Would Nokia-Palm merger spell doom for WebOS?
If I had a dollar for every instance of misguided Wall Street speculation, I might be richer than a trader, but let's just imagine that Nokia will acquire Palm, as reported on Friday.
If I had a dollar for every instance of misguided Wall Street speculation, I might be richer than a trader, but let's just imagine that Nokia will acquire Palm, as reported on Friday.
A rumor that Nokia might purchase Palm shot the troubled smartphone company's shares up on Friday and reignited the debate: What should happen to Palm?
The Palm Pre's WebOS browser is a relatively recent entrant in the mobile browser arena, arriving in early June of this year. But the Pre's new mobile browser comes fully prepared for a battle royale with other leading smartphone browsers.
As Steve Jobs' reputation continues to sink, we receive word that the Apple boss tried to make a deal with Palm not to poach each other's employees. Palm rebuffed the suggestion as "likely illegal."
In its latest attempt to show some smartphone muscle, Verizon Wireless says it will offer the Palm Pre in early 2010.
Palm Inc.'s decision to re-enable syncing to iTunes in its new Web OS update has an element of Palm taunting Apple Inc.
Yesterday Palm released an update to its webOS mobile operating system for the Pre, v1.1.0. The new webOS packs a handful of enterprise-oriented features, like the ability to remotely wipe the Pre, along with a number of maintenance fixes and more. But perhaps most interestingly, webOS v1.1.0 also "re-enables" the iTunes sync feature that Apple blocked via its own software update earlier this month.That's good news for Pre users, since it's remarkably simple to use iTunes to sync media libraries to the Pre. However, it'll no doubt be short-lived and Pre owners will soon find themselves in the same iTunes-sync-less position they did last week, when Apple released iTunes v8.2.1, which blocked Pre syncing.
I'm something of a grumpy old man when it comes to camera phones--for years, I've resisted them, complaining that I just didn't see the point. "Using a camera phone dumbs down photography," I'd say, citing poor image quality and lack of control. When I wrote "Five Tips for Great Photos With Your Cell Phone," I did it reluctantly, mainly because my friends insisted that phones with cameras were incredibly popular.
There's been one promised iPhone killer after another -- the Google Android-based Dream, the RIM BlackBerry Storm, the yet-to-ship, years-delayed Windows Mobile 7 -- but none has given it worthwhile competition to date. Now Palm has its Pre, a device that looks to be a serious contender for the best next-gen mobile device crown.
In saying, "We don't have to beat each other to prosper" during a Thursday call held to discuss the company's fourth-quarter earnings, Palm's new CEO, Jon Rubenstein, has tacitly admitted what many already suspected: Palm won't end up number one in the smartphone race.
The scoop: Palm Pre, by Palm.
Ed Colligan is a nice guy and visionary marketer who, nevertheless, deserves blame for most of Palm's problems, including the failed launch of the Palm Pre last weekend. At least by sacrificing Colligan so quickly, that must be what "the new Palm" hopes we'll think.
I have a confession to make: About two years ago I made a big mistake and bought a phone designed for mere mortals when what I really wanted was an Apple iPhone. Don't get me wrong -- my Sony Ericsson W580i has served me well -- but I'm ready to move up to a super-phone.
The Palm Pre might have a slick OS and stylish hardware, but when it comes to apps, it has a long road ahead of it. The Apple iPhone OS has the largest (more than 35,000 apps now) and most comprehensive native app store of any mobile operating system. And if Palm wants WebOS and the Pre to challenge Apple's smartphone juggernaut, it's going to have to step up its apps game. But Palm's App Catalog shows a lot of promise: Its design makes navigating and shopping for apps from the Pre easy, and many of the apps take full advantage of WebOS's best features.
The guessing game is over: Apple's iPhone 3G S has arrived. Don't let appearances fool you. On the outside nothing looks much different with the 3G S. The real difference is what's inside. So how will Apple's iPhone 3G s compare to the Palm Pre?