Verizon Re-Confirms Palm Pre

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The saga of the Palm Pre and Verizon has been long and confusing. After rumors of Verizon denial and months of waiting, we have confirmation from Big Red itself that the Pre is coming to town. And this is the sort of confirmation that doesn't just rely on advertising leaks and inventory screenshots. Verizon's Twitter feed, VZWOffers (via Boy Genius) told us almost everything we needed to know.

Posted on Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:17:12 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre Hits Spain, October 14th

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If you live in Spain and you've been coveting the Palm Pre, today is your lucky day. Actually, October 14th is going to be your lucky day, but today is the day we learned that. The Palm Blog announced today that the carrier Telefonica will be bringing the Pre to Spain on October 14th. Telefonica is also the exclusive Pre carrier in Ireland, Germany, and the U.K.

Posted on Wed, 7 Oct 2009 09:59:01 CDT | by Robert Evans

New Palm Pre webOS 1.2.1 Fixes Apple iTunes Sync Again

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Palm just released webOS 1.2.0 last week. Today Palm released webOS 1.2.1 that fixes both problems syncing your EAS email and media sync with the latest iTunes release (as already rumored over a week ago).
I did not expect Palm to continue this little war with Apple. Besides sync with iTunes 9.0.1 Palm also fixed photo album structure and added a new option to sync photos without full resolution originals. Read more

Posted on Sat, 3 Oct 2009 08:49:01 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Palm Pre webOS 1.2.0 Update Released

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Palm released the new webOS 1.2.0 update with several improvements and bug fixes.
The new features of webOS 1.2.0 include LinkedIn contact syncing with Palm Synergy, support for heterogeneous EAS policies, Email Keyword filter, file download in browser, Amazon MP3 Store access via Wifi and 3G, podcast pause and resume and app purchasing. There is no word on if the new webOS 1.2.0 will give you back your iTunes syncing. My guess is that it is never coming back again. Read more

Posted on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:15:05 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Verizon Wireless WILL Sell The Palm Pre

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After stock-dropping rumors that Verizon decided to dump the Pre and a terse assertion from Palm that their smartphone would be heading to "new carriers" in 2010, we have confirmation from Boy Genius that the Pre will, in fact, be sold on Verizon's network.

Verizon still has not commented one way or the other on these rumors, and Palm did not address directly which carriers would get to host the Pre. That said, the CEO of Verizon himself has openly expressed his plans to carry the webOS smartphone in the past, and Big Red is in dire need of some variety in their smartphone offerings.

Posted on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Verizon Declines The Palm Pre?

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The smartphone world received a shock today when news broke that Verizon Wireless might not be adopting the Palm Pre after all. TheStreet.com states that "people close to the discussions" told them that Verizon has decided not to support the Pre. This is great news for Sprint, the Pre's current U.S. carrier, but very bad news for Palm, who desperately needs a larger market if they want any hope of crossing the million sold mark.

Up until now, Verizon seemed quite eager to get at the Palm Pre. Back in May, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam even stated that his company intended to roll out the Pre within six months. What's caused this rapid change of mood? If TheStreet is correct, the Pre's less-than-impressive sales weren't the only reason.

Posted on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:17:41 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre On Sale For $99.99 On Amazon With Contract

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If you have considered to get a Palm Pre than now is a great time. Amazon is having it on sale for $99.99 with Sprint contract.
I still consider the Palm Pre the more interesting choice compared to the upcoming Palm Pixi. The Pixi has no Wifi, which makes it a no go for many. Read more

Posted on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Palm Announced Quarterly Earnings Without Specific Palm Pre Sales Numbers

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Palm announced their earnings for the past quarter, which is their first quarter of fiscal year 2010 ending August 28th.
The total revenues have been $68m resulting in gross profit of $2.8m. These results include the effects of subscription accounting applied to Palm webOS products as required by GAAP. In accordance with this methodology, revenues and direct cost of revenues for Palm webOS products (currently Palm Pre smartphone) are deferred and recognized over the product's estimated economic life.
Read more

Posted on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:46:42 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

iTunes 9 Kills Palm Pre Syncing

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When the Palm Pre first hit stores, it came with the ability to sync up with iTunes. The Pre identified itself as an iPod mass storage device, so iTunes recognized it and let it in. Apple was not happy about this, and they fired back in July by breaking the Pre's ability to sync in a patch. Palm didn't take this standing down, and fixed syncing in webOS 1.1. For the last few months, the Pre has remained able to sync and Apple has only been able to stew about it.

That all changed yesterday. Apple released iTunes version 9 and, according to AppleInsider, it broke the Pre's ability to sync once more. Palm fans needn't fret, though. The webOS 1.2 update, which should have been announced earlier this week, was delayed for some reason. More than likely so that Palm would be able to respond to any moves Apple made.

Posted on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:28:03 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre: Available in Canada

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Between the freezing cold and the dangerous snow Yetis, life in Canada can be pretty hard. Today, however, we've got a spot of good news for our neighbors to the north. The Palm Pre is available now in stores all across your country (thanks Boy Genius) From Ottawa to Saskatchewan, every Bell store, Best Buy, and other fine gadget shop will be able to hook you up with a Palm Pre for the not-low-but-not-overly-gouged price of $199.95.

Posted on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:30:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

GSM Version of the Palm Pre Approved

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Are you a big fan of the Palm Pre who doesn't want to switch over to the Sprint carrier? If so, we've got some good news for you today. A GSM, 3G enabled version of the Palm Pre has just been certified by WiFi.org, and could be coming to North America sometime very soon. According to PreCentral this does not necessarily mean that a GSM Pre will be hitting the US in the near future.

Posted on Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:20:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre Gets 3rd Party Keyboard

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Even folks like myself who swear by sliding QWERTY keyboards want the option of having an on-screen keyboard. It comes in handy for those times when you don't have both hands free to type. That's why one was added to the T-Mobile G1, and also why Pre users have been complaining at Palm to give the Pre one during its next update. Unfortunately, Palm doesn't appear to be listening.

The good news is, someone was. According to Pre Central a developer named WebShell has put together a native, onscreen keyboard for the Pre. This new hack apparently works in portrait and landscape mode. It's still in pre-alpha phase at the moment, so only developers and people willing to deal with some extra hassle should bother downloading it at this point. That said, you'll want to keep an eye on this development for when they get a final version out.

Posted on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:20:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre In Canada August 27th

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Here's some good news for the people of the land of bagged milk and honey; the Palm Pre's Canadian launch date has been set. The Pre will be available in the great white north on the Bell Mobility Network starting August 27th. Bell has noticed a great deal of interest in the new smartphone, and they've opened the Pre up for reservations now.

Posted on Tue, 4 Aug 2009 11:45:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

$99 Palm Pre: For Real, Only Today

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If you're looking to grab a new Palm Pre, LetsTalk.com has the best deal out there, and it's only lasting one day. Right now you can pick up a Palm Pre for $99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. You'll have to sign up for a 2 year Sprint contract to get this deal. The good news is, LetsTalk gives free shipping to any mobile phone orders that come with a service plan.

Posted on Mon, 3 Aug 2009 11:01:22 CDT | by Robert Evans

OpenTable App Hits Palm Pre

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Congratulations, Pre owners, you finally have some new apps to play with. Sure, iPhone owners get new apps everyday, but this doesn't happen very often for the Pre. One new app is cause for celebration, and two new apps are a very big deal indeed.

The most interesting new app out is OpenTable, an app which helps you to find restaurants with open tables in your area and schedule reservations into your calendar. Fliq bookmarks has also been added. That app is designed to work with Missing Sync in order to integrate bookmarks from Safari into your Pre. It only works for Macs right now, but PC functionality will be coming soon.

Posted on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:20:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Verizon: Palm Pre in 2010

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This morning, VZW continues their march towards smartphone dominance. They announced their Q2 revenue today (up by 11.3%) along with their added subscribers (1.1 million) for the quarter. It's been a good three months for Verizon and the future looks just as bright. They're already rumored to be pushing their 4G network out in 2010, to coincide with the launch of Apple's tablet.

That's not the only good news for Verizon, either. Today in a conference call with analysts VZW stated that the Palm Pre would be coming to their network “early next year”. There have been rumors about a Verizon Pre for a while now, but this is the first time we've gotten actual confirmation from the company.

Posted on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:30:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre: $99 At Best Buy [Update]

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Okay, Palm fans, you all owe Apple a big 'thank you'. By lowering the price of the iPhone 3G to $99 they're forcing other manufacturers to respond in kind. That's why the Palm Pre is on sale now for just $99 (with a contract) at Best Buy.

Posted on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:00:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

webOS 1.1 Update fixes Apple iTunes 8.2.1 Sync with Palm Pre again

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A week ago Apple blocked the Palm Pre from syncing with iTunes via the new iTunes 8.2.1 update.
Yesterday Palm hit back and released webOS 1.1 that amongst other things enables syncing with iTunes 8.2.1 on the Palm Pre again. This basically means war as Apple demonstrated with the blocking that they officially do not like the Palm Pre syncing with iTunes. Read more

Posted on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Palm Pre Now Available Online

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Sometimes it takes Sprint a while to get with the times. They've only just now opened up the Pre for online sales. The price is the same, $199.99 with a $100 mail-in rebate. The only difference between buying the Pre online versus in a store is the gasoline you save by not driving.

Sprint notes on the order page that they offer small business discounts as well. In this case 'discount' means offering the rebate as instant savings. Sure, the cost is the same, but not having to send in a rebate saves you short term finances and paperwork.

Posted on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:55:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre OS 1.1: Details

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Here's a bit of good news for all you Pre owners out there. Apparently webOS version 1.1 is set to hit within the next 30 days, according to an anonymous tipster who spoke to Pre Central. This 1.1 update is primarily focused on improving Exchange Active Sync in order to make the Pre more attractive for enterprise adoption.

1.1 will include a bunch of features that should make Pre adoption a much more attractive prospect for businesses. The expanded features include enabling IT-initiated remote wipes, requiring a PIN to use, and automatic device wipes after enough failed PIN entries. Palm is also adding in auto-lock, and improving digital certificates.

Posted on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:05:00 CDT | by Robert Evans

Palm Pre webOS 1.1 Update Release to come soon?

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At the end of June Palm updated the Palm Pre with the webOS 1.0.4. PreCentral received a slide with features that webOS 1.1 is supposed to have. The slide is dated with May 19th and the release date of webOS 1.1 says within the next 30 days.
Clearly that did not happen. Maybe webOS 1.1 is coming in July though. Read more

Posted on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:33:48 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr