More Rubinstein interviews: Bullish, 'strong pipeline of products' 54
Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein and our favorite geek-of-the-year has been firing up the interview circuit lately - telling it like it is, clarifying Palm's stance on licensing webOS and plenty more. More recently he chatted with the Financial Times (via Engadget) and MarketWatch. Those who have been following Palm like we have may not see much in the quotes, but we understand most people aren't as obsessed as we are, so here are the highlights:
- On future hardware: "Palm was working 'fast and furious on new handsets'. 'We do have a strong pipeline of products in the future,'"
- On the possibility of an acquisition: "as [Palm] is publicly traded, it would consider a good offer if it came along."
- On licensing webOS: "an interesting concept" [if the] "right strategic partner came along with the right kind of business model" and "obviously the more scale we get the more the benefit there is to us."
- On Palm's future as an independent company: "bullish" with a "plan that gets us to profitability." There are also no plans to raise additional capital. "We plan on sticking around."
- On whether the buyout rumors could hurt Palm's chances with developers: "clearly a concern," but Palm has a "great story" for investors, operators, and consumers.
We'd say "Keep Calm and Carry On" but you know what? If Ruby (can we call him Ruby?) is out there talking about an exciting future roadmap then that phrase is too down-in-the-dumps. The new mantra for Palm (and for webOS developers): "Get Excited and Make Things" - because that's what it's going to take.
54 Comments
Someone is really infatuated with that photo of Jon. Don't you have a different photo to change things up?
But I really like the infamous green shirt.
This article is exactly what I was thinking was the case. Palm isn't going away any time fast.
when will we find out about these great new phones? Not one leaked shot yet. We really need a more solid feeling (possibly metal?) pre with a slightly larger screen and bigger battery.
I hate to sound like the iTrolls who filled the forums with "Goodbye, Palm. You have failed and I'm getting an iPhone." posts, but as brilliant as WebOS and gestures are, I'm simply fed up with the laggy, sluggish performance and "Too Many Open Cards" errors when I've got ONE CARD (sometimes ZERO cards) open. What good is multitasking if you can't actually run multiple tasks? When it's all hung up and needs a reboot, it takes about THREE MINUTES to boot. How long does it take an iPhone to start? 30 seconds? Unbelievable!
I don't try to taunt iPhone users at work with it anymore. Last July, when it was new and fresh, I'd get envious looks from them; not I'm afraid of it freezing up when I delete an email. The slippery material makes it scary to hold - my girlfriend hates it cuz she's afraid of dropping it - and it became a blessing when the flimsy battery cover fell off and opened a little depression a finger can gain purchase.
I guess I was lucky that my unit didn't have dead pixels, a loose battery, didn't Oreo, all the other issues people had, but 10-1/2 months after getting it and seeing all these new super-sexy HTC Android phones, I'm really meh on Palm's future and I'm someone who stood up to flames from iPhone fanboys. Disastrous marketing for the first eight months (until the Verizon ads, not that the stores cared to sell the actual product) put them in a hole and Droid and the impending (if underwhelming) iPhone 4 means that Palm is just about out of time.
It does no good to make vague promises of new handsets coming. It's been 15-1/2 months since the Pre was unveiled and other than more RAM and less center button on the Plus version, it's the same old phone and there will be numerous Android and a couple of iPhone iterations before the Pre Dos comes out. Is Palm waiting for the 2011 CES to unveil it against all the M$ Phone 7 handsets? Buh-bye, Palm!!!
It pains me to have to spell out the sad tale of the tea leaves, but I am almost certain to use my Sprint Premier ability to get an HTC EVO 4G. Hope that Palm has something comparable coming isn't enough to make me wait. I'm sad it's come to this, but Palm just blew it on top of unfortunate breaks in timing and competitive products.
wow,I can't wait for you to get happy. honestly I don't think you really should have a palm pre/plus. good luck.
I think Palm is like the Philadelphia Flyers: They were down and almost out..Now going into the second round of Playoffs stronger than ever!!! Let's go Palm!
I hate to point this out, but unfortunately, palm more closely resembles the Philadelphia Eagles...
...and Mike Abbott is Donovan McNabb, and Twitter is the Washington Redskins?
zing!
Sounds like multiple new phones coming soon... drool...
I would much rather have a "strong pipeline of apps"
palm isn't an app developer (mostly)they're an OS/Device developer. More handsets will ring more users and the Apps will follow.
They are, however, responsible for not having a robust enough SDK available to developers.
Sure part of the problem is that there isn't enough of a consumer/developer base for the Pre. But another problem is that a lot of the apps that are lacking on the platform simply aren't possible given the current SDK. They need to open up the microphone and the camera to developers. The PDK should help make more apps available that simply weren't feasible in javascript/html.
"Palm was working 'fast and furious on new handsets"
Dear Jon,
Prove it please, images or renders of these handsets would suffice.
Sincerely,
Armchair Commando
Leaking specific news or images of new devices would cut the legs out from under AT&T's release since the devices would almost certainly not be premiering on AT&T.
As I mentioned in another thread, the timing on the release of this information has to be very carefully managed. Palm can't undercut AT&T, but they also have to time it such that it will take some attention away from the iPhone 4g and possibly undercut the release of the EVO.
at least someone around here understands common business sense.. That is correct Palm cannot talk about any new hardware until AFTER the release on AT&T as not to cut the legs out from under them. About time! Yes!!
and come on people why is everyone have these gigantic hard ons for apps? Ok people Apps are like the channels on a satellite tv service.. All these choices yet only a few you actually use.. Yet in order to find what you like you have to scroll through a half dozen different versions of the same useless crap and even more useless chick crap. That's how it is on palm,, it's worse on Android.. And there's even more useless crap on Iphones apps. Hardware is the issue here let the developers worry about apps.. But what is the big deal about apps? Out of 2000 plus there's like 100 decent ones the other 1,900+ apps are retarded. So what you people are saying when you whine about new apps is you want more retardation surrounding you.. If you want that grab a helmet jump on the shortbus that says "IPhone" instead of school and has custom plates that say Android... Us normal WebOs users and Blackberry users will wave and tell you have a good day sweety and don't lick the windows too much us grown ups are gonna be peoductive now.. Bu bye
I'd expect an announcement a couple days before the next iPhone event.
Then you would be a fol. yes, anounce a new phone.... then have Apple smother all the headlines with their iPhone announcement...
it will be AFTER the iPhone announcement. let everyone get excited about the new iDon't, then announce a new webOS phone with 4g, 1ghz, real multi-tasking, etc. etc. they have to nail the hardware though and drop some jaws.
I'm sorry Palm, buy my patience is wearing thin... I know your a small company, and I had high hopes, but the experience this past year has definitely been lacking.
I still love the OS, but it needs a lot of work, not to mention the lack of useful apps is falling at a huge pace. And no hardware announcement? c'mon palm, you have to give us something.
One thing I have heard rumored is a true VPN app (probably in the next month). Other than that what apps are really missing (other than Data Viz sucking with the mobile office app)? Just curiously. My list is as follows:
1. VPN
2. Expand Epocrates to the full essential suite
3. Better document app
ya palms goin to be here for a while I can't wait for new phone and 2.0webos I live in bboston and sprint jus sent me email saying there a 4g cell tower goin up in the next 120 days jus in time for summer and who knows maybe a 4g palm phone to go wit it
AT&T gets 2 or 3 months before a leak will come out and then 3 more months before that comes out on Sprint. So 7 more months and new phone. Too bad us canadians will have to wait like always
ya palms goin to be here for a while I can't wait for new phone and 2.0webos I live in bboston and sprint jus sent me email saying there a 4g cell tower goin up in the next 120 days jus in time for summer and who knows maybe a 4g palm phone to go wit it
Sounds like spin. Notice the past tense on new handsets.
He needs to be out doing interviews. The only way to maximize what Palm has now is to build hope.
What past tense???
Mr Rubinstein said Palm was working
"Mr Rubinstein said Palm WAS working
You're an idiot (but we knew this already).
The quote from Ruby is "fast and furious on new handsets". The choice of 'was' v. 'is' belonged to the author and is not at all indicative of ANYTHING.
While grammatically incorrect, "was" is commonly used where "is" should be used. Especially when used in conjunction with the present participle form of a verb (i.e., ending in 'ing'). This indicates an activity that started in the past but is still happening now.
"Honey, did you call the plumber about our clogged sink"
"Yea, he told me he was working on it"
Very rarely would the above be interpreted as the plumber was working on it, and now he's not. If that were the case the response would have been more like "Yea, he told me he worked on it".
I'm an idiot.
Blah, blah, blah, heard it all before.
Translation: "Nobody in their right mind wants to buy us, so I am now going to resume cheerleading again while simultaneously living in denial about our lack of relevance".
And this is the cue where all the Palm supporters start cheering along with him, while Palm takes another 12 month slide deeper into the crapper.
Not necessarily cheering, as much as marveling at your stupidity.
We don't need to hear negativity right now,come on some positive feedback would suffice.
FELLOW PALM USERS,PLEASE GIVE PALM A CHANCE TO PROVE THEM SELF. NEW AND IMPROVE HARDWARE DOES TAKE TIME,SO THAT YOU'LL DON'T BE COMING CRYING ON HERE, ABOUT HOW MESS UP THE NEW PHONES ARE. LOL.
I think Palm future updates are going to really speed up the pre's and pixi's and will be awesome. When that happens they will start showing off their new devices all on webos version 2.0 I can't wait
.. Yeah yeah.. You know what? SCREW YOU DATAVIZ!
With the new line of hot Dells coming out in Q4 with WinMo 7 and the new iPhone rearing it's ugly head in a few months, PALM needs to come together with something really big, and make its timing perfect.
I really don't care about the new Palm phones right now. I'm sticking with my flawless Pre Plus on Verizon running at 800 with a Seidio 2600 Mah battery for the next 2 years.
I'm not going anywhere and don't want to.
when the time comes, i'll get the next Palm. I'm very confident that at that time Palm as a company will still be around.
Enjoy these awesome phones people.
I am glad you're happy, as I am happy with my Pre as well, but this whole article is about the future of PALM, and what they need to do, to stay competitive.
ya palms goin to be here for a while I can't wait for new phone and 2.0webos I live in bboston and sprint jus sent me email saying there a 4g cell tower goin up in the next 120 days jus in time for summer and who knows maybe a 4g palm phone to go wit it
I shall remain optimistic... but why the cheerleading... if that's what it is...
I am on board with Palm, and once they are around, and making handsets with WebOS, I am not going anywhere.. I imagine a better built device, solid device with WebOS on board? Tell me what could one possibly need. I am saying better build because the Pre isn't and I take care of it, but because of that I haven't had any problems with mine.
I totally agree.
Get on and enjoy the palm devices.
I am pretty confident, that they will survive somehow.
Keep the upgrades and new devices coming.
Best wishes to Palm and PreCentral from Switzerland,
Rolf
I still love my Pre & wouldn't swap it for *anything* currently on the market....
Nor would I. Not for any of the new one (EVO, iPhone, W7, etc.).
well it was enough for me ... I'm willing to sit on my upgrade credit & wait to see what's coming out for Palm .... I love my sprint Pre & especially with all the tweaks it's great but anxious to see what new handsets they release ... a plus upgrade from a pre is just not worth the money to me .... But we'll see .... I know I want to keep using webos though
I've just read an article which you can fine here about the possibility of HTC buying Palm. So what you may think, only the article was written at the end of November 2008.
Yes we want to see better spec'd/sturdier phones (although my UK purchased Pre has been holding up fine), webOS enabled tablets etc. Instead of people predicting doom we should be singing the success of Palm & webOS. Also couldn't Palm consider buying up a larger phone manufacturer, I don't know may be someone like HTC?
Translation : HTC "The books are worse than we expected."
I certainly hope Palm makes it. I have my doubts they can survive the post Apple, HTC, Google, Dell and Microsoft onslaught.
Perhaps you are right. But perhaps not. I'm not a lawyer and not a stock broker either (I'm a programmer), but it's my understanding that if the board of a public company gets a notice of an offer, they have to consider it. I'm sure there's some rules around it being a reasonable offer & such, but it needs to be reviewed. One could look at this entire buyout business in the following light - "Hey, look at that. Palm's down under $4. I wonder if we can buy them cheap? Send them a notice.". Once the rumors of a buyout starts, the price takes off. Talks with the board reveal that the board is not interested in recommending a lowball offer to the stockholders. So if they want Palm, buyers would be competing on the open market. So the bargain hunters head for the door.
Ruby's comments could be interpreted that way. Right now Palm is caught in a hard place. Stock price is low. They haven't been able to reveal sales on Verizon. AT&T isn't online yet. And there may be legal contracts holding them off on release of the next phone. Lots of restrictive pressure points from lots of different directions. My thoughts are 50/50 - one side saying Palm really is in trouble, the other being held back from another burst of energy. I hope the latter is our future.
Palm has a future, and I good one at that. I'm certainly not putting my pre down anytime soon since I love it to much.
As a long time Palm user the recent news is very unsettling. On top of that I was reading in the newspaper yesterday Apple has a $42 billion cash warchest and most of it came from Iphone sales. Apple has so much cash they do not know what to do with it. They are currently earning less than 1% with conservative investments. If Palm had executed correctly they could have shared in that bounty.
well, I am enjoying my pre even if it still has common features missing. I'm not switching carriers and I can certianly wait for the next webos phone. Just keep supporting the sprint pre with updates, hopefully developers develope good apps and when the new webos phone come out, then I will buy it. I think any new phone should launch in multiple carriers and maybe after the iphone craze dies down, but not to far after iphone 4 release.
I like this pic of Ruby better -- he is much happier.
http://media.ft.com/cms/f9262302-4e36-11df-b48d-00144feab49a.jpg
This is Palm's last chance to make the right impression. If they hit a homerun with their marketing and wonderful phone (the OS is something everyone wants to love) they will be back in the game with Android...cause everyone I know who has an android phone stated it's too complicated for them, it does too much and it has cluttered their life which has done the total opposite to me with the Pre.......here's hoping that the new Product will be a big hit to bring along with it new developers as well