Gajeto

mobile phone and apps news
About Me

ASIA'S MOBILE PHONES & APPS NEWS

My Other Sites
Twitter
Contributors
Tags
Archive
2012 (10)
2011 (111)
2010 (694)
2009 (25)
Filed under

Palm

See all posts on posterous with this tag »
 

Check out this new commercial for Palm Pre 2 and webOS 2.0

Palm Pre 2 and webOS 2.0 has been made official about a week ago, and above is the official commercial video for them. The ads shows a the webOS 2.0 features like, the card style multitasking, the elegant notification system and also gaming capability by playing Angry Birds. Palm Pre 2 has a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and the new 5MP camera. Its pretty much a similar device with the first Pre, but with a couple of changes in its hardwares.

Filed under  //  HP   Palm   Palm Pre   Palm Pre 2   WebOS   WebOS 2.0   ads   commercial video   video  
Posted by Bayu Wicaksono 
 

Leaked picture of Palm Pre II

(download)

The new edition of the Palm Pre or also known as Pre Palm II will be sold exclusively through the online store, and then arrive in a second time via "Espace SFR" in early November.

Palm Pre 2 has an aesthetic design that is almost identical to its predecessor, however, what is clear is that its screen has a larger size and slightly rounded.

Changes in other materials, is equipped with new 1GHz processor, and sports with 521MB of RAM. With WebOS 2.0 and support for better handling for multimedia files.

[via MobileFrance]

 

Filed under  //  Palm   Palm Pre 2   WebOS   gadget   rumor  
Posted by Oki Rosgani 
 

Breaking: HP buys Palm!

Palm-logo

Today HP just ends the Palm's acquisitions rumors by announcing that they are buying Palm for $1.2 billion or that's about $5.70 per share of common stock.

Okay so this is came out of nowhere, for a couple of weeks, we all know that Palm has been 'flirting' with a couple of companies in order to save them from a total destruction. From HTC, Lenovo and Dell. HTC, which has been the fans favorite to buy Palm, pulling back their interests after having a more thorough look at Palm's financial conditions. Then this news came along, Palm has been acquired by HP (Hewlett-Packard)!

With this deal, expect a future HP devices with WebOS at it's core. The HP Slate with WebOS, How's that sound?

Press Release:

HP to Acquire Palm for $1.2 Billion

Combination will Accelerate HP's Growth within the More Than $100 Billion Connected Mobile Device Market

PALO ALTO, Calif. & SUNNYVALE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—HP (NYSE: HPQ) 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.

"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"

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.

Filed under  //  HP   Palm   breaking   breaking news  
Posted by Bayu Wicaksono 
 

For Sale: Palm

Palm_logo_500

The big news today was that Palm is up for sale. Seemingly or perhaps obviously because they won't be able to survive for much longer. The entire company is now worth less than $900 million, their stock is hovering around $5 per share, just over half of the price at this time last year. As a comparison, Apple is worth $219 billion and their stock is around $240.

The hot rumor circling the sale is that HTC is the front runner to take over the once leader of the handheld industry. True or not, it certainly would leave a lot of people salivating at the deal. HTC is already growing strong in the smartphone market reaching 6% for 2009 on the back of its Android offerings. Its Windows Mobile handsets however has taken a back step as the company powers through with Google.

Compared to other smartphone makers, HTC is the only one without its own operating system, they've always relied on partners, first Microsoft, now Google. They have developed their own interface, the Sense UI, but it's really a skin over an existing system. Apple obviously has the iPhone OS, RIM with their BlackBerry, Nokia runs Symbian, and Samsung is preparing the Bada. HTC has no operating system although it has gone alright so far without one.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //  android   buyout   htc   market   palm   webos  
Posted by Aulia Masna 
 

Opinion: Palm's descent

The following is a short piece I put together not too long ago upon hearing Palm's stock reaching the $5 level.


As we head towards the first anniversary of Palm webOS, there is a strong possibility that Palm itself may not survive to see it happen. A company now run by Apple veteran Jon Rubinstein and staffed by several former Apple iPhone engineers, Palm's future is looking decidedly bleak. 

Palm bet the company on webOS and signs are that it's losing. The only thing keeping its stock value from being zero is essentially its webOS and its collection of patents. Many of those who have used the Pre lauded the operating system. They love how it works, they love the unified contact updates where they can see their friends' tweets, facebook updates, email, and text messages together in one place.

Yet all the love in the world for webOS can't seem to translate to sales. Of all people, Rubinstein knows how important product integration means. After all, he was head of Apple's highly successful iPod division for six years churning out products that works due to tight integration between software and hardware providing a great user experience. 

In its early years, it wasn't even Apple's operating system that drove the iPod, it was outsourced, but it didn't stop them from being spectacular hits. The iPod just works. Together with iTunes, they made a killer combo that saw the iPod being declared an American icon by Rolling Stone magazine.

The webOS may be a great software but there's a lot to be desired from the Pre. Palm specifically hired iPhone engineers to emulate its success. No doubt it was a seemingly clever move. Poaching people who have worked on a dream device is one way to head towards the same route. On the other hand, promising iTunes integration when they have no business doing so and playing cat and mouse with Apple to the point where they violated their agreement with the USB Consortium was a big mistake.

Unfortunately what they don't seem to have are people like marketers Steve Jobs and maybe even design geniuses like Jon Ive. People who know products that will sell and people who know how to sell products. Palm took the sheep but not the commanding herders.

Filed under  //  apple   ipod   itunes   palm   rubinstein   webos  
Posted by Aulia Masna 
 

Qibla Compass apps for mobile devices

5

Get accurate Qibla direction with this MobiQibla/Qibla Compass (for Islam/Muslims) for your local city. Contains database of 23,978 cities in 252 countries in Qibla Compass Pro!  Basic version has 576 cities in 143 countries for Java-enabled phones, Pocket PCs, Blackberry devices and Symbian devices. Supports MIDP 2.0 java-enabled phones.

Qibla Compass Pro (note: not basic!) has the following features:

  • Qibla direction for any place in the world, contains a database of 23,978 cities in 252 countries
  • View the Qibla direction from True North as well as from the position of the Sun and Kaaba`s distance from your local city with the built-in `Qibla Compass`
  • Save upto five favourite cities as `bookmarks` with descriptions in order to easily switch between them in case you travel a lot
  • Add upto three custom cities with custom city names in case Qibla Compass Pro does not cover your city (more cities coming soon!)
  • Set manual timezones
  • Runs super-fast on even the slowest of phones
  • Support for almost all the 3G mobiles or latest mobiles/PDAs today
  • Dedicated, excellent customer support
  • And much more ...

If you are downloading for Palm OS, ensure that your OS is 5.4+. Also ensure that you have the IBM Websphere Micro Edition installed (get it for free from: http://www.palm.com/us/support/jvm). Simply do a Quick Install of the PRC files and Hotsync.

For Pocket PC users, you need to have a JVM installed or a Midlet Manager. Most Pocket PCs come with one. Get one from http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/~fittond/ppcjava.html if you don`t already have one. Detailed information about the installation procedure can be found here.

System Requirements:
A Java-enabled phone that supports:
* MIDP 2.0
* JAR (Java Archive) files of size 250 KB or more.
* 100 KB of FREE RAM
* Screen width of 128 pixels or more (will run on smaller screens but 128 recommended)

Please visit www.guidedways.com for download and click here to view a list of supported mobiles devices.

Filed under  //  Apps   Java   Palm   Windows Mobile  
Posted by Oki Rosgani 
 

China Telecom to offer Palm and BlackBerry in coming months

China Telecom, one among three large telecom companies in China, announced to offer BlackBerry and Palm devices in coming months. With its CDMA and 3G technology, China Telecom will offer BlackBerry in May and Palm Pre in July. This must be the first offering of CDMA's Palm Pre outside America continent, previously only available in USA and Canada.

No confirmed model of Palm Pre (Pre or Pre Plus) and BlackBerry to offer, but this is something for both companies to enter competition in the biggest market in the world. Earlier, Android and iPhone have already entered the market via China Telecom's competitors, China Mobile and China Unicom. According to Wikipedia, as of August 2009, there are about 720 million mobile phone actively used, accounted as 54% of total population, and it should be growing just now.  

Filed under  //  BlackBerry   China   China Telecom   Palm   Palm Pre  
Posted by Amir Karimuddin 
 

Palm webOS gets updated to version 1.4, features Video Capture and Flash 10 support

Full change log of the upcoming Palm Pre and Pixi webOS update, version 1.4 is out, brings a lot of new and interesting features. The update will not just bringing a couple of bug fixes but it will also includes a couple of new features, including the long-awaited video capturing and editing, sending video over MMS and of course the Adobe Flash 10 supports for the Pre (not for Pixi).

New features will include:
  • Phonebook Transfer (import & export)
  • Adds Video Capture plus editing capability
  • Calendar Enhancements
  • Messaging Enhancements
  • Improved Performance
  • Email Enhancements
  • Notification Enhancements
  • Adobe Flash 10.0 (Pre Only)
  • and many more enhancements...
And here's the list of important bug fixes:
  • Time Zone bug fixed
  • Network time sync bug to reflect accurate Network time
  • Bluetooth car-kit transition to device corrected
  • No EV icon bug fixed
  • Random browser formatting bug fixed
  • Fixed bug that incorrectly displayed Sprint when actually was Digital Roaming
  • Missing Contact issue spicifically with swap down to 1.2.9.1 or less
[via: Engadget]

Filed under  //  Palm   Palm Pixi   Palm Pre   WebOS   firmware update   flash   sprint  
Posted by Bayu Wicaksono 
 

50 apps? No problem! - Palm Pre Plus

Yesterday, the dudes from Palm Pre Central post a video that shows off the multitasking capability on the new Palm Pre Plus. As we already know, the Palm Pre Plus on Verizon got a bit of a hardware upgrade compared to the original Palm Pre on Sprint. Why I say a bit? well the Pre Plus only got a 512MB of RAM, that's just twice bigger than the original Pre, but how much the difference between the two? well.. its like this, the Original Palm Pre could only manage 13 cards of application while the Pre Plus? 50 cards!

Wha? you don't believe me? then watch this video.

</object>

[via: PreCentral]

Filed under  //  Palm   Palm Pre   Palm Pre Plus   multitasking   sprint   upgrade   verizon   video  
Posted by Bayu Wicaksono 
 

Palm to challenge Apple on cell-phone gaming war

Palm-pre-3d-app

iPhone might be the best cell-phone gaming device that's available today, but that's about to change. Yesterday at CES, Palm has just made a big announcement. The company just entered the cell-phone 3D-gaming war by partnering with some of the big boys developer, including EA Mobile, Gameloft, Glu Mobile and Laminar Reasearch.

Palm also has given those selected developers an early access to the Palm webOS PDK (Plugin Development Kit), which made immersive 3D-gaming possible and thanks to this, now every Palm users will be able to enjoy Need for Speed and The Sims 3 (and some other titles) that were presented by EA Mobile on their Palm Pre or Palm Pixi. Engadget's editor Joshua Topolsky, was having a good time when playing the NFS on the Palm Pre Plus and from what I saw on that video, the Palm Pre Plus ran the game pretty good & smooth :)

So what are the 3D games that's available now for Palm Pre (webOS 1.3.5)? Here's the list,
  • Need for Speed Undercover (EA Mobile)
  • The Sims 3 (EA Mobile)
  • Monopoly (EA Mobile)
  • Ashpalt 5: Elite Racing (Gameloft)
  • Let's Golf! (Gameloft)
  • Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
  • X-Plane (Laminar Research)
Read Palm's official release to know more about 3D Games on Palm webOS

Filed under  //  Palm   WebOS   ces   ces2010   games  
Posted by Bayu Wicaksono