Team,

This morning we announced preliminary results for our 2010 third quarter. Since the quarter has not yet closed, it is too soon to offer exact numbers, but we stated that we expect to report revenues for Q3 between $300 and $320 million. We also announced that we expect our revenue for this fiscal year to fall below the guidance we gave to Wall Street, which ranged from $1.6 to $1.8 billion. As we mentioned in our press release, our softer than expected performance is due to slower than expected customer adoption of our products, which in turn has prompted our U.S. carrier partners to put additional orders on hold for the time being. On a positive note, we expect to exit the quarter with over $500 million in cash on our balance sheet. We’re scheduled to announce our full financial results in March.

I realize this news is difficult to swallow. We made this announcement today to prevent a surprise for Wall Street when we announce quarterly earnings in March. In the meantime, the entire executive team has been working extremely hard to improve product performance, and have implemented a number of initiatives to increase awareness and drive sales.

Dave Whalen and I just returned from a very successful meeting with Verizon Wireless, where they acknowledged that their execution of our launch was below expectations and recommitted to working with us to improve sales. To accelerate sales, we initiated Project JumpStart nearly three weeks ago. Since then, nearly two hundred Palm Brand Ambassadors, supplemented by Palm employees from Sunnyvale, have been training Verizon sales reps across the U.S. on our products. Early results from the stores have already shown improvement on product knowledge and sales week over week. You may have also seen a growing number of Palm ads on billboards, bus shelters, buses, and subway stations—all getting the word out about Palm.

All of these efforts are examples of how we are working to accelerate adoption and grow distribution of webOS. In the next few weeks, your management will work with you to make sure your priorities are laser-focused, primarily on helping to increase sales, improve product quality and differentiate the Palm product experience.

Our goals are taking longer than expected to achieve, but I am still confident that our talented team has what it takes to get the job done.

We’ll schedule an all-hands meeting after our earnings announcement in March, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Go team!!!

jon

Palm has bet it all on the success of webOS and their Palm Pre and Pixi, recently adding Verizon and, hopefully soon, AT&T. Sales on both Sprint and Verizon networks has been disappointing and they will be competing with the likes of the iPhone on AT&T’s network, so hopefully they can pull a rabbit out of their hat and once again become a major player in an already crowded field of smartphones. Do you think Rubinstein’s email inspires confidence?

source: WSJ

source: Palm Infocenter

Although the apps in the App Catalog are designed for webOS devices, not all of the apps work for both Palm Pre and Pixi. Some of the apps are for the Pre only, but if you’re a Pixi owner, never fear — there are plenty of apps designed to work with both the Pre and the Pixi. Keep an eye on the app number in the top right corner of your App Catalog for the moment it passes 1,000. Good work, Palm — now let’s raise our glasses this New Year to thousands more apps!

source: mypre

Thanks to the folks over at Pre Central who asked this important question, we have a good idea about what will work and what won’t work. If Palm’s server crashes or there is some other interruption, the things that won’t work include: over-the-air backups and restoration, first-time setup, remote wipe, and app purchasing. Otherwise, you will be in good shape. You should have access to your phone data because it is stored locally on your webOS device. Email is also safe because you receive it to your handset via Exchange or IMAP Idle.

Next time your BlackBerry-toting buddy has email problems due to BlackBerry Internet Server (BIS) outages, try hard to suppress your smirk as you know that your webOS-powered Pre or Pixi will still deliver the goods even if Palm’s server can’t.

source: PreCentral

Although there are no new apps as of December 21, there are several app updates. The updated apps are: Air Hockey ($0.99), Bible Reader ASV ($2.99), Classifieds2Go (Free), Color Puzzle ($0.99), Crosswords ($9.99), EZ Sketch ($0.99), Mine Search ($0.99), MoreStocks ($2.99), Send My Location for webOS (Free), Soccer Shots ($1.99), Space Alarm (Free), Speed ($0.99), Swap & Drop ($1.99), The Surprise ($0.99), Tic Tac Toe ($0.99), Top Stocks ($4.99), WallRevolve ($1.49), WingedCurator (Free), and Yule Log ($1.43).

source: PreCentral

• Increase the limit for more app installation
• Improved battery life
• Increased speed for the Pixi
• Improved WiFi and app performance

Also, Mr. Rubinstein emphasized that Palm will showcase the Ares development platform at CES 2010 and that developers will receive more support and initiatives as “thousands” of webOS apps are expected soon. This is exciting news — particularly the “thousands” of apps part — that we hope will come to fruition sooner than later!

source: Pre Central

A CDMA Palm Pixi has been tested for 802.11b/g WiFi by the FCC and given Verizon’s gearing up for Palm webOS-based handsets for early next year, it’s likely a Pixi with WiFi capability will show up on Verizon. Are you headed to Sprint for a Pixi now, or are you willing to wait a little longer to see what shows up on Verizon?

source: engadget

source: precentral

It’s nice to see the Pixi get some good airtime on national television and hopefully those audience members will be able to appreciate how lucky they really are. Will a Palm Pixi show up in your stocking in time for Christmas?

source: mypre

It may not be very exciting stuff, but it’s nice to see Palm be on top of things by providing these updates on a regular basis. For all of you Pre owners out there, hopefully we will soon see the webOS 1.3.5 update very soon.

source: precentral