Palm OS
Latest
Palm's Vista-compatible Desktop 6.2 arrives woefully late
C'mon -- hop in this nifty time machine here and float with us back to December of 2006. That month, friends, is when Palm initially stated that it was cooking up a Vista-savvy iteration of its Desktop synchronization software, and yet, here we are some 13 months later wondering what took so long. Nevertheless, a finalized version of Desktop 6.2 for Vista has finally been loosed (half a year after the beta was revealed, mind you), and even though it does play nice with 32-bit editions of Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate, 64-bit Vista / XP users are still left out in the cold. For Palm (and Vista) users out there willing to forgive the tardiness, go on and hit up the read link to get the 65.2MB file headed over.[Via PDAStreet]
First Palm OS II devices to hit early 2009, is it already too late?
We wish we were kidding. Palm is sticking with its early-2009 projection for the upcoming Linux-based relaunch of the Palm OS -- possibly codenamed Nova. That means this date isn't exactly a surprise, but we've really been hoping that this 2009 business was some sort of bad dream, since it's abundantly clear that Palm needs a new OS yesterday. To clarify further, Palm's Stephane Mass stated that Palm expects to wrap the OS late in 2008, and get tool to developers in time for devices early in the next year. Palm plans to keep offering Windows Mobile and Palm OS devices, and to make Centro the heart of its 2008 lineup.
Pink Palm Centro now official, Hello Kitty branding nowhere to be found
As if there was any doubt that the rumored pink Centro was going to happen... well, go ahead and put those doubts to bed. Palm's website is now showing the pink (or light red, if you will) miniature Garnet device for Sprint in all its glory, sporting the same $99.99 asking price as its alternatively-hued cousins. It's apparently available (or will be available shortly) in a Sprint store near you, so if the whole mail order thing isn't your cup of tea, head on over there and have a gander.[Via Palm Infocenter]
AT&T branded Palm Centro looks pretty legit
Yeah, it could be fake, but if you had to pick one handset to fake up in Photoshop, would this really be it? Seriously? Sprint's exclusivity agreement on the Centro is just about to expire, undoubtedly opening a floodgate of carriers rushing to pick up the low-end Garnet phone, so if neither Sprint nor AT&T are your carrier, we'd recommend you just hang tight for a bit.[Via Palm Infocenter]
Palm's GSM Centro spotted in white
Yeah, there it is, a shiny white Palm Centro in a booth for all to see, I'm sure Palm will be ever so delighted about this. Apparently an accessory vendor put it out to display some of its wares on the show floor and the gents at TreoCentral were there to catch it live. Adding insult to this slip up is that fact that the handset is a GSM model that you see there my friends, and interestingly it is different then the AT&T branded Centro we saw a while back. More on this as soon as we can get our grubby mitts on it.
Is this Sprint's crystal ball for January and February?
If there's one thing we'd like more than a Rumor with fixed firmware, it's a Rumor in green. Alright, that's a little bit of a stretch, but it looks like we're going to get one nonetheless; Sprint's latest Playbook is circulating among the ranks, revealing a supposed green Rumor dropping on February 17. The pink Centro we've heard so much about should be available on January 13 alongside a red version of the BlackBerry Pearl 8130, the first in-store appearance of the Sanyo S1 candybar, and a new iDEN piece in the form of the Motorola i570. Keeping the green Rumor company on the 17th of next month will be the Samsung m520 slider (yay?) and -- maybe most notably of the whole lot -- the Samsung Ace, Sprint's answer to the whole BlackJack craze.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Palm Treo 755p goes live (at last) on Verizon, costs more
Here's a special present to those Palm diehards out there that've been sticking with their Verizon service for the past months, hoping against hope that Palm will notice them hanging out over on the largest CDMA network in the States: the Verizon Treo 755p costs $400 with a two year contract, a full $150 more than you'll pay over on Sprint. The $400 price is after a $50 mail-in rebate, but if you play your cards right and spring for the right data plan you can get the final price down to $300. Obviously there's nothing new on the hardware end of things -- other than that ultra-fancy new paint job and Verizon logo -- so at least you folks know what you're getting yourselves into. Oh, and from the looks of things, this is that unnamed device Palm teased about earlier this month. Sorry to disappoint.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
The Boy Genius Report: Get Verizon's Treo 755p next week!
Field tidbits from Engadget's mobile insider, The Boy Genius.After we heard that the 755p had finally (finally) passed Verizon's battery of tests yesterday, it seemed inevitable that a launch was imminent -- but wowza, we didn't realize just how imminent! Look for the launch to go down next Monday, December 17 online and on the horn with a follow-on release in physical stores come January 7. Now here's where it gets crazy: Verizon looks to command a hearty $449.99 for this sucker on a two-year contract, so we can only hope that there'll be some significant rebateage going on out of the gate.
Palm Treo 755p finally passes Verizon's gauntlet, should launch shortly
Alright, now don't everybody go crowding the entrance to the Verizon store at once, y'hear? We just know you've all been waiting with bated breath for Verizon's version of the Palm 755p -- you know, the one that launched on Sprint like seven months ago -- and it looks like we might finally see a release in the not-too-distant future. We've gotten word that the oft-delayed Palm OS Garnet device has finally passed through Verizon's rigorous testing regimen, so we'll hopefully see it on shelves before too long -- hopefully before another head has to roll. Check out some shots, why don't you?[Thanks, anonymous tipster]%Gallery-11761%
Palm hooks up AT&T's Treo 680 with hefty update
Remember the "any day now" claim slapped on that alleged Treo 680 update for AT&T back in October? Well, it's out now, which means that "any day now" works out to... oh, about 50-odd days in AT&T lingo. Fortunately, it may have been worth the wait; it seems every rumored feature has made the cut, meaning 680 owners are now entitled to goodies like push-to-talk, integrated IM, SDHC support, and the all-important AT&T branding (seriously, who wants to be seen walking around with a Cingular device these days?). Grab the update now straight from Palm's site.[Via Brighthand]
Palm's unnamed device: the Treo 755p for Verizon?
Speculation is growing that the device Palm recently blamed for its revenue shortfall is none other than the yawn-worthy Treo 755p, a phone that launched on Sprint eons ago and, despite being rumored in Verizon trim eons ago as well, has apparently had all sorts of trouble getting through Big Red's testing process. While it's hard to deny that it's a pretty unspectacular handset at this point, we can also imagine that failing to launch it on the country's largest CDMA network would account for a significant drop in cash flow -- the Palm OS / Garnet faithful are still plentiful, after all, and there's no Centro in sight for Verizon at the moment. So, tell us: is anyone out there really drooling for this thing right now?
Report from bizarro world: Centro, i760 best designed phones
Although "innovative" isn't exactly the word we chose to use when summing up Palm's Centro, apparently the public at large sees things a little differently -- or, so says this report, anyway. According to a buyer behavior writeup from Strategy Analytics, the Centro "attracted the most attention from nearly half of the tested US consumers who are intending to purchase a new mobile device" in Q4, and it even ranked ahead of the second-place Samsung i760 in the "appealing" department. Both of the aforementioned handsets were hailed as the top choices (saywha?) for folks "seeking a multifunction, fully integrated device," while the Nokia Prism and LG Rumor also got a few props along the way. Of course, it's always best to take these "studies" with a healthy serving of salt, but if you wanted something to debate about, you've found it.[Via MobileWhack]
Motorola prepping Palm OS-based Q2 for Sprint?
Palm began life as a software company (anyone remember bailing out their Newton's testy handwriting recognition by installing Graffiti?), and who the heck knows -- perhaps a software company again it will be. Okay, okay, it's way too early to be sounding the death knell on Palm's hardware operations, but let's be honest, wouldn't a Motorola Q9 running Palm OS instead of Windows Mobile make for an absolutely fabulous device (read: Treo / Centro killer) for the Palm OS faithful? We think so, and this Sprint promotional site makes mention of a "Q2" that, by all appearances, seems to be the aforementioned Palm-based Q9. We can't verify the legitimacy of this thing for a couple reasons: one, we've heard nary a peep about a Q2 on Sprint's or Motorola's roadmaps, and two, this same site makes no mention of the Q9c, a device that we do know is coming to Sprint in the next few weeks. Who knows, maybe this is all some well-executed ruse by a Sprint staffer -- but if not, we say kudos to Moto, Sprint, and Palm (and ACCESS, for that matter) for putting together what may be the best Palm handset on the market come the holidays.[Via Boy Genius Report]Update: Sure enough, the detail view for the Q2 lists Windows Mobile 6 among its specs, so it seems the Q9c will be officially known as the Q2 when it hits; the 'shopped Palm screen is nothing more than a major league screw-up on Sprint's part. Thanks, commenters!
Palm and AT&T releasing Windows Mobile 6 update for Treo 750 today?
We've been all over the Windows "Nightmarishly slow" Mobile 6 updates for what seems an eternity only to see this poor device left in the lurch. Well, if rumor is correct -- and it can be from time to time -- Treonauts is reporting that unhappy Treo owners may be blessed with a Windows Mobile 6 update from AT&T as early as today. While we'd love to offer to see their rumor and raise them with an actual sighting, sadly we can't. Of course, feel free to pop back soon because we'll be updating if we hear anything more.[Via Treonauts]
Palm confirms it'll be skipping the Android party
We expected just as much, but now it's in writing: Palm sent us an official response to our gently-worded "assimilate or die" editorial. It goes as follows:"Palm has always been committed to open platforms for developers. And Palm has the added differentiation of being able to tightly integrate the software platform with our hardware design, which we believe gives us an advantage in delivering a great user experience.Palm customers have benefited from the availability of Google services on Palm's platform, such as Google Maps for mobile on Palm OS. And we look forward to further collaboration with Google to offer great user experiences on Palm products."While we're glad they responded, we really hope we don't have to wait a year and a half for Palm to prove us all wrong here.
Palm: assimilate with Android or die
Make no mistake, Google dropped a bombshell all over the mobile industry today with today's Android announcement. Since the dawn of the handset we've seen little more than one proprietary device, system, and application environment after the next; when we're lucky, maybe some of those systems deigned 3rd parties worthy of developing something more than Java code for 'em. Even despite the endless promise of Linux and years of tilting towards open source cellphones has resulted in effectively nothing for mainstream wireless customers -- but all that changes today with the announcement of the first free, open, standard (and standards-based) mobile OS.It's no surprise that Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, and RIM were absent participating in Android and the OHA; each of those power-players has built its mobile business around its own separate mobile platform: OS X, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and BlackBerry, respectively. But the cellphone company we expected to be first in line for Android and the Open Handset Alliance, the one manufacturer that is truly desperate for a powerful, pre-developed, open Linux mobile OS, is nowhere to be found. We are, of course, talking about Palm.
Red Palm Centro now available from Sprint
If red's more to your liking than black -- and Palm OS is more to your liking than, say, Windows Mobile or S60 -- give yourself a little high five. The bright red version of Palm's Centro for Sprint is now available for the very same $99 you'll spend for the black version from Sprint stores, Palm stores, and both companies' websites. Unfortunately, Palm chose some rather poor wordplay in announcing the thing with a blog post proclaiming "We're Seeing Red," and we're not going to lie, we thought those clowns were making light of some crappy financials at first. Whew!
Updates coming any day now for AT&T's Treo 680 and 750?
AT&T Treo 750 owners have been waiting patiently (or not so patiently, as the case may be) for an update to Windows Mobile 6 seemingly since Earth was a hot, lifeless mass of molten lava -- and thankfully, it seems that wait might be drawing to a close. TreoCentral's forums have turned up what appears to be a legit slide deck from within AT&T detailing software upgrades for both the 750 and the Palm OS-based 680, with the former getting the aforementioned Windows Mobile 6 Professional, 1.8Mbps HSDPA, Cellular Video, AT&T Mail, AT&T Music, MobiTV, TeleNav, and a refreshed active call display. The 680 gets boosted with PTT support, MP3 ringtone capability, TeleNav, MobiTV, and instant messaging. The slides list October 15 as the rollout date for the 750 update -- a date which has obviously come and gone, so we're holding out the naive belief that we'll see it pretty much any minute now. The 680, meanwhile, allegedly gets hooked up on the 22nd. Here's hoping![Via Palm Infocenter]
Verizon lays out upcoming smartphone lineup; Samsung i760 comes first
No surprises in the mix here, but we're delighted to see that Verizon is finally getting official with four smart devices that have been rumored to be in its pipeline for ages. Of the four, only the i760 from Samsung's been priced and slated for release -- October 19 online, November 2 in stores for $350 on contract after rebates -- featuring Windows Mobile 6 Professional, QWERTY slide-out and offset numeric keypads, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The XV6800 succeeds the tired XV6700, going up against Sprint's Mogul by offering the HTC Titan reference design in a custom Verizon skin; it shows up with a 2 megapixel cam, WiFi, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Already released on several CDMA carriers, the HTC Libra sees the light of day on Verizon as the SMT5800 bearing Windows Mobile 6 Standard and a 2 megapixel cam (we loved the Libra's GSM cousin, and we're guessing this one's great too). Finally, make some noise, Palm OS fans -- it's okay, don't be shy! Verizon finally gets down with the Treo 755p, a phone that could ultimately serve as the platform's swan song in the classic Treo form factor. As we mentioned, only the i760 has been priced and dated at this point, but we'll keep ya in the loop just as soon as we know more.
Is this Verizon's PDA line-up for November?
With the holidays right around the corner, carriers will pull out all the stops to attract new customers and Verizon's no exception to the rule. First up, it's the Motorola's elusive Q9c -- cousin to the Q9m -- outfitted with a 1.3 megapixel camera, expandable memory via miniSD, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. Next up, it's UTStarcom's QWERTY-sliding SMT5800. The device will rock a 1xEV-DO Rev. A radio (which unfortunately looks like it will be held to Rev. 0 at launch), 2 megapixel shooter, microSD support, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. UTStarcom looks to finally bring the XV6800 running WM6 Professional, too -- but sadly, it will also have the EV-DO Rev. A radio downgraded to Rev. 0 at launch. Rounding out the November launch schedule is the Palm Treo 755p, trailing Sprint by a country mile, but Palm OS faithful are probably thinking it's better to launch this one late than never. Let's hope these dates stick, yeah?[Thanks, HTC Kid]%Gallery-8629%
