Will HP Replace Slate Tablet With Hurricane?
Recently Hewlett-Packard (HP), one of the world’s biggest personal computer maker bought out Palm for about $1.2 billion. Now what would HP do with their Slate tablet?
HP is expected to release previously Palm webOS tablet called the Hurricane in the third quarter of this year. This will be a direct challenge to the iPad, but the device would be a threat to Microsoft since HP has canceled Slate running on Windows 7.
HP Buys Palm For $1.2 Billion
Hewlett-Packard (HP), one of the world’s biggest personal computer maker will buy out Palm for about $1.2 billion. Palm released the Palm Pre and Pixi smartphone but the company is loosing money and market share to bigger rival companies like Apple and HTC. Is this a good deal for HP? Now what would HP do with their own iPAQ smartphone?
The Fall Of Palm Pre And Pixi
Things are looking bleak when it comes to Palm Pre and Pixi. These smartphones are not selling well. The company is trying to gain more market share by selling the devices through AT&T. Palm needs more than another outlet for sales. The company needs to find a way to connect with consumers and developers. So far they have failed to do so.
AT&T will sell the Palm Pre Plus for US$149.99; the Pixi Plus will sell for $49.99. Both prices comes with a two-year service contract and $100 mail-in rebate.
Palm WebOS 1.4 Adds Video Capture And Flash 10.1 plug-in
Palm has released the webOS 1.4.0 update for the Pre and Pixi. The update is only for Sprint, O2, or Movistar carriers. Users using Verizon, Bell, and Telcel will have to wait for update later.
Palm WebOS 1.4 adds video recording and editing capabilities, Flash 10.1 beta support, battery improvements, and many other enhancements and fixes for existing bugs.
Source: Palm WebOS 1.4.0
Palm Updates WebOS Firmware To 1.3.5
Palm has officially rolled out the 1.3.5 webOS update for its Pre and Pixi smartphones. The updates are removing restriction on application storage space allowing for almost an unlimited number of apps to be installed, Palm App Catalog is now capable of background downloading and simultaneous downloads as well.
More info on the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi updates.
Palm Struggles As Sales Of Pre And Pixi Take A Fall
Palm has reported second-quarter fiscal 2010 revenue of $78.1 million, but a loss of $85.4 million, or 54% per share.
The company had shipped a total of 783,000 smartphones to retailers in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Nov. 27. That was up 41% compared with the second quarter last year, but down 5% compared with the first quarter.
Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein said, We’re still in the early stages of a long race, and we’re energized by the opportunity to compete in this exciting market. We remain confident that Palm’s innovative product design capabilities, integrated cloud services and the differentiated and delightful Palm webOS experience will provide the foundation for our sustained success.
Source: Palm posts wider than expected 2Q loss
Palm Pixi Arriving In November 15 For $99
Palm have revealed a slimmer cheaper, the Palm Pixi, hoping to capitalize on the momentum created by Pre. Sprint Nextel will release the Palm Pixi for $99 on November. 15 with a two-year contract.
It is aimed at the younger consumers featuring 8GB of memory, GPS, a smaller multitouch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 2-megapixel camera and no WiFi. Runs on WebOS and will retail before Christmas.
Source: Palm Pixi
Air Hockey The First Paid Palm App
It is interesting to see the first Palm WebOS app is the $1.99 Air Hockey game. This app will soon appear on Palm App Catalog.
Palm Slimmer Pixi Mobile Phone
Palm have revealed a slimmer cheaper, the Palm Pixi, hoping to capitalize on the momentum created by Pre. It is aimed at the younger consumers featuring 8GB of memory, GPS, a smaller multitouch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, a 2-megapixel camera and no WiFi. Runs on WebOS and will retail before Christmas.
Source: Palm Pixi
Palm Dazzles With Palm Pre
Palm has revealed the touchscreen Palm Pre smartphone with sliding keyboard and new Web OS at CES 2009. The new smartphone is like a marriage of iphone and BlackBerry.
The Pre has a 480×320 pixel touchscreen, which support multitouch features. This smartphone has a vertical sliding QWERTY keyboard which curves inward towards the user when it it extended. Some specs, 3G connectivity via EV-DO, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and Stereo, 8 GB of internal memory, Accelerometer, light, and proximity sensors. Pricing is not available at this time. Sprint will be a launch partner for the Palm Pre.
Source: Palm Pre
