Jon Rubinstein of Palm made an announcement in their financial results conference call: no more Windows Mobile devices. In a gutsy move that shows Palm’s commitment to their webOS platform, Rubinstein said:

“Due to importance of webOS to our overall strategy, we’ve made the decision to dedicate all future develoment resources to the evolution of webOS. Which means that going forward, our roadmap will include only Palm webOS-based devices.”

For fans of the Windows Mobile Treo, this is a sad day due to Palm’s “special sauce” that made Windows Mobile bearable, but as Microsoft’s mobile platform falls further behind other leaders – like Apple’s iPhone, Android, and webOS – it makes sense for Palm to focus on webOS.

Good move, Palm. Many thanks for giving us the Treo over these past few years, and we love your focus on webOS and look forward to years of Palm magic to come.

source: PreCentral

While those over in Europe await the arrival of the GSM version of the Palm Pre (rumored to arrive October 30th), UK-based mobile phone specialist Handtec and London-based online store m-Phone are both offering a SIM-free version of the Pre for pre-order. Handtec is asking £517.49 and e-tailer m-Phone wants £450. A Palm Pre under contract with O2 (when available) will likely be much less than these prices, but if you can’t bear to wait or are not an O2 customer and don’t plan to be, then take a look at Handtec and m-Phone and pre-order your Pre!

source: mypre

It’s a common practice for a smartphone company to pay for 3rd party bundled apps and licensing apps for their devices, but usually developers will flock to a popular platform to make apps for it. In an interview with the founders of CitySourced, a new mobile app, TechCrunch interviewer Sarah Lacy learns that developers are being paid by Palm to bring webOS version of their apps to market. Is this a way for Palm to boost sales by bringing popular apps to their webOS platform, or are they showing a hint of desperation because popular app developers are not confident enough in sales to invest in developing their apps for webOS? What do you think? Take a look at the video to see for yourself:

source: Palm Infocenter

The latest to be churned out by the rumor mill concerns the new App Catalog for the Palm Pre (and soon, the Pixi). According to a tip to PreCentral from an anonymous source, the new App Catalog will be unveiled on September 24th. The significance of the new App Catalog is that users can set up an account with Palm and buy apps directly. No longer will Sprint (or any other carriers) have their mitts in the App Catalog, and we think that’s a good thing. Instead, Palm and the app developers will have control and the app buying experience should be better for all. The 24th isn’t far away so stay tuned.

source: palm webOS

Sprint and the popular television show “Heroes” have a cozy relationship – Sprint phones have appeared on the show before and now it looks like the Palm Pre will possibly have a guest-starring role. The new season cranks up on September 21st with a two-hour debut special, with NBC’s site displaying the name ORIENTATION / JUMP, PUSH, FALL. We’re unsure about how much screen-time the Pre will get (if any), but it sure looks like it will have a role. Tune in on the 21st and let us know if you see the Pre!

source: mypre.com

Now that Palm has announced the impending release of the Pixi, a webOS-based handset and little brother to the Pre, it’s time to look under the hood and see how it measures up to big brother. The Pixi uses the Qualcomm MSM7626 chipset for it’s processing power, which should give the Pixi better browsing capabilities and smoother 3D gaming experience with support for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. Following are the Qualcomm MSM7626 specs:

• Two ARM cores integrated into a single chip – a dedicated CPU core and a dedicated modern processor – for an unparalleled level of integration:

1. 600MHz applications processor with floating point unit and L2 cache

2. 400 MHz modern processor

• Supports both CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A and UMTS HSDPA 7.2 Mbps/HSUPA 5.76Mbps, and GSM.
• In addition to the two ARM cores, features 320MHz application DSP for multimedia supporting full 30 fps WVGA encode/decode, 200MHz hardware-accelerated 3D graphics core supporting OPEN GL 2.0, high-resolution camera, integrated GPS
• 12mm x 12mm footprint
• Optimized power consumption

From the above, the Pixi looks to be a very capable smartphone and will be a nice addition to the Palm webOS lineup.

source: palm webOS

Every time the App Catalog adds new apps for the webOS-based Palm Pre, it’s like Christmas all over again. Let’s face it – apps make a smartphone like the Pre worth having. Apps are the lifeblood of productivity and entertainment. So without further ado, here’s the list of the latest additions:

• gDial Pro (full-fledged Google Voice application)
• Simple Bible
• Currency Converter
• Checkers
• Forbes
• Local Concerts
• Lights Out
• Video Poker
• 4:20 Wallpaper
• AccuRadio

Head over to the App Catalog on your Pre and load up. Downloading new apps is one of the reasons you bought the Pre in the first place, right?

source: precentral

Can’t we all just get along? Not if you’re Apple and Palm. Apple just released iTunes 9 and now the Palm Pre sync is broken. Busted. Kaput.

This cat-and-mouse game started with Palm’s release of the Pre and the tenuous ability to sync with iTunes. The next iTunes update broke the sync, then Palm released a Pre update that fixed it. Now, it’s broken again. If you are a Pre owner and want the ability to keep syncing, then your options are as follows: get a third-party syncing app like DoubleTwist, Salling Media Sync or Missing Sync; or wait for Palm to release another update that, hopefully, fixes the problem. It would sure be nice if Apple would just recognize that Palm Pre owners syncing with iTunes is a GOOD thing and equals more media sales.

source: phoneArena via precentral

If the Pre’s slider has been a point of hesitation for you to make the jump to webOS, the Pre now has a little brother (or sister?) – the Pixi. Formerly known as the Palm Eos, the Pixi is officially headed to Sprint and is a little smaller than the Pre, has a 2.63″ touchscreen, and a full QWERTY keyboard on it’s face. Here’s the skinny on the Pixi:

• Dual-band CDMA and EV-DO Rev A
• 8GB of internal memory
• 3.5mm headset jack
• 2 megapixel camera with flash
• email/IM support
• GPS

Unfortunately, the Pixi will lack Wi-Fi, but it WILL support wireless charging with Palm’s Touchstone charging dock. The Pixi seems like a webOS version of the old Palm OS Centro, but with an improved feature set and better keyboard. By all appearances, is it elegant or ugly? Will the Palm Pixi be the one for you?

source: phoneArena via Palm and BGR

The second webOS device has been introduced by Palm. The device that we were calling the Eos is now the Pixi and is heading for Sprint with a 2.63 inch screen and a QWERTY keyboard on the face of the device. Sporting dual band CDMA and Ev-Do rev.A, the Pixi will not have a Wi-Fi radio. It will have a 3.5mm audio jack, 2MP camera with flash, GPS and 8GB of internal memory. The HTML browser will render desktop style web sites and the App Catalog will be available for downloading applications OTA. Wireless charging will be an option with the Touchstone charger. Launch date and pricing were not revealed, but at the source link you can add your email address to be notified when the Pixi is available.

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