Well, now we know why Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said he expects to have “devices like the Pre” on his network by next year: The carrier doesn’t plan to offer the Pre at all–according to unnamed sources cited by TheStreet.com, anyway.
What Palm lacks in market share, it more than makes up for in mindshare. In fact, according to a new study from research outfit Interpret, Palm’s new Pre handset is second only to the iPhone in that metric, despite its disadvantages in the marketplace.
Though its shares are up more than 900 percent since January, Palm remains a “show me” story. So says Susquehanna Financial analyst Jeffrey Fidicaro, who seems to think the Street is putting a bit too much faith in the company’s next-generation platform, webOS, and the devices that run on it.
Palm this morning put a price on its public offering of 20 million common shares: $16.25 a piece. That’s nearly five percent less than Tuesday’s closing price of $17.07, but enough to generate about $313.1 million.
The USB Implementers Forum, the industry group that oversees the universal serial bus standard, has finally responded to Palm’s claim that Apple is “hampering competition” by locking the Palm Pre out of iTunes, and it’s not looking good for Palm. In a letter submitted to Apple and Palm today, the group dismissed Palm’s claim that Apple has violated its USB-IF Membership Agreement. It also took issue with Palm’s alleged use of Apple’s vendor identification number, which it says violates USB-IF policy.
David Johnson, the mergers-and-acquisitions specialist Dell hired away from IBM earlier this year, has clearly been busy these past few months. This morning, the PC maker announced plans to buy information technology services outfit Perot Systems for about $3.9 billion.
Geekfighting may never become its own UFC event, but following tech news this week seemed, in places, like a view to a big, well-funded cage match.
Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein likes to say smart-phone makers “don’t have to beat each other to prosper,” but it’s beginning to look like they–or, rather, Palm–might have to. Because while the Pre may have put Palm back in the game, it’s not clear how long it can keep it there.
The “mid-autumn launch” of Palm’s App Catalog e-commerce beta program now has a firm “Go Live” date: Sept. 24. According to a new company timeline, webOS developers who’ve had their applications accepted for the App Catalog will see them featured there on that day.
Perhaps Palm really does have the “special sauce” needed to attain smart phone leadership, as RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky recently claimed. Reporting first-quarter results this afternoon, the company posted a narrower-than-expected loss, said it shipped 823,000 smart phones during the quarter and announced plans for a common stock offering of 16 million shares.
Lots of jawing yesterday over reports that Palm is paying developers to bring their mobile apps to the webOS platform. An interesting claim–were it true. But according to multiple sources, it’s not.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
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