MakaPalm » Tech News http://www.makapalm.com Notes from a Filipino Palm user Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:39:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Nokia and Yahoo announce partnership http://www.makapalm.com/nokia-yahoo-announce-partnership/ http://www.makapalm.com/nokia-yahoo-announce-partnership/#comments Mon, 24 May 2010 15:48:50 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=682 Nokia and Yahoo! today announced a partnership in online mapping and communication services.

In this worldwide alliance, Nokia’s Ovi Maps will power Yahoo!’s maps and navigation services, while Yahoo! will be the provider of Nokia’s email and chat services.

The two companies are also planning to integrate user logins. Initially, Nokia users may access select Yahoo! properties using their Ovi user IDs.

While US-based observers and critics may frown at this development as an alliance between an also-ran and a small player, it has great impact in emerging markets such as the Philippines. Yahoo! is used by at least 80% of Internet users in the Philippines, while Nokia is the most popular cellphone brand (with 59% device manufacturer share in Admob’s latest metrics) . In the Philippines, this could only be described as a partnership between two tech giants.

Disclosure: This blogger works for Yahoo! Philippines.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/nokia-yahoo-announce-partnership/feed/ 0 HP to buy Palm for $1.2 billion http://www.makapalm.com/hp-to-buy-palm-for-1-2-billion/ http://www.makapalm.com/hp-to-buy-palm-for-1-2-billion/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:50:56 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=671 would buy my favorite smart phone maker.]]>

Will Palm Pre become HP Pre? (Palm/Wikipedia)

I woke up this morning to the news that HP, one of the world’s oldest and largest IT company, would buy my favorite smart phone maker. While there had been rumors of as possible buyout of Palm, HP was not always mentioned in the reports.

While it’s a bit sad that Palm would again be no longer an independent company, it’s still good news — as what my colleague Joey Alarilla tweeted. Learning that Palm would soon be in the hands of HP, a leading creator of a wide range of IT products, made me feel that the PDA and smart phone pioneer would not just fade away as some critics predicted.

Maybe the webOS-powered Palm Pre and its successors would eventually reach and be a hit in the Philippine shores. HP, after all, is a global company.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/hp-to-buy-palm-for-1-2-billion/feed/ 0 Wanted: Producer/Reporter for Yahoo! http://www.makapalm.com/wanted-producerreporter-for-yahoo/ http://www.makapalm.com/wanted-producerreporter-for-yahoo/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 09:44:21 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=647 Yahoo!Reposted from ErwinOliva.com:

Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for a producer/reporter to develop stories for the web.

  • The candidate must have 3 to 5 years experience in television production, a news wire agency, or online news media.
  • The candidate must be knowledgeable about online journalism and ready to use multimedia technology to find and develop stories for the Internet.
  • Willing to work with little supervision but can plan coverage, edit stories, and has sense of immediacy for news.
  • Teamplayer who is willing to work for a regional team.

Send your letter of application explaining why you’re interested in this job along with your resume to eoliva[at]yahoo-inc[dot]com.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/wanted-producerreporter-for-yahoo/feed/ 0 Bloomberg: Palm is looking for a buyer http://www.makapalm.com/bloomberg-palm-is-looking-for-a-buyer/ http://www.makapalm.com/bloomberg-palm-is-looking-for-a-buyer/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:43:16 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=641 Update: A Reuters report said Palm hired bankers "to assess strategic options for the company, including a potential sale." Citing an anonymous source, the report added that Palm could look for additional financing or license webOS if it chooses not to sell itself.]]> Update: A Reuters report said Palm hired bankers “to assess strategic options for the company, including a potential sale.” Citing an anonymous source, the report added that Palm could look for additional financing or license webOS if it chooses not to sell itself.

After days of rumors that certain companies are looking at buying Palm, Inc. — the maker of smartphones Treo, Centro, Pre, and Pixi — Bloomberg reported today that the company is working with investment firms to find a buyer.

The report said among the possible buyers are Chinese laptop maker Lenovo and Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer HTC, which creates phones for Google’s Android operating system. Chinese firms Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. — yes, it’s the same ZTE of the ZTE/NBN Scandal fame!

Palm has yet to issue a comment on this issue, and none of the reported possible buyers confirmed their interest in buying the PDA pioneer.

Palm followers like me hope that these rumors are just — well — rumors. We want to see an independent Palm that will continue to create gadgets that will delight us, maka-Palms, and ensure that the webOS — which is still in its early stages — be utilized to its full potential. We have yet to see a webOS-based Foleo 2, which could compete with the iPad.

On the other hand, a possible buyout will not be entirely new for Palm. Around three years after Jeff Hawkins founded Palm Computing, Inc. in 1992, US Robotics bought the company. Later, 3Com acquired Palm’s new mother company. Its founders then left Palm and started creating smart phones in their new company called Handspring. They found their way back to their baby in 2003 when Handspring merged with Palm’s hardware division.

But if the rumors are true, we can only hope that the buyer will provide the Palm guys with the resources they need to compete and level of independence that will allow them to continue innovating.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/bloomberg-palm-is-looking-for-a-buyer/feed/ 0 Pre Plus & Pixi Plus coming to AT&T http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pre-pixi-coming-to-att/ http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pre-pixi-coming-to-att/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:13:54 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=635 announced today that webOS is coming to AT&T, a GSM-based telecom in the US. Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will be available "in the coming months," according to the company's official blog. ]]> Palm announced today that webOS is coming to AT&T, a GSM-based telecom in the US.

Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will be available “in the coming months,” according to the company’s official blog.

The first-generation models of Palm Pre and Pixi are already being offered by GSM carriers in Europe, but Pre units are very scarce here in the Philippines. I wonder if this piece of news will pave the way for the availability of these Palm phones here, where telecoms are also using GSM technology.

Will this latest announcement also boost the company’s falling stocks and reverse the widespread perception that Palm is going down?

Random Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pre-pixi-coming-to-att/feed/ 0 New job opening at Yahoo! http://www.makapalm.com/new-job-opening-at-yahoo/ http://www.makapalm.com/new-job-opening-at-yahoo/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:44:25 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=609 May opening ulit sa Yahoo! Here’s the full announcement from Yahoo! Southeast Asia Yodel:

Yahoo! Southeast Asia is looking for a Commissioning Editor to help support the production of English-language custom-branded micro-sites.

You’ll be required to identify and commission bloggers/writers to produce a variety of articles ranging from finance to event guides. That means you’ll need both an extensive list of contacts as well as a broad knowledge of various subjects.

The role also requires you to have strong editing skills to draw out a distinct and engaging editorial voice to satisfy the Yahoo! audience. Just as important — you need to be able to recognize this quality in other people’s writing.

Given the high expectations of our users, the role requires a professional with at least five years in an editorial role.

The job will also involve:

- Identifying strong bloggers and building a strong relationship with them
- Assessing pitches from bloggers
- Editing article submissions
- Commissioning photographers and illustrators
- Issuing contracts to bloggers
- Paying bloggers

The ideal candidate will have the following skills:

- More than 5 years in an editorial role, preferably in the magazine industry
- Strong relationships with prominent bloggers
- Ability to write and re-write in an engaging style
- Strong copy editing skills, knowledge of AP style is preferred
- Strong attention to detail
- Nurturing skills to help develop bloggers

In terms of personality, we’re looking for someone who is able to juggle multiple assignments and roll with the punches. You must be able to work independently. You need to be comfortable with technology and internet publishing tools, and if not, you should at least be a quick learner.

Interested?

Please send your resume and a cover letter to:

Alan Soon
Managing Editor
Yahoo! Southeast Asia
Email: alansoon@yahoo-inc.com

Random Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/new-job-opening-at-yahoo/feed/ 0 Palm Pixi is the second webOS phone http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pixi-is-the-second-webos-phone/ http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pixi-is-the-second-webos-phone/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:36:58 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=581 Palm PixiWhile we in Asia have yet to hear about Palm Pre’s availability here, its maker has introduced the second webOS phone — the Palm Pixi.

An update on Palm’s official blog introduced the Pixi:

“All the power of Palm webOS — including multitasking activity cards, Palm Synergy, intuitive notifications, and universal search — will soon be available in a striking new form factor. Palm Pixi — due on the Sprint network in time for the holidays — is Palm’s thinnest phone ever.”

This appears to be the same device previously called Palm EOS, Castle, Pixie, Mini Pre, Palm Pre Mini, and Pre Lite.

Random Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/palm-pixi-is-the-second-webos-phone/feed/ 0 Microsoft, Yahoo! announce search deal http://www.makapalm.com/microsoft-yahoo-announce-search-deal/ http://www.makapalm.com/microsoft-yahoo-announce-search-deal/#comments Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:30:21 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=573 microsoft_yahooMicrosoft and Yahoo! have just announced a major search deal. Under the agreement, Yahoo! will use Microsoft’s Bing search engine, while Yahoo! will become the worldwide exclusive relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

Read the full press release below for more details:

Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape

Global Deal Creates Better Choice for Consumers and Advertisers

SUNNYVALE, CA and REDMOND, WA — 29 July, 2009 — Yahoo! and Microsoft announced an agreement that will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry. In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

For Web users and advertisers, this deal will accelerate the pace and breadth of innovation by combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms into a market competitor with the scale to fuel sustained development in search and search advertising. Users will find what they care about faster and with more personal relevance. Microsoft’s competitive search platforms will lead to more value for advertisers, better results for web publishers, and increased innovation and efficiency across the Internet.

Under this agreement, Yahoo! will focus on its core business of providing consumers with great experiences with the world’s favorite online destinations and Web products.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. “Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides. Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities, and mobile experiences.”

Providing a viable alternative to advertisers, this deal will combine Yahoo! and Microsoft search marketplaces so that advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70 percent of all search. With the addition of Yahoo!’s search volume, Microsoft will achieve the size and scale required to unleash competition and innovation in the market, for consumers as well as advertisers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreement will provide Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, the scale necessary to more effectively compete, attracting more users and advertisers, which in turn will lead to more relevant ads and search results.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Ballmer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

“This deal fits the long-term strategic direction of Yahoo! to remain the world’s leading online media company and Carol Bartz has the full and unanimous support of the Yahoo! Board behind this deal,” said Roy Bostock, chairman, Yahoo! Inc. “This is a significant opportunity for us. Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”

The key terms of the agreement are as follows:

  • The term of the agreement is 10 years;
  • Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms;
  • Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.
  • Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.
  • Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.
  • Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology.
  • Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites.
    • Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88% of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first 5 years of the agreement.
    • Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.
  • Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country.
  • At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million.
  • The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.

The agreement does not cover each company’s web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses. In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.

The transaction will be subject to regulatory review. The agreement entered into today anticipates that the parties will enter into more detailed definitive agreements prior to closing. Microsoft and Yahoo! expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions. The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.

The companies have established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement.

Conference Call – 5:30 a.m. PDT, Wednesday, July 29

Yahoo! and Microsoft will host a conference call with Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the agreement at 5:30 a.m. Pacific/8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. To listen to the call, please dial 1-866-515-2908 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-399-5122 international, reservation number: 47968026. A live webcast of the call can be accessed through Yahoo!’s Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/results.cfm. The companies have also established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be available through the same link. An audio replay of the call will be available for two weeks following the conference call by calling 1-888-286-8010 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-801-6888 international, reservation number: 91217610.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release refers to operating cash flow (operating income before depreciation, amortization of intangible assets, and stock-based compensation expense, or OCF), which is a non-GAAP financial measure. The most comparable GAAP measure is income from operations. The estimated annual OCF benefit of $275 million included in this press release is the estimated annual benefit in income from operations of $500 million less approximately $225 million of estimated annual savings in depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation expense.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/microsoft-yahoo-announce-search-deal/feed/ 0 Smart to offer Android fone HTC Magic http://www.makapalm.com/smart-to-offer-android-fone-htc-magic/ http://www.makapalm.com/smart-to-offer-android-fone-htc-magic/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:56:59 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=521
HTC Magic (Image from www.htc.com)

I just learned from Migs Mobile and ABS-CBN News that Smart  is bringing HTC Magic, a Google Android-powered smart phone, to the Philippines.

HTC Philippines country manager Mark Sergio reportedly said that Smart will start shipping units of the HTC Magic to the local market by the end of June.

Update from YugaTech: Globe was able to sell HTC Magic starting last week, and will be able to do so until Smart’s exclusive contract with HTC takes effect.

HTC Magic runs on Android, a Google-initiated, Linux-based software platform for mobile devices.

The smart phone gives its users instant access to Gmail, Google Search, YouTube and Maps. It also has Microsoft Outlook synchronization, Smart Dialer, and an onscreen keyboard with predictive text.Its biggest competitor, Apple’s iPhone, is exclusively available in the Philippines to Globe subscribers. Apple recently announced feature upgrades on its new version, the iPhone 3G S.

On the other hand, the Palm Pre, Palm’s newest smart phone and touted as a challenger to the iPhone, was launched in the US last week.

Asked in April if their company will be Palm Pre’s carrier here, a Smart insider replied: “I think Palm is talking to all the carriers. So is Blackberry. No exclusivity required with those brands.”

(Image from www.htc.com)

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/smart-to-offer-android-fone-htc-magic/feed/ 0 Twitter for Palm Pre http://www.makapalm.com/twitter-for-palm-pre/ http://www.makapalm.com/twitter-for-palm-pre/#comments Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:46:48 +0000 Ederic http://www.makapalm.com/?p=506 TweedAs Palm Pre goes on sale in the US today, I am following the stream of Twitter updates about the highly awaited Palm smart phone.

I see links to Palm Pre news, reviews, and unboxing videos; countdowns from excited fans (@Hartman: Palm Pre Launches in 4 hours and 22 minutes =) =) ); and updates about Palm Pre apps (@joshh347 Pandora for Palm Pre is now live on the @pandora_radio website! http://www.pandora.com/palm).

At the rate that it’s going, I’m sure Palm Pre will hit Twitter’s Trending Topics a few hours from now — opps, it just entered the trending list.

While browsing the updates, I also found out that there are now at least three Twitter apps for Palm Pre — the good old MoTwit (formerly known as TreoTwit), which will work through the Classic emulator; Spaz, a cross-platform Twitter client; and Tweed, described on its website as “the next-generation Twitter client designed from the ground up for the Palm® Pre™ and Palm webOS™.”

Twitter users here, however, still have to wait as there is no announcement yet about the availability of Palm Pre in the Philippines. The Palm Pre launching in the US today runs on CDMA networks, while Smart, Globe and Sun operate on GSM wireless technology.

Related Posts

]]> http://www.makapalm.com/twitter-for-palm-pre/feed/ 0