Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings from your friends at Smartphone Fanatics!
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Editorial: Palm App Store 2.0
I was about to write up a review of Palm’s new App Store when I saw that TreoCentral’s Annie Latham has a well written review posted. Rather than rehash what has already been written, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit my vision for an integrated, wireless, cloud based solution from Palm in which a Palm app store is a critical componant along site a Palm customer service portal along the lines of the myPalm.com beta.
As you can see from the screen shots below, the App Store icon launches a web page that is the same on a Palm OS Treo or Centro as it is on a Windows Mobile Treo. The web app solution gets Palm around a problem that they had previously had with the myPalm application which was that it was only for Palm OS handhelds and smartphones. (This was because the previous myPalm app store was based on the Bluefish Wireless AddIt application that Palm has included with their PDAs and smartphones since late 2003.) Now all of Palm’s customers can join in on the buy-it-on-the-go fun. I wrote about why I think Palm needs an integrated on device application store in the 1SRC.com editorial, “Palm Needs an App Store.”
(Tapping the green App Store icon lauches a web URL to the online Palm App Store which contains some 5,000 combined Palm OS and Windows Mobile applications.)
The app store that I envisioned when I wrote that editorial operated more like Appl’e App Store and the older myPalm AddIt application that Latham wrote about on TreoCentral here. I would like to see Palm provide an integrated solution. The web based app store will download and install the Palm OS or Windows Mobile application installer over the air (OTA) to your device and that is really cool and simple for novice users to get apps on to their devices. But what happens when the device gets hard reset? Palm needs to make sure that it is easy for customers to access their unlock codes, serial numbers, and installers. An integrated solution would make this possible. One solution could be similar to the now defunct myPalm.com portal where customers would login to a Palm customer service portal and be able to access their purchased software and find their serial numbers. An alternateive or companion option would be to use some of the features of also defunct Palm Backup application where the software prompts users to login to the Palm portal server and then be able to redownload and install their software. All over the air without the need to sync to a Windows or Mac OS X desktop computer.
This leads me back to a cloud computing portal solution that I suspect that Palm could have been looking at before the economey took a turn for the worse. A Palm solution similar to Apple’s Mobile Me offering could offer a spot to sync your PIM data to, manage OTA device backup and restores along site OTA software download and installation. A small desktop application for Windows and Mac OS X could plug-in to the cloud portable to provide a similar destkop experience that we have today only without the hassle of having to deal with wired data synchronization and USB device drivers.
In conclusion, I think that Palm has all the pieces for a new cloud based solution. The question now is when can it be implemented. Palm clearly has all hands on deck to ensure that Palm OS II / Nova is successfully launched on new hardware. Will a new cloud portal solution go live at the the same time that Nova does? What about Windows Mobile? Will the software be developed for Windows Mobile Professional 5 and 6; or will Palm focus on a new integrated on device application of Windows Mobile 7? My guess is that Palm will focus new software devlopment on Nova and Windows Mobile 7 while existing devices can still access the PocketGear web app store that Palm recently rolled out.
Now that integrated, cloud based solution (desktop to device wireless sync, customer service portal, and OTA application installs and backups) is one that I’m looking forward to. It has the potential to reduce the toubleshooting and support issues around USB drivers and data synchronization; it will give customers easy access to new applications for their devices; and all of their information (PIM data, purchased software, and device backups) can be easily accessed from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Let me know what you think by using the comments link below.
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BlackBerry Activated
As planned, I activated my Sprint BlackBerry Curve 8330 this morning. The folks at the local Sprint customer center had some trouble removing the Power Vision Pack from my account and adding in the BlackBerry personal Internet data pack, but everything seems to be working now.
The next step is to get my email accounts configured on the BlackBerry. At this point I’m not sure how I’m going to acomplish that. Looks like I’ll be spending some time with the BlackBerry user manual this afternoon.
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Elevation Injects an Additional $100 Million Into Palm
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.
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Going Live with BlackBerry
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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2009 Will Be Apple’s Last Appearance At MacWorld Expo
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:
- Apple at Expo: What When Wrong?
- Apple announces its last year at Macworld Expo, no Jobs keynote
- MacWorld Expo Responds to Apple’s Exit
You can read the full Apple press release on the Apple website.
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Back from Vacation
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 Curve Update
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 Board Games Available for iPhone/iPod touch
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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Bring on the “New-ness”
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.
