Hasta La Gadget!

Roger McNamee, founding partner of the Palm-rescuing investment firm Elevation Partners, has had some interesting things to say about what to expect from the Pre. Now, though, he’s really out done himself with what he has to say about the iPhone. In an interview with Bloomberg, McNamee (aka “Chubby Wombat Moonalice” when playing bass) predicted that the Pre will bring the downfall of Apple’s wunder-handset, saying:

June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone. Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later. Think about it — if you bought the first iPhone, you bought it because you wanted the coolest product on the market. Your two-year contract has just expired. Look around. Tell me what they’re going to buy.

We don’t know the future, but we can sure tell you what we’re not buying right now. And besides, we don’t know too many early adopter types that could resist the siren call of 3G halfway through their existing iPhone contract, thereby re-upping their contract for another few millenia. That should be plenty enough time for Apple to whip up something new… or at least for Roger to get a haircut.

[Via Daring Fireball]

Filed under: Cellphones

CE-Oh no he didn’t! Part LIX: Elevation’s McNamee predicts death to iPhone on June 29 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There seems to be no shortage of chatter about celebrities and their new Palm handsets today. We already knew that stars attending the Independent Spirit Awards would be getting a swag bag containing — among other things — a Palm Pre, and based on the coverage we’re seeing from the event (held on the 21st), they at least got to handle them. It’s actually difficult to say if Palm was giving the device out that night or putting people on a waiting list, but what it does make clear is that the Pre can’t be too far from launch if the company felt comfortable enough to throw them into such an uncontrolled setting. Does this mean the release date is nearer than we think, or is Palm just hoping that a little of that star power rubs off on the phone? Either way, we’re super jealous of Eliza Dushku.

Update: According to a Tweet from Palm (which links this post — meta!), these were just there to be played with, not handed out.

[Thanks, Marques]

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pre handled, handed out to celebrities? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last we checked, a GSM handset couldn’t exactly hop on those speedy EV-DO waves without some sort of dual personality. And so far as we know, Palm’s forthcoming GSM Pre is, well, GSM only. Whatever the case, Britons should be at least mildly excited to know that Palm’s UK website now features the webOS-sporting Pre, even though the image is definitely not of a GSM Pre. Of course, the important part here is that a GSM Pre is definitely on its way to the UK, and considering that we already spotted one with a Vodafone SIM, we’re hoping that it’ll happen sooner rather than later. Much sooner, actually.

[Via phoneArena]

Filed under: Cellphones

Pre emerges on Palm’s UK website… in a CDMA skin originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We sat down with Palm today and in addition to spotting that soft-touch cover we chatted them up on where things stand, how things are progressing, and various other clarifications about webOS and the Pre that have yet to be made. Palm’s staying pretty tight-lipped and under-the-radar at the show, despite bringing a Europe-friendly HSDPA handset to show off — they’re not making any big announcements along those lines until there’s a carrier firmed up, and not even clarifying what bands are supported. The build of webOS is exactly the same as what was at CES, and Palm still isn’t letting the device slip out of its firm grip for a bit of rogue hands-on time.

Palm did confirm that games are in development for webOS, and seems a little defensive at accusations that the OS can’t handle that stuff — Palm hasn’t changed its stance on app development, of course, there are no “native” apps allowed currently, but they seem more reticent to admit that web-style app development will limit gaming options. Perhaps they’re hoping Adobe’s Open Screen Project will save them some grief on this front, since Flash will be ready for webOS by the end of the year. Palm’s currently working with a small amount of developers in private beta, refining the SDK to their feedback and needs, and will slowly expand that as the phone approaches launch, but we don’t expect a full SDK to reach Joe the Coder until very close to before or after the launch. We asked about the potential for a soft keyboard, and they said that there’s no reason that developers couldn’t build their own — though we’re not sure how that would work. Out of the gate developers won’t have super deep access to the OS from what we understand — they wouldn’t be able to do something like Facebook’s level of OS-wide contacts integration, for instance — but Palm hopes to open those APIs up further down the line.

We get the impression that Palm feels version 1.0 of webOS is very feature complete, and that the most surprises we’ll get from here to launch will be mostly along the lines of 3rd party development and release details.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm confirms games are in development for Pre, drops a few other tidbits originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As you’re no doubt aware, we’re real suckers for Palm’s Pre on tape, and this “Meet Pre” specimen hasn’t yet assuaged our thirst. We suppose it’s the exact type of stuff demonstrated on the video that keeps us coming back: webOS presents some new paradigms for interaction and integration, and, like the iPhone before it, will take a considerable amount of digestion to really come to terms with. Plus it’s pretty. This video demonstrates a few interesting tidbits, such as a list of folks invited to a meeting and which ones will be going — a nice integration of calendar and contacts — and the phone is shown “sending” a webpage to a friend, which involves forwarding a link and an attached .png screenshot, perfect for mobile-to-mobile communications. Here’s hoping we hear more about the phone this week at MWC… and a 3G GSM edition certainly wouldn’t be unwelcome. Video is after the break.

Continue reading New “Meet Pre” video demonstrates new functionality, incredible calming effect

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

New “Meet Pre” video demonstrates new functionality, incredible calming effect originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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