One thing we learned this week is that Droid does bad things to Palm's stock. On the positive side, Palm has pressed on with apps being added and next revision of webOS (1.3) being worked on and the unveiling of the Ares graphical webOS development tool. There was talk about a focus being on speed in the next webOS that was downplayed later in the week. Dieter also appeared on Indiana Public Radio, talking Palm Pre apps on Plugged In. Finally, we're on board with the idea of 2009 being the designated comeback year for Motorola and Palm.
What else happened?
It was a another tough week for PALM stock. Opening at $11.59 on Monday, it bounced up to $12.23 before plummeting to $10.59 and then rallying to close only slightly off for the week at $11.31.
On the positive side, there was an upgrade... Barclays upgraded PALM to Equal Weight from Underweight on limited downside. Price target was cut to $11 from $12. 2010 and 2011 EPS estimates set at -$0.26 and $0.29, respectively
DROID Syndrome really mucked with both PALM and RIMM with both companies experiencing a downgrade by Citigroup on Monday. Analyst Jim Suva, impressed with the Motorola Droid, raised his rating on Motorola stock (NYSE:MOT) to "Buy" from "Hold." He called the Droid, which runs Google Android, "compelling." As for Palm, he dropped the stock to Sell from Hold. And Research In Motion dropped all the way from Buy to Sell on (NASDAQ:RIMM). You can read more about it here and here.
On Wednesday, it was Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst James Moorman's turn to take a whack at PALM. He chopped his price target for the company's shares to $10 from $12, telling investors in a note that "the upcoming holiday selling season will be very competitive for handset vendors." Read about it here.
Over at Digital Daily, John Paczkowski wrote a story that included comments from CL King, analyst Lawrence Harris who is "dubious of Palm’s prospects in the months ahead." Noting that Sprint executive David Owens said last week that the carrier plans to peddle a number of new Android devices from HTC next year, Harris sees unfavorable implications for Palm.
Reading the Charts... Is there hope? If you get "charts," you might be able to derive something meaningful from this post at TheStreet.com.
Why Pre is better than the Droid... Hint: Multi-touch and syncing with Microsoft Exchange
Hilarious take on Droid mania... Mike Cassidy of Silicon Valley.com wrote a hilarious story that included this:
"Verizon came up with the idea of calling their smart-phone Droid,” says Lynne Hale, a spokeswoman for Lucasfilm, “and we were very honored that they chose the name for their tech venture. We were happy to grant them a license."
And Mike Cassidy said:
Hey, it’s Verizon’s call, so to speak, but does it really make sense to launch a cutting-edge piece of technology co-branded with a 30-year-old movie/toy/Slurpee franchise? Now, before I’m slaughtered by Star Warriors young and old, let me say I loved the original “Star Wars.” Maybe my problem is that I pretty much stopped following the story there.
It also quotes Rob Enderle who said, "As names go, I could think of a lot of worse ones." Noted are Chocolate, Razor, Pearl, Storm, Rant, and Curve.
Pondering the next Palm Device... There were 154 comments on this discussion amongst the PreCentral team of what they'd like to see in the next Palm webOS device. A slab, more memory and higher resolution are some things mentioned. See for yourself.
Separated at birth: Samsung Flight and Palm Pre
And the App Catalog keeps growing... The App Catalog now consists of a grand total of 356 apps. There are some home brew graduates in this week's additions. And Europa Pictures has been way busy uploading one-off quizzes.
Perfect Bounce Coming Soon... Early in the week, Derek did a post about an app called Perfect Bounce by Keen Studios -- that's now available in the App Catalog
Deal on Touchstone... We had a reader, znoblebb, send us this note:
"Had a Palm rep come into my store today and drop off a little promotion flyer.. Valid between Oct 1st and December 31st, if you are a member of a credit union, and u buy a Pre you get a free touchstone charging kit.."
So if you are a credit union member, it doesn't hurt to ask.
Thinking Twice before Dating an iPhone User... You might find this amusing... A company called Retrevo did what they call a "Gadgetology study" to gather up information about the typical iPhone user. While it's not exactly a flattering snapshot and the methodology behind the surveying process is a mystery, I'll be damned if some of the details don't hit home," said Gizmodo's Rosa Golijan.
That's a wrap!
Comments
The Pre's been gettin' hit from many sides this week. Leo LaPorte on his nationally syndicated Tech Talk show over the weekend said he no longer considered the Pre "one of the smartphones to watch" - which is discouraging. His reasoning was that the phone has not taken off in popularity and that the phone and the OS have been overtaken it in capabilities. It's one person's opinion, and tech is always a race to keep ahead. But I think it's symptomatic that the phone seems to be lagging behind and hearing that won't encourage people to buy it. I can count the numbers of people I've seen with a Pre on one hand (and that includes mine). The iPhone and Blackberry are ubiquitous. Part of this is the fact that it the Pre's only been available on Sprint. We should see a rise with the Pixi and Pre being available on other carriers and that will hopefully bring more apps and functionality that will fulfill the promise of the Pre. It's still a slick, powerful phone. I'm still trusting that Palm and developers are working hard to make that happen (and officially fix the "no more room for apps" problem!). Hope it's soon ;)
I noticed over the weekend that "Wireless Wave" here in Canada seems to be offering the Bell Palm Pre for $49.95 Here's a link http://www.wirelesswave.ca/
Anybody have any info on the credit union piece?? Just wondering how to go about that and who to talk to..
THANKS!
To paraphrase OWK, this isn't the droid I'm looking for.
it is not android
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