Palm

Hmm... The Free Software movement founder, Richard Stallman, makes the distinction between "free as in freedom" and "free as in beer" when talking about Free Software (he doesn't like the label "Open Source"). So, what is Palm up to with this?

Palm: Free Apps For The Web, Free Development For Open Source, And Free Phones! (TechCrunch)

- Apps can be distributed over the web through a direct URL (web address)
- Palm will NOT review apps
- Palm will waive the $99 yearly fee for Open Source apps
- Palm will share its analytical data with developers (unlike Apple)

This all sounds like good news for Pre developers. And, it sounds like a friendly gesture to Open Source developers (sorry, Mr. S.) that is especially appropriate given the Pre's webOS Linux roots. But, would Palm have made such grand gestures if the Pre were selling in large numbers? Or, is this a desperate attempt to build an app library?

Well, this didn't take very long...

Palm webOS 1.2.1 now available

What am I talking about? One of the two compatibility issues this minor point-dot release addresses:

1. iTunes sync working again
2. Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) mail syncing issue resovled (Exchange Server 2007)

Other issues resolves includes:

- Sync photo albums while maintaining album structure
- Sync photos without requiring full-resolution
- Media stream drops while playing streaming audio or video

My guess is that Apple will release iTunes 9.0.2 to remove webOS syncing within two weeks (maybe sooner).

From "The Official Palm Blog"...

What’s new in webOS 1.2?

Here's what's new:

- Adds LinkedIn contact syncing
- Filter email in a folder by typing a search term
- Songs from Amazon MP3 Store can be downloaded over WiFi or WAN (I assume WAN == 3G)
- Dial a number in a calendar note (very nice!)
- Copy/paste from web pages and email (very iPhone-esque late development)

Looks like Palm Pre owners have a very nice set of enhancements as the OTA (Over The Air) updates reach them. I wonder what the state of the "sync with iTunes" issue is with the recent iTunes update and this webOS update coming so close together.

Via Engadget

The most anticipated smartphone move is the long hoped for availability of an iPhone from Verizon Wireless. Though, perhaps, less anticipated, the availability of the Palm Pre from Verizon Wireless would probably be much more important to Palm than iPhone availability would be to Apple. It would seem reasonable to guess that selling the Pre to the gigantic Verizon customer base could only help Palm's bottom line. If Palm was depending on this (and they have never said anything about partnering with Verizon), this TheStreet.com story must be a huge disappointment...

Exclusive: Verizon Snubs Palm Pre

One commenter on TheStreet.com offered the theory that the Pre's strong sales for Sprint PCS prompted Sprint to extend the exclusive sales of the Pre beyond 2009. Interesting theory. But, have the Pre's sales really been "strong" so far? I have to admit that I have seen a lot more Pre-s "in the wild" than I expected. But, is it big enough for Sprint to puruse additional exclusivity?

We'll find out for sure early next year.

Buyout and merger speculations are always fun to watch from the outside (not usually as much fun from the inside). This week's big rumor appears to be (from Reuters)...

Palm shares rise on short covering, Nokia talk

Palm's entire future currently depends on the success of the Pre (ok, but not explosive so far) and Pixi. Palm probably has a year or so of cash reserves to burn through. A white knight rescuer probably looks pretty good to them right now.

Personally, I think it is just talk. But, here's some pros and cons that come to mind...

PROS
- Another Linux-based mobile platform to complement Nokia's existing Linux platform
- Provides foot-in-the-door to Sprint and, perhaps, other U.S. wireless carriers

CONS
- Another Linux-based mobile platform to confuse Nokia's customers
- Splits developers' resources
- No real synergy with existing Nokia platforms and products
- Palm is a potential drain on Nokia's own cash reserves

Sprint and Palm bet the farm on the Palm Pre to shake up the cell phone world and give the iPhone some real competition. The Pre didn't turn out to be an iPhone-killer. It seems to be doing well. But, is it doing enough to save the farm? Let's take a quick look at...

Palm Reports Q1 FY 2010 Results

...with an average guy untrained financial eye (mine).

- 823,000 smartphone units sold during the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 (which ended on Aug. 28, 2009). That doesn't sound like a lot of phones to me

- net loss applicable to common stockholders for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $(164.5) million This, apparently, is less of a loss than analysts expected. But, it still doesn't look good to my untrained eye

- The company's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance was $211.8 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2010. Cash used in operations for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 was $45.1 million. So, they burned through $45.1 million during the last quarter and have $211.8 million in cash (or its equivalent). What does this mean? In the unlikely event that their burn rate is linear, they have enough cash to last through the Fall of 2010. It looks to me like Palm needs a huge holiday sales period to remain healthy enough to get to the end of calendar year (not fiscal year) 2010.

If you went back in time to the early part of this decade one of the tech-geek discussions you might hear would be how Palm OS PDAs were so much faster and easier to use than Windows CE/Windows Mobile PDAs. It looked like Palm's single task approach was going to get the better of the sometimes sluggish but multi-tasking Windows CE/Windows Mobile PDAs. Palm's Treo smartphone with its BlackBerry-like thumb keyboard also seemed to be besting Windows Mobile's touch-screen phones. But as Palm OS stagnated and Windows Mobile continued to improve, things started to even out. I recall a friend telling me that he though Palm should use Windows Mobile on the Treo to get the best of both worlds (Windows Mobile multi-tasking and the Treo's great form factor). I recall saying something like, "I have a bridge you might like to buy too", because it seemed to improbable that Palm would adopt its arch enemy's platform. But, Palm did. And, that odd partnership has continued since 2006. In the meantime, Windows Mobile stagnated since then in much the same way Palm OS did. Palm moved on and developed their webOS based Pre released just a few months ago. So, it is no surprise to learn that...

Palm Abandons Windows Mobile (preCentral.net)

Motorola dumped Windows Mobile for Android. HTC still produces Windows Mobile phones but seems to be marketing their Android based one's harder. Microsoft has the resources to keep Windows Mobile going indefintely. But, they may need to build their own phone to push their mobile agenda.

Photo courtesy of Palm

No, it can't be. A new smartphone with a touchscreen and physical keyboard right under the screen? Old school BlackBerry & Treo style? That, apparently, is what the Palm Pixi delivers...

Palm Pixi (product page)

I'm not particularly interested in Palm's webOS platform. But, I like the idea of having a touch screen plus a physical QWERTY keyboard. And, I really like the idea of not forcing me to pull out the keyboard everytime I want to use it. The old school BlackBerry and Palm Treo design were good ones and still works for me. The real question is how usable the QWERTY keyboard is. If it is as good as, say, the HTC Dash, that is very good.

But, and there's always a "but", according to Engadget...

The Palm Pixi is official, headed to Sprint this holiday season -- we've got hands-on and video!

EVDO Rev A is nice (very nice). But, not having WiFi is a deal breaker IMHO. On the other hand, its other specs look very respectable: 8GB storage, 2 megapixel camera with flash, and that nice looking QWERTY keyboard.

From PreCentral.net:

WebOS 1.2 Accidentally Leaked!

This is a particularly intersting "leak" since it reported comes from Palm itself. Two people reported that webOS 1.2 was installed on their Pre phones after preforming a hard reset to restore it to factory condition.

Here's what PreCentral reports is new in 1.2:

- Ability to enter account information in App Catalog
- Select All edit menu option
- More granular control over how location is tracked
- Browser improvements (zoom animation)
- Search contacts and subjects in email

Windows Mobile users like myself look sadly at our "Windows Update" icon knowing it has never been used to actually update any Windows Mobile phone and probably never will.

I've seen three Palm Pre-s in the "wild" in the past week. So, I guess real people (vs. mobile tech bloggers) are buying and using them. And, it looks like Sprint is going to try to bring in a pair of new Pre models according to this item in PreCentral.net:

New Palm phones in Sprint inventory: P120 and C40

So, what can we expect to see in these two models? PreCentral provides a reasonable speculation that the "120" is some kind of enhanced version of the current Palm Pre which is a model 100. They also speculate that the "c40" is the rumored small (C == compact?) Eos model that is supposed to be priced at $99 (presumably only for new accounts).

I haven't been following the Palm Pre very closely recently since the buzz around it seems to have died quickly after its introduction. Will these P120 and C40 model pump renewed interest?