for final certification and potentially a final round of changes.

We're now in the carrier certification phase with the Treo 700p MR and as I type this, our best estimate of customer release will be the week of May 28th. In addition to the Bluetooth improvements I mentioned above, the 700p MR includes updates to SMS send/receive performance, MP3 playback, phone app launch speed and other areas. It's admittedly been a much longer project than expected, but we're almost there...

Thanks for reading,

Steve Sinclair

Treo Product Manager

[LotusLord]

It's nice to hear an update on this release. I sincerely hope it solves all the 700p user's problems.

[TazUk]

I think the real issue isn't how long it's taking to produce the update but how long it's taken for Palm to acknowledge one was needed

[LotusLord]

How long has has it been?

[TazUk]

The 700P came out about a year ago and the problems were noted not long afterwards.

[LotusLord]

Yeah that is pretty bad. I'm glad I didn't switch to a CDMA carrier to get a new Treo when my contract was up.

[comiken205]

Well, Besides bluetooth, I am pretty happy with my 700P. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world, except the 755P! But, I am looking forward to this MR update.

[forgot]

I am looking forward to this MR update

Same here, and I dont even have a 700p! Its always interesting to see what they decided to update, and how they went about doing it.

[TazUk]

The funny thing is when I looked up when the 700P was released I was surprised as I thought it had been out a lot longer than a year

The problem is Palm will be compared to other phone makers such as Motorolla, Nokia, etc so if they can release patches/updates in a few months then people expect Palm to do the same. Bluetooth seems to be Palm's achilles heel with their WM based phones also having problems. Some of this may be down to people not following the standards properly or the standards not being that well defined, as it affects other brands as well. Maybe that's why Palm haven't included Wi-Fi on the Treo's yet

[comiken205]

TazUk,

I agree with you. I believe that some, not all, but some of the problems may be inexperience. Tweaking your phone, adding and deleting programs will cause problems with your device. Like I have said on this forum before, I have had the 700P for almost a year now. The only issues I have had with it, are the ones that I have caused it, on purpose. I love testing things out. I love trying out software. But, I also know how to get it going right after a melt down.

But then again, that is why you guys are here, right? To the help the people out!