Finally, Jon Rubinstein is ready to re-open the wounds sustained from HP's bungled acquisition of Palm. When Fierce Wireless asked the former CEO what he'd do differently, he said that selling the company to Hewlett Packard was "a waste," and that he probably wouldn't do the same again. He also revealed that the company's awkward exclusive relationship with Sprint was caused by last-minute withdrawals from Verizon and Vodafone. If you're curious about Rubinstein's feelings on how webOS has influenced mobile operating systems and his new roles with Amazon and Qualcomm, head on down to the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, HP

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Source: Fierce Wireless

Most people would buy a Bluetooth controller if they decide to keep an old phone for gaming, but one particular user from Chinese site Zoopda was struck with a better idea. Kissing his plan to buy a Bluetooth add-on goodbye, he instead spent a weekend adding steampunk-inspired accoutrements to his Palm Pre 2. Check out a video of the tricked out phone in action after the break. It's not in English, but it might give you an idea of what to do with your old handheld devices in case you're looking for something to go with your goggles and Victorian-era laptop.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc

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Source: Zoopda

When Jon Rubinstein left HP, it wasn't certain whether he would retire (again) or once more respond to the siren's call of technology. Clearly, he couldn't resist -- Qualcomm has confirmed that Rubinstein is joining its board of directors. It's not hard to understand why the firm would be interested, mind you. Between NeXT, Apple, Palm and HP, Rubinstein has extensive experience with Silicon Valley technology in general, and mobile in particular. While Qualcomm is already doing blockbuster business without his help, it no doubt wants to keep the money train going. Us? We're just happy to see a familiar name back in the limelight.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Qualcomm

The downfall of webOS left more than a few canceled devices in its wake, but the most elusive of the bunch tends to be the WindsorNot: a touch-only smartphone. We've seen hints of it here and there, but the shy little device has largely been kept under wraps -- until now. The dedicated folks at webOS Nation have managed to get their hands on a functional prototype. The 4-inch devices seems to lie somewhere between a Pre3 and HP Touchpad, aping the hardware specifications of the former while adopting the latter's software version: webOS 3.0. The tweaked software does feature a smartphone-sized keyboard, but webOS Nation says some of the OS' trappings are difficult to read, and were clearly meant to be refined for the smaller screen before release. The phone's form, on the other hand, seems to be top notch, indicating that the project was canned before the software team had a chance to catch up. Check out the source link for a full walkthrough of the device and a brief history lesson of webOS' last days.

Filed under: Cellphones, HP

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Source: webOS Nation

Here's a wild one -- webOS has been revived, and the suitor may surprise you. LG has reportedly lifted the troubled webOS unit from HP's hands, but instead of using it in future smartphones or tablets, it's planning to inject the operating system across its smart TV portfolio -- finally adding a layer of truth to a rumor we first spotted in October of last year. The deal includes the source code for webOS, "related documentation, engineering talent, and related webOS websites." Moreover, LG's procuring HP licenses for use with its webOS wares, not to mention patents that HP had originally gained from Palm. Not surprisingly, dollars and cents aren't being publicly discussed, but we'll be sure to clue you in on any more specifics as we get them.

Update: The official PR has appeared, and can be found after the break. It doesn't shower us with additional info, but fans of Open webOS and Enyo should know that LG is assuming "stewardship" of these projects as part of the HP deal.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Via: CNET, AllThingsD

Sidestepping lockscreen codes and fingerprint scanners -- and without any new hardware demands -- KDDI has unveiled a new palm authentication app that takes advantage of the high-resolution camera on its Android smartphones. Scanning in tandem with the flash, we gave it a try on a HTC J, here at CEATEC in Japan. After a brief setup, which involves positioning your hand to fit between some red markers, the phone was soon calibrated to our hands. Then, after locking the device, attempting to unlock it will send you to the palm authentication screen, seen above, where (hopefully) only your mitts will be able to gain access.

The time it takes to check your hand remains a little longer than it would take you to drum in your typical four-digit PIN, but in our brief test, it was able to discriminate between two Engadget editors' hands. Better still, you'll be able to give the app a try yourself tomorrow, when it goes on free trial on Google Play. Until it does, see how it's all meant to work in our hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: KDDI Palm recognition hands-on at CEATEC 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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HP's webOS team has been keeping busy with its open source project, but it's time for a new challenge in the form of Gram: a fresh HP-funded offshoot focused on "software, user experience, the cloud, engineering, and partnering." We're not quite sure where that list could lead, but webOS, Enyo and cloud services are all expected to play a role in future endeavors. Judging from the fancy flyer after the break, a lot of energy is going into brand-building right now, along with a dose of secrecy, but hopefully some more concrete details will happen along soon.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Another day, another major blow to the webOS community. The Open webOS project announced today in its blog that the fledgling OS won't support any of the existing hardware -- like HP's Pre 3 and TouchPad. While not completely surprising, this is disappointing for those who were hoping to wring a little more life out of their current webOS devices. Open webOS is targeting SoCs that support the Linux 3.3+ kernel and components with open source drivers. The blog post blames the existing hardware's "many proprietary components, including graphics, networking and lack of drivers for a modern kernel". Despite having access to these proprietary drivers, it appears HP isn't willing to make them available to the Open webOS project -- proof that sometimes you can have your cake, but not eat it too.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

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One of the original "non-manufacturing IP firms," NTP, has just signed an agreement with 13 of the companies it sued for infringing its email patents. The tech industry whales paying for licenses include Google, Microsoft and Yahoo on the software side; wireless operators Verizon, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile; and handset companies Apple, HTC, Motorola, Palm, LG and Samsung. If all the litigation is blurring together in your head, we remind you that NTP is one of the founding patent under-bridge dwellers who made lawyers' eyes everywhere light up with a $612 million payout from RIM back in 2006. That seemingly gave them the courage -- and bankroll, presumably -- to attack the above companies in 2010 for infringement of its eight wireless email patents, including push technology. The terms of the settlement weren't disclosed, but considering the dollars paid out by RIM, "we can imagine quite a bit," to quote Han Solo.

[Image credit: Shutterstock]

Filed under: Wireless, Software

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Well, it looks like there's still a few surprises left from HP's brief foray into webOS hardware. As webOS Nation has discovered, the design firm Transparent House posted a brief clip of a device described as "WindsorNot" some eight months ago, which is very clearly a touchscreen-only webOS smartphone. As the site notes, that appears to be the very same device that had previously turned up in leaked photos under the codename "Stingray," and it estimates that the phone has the same 3.6-inch screen as the Pre 3. Details are scarce beyond that, but you can get a good look at what might have been in the video after the break -- not to mention yet another look at the unreleased TouchPad Go (a.k.a. Opal) on Transparent House's Vimeo page linked below.

Update: Looks like this one is remaining elusive. The video has now unfortunately been pulled.

Update 2: We've removed the still from the video at the request of Transparent House. The image above is the previously leaked photo of the device.

Filed under: Mobile

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Take a look through the trousers of time at what might have been; a Palm Pre 2 on Sprint. WebOSNation managed to grab the very rare prototype from a Palm employee and it fortunately worked on the Now Network without the need for any screwdrivers or warranty busting. Despite its second-hand status, the phone cheerfully handled webOS 2.2.4, albeit without a licensed webOS Doctor. Aside from the swap to a CDMA radio, the rest of phone hardware chimes with the Verizon version that did arrive. A handful of bloatware Sprint apps are on the device, including a ringtone store -- how quaint! Take a closer look at the source below.

Filed under: Mobile

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The idea of creating a full-fledged laptop companion to a smartphone isn't new -- just ask the former Palm team -- but rarely has it come across as so pretty. Clamcase's upcoming Clambook, while it has more than a slight hint of MacBook Air about it, is really meant as a large canvas of sight and sound for an Android phone or iPhone. Although the Clambook can at least be used as a big, 16:9 ratio display for an iPhone, the emphasis is clearly on more Google-inclined users that can use an MHL port: the one cable provides audio, video, power, an Android 4.0-native keyboard and a multi-touch trackpad. More recent Motorola phone owners might get the most out of it, since Webtop's full-size Firefox browser and windowed interface will kick in without needing one of Motorola's proprietary docks. We're still waiting on many basic details, like exact device support and the all-important matter of pricing, but the Clamcase should be ready for supersized Real Racing sessions by the holidays.

Filed under: Mobile

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It looks like webOS isn't going quietly into the mobile OS retirement home. While its journey to open-source continues, an eager cabal of developers, fans and designers have decided to reignite the ill-fated operating system under the banner of Phoenix International Communications. Focusing its efforts on transporting open webOS to existing devices, both HP-made and otherwise, Phoenix also wants throw in some new features and fixes -- presumably throwing in some extra software gems and UI tweaks. If it all goes to plan, the organization even wants to bring new webOS devices to market -- a heady dream, but you've got to admire their pluck. Any webOS devotees out there can pledge their allegiance (and assistance) to the cause at the source below.

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It's 1996. You might have a cellphone, but it doesn't do much more than make phone calls. You might have a laptop, but it's likely too heavy to carry with you everywhere you go. Or you might only have a phone that's plugged into a wall and a PC that's confined to a desk. That's the environment that gave rise to the Personal Digital Assistant (or PDA), a new type of product that first arrived in the late 1980s but really came into its own in the mid-90s.

1996 also saw the release of the first PDAs developed by USRobotics subsidiary Palm Inc., the Pilot 1000 and 5000, which had more in common with today's smartphones than many of their contemporary devices. They had a touchscreen with only a few physical buttons at the bottom. They had apps you could download. They could sync data with your computer. And they were small and light enough to carry with you at all times. They just didn't make phone calls.

A year later, Palm released the slightly upgraded PalmPilot Personal and PalmPilot Professional (with 512KB and 1MB of RAM, respectively), and the ensuing years would see a regular stream of new devices -- not to mention an acquisition by 3Com, and a new spate of Palm OS products from Handspring, a company founded by the folks behind the original Pilot.

But it's those first few devices that come to mind when someone mentions "Palm PDA," and with good reason -- they set a mold that wasn't deviated from much until Palm made the jump into smartphones.

Gallery: PalmPilot Personal review

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