May 10

Palm’s $70 Touchstone dock, other Pre accessories appear in Best Buy system

Posted in: BestBuy, leak, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, rumor, Today's Chili

Looks familiar eh? If you’re a fan of leaks and pre-release innuendo then you’re already acquainted with Best Buy’s internal inventory system. According to igmac, forum jockey and self-proclaimed Best Buy employee over at SprintUser, the first Palm Pre accessories have just been entered into the system. The list includes 5 cases (3 acrylic, 1 leather, 1 labeled “Palm Pre case”) and the Touchstone charging kit which lists for a whopping $69.99 — the same price already rumored. Really Palm, $70? We’ve been inductive charging our SoniCare toothbrush for years already — the tech just isn’t that amazing anymore, magnet or not. You’ll note that the “in stock date” is listed as May 10th so with any luck we’ll soon be hearing from Mr. BlurryCam with some shots from the warehouse.

[Via PreThinking]

Filed under: ,

Palm’s $70 Touchstone dock, other Pre accessories appear in Best Buy system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 May 2009 03:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
May 07

Palm Pre banner hits Best Buy website, acts like a total tease

Posted in: BestBuy, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, Sprint, Today's Chili

Given that Sprint and Palm are no stranger to Best Buy shelves, it was only natural that the Pre would be headed that way, and it looks like a sure thing now that a bright yellow Pre banner landed on Best Buy’s website. Oddly, the banner only seems to show its face under specific searches for “pre” or “palm pre,” and isn’t linked to any further info — like a super-convenient launch date and price or anything special like that. What it does suggest is that Palm may or may not be gearing up to reveal those very facts. Possibly.

[Via Everything Pre; thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: ,

Palm Pre banner hits Best Buy website, acts like a total tease originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 May 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
May 06

Bells Canadian Palm Pre: More Details

Posted in: palm pre, Smart Devices, Today's Chili

bellpre.jpg

Bell Mobility became the world’s second carrier to adopt the Palm Pre earlier today, and after the press release I tried to ask Palm and Bell representatives how this Pre might be different from Sprint’s Pre, and how many Canadians will be able to get hold of it. Here are some answers I got.
  • The Pre will be available nationally in Canada, not just in Bell’s 3G areas. This is important for folks in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where Bell’s coverage is mostly 2G. In a 2G area, the Pre will work on Bell’s 1X network.
  • Yes, Bell is building an HSPA network, but they’re not launching that until 2010. To get the Pre out in 2009, this will be the EVDO version of the Pre, running on Bell’s existing EVDO 3G network.
  • Bell hasn’t yet determined how they’re customizing the Pre. But a few things are clear. It won’t have a Pandora app, because Pandora doesn’t work in Canada. And it will support a French-language UI, because, well, vive la difference!

Bell says the phone will be showing up during the second half of the year. Back in February, Palm announced a GSM/UMTS version of the Pre, but they haven’t announced any carriers for that model yet. Sprint has the exclusive US contract for the Pre for an indeterminate time.

No Comments | Tags:
May 06

Palm Pre Coming to Canada Later This Year

Posted in: palm pre, Smart Devices, Today's Chili

Palm today announced that its eagerly await touchscreen smartphone will be arriving on Canadian shores in the second half of this year. The Palm Pre will be available in the great white north exclusively under contract with Bell Mobility.

The announcement makes the Canadanian mobile carrier the second to announce a Pre deal after Sprint in the United States. The phone will utilize Bell Mobility’s high-speed 3G network.

The Palm Pre has yet to get a firm release date in Canada or otherwise.

No Comments
May 06

Palm Pre definitely coming to Canada on Bell Mobility: 2H 2009

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, canada, cdma, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, Today's Chili

What the CEO wants, the CEO gets — right? Evidently so, as just four months after Ed Colligan proudly stated that he wanted the Pre in Canadian hands, Palm has revealed that the to-be launched handset will indeed grace the cellular airwaves in the Great North. Canucks will have to rely on Bell Mobility (a CDMA carrier, for those unaware) for service, and they’ll have to wait until “the second half of 2009” to indulge. Check the read link to get yourself signed up for notifications, and feel free to start the countdown until 11:59PM on December 31st, 2009.

Filed under:

Palm Pre definitely coming to Canada on Bell Mobility: 2H 2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 May 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , ,
May 05

Pre deets continue to trickle out; Office 2007 support in the mix

Posted in: palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, rumor, rumors, Sprint, Today's Chili, video

Still no word on pricing or a release date, but the kind chappie running Inside Sprint Now has posted up a little Pre FAQ to tide us over. If you’re inclined to believe this information indeed comes from deep within Sprint customer service — and we’ve no reason to not to — you’ll find some interesting factoids in the mix, including full support for Office 2007, ringback tones, and custom ringtones. There’s also a promise of video recording support and wireless PictBridge printing sometime down the line. Great, great — but we’d really rather learn all this stuff on our own after release, you know?

[Via PalmInfoCenter]

Filed under:

Pre deets continue to trickle out; Office 2007 support in the mix originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 18:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
May 03

Best Buy Mobile to get some Pre stock on June 7th?

Posted in: BestBuy, launch, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, rumor, Today's Chili

If this latest bit of Pre intel scored by Boy Genius Report is to be believed, it looks like you might be able to pick up one of 4,500 of Palm’s latest and greatest as early as June 7. According to a tip from a supposed Best Buy insider, the venerable retailer could be gearing up to launch the hotly anticipated handset in just over a month’s time, though it’s not clear whether this’ll coincide with Sprint’s full-scale launch or come before or after. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, they’ve got some possible numbers on what this beauty will run you: $199.99 for new customers with a 2-year plan, $299.99 for upgrades, and a cool $999.99 contract-free — though in our experience, Best Buy Mobile frequently has its pricing wrong ahead of launch, so these are definitely subject to change.

Filed under: ,

Best Buy Mobile to get some Pre stock on June 7th? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 May 2009 18:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
May 01

Palm Eos headed to Sprint as well?

Posted in: att, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, rumor, speculation, Sprint, Today's Chili

Okay everyone — grain of salt goggles on? According to PhoneNews, not only is a GSM version of the Palm Eos (AKA Mini Pre, AKA Pixie, AKA Castle) coming to AT&T sometime in the near future, but Sprint will be getting its version of the Centro-like device come Q3 2009. The site claims that “sources within Sprint” have “confirmed” the launch window for a phone with specs similar to those on the device we hit yesterday, and that said device is actually in testing right now. Of course, just as we mentioned with the Eos news, this isn’t actually confirmed by anyone at Palm (or even close) right now… and you know how much the internet loves a rumor. Still, this would make a lot of sense as Sprint and Palm are all but joined at the hip, and it helps jibe some of the differing reports we / the blogosphere has heard about carriers. Obviously there’s much, much more to this story — you’ll know about it when we do.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under:

Palm Eos headed to Sprint as well? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 May 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Apr 30

Palm Eos, Pixie, or Centro 2? What Really Matters

Posted in: palm pre, Smart Devices, Today's Chili

The Internet has been buzzing today about Palm’s second WebOS smart phone, the follow-up to the upcoming Palm Pre.

I’ve heard from some friends as well, and the predictions are coming into line – Palm’s working on something that’s lower-cost, and yes, it will have a QWERTY keyboard. Boy Genius Report published a blurry photo of a supposed phone, and Engadget followed up with a Photoshop rendering, the name “Eos” and a pretty comprehensive list of specs.

Finally, around dinnertime, Michael Arrington on TechCrunch christened it the “Pixie,” and Greg Kumparak on Arrington’s own TechCrunch site fell into the Eos camp.

The new device is supposed to be a slim, lower-cost WebOS gadget, destined to come out within several months of the Pre. Engadget purports to have almost suspiciously precise specs, and even to predict that it’s coming out on AT&T.

The problem with rumors like this is that people tend to take them too literally. Six months before launch, a lot of specs are subject to change. Calling the frequency bands for AT&T, for instance, is extremely premature; unlike Apple, Palm are comfortable working on a range of bands and radio interfaces, and could swap a different radio in lickety-split if they get a good deal from a different carrier.

No Comments | Tags:
Apr 30

Palm Eos: super-thin, 3G, and headed to AT&T?

Posted in: att, breaking news, BreakingNews, leak, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, Today's Chili

Liked that blurry photo of a new Palm webOS phone we saw earlier? Well how about some specs, a name, and a better look at this thing? Enter the device above, apparently dubbed the Palm Eos (codenamed Castle… where have we seen that before?), which it seems will be the company’s proper follow-up to the Centro — a quadband GSM / HSDPA phone notably rocking the 850 / 1900 AT&T and Rogers-friendly frequencies. The phone will supposedly be an astounding 10.6mm thin, will measure just 55mm x 111mm (about 2.1 by 4.3-inches), weigh 100 grams, and will tout a 2.63-inch, 320 x 400 capacitive display. Of course, the info we’ve got right now can’t be verified, and since there are a couple of minor question marks here (like barely rounded corners in the OS), you should take it all with a grain of salt… as usual. Needless to say, we’re working on getting more details (and some confirmation), so stay tuned!

Update: Oh boy — looks like we just got the full spec list. And yes, it’s definitely coming to AT&T (if it’s really coming).

  • 4GB storage
  • Price: $349 (pre-rebate)
  • Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
  • Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
  • Messaging: SMS, MMS (picture and video only), integrated IM client
  • Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
  • MediaNet
  • Cellular Video
  • Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
  • A-GPS
  • Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
  • Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Filed under:

Palm Eos: super-thin, 3G, and headed to AT&T? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , ,