The Official Palm Blog

Clearing up a Misconception - Palm's Stock Price

I have noticed a couple misleading statements in recent articles about our stock price that I want to clear up. Under the terms of our recapitalization transaction with Elevation Partners, Palm paid a cash distribution to shareholders of $9.00 per share, funded by Elevation's investment of $325 million, new debt and a portion of existing cash. With this cash distribution paid out to Palm's shareholders (as of October 24th, 2007), the Palm stock price naturally decreased by the amount of the cash distribution. If you add back the $9.00 per share to the current price of our common stock, you would see that the current stock price is roughly the same value as it was a year ago ($13.84 as of January 30th, 2007). Articles referencing a significant drop in Palm's stock price without mentioning the $9,00 per share cash distribution are misleading.

Of course we all want to see Palm's stock price increase. We are working hard to transform our company to help drive the value higher, and everyone at Palm is focused on delivering great products. As we do that, we expect that Palm's future success as a company will follow.

-Paul Loeffler

Unlocked GSM Palm Treo 680 Software Updater

Unlocked GSM Palm Treo 680 smartphone customers - there is a new software update that is available for download here. The software update includes these features:

• Corporate email as it arrives - Have your corporate email delivered to you with Microsoft Direct Push Technology.
• Power saving enhancements - Helps conserve battery life with improved power management and updated default system power preferences.
• Supports larger expansion cards - Supports up to 4GB SD expansion cards (including the SDHC format), sold separately.
• Enhanced ringtone support - MP3 and other sound files purchased from the web or sent from friends can now be set as ringtones and alerts (formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, MIDI, WAV, and AMR).
• Three updates in one - This update incorporates three previously released software updates: Treo 680 Camera Update (January 2007), Treo 680 Security Patch (May 2007), and Treo 680 Unlocked GSM Smartphone SMS Update (July 2007).

For additional details and to install to your device, visit the Palm Treo 680 product support page.

-Robin W., Treo 680 Product Team

Clarification on Palm Treo Voice Dialing For Verizon Treo 755p

Just last month we announced that the Palm Treo 755p smartphone is available on Verizon Wireless and I wanted to provide some clarification around the Treo Voice Dialing software included.

The Verizon Wireless Treo 755p includes a full version of Treo Voice Dialing at no additional cost. You can find the Treo Voice Dial application in bonus software, either directly on your device by opening the MyTreo application, or from your PC by following the bonus software link of the CD.

With Treo Voice Dialing, you can use your voice to do any of the following:

• Dial anyone in your Contacts by name (e.g. "Call Bob Jones at home")
• Dial a phone number (e.g. "Call six-five-zero, five-five-five, one-two-three-four")
• Initiate a text or email message to anyone in your Contacts
• Launch an application

Treo Voice Dialing is speaker-independent, so no voice training is required.

As one commenter on the original blog post points out, the Treo 755p on Sprint uses a different voice dial application. The Sprint Treo 755p comes with a trial version of Nuance Voice Control, which provides more advanced features like short email/SMS dictation. After the trial, users can subscribe to Nuance Voice Control service at an additional charge.

-Rob K., Product Manager

Availability of Palm Desktop by ACCESS 6.2 for Windows Vista

We previously released a beta version of the Palm Desktop by Access (version 6.2) that is compatible with Windows Vista. Since releasing the beta version, we have been working with users and adding functionality to provide a more complete solution, which is now available. This application includes the following features and enhancements:

Integrated Desktop: Provides a single desktop and conduit compatibility across all Palm OS 3.5.x through 5.4.x devices.

Enterprise Friendly HotSync Enhancements: HotSync Manager 7.0 is a standalone application, and no longer requires Palm Desktop to be installed on the computer. All use management functionality has been moved into Hot Sync Migration Tools: installer checks for the latest settings and reports any known incompatibilities with third-party software.

Multilingual Support: Localized in Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

Install Tool: The Install Tool, which replaces the "Palm Quick Install" tool, allows you to sync .prc and .pdb files (Palm OS applications and databases) to your device.

Outlook 2007 Synchronization: Allows you to use your USB sync cable to synchronize with Outlook 2007's Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes. This version includes all previously released software updates such as the Outlook 2007 Update.

Supported Devices: Palm Desktop by Access 6.2 was designed to support the following devices on the Windows XP, Media Center Edition, and Vista platforms:

• Palm Centro
• Treo 650, 680, 700p, 755p
• Palm TX, Z22
• Tungsten E2

Who should update: Customers using Palm Desktop 4.2 on Windows 2000 or Windows XP do not need to migrate to version 6.2. Customers using Palm Desktop 6.2 Beta should migrate to the full version of Palm Desktop 6.2. Macintosh customers should take no action.

You can find additional information about the New Desktop here and on the Palm support site.

Tim P. - Senior Product Manager, Smartphones

VersaMail Update for Palm Centro Smartphone

Just a quick note to let you know that we have posted an update to VersaMail for Palm Centro users that includes improved Gmail compatibility. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Product update includes:

• Enhancements to Gmail IMAP compatibility and an updated setup wizard with the new Gmail settings
• Improvements to help eliminate the silent failure of email when using Microsoft's Direct Push Technology via Exchange ActiveSync in VersaMail. Some users have reported that their email stops arriving, but they are not notified to press "Sync" to re-enable Direct Push Technology. This update helps eliminate the occurrence of this scenario.

If you do not use Microsoft EAS or Gmail IMAP for email, you do not need to download this new version of VersaMail. Visit the support page for details.

Steve J. - Product Manager, Email

CES...Through the Eyes of Student Journalists

Not everyone gets a chance to experience the madness-filled week that CES is in person (I only made it to the Digital Experience event on Sunday night), but thankfully there are a lot of people out there who blog/moblog about what's going on so we can keep up with the latest tech innovations.

This year we worked with KTLA's Kurt the Cyber Guy and provided 20 Palm Centro smartphones to student journalists from UNLV so they could moblog from the tradeshow. They wrote more than 40 articles covering a range of topics from keynote speakers to CNET's The Next Big Thing to Guitar Hero. I haven't finished reading all of the articles yet, but it's been interesting to experience CES this year through the eyes of these bright students.

Links to a few of their stories are included below and all of the stories are available on Kurt's website.

-Paul Loeffler

Student Journalist Articles:

-Building a Better Tomorrow With Technology

-The Computer-Driven Car

-Guitar Hero Rocks Showstoppers

-Global Effort to Make Radio Accessible to Hearing and Sight Impaired

Access HollyWood and Custom Phone Etching

It's been a long week of travel and I am finally wrapping it up at the Access Hollywood suite in LA where I have been handing out Treo and Centro smartphones to celebrities. There's been a solid turnout despite the writers' strike, because unlike the usual SWAG suites, this one benfits two worthy organizations: Best Buddies and Lollipop Theatre.

Celebrities attending the event ranged from Bill Bellamy to Adam Ferrara to a few of the Pussycat Dolls. One of the things that really got the celebrities excited in addition to their new smartphones was the ability to personalize their phones using Etchstar.com (they use a cool laser machine to customize electronic devices with any type of art form, including...you guessed it...etching). The most popular choices were the "peace" symbol, skull and cross bones, and shouts out to the celeb's shows.

Pictures are included below and I also was able to get some video footage of the Etchstar machine in action.

-Paul Loeffler

(Standing with Bill Bellamy and his new Verizon Treo 755p - he had a heart with "love" etched into his smartphone)

(Danneel Harris holding her new Sprint Palm Centro smartphone with a etched "peace symbol")

(Carmit of the Pussycat Dolls holding her Verizon 755p - she got a flower etched on her smartphone)

(Lennie James of Snatch holding his Unlocked Treo 680 with a "smiley face and peace symbol, standing next to Jason Issacs of Blackhawk Down and Harry Potter).

Special Screenings of 27 Dresses and Chance To Win Free Centro

Following the 27 Dresses premiere a few days ago, Palm and the Princess Project hosted 8 special screenings of the movie across the country and passed out free Palm Centro smartphones to the first 27 people in line who donated a dress to the Princess Project. The events were a great success and more than 300 dresses were donated and will go to girls who could not otherwise afford them. We have some photos from the events below.

For those who weren't able to attend the event and would still like a chance at winning a free Palm Centro smartphone, check out The Most Outrageous Bridesmade Contest Photo Contest - visit the site for details. Prizes include a Palm Centro and a free trip to LA. Make sure to hurry though because the entry deadline is January 15th.

-Paul Loeffler

(People attending "27 Dresses special screening lining up side to donate dress to the Princess Project)

 

(Palm respresentatives enjoying the festivities at the special screenings of 20th Century Fox's "27 Dresses)

(Annabella Trujillo from LA is interviewed by Entertainment Tonight and receives a prom dress donated by Katherine Heigl worn in “27 Dresses")

(Ladies attending the 27 Dresses special screening in LA and getting dressed up for the event)

Moblogging From 27 Dresses Premiere

Next stop is LA, and now I am using my Centro smartphone to moblog from the red carpet premiere of 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy and Knocked Up). The Treo 755p also makes a cameo in the movie.

More details to come and plenty of pics and video too.

-Paul Loeffler

(Katherinne Heigl shot with Palm Centro)

(Ed Burns being interviewed on red carpet - shot with Centro smartphone)

(Definitely the first time 27 women in bride's dresses have been captured the first time by a Centro)

(Ellen Pompeo of Grey's Anatomy)

A WeeK of Moblogging

 

I'm doing a lot of traveling to and from different events this week, so I'm going to try out moblogging from my Centro smartphone.

First stop is the Digital Experience event at CES (a lot of people will be moblogging from CES week), where we spotted Carson Daily of (Formerly of MTV) checking out a "mobile booth."

More to come...

Paul Loeffler