Personal communications

Answers to burning Palm Pre questions

Updated 6:20 p.m. PT, to note that the Pre does have the technical ability to act as a modem for a laptop.

LAS VEGAS--As the device with the most mystery attached to it, there were plenty of questions left after Palm introduced its Pre on Thursday. I had a chance to sit down with Palm vice president Stephane Maes to get some (but not all) of the answers to my burning questions.

Palm isn't answering the big question--how much will it cost--but Maes did say "we obviously know what all the prices are of the products … Read more

Palm calls it a comeback with the Palm Pre

Palm took one giant step toward regaining its position as a relevant mobile computing company with the introduction of the Palm Pre on Thursday.

If you missed out on Ina Fried's live coverage of Palm's press conference in Las Vegas at CES, here are a few basic details about the Pre (rhymes with glee). It's a touch-screen phone with a slide-out keyboard than runs WebOS, Palm's long-awaited new operating system formerly code-named Nova.

Sprint will be the exclusive launch carrier for the Pre, which comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a 3.1-inch display, GPS, and 8GBs of … Read more

Live blog: Palm keynote at CES

LAS VEGAS--We're live at the Venetian Ballroom, moments away from the unveiling of the long-awaited new phone platform from Palm.

10:54 a.m. PST: The consensus sentiment here is that Palm needs a home run if it is to compete with the likes of Apple and RIM.

10:55 a.m.: In very un-Palm-like fashion, the company has managed to keep a tight lid on the details of what it has in store, making this one of the most dramatic moments of the show.

11:00 a.m.: It's a swank room with a video playing on a giant video wall amid dim lights. Chairs are mixed in with wood end tables stocked with Smartwater and another fruity water called Function.

11:02 a.m.: Speech starting. Ex-Appler Jon Rubinstein, Palm's executive chairman, takes the stage. "Some of you are wondering what I am doing here at Palm."

11:03 a.m.: He notes that he moved to Mexico after leaving Apple. One day, he got a call from Elevation Partners' Roger McNamee and Fred Anderson (ex-Apple CEO).

"I was a pretty busy guy in Mexico," he said, showing a picture of himself in a hammock.

11:04 a.m.: He said that Ed Colligan (Palm's CEO) made a compelling pitch to help restore innovation at Palm.

11:05 a.m.: Rubinstein intros Ed Colligan.

11:07 a.m.: Colligan notes the company is looking forward. When Palm launched the original Pilot, it wasn't trying to compete with the Newton. "We thought about competing with pen and paper"

"Mobile is in our DNA," Colligan said. "We don't do computers...We don't do refrigerators."

11:08 a.m.: Colligan teases the new stuff, but takes us down Memory Lane. Talking about original Pilot.

11:11 a.m.: Talks about the Treo and how it helped stave off an era where everyone was carrying too many devices. But there's a new problem, he said. That's that information is all over the place: work systems, Gmail, Facebook, etc.

11:12 a.m.: Wouldn't it be nice if your contacts in Outlook showed up with the photos you have of them that are on Facebook? That's what we want to do, he said.

11:13 a.m.: "There are capabilities of it that can't be done on the desktop."

It's called the Palm WebOS.… Read more

Skype Lite landing on Android phone, others too

Skype announced on Thursday the forthcoming release of Skype Lite for Google Android and other Java-enabled phones. Skype Lite marks the communication company's first native VoIP client for Java.

Skype is submitting the app to Google's Android Market on Thursday morning, though it could take Google a few days to offer it for download.

In addition, Skype Lite will also be available on Thursday to about 100 models of Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, LG, and Samsung phones. The app has been available in beta form for a growing number of handsets on Skype.com, and isn't expected … Read more

Report: Microsoft beats out Yahoo, Google on Verizon deal

Microsoft is preparing to announce Wednesday it has been selected as the search provider for Verizon mobile phones, beating out archrival Google and Yahoo, according to a Reuters report.

Yahoo shares spiked during mid-day trading as news surfaced that Verizon had chosen a mobile search provider, but then fell back to earth after the Microsoft disclosure.

There has been much speculation over the past year about who would sign the coveted search deal with Verizon, which is expected to overtake AT&T as the No. 1 U.S. carrier after Verizon closes on its purchase of Alltel, Reuters said. … Read more

Fring spiffs up VoIP app for Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile may be an ugly stepchild of mobile platforms, but among more ambitious publishers, it hasn't been forgotten.

Months after adding file transferring abilities to its Symbian version, Fring, a free VoIP communication company, is conferring this and other features to an updated versions of Fring for Windows Mobile.

In addition to sending images, audio, and video files to friends on Skype, SIP, Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, and ICQ, the latest version of Fring for Windows Mobile also packs on support for add-ons, an indicator message as contacts type out an IM response, and long-overdue … Read more

Truphone adds Skype, Twitter to iPhone client

The Internet telephony company Truphone has turned its client for the iPhone and iPod Touch (download) into an aggregator for a range of popular VoIP and instant-messaging applications.

Truphone announced the new functionality on Tuesday at the Macworld 2009 expo in San Francisco. Starting next Monday, all Truphone subscribers using one of Apple's handhelds will be able to use the free client for Skype, Twitter, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger two-way communications.

Truphone's users have already been able to use Google Talk voice chat functionality, but they will now be able to make calls to their … Read more

Surfing with the Motorola A3100

Motorola got a jump start on CES when it announced its new crop of phones two days before the show opens. The most high-end of the bunch is the new Surf A3100 smartphone, which offers an expansive touch screen and support for Windows Mobile 6.1. Starting Thursday in Las Vegas, it will join the Earth-friendly Renew W233 and the rugged Tundra VA76r at Moto's booth on the show floor.

Sporting a sleek, attractive design with rounded edges and chrome detailing, the Surf offers three ways for users to interact with it. They can use a stylus, a trackball, … Read more

Forrester study: Got game? Not in a recession

Internet and mobile services are expected to score against handheld video game players and satellite radio amid an economic recession, according to results from a Forrester Research survey released Monday.

According to the results, 51 percent of North America consumers surveyed said they planned to curtail technology spending in the coming year, due to the economy. And areas expected to take the greatest hit include handheld video game players, followed by satellite radio, smart phones, video game consoles, and portable GPS devices.

The report noted:

While no device is immune from consumer spending cuts, new devices such as satellite radios … Read more