Palm hiring video conferencing engineer 42
Palm may be experiencing an exodus of a large number of the folks from what used to be its executive staff, but that hasn't stopped the recently acquired company from seeking out top talent to fill its engineering ranks. Evidence of this can be found by way of the company's career opportunities page where a good 20 high-level engineering jobs have been posted since the merger closed on the first of this month. The most intriguing of these job offerings are the ones that perhaps offer us a glimpse into where Palm might be going in the near future, including:
- Video Conferencing Software Engineer. HP has been in a mad rush to snap up companies in a bid to align its resources around Palm, and one of those was video conferencing firm Vidyo. While they didn't announce anything concrete at the time relating to mobile, the hinted very heavily at the prospect of their technology finding its way on to phones. Another significant video chat service to note is Apple's FaceTime, which is an open standard as sister site TiPB notes, and could very well find its way into Palm devices because of that.
- Senior Visual Designer. While the user interface and visuals in webOS looks great on phones and will certainly scale decently to larger screens on different form factors, its going to need some optimization to really make it shine. And with such high profile members of the UX team departing in recent times such as Matias Duarte to Google and Rich Dellinger to Apple, Palm is going to have to work very hard to stay ahead in this key area.
- Senior Kernel Engineer. Different devices across different form factors call for Linux kernels that are highly optimized for each one, and if you are looking for more proof that HP intends to deploy webOS across a myriad of connected devices, here you are.
A bolstered engineering corps under the direction of the legendary Jon Rubinstein with the oft-mentioned scale and resources of HP? Buckle up webOS enthusiasts - the rest of 2010 is going to be a wild ride.
To see the rest of the listings on Palm's career page, follow the source link.
Source: Palm's careers page; thanks to GodShapedHole for the tip!
42 Comments
see.. I told you guys hp got this..... I still stand by my previous comment. Go Palm!
Sounds good cant wait to see what new devices are on the way
Ok so, AVAYA "may" not announce a WebOS tablet tomorrow as part of their partnership with HP, but... I still say it will happen. It only makes sense that if the desktop phone (for biz) is not going away and PC based video client and cam is too much of a support hassel for mass adoption of person to person vid... Why not turn the deskphone into a tablet with video, cloud based apps, 3G/4G, WIFI?
Interesting idea, but I see a few not insignificant hurdles there.
First is cost, the typical desktop office phone is far cheaper than a tablet.
Second is durability. Even well cared for, a tablet seems unlikely to still be viable tech more than 4 or 5 years down the line while those office phones seem to take a licking and keep on ticking.
I know folks get excited about video conferencing on their cellphones, but I still don't see why. It's a neat idea but it just doesn't seem very practical. I'm curious when exactly the people who are so enthused about this think they will use it when moving over to their desktop or laptop for skype won't be just as effective.
Ok, I guess I should qualify (somewhat) my comments. As someone who works in voice... Todays desktop phones range in price from $200 to $1,000 list. I do agree regarding the lifecycle of deskphones to tablets, however a desktop phone has only one application, voice. A multi-function device would be looked at differently.
Now, as to the demand for video... Video conf has been around for years, but (like voice) used the ole PSTN for transport. IP video's been available for a few years, but only recently have the big players adopted newer H.264 codec versions. Also, traditionally video has been thought of in conferencing terms only. If you could make person to person video as easy as voice...
From a voice perspective, skype or any other PC desktop video app is cool, but it's just that, cool. Why do more people use IM or Text (SMS) or even voice on their mobile phone? If you have to find and be in front of a stationary device, just to make a call... It's obvious mobile devices would be the driver for person to person video due to it being easy to use and always in your pocket.
My comp has deployed desktop vid to all our execs, and we are looking for a solution for the masses. The major impediment is trying to certify video client HW/SW for each type of PC and standard load we have. IMO, replacing the desktop phone with a device that does voice, video, web, IM, e-mail and web-based office apps, and can be docked at work and then used away from the office is better. A dedicated platform to support is cheaper. Same reason we still use game consoles instead of only a PC. Just my two cents...ok, maybe a couple bucks. Sorry
I kind of agree with you. Im not too familiar with the table announced (projected?) by Cisco but it seems they want to make something along those lines?
I think the AVAYA and HP agreement was thought before -or independently- of Palm acquisition and just to compete with cisco in that area now that HP aims to be the integrated solution to all IT needs.
If cisco finally has a tablet that might be the catalyst to create a non-consumer tablet with webOS along the lines you are describing.
Cisco is on it with Android: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11156/index.html
Maybe AVAYA (or HP themselves) can do something similar with webOS?
The thing about mobile vid, is this... When would you use it? While driving? God no! While wandering around the house/office/walking around town? Doesn't seem likely. It seems to me that if you're going to use mobile vid, you need to be stationary. Non-mobile. In which case you may as well be at your laptop or desktop. As it is, most people seem to be moving away from voice, texting, I'm and email are more and more the communication methods of choice. Vid seems to be in the opposite direction of that trend. It's neat tech, but I'm increasingly convinced that it will be a very niche tech at best.
As for business conferencing, rarely has anything like vid conferencing been something that seemed necessary or beneficial at work. Far more useful have been services like Webex for desktop sharing.
We use is to that my mom can see & chat with her grandchild no matter where we are. So it's useful for us. Just because you're stationary, does not mean you are stationary at home or in a wifi hotspot. We can be "stationary" in a moving car and still have grandma and grandchild get their chat on.
I love Palm and my Pre, but by the time they hire this individual and design, test, and implement the software across multiple devices, it will be quite awhile from now. Meanwhile Apple and Android both have video chat on their phones NOW and will likely be working on whatever the Next Big Thing is then we'll see another job posting for that.
Palm needs to stop trying to play catchup and innovate. They really need to try to leapfrog Android and Apple with the next device.
You mean like with their impressive multitasking system? Or their award winning inductive charger which still no one else has? iIt's been a while since we had new hardware, but riddle me this caped crusader... What was on the new iPhone that wasn't just catching up to what Android and Palm had already done? What was new on the iPhone3gs that no one else had done?
Retina Display; HD video recording, editing and playback; 12 hour talk time battery and oh yeah, a platform for video calls not just the ability to place them and let someone else run with the service. So there are just a few.
so i guess when 1st iphone was released... Apple was playing catchup to Palm?
catch up? give me a break.
Palm is hiring. Great news.
There are some gr8 guys over at webOS internals.. that are qualified.
I love all of those things and, yes, they were innovative, but the market has spoken and, unfortunately the bottom line is that no one cares outside of this forum.
iPhone4: FaceTime, phone design, display. Use of the digital compass was clever in the 3GS and added a lot to the app ecosystem (Apple's main advantage). Don't think it's tremendous, but they're also near the top of the heap in market share. They do enough to stay ahead of the pack until someone can leapfrog them and only Android is having any luck there and they're doing it by being on 5 carriers with a new device every 3 months (phone spam). Adding video conferencing a year later is not going to do it for Palm at all.
people DO care about it because both iOS and android are set to receive at least new notification system (iOS) and a new -strongly needed- revamped UI (android).
All OS are playing catch up among them, all of them in different areas.
And btw the fact the they were hiring new kernel engineers does not mean webOs does not have a kernel.... so please apply the same logic to any other role they are hiring already.
We just dont know what they are developing because they are being ultra secretive. And for the better, because other OS could play cath up once they know it.
On the other hand...chances are that Palm has already been working on the idea of video conferencing on a handheld device for some time. Particularly considering that they hold a (quite crucial) patent for it (just search for 'System for and method of conferencing with a handheld computer using multiple media types').
Of course that doesn't mean that have it ready to be deployed yet...but at least they're not starting from scratch.
That being said, I think video conferencing is overhyped. There is a reason why webcams attract more dust than any other computer component, or why video-phones never managed to find a market. The only reason to implement it is because it's a 'feature' not because it useful. And the current mobile-war isn't about usefulness but about showing off with features (not saying that all features are useless or that Palm has the most useful phone out there).
video phones never caught the market because they were too expensive for consumers and you could only make a video call to another person that also had a video phone.. So why buy one if no one has one to call up and video chat? Not to mention have you used one of those video phones? The images are choppy and slow. Not to mention they are a tad bit pixilated....
with that said the same can go for web cams. People stopped using them and not wanting them because when you used one the images were choppy,slow and sometimes pixilated.... Technology has changed with web cams as I have one built into my Acer Aspireone netbook and it's fun to have on hand. But people still have that bad taste in their mouths from when webcams hit their high point with all the flaws.
now with smartphones being so powerful in this day and age and streaming video is finally fast enough it doesn't look choppy. Also with so many devices landing in peoples hands that have the front facing camera like the iphone4 and the HTC EVO then I can see a second opportunity for video conferencing working out. Especially in business.
consumer use would also have opprotunities to go from simple gimick to very useful also. Especially people who have families and travel alot. Who wouldn't want to see their husband or wife and see their childs face while sitting in an airport waiting for their next connecting flight, or in their hotel before they went to sleep? I know when I'm away for longer periods of time I would love to see my girlfriend instead of reading her texts or just simply hearing a voice. I can only imagine what it would be like to have a family and being away from them.
so yes there are a long list of good possibilities for video conferencing on a smartphone. Alot more portable and lighter then video conferencing on a laptop or even a netbook..
Who wouldn't want to see their husband or wife and see their childs face while sitting in an airport waiting for their next connecting flight, or in their hotel before they went to sleep?
Pretty much how we use it. My mom lives in another city. We've been her sending pics and vids of her grandchild. The EVO changes things for us in a big way because of the vid chat features.
You know, Macy's is hiring a cashier, imagine how successful they will be when they start collecting money from departing customers.
Just because they're hiring someone in these positions, does not mean they dont already have a dozen or two people already working on that functionality. Is "one schmoe" going to create video conferencing? No, it takes a team, and chances are this is an *addition* to said team.
Palm was looking for an antenna design guy a couple months ago. Have they gone all these years with antennae?
Hey Guidal, are you not aware that Android and Apple are playing catchup with regard to many things that have been on WebOS for over a year? Yes, Apple has scooped the industry with Facetime and WebOS playing catchup there but that's pretty much it.
This is good news but I agree with Gaidal. I'm anxious for a new phone right now....I'm guessing there are a lot of people just as anxious for new webOS phones as well.
Hiring these people - getting them up to speed, and all of the other hurdles that are involved in getting a newly developed product to market - means - we won't be getting a new webOS phone anytime soon. 2 qtr - 2011?
I was hoping we were close to something being announced -but my guess is - that is just not the case. Depressing!
My guess is HP has the funds to wait until they feel the device(s) are ready. I agree with your timing if HPalm is only now starting a new device (which is possible if they scrapped whatever Palm already had in the queue). There is a possibility, however, that Palm has one or more devices close to release.
Although I understand why HPalm will not pre-announce any devices (as stated by Phil McKinney), it would certainly be nice to have something for which to look forward.
"...direction of the legendary Jon Rubinstein with the oft-mentioned scale and resources of HP..."
Legendary? Really? Is someone still suffering from the weekend, perhaps?
When you work at apple and create the ipod and become the head of the ipod group and the market explodes, youll probably get quite a few adjectives.
muesli don't forget he was also one of the key players to the iphone... That's why I have joked around and said the Pre is iphones illegitamate half brother.. Lol...
Ah, didnt know that, I believed he left a little before. But anyway seems Jobs really had him in good regard given he brought him from NeXT to head the computer division when Jobs returned to Apple. Also Rubinstein is the one that had to take the scene to talk about the "megahertz myth" back in the PowerPC days.
Anyway he is one of the only execs brought by elevation partners to palm that is not leaving yet, so it seems he is really attached to webOS.
Muesli you are correct. I got bad info I just went and researched that and yes indeed he develeoped the ipod however did retire before the release of the iphone however his innovation is still on that device because the original iphone was just basically an ipod with a touch screen and phone radio.... So some of his development is indeed inside the iphone.. That's probally where I misunderstood the info I had read awhile back.
none the less bottom line is I personally think Rubinstein and Jobs are still on good terms seeing as they were friends for soooo long (if Jobs can have friends) and a friendship you can't end because they went to another company.. You can only wish them the best and secretively cheer for them when they do something good. Almost like friendly competition of playing a game of one uping eachother... Saying ya well I got this what do you got now.. Lol
that being said it's no wonder you don't hear Jobs say anything bad about Palm anymore.. And probally one of they key reasons that Apple said if they would of bought Palm they would of suported Palm to take care of the physical keyboard side of smartphones.. Jobs and Rubinstein together again would of been devastating to the smartphone world. Apple going after Android and winmo7 while the Palm division could of concentrated on taking out the number one smartphone company in the world....RIM (Blackberry).. Heck didn't Apple start filing a lawsuit against the Palm Pre right around launch date on Sprint? I'm curious how close was them retracting their lawsuit and the time Rubinstein became CEO of Palm timeline.. Interesting...
anyways that's off subject.. I was wrong he did just basically develop the ipod and have nothing to do with developing the iphone.. Still the things he did to change everything with the development of the ipod would make him legendary seeing all smartphones are basically based off of the ipod.... and Palms original pda style phones mixed together with a capacitive touch screen.
so he changed the gadget world with the ipod.. And now he is the head of a company that changed the world with PDAs and PDA smartphones.. (sorry palm was able to figure out what Apple was doing wrong with the Newton)
Apple's hardware engineering chief, Jon Rubinstein with his entourage were given a one year's period to create the Apple iPod. Michael Dhuey, Tony Fadell and design engineer Jonathan Ive were also part of the team.
Why does Jon get so much credit? Some people credit Fadell as a major designer of the ipod.
Nice headline. Good reporting of what's going on in the public view. There's more going on behind the scenes and so far all that's reported are crickets.
People have every right to be anxious about the newest Palm device that is coming out. But, we also have to put into account that Palm just got acquired from HP. Now with HP's size and scale we have to forward for huge, huge amazing things coming from HP/Palm. Palm will come out with a powerful and innovative device with excellent hardware and software, just be patient folks.
I just want better harware with the same old plain jane WEBOS.. thats all i want..unless they incorporate a built in projector into the phone...
People have every right to be anxious about the newest Palm device that is coming out. But, we also have to put into account that Palm just got acquired from HP. Now with HP's size and scale we have to look forward for huge, huge amazing things coming from HP/Palm. Palm will come out with a powerful and innovative device with excellent hardware and software, just be patient folks.
so this means that nothing is coming out til NOV I can wait it's going to be the most impressive palm phone ever
I agree that video conferencing is more of a luxury than a necessity. I work for a multi-billion $ a year company that holds meetings & conference calls across the country on a daily basis & we don't use it. Personally, I believe the smartphone companies that have a strong business reputation are trying to implement it to attract more consumer customers & vice versa. It's just another stepping stone in the growth of our technological lives, but I couldn't care less about it.
All I can say is I'm waiting on Palm because I'm spoiled by the sleeky coolness of WebOS. There is nothing on newer phones that I want except for their speed. I like the size of the Iphone, but I like the size of my Pre a little more. So, I would be happy with a phone that was almost Iphone sized without losing the sheer comfort of holding a Pre in your hand. I just hope we get something really cool and forward thinking by Christmas. Until then, I will keep my phone overclocked and be happy. The truth is,theres not a phone on Sprint that I'd rather have other than my Pre. Now, if Sprint got an Iphone, I would be very tempted.
webOS is a long way from user interface bliss, it's the best to date but still has its problems.
Wow! Anyone that thinks Palm is dead should take a look at their job postings...
Live moves fast. Don't miss a thing.
Go Palm!
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Sr. Multimedia Software Engineer
Palm has generated a buzz across the mobile space with the announcement of the Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus. The media framework team has an opening for a senior software engineer in the Web OS group. Media framework caused a huge amount of excitement at CES this year with the launch HTML5 media support and video recording, and the team is capitalizing on the achievements to further improve and enhance the end user and developer experience for media on the platform. The media framework team is responsible for the media experience in Web OS through the APIs that software developers use to provide media rich applications.
We are looking for an experienced senior software engineer to work on media framework, media APIs and media policy.
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Senior Software Engineer
Palm is looking for exceptional developers to join the WebOS Systems team to define the future of the mobile operating system. WebOS is growing to enhance support for future applications and services and this is the opportunity for talented developers to contribute to the core technology driving WebOS.
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Software Applications Developer - Media
Do you enjoy taking pictures, listening to music, and watching videos? The media team is looking for a talented, motivated engineer to develop media applications on the webOS platform, working primarily in JavaScript/HTML/CSS. The team is responsible for the photo viewer, music and video players, and camera application as well as other related projects.
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Sr. Software Engineer
Develop e-mail synchronization software for the webOS platform with standard protocols such as SMTP, POP, IMAP, and Exchange ActiveSync. Senior position required to architect, design, and implement solutions based on RFCs. Work collaboratively with team to implement solutions across the application/UI, transport/protocol, and database/storage layers.
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Sr. Software Engineer
Palm is looking for top-notch graphics engineers to focus on the foundation for rich and innovative user interfaces. The software developers we're looking for will have strong analytical skills and will be effective team members in a small, focused group. We're looking for developers who are passionate about fluid user interfaces and pushing the envelope for mobile device performance.
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Sr. Software Engineer
Develop middleware and GUI components for WebOS platform.
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Sr. Software Engineer - Mojo Framework
We are expanding our Mojo Framework team to meet the future needs of Palm apps and third party developers. You will collaborate with the team to create new features for our built-in applications as well as being available to all third party developers for application development. You will be responsible for concepts / prototypes, architecture / design, implementation, and unit test creation. Additional responsibility is to lead the framework efforts around canvas, webGL, CSS transformations, HTML5 video, and other emerging web standards around graphics, animation, and video. Help make the framework the leading javascript framework around these next-generation technologies.
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SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER; WEBOS PLATFORM (WEBKIT)
Palm is seeking a world-class software engineer to work on the WebKit and JavaScript engines that power webOS. Shape the future of the smartphone industry by enabling new features on Palm phone hardware by having direct impact on the performance and feature set of the core layer that powers webOS.
So is this due to expansion or are they filling positions that have been vacated? Not dissing; asking.
I do not work for Palm, so I cannot say. However, none of the jobs I posted are for Sr. Management which is where the high profile departures have been.
True, but I doubt the high profile departures were the only...departures. Just wondering out loud. I see a list like this presented as "business as usual" and automatically think about both sides. Could be that they are expanding or it could be that they are filling spots recently vacated. A lot of these don't seem like "new" positions to me.
Woah.... That's a big list of jobs..
Promising... "IF" they want to get the video conferencing on the phones.. with current PRE hardware that is impossible. However, could they be focusing on having this feature on PalmPad tablets instead?