• Uncategorized

    Elevation Injects an Additional $100 Million Into Palm

    December 22, 2008 /

    In a press release issued earlier today, Palm has announced that investment firm Elevation Partners will make an additional $100 million dollar investment into Palm, Inc. Elevation will purchase the additional shares from Palm’s newly issued Series C stocks and has paid a 31% premium by acquiring the shares at $3.25 each. The Series C stock issued by Palm has a 0% dividend rate. With the second planned investment of $100 million into Palm, Elevation Partners will have invested about $425 million dollars into Palm.

    “The additional capital from Elevation Partners will enable us to put added momentum behind the new product introductions scheduled for 2009 and will provide us with enhanced stability in unsettled economic times,” said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer of Palm, Inc. “Elevation has been a great partner to Palm, and we appreciate their continued confidence and support.”

    “We believe that Palm is in a position to transform the cell phone industry, and we are pleased to have the opportunity to make this additional investment in the company. Palm has an industry-leading team and an exciting, differentiated product roadmap. We are proud to be associated with the company and look forward to great things from Palm in 2009 and beyond,” stated Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners.

    The transaction is expected to close by January, 31, 2009. Palm also has the option to trigger a sell action by Elevation of up to $49 million dollars before March 31, 2009 to other investors under the same or better prices.

    Read the full Palm press release…

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  • blackberry,  dataviz,  rim,  sprint,  treo

    Going Live with BlackBerry

    December 22, 2008 /

    This is just a quick note to say that I plan on activating my BlackBerry Curve 8330 today.

    There are a few reasons for deciding to turn on the BlackBerry now. The first is that after looking at Palm’s new App Store, there is no need for testing on my Treo 755p; my Treo 750 is up to the task.

    Secondly, if the rumors about Palm are true, it looks like the company could be on track to release a new device with the Nova operating system before the May/June 2009 time frame. I want to use the BlackBerry in between now and then. If Palm is going to deliver in the next quarter, I need to get going with the BlackBerry.

    Sprint is still reporting that they are working with RIM on ironing out the kinks in the BlackBerry OS 4.5 upgrade. That means that I won’t be able to use DataViz Documents To Go until the update has been certified by Sprint.

    I’ll post again once I have the BlackBerry activated for voice and data with the BlackBerry Internet service.

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  • apple

    2009 Will Be Apple’s Last Appearance At MacWorld Expo

    December 21, 2008 /

    It looks like 2009 will be Apple’s last appearance at the MacWorld Expo trade show.

    For those not familiar with the MacWorld shows, they are not run by Apple. The shows are actually put on by the publisher of the MacWorld magazine.

    Steve Jobs has always been a my way or the highway kind of guy, so I can see why the company has chosen to leave the show after the January 2009 event. Trade shows and magazines have become marginalized in the last few years. If you have been to a trade show or a user conference in the past, you understand the great educational and networking opportunities that can be had from such events.

    As you might expect, the Mac magazine has a few articles posted on their website on the topic. I’ll save you the time, the three articles are:

    You can read the full Apple press release on the Apple website.

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  • Uncategorized

    Back from Vacation

    December 21, 2008 /

    What a difference a week makes! I returned home a few hours ago from sunny Orlando Florida to learn that Palm has been busy while my family and I have been lounging around the pool under sunny skies!

    Be sure to check back later for a wrap up of the week’s Palm news and analysis.

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  • blackberry,  rim,  treo

    BlackBerry Curve Update

    December 12, 2008 /

    As you will recall, I purchased a Sprint edition BlackBerry Curve 8330. Smartphone Fanatics reader BaDZeD wrote me to ask how I was doing with the BlackBerry.

    The short answer is that I’m not. I am a hardcore Palm OS user and if a device can’t match the feature set of my Treo 755p, it just can’t be my day-to-day device. There are a lot of things that I like about the Curve. They include things like a smaller footprint and weight; a full Qwerty keyboard, and ok PIM applications.

    There are things that have kept me from adopting the BlackBerry. For one, the software on the device is BlackBerry OS 4.3, not 4.5 or later. Without BlackBerry OS 4.5, I can’t run DataViz Documents To Go – an essential tool in my opinion. I’ll also loose the ability to sync with my corporate calendar at the office. That isn’t a big problem because I have access to Treo 700p at the office that I can use to sync my calendar to. (I won’t need to bring that Treo home, I just want the calendar when I’m not in my office during the week.)

    I’d also have to convert my corporate wireless email account from a Palm OS license to a BlackBerry license, but that isn’t suppose to be hard process.

    The latest word from Sprint is that the BlackBerry OS 4.5 upgrade for the Curve 8330 will be out during or after the week of 12/15/08, which is next week. We’ll see. Sprint is had to push back the date a few times already.

    I want to play with the BlackBerry, but until I have a plan to ensure I have access to all of my “stuff” I’ll stick with my Treo 755p. Maybe I’ll convert in January.

    Thoughts?

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  • astraware,  iphone

    Astraware Board Games Available for iPhone/iPod touch

    December 11, 2008 /

    Astraware Board Games is now available from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod touch users. Astraware Board Games is a collection of eight classic board games including Chess, Backgammon, Ludo, Checkers, Reversi, Nine Men’s Morris, Snakes & Ladders and Tic Tac Toe.

    For the iPhone/iPod edition of Board Games, Astraware has applied some of the Apple special sauce to the mix to enhance the gaming experience not found on other mobile platforms. For example, players shake their device to shake the dice, touch and slide their piece to move it, and enjoy enhanced graphics that take advantage of the high-quality screen on the devices. In addition, players have the choice of playing against the CPU, against friends using “hotseat” multiplayer on one device, or against a friend on two separate devices using a local Wi-Fi connection.

    Astraware Board Games is available now from the Apple App Store and sells for $4.99. For more information about Board Games, or to see a short video of the game in action, head over to the Astraware website.

    My kids love playing this game on my Palm Treo 755p. I know that they are going to enjoy it even more when they get to play against Dad on his iPod. I am definitely going to get this game for our upcoming family vacation.

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  • palm os

    Bring on the “New-ness”

    December 11, 2008 /

    My Palm OCD meter has just hit the roof! Reports are coming into Smartphone Fanatics that Palm has sent out invitations to a special press event to be held during the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this coming January.

    Based on the wording on the emailed invitation, the Palm community is brimming with excitement. The invitation reads, “Come to CES to see all that Palm New-ness you’ve been waiting for.”

    That “New-ness” can only be Palm’s next-generation operating system that I’ve been calling Palm OS II for years now; and that Palm has codenamed Nova. As many Smartphone Fanatics readers have pointed out in the past, Nova translates to “New” in some languages.

    Palm fans have been waiting for the successor to Palm OS 5 literally for years and after all the waiting, it is clear that Colligan & Co. are about to make good on all their promises.

    Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

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  • apple,  iphone,  rumors

    Rumor: 4GB iPhone Headed to Wal-Mart

    December 9, 2008 /

    I just saw this over on Barron’s Tech Trader Daily website.

    “Remember last week’s rumor that Wal-Mart (WMT) is about to start selling Apple (AAPL) iPhones?

    Apparently, it’s true. Both Bloomberg and the San Jose Mercury News quote employees at various Wal-Mart stores saying they expect to start selling the phone before the end of the month, likely between Christmas and New Year’s Day – maybe sooner.

    According to the Merc, Kim Nguyen, manager of the cell phone department at the Milpitas Wal-Mart, said she was told by an AT&T representative that her store would be getting a 4 GB model. She also said the store was supposed to get some iPhones two days before Christmas.”

    Via Tech Trader Daily…

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  • rumors

    Rumor: Is This the Next Palm Device

    December 8, 2008 /

    Two weeks ago, in my 1SRC editorial, “It’s Time for Something ‘Nova’,” I suggested that it might be time for Palm OS fans to get some love by way of unofficial info about Palm OS II/Nova and the hardware that it might run on. While this photo is far from evidence, scuttlebutt around the Internet seems to be that no one knows what this device is. According to Jenn K. Lee of Pocketables.com, the photo had a born on date of June 3.

    With the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (January) and Mobile World Congress (February) just around the corner, it is anyone guess as to whether this is just one of the many prototype devices that gets built and never makes it to market or a vendor’s next big device.

    What has gotten attentive web heads, myself included, all worked up, is the stylistic design of the device. The jelly looking keys of this device just screams “Palm”. Whether or not this is a Palm prototype device remains to be seen. If we stay focused on the keyboard for just a few minutes. If you zoom in on the keyboard, you can sort of make out the keys. Consider this: how often do keyboard formats differ from model to model? I don’t think this is a RIM BlackBerry, nor is it Motorola, a Samsung, or HTC Touch.

    What do you think this device might be? Is this a new Palm prototype device? Will it run Palm OS II/Nova? Or is this just another pipe dream that has been discarded in the wake of the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm? Let us know in the comments.

    [Via pocketables.com…]
    Thanks to the anonymous tipster who sent this in.

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  • 1src

    1SRC Podcast 202

    December 6, 2008 /

    The latest 1SRC Podcast has gone up for your listening pleasure. On this week’s show, I cover:

    • Yes, I bought a BlackBerry. Let’s get back to the Palm stuff now.
    • Palm reports a very rough Q2FY09 , cuts expenses even more.
    • Make sure you check out what happens when ” Santa Goes Cento “.
    • DataViz Documents To Go 11 Premium gets reviewed.

    Listen to 1SRC Podcast 202 now…

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