One particular employee and good friend of mine at Palm’s (who I will not name) will remember the Roteo fondly – I have to admit that I am somewhat sad that the concept never made it out into the open market.
Nevertheless, good ideas come back…this time, via Nokia. The image below hits us via an Italian phone site:
Not much to add here…
In the past, Palm has not been too active supporting their last PalmOS products. This has all changed with the webOS – these devices have been receiving a steady stream of updates ever since they were released.
As Sprint was the initial webOS carrier, most patches debuted on its network – but Verizon usually followed suite. This has now happened again – Pre owners on Verizon can now get webOS 1.4.1.1. The official change log reads as follows:
Version information
Version: webOS 1.4.1.1
Release date: 28 April 2010New applications
NONEFeature changes to existing applications
Bluetooth
This release fixes an issue so that the phone now correctly connects with supported BMW car kits.Camera
This release corrects a lag in the shutter sound when you take a picture.
This release fixes an issue so that newly taken photos and videos do not overwrite existing ones.Contacts
If you crop a picture before adding it to a contact, the picture appears cropped correctly in the contact entry.
If you previously assigned either the Z or the B key as a speed dial, you can now continue to create speed dials.Doc View
If you open a file and perform the back gesture, the app now returns to the file list screen.
Pinching in/out to zoom out/in now works correctly.Messaging
If you try to attach a video to an outgoing multimedia message, the list of available videos now displays only videos you recorded.PDF View
If you open a file and perform the back gesture, the app now returns to the file list screen.
Pinching in/out to zoom out/in now works correctly.System
This release fixes an intermittent issue so that pressing a key once now consistently enters a character only once.
This release fixes an intermittent issue so that the volume slider no longer appears onscreen incorrectly.Touchstone charging dock
When the phone is on a Touchstone charging dock, the screen now consistently turns off correctly (displaying the lock icon and the time) after the shut-off interval.Videos
If you record a video, upload the video to YouTube, and send a link to the video via email, the email recipient can click the link and view the video. Previously, clicking the link displayed an error message.
This release fixes an issue so that when you upload a video to YouTube, the file always includes both video and audio.Web
The forward gesture now works correctly in the browser.Security
Individuals interested in contacting Palm to report suspected security issues can find more information at palm.com/security .
Not much to add here…
HP has had its fair share of issues in the mobile market after the introduction of Windows Mobile 7 – and it looks like they decided to take an agressive step forward rather than get out.
The following press release has just popped up on industry sites:
HP and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which HP will purchase Palm, a provider of smartphones powered by the Palm webOS mobile operating system, at a price of $5.70 per share of Palm common stock in cash or an enterprise value of approximately $1.2 billion. The transaction has been approved by the HP and Palm boards of directors.
The combination of HP’s global scale and financial strength with Palm’s unparalleled webOS platform will enhance HP’s ability to participate more aggressively in the fast-growing, highly profitable smartphone and connected mobile device markets. Palm’s unique webOS will allow HP to take advantage of features such as true multitasking and always up-to-date information sharing across applications.
“Palm’s innovative operating system provides an ideal platform to expand HP’s mobility strategy and create a unique HP experience spanning multiple mobile connected devices,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president, Personal Systems Group, HP. “And, Palm possesses significant IP assets and has a highly skilled team. The smartphone market is large, profitable and rapidly growing, and companies that can provide an integrated device and experience command a higher share. Advances in mobility are offering significant opportunities, and HP intends to be a leader in this market.”
“We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre. HP’s longstanding culture of innovation, scale and global operating resources make it the perfect partner to rapidly accelerate the growth of webOS,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer, Palm. ”We look forward to working with HP to continue to deliver industry-leading mobile experiences to our customers and business partners.”
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Palm stockholders will receive $5.70 in cash for each share of Palm common stock that they hold at the closing of the merger. The merger consideration takes into account the updated guidance and other financial information being released by Palm this afternoon. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of domestic and foreign regulatory approvals and the approval of Palm’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close during HP’s third fiscal quarter ending July 31, 2010.
Palm’s current chairman and CEO, Jon Rubinstein, is expected to remain with the company.
As of now, none of this is confirmed. However, this would be a great outcome for all involved – keep in mind that HP was the original innovator behind the success of the PocketPC!
Even though I don’t particularly like the two companies involved in the report below, Intel and Asus’s efforts in the netbook space are difficult to marginalize.
The main weakness of 10 inch devices so far was the lack of a suitable and affordable dual-core CPU: while current Atom-based machines show two cores in the task manager, this is due to hyperthreading and not due to the availability of two physical cores. AMD’s dual-core Congo platform has been used in MSI’s latest 12inch notebook, and has made a killing of Atoms…and it looks like this has provoked Intel to strike back.
DigiTimes reports the following:
…and is planning to launch DDR3-supporting Atom N455 and N475 shortly.
In June, Intel is set to reveal more details about its third-generation netbook platform as well as launching the dual-core Atom N500 series, the sources noted.
Asustek Computer is already preparing to launch an Atom N500-based netbook in the third quarter with a price set at about NT$18,000 (US$575),
…
Not much to add here…except that I will probably stick with my U100 until another device with a matte screen comes out…
Spam is an age-old topic. While most of us probably delete most spam messages on sight, there must be enough morons who actually read them or the whole game wouldn’t pay out for the spammers.
FlowTown.com have now created the image below:
Unfortunately, their method of gathering the data was not disclosed…but it nevertheless makes for interesting reading!
We’ve already heard our fair share of information about AT&T’s webOS devices – but they haven’t hit the road so far.
The latest bit of evidence is the ad below:
As of now, we still don’t have an ETA – but it should only be a question of time…
Palm’s US developer has just come to an end. It didn’t bring any groundbreaking announcements, but nevertheless saw the introduction of a few new multimedia-related API’s and a higher-performance database parser.
PreCentral reports the following:
We’re pumped about the new APIs and we’re really pumped at what we expect are going to be significant speed improvements with the new CSS animation + javascript + db8 improvements. Palm is optimizing and speeding up webOS on virutally every front while staying committed to web standards in a way will warm the heart of even the most-jaded mobile or web developer.
We were hoping that Palm would break their radio silence with regard to the Mojo Messaging Service for push notifications, but sadly no dice on that front.
…
Further information via the URL below:
http://www.precentral.net/webos-get-mic-camera-api-faster-services-plenty-more-fall
Palm’s Pixi never was too expensive a phone – either way, Sprint is now giving away the original Pixi for free on contract.
The offer is available from Sprint’s web site, and looks like this:
Further information via the URL below:
http://shop.sprint.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/SubmitRegionAction …
P.S. Use the ZIP code 60002 to get past their ZIP barrier…
Palm and DataViz have been working together for literally ages – I can remember a statistic stating that Documents to Go was installed ojn almost every Palm OS device in use.
The webOS document viewer is powered by their technology, with an editor update being “in the works” for some time. DataViz has now stated the following:
We at DataViz would like to apologize for not responding sooner to our loyal Palm customers about the availability of Documents To Go for webOS. We have felt it best to keep our public webOS discussion to a minimum until we had concrete information about our webOS products to offer you.
We are continuing our efforts to work with Palm to clear the path for a full editing version of Documents To Go. However, given the current environment at Palm, as well as the necessary collaboration with the device manufacturer that is required to bring an app like ours to a platform like webOS, our Documents To Go editor product for webOS is essentially at a standstill.
As soon as we have any additional information, we will inform you immediately.
Not much to add here except that this is a very bad bit of news for the webOS platform…
P.S. If Palm really has balls, they should reach out to the OpenOffice porter. Slap a mobile GUI onto the engine, and you would have a kick-ass office suite.
Even though Palm’s CEO has already stated that he would prefer Palm to continue alone, speculation on future takeover partners simply doesn’t die.
Some time ago, a higher HTC empolyoee stated that the company was “evaluating” – according to Reuters, this process is now over and hasn’t brought anything tangible:
…
“There just weren’t enough synergies to take the deal forward,” said the source, who declined to be identified because the talks were private.
…
This leaves us with Lenovo…
If you look at the headlines over the last few weeks, you could think that the question is not if Palm would be bought up, but rather when and by whom. The cool thing about this is that Palm itself stated nothing about it so far.
This has now changed. An interview with the Financial Times contains the following quotes:
… he was “bullish” about Palm’s long-term prospects. “I believe Palm can survive as an independent company,” he told the Financial Times. “We have a plan that gets us to profitability.”
…
Mr Rubinstein said Palm was working “fast and furious on new handsets”. “We do have a strong pipeline of products in the future,” he added.
…
Doesn’t look too bad…
ARM is an extremely interesting company: this spin-off of a former hardware manufacturer called Acorn doesn’t have a single chip fab, yet its processor technology is used in almost all mobile devices (including apple’s mobile offerings).
Apple has always been good for rumors – and the latest one hits us via a web site called thisislondon. Their report reads as follows:
…
“A deal would make a lot of sense for Apple,” said one trader. “That way, they could stop ARM’s technology from ending up in everyone else’s computers and gadgets.” Traders reckon a bid would come in at around 400p a share, valuing ARM at more than £5.2 billion.
…
I personally consider this highly unlikely – keep in mind that such a deal would not only be unlikely to find regulatory approval, but that ARM’s licensees most probably have protected themselves from such a situation in their licensing contracts…
Nintendo’s original Dr. Kawashima game set off a brain-training craze: within weeks, one or more “brain trainers” were available for almost every mobile platform.
For those of you new to the scene: a brain trainer is a collection of one or more mini games, which require memory or arithmetics skills to win.
The BBC now claims that an university study found the following:
…
Tests before and after the training showed none of the interventions boosted people’s ability to do everyday thinking tasks, although they did get better at playing the individual games and the specific cognitive tasks these involved.
…
This means that while you do get better at solving the minigames, these gains are not transferred to unrelated every-day activities (unless you happen to need the contents of a minigame in your daily work)…
The image shows Resco BrainGain for Windows Mobile
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