Posts in Handhelds

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Palm shows Pre at D

Ina Fried | May 29, 2009

Palm showed the Palm Pre's rival to the App Store during its demo at D: All Things Digital on Thursday.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In one of the more anticipated chats at D: All Things Digital, Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein showed off the Palm Pre and talked about several features of the smartphone for the first time.

Rubinstein showed how the device can search Amazon's MP3 store and download songs directly to the device, a feature mentioned at the Pre's unveiling at CES in January. The Pre is scheduled to go on sale June 6 with a price tag of US$199.99, after rebate.

He also showed a "media sync" feature that lets users grab nonprotected media files directly from iTunes without any special software. In addition, the universal search feature will not only search Google and Wikipedia, but also Twitter.
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Report: Palm Pre recognized by iTunes

Jim Dalrymple | May 29, 2009

As Palm readies the Palm Pre for release next month, another interesting tidbit of information has been discovered about the device. It is recognized by Apple's iTunes. (Note: There is still no word on the availability of the GSM version of the Palm Pre in Asia.)

In fact, the Palm Pre is not only recognized by iTunes, it also syncs seamlessly with iTunes, according to a report on Forbes.com. There is one caveat: The Pre cannot handle Apple's DRM protected songs. Still it's quite a nice feature to have if you plan to purchase a Pre and have all of your music in iTunes.
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My Palm Pre first-gen fears

David Carnoy | May 28, 2009

I usually follow a simple rule when it comes to consumer electronics: I avoid buying any first-generation products. That doesn't mean I haven't ever done it, but I tend to wait for generation two or three before I plunk down my dough, particularly when it comes to heavily hyped stuff.

As I've written before, I'm a prime candidate to buy the Palm Pre. I'm a Sprint customer who has a contract conveniently expiring in June and I have a phone (the Mogul) that's on its last legs. Ideally, the Pre would cost US$50 less and not have a mail-in rebate, but at least Sprint didn't price the thing at a pure US$299, as I'm sure it would have preferred to do. Pricing aside, the biggest hurdle I'm facing is the fact that the Palm Pre is a first-gen phone--and platform--and I'm really not a first-gen guy.

By contrast, the iPhone will be on its third generation and its platform is already fairly mature. We'll find out exactly how the new third-generation iPhone specs out at next week's WWDC event, but it's safe to assume that many of the small, nagging kinks that were found in earlier editions of the iPhone will have been ironed out. I don't expect it to be perfect (no phone ever will be, because there's always something better around the corner), but I feel pretty good about getting a lot more iPhone for my US$199 than those who purchased the original non-3G model (which was originally US$599--with contract!) or even the iPhone 3G.
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Google's Idol-like Android challenge

Jessica Dolcourt | May 28, 2009

Android 1.5 on Google's brand-new "Ion".
(Credit: CNET/Photo by Stephen Shankland)

To encourage gifted developers to give iPhone programming a rest, most mobile platforms have built app stores that lure with the promise of a cash-positive distribution. But not Google. It baits with cash.

Sure, Google installs and sells Android applications through its on-board Market, but a mobile platform with such a slim slice of the pie needs an infusion of fresh and original apps if it's to stay in the bake sale. Google's answer: The second Android Developer Challenge, or ADC2, as it's nicknamed.

This time, submissions will vie for popularity and "wow factor" on the Android 1.5 operating system known as Cupcake. Announced Wednesday at Google I/O, the company's second annual developer-focused conference held in San Francisco, ADC2 will award three top prizes to applications in ten categories. The categories include gaming, social networking, media, and productivity. Google will also award an additional purse to the top three programs that cross-cut all categories. That's US$250,000 for the one lucky development team considered the best in show, with second and third places for the best all-around app bringing its developers US$150,000 and US$125,000, respectively. First place in each category receives a cool US$100,000 to pocket.
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Documents To Go now available on Android

John Chan | May 28, 2009

(Credit: DataViz)

Mobile software developer DataViz, well-known for its Documents To Go (DTG) application on the Palm OS, has released a version for Android. Being unable to handle Microsoft Office documents is one of the major factors that may prevent a business user from embracing Google's mobile OS. DTG bridges that gap by giving users the ability to view, edit and create Word and Excel documents. It is available through the Android Market for US$19.99 now, but will revert to its regular price of US$29.99 after the introductory offer.

Here's the bad news--we can't access paid apps using the Android Market here in Asia. This service is available only in the US and some European countries. Google was unable to give us any indication when paid apps will be available in this region.

For those using the iPhone, Dataviz has also created a version of DTG for Apple's smartphone. This has been submitted to the App Store and is awaiting approval from the Cupertino firm.