palm pixi

A WebOS retrospective

If you know Bonnie Cha, you know that she's not happy about today's news that HP was discontinuing support of WebOS smartphones and tablets just over a year after acquiring Palm. Bonnie was a big fan of the mobile operating system from the moment she first saw the original Palm Pre at CES 2009. And her passion continued while reviewing every WebOS smartphone, from the Pre to the recent HP Veer (Donald Bell examined the TouchPad tablet).

I'm rather sad too, even if my experience with WebOS … Read more

Palm WebOS 2.0 beta available to developers

Though we're still waiting to see what comes out of the HP-Palm merger, Palm's still plugging away on WebOS and released some new information about WebOS 2.0 on Tuesday.

The news mostly affects developers, as they can now download a beta version of the WebOS 2.0, but Palm also gave us a glimpse of what's to come and we're pretty excited. The new functions include:

Enhanced multitasking with the ability to stack related cards together for easier access.

Developers can now access the Synergy feature for integrating contacts, calendar, and messages.

A feature called … Read more

Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus head to U.K.

The Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are heading to the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday, Palm announced that U.K.-based O2 will offer the WebOS smartphones starting May 28. O2 already offers the original Palm Pre, so it's no surprise that the carrier would offer the upgraded version as well as the new version of the Pixi.

Each phone is available from O2 on an 18- or 24-month contract.

Palm has been milking its Pre and Pixi platforms for over a year now. The company introduced the original Palm Pre on Sprint Nextel's network in June 2009. … Read more

The 404 570: Where we buy Palm for five bucks and a coke (podcast)

In a sneak-attack move that left everyone (including CNET's own Bonnie Cha) surprised, HP, not HTC, announced that it will buy Palm for $1.2 billion. Many industry pundits consider the partnership out of left field; few remember HP's early foray in the world of PDAs starting with the Jornada handhelds that even found their way into the capable hands of Denise Richards in the James Bond film "The World is Not Enough."

We're anxious to see what HP does with branding and WebOS, which some argue is the only thing from Palm worth saving. And although Wilson and I are optimistic to see how HP handles the buyout, Jeff is ready to jump ship and land on the HTC Evo 4G coming this summer.

Congratulations to Comcast for winning the Golden Poo in The Consumerist's Worst Company in America Awards for 2010. We're also not surprised to see that Ticketmaster follows closely in the runner-up position, although we're not sure what's worse--standing in line to give back a Comcast cable box or paying Ticketmaster's "service fees" that sometimes cost more than the tickets!

Before we finish today's episode, we have to spend time with our favorite movie series "Back to the Future" and a list of six innovations from the movie that we're still waiting for two decades later.

Although we hesitate at the dangers of flying cars like the DeLorean, we still have use for clever inventions like the Black & Decker Hydrator and self-drying clothing. And what Christmas would be complete without your own 404 Podcast-sponsored hoverboard? Don't forget that they don't work on water...UNLESS YOU HAVE POWER.

P.S. Jeff and I have a gentleman's bet on whether Griff's lackey says "Bozo" or "Bojo" in this famous quote. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

EPISODE 570 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Are cell phone chargers juicing you?

Recently, AT&T announced an eco-friendly cell phone charger called the AT&T Zero Charger.

The allure of this device is it automatically shuts down when not in use, offering what AT&T claims is "zero vampire draw" from the wall outlet. Vampire draw is a term for the power that devices draw out of outlets they are plugged into while they are turned off. AT&T's charger will be USB-compatible, making it practical for many of the phones on the market today.

Sure, a zero-draw charger sounds helpful. With that said, we … Read more

Verizon drops Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus price; Mobile Hotspot now free

Just to be clear, this is not an April Fools' joke, though we wouldn't blame you for thinking so because this deal is a bit ridonkulous.

Verizon Wireless announced on Thursday that customers who buy or upgrade to the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will get the carrier's Mobile Hotspot feature for free, while current owners of the smartphone will find a big fat $0.00 for the service on their next bill.

Mobile Hotspot lets you turn the devices into a mobile Wi-Fi router that can provide a mobile broadband connection using Verizon's EV-DO … Read more

Palm Pre Plus, Pixi Plus headed to AT&T

LAS VEGAS--At CES 2010, AT&T revealed that it would add two Palm WebOS smartphones to its lineup. On Monday, we learned the identities and prices of the upcoming devices.

The Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be available from AT&T in the coming months (no specific release dates were given) for $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

There are not a lot of surprises in the announcement, since the hardware and software on both phones are largely similar to their Verizon Wireless counterparts. However, both … Read more

Palm's future: A vicious cycle

Palm's third quarter was a disaster, the fourth-quarter outlook was worse, and the company is stuck with an inventory glut as Verizon Wireless customers went with the BlackBerry Tour and Motorola Droid over the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. The big question: where does Palm go from here?

Simply put, Palm is in a vicious cycle that goes like this:

Sales in the company's third quarter were weak. So weak that Palm's sell-through in the third quarter was 408,000 units vs. a sell-in of 960,000 units. That means Palm seriously overestimated demand for its devices. … Read more

Palm releases WebOS 1.4, adds video capture, Flash 10.1 plug-in

Updated February 28, 2010, at 8:30 p.m.: WebOS 1.4 is now available for Verizon customers. Updated February 27, 2010, at 1 a.m.: Updated article to include WebOS's new plug-in support for Adobe Flash 10.1 Beta.

Palm's release of its WebOS 1.4 on Friday adds video capture, editing, and sharing to the company's Pre and Pixi smartphones.

Along with video recording, the updated operating system lets users trim videos and upload them directly to YouTube, Facebook, or share them via an e-mail or an MMS message. It also adds support for Adobe'… Read more

Palm Pre Plus, Palm Pixi Plus reviewed

Palm didn't make quite as big of a splash at CES 2010 as it did the previous year, but the company still had plenty of news to share, including the introduction of the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus.

Both WebOS devices will be launching on Verizon Wireless on January 25 and bring improvements over their Sprint counterparts. The Palm Pre Plus is the more exciting of the two, offering double the memory, a more streamlined design, and a better keyboard than the original Pre. Meanwhile, the Pixi Plus didn't receive a makeover, but it did … Read more