Missing Sync Beta For the Palm Pre!

One of the greatest variations from the norm with the Pre and WebOS, is the idea that you are not traditionally tying your phone to a particular computer for Data Sync. The Pre breaks out of the Box in that way, not committing to any OS for sync. It relies on what ever Cloud services you want to tie it to, to maintain your personal data.  This great article from Ars Technica will explain it way better than I ever could.

One thing that becomes evident though, especially after the woes over Toodle-Do’s Toodle-Down, that Doug posted, are you completely happy to commit your Data to the Cloud?

Palm Foleo, Resurfaces? Rumour Mill

While I wait for most of you to pick your jaws up off the floor, we’ll get into the Foleo from Palm. Does anyone remember it? A mobile companion that was set for great things, along the lines of the Celio Redfly, that never eventuated!

The original Foleo concept was meant to be a mobile companion that supported Windows Mobile and Palm devices. Announced on May 30, 2007, and renounced on September 4, 2007, the ill fated Foleo never eventuated. What did Palm have to say about it?

Foleo is based on second platform and a separate development environment, and we need to focus our efforts on one platform. Our own evaluation and early market feedback were telling us that we still have a number of improvements to make Foleo a world-class product, and we can not afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus. That would not be right for our customers or for our developer community.

Via Palms Blog

What was a bit screwy at the time, was the mention of a second platform, meaning the Foleo was based on a Linux derivative. As we have seen of late, WebOS is Palm’s major focus. It looks like the Palm Pre will be available in early release at Best Buy, on June 7, but stock and location are limited, and a NetBook built on the new WebOS could be the next Foleo!

Palm Pixie, er Castle, erhm Eos…

Doug posted the other day, well yesterday, “Is the Palm Pre 2 coming sooner than we think?”, woe and behold, this rumour seems to be getting fleshed out. seems like the second Web OS phone is going to have a form factor like the Treo, albeit with anorexia. A super slim Treo form Palm smartphone with an unconfirmed model name has appeared in the last couple of days, and it’s gone from blurry pics to quality pics to specs.

From Engadget Update: Oh boy — looks like we just got the full spec list. And yes, it’s definitely coming to AT&T (if it’s really coming).

• 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

Quite surprising really, and it’s going to  AT&T, which is really interesting considering all of the Verizon, getting the iPhone and maybe some other Pink device as well. An opportune rumour, it might be said!

In my opinion it only makes sense that Palm put out a device in it’s most successful form factor, some would say “familiarity breeds contempt” but I reckon it breeds comfort. If this device actually comes to pass, it’s very exciting and may herald a step back towards the big league for Palm devices.

Palm Eos: super-thin, 3G, and headed to AT&T?