palm

HP buying Palm for $1.2 billion

Palm, the company that invented the PDA but has struggled to stay relevant in recent years, will be acquired by computing giant Hewlett-Packard.

Palm's history The company, which took the handheld computer into the mainstream, has traveled a bumpy road. Date Event November 1998 Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky leave Palm to start Handspring February 1999 Palm introduces the slimmer Palm V November 2001 Palm announces plans to split into two public companies June 2003 Palm buys Handspring Sept. 2005 Palm introduces its first Windows-based Treo June 2007 Palm introduces the ill-fated Foleo June 2007 Palm announces it is … Read more

The 404 566: Where Jeff gets number 9 (podcast)

The subject of Jeff's bad cell phone luck has come up several times on The 404 Podcast already, but we're coming back to it once again because he just received his NINTH Palm Pre from the good folks at Sprint, who are now offering a "trade nine, get one free frozen yogurt" stamp card in his honor.

We'd love to promise that this will be his last, but judging from the laundry list of parts that broke on the other eight units, it's not looking good. The best we can hope for is that number nine won't spontaneously combust before Jeff can cash in for a HTC Evo 4G...that is, unless Lenovo announces a ThinkPalm phone first.

Big thanks to Cheryl, aka The Official 404 Grandmother, for recommending this inspiring story about a 99-year-old woman in Oregon who's rediscovered the joys of reading and writing poetry thanks to the zoom feature on her brand new Apple iPad. We've been vocalizing our frustration at the technological ineptitude of our elders for the past two weeks now, so it's about time someone sets it straight!

Virginia Campbell was born in 1910 and a tough fight with glaucoma recently left her struggling to read fine print until her family bought her an iPad. As a result, pinch-to-zoom is her new best friend, even inspiring her to write a short poem that we're proud to read over the air. Campbell had this to say to a reporter: "You're never too old to take advantage of something that will help you." +3!

We've also got a semi-SFW story about a kind-hearted film star that saved a man from a 20-year prison sentence in Puerto Rico, but you'll have to download today's episode to get the full story, because we want to address complaints about the iTunes feed.

We do our best to put the show on iTunes as soon as possible, but if you can't wait to hear an episode, you can always visit this blog and click the "play" button down below to hear the audio podcast. Or, if you're especially Web savvy, you can right click on "download," copy the URL and edit the numbers to the current date. Thanks for being patient with us, and have a great weekend everyone!

EPISODE 566 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1213: No iPad for you! (podcast)

Is this the ultimate early adopter penalty? If you buy more than two iPads to send to your friends overseas or give to your family, you risk a lifetime ban on future purchases? That just can't be right. Also not right: the sweet little child who calls tell us how to get porn on the iPhone. Just upsetting. Plus: Palm deathwatch and Facebook's privacy untangled (er, sort of).

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1213

Lenovo interested in buying Palm http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE63M04J20100423 http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=33519… Read more

Don't bet on Lenovo saving Palm

Lenovo has reportedly emerged as the leading candidate to buy Palm after HTC bowed out, but would the Chinese PC maker really pull the trigger? Logic dictates that Lenovo is an unlikely savior.

Reuters is reporting that Lenovo is in the running for Palm, which is up for sale as it tries to avoid a death spiral. Lenovo emerged as a likely buyer after HTC bowed out of the running. Reuters cites investment bankers who say Lenovo "is looking into" buying Palm. Lenovo would allegedly pay $1.3 billion or so for it.

But here's the problem: … Read more

Are cell phone chargers juicing you?

Recently, AT&T announced an eco-friendly cell phone charger called the AT&T Zero Charger.

The allure of this device is it automatically shuts down when not in use, offering what AT&T claims is "zero vampire draw" from the wall outlet. Vampire draw is a term for the power that devices draw out of outlets they are plugged into while they are turned off. AT&T's charger will be USB-compatible, making it practical for many of the phones on the market today.

Sure, a zero-draw charger sounds helpful. With that said, we … Read more

Cracking Palm's WebOS via text message

Palm's WebOS, the software on which the company's Pre smartphone is based, is "riddled" with dangerous security flaws, according to security researchers who said they were able to crack the operating system via text message.

A probe of WebOS uncovered a number of easy-to-find bugs, giving the impression that Palm had put minimal effort into security, researchers from Intrepidus Group said in an advisory published Friday.

The firm also published a video demonstrating a Palm Pre being cracked via text message.

Read more of "Researchers crack Palm's WebOS via text message" at ZDNet … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1210: Hug a n00b (podcast)

Ubisoft is doing away with paper manuals, which means gaming n00bs will be forever stuck in virtual corners trying to figure out the right button combination for re-load. Also, Apple wants its secret iPhone back and Molly just wants you to know that next time you find a top-secret prototype in a bar, you should call her instead of Gizmodo. Oh, and if you want porn, buy an Android phone, says Steve Jobs. Good day for Android.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1210

A Letter: Apple Wants Its … Read more

Key Palm exec leaves amid reports of pending sale

Palm implemented an executive-retention plan Friday as a key leader decided to move on amid reports that the company is up for sale.

Engadget spotted a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday notifying investors that Michael Abbott, senior vice president of software and a key representative before developers, is leaving the company. In a separate but definitely related statement, Palm said it has given senior executives incentives to remain with the company for two years, including $250,000 in cash for its chief financial officer and senior vice president of global operations.

It's looking more … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Ep. 1204: Is the Kin Spot for real? (podcast)

We're encouraged by several things about Microsoft's messaging phones, but the name isn't one of them. Especially naming a button on it the Kin Spot. But we did figure out what they're up to. We think. Also it's a bad day for developers as Apple and Adobe's fight somehow ends up with Adobe's CTO talking about swinign chickens, and Twitter angers its devloper crowd by acquiring Tweetie. At least the US is changing it's tune on ACTA... oh wait, no it's just getting worse on that too. We hate Mondays.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) … Read more

Report: Palm putting itself up for sale

Palm is putting itself on the block and starting its search for bidders as early as this week, according to Bloomberg.

Who is on the short list of potential buyers? It's not Google, but close enough: HTC. That makes sense because buying Palm could save HTC in Apple's patent infringement lawsuit. How? HTC may find in Palm the patent portfolio and thus the leverage it would need to settle the suit.

Bloomberg said that Lenovo may want to buy Palm too. However, the most interesting bidder by far is HTC.

Apart from Apple and Google, Palm--which currently has … Read more