Pre 2 Rumored Amidst Dwindling webOS Stock

Posted By: Kris Keilhack Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12:45:35 PM

While the post-HP Palm world has been completely devoid of both new products and new rumors, there have been a few rumblings about forthcoming WebOS products for the fall holiday season.

PhoneArena has a huge scoop on Verizon's full roadmap for the remainder of the year. They claim that their source is "trusty" but of course nothing can be completely confirmed at this point. According to the report, a so-called Palm Pre 2 is reportedly in the works for October, but no other details such as which version of OS will be onboard are available. This report could tie in nicely with last week's report on the so-called RoadRunner device reportedly packing WebOS 2.0. Of course, reports and sightings of Palm's mythical C40 have been circulating for a year now, so until some blurrycam photos emerge of actual new hardware, all rumors should be taken with a sizable grain of salt.

Additionally, a fairly publicized report came out yesterday from PreCentral detailing the surprising and sudden lack of new Pre Pluses available online from both Verizon and AT&T. This is quite remarkable due to the reportedly slow sales figures of those devices, as well as the fact that these are the newest hardware releases from Palm, both having launched in 2010 vs. the original Sprint Pre in June of 2009. All current WebOS devices are in stock and being sold for free on hp.com's Wireless Central store. A quick trip to a local Verizon Wireless corporate store revealed the Pre Plus very much in stock and on display for $49.99, albeit relegated to a less prominent area of the smartphone section. A non-working Pixi Plus was on display and marked as a "Special Order" device.

What is even potentially more interesting, however, is that the AT&T Pixi Plus has quietly been removed from HP's Wireless Central store and is also out of stock online from AT&T. If the reports from earlier this spring were indeed correct, it's possible that AT&T truly only had a limited quantity of Pre Pluses to sell (and ever fewer Pixis) so an out of stock situation shouldn't necessarily be considered a harbinger of new hardware around the corner.

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Bring It!

LiveFaith @ 8/17/2010 1:51:40 PM # Q
Sounds about like what we're hearing more and more. That would mean the first true new hardware in 16 months from the original hurried Pre release. Palm has had more than a year to perform it's due diligence in bringing a new device to market. I'm jazzed.
If it's got some good screen real estate, and comes on ATT, then I'll eBay my Pre and step up to the plate for the difference.
This much time also means that WebOS2 should get some serious improvements. Flash and the expected things that keep up with the market. But, I'm excited about what new stuff they've been cooking.
WebOS 1 is already awesome since it's gotten mature, so some new sparkly sounds exciting.
Pat Horne
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Same story different day

Tuckermaclain @ 8/17/2010 7:46:18 PM # Q
See subject line
RE: Same story different day
LiveFaith @ 8/17/2010 11:51:21 PM # Q
Get that corn outta my face!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOLyoxBSo1g&NR=1
Pat Horne

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Make it So

rcartwright @ 8/18/2010 2:51:34 AM # Q
I suspect that we will see a soft rollout for the Pre 2 on Sprint in September. October, will have a rollout for the VZN Pre 2, CES will be the Palm Padd ( re: "Padd": HP could license the name from CBS/Paramount and have Patrick Stewart intro it at CES. I actually hope HP Palm could pull something like this off. They get the name but in such a way they are not copycatting Apple and inducing some serious nerdgasims at the same time. Imagine the tagline "Make it so."... ok back to some firmer speculation) The Pre 2 will hit ATT in April 2011 and the first big iron Palm phone will be @June or July to get the back to school crowd. Did I mention that the Palm Padd will tether to any Palm phone and share the data plan? That gives you another reason to buy a Palm Phone and Padd and lets HP compete by making the Padd carrier aganostic and save costs and room to add more goodies like bigger batteries.

Posters on other sites have wondered about the Touchstones being sold at clearence prices, I think the current Touchstone is going away because there will be a new inductive charger design that is compatable with both the Pre 2 and the Palm Padd

"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

RE: Make it So
jca666us @ 8/18/2010 4:55:55 AM # Q
That gives you another reason to buy a Palm Phone and Padd and lets HP compete by making the Padd carrier agnostic and save costs and room to add more goodies like bigger batteries.

A bigger battery isn't a "goody" - long battery life is a necessity.

For a palmpad to compete successfully against an ipad, it needs three things to really stand out:

1. battery life as good as (or better) then an ipad.
2. excellent build quality with a size and weight less than an ipad.
3. a good selection of apps.

Performance, multitasking, etc. are all icing on the cake

RE: Make it So
LiveFaith @ 8/18/2010 11:45:17 AM # Q
Good points. A $50 or $100 price undercut would be important too. Almost always the iPad buzz I hear ends with the discussion of the price being a bit high.

I'm not a tablet freak, but WebOS looks like a natural there. A significant lower tier market seems to exist.

In summary, #1 as you said earlier at the iPad price tier and #2 "equal" specs on a lower tier. Otherwise, HP will have a hard time getting traction any traction IMO.
Pat Horne

RE: Make it So
hkklife @ 8/18/2010 12:51:05 PM # Q
Within, oh, 3 mins of seeing the first live hands-on demo of WebOS at CES last year I thought to myself "Shame about that small screen. This thing should/would scale well to a tablet-type device"

In fact, I still think Garnet is the best OS out there for easy, intuitive one-handed operation (with the d-pad + QWERTY + touchscreen combo). But WebOS easily has the potential to be the 2nd best tablet OS. In addition to Palm's weak hardware on the Pixi & Pre, WebOS has been hampered by all sorts of issues relating to screen size & pixel count along with a few questionable UI elements.

With HP's $ and talent, it's very possible (though by no means a given!) that they can pull off a VERY nice tablet to undercut the iPad and give proper features in the process (removable storage, webcam etc)

JCA hit the nail on the head with all of those attributes. HP would also be VERY wise to sell wi-fi Pads at traditional B&M retail outlets (Best Buy etc) and also a cellular version through the carriers. Or sell the same device both places for reasonable prices and let the user pick if they want to turn on the WWAN capability with a monthly service $ and have a subsidized upfront price.

At any rate, ~$400 is going to be the new benchmark for decently spec'd tablets going into next year. High-end smartphones have basicallly hit a $199.99 ceiling, netbooks are doing nicely in the $299-$349 pricepoints, and most of the mainstream laptop action is occuring in the $599-$699 pricepoints. A decent tablet should come in on the high side of a netbook and certainly undercut your traditional 14" or 15" notebook.

P.S. I'd give anything to see a breakdown of iPad sales figures by each model/memory config. I mean, 99% of the iPhones I see are still the bottom-feeder 8gb 3G versions. And look at the gigantic price disparity between the new wi-fi Kindle (a reasonable $139) and the high-end Kindle DX (an outrageous $379). Mainstream audiences always want the cheapest possible execution of the "hot" item. If the rumored 7inch iPad comes to fruition anytime soon, I bet we are going to see an absolute tablet frenzy, ESPECIALLY if they somehow get it into shops for Christmas (unlikely but possible).
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

RE: Make it So
LiveFaith @ 8/19/2010 1:55:51 PM # Q
I'm still thinking shame on that small screen ... and it's been like 8 years now. Surely Palm hired somebody in the transitions that has figured this out by now. We'll see come November I guess.
Pat Horne
RE: Make it So
rpa @ 8/21/2010 8:53:29 AM # Q
"Did I mention that the Palm Padd will tether to any Palm phone and share the data plan?"

That worked pretty well with the Fooleo that was billed as a 'cell phone companion' whatever the hell that means.

I would like to see HP go back to the Palm direct sale program with an unlocked GSM version issued globally or thru a carrier, buyer's choice. Volume sales will come in the international arena, not in the carrier controlled US market.

RE: Make it So
rcartwright @ 8/22/2010 7:29:45 PM # Q
My point was more to the idea that Palm could avoid the cost of a cell transmititer in the Padd and leverage gear most folks already had. Had Palm treated the Folio as a netbook that could operate independently of the phone and unified the OS for phone and Folio and came in at least $150 less MSRP things could have been very different for Palm. I am wondering when Palm's story up to the HP sale will be written?
"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill
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stock

linds @ 8/20/2010 9:03:41 AM # Q
when I first read this article's title I though that Palm's stock as in value was declining although that is probably true as well.
RE: stock
richf @ 8/20/2010 1:10:18 PM # Q
No Palm stock anymore. HP bought it all.
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid>Pre Plus
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comment

Gekko @ 8/22/2010 8:36:55 AM # Q

capnbob 1 day ago in reply to wtgig

They (Palm) have no phone (since they had no money) and HP has better things to do than go after a market it can't possibly compete in right now. It no doubt has got all guns blazing on WebOS printers and stuff and maybe the tablet (since there is only 1 good one out yet). The thing with webOS et al is that you need a critical mass of users to make it successful. The Pre couldn't do it, no HP phone will make it... but maybe 10 million printers and 5million pads might make developers give a crap again... Leaks to engadget won't change the fundamentals.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/20/blackberry-bold-r020-and-9670-oxford-flip-outed/#disqus_thread

RE: comment
rpa @ 8/22/2010 9:04:56 AM # Q
Very reasonable opinion. WebOS phones/pda's under HP could be very minor niche products like the HP Glisten and their iPaq line. Why compete against HTC, Moto, Samsung and Apple when HP already dominates printers and PCs? Sticking to one's core business usually is the best approach.
RE: comment
jms001 @ 8/22/2010 9:40:06 AM # Q
In the article Gekko referenced, one commenter said, "they need to make their OS better, then make the phone around it."

Sounds like HP is already on step two of that plan...

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meh

CFreymarc @ 8/22/2010 10:36:41 PM # Q
This is the last hurrah's of the independent Palm. Will be curious if it makes it out the pipeline.
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I'm just not feeling it

bhartman34 @ 8/26/2010 6:04:11 AM # Q
I know it's kind of trendy now to think that tablets should have phone OS's on them, but for the life of me, I can't see why. WebOS has an advantage over iOS in that at least you can side-load applications without jailbreaking anything, but seriously, if I'm going to buy a tablet, it's going to run either some form of Windows or Linux. I want a lot more choice in applications than what you'd get with even iOS or Android, let alone WebOS.

If the tablet is a decent size (e.g., iPad size) why treat it like a dumbed-down computer? Shouldn't it just be a a computer, at that point?

RE: I'm just not feeling it
richf @ 8/26/2010 7:10:39 AM # Q
My thoughts exactly. Tablets for me are a curiosity that I only need to see maybe once or twice. Can't imagine something that will replace my MacBook 13 inch. Anything that a tablet could possibly do I can do on the MacBook and it is not much larger than an iPad. Plus the MacBook has 1000% more potential than the iPad. I just don't see a WebOS tablet doing more than the iPad either. I feel the iPad is expressly made for people that don't want the hassle of keeping a Win machine working and don't like the expense of a MacBook. I've been following tablets since Bill Gates and Scoble were preaching their benefits back on the forums in the late 90's. Don't get me wrong, when a tablet fills a need for me I will have one. At this point in time a Win notebook, a MacBook, a Droid, a Pre pretty well cover the bases for me. To my knowledge the only feature that I need since I retired the Treo is hand writing note taking ability. This could sway me if and when available. Also keep in mind this device has to travel with me 24/7. IMHO!
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid>Pre Plus
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