Author: Kris Keilhack

Classic Palm OS 5.x (aka Garnet OS) fans are going to have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the first new Palm OS PDA since 2005’s Palm TX and Z22. The Aceeca PDA32’s preliminary release date of April 10th has unfortunately come and gone with no additional news of availability. Tam Hanna, who has done a great job of keeping us all abreast of Aceeca news, reported on May 9th that he should hopefully know a bit more about Aceeca’s status in a “few weeks worth of time!”.

In related Palm OS news, programmer hero Dmitry Grinberg is still plugging away at his Palm OS-compatible OS, DGOS. His most recent blog post is nearly two months old but as of last month Dmitry did indicate that he is still working on DGOS but is sadly pressed for time due to his new employer. The full plans for DGOS are discussed in our past coverage.

With the recent confirmation of the AT&T version of the Pixi Plus release date, fixed keyboard webOS fans now have something else to anticipate. An anonymous tipster sent word to PreCentral that the forthcoming WebOS 1.4.5 update will indeed support PDK apps and 3D-accelerated games on the entry-level Pixi.

No word on a release date but it is expected in the “several weeks”. Of course, the usual display resolution and performance differences may hinder Pixi gaming in comparison to the Pre, but it’s still good to see Palm bringing as many titles to both devices as possible.

An interesting new report has been posted by Engadget giving a plethora of hints as to the drama leading up to last month’s Palm acquisition news courtesy of the recent SEC filing. HP is the only company named but anyone with a bit of imagination and familiarity with recent Palm history can likely surmise most of the other suitors.

Some of the highlights from the story include a rather abrupt timeframe leading up to the close of the deal. Likely spurred on by the upcoming grim earnings announcement and the dismal Verizon webOS launch, Palm commenced efforts in early February to investigate strategic partnerships, webOS licensing, and an outright sale of the company. By early March, the ironic 10-year anniversary of Palm’s hotly-anticipated IPO a decade ago, Palm’s board determined that a sale of the company was the most favorable move, despite CEO Jon Rubinstein’s proclamations otherwise as recently as less than a week prior to the HP acquisition.

Verizon Wireless’ support staff have Tweeted that a fix for the aggravating AGPS bug that afflicts only the Verizon version of the Palm Pre Plus is indeed in the works. The exact Twwet said:

“Yes there is [a fix in the works], right now there is no ETA. The steps I gave you are a temp fix.”

While the VZW Navigator app works fine, other location-aware 3rd party apps such as Google Maps have issues determining a precise address or suffer from lengthy delays when establishing the user’s location. The Verizon Pre Plus is the only current WebOS model to suffer this issue, as it does not afflict Verizon’s Pixi Plus or any of the other WebOS devices currently on the market.

After a seemingly endless wait, the AT&T version of the Palm Pre Plus is now officially available in the USA, cementing webOS’ availability on the three leading domestic wireless carriers. Fortunately, AT&T’s offer of a free Touchstone charger is indeed valid and applicable to both retail and online orders.

A few questions were lingering about the status of its little sibling the Pixi Plus and whether or not it was even coming to AT&T. Thankfully, AT&T has just confirmed the Pixi’s release date as June 6th. It is still being depicted with the nifty blue Touchstone cover we discussed in March. The Pixi’s pricing will go for $49.95 with a 2-year contract, a bit higher than the current “free” Sprint Pixi or Verizon’s $29.99 Pixi Plus.

The Palm App Catalog is now thankfully back in action after some major downtime over the weekend.

Beginning Saturday, users were reporting troubles ranging from outright unavailability to apps failing to install. Users were manually setting their devices’ clocks to an earlier date (ie bypassing “network time”) to work around the issue, which obviously wreaks havoc with calendar appointments and general PIM functionality.

A bit over three months since the device’s launch and two months after the major v1.4 update, the Verizon-branded Palm Pre Plus is reportedly set to receive its next OS update starting tomorrow. According to a tipster the rollout of the OTA update will begin on April 28th.

The webOS 1.4.1.1 update is primarily a bug-fix release, with the annoying double keystroke bug finally squashed and various other improvements related to Bluetooth pairing, “connection management” and and “Better Touchstone charger integration”. A full list of the bugfixes and improvements can already be found on Verizon’s support site. (.PDF link)

One of the most surprising and relatively unheralded attributes of WebOS is its prowess for 3D gaming due to its combination of accelerated graphics hardware and APIs within the OS and its SDK. However, as any iPhone gamer can attest, “conventional” console-style titles played with large onscreen buttons can be clunky and accelerometer movements are tiring and imprecise. Some titles, especially action games and emulators, require the feel of a conventional directional pad. Thankfully, a new product called the Game Gripper is in the works for the Palm Pixi. No pricing or release date is mentioned but the current Droid version is priced at a reasonable $14.99 + $5 S/H.

Currently, a version of the Game Gripper is already in production and available for sale for the Motorola Droid, with versions for the Motorola Devour and BlackBerry Bold also hinted at in addition to the Pixi. Due to the slider design of the Pre form factor, this model is apparently ill-suited to any kind of snap-on controller, despite its improved 3D capabilities relative to its Pixi sibling.

As we reported in January, one of Access’ remaining Palm OS Garnet licensees has indeed produced a rather compelling new piece of Palm OS Garnet hardware. New Zealand based Aceeca is preparing to release an interesting new “semi-ruggedized” Garnet handheld that slots in somewhere between a 2005 era Palm TX PDA and Aceeca’s earlier industrial handhelds. Tam’sPalm has posted a new high-resolution image and preview of the upcoming device. According to the company’s literature, the tentative release date mentioned in January is on track and the device is slated to arrive April 10th with an MSRP of $199.99.

Initial inspection of the promo photograph & spec sheet reveals a glossy white device dominated by a 320 x 480 pixel LED-backlit LCD display. A 400Mhz Samsung CPU provides the processing power, and the PDA32 will come equipped with 64mb of RAM alongside 128mb of NVFS storage and a SD expansion slot. It will measure in at 128x76x25mm (5 x 3 x 1 inches) and weighs 196g (6.9 ounces), which would put it somewhere larger than a TX but leaner than a LifeDrive. The usual 5-way navigator directional pad is still present, albeit with individual buttons (likely more durable and easier to use while wearing gloves), while two shortcut buttons are provided instead of the classic four.

Rumor: With little to go on other than the usually trustworthy “Ninja” reports the Boy Genius Report has posted an article referencing upcoming RIM and Motorola smartphones heading to Sprint. What makes the report so interesting is that amidst the flurry of new Blackberrry and Android releases, the mythical Palm “C40” has apparently popped up in the Sprint system yet again, signifying that Palm may be readying their first all-new device since last fall’s Pixi.

With the stock price dropping and ominous rumors swirling, the time seems nigh for Palm to release a compelling new piece of hardware as its nears the one-year anniversary of the original Pre Sprint launch. If the Sprint internal inventory system proves correct, the long-rumored C40 stands to be the first new CDMA hardware from Palm since the Pre and Pixi Plus launched with Verizon in January. It is conceivable that Sprint may even be taking an uncharacteristic pass on the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus refreshes and heading straight for an entirely new form-factor device.

In what is the first hands-on with “new” Palm handhelds since the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus launched with Verizon two months ago, Engadget has posted pictures and impressions of their first encounter with the AT&T ‘s first WebOS devices direct from CTIA.

In a nutshell, very little has changed from the recently-launched Verizon versions. Engadget reports the performance of both version, including the usually sluggish Pixi , as being “relatively zippy”. No word if this is due to the speed boost received from webOS 1.4 or a newer build on these GSM variants. In fact, Engadget does not even mention which build of WebOS was on their demo units. None of the images in Engadget’s photo gallery showcase any of the new AT&T specific software found on these new devices, as we learned yesterday.

AT&T and Palm Inc. officially announced the upcoming launch of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on AT&T Wireless this morning. While no specific date was mentioned aside from “the coming months”, pricing and device specifics were thankfully discussed in the initial press release.

For starters, the Pre Plus will retail for $149.99 after the usual $100 mail-in rebate and 2yr contract. The Pixi Plus will ring in at $49.99 under the same terms. Both devices will be full UMTS/HSDPA/GSM/EDGE compatible but otherwise offer identical hardware to their slightly older Verizon siblings. The only hardware change of note is that a blue Touchstone back available for the Pixi Plus. The new devices otherwise look identical to the existing “Plus” variants.

The highly-respected Ars Technica, a website not known for hysteria or sensationalist journalism, has posted its take on the current plight of Palm in the form of a new editorial entitled “RIP Palm: it’s over, and here’s why“.

In the Ars piece, author Jon Stokes pulls no punches and paints an extremely bleak future for the smartphone maker. Stokes surmises that one of only two fates remain for palm: an acquisition or insolvency. This article is already must-read for its general content but Stokes makes a masterful claim suggesting Palm has been suffocated by their very own cloud.

The article goes on to list a number of six primary causes (though arguably not all the reasons) for Palm’s current woes and the lukewarm market reception of WebOS and its accompanying devices. For brevity’s sake I’ll skip re-listing those reasons here as they have frequently discussed elsewhere and are quite commonly-known by now.

Rumor: The LA Examiner Gadgets column (and syndicated through all other Examiner outlets nationwide) has posted a brief article that claims Verizon is preparing to end all promotion for Palm’s Pre Plus. This report is credited to “an inside source at Verizon” and states that this change will supposedly occur at the end of the month.

Assuming this report is true, this will have given Verizon and Palm’s WebOS products a bit over two months in the spotlight of prime TV and print ads, as Verizon officially launched the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on Janurary 25th. The Examiner article goes on to state that a combination of Verizon’s strong Droid push alongside the numerous build quality issues on Sprint with the original Pre in 2009 helped seal Palm’s fate.

One of today’s most hotly-discussed topics in the Palm blogosphere focuses around some scintillating comments made by Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein during the Q3 2010 earnings call. In particular, Rubinstein indicated that the Pre Plus’ lackluster performance on Verizon was due to unfortunate timing, inadequate point of sale training and that the Pre Plus is a far superior to Verizon’s current smartphone of choice, the Motorola Droid:

We had an arrangement with Sprint that when we launched with Sprint that they would invest in marketing and carry the product and for that they would get an exclusive for a period of time. That really determined when we could do our launch at Verizon…if we could have launched at Verizon earlier, prior to Droid, that we would have gotten the attention that the Droid got and since I believe that we have a better product, I think we would have even done better.

Barron’s Tech Trader Daily columnist Eric Savitz has written a new post entitled “Palm: Canaccord Cuts Ests Again; Says AT&T Launch Delayed”. The piece by Mr. Savitz brings to light a number of issues with the long rumored AT&T launch for Palm’s webOS devices. In fact, the Palm AT&T launch is looking to be in peril, according to Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, prominently quoted in Savitz’s piece.

Misek maintains his “sell” rating on Palm stock and cautions across-the-board drops in regard to Palm’s sales figures and revenue. The most distressing news comes with the report that AT&T has delayed the Pre and Pixi launch to June or July from the originally scheduled April. It should be noted that we have yet to see any solid release date mentioned regarding Palm’s latest devices on AT&T other than the already-reported May timeframe gleaned from the FCC documentation.

In a rather unusual move for a carrier long fond of sizable mail-in rebate offers, the Boy Genius Report brings news that, as of Friday, March 5th, Verizon Wireless is immediately offering their two Palm webOS devices without mail-in rebates. The carrier will instead offer the Palm Pre Plus for $149.99 out the door with a two-year contract. The Palm Pixi Plus will now ring in at $79.99 under the same terms.

While a great deal for would-be Verizon webOS owners everywhere, especially on the heels of last week’s webOS 1.4 update release and the ongoing “BOGO offer“, the pricing still comes in above Best Buy’s in-store pricing of $49.99 and $99.99 for the two smartphones.

Rumor: The Boy Genius Report has posted a rumor from one of their “solid connects” that T-Mobile is in the “final stages of planning out their WebOS device launch with Palm”. The report is very light on details but it suggests that a “Pixi-like handset” is in the works. No word at this time if this will be a GSM version of the original Pixi as seen on Sprint or the improved Pre Plus with Wi-Fi currently available on Verizon. Of course, the term “Pixi-like” could suggest a different model entirely, as rumors have been swirling for some time about a 3rd potential WebOS handset. It’s possible that T-Mobile could end up with the same mysterious C40 device spotted in Sprint’s inventory system last year.

With a version of both the Pre and Pixi possibly heading to AT&T at some point within the next few months, Palm could achieve the major coup of wrapping up all four major domestic carriers with the addition of T-Mobile, a position the company has never held.

Ever since the launch of the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on January 25th, Verizon Wireless has been continuously running a BOGO (“Buy One, Get One Free”) promotion. Now TechCrunch brings news of an offer already confirmed to be live on Verizon’s web store.

In what should both address the grumblings of customers hoping to have a two-Pre household and give a nice boost to Palm’s sales figures for the quarter, Verizon has now re-launched the BOGO promotion with more flexible terms. Effective February 15th, customers can choose any combination of Verizon WebOS and Android-powered handsets alongside a handful of non-smartphone “multimedia phones” as eligible devices for the promotion. So, in short, you can now get a “free” Pre Plus with the purchase of another Pre Plus or even tip a toe into the competing smartphone OS waters and get an Android phone alongside a WebOS device.

Ever since the launch of the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on January 25th, Verizon Wireless has been continuously running a BOGO (“Buy One, Get One Free”) promotion. Now TechCrunch brings news of an offer already confirmed to be live on Verizon’s web store.

In what should both address the grumblings of customers hoping to have a two-Pre household and give a nice boost to Palm’s sales figures for the quarter, Verizon has now re-launched the BOGO promotion with more flexible terms. Effective February 15th, customers can choose any combination of Verizon WebOS and Android-powered handsets alongside a handful of non-smartphone “multimedia phones” as eligible devices for the promotion. So, in short, you can now get a “free” Pre Plus with the purchase of another Pre Plus or even tip a toe into the competing smartphone OS waters and get an Android phone alongside a WebOS device.