photo credit: Joseph Robertson

If last week’s news is any indication, we’re all about to see an army of Droids to be released and hit the mobile scene — in a very big way. Even if you didn’t already pre-order through Best Buy, Big Red hopes you’ll be stopping by their stores this Friday to see what all the fuss is about.   Some good hardware from Motorola and a faster, much improved Android 2.0 should please quite a few Verizon customers by providing what could be argued as the carrier’s first eagerly anticipated smartphone.   But will it pose any real threat to the iPhone?

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Billshrink.com just did an analysis comparing the iPhone 3GS on AT&T,  the Palm Pre on Sprint, and Motorola Droid on Verizon.

If you are looking at an unlimited voice and data plan, you will spend $1,250 less over two years.  There are still substantial savings even with more limited plans.  The phones, on paper, have fairly similar specifications and capabilities and in terms of Network quality, speed, coverage ranking I would say Verizon, Sprint, AT&T in that order.

It makes it all the more painful why Sprint had such bad results as discussed earlier today. Sprint really is one of the best valued carriers at the moment.

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Sprint recently announced that the latest Palm OS device, the Palm Pixi,  will go on sale in the U.S. on November 15th.  The original Palm OS device, the Pre was released in June of this year.  There has been a lot of commentary relative to the Pixi positioning.  It’s got some great design features and some head scratching limitations as well.

Let’s take a closer look. Continue Reading

I’ve been a business smartphone user since the category was invented.  I started with Palm and have been loyal to them through the years as the market has developed from a niche geek market to the fastest growing segment of mobile communications.  Analysts say it will easily overtake conventional cell phones in developed countries very soon.

As a business user, I’ve always assumed the ‘next’ new device would be better than the previous device at getting the job done.  That job being primarily communicating with colleagues via voice or text.  Originally email was the exclusive text method, but of course today we have SMS, IM, Twitter, Facebook etc.

So why am I upset with what Palm has done in their latest ‘comeback kid’ device, the Palm Pre?

Read on to find out.

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A demo of Flash Player 10 running on a Palm Pre has just been released on YouTube. According to Adobe they expect to bring a version of Flash to nearly every mobile platform (Windows Mobile, RIM, WebOS, Google Android, and Symbian OS) this year or next. Notice any particular missing platform? So far Adobe has only indicated that they’re working with Apple but that the development will be on a separate timetable. The promise of Flash Player on mobile platforms is that much of the multimedia content currently available only through more powerful desktop computers could instantly become available on smartphones with Adobe Flash capabilities. This would potentially save developers from having to write multiple versions of an application and could create a large number of feature rich applications able to run on smartphones virtually overnight.

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Palm Pre users can now update their phone to version 1.2 of webOS. Some of the new operating system features include: a beefed up Palm Synergy that includes LinkedIn contact syncing, more linking across different “flavors” of IM contacts (no word on what flavors), better filtering of your email inbox by typing a search term, ability to download files in the browser, Amazon MP3 downloads now supported from both Wi-Fi and cellular data, and FINALLY cut and paste introduced to web and email. Expect an over-the-air update to webOS 1.2 within the next few days. Oh, and it does not fix iTunes sync - but you didn’t think the Apple/Palm cat and mouse game would go on forever did you? Full changelog after the jump.
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Earlier this week we told you about Amazon lowering its price on the Palm Pre from $149 to $99 (no rebates). Now here’s an even better deal, though it involves a rebate. Walmart (sold by LetsTalk) has them for a price of $79 (sadly this requires a $100 mail in rebate). Use coupon code 25RAFPCVER1 when you check out to score the bonus $25 bringing your net cost after 2 year new subscriber contract to $55. Deal also includes a free car charger, Bluetooth headset and carrying case .

Palm Pre via Fatwallet

Web site The Street is reporting “Exclusive: Verizon Snubs Palm Pre”. There’s no telling whether their tipster means that only the Pre won’t make the Verizon trip. By the time Verizon is ready to offer a new Palm smartphone there very well could be a refresh of the Palm Pre under a different name or even model. In addition, there’s no telling whether the recently unveiled Palm Pixi will be slated for Verizon. Nevertheless it’s an interesting rumor since the loss of a major carrier as Verizon would be a significant setback to Palm’s comeback story.

The Street

I just noticed the Palm Pre has finally made it’s way down from $199 to $149 and now $99 on Amazon.com. You can avoid the hassle of visiting a retail store by ordering online. There’s no need to fill in any rebate forms either as Amazon is selling the Pre net of the rebate but after a new 2 year subscriber agreement.

Palm Pre

photo credit: offstandard

It hasn’t taken quite as long as I thought it would for the GSM version to appear, but it’s still been almost four months since Sprint’s CDMA Palm Pre was first released in the United States. Now a few other parts of the world can have their chance at trying webOS. I figure within another few weeks after that, GSM Pres will be all over eBay, so people in the US who use AT&T and T-Mobile will finally get their shot, too.

Pricing and availability for the UK, Ireland and Germany have just been announced, and it looks like the Pre will be available on 13 October in Germany and on 16 October in the U.K. and Ireland.

Details on tariffs for the phone and service plans will be available here for the UK, here for Ireland, and here for Germany. As with our network partners in the U.S. and Canada, O2 will be the exclusive carrier for Palm Pre for its launch in these countries.

The Palm Blog

Patience pays off.  Since Palm announced the Pixi, it was just a matter of time before people expected to see more Palm Pre price drops.  Today may be the day you want to jump in and try out WebOS on a Pre, as Wirefly has the smartphone available for $99.99 shipped if you open a new Sprint PCS account.   No telling if this will be a short-term sale, so you had better act fast.

Hit this Wirefly link to order.

Sometimes it pays to stay up into the wee hours of the morning, watching Bounty with your sweetie. I came to check email during a popcorn break, and found a little surprise in my inbox..

Here is thew newest member of the webOS lineup – the Palm Pixi. It looks like the HTC Tattoo isn’t the only phone that means to take personalization to a whole new level, and I’ve gotta say that at this moment – on looks alone? Palm Pixi 1, HTC Tattoo 0.

But the Tattoo isn’t the only new device that the Pixie might be trying to steal the limelight from today. Seems like there were some announcements coming out of Cupertino, as well. Methinks that the Pixi might steal a little bit of thunder; after all, they’re only announcing some new iPods. Right?

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As I posted yesterday, I’m even surprised by how much I am enjoying my Blackberry Bold. I never expected to be a two-handheld guy, and the fact that I am still feels odd. The fact that the second handheld is a BB is even more striking. THAT, however, wasn’t the biggest gadget surprise in our home this week, though.

This is…

Elana LOVES the Palm platform. She’s used it for years and has rejected any and every attempt I have made to move her to a more modern platform. (She did humor me for a week last year by trying the iPhone, but I don’t think she was ever really open to the possibility of making the move.) ]

Then Elana rubbed it in my face when she found an old Centro that has been outside in the elements for six months but still worked. “Think your iPhone would do that? Huh??” she said.

Then came the shock last week. Elana came into my study and said, “I’m tired of getting no reception here at home. I’m finally willing to give up the Palm if we can find one the will work better for me. Maybe a Blackberry?”

Say what?!?!?!?

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When I started this series, my hope had been to tackle all of the apps in the Palm Pre App Catalog before its official launch, later this month.  But the developers turned out to be too fast for me.  In the month since I started this series, the App Catalog has grown from 30 apps to 45, and is really starting to gain momentum.  So, a slight change of plans will see the series ending today, with an overview of 30 apps.

As a finale to the series, I thought we would take a look at Yelp, the location based search tool.  But don’t worry, this will not be the end of our look at apps for the Palm Pre.  There are plenty of new apps showing up every day, both in the official App catalog and in the unofficial homebrew app lists.  And we will work our way through many of the apps in both locations.  For now, though, let’s take a look at Yelp.

Yelp is a multi-platform tool, which can help you find local businesses and restaurants in your area.  You can search either by selecting one of the preset categories or by entering your own search term.  Yelp will then find any matches in your area.

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Do you want your phone to have its own identity?

Then perhaps it needs a Coveroo case.

Coveroo offers over 2,000 designs that it laser engraves onto the back of your cases.  Or choose a color design and it’ll be applied with a special process that makes it both durable and wear resistant.

You can also choose to truly customize your case by having Coveroo apply your own personal logo or picture to your case.

The Coveroo cases are available for most major cell phones including BlackBerry, iPhone, Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Palm, and more!

I recently ordered a couple of Coveroo cases for review.

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