Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2009 > January > 08 > Entry
Palm: back from the dead?
It was only a month ago that I was mourning the potential loss of Palm, the company that started the PDA revolution (with apologies to Apple’s much-maligned Newton). More recently, Palm has lagged behind the iPhone, the BlackBerry and practically every other new smartphone released in the last six months. The aging Palm OS software was a 1990s relic covered in cobwebs.
Perhaps I spoke too soon. Based on what I’m reading on tech and gadget blogs today, Palm is emerging as the belle of the Consumer Electronics Show ball with Pre, a slick, sexy new Palm slider phone that carries a new Palm OS that addresses much of what was decrepit about the last version.
You can bet it’ll be priced under $200 (plus the obligatory two-year contract) if it wants to compete with BlackBerry, the iPhone and T-Mobile G1 phones.
Most intriguingly, Palm is promising a charger that will re-energize the phone by placing it on a pedestal, no plugging-in necessary. If that works as promised, it’ll be the first mass-market phone to incorporate this kind of technology.
If it works, it’s a neat trick. That’s good because Palm is going to need something nearly magical to make a comeback at this late stage. So far, Pre might be that miracle.
News story from New York Times.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Gadgets, Internet, Phones
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By Chip
January 8, 2009 8:50 PM | Link to this
It has electric toothbrush charging technology. Awesome!