palm

Technology is taken for granted by those who design it, grow up with it, or worship it as if it's a digital deity.

Yet not everyone believes that, for example, giving 24-Hour Fitness your fingerprint in order to lose a little blubber is such a natural, safe act.

Take certain parents at Moss Bluff Elementary School in Louisiana. Their arms are raised up high in celestial fright at the school's heathen attempts to introduce a palm scanner into the cafeteria.

As KPLC-TV reports it, the parents see the devil in the details.

Mamie Sonnier, a very concerned parent, … Read more

The Apple iPad is a deceptive little monster. And the companies that are getting caught up in its deception are paying dearly for it. HP Palm fell for it. RIM fell for it. Others fell for it to a lesser degree, and some are still in danger of suffering from it.

The problem is that when most of the traditional technology companies look at the iPad, they see the wrong things. They see an oversized smartphone screen that's extremely limited in what it can do. So they've said to themselves, "We can build one of those, add … Read more

My watch is an iPod Nano. It's not perfect. In fact, there are many ways I'd like it to be better. But, it works. It also looks cool.

Those are two seemingly small details that are in fact quite major when considering a smart watch these days. "Working" is a matter of opinion and design in some cases, but the point is that the iPod Nano-as-a-watch does exactly what you think it does, and it does it well. So far, that can't be said for Sony's SmartWatch, a confusing remote for Android phones that ends up doing less than you expect it to, yet somehow is hard to even work in that limited capacity. I had a chance to try one out here at CNET, and was surprised at how Sony's solution was good-looking, but a complete slave requiring Bluetooth and an Android phone to get anything done -- even tell the time. That's a problem. A good watch can't mess that part up.… Read more

commentary Nokia got its wish and has its best shot to break back into the U.S. market.

So here's some friendly advice to a company that likely won't get another opportunity as good as this: don't blow it.

Not to pile on with more pressure, but the fate of Nokia's future, and possibly that of Windows Phone and Microsoft's ability to remain relevant in the mobile world, rests largely on how successful the Lumia 900 performs.

There are no excuses this time. Nokia has a large U.S. carrier partner in AT&T, … Read more

It was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Opotheker in the library with the candlestick who killed off Palm.

In a recent interview with fellow author Rick Mathieson to promote his new book, Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation, former HP Chief Technology Officer Phil McKinney divulged some interesting tidbits about who was responsible for pulling the plug on Palm's WebOS.

He said that it was Leo Apotheker, HP's then CEO, who made the decision to kill Palm's WebOS mobile operating system. HP had only owned the struggling handset maker for about 16 months before it … Read more

Get in the groove and let the good times roll. T3 Motion will launch its latest electric standup vehicle at the Big Boys Toys 2012 show this week at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai.

T3 Motion's popular electric law-enforcement patrol vehicle has about 3,000 T3 Series units in more than 30 countries around the world.

The latest version offers an easy-to-use, quick-response vehicle that helps urban cops catch the bad guys.

"We have made great headway with law enforcement in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and the Middle East, opening the door for a successful launch into … Read more

Former Palm CEO and principal architect of the WebOS platform Jon Rubinstein has left Hewlett-Packard, effective today.

Rubinstein is leaving after completing a commitment to stay with HP for 12 to 24 months. All Things D first reported on the departure, and said Rubinstein has no immediate plans.

"Jon has fulfilled his commitment to HP," an HP spokesman told CNET. "We wish him well."

Rubinstein's departure marks the end of an unspectacular run in which he twice attempted, and failed, to turn WebOS into a major mobile platform. In a span of just two years, … Read more

Apple's iPhone 4S appears to be winning a healthy number of customers from rival mobile platforms.

A hefty 36 percent of iPhone 4S buyers said they jumped ship from an Android, BlackBerry, or Palm device, according to a study released yesterday by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Specifically, 50 percent of the rival phone jumpers polled by CIRP upgraded from a BlackBerry, 39 percent from an Android phone, and 10 percent from a Palm device. Only 21 percent switched from another type of mobile phone or picked up an iPhone as their first cell phone. A full 43 percent … Read more

Some mobile users are so eager for Apple's latest iPhone that they'll break their wireless contracts to grab one.

Almost half (45 percent) of iPhone buyers recently polled by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) said they paid a penalty to cancel their contract just to pick up the iPhone 4S. Some switched carriers while others upgraded before their contract ended.

Among these iPhone buyers, 52 percent paid a penalty of $100 to $200, 28 percent paid a penalty of less than $100, and 20 percent shelled out more than $200. But the pain has been felt less by … Read more