Verizon Store Experiences, Developer Meetups and More... From the Forums 11
by Robert Werlinger Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:02 am EST
Here's some of the latest discussion in the forums:
- There's no question that Verizon's execution of Palm's launch has been less than spectacular. New webOS users are sharing the experience of buying their new Pre Plus or Pixi Plus from Verizon. The gist of the thread? Palm had better hope that project JumpStart works.
- Some people still have "homebrewaphobia", a fear that installing programs like Preware and the hundreds of apps and patches made available by doing so will harm their phone. Worry no longer friends, as the words of the wise PreCentral forum members help to dispatch those fears once and for all.
- The GSM Pre forum is buzzing with speculation about when paid apps are going to hit non-US territories this month. My bet? Next weeks Game Developers Conference (which will be covered by TiPb's Renee Ritchie!).
- Attention webOS developers in Silicon Valley: member krid is putting together a developer meetup on March 16th complete with a speech from the Palm Developer Relations Crew. Are you in?
We look forward to seeing you in the forums. Not a member? There's no time like the present.
11 Comments
it's unreal that paid apps aren't available in other countries yet.
Palm needs to do something quick. Their stock price has been so horrible these last few days. They really need some good news because if their stock continues to drop, it looks like they are almost certain to be acquired. Their stock was recently downgraded once again today. Supposedly, they are getting about 1% of Verizon sales (roughly 10K units/week). It's trading now at a 52-week low, and will probably go even lower by week's end.
It's hard to imagine exactly what they can do. New hardware would cause some excitement, however, if it isn't going to be ready for months then it will cause further erosion in the sales of existing models. Perhaps we will see an intentional leak or something.
Already, we are seeing the quality apps slow to a trickle as developers begin to realize that this platform is not only not going to take off, but may fade away just like Palm OS did - and taking the App Catalog with it.
Can you imagine anyone proposing development of a webOS app at a software company these days?
If Palm is developing a product bigger and better than the Pre (I only hope the next product they release is), it had better be well ahead of what other phones (aka next gen iPhone) can offer... and if it truly is coming, they should start with the "coming soon" commercials. Keep people on the edge of their seats in anticipation (like the iDon't Droid commercials did), so many will wait to see before re-upping their 2 yr agreement today with not as impressive phones....
I completely agree with you. It's sad to see Palm slowly die away. I love my Pre/WebOS, but when you look at the numbers (i.e. cash burn), I don't even know if they will survive this year unless something changes dramatically. 10K/week in Verizon sales is pretty bad (that's around a handful or so per store.) They gotta do something quick, because when WinMo 7 comes out, they're going to lose whatever market they had that isn't currently taken by the iPhone/Android ecosystems.
4th gen iPhone
Windows Phone 7
A half-dozen new Android units
iPad
RIMs
Nokias
It's not as if a new webOS phone is going to be the center of anybody's attention. There will be plenty of new phones coming this year. That makes Palm's long-term prospects very dim. The costs of launching new hardware and going all-out with marketing is going to burn through the rest of their cash by the end of the holiday season. It's not clear to me that major Palm investors would think this is a good use of the cash they put into the company. It probably depends on the hardware they are working on.
it's unreal that free apps are not available everywhere ...
Another popular forum thread I can't believe you guys looked over: dbd's http://forums.precentral.net/palm-pre/233767-post-ur-own-video-commercia...
Make your own palm commercial. Grassroots!
Palm better get the Bluetooth-Car Kit connection fixed quickly in v1.4 or there will be a mass exit of BMW owners from Palm (see forum thread re Bluetooth & WiFi) including myself. Connectivity works perfectly with v1.3.5. What went wrong? I absolutely love the Pre Plus (purchased 3/5) but if Palm does not fix this issue very soon, I will return it for something else. This issue should not bode well for Palm
I would love to start patching my pre...but novacom and windows 7 don't like eachother
Palm has a great product in the Palm Pre. They need to improve their marketing and realize that even great products don't always sell themselves. Even watching an Iphone commercial will make you want one. Have you ever seen a Pre commercial that makes you want one? They also need to provide us with an onscreen keyboard for people who don't want the inconvenience of opening the slider for everything. Also they should stop pumping out new hardware and keep improving the software and have a produce or get off the pot meeting with the Documents To Go CEO.
I am still on my original launch day Pre and it gets better every day via new software and updates. I also have an I-touch and I think the Pre every bit as good. Palm stop messing around get us more updates and apps. Thanks, I love this forum!