In a discussion with investors, Palm's CEO Ed Colligan spoke about plans for the upcoming Palm Pre and signaled the end of the Palm OS. The current Centro model running Palm OS could be released on other carriers, but there will not be new devices running the legacy OS. Palm instead will focus their efforts on webOS and Windows Mobile. With the Pre running webOS, Treo devices being exclusively Windows Mobile, that leaves a question mark for the future of the Centro line. There has been speculation of webOS based Centro devices and that certainly appears to be possible in the future.
As for the Palm Pre, the Sprint exclusivity will carry through 2009 and Palm will look at other carriers in 2010. The Palm App Catalog will not be the only method to add apps to your Palm Pre. The Palm Pre will support adding applications that did not originate in the Palm App Catalog. Colligan also mentioned that Epocrates was one of the key applications that he expects will be available at launch.
Palm has updated their blog today with a profile on Adam Kaufman, Product Manager for Palm Pre accessories including the new Touchstone inductive dock. You'll be surprised to find out that electric toothbrushes were the inspiration behind the new dock. It seems there are no metal contacts on the bottom of electric toothbrushes, yet they charge without a problem. To coin a phrase from Cupertino, this is a perfect example of a company thinking differently about their products. "If you can do that with a toothbrush, why not a phone".
Still no release date available for the Treo Pro on Sprint Wireless. The last rumored release date was February 15th, but that date appears to be in jeopardy. BGR is reporting that the Treo Pro for Sprint Wireless release date is now TBD.
As soon as we get an official release date, we'll pass it along.
Today has been marked with rumored release dates for the Palm Pre that include February, March, May and June. People are excited for the Pre, but clearly you cannot trust any of the these dates. Another big question is the price of the Palm Pre. According to CNET, a Sprint customer service representative was quoted as saying the MSRP would be $549, but the price would be $150 after rebate with a 2-year contract. For now, we're classifying this information as rumor or simply a misinformed customer service rep. Once we get concrete official information, we'll of course pass it along.
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