Palm CES Event Predictions: Results!#
Well, I put up my predictions (find them here), the event happened, and now it’s time to go back and see how I did.
- Upgraded versions of the Pre and Pixi on Verizon. Result: correct! The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are launching exclusively on Verizon on January 25th.
- Lower-level graphics support. Result: correct! Palm introduced PDK (Plug-in Development Kit), allowing developers to use C and C++ in their webOS applications. They’ll be rolling it out later this year.
- Video Recording. Result: correct! The next webOS update will have video recording capabilities. And while we’re on the topic of the next webOS update…
- webOS 2.0. Result: incorrect! I think I can take half credit on this one, though, because they ARE coming out with a major webOS update—1.4—in February.
- A new device. Result: incorrect! While the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are technically “new devices,” I think we all know that I really meant something new entirely.
- Finished App Catalog. Result: correct! The submission/review process has been finalized, and now anyone can submit a webOS application to the App Catalog.
- A real sync solution. Result: incorrect! I still really want it though.
- webOS phones on AT&T. Result: correct! Or incorrect, depending on which way you swing it. Yes, it was in my list, but if you read more than just the bold text I bet against it. For my part, I’m going to score this one in my favor.
So, by my count, I have 5 (and a half) out of 8. Not bad!
Samsung's Transparent Display At CES∞
Awesome new technology from Samsung. When can I buy one of these?
Palm CES 2010 Presentation Video∞
Video of the Palm keynote from yesterday.
Engadget Live from Palm's CES 2010 Press Event∞
A bit late, but here’s a good summary of the event with pictures.
Last-Minute Predictions For Palm’s CES Event#
In 20 minutes as of the time of this writing (11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern) Palm will have their big CES event (live coverage can be found at PreCentral). What will they announce? Here are my guesses.
- Upgraded versions of the Pre and Pixi on Verizon. This chart shows what the new specs will probably be (doubled memory on both devices).
- Lower-level graphics support. That GPU that’s sitting idle in the Pre and Pixi now? Expect it to be put to good use, along with support for OpenGL ES or WebGL. Furthermore, there will probably be lower-level APIs for developers who want to make more graphics-heavy applications (read: games).
- Video Recording. The underpinnings of this have been sitting in webOS for quite some time. Hopefully they’ll finally make themselves useful.
- webOS 2.0. This really goes along with the lower-level graphics support and video recording, but it’s definitely time for a major update to webOS.
- A new device. I’m still strongly in favor of Palm establishing a trio of webOS devices. I say they should introduce one with a larger screen than the Pre and no hardware keyboard to go directly after the iPhone, but a device designed to succeed the aging Treo would work as well.
- Finished App Catalog. Yes, it’s out of beta, but so far they haven’t rolled out the official process for submitting apps. This is something the platform desperately needs.
- A real sync solution. I realize the part of the point of the platform is “synergy” with web services, but I’d like to be able to sync with some desktop software, thanks. Palm has been laying low on the “media sync with iTunes” front ever since Apple disabled it a few months ago, so hopefully they’ll announce their own way of going about it.
- webOS phones on AT&T. There have been some rumors about this in the last few days. It would be nice to have Palm phones on another network, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Some of those are legitimate predictions, and some are just things I’m hoping for. We’ll see what happens come their conference.
Engadget Live from Microsoft's CES Keynote∞
There’s some pretty cool stuff there. I’m really excited to play around with Project Natal once it gets released.
Of course, the two keynotes I’m really excited about this month are Palm’s (tomorrow) and Apple’s (the 26th or the 27th).
