I admit I have been neglecting my lonely Palm Pre the past few days. I have no shortage of phones around here and until picking it up earlier today, I haven't been giving the Pre much thought. While I was using the Pre, my thoughts centered around the trouble that Palm is having due to low sales numbers. I also was struck once again with how good webOS is from a user's standpoint. The interface is great, and it would be a big loss to see Palm (and webOS) go away. Then it hit me right between the eyes wouldn't webOS be fantastic on a 7-inch slate?

While it seems that tablet-mania has us all in its grip, the more I thought of a slate running webOS the more excited I got about it. The graphical touch interface is already outstanding, but imagine it on a 7-inch display. The multitasking of webOS would enter new ground on such a screen. It would not only be a productive environment to use, it would actually be fun. If you ask me, Palm could use a little fun these days.

I am picturing a thin slate with a 7-inch screen even a tad bigger would be OK. The great PIM apps on webOS would be stellar if optimized for the larger display. Palm wouldn't have to add functionality, or even change the way they utilized touch, just optimize the display. The webOS browser is already quite good; It would only be better on a larger screen.

I believe Palm could produce this slate, given its history with device design and production. It should follow the Apple model and make sure all existing webOS apps work on the tablet, and provide incentives to developers who optimize existing apps for the bigger screen. Maybe even make a deal with Amazon to get a solid app to work with Amazon MP3. There are many ways for Palm to go with this slate, almost all of them good.

Palm could produce a Wi-Fi model of the slate, but also a Sprint 3G/4G model. This would compete with the iPad, and with the Sprint data network make a bold statement. I can see Palm making a tremendous splash with such a device, no matter what happens with its phone line. Having given this a lot of thought, I can only see an upside for beleaguered Palm with this. Given the tight integration webOS already has with Google services, this tablet would give Android tablets serious competition.

The only question I have about this tablet venture for Palm is what to call the product. There's the obvious Palm Pad, but I think they need something clever to make a splash. How about the Palm Pilot? Raise the original product name that made the company famous, and get people talking.

Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):

How To Clean Up the Mobile OS Mess

As expected, HTC has unleashed a slew of Android smartphones here at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and I have to admit they're looking really good.

While not exactly groundbreaking, HTC Desire is the top notch phone that competes primarily with Google's Nexus One (also made by HTC), as it has similar looks and pretty much the same specifications.

Here's a quick overview: it's an Android 2.1 phone with a 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU, 512MB or ROM and 576 MB of RAM memory, a 5 megapixel camera (with flash and autofocus), GPS, and the usual connectivity options: WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G. It also has a beautiful AMOLED 3.7 inch screen (multitouch is supported) with 480800 pixel resolution.

What makes it different from the Nexus One is the lack of trackball, and HTC's Sense UI, so the choice between the two will be strictly matter of personal preference. I will update this post with some hands-on experiences as soon as I lay my hands on it.

*Update: after trying out the HTC Desire I'm definitely a bit disappointed with the speed of the device. It's fast, but it's not exactly flying. This is not due to hardware, though; HTC's Sense UI is faster and more fluid on the new HTC HD Mini, which is based on 600 MHz CPU and Windows Mobile 6.5. However, as far as Androids go, HTC Desire is still on top of the food chain, partly due to HTC's Sense UI, which is getting better and more flexible with each new iteration.

Tags: android, Desire, htc, Mobile 2.0, trending

As expected, HTC has unleashed a slew of Android smartphones here at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and I have to admit they're looking really good.

While not exactly groundbreaking, HTC Desire is the top-notch phone that competes primarily with Google's Nexus One (also made by HTC), as it has similar looks and pretty much the same specifications.

Here's a quick overview: It's an Android 2.1 phone with a 1 GHz Snapdragon CPU, 512MB or ROM and 576 MB of RAM memory, a 5 megapixel camera (with flash and autofocus), GPS, and the usual connectivity options: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G. It also has a beautiful AMOLED 3.7 inch screen (multi-touch is supported) with 480800 pixel resolution.

What makes it different from the Nexus One is the lack of trackball, and HTC's Sense UI, so the choice between the two will be strictly a matter of personal preference. I will update this post with some hands-on experiences as soon as I lay my hands on it.

*Update: After trying out the HTC Desire, I'm definitely a bit disappointed with the speed of the device. It's fast, but it's not exactly flying. This is not due to the hardware, though; HTC's Sense UI is faster and more fluid on the new HTC HD Mini, which is based on 600 MHz CPU and Windows Mobile 6.5. However, as far as Androids go, HTC Desire is still on top of the food chain, partly due to HTC's Sense UI, which is getting better and more flexible with each new iteration.

Tags: android, Desire, htc, Mobile 2.0, trending

While the saga between TechCrunch and Fusion Garage continues, the latter company is moving forward with the launch of the controversial web tablet, now called JooJoo. While it's not the magical tablet that inspired this blog (In African, the word joujou' means magical device.') Fusion Garage thinks they've got a winner on their hands.

For the same $499 that Apple intends to charge for an entry-level iPad with 140,000 available apps, Fusion Garage will provide you with a browser-based tablet without any capability to run and install local applications. It also lacks a 3G wireless option of any kind, relying solely on WiFi.

But what does the JooJoo have that iPad doesn't?

For starters, a 12.1 inch LCD touch screen in a widescreen aspect ration that we're more accustomed to seeing these days. And you can use all of that screen to render full HD quality video but only from your favorite video sites since the device has only 4 GB of SSD storage not nearly enough to store HD content of any real duration. It has the front-facing camera for videoconferencing that so many people feel is lacking in iPad as well as a USB port, though what one might do with that port is still unknown. As for the software, it's a Linux variant running a Webkit browser that will support both Adobe Flash 10.1 and Java.

So, do they have a winning device?

They may have had one before the iPad announcement, but not now not at that price point and limited functionality, anyway.

You can pre-order the JooJoo now which is expected to ship in 8 to 10 weeks though the site has indicated that time horizon for some time. If you're considering a JooJoo you may want to contact them for an update on a ship date, though the latest word from company executives is late Februrary.

Will you JooJoo?

[JooJoo]

Related articles by Zemanta

• Fusion Garage Files to Dismiss TechCrunch Lawsuit as JooJoo Wars Escalate [Lawsuits] (gizmodo.com)
• Controversial Joojoo Tablet Release Set For Late February (huffingtonpost.com)
• Fusion Garage says JooJoo tablet is on track for Feb. launch (seattlepi.com)
• JooJoo CEO pledges to ship this month, claims deal with leading phone maker (Paul Boutin/VentureBeat) (techmeme.com)
• JooJoo will be manufactured by Malaysia's CSL Group (venturebeat.com)

Will You JooJoo? is a post from: The Magical Tablet

You hear the 9.7-inch iPad has a screen resolution of 1024x768, and you think to yourself, that's not so bad! And it's not. But when you later hear that a new 4-inch smartphone will feature a resolution of 1280x1024, well...

...it's just tough to be floored by anything less.

The Qisda (you also know them as BenQ) QCM-330, expected to debut at the upcoming CeBIT tradeshow this March before being available through Vodafone, features a 4-inch, 1280x1024 screen that could be sharper than life itself, along with HSDPA and Wi-Fi.

We don't know much else, other than that it will most likely run Android given the Home key (which makes the prospect of importing a phone for its hardware alone so much more appealing). But if you're one of those people who doesn't like to use the same phone as other people, the QCM-330 might be a decent handset to watch. [Unwired View via SlashGear]

Our friends at Blogee.net spotted some specs from Asus identifying a new version of the Eee PC 1005PE. In case you forgot, the Eee PC 1005PE is Asus first take on the Pine Trail netbook route. So, perhaps to make the series more exciting, they've decided to add some muscle into it and is now preparing to launch the Eee PC 1005PE-H perhaps?

By being more powerful we mean that the Eee PC 1005PE features 2GB of RAM, and 320GB of HDD. The screen remains at 10.1-inch of course with 1024x600 resolution. It's battery pack is still 6-cell 4400mAh with 11 hours of battery life and of course it is powered by Intel Atom N450 CPU running Windows 7.

Since it is not officially announced yet, no official pictures are available, even its price and release data are uncertain at this moment. But we will sure bring these information to you once they became available, so stick around.

via Blogeee

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Eee PC 1005PE-H Spotted, More Powerful than the One without an H