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

Business Week is reporting that Verizon will start offering the webOS powered duo of the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi sometime this month. A BW source says that Big Red will introduce the models at this week’s CES in Las Vegas. Both models will have additional memory when compared to the current version of the devices, which have been available exclusively in the U.S. at Sprint since the launch of both phones.

For Palm, this is the second chance for the Pre to take off. When originally introduced last year, it was immediately considered the equal of the iPhone and hopes were high for big sales of the device. But the reality never caught up with the expectations and the Pre languished after being launched in June. Maribel Lopez, founder of Lopez Research LLC, a San Francisco-based consulting and research firm, says Palm has “to prove that this platform has legs and they can do something with it.” According to BW’s source, Big Red will determine the pricing for the phones this week. At Verizon, the Pre and Pixi will have to compete with the current flagship model, the Motorola DROID and the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm2. the carrier has been heavily marketing the Android based Motorola phone while practically ignoring the Storm sequel. The Business Week story also says that AT&T might start selling Palm’s phones in the first half of the year. This would mean that Palm would have to start producing GSM models of the webOS handsets for the American market.
source: BusinessWeek

Visit the download page for Adobe Flash from an iPhone and Adobe tells you in no uncertain terms whose fault it is that the software will not play on your device. “Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch,” says the writing in the box.

Now we take a look at what it says when you try to get Flash from a device using webOS. “Adobe Flash Player is coming to Palm’s webOS in the first half of 2010.” This is certainly exciting news for Pre owners and might actually be enough to sway those sitting on the fence to land on the side of the fence belonging to Palm’s handset. Besides the Pre, there is also talk that the recently launched Motorola DROID will be getting Flash 10 support in the first half of next year. This looks to leave Apple out in the cold unless they start playing nice with Adobe. Remember Apple, pride comes before a fall.

For the time being, Palm’s latest webOS update, 1.2.1, weighing in at 38MB, addresses issues with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, adds photo albums to Media Sync, and continues the cat-and-mouse game with Apple by repairing the broken iTunes sync. Maybe Apple will quickly push out an incremental update that breaks the sync again? We hope not, but until that day comes, enjoy the restored iTunes sync-ability.

Following are the rest of the official updates:

New applications
NONE

Feature changes to existing applications
Email

Resolved an issue where after installing the 1.2.0 webOS update some customers running Exchange 2007 could no longer synchronize with their Exchange account for Email, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks.

System

Resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (9.0.1).
Media sync now synchronizes photo albums, maintaining the album structure in the Photos app.
Media sync now allows for synchronizing photos without requiring the full-resolution originals. This provides faster display of high-quality full-screen images and enables users to store more photos on the phone.

Web

Resolved an issue where if a user tried to play streaming music or video, the media stream might drop out or have a long delay before starting.

Security

This release implements several security fixes, including the following:
Addresses a security issue encountered by webkit developers. This issue did not impact end users.

Individuals interested in contacting Palm to report suspected security issues can find more information at palm.com/security.

source: mypre.com

There is a bit of a history between Palm and Apple and the Palm Pre’s use of iTunes for syncing media. Palm has been manipulating the hardware Vendor ID so that iTunes has recognized the Pre as an iPod, and iTunes responds by closing the loophole with each subsequent iTunes update. Then, Palm circumvents Apple’s update and the cat-and-mouse game continues. Recently, Palm approached the USB Implementers Forum to seek support in preventing Apple from restricting use of iTunes. Instead of garnering support, the USB-IF Forum is riled up. They don’t see that Apple is in violation of their rules and regulations by blocking Palm’s use of iTunes, and they are upset by Palm’s position that they will use Apple’s Vendor ID to access iTunes – they view this as a violation and expect Palm to respond with their intent within a week.

Where does Palm go from here? We should find out soon. Although use of iTunes is convenient, Palm may consider devising their own syncing method so they no longer stir up the Apple and USB-IF hornets nest.

source: engadget mobile

As expected, Apple has released an update for iTunes, which seems to put an end to the happy syncing time Pre users had. So, if you would rather keep iTunes syncing, then you should avoid updating it to version 8.2.1, which brings “important bug fixes” and “addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices”. However, it looks like plugging the Pre in actually brings iTunes 8.2.1 up, but then Palm’s smartphone does not appear in the sidebar.

Until the developers have figured out a way to override the fix, you can go for an alternative way to sync your content; for example, by using doubleTwist. You can find more information about it here. Mac users also have their alternative – The Missing Sync app, more about it here.

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You’ve recently bought a Pre and enjoy its syncing capabilities with iTunes? Well, there might be some bad news for you. Apple has posted a note on its site saying that iTunes syncing support will not be provided for “non-Apple digital media players”. Here is an excerpt from the official text:

“Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players.”

So, what this means in short is that Palm Pre users might soon be unable to sync their smartphone with iTunes. It would be interesting to see if Palm’s current CEO (and former senior vice president of the iPOD division) will have an answer for that.

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The New York Times weighed in on the new national pastime of guessing the release date of the Palm Pre. In an article published on Monday, the Times wrote about the upcoming summer season of blockbuster smartphone releases and said that people who have been briefed on Sprint’s plans have been told by the carrier to expect the launch of Palm’s handset to take place during the first week in June. That timing would fit in perfectly with our previous report of a LAUNCH LUNCH being held by the manufacturer on June 5th at noon. A release during that time frame would also allow Palm to trump any iPhone announcement that Apple might have at its WWDC that kicks off June 8th at 10 am with a keynote speech by Apple Executive Philip Schiller. For the Times, it is all the Palm Pre news that is fit to print.

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