OtterBox's Palm Pre case is actually two cases in one.
(Credit: OtterBox)If you're a Palm Pre owner looking for some serious protection for your smartphone, you're in luck: OtterBox has announced its Tandem Series, a new case line designed for slider phones with the first model offering "flagship protection" for the Pre.
Building a case for a slider like the Pre is tricky. According to OtterBox, the Tandem Series provides two custom fit polycarbonate shells with overmolding and an adhesive screen to shield against scratches.
"Overmolding is an injection molding process that combines two materials into one interconnected component," says Curt Richardson, OtterBox's CEO. "The Tandem Series is created by molding polycarbonate and silicone together."
If you wondering how it all comes together, it goes something like this, according to OtterBox:
- The first shell attaches to the front of the smartphone and the second shell attaches to the back.
- Silicone around the outside edges of the case offers protection against bumps and the polycarbonate shells offer stability to withstand
(Credit:
Palm)
LAS VEGAS--After introducing the showstopper at last year's show, Palm is back again making new device announcements at CES 2010, including revamped versions of the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi. Read along with CNET's live blog for the full scoop.
10:54 a.m. Seated and waiting for the press conference to start. Not as big or packed as last year's event. Just got a 5-minute warning.
11:00 a.m. Palm Chairman Jon Rubinstein is on stage. Talking about all the various awards Palm has won over the year, including Best of Show last year.
11:05 a.m. Rubinstein: We worked very hard on WebOS and it's proved to be everything we imagined and more. It has allowed us to reach a broad community. We've had over 85,000 SDK downloads in 108 countries.
11:07 a.m. Palm cares about keeping you connected and making sure you never miss a thing. Palm Pre is a great example of that experience.
11:08 a.m. Palm
... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
(Credit:
AT&T)
LAS VEGAS--It's proving to be a big day for AT&T. In addition to announcing five upcoming Android devices, committing to more app development, and launching the Nokia Ovi Store, AT&T President Ralph de la Vega said the carrier would offer two Palm WebOS devices soon. He didn't elaborate beyond that, but perhaps we'll learn more at the Palm press conference on Thursday?
(Via Phone Scoop)
(Credit:
Blackfire Research)
Wi-Fi speakers have made some appearances over the last few years, in the form of prototypes and high-priced novelties. Finally, San Francisco-based Blackfire Research will release the Wi-Fi speakers we've been waiting for.
When the SmartSpeaker launches this summer, consumers will be able to stream audio, including Internet radio and movies, from Wi-Fi-enabled cellphone and computers.
Software for the speakers is still in development and will be available for the iPhone, Zune, Palm, Android, iPod Touch, and Blackberry by the time of launch.
Ravi Rajapakse, CEO of Blackfire Research, became interested in audio at the age of 12, when he built his first speaker. But despite extensive experience in speaker engineering, he faced difficulties streaming audio over a packet-based Wi-Fi protocol.
After years of research and the help of several Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Ravi succeeded in building proprietary technology that he plans to apply to the greater speaker market.
He created the BearClaw Smart Amps, amplifiers that attach to regular speakers and enable them to operate over Wi-Fi. Blackfire is working ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
In this week's preholiday edition of the Digital City Podcast, we all get ready for our one long break of the year, accompanied by special guest smartphone guru (and new CNET East Coaster) Bonnie Cha.
Scott and Joe have seen James Cameron's "Avatar"; Bonnie and Julie haven't. We also discuss Intel's new Atom Netbooks, 3D Blu-ray on the PS3, holiday smartphones, and upcoming laptops and phones at CES 2010. Best of all, Scott gets a chance to show off his one and only Batjew T-shirt. Watch it on video or you'll miss it.
Plus, don't forget to enter a comment to win a 16GB Zune HD of your very own. Happy holidays!
Related links:
>>3D Blu-ray standard outlined, includes PS3
>>New Atom Netbooks: Strange timing for shoppers?
>>CES 2010 Preview: Cell phones
>>CES 2010 Preview: Desktops and laptops
>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3 p.m. EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! And Scott!
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(Credit:
Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
On Thursday, Palm made its new browser-based mobile development platform available to all developers as a public beta. Dubbed Project Ares, developers can now create programs for Palm WebOS simply by firing up their browser (Firefox, Safari, and Chrome are supported) and signing into their account where they will then have access to all the tools they need to build apps.
Project Ares includes such features as:
- Drag-and-drop interface builder, code editor, visual debugger, and log viewer
- Access to full library of Mojo UI widgets
- Push-button project and scene creation
- Drag-and-drop file upload
- SMS and MMS messaging delivery is improved
- Ability to run apps directly on the WebOS emulator or device
Palm's believes that the future of mobile will be built on the Web and hopes that Project Ares will open the door to more developers creating apps for WebOS. Of course, one of the criticisms about the OS and Palm's current devices, the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi, has been the sparse app catalog, but it's been making progress. Hopefully, Project Ares will speed things along just a bit more.
To find more information on Project Ares or to sign up, you can check out Palm's Web site.
Can you imagine placing your cellphone on a Starbucks table and seeing it charge instantly?
Gainesville, Fla.-based WiPower (pronounced "y"-power) is manufacturing wireless-charging technology that could potentially facilitate just that.
WiPower's charging mat can power up to four devices at once, regardless of their position.
(Credit: JustinCumming.com)Ryan Tseng founded WiPower after he realized how burdening it is to travel with bundles of chargers.
His frustration resulted in WiPower's wireless power transmitter, a mouse pad-like device that connects to a wall with one cord. Devices with an integrated power receiver placed upon the mat start charging immediately.
The product uses inductive coupling, a technology electric toothbrushes have used for years now, mostly because it shields their components from water. Earlier this year, Palm introduced its Touchstone charger, which uses this technology.
WiPower's charging mat simultaneously powers multiple devices in any position with different power requirements. For example, a digital camera requires much more power than an iPod Shuffle, but both can be charged with a WiPower.
"WiPower realized that ... Read the full post at CNET's CES 2010 blog
A ton of cell phones and smartphones are released in a year's time. Trust us, we've seen most all of them. However, not all handsets are created equal and some are more popular than others. If you're curious to see which handsets people are clamoring for, well you're in luck. We've compiled a list of the top 10 popular cell phones and smartphones for 2009 and put them into a pretty slideshow for your viewing pleasure.
As you peruse the gallery, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, the list is based on the most-viewed products to date by CNET users in 2009, and not just those released this year. As such, you'll find a number of older products on the list since they've obviously been on the site longer than the newer ones. Also, many of the models were highlighted on our Top products list.
All that said, it's pretty interesting to see what's still popular these days. Check it out for yourself and see if your phone made the list.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Last Sunday, Palm and Sprint released their second WebOS device together, the Palm Pixi, for $99.99 with a two-year contract.
In the grand scheme of things, $100 for a smartphone is a pretty darn good deal, but when you consider the fact that there are other products out there with more power and more features (for example, Wi-Fi) for the same price or lower, it makes the Pixi look foolish. Fortunately, thanks to third-party retailers, you can now get the entry-level smartphone for much less.
Both Amazon and Wal-Mart have lowered the price of the Palm Pixi by 75 percent, so now the smartphone is only $24.99. You will still need to sign up for a two-year service agreement, but it's certainly a much more enticing offer. In addition, the Palm Pre is now available from Amazon for $79.99, which is $70 less than Sprint's price.
(Source: Wall Street Journal)
On Sale Now: $99.99 - $529.99
View the latest prices for Palm Pixi (Sprint)
(Credit:
Screenshot by Bonnie Cha/CNET)
As most Palm Pre owners (and anyone who bought the Palm Pixi, which went on sale Sunday) found out this weekend, WebOS 1.3.1 is now available for download.
The latest version of Palm's WebOS brings new features, such as the integration of Yahoo contacts, calendar, and instant messaging into Palm Synergy; text message forwarding; custom ring tone support; and support for Google Apps and Yahoo Small Business Domain e-mail accounts. In addition, WebOS 1.3.1 offers several of bug fixes, all of which you can find on Palm's Web site.
However, there seems to be some hidden treasures of WebOS 1.3.1. Precentral.net has listed some of the undocumented features that its users have found as well as changes to general performance. Some of the highlights include:
- Snappier response from the photo app
- Delete all option in the Trash e-mail folder
- International dialing preferences
- Signs that video recording capabilities are in the works
There are a handful more discoveries over at Precentral. But what about you? Have you found any goodies? Let us know or just tell us about your general experience with WebOS 1.3.1 by leaving a comment.
