However, tech news sites are reporting that Palm Pre may become available in Europe as early as September this year. If this is true, there’s a chance that the Pre will come to the Philippines by the end of the year.

The marketing director of IRIS, a local distributor in Romania, reportedly said that Palm Pre should be available in Eastern Europe, including Romania, by the end of September at a price similar to that in the US — which is estimated to be $550 without subscription.

Mirror.co.uk cited a Softpedia report, which in turn got the news from Romanian site Ziarul Financiar.

Last year, the Palm Centro was launched in the United Kingdom on Valentines Day. Two months later, Palm announced its availability in the Philippines. Philippine cellphone networks use GSM technology, like its European counterparts.

I received Palm’s newsletter announcing the availability of Palm Pre in the United States after midnight last Sunday. That’s afternoon of June 6 in the US. By that time, proud Palm Pre owners were already tweeting or blogging about their first few hours with their new gadget.

By Sunday noon, a former officemate texted me, asking how much Palm Pre is in the Philippines, and if the phone will work here. I told her that while it is available in the US for $200 with contract, the GSM version that will work here has not been announced yet.

But as I said, the latest rumor of its availability in Europe raises hopes that it will also be released in the Philippines soon. Start saving, maka-Palms. :p

Based on MakaPalm’s visitor referrer data, it appears that a  number of Pinoys are still interested in the Palm Pre despite the announcement of iPhone’s new model.

Here are some interesting reports before and after Palm Pre’s US launch:

• New York Times columnist David Pogue’s Palm Pre review
• Excited for the Palm Pre, elderly woman crashes her car into a Sprint store
• Engadget’s coverage of US launch: pinilahan kaya?
• Analysts say launch was a success, but supplies were tight
• 50,000 to 100,000 Palm Pre units sold?
• Apple announces iPhone 3G S
• Engadget’s iPhone 3G S vs Palm Pre poll
• Ex-Apple exec Jon Rubinstein is new CEO of Palm

Related Posts

• Palm webOS SDK now public
• Palm Pre carriers in Europe announced
• Pre’s UK launch to be announced July 7
• Twitter for Palm Pre
• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?
• What they said about Palm Pre

Announced in May 2007, the Palm Foleo preceded today’s popular netbooks. However, Palm marketed it not as a stand-alone device but primarily as a companion to the Treo product line.

The Foleo was a dream device for people who live on the Web like me: a lightweight laptop with Wi-Fi connectivity that turns on and off almost instantly, it had Web browsing and email capability and could synchronize data with mobile phone.

In introducing the Foleo, Palm noted that “Although designed primarily as a companion to a mobile phone, Foleo is a powerful computer on its own.” It went on to enumerate the product’s features: Linux-based operating system, built-in Wi-Fi, USB port, video-out port, headphone jack, and memory expansion slots.

After the Foleo was announced, I couldn’t help raving about it everyday. How my girlfriend wished that the product would launch, so I’d finally stop talking about it.

So, imagine my shock when, a few months later, Palm CEO Ed Colligan announced that he had decided to cancel the Foleo. Colligan explained that he did this so Palm could focus on its “next generation platform” — later revealed as the WebOS — and its first phone — which we now know as the Palm Pre.

With the Foleo gone, I settled for a second-hand Asus Eee.

While I felt that it was a good move for Palm to concentrate on its core product, I also wondered if it was entirely right to stop the Foleo. Palm recognized a niche consumer demand for a product now called netbook. Colligan himself mentioned it when he announced the Foleo’s cancellation: “Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential.”

However, Palm allowed others to deliver this need. Palm started it, but it was Asus, HP, and the rest who cashed in on it.

The new rumor of Foleo’s resurrection reportedly stems from a note to client by Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research. Baron’s Online reported that Chowdhry said Palm intends to produce a $399 netbook that will run the Palm Web OS and will have 8 to 10 hours of battery life.

The blog also noted that another blog, jkOnTheRun, had earlier suggested that Palm revive the Foleo as a netbook.

I’m sure Palm users are not surprised by this rumor because when Colligan disappointed Foleo fans, he also gave them a bit of hope:

“When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We’re not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.”

Now that Palm has almost delivered the WebOS and the Palm Pre, and is reportedly already working on Pre’s little brother, is it also time for the Foleo II?

Related Posts

• For sale: one-week-old 16 GB Samsung Omnia
• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• Smart offers 12 hours of mobile Internet for P100
• Mapalad.org update
• Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?
• My Palm Centro
• What they said about Palm Pre

The device, dubbed Palm Eos, will supposedly be Palm’s next webOS phone. Engadget reports that it is codenamed “Castle”, while MobileCrunch also calls it “Pixie”. Other bloggers give it the nicknames Mini Pre, Palm Pre Mini, and Pre Lite. Can we also call it Palm Pre Nano? :p

While the yet-to-be-released Palm Pre will initially be sold exclusively by US telco Sprint, the Eos will supposedly go to rival AT&T.

Engadget posted these specs:

* 4GB storage
* Price: $349 (pre-rebate)
* Camera: 2 megapixel fixed focus digital camera and flash / video capture
* Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.1 w/ A2DP and EDR, USB 2.0 via micro USB
* Removable 1150 mAh battery (4 hours 3G talk time)
* Messaging: SMS, MMS (picture and video only), integrated IM client
* Contact sync with AT&T Address Book
* MediaNet
* Cellular Video
* Email: POP3, IMAP4, and EAS support
* A-GPS
* Audio: WAV, MP3, AAC, AAC+ ringtones
* Video Playback: MPEG4, H.264, H.263

Engadget readers’ reactions to the reported device vary. User oghowie says “Pre looks better and is better spec wise. This looks like a lower end Pre.” On the other hand, reader Reality Check noted that this rumored device has no Wi-Fi, has only 4 GB of storage, and is more expensive than the iPhone. He concludes: “Pre wins.”

Of course, actual pricing may still change, but for now , I tend to agree that the Pre is better. The wait for the Pre continues, and Palm fans on our side of the world are on the lookout for any mention of a GSM Pre.

Related Posts

• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• What they said about Palm Pre
• Palm webOS and Palm Pre
• It’s Palm’s time to shine again
• Palm webOS SDK now public
• Palm Pre carriers in Europe announced
• Pre’s UK launch to be announced July 7

It’s almost midnight here in Manila, Philippines, and by the time we wake up tomorrow morning, the World Wide Web would probably be full of reports and comments on the new operating system that Palm is expected to announce at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Earlier reports from CrunchGear and other blogs say a new “iPhone-like” device running on the new OS called Nova will also be announced at the event. “The new phone will have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen,” the report says, adding that it could also play media and would of course have Palm’s calendar, email, and contact function.

I love my Palm Centro –  I got one while I training in Singapore for my new job with Yahoo! Philippines — but I wish it had WiFi capability and a better camera. It looks like “Palm’s newness” would satisfy such desires.

Mobileburn says the Palm Nova phone could also feature a high-resolution camera, which, along with Wi-Fi, is on the top of my wishlist for new features.  Hopefully, the new Palm phone would also be able to run old Palm programs and databases.

I’m one of those loyal Palm fans who would really be happy to see it on the top again with its long-overdue OS upgrade. I believe Matthew Miller of ZDNet is correct in saying there are “a ton of people that want to see Palm succeed.”

Palm is, after all, the brand that brought us the wonderful little handheld computer called PalmPilot, which eventually evolved into what I call an all-in-one device: a cellphone, personal digital assistant, alarm clock, portable MP3 and video player, digital camera, ebook reader and ‘game and watch’ rolled into one. And with the new OS, I hope Palm would resurrect Foleo.

With tomorrow’s announcement, I hope Palm could prove that it is, as I’d been insisting, “not a dying platform.” It’s Palm’s time to shine again.

Related Posts

• Palm is not a “dying platform”
• Palm webOS and Palm Pre
• Palm webOS SDK now public
• Palm Pre available in the US on June 6
• Palm EOS — post-Pre phone?
• My Palm Centro
• What they said about Palm Pre

According to PIC, these units are GSM. Despite the reported delay in the Centro’s launch in Southeast Asia, these colorful phones will probably reach the Philippines within the year.

Related Posts

• My Palm Centro
• It’s Palm’s time to shine again
• Palm says it has sold more than two million Centros
• Palm Centro now in black onyx and glacier white
• A colorful Palm Centro TV commercial
• Palm is not a “dying platform”
• Palm Centro now in the Philippines

Technology news sites are abuzz with reports that Google will be launching an online storage service in the coming months.

Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that the storage service “could be released as early as a few months from now.” Nicknamed GDrive by Google fans and enthusiasts, the service was known internally as “My Stuff”, the same report said.

GDrive is one of Google’s most anticipated services. After it offered huge e-mail storage in 2003, photo hosting through Picasa web, and eventually word and spreadsheet processing on the Web through Google Documents, online file storage is the next logical step.

This is good news for Google users like me who are starting to move my files online. I just hope the pricing for premium services will not be as disappointing as that of its upgraded Picasaweb storage.

Random Posts

• Free Palm games, other freeware at Handycase.com
• See you at today’s Bloggers’ Kapihan
• Scrap foreign junkets in lieu of text tax — TXTPower
• Now on Ubuntu Hardy Heron
• Globe is iPhone’s official RP carrier
• Doing grocery with my Treo 650
• Ubuntu commands to remember

Ayon naman sa Treobits.com, isa sa mga blogger ng PalmDoc.net ang nag-post tungkol sa pagte-test niya sa PDA phone:

This is the GSM/Edge version of the new compact PDA phone from Palm. I was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to have a “hands-on” with this lovely device.

Sinundan pa ito ng isa pang entry, Palm Centro experience so far.

Pero hindi nagtagal na online ang dalawang entries. Ipinatanggal daw ito ng Palm, Inc. Mukhang totoo, kung ganoon.

Pinag-uusapan na rin pala ito sa Mapalad.org.

Random Posts

• What they said about Palm Pre
• 2008 UPCAT results on your Palm
• Palm Centro GSM, darating na sa Europa ngayong Valentine’s Day
• Globe is iPhone’s official RP carrier
• Mapalad Christmas Party
• Admob now measuring Philippine mobile web traffic
• Job opening at Yahoo! Southeast Asia