Verizon has been known to offer some of the industry’s best BOGO offers in the past, but there  might be an even sweeter promotion that’s going to be on the horizon. BGR is reporting that the latest Buy One, Get One Free promotion that Big Red is speculated to start running today, February 16, will feature some of their best devices to date. So if you held out long enough and plan on buying a Motorola DROID, HTC DROID Eris, Palm Pre Plus, or a Palm Pixi Plus, you’ll be eligible to get a second phone of equal or lesser value for free. If you want to venture from something aside an Android or webOS handset for the free phone, you can simply check out something like a Windows Mobile or feature phone. Finally, like all their previous BOGO offers, they will require you to sign a two year contract and tack on any required data plans. Still, you really can’t beat the savings you’ll get by this sweet promotion they’re offering.
source: BGR

After hearing about some disappointing sales news from an analyst about Verizon Palm Pre and Pixi units, one would think that it could have an ominous repercussion with the future of Palm. Add in the news regarding a potential takeover bid that could see the smartphone maker on the fence; it leaves very little to be optimistic about their future. The latest round of news is somewhat of a departure and is a bit soothing after all the commotion it was able to stir up. Research firm OTR Global really had people wondering about the future after a report claimed that Palm ordered all Pre and Pixi production were to cease – potentially jump starting the end for Palm. Fortunately though, someone jumped the gun and didn’t pay close attention to the calendar or verified with Palm. The team over at Engadget was able to clear things up a lot amidst an aura of confusion about the report – it seems like Palm ordered the halt for the Chinese New Year that’s happening on the 14th; with production to go live again at the end of the month. Although Verizon Palm sales may not be where it should when compared to Sprint’s launch, Palm is ramping up production early in the year to cover the downtime that’s expected to happen – the availability of handsets won’t be affected.
source: Engadget

It was about a month ago when news about webOS 1.4 started surfacing and brought some delight to owners – it pointed to a possibility of seeing Flash support on the platform. Although Flash may be on hold for webOS 1.4, the latest update may be expected to launch on February 15 – based on an email that was posted by a PreCentral forum member. Both Palm Pre and Pixi owners can look forward to seeing video capture, assorted calendar enhancements, improved phonebook transfers, and messaging enhancements in this latest update. The biggest feature owners are probably looking forward to is the ability to record video of course – something that most people agreed should have been offered since its launch. Nonetheless it’s finally here and should be expected as long as the rumors hold true and could potentially be moved up depending on the carrier.
source: PreCentral

With commercials up and running for Palm’s handsets for Verizon, it looks like it hasn’t been able to spur up some impressive sales so far. Launching the phones on the nation’s number one wireless provider would’ve brought sales up to the positive, but according to Piper Jaffray analyst T. Michael Walkley, he is “slightly disappointed” with the outcome of the movement. On the flip side though, he contends that a more aggressive media campaign from Big Red and Palm should stir up some demand for the handsets. Just watching the commercials so far, one can gather that Palm’s devices are only targeting a specific demographic as opposed to attacking a mix of categories. Walkley states that the company is on track to meet his forecast goal of 1 million webOS phones in the February quarter. In order to hit his 1.5 million unit goal for the May quarter, Walkley says it will require “ramping sell-through trends at Verizon.” Maybe we’ll start seeing a different side to future commercials which will hopefully make it attractive enough to get consumers to start jumping aboard the webOS train.
via Barron’s

Palm’s very own web browser for webOS is by no means a small time player in the world of mobile web browsing. It’s pretty in-depth with its easy to juggle set of cards for each link you open; plus it has support for multi-touch as well. So do you really think webOS owners may see an outside source being added on to the already versatile browser? Actually, Mozilla Labs has announced that they’re in with webOS as they work on a Weave Sync client for the platform. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Weave Sync is Mozilla’s way of syncing bookmarks, passwords, history, and even open tabs from Mozilla Firefox on your desktop to you webOS handset. Right now it looks like it’s just a test to see if the client can work properly – in reality it is just a viewer for your data; as opposed to having the ability to make edits. Although there is very little hope in seeing a mobile Firefox version for webOS because the platform is pretty much locked down, there is a placeholder inside the launcher for “Default Applications” to someday set an alternate browser as the primary one. Still, the integration of Weave Sync points to a possibility that may happen someday.
source: Mozilla Labs via PreCentral

It was only days ago when we started seeing a Gameboy emulator for WebOS powered devices, but now its bigger brother steps up to the plate packing some of Nintendo’s most popular games. NesEm is a Nintendo NES emulator for WebOS and was ported over by Kalemsoft – it’s capable of playing over 300 original NES games. Additionally it supports four channel sound, game saving, automatic speed adjustment, key config control, and anti-aliased image smoothing. Although it is already available in demo form through PreWare or Kalemsoft’s web site, it is closed source and will run $9.99 for a license. The only limitation to the demo is that it restricts you to only run ROMS that are under 40k and also has a time limit – so if that isn’t your kind of thing, we’d suggest getting a license to relive those nostalgic games. Now you’ll be able to play some old school games you’ve probably forgot about all in the palm of your hands.
source: Kalemsoft via Palm Info Center

After seeing a brief appearance during CES, Slacker Radio is hitting up the airwaves on WebOS handsets – it even managed to sneak its way onto the latest Verizon Palm Pre Plus commercials. It’s finally being made available for download in the App Catalog – providing the platform a much needed name to its growing lineup of apps. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Slacker is an online radio station player that enables music lovers to find content that suits them best. There’s even the option to upgrade to Slacker plus, with a monthly fee of course, that can get you additional bonus features like creating lists out of specific song, lyrics, and ad-free listening. So maybe instead of relying on using up the precious storage space on your handset, you can always switch on to Slacker Radio and enjoy all your favorite music – plus we’re confident there’s a good mixing of artists and genres that’ll fit to your liking.
via PreCentral

When Verizon and Google marketed the Motorola DROID, they employed an “in-your face” style aimed at the cellphone loving, i-Phone comparing, Android lusting techie. The ads were about things that the DROID Does which for the most part were things that cellphone fans would be excited about. Now comes the Palm Pre Plus and Verizon and Palm take a different tack. The webOS device is softer, rounded, not a square piece of tech heaven. So the Pre Plus ads target the phone to…Mom. No, the tag line is not, “So easy even a Mom can do it” but it could have been. The actual line is “The 3G Smartphone smart enough for Mom”. So it looks like the carrier wants to push the feminine side of the Pre Plus, figuring that the men would go for the DROID.

Check out two spots in the videos below. One is a Valentine’s Day ad and the other is, well, you have to see it for yourself. We just wonder if the spots sort of emasculate the men out there using the Pre Plus.
source: precentral

Just about a week before Steve Jobs held up the iPad in San Francisco, the word was that Verizon was going to be the iPad’s carrier and that this time, Big Red would not make the mistake of showing Steve Jobs the door. So many thought that it was Verizon’s time in the sun, that when Jobs announced that AT&T was to be the iPad’s initial 3G carrier, the oxygen level in the room decreased by 50%. Now nearly a week after the tablet’s announcement, there is word that perhaps Verizon isn’t totally done. According to Silicon Alley Insider, Fox News reporter Clayton Morris has a source inside Verizon who tells him that a CDMA version of the tablet is still in the works, and would be a new hardware version. Two Wall Street analysts, Brian Marshall of Broadpoint AmTech and Ashkok Kumar of Northeast Securities both believe that a Verizon branded iPad is on the way. Marshall says, “Based on some of my datapoints, I still think VZ will happen in the near-term on the iPad and in 2H10 on the iPhone.” On the other hand, both incorrectly predicted that Big Red would be named as a carrier at the event last week. And yes, Verizon could end up watching Apple and AT&T ring up accounts from the sidelines. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during his company’s post earnings conference call that multi-carrier solutions are not the best option for every country. So we are back to the same rumors and guesses that mark Apple’s lack of a relationship with Verizon. Apple’s relationship with AT&T meanwhile, has obviously been repaired. But WILL Verizon get the iPad?
source: SiliconAlleyInsider via AppleInsider

Who says that being an app developer for the webOS platform doesn’t pay well in the long run? Well there is good news for those same developers that have stayed put because Palm’s Hot Apps programs has just started – with $1 million waiting to be grabbed up for the taking. Palm’s Hot Apps Programs rewards the most downloaded free webOS apps and paid webOS apps generating the most revenue. This is going to start today and will go through until May 31, 2010 – where cash prizes will be awarded to the developers that earn it. That’s a lot of money going into the pockets of these successful developers and broken down to the following:

• #1 most downloaded free app: $100,000
• #1 highest revenue paid app: $100,000
• #2 – #21 most downloaded paid apps: $10,000 each
• #2 – #21 most downloaded free apps: $10,000 each
• #22 – #221 most downloaded paid apps: $1,000 each
• #22 – #221 most downloaded free apps: $1,000 each

source: Palm via PreCentral