Currently, consumers in America can waltz into their nearest Sprint store and pick up a Samsung Galaxy Tab for use on the CDMA network. But it only works on EVDO, not Sprint’s speedier WiMAX network. According to Sprint President of Business Markets Paget Alves in Forbes, they’ll be rectifying that in 2011, with the launch of an unspecified 4G-capable tablet.

The big unknown is what exactly this tablet (or tablets?) will run as an operating system, a specific Alves was mum on. He did at least admit that Sprint will soon have tablets running different operating systems than the Android-powered Tab. There are a number of options, including BlackBerry’s upcoming playbook, any number of Windows-powered tablets, but oh, could it be, an HP webOS-powered PalmPad? Don’t get your hopes up, because we have no way of reading any further into Alves’ words: there are several options, of which webOS is only one. Then again, we’d like to think that HP is going to go all Samsung here and make their webOS tablet available on all carriers. Wouldn’t that be something?

Source: Forbes; Via: Engadget; Thanks to everyone for the tips!

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The original webOS handset, the one that started it all, appears to be headed the way of the dodo, or at least Amelia Earhart. The Sprint Palm Pre, on sale since June 6, 2009 (522 days ago) has vanished from Sprint’s website. While there are still plenty of references to the phone in various pages (it still shows up in a search for Palm), the phone itself cannot be selected for viewing, purchase, or reminiscing. With no new webOS handsets yet announced, or even rumored, for Sprint, any potential webOS conversion will have to pick up a Wi-Fi-less Palm Pixi if they want to be on Sprint. With how much focus Sprint has been putting on Android handsets and their growing 4G WiMax network, we can’t say we’re too surprised to see the original Pre fading quietly into the sunset. But it still makes us sad.

Non-Source: Sprint.com, Thanks to Dan for the tip!

Update: The Pre Plus is gone from Verizon Wireless as well, several readers tell us. That situation is less dire: we’ve seen the Pre Plus popping on and off Verizon’s site for some time now and (more importantly) we know for sure that the Pre 2 is hitting Verizon soon.

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So, with the disclosure of FCC documents on the upcoming Palm P102UEU, it’s becoming clear that the next Palm device is going to be a spec-bumped Pre. The phone even uses the exact same Touchstone back as the current Pre phones and is confirmed to be a slider device, so it can’t be that different physically than what we already have. The only specs we’ve been able to confirm are a quad-band GSM radio (this one of the European variety, not AT&T), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 1150 mAh battery (again, same as the current phones), and a 1 GHz processor that may or may not be the TI OMAP 3630. Apart from that, there’s not a whole lot we can deduce about the device, except to assume that it may come with increased storage space. We wouldn’t count on a bump in RAM, as the 512MB in the Pre Plus has been proven more than capable.

With the same form factor there’s only so much that can be shoehorned into a Pre-shaped package. The camera may receive a bump in megapixels, but we wouldn’t count on auto-focus or zoom or any fanciness like that. Additionally, we wouldn’t expect to see any significant additions that wouldn’t be plug-and-play with the current hardware (e.g. the software- and pinset-compatible OMAP 3630 processor), so forget about front-facing cameras, compasses, gyroscopes, 4G radios, a larger and/or higher-resolution screen (320×480 is still fairly dense for the size), or anything like that.

So the question stands asking: with only so much upgrade available to be packed into the P102-series (Pre 2?), how much incentive is there for you to make the jump with (hopefully) more impressive hardware down the road? It’s a question that’s going to be especially of interest to Sprint (plus Bell and Telcel) subscribers, who are stuck with the original Palm Pre with no option to upgrade to a more capable Pre Plus without any hardware hackery. So, here’s the question: do you want a spec-bumped P102UEU now, a tricked-out webOS super phone later, or both? 

Do you want a spec-bumped P102UEU now (Q4 2010) or a webOS super phone later (Q1 2011)?online surveys

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We’re listening in on Verizon’s presentation at CTIA and they just announced their plans for their LTE roll-out. Unlike Sprint and Clearwire, who have been flipping on their 4G WiMax network one city at a time, Verizon plans to flip the switch to bring their 4G LTE network online in thirty-eight metro markets by the end of 2010 (the black dots above – red is 3G coverage). Verizon also plans to have sixty-two airports blanketed in LTE by the same time. Verizon’s network is designed to handle 5-7Mbps downlink speeds, with an impressive 2-5Mbps uploads. Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not those speeds will be possible in real world use.

Verizon isn’t announcing any devices right now, they’re saving that for CES at the start of January 2011. Apparently both smartphones and tablets will figure into their announcements then, and you can bet that we’ll be listening in with serious intent then. Verizon’s press release on the matter, with a full list of 2010’s LTE cities and airports, is after the break.

Source: Verizon

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Sprint has been the bastion of unlimited data in a land where the giants of AT&T and Verizon have either switched to the metered side, or have indicated it’s going to happen. But Sprint CEO Dan Hesse noted at the EmTech@MIT conference that if data usage gets out of hand, then Sprint’s unlimited data plans might got the way of the dodo, the dinosaur, and Lindsay Lohan’s film career. Says Hesse:

“We can offer unlimited as long as the usage is reasonable. If you run an all-you-can-eat buffet, but you have the New England Patriots come in and the whole team spends a whole day there, I can’t afford to do that anymore.”

True words, Mr. Hesse. The Sprint chief was sure to note that their 4G WiMax devices do command a $10-a-month higher charge than 3G-enabled devices, obviously because it’s easier to pull down more data over a faster 4G connection. For what it’s worth, the same thing happened when moving from $10-a-month 2G 1xRTT “Vision” service to $15-a-month 3G EVDO “Power Vision” service.

Hesse knows that Sprint users are fans of their unlimited service, and will be watching (and hoping) to see if they experience an influx of customers from AT&T and Verizon seeking to leave behind the metered data plans. Hesse himself is a fan of the unlimited concept: he is the owner of an unlimited car washes pass good for an entire year. “I spend more probably than I would without it, but I enjoy not having to pay to wash my car each time.”

Source: ComputerWorld; Via: Engadget

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Sprint’s quasi-subsidiary former-underling Clearwire is moving against the WiMax or the highway attitude with the recent announcement that they intend to start LTE trials this year. Clearwire, who offers Clear 4G WiMax service in cities around the nation and shares their network with Sprint (and visa versa), hasn’t been quiet about their awkward courtship with LTE despite the rocky marriage with WiMax. In fact, it was just about a year ago that Clearwire started making noise about LTE.

So what does this mean for Palm and Sprint? For one, it means that Clearwire doesn’t have an exclusive relationship with Sprint, and if it sees more potential in LTE (let’s be honest here, who doesn’t?) it could shut down or switch over those single-network WiMax towers to LTE to be used by Verizon and AT&T and everybody else on the planet. For Palm it could spell trouble if they’re working on a WiMax device for Sprint.

But in all reality, if Clearwire were to decide to make the switch to LTE, it’d probably go something like the switchover to GSM currently being executed by Telus and Bell up in Canada – they turned on the HSPA+ network back in November 2009 and their CDMA network is still running concurrently with a few million customers on board. It’ll be years before they can shut it down without angering hundreds of thousands of customers. If it weren’t for the customers these standards switches could happen overnight, but for now we can dream of Clearwire offering service to both WiMax and LTE customers in a happy land of compatibility.

Via: Engadget; Source: Clearwire

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With webOS available on three of the four major US carriers, there’s no time like the present to kick some dust around and see who comes out on top. According to PCMag.com’s exhaustive cross-country testing of the Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Cricket, Ma Bell came out on top as far as the nationwide averages are concerned. AT&T also took the speed crown in every region of the US excepting the northeast, where T-Mobile dominated.

While it’s little surprise that AT&T took the crown in 3G testing, the network also bested Sprint’s fledgling 4G network when available. The problem turns out to be the WiMax network’s consistency – while tremendous bursts of speed up to 3.14 MB were observed with 4G, when averaged with PCMag’s consistency scoring Sprint’s 3G network usually proved to be faster and reliable. Of course, we expect that to improve and can remember similar growing pains when 3G EVDO and HSDPA first hit the scene.

Of course, we do have to mention that all that was tested here was data speed (and we’re sure AT&T will be touting the results in ads in no time). Being able to download stuff really fast is great and all, but you should always remember to take the entire package of call quality, dropped calls, signal strength in the areas you frequent, and, of course, whether or not they have webOS phones available, when looking for a carrier.

Source: PCMag.com, via Boy Genius Report

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Clearwire (mostly owned by Sprint) had their first quarter earnings call and promised to launch two WiMAX smartphones by the end of the year. The first will come from Samsung, described as an "Android-based 3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use" and the second from HTC which was dubbed a "3G/4G/WiFi enabled phone." Clearwire even went as far as saying during the call it wasn’t the EVO 4G but a yet to be announced Device.

Why should webOS lovers care? No 4G Palm webOS device was mentioned whilst the company felt entirely comfortable pre-announcing two other WiMAX based smartphones. Whether we can deduce anything from this remains to be seen, however that mythical Palm C40 is looking a lot less like a WiMAX webOS device now. But hey, look on the bright side, HP said they’re doubling down and there’s always the hope that will mean a faster hardware cycle.

Here’s the real question: do you care about 4G yet? Must the next webOS device on Sprint have 4G or else be annihilated by the likes of the EVO? Have your say in the comments below!

Does Palm need a 4G device to compete?Market Research

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Palm announced today that hedge fund Harbinger Capital has purchased a 9.48% “passive stake” in the company. The purchase of 16 million shares, completed on April 12, equates to an investment of approximately $83 million at Monday’s stock price. The passive stake is one with no voting powers, otherwise this large of a share would have given Harbinger significant influence over the executive board of Palm. It is worth noting that this stock purchase is of common stock (the kind traded on the New York Stock Exchange) and does not represent an additional cash infusion for Palm.

Harbinger Capital Partners specializes in what they call “event/disaster strategies.” Their investment strategy revolves around putting money into companies they view as perched to experience significant growth and in companies that have fallen on hard financial times. Either (and both) could be used to describe their investment in Palm. Harbinger is headed by Philip Falcone, a billionaire who made his fortune from hedge fund management. The firm has made significant investments in the technology sector, and is actively engaged in the purchase and development of 4G wireless technologies. Last month Harbinger purchased satellite communications firm SkyTerra for nearly $262 million, and plans to spend as much as $4 billion building LTE network infrastructure to lease to American cellular carriers. As such, the 16 million share purchase of Palm stock is a drop in the bucket compared to how much Harbinger throws around on a daily basis.

What this means for Palm is nearly as complicated as what Elevation Partners’ investments in the company meant (Elevation Partners currently owns 30% of Palm). While Harbinger does not hold a voting stake in Palm, they can still exert significant influence on how the company is operated. It is worth noting that there are two other areas in which Harbinger invests: corporate shorts and value investments, both of which are passive investments, and have polar opposite opinions of the investment. Corporate shorting revolves around the borrowing and sale of shares that are believe to be overvalued, followed by the purchase and return to the lender of the shares at lower cost. Value investment is the more positive of the two, “where Harbinger believes a positive catalyst for value realization is already present” and the stock is poised to ride higher.

Given recent developments, we see the last option as the most likely. Even if it’s just Harbinger riding Palm shares into the takeover sunset and reaping a healthy profit, they see the stock value on the rise and want to take advantage of it. As speculated by StreetInsider.com, Harbinger also has the option to convert their passive stake into a vocal one should they not like what they see, and with the billions of dollars they have to play with, Harbinger could even make a bid for Palm themselves and take the company private.

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Here’s some of the latest talk in the forums:

• 4G, 4G, Four Gee. With the announcement of the HTC EVO 4G on Sprint, many in the forum are convinced that Palm should release a phone with a 4G radio. Let’s hope that battery technology jumps ahead a generation too.
• Folks are loving the new ZumoDrive service and are sharing their experiences with it and other cloud-based file services. Maybe that 4G connectivity will come in handy after all?
• With all of the recent bad news, a few tech publications have come out to say that Palm is finished. Our forum members disagree.  
• Speaking of the EVO, member benly52 isn’t sold and is going to be keeping his Pre: "they will have to pry my PRE from my cold dead hands." Surely, he isn’t alone.  

We look forward to seeing you in the Forums! Not a member?  Remember: registration is free, and the benefits of being a member are numerous indeed.

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