Posts Tagged ‘Palm’

Flash 10 coming to smartphones this October? Apple and RIM still missing in action

by Steve O'Hear

June 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Flash Player 10 on smartphonesIt seems that Adobe is well on track to deliver a version of Flash 10 for smartphones, with the first beta release due this October. Adobe President and CEO Shantanu Naraye said as much during the company’s latest earnings call, as well as revealing that “multiple partners have already received early versions of this release…”.

Naraye then goes on to name names, citing Android, Nokia’s Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm’s WebOS as among the first smartphones to “support web browsing with the newsest Flash player.”

Continue reading »

Official: Palm Pre to go on sale June 6th, just two days before Apple's WWDC – $200 with 2 year contract

by Steve O'Hear

May 19th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Palm Pre to go on sale June 6

Palm Pre to go on sale June 6

After weeks and weeks of speculation, the cat is finally — and I mean finally — out of the bag. The Palm Pre will go on sale in the US on June the 6th, with the Sprint exclusive, for now at least, costing $200 after a $100 mail in rebate with a 2 year contract. If you’re lucky enough to be based in the states, you’ll be able to purchase a Pre at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radioshack, select Wal-Mart stores and through Sprint’s own website. That’s a pretty decent lineup of distributors and should give the device plenty of shopping mall exposure, presuming of course that Palm can meet the initial demand. And then there’s iPhone.

Continue reading »

Palm Pre aiming to be THE Facebook phone – social networking still mobile's killer app

by Steve O'Hear

May 6th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Social | Comments11 Comments

fb_3d_pre_ad

(Credit: Jamie Gonzalez via twitpic)

I’ve written many times before that social networking, and Facebook in particular, is the killer application for mobile phones. It’s what’s driving take up of mobile data and the adoption of higher end so-called smartphones. The mobile networks have taken notice and jumped on the social networking bandwagon, heavily promoting access to Facebook as a key feature, and handset makers are doing the same.

RIM has been targeting consumers with an ad campaign that features the Blackberry’s Facebook application.

Ditto Apple with the iPhone.

And there’s INQ, a new entrant whose first device, the INQ1, has been dubbed ‘the Facebook phone‘ based on its deep integration with the social networking site.

Continue reading »

PR wars: Palm Pre could go on sale 24 hours before next gen iPhone unveiled

by Steve O'Hear

April 29th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

The latest rumored release date for Palm’s comeback device, the Palm Pre, is June 7th, one day before Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). If true, this would be an audacious move from the handset maker, and one that, at first glance, carries a lot of risk. WWDC is thought to be the venue at which Apple will announce the next generation iPhone – and possibly a new category of mobile device – therefore completely overshadowing the Palm Pre’s one day old availability.

Or would it?

Continue reading »

BlackBerry address book integrates Facebook, apes Palm Pre's "Synergy" and INQ1

by Steve O'Hear

April 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Mobile, Social | Comments3 Comments

blackberry-facebookA new version of the Facebook for BlackBerry application has been released that offers better integration with the social networking site. Two standout features: a user’s friends list is kept in sync with the handset’s built-in address book – Facebook avatars show up as called ID, for example – and notifications from the social networking site are “pushed” to the phone’s home screen. Other features offered, not all of which are new, include:

  • Send/receive message or wall posts, pokes and friend requests.
  • Update your status, view and comment on your friends’ status.
  • Share photos from your BlackBerry smartphone with tags/comments and post to Facebook with just one click.

Continue reading »

Fandango and Pandora apps show off Palm Pre's Mojo [video]

by Steve O'Hear

April 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Audio, Mobile | Comments1 Comment

At the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this week, Palm announced that third-party developers can now apply for access to the company’s “Mojo” Software Development Kit (SDK) for the upcoming Palm Pre and webOS. Not all developers will be let in at first however – word on the street is that priority will be given to apps that take advantage of the hooks provided by webOS into the Pre’s address book, GPS and calendar – but as the SDK becomes more robust and Palm is able to scale support, access will be made more widely available.

Meanwhile, five hundred odd miles away in Las Vegas at CTIA 2009, Palm was busy demoing a number of third-party apps from developers who’ve been given extra early access, including Fandango, Pandora, Nascar and Sprint. The Fandango and Pandora apps are particularly impressive (see video below courtesy of CrunchGear), and are a good example of how Palm hopes to compete with the likes of iPhone, BlackBerry, Nokia and Android.

Continue reading »

Video: 26 minutes of Palm Pre goodness

by Steve O'Hear

February 20th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

It’s a quiet day today on the news front after the flurry of announcements that came out of Mobile World Congress (MWC). And although I already highlighted five new handsets that caught my eye, none captured my imagination quite as much as the Palm Pre and accompanying webOS that was unveiled last month.

Sadly, we didn’t learn much new about the Pre at MWC, such as an exact release date (either in the States or here in the UK), but the good folks over at precommunity.com did capture an extended demo – all 26 minutes – of Palm’s comeback device. Once again it looks like bloggers and the wider press could look but not touch, nonetheless things are a lot less rushed this time and even in the space of a month the Pre’s software appears much more complete, making the wait that bit harder. Full video after the jump…

Continue reading »

What if Apple sued Palm, would Microsoft come to the rescue?

by Steve O'Hear

January 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | Comments10 Comments

When the iPhone first launched at Macworld in 2007, I distinctly remember Apple CEO Steve Jobs boasting that the company had over 200 patents on this thing. At the time, that boast stuck out like a sore thumb as I couldn’t recall Apple making such a fuss over patents before.

Attempting to ‘protect’ one’s intellectual property through patent applications is something that large tech companies do every day. But the fact that Jobs felt the need to highlight this in relation to the iPhone told its own story: Apple was onto something big and it fully expected others to copy many of the iPhone’s ‘innovations’, such as the device’s multi-touch User Interface and related gestures to manipulate content.

Two years on and although we’ve seen many so-called iPhone “killers” from the likes of Google, Nokia, Samsung, HTC and RIM, none of them have dared to go as far as implementing a multi-touch UI.

Until just over a week ago, that is, when Palm unveiled its new Pre smartphone and accompanying webOS, which includes a capacative multi-touch display and relies heavily on gestures for navigation. None of which has gone unnoticed by Apple.

Continue reading »

Who has the most to fear from Palm's "New-ness"?

by Steve O'Hear

January 15th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

Pandora CTO Tom Conrad put it best: “I can’t think of much that’s harder in the world than building a modern, mobile operating system and integrating it with a fantastic piece of hardware”, he tells Palm Info Center.

“We see companies take a swing and miss at this time after time – I really think Palm has hit a home run on this one.”

And Conrad should know.

Not only has his company ported its music streaming and discovery service to over 40 different handsets, “everything from J2ME and Windows Mobile to the iPhone”, but Pandora was also chosen by Palm to get an early hands-on peak at the webOS and Pre and begin bringing their app over to the company’s new platform.

At the same time, Conrad rightfully reminds us that Palm is still very much the underdog. Of course, underdogs should rarely be underestimated.

On that note, who should have the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”?

Continue reading »

Video: Palm Pre and webOS in action

by Steve O'Hear

January 10th, 2009 | Posted in Mobile | Comments1 Comment

I didn’t get around to posting yesterday because, in all honesty, I spent most of the day scouring YouTube and various blogs for video coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show. In particular, I was keen to take in as many hands-on demos of the new Palm Pre and the accompanying webOS.

See also: Have we just witnessed the second coming of Palm?

After many hours of viewing, I’m glad to report that my initial enthusiasm for Palm’s new offering hasn’t waned. In fact, despite my natural cynicism towards the company’s bizarre decision not to allow bloggers at CES to actually hold the device — they could still touch it — I’m even more convinced that Palm has taken the mobile experience up a level, building nicely on top of what Apple and the iPhone delivers in terms of user experience and the mobile web. If I had to sum up the difference between Palm’s and Apple’s approach, the iPhone often feels like it wants me to do things Apple’s way — no multitasking, iTunes, MobileMe etc. — while the Pre and webOS appears to fit around the way I already manage my digital life. That’s my key takeway from the various demos and early coverage but of course, until I actually get my hands on the device, I’m reserving my final judgment.

Check out IntoMobile’s “hands-on” video after the jump (note: it’s a little grumpy and rushed on Palm’s part)… and you can also watch the complete Palm press event here.

Continue reading »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »