Paying Attention to all things Technology

We have heard the news today that Verizon Wireless has finally gotten their Palm devices out for the general public today. First you have the Pre Plus and then their is the Pixi Plus. These are the same phones that are out on Sprint with some small upgrades. Palm had it’s big launch last year with the Pre and Sprint. The response hasn’t been awesome, it was okay but nothing ground breaking. I think they were in a hurry to get it out and had to have a premature launch. Mainly because they promised it would be out the first half of the year last year. I used a Pre for a couple of weeks and I really did like the device other than Web OS was a little laggy at times. It was very user friendly and easy to use. They are constantly working on their software to make every improvement that they can. Now with that being said their is Sprint, which has a very good network but isn’t on par with Verizons. The question going over in my mind is, since these devices are on the Big Red and Sprint now, will it boost sales enough to get Palm back up to where they need to be? My guess is no. I don’t think they have the mind share in people to really boost the sales like they are probably hoping. With the two Droid phones being Verizons flagship devices where do these devices stand in their line up? Oh and god forbid if Apple announces that the iPhone is available on Verizon. I wish Palm the best of luck and think they do have a future, but at this point don’t see it being a huge future unless something drastic happens. What do you think?

So we all heard it today, what we have been waiting to hear, Apple is having an event on January 27th. I see blogs posted and news press stories everywhere saying, Apple Tablet is official, iPhone 4 is here. Then the next thing I know I have people asking me “Have you heard about the new iPhone and the new Apple Tablet?”  Yes, for a matter of fact I have, I have been hearing about it forever it seems like, and I have also heard that nothing is official! People throw that word around like its the real deal and we all know that nothing is official until we hear those magic words, ” Oh and one more thing”. With that out of the way, I am super excited about this event and I do hope we see an iTablet, iSlate or whatever it might be called. I do think we will see something about the new iPhone announced, probably 4.0 software and that it will be available on some other carrier (not for sure about it being Verizon though). I’m really not sure what else they have up their sleeve, but I just hope it’s good and lives up to the hype. Apple still amazes me how they can hype the press so well and get so many people excited about a keynote. I think the tactic of not saying anything to anyone really does help, because us as Americans, are all impatient, and the longer we have to wait the more excited we get. While i am writing ths we have a little over a week until the event, and I can’t wait to “Come see our latest creation”.

So with all the news at CES about several new Android devices coming on AT&T and other carriers constantly getting them, I’m really trying to figure out what Google’s plan is. Yesterday i also heard from the Engadget Show that there is already a new version of the OS updated called FROYO (Frozen Yogurt) and another device in the works called the Nexus Two. Google is moving at a very rapid rate with OS updates and and devices, which is something that we have never seen in the cell phone market before. I’m just not sure what the plan is though for them. We are hearing that a lot of older devices are going to get the latest updates pushed out, but with the carriers and handset makers being in control of the updates we are not seeing them very fast. While current Android holders are waiting for a 2.0 update, there are already going to be two more updates come out in the mean time. With that all being said I think that Google needs to get an update process that is a little different. It is causing confusion with the app developers and people with current Android devices don’t know what is going on. If they would be clear on the front end to everyone and just say “Hey everyone if you have a current Android device you aren’t going to get to update to the new OS unless you get a newer device”. I’m not sure that is the best answer for what they are doing but, I think they need to be clear about what is going on. So with the fast pace of all the devices and updates are they trying to take over all the cell phone market? Is it good to be updating stuff at this fast of a pace? It has me wondering if Google might fall as fast as they rise. Only time will tell but in the mean time I’m still going to ponder and try to figure out in my mind what they are thinking. Maybe they aren’t thinking and they are just doing what Google does, we shall see.

www.twitter.com/donnybenfield

This is the area, where i will be posting all my normal general news that i think you should hear about in technology.