Palm's nailed a bona fide runaway success just in the nick of time with its
Centro series, hitting its second million in global sales in about half the time it took to reach the first million (thanks in no small part to a new round of carrier launches, we'd imagine). Makes sense: it's small, it's really reasonably priced for a smartphone, and while it's not stylish by any stretch of the imagination, it still manages to beat the pants off the Treo line's tired, buttoned-up look. CEO Ed Colligan's using the opportunity to thumb his nose at the competition a bit, though, and that's where we get a little worried. Instead of hearing things like "whew, thank goodness, the Centro gave us the cash infusion we desperately needed to fuel work on
Palm OS 2 and a compelling product line revamp," we're seeing him spout off about how the Centro's easier to use and "less pretentious" than the
iPhone, ribbing Apple over the fact that the Centro's been 3G since the beginning, and talking about how easy it is to get the 411 on your peeps with the Centro's supposedly best-in-class Facebook app. It's great to be proud of a successful product, no doubt, Ed -- but let's not forget that your most direct competitor, RIM, isn't
exactly standing still. Can we trade this revelry and trash talk for even a super-brief Palm OS 2 demo, pretty please?
posted Jul 30th 2008 3:33PM
Ok, I have to call you numb nuts out on this one. The guy repeatedly gave props to the IPhone and Apple for a great product and admitted multiple times that they have lots of work ahead of them.
I know you guys so desperately want some exclusive Nova aka. Palm OS2 info that you are willing to badger the hell out of Palm, but it's starting to make YOU look bad.
Grow up guys. I know the traditional media pulls this crap all the time, but I've always thought better of Engadget.
dude its a BLOG. this is exactly the proper place for writers to put exactly what they think about the situation. if thats how he feels, then so be it. you dont have to agree. admittedly, i dont always agree either. but this isnt news. its a blog. the read link is the news.
but really, do you think motorola has been innovating much since 2004? doesnt every phone just look like some kind of razr? and how many different colors have they come out with of the same phone? thats exactly all that palm did with this one. its the same treo thats been out since 2004 except they made it a little slimmer on the sides and have come out with a bunch of colors. they pulled a motorola and once again the american public fell for it.
i mean hey, it does look pretty cool. and they have chosen good colors to go with. if it had a new os then i would probably have considered one more seriously. but it was totally evolutionary. palm needs revolutionary. so although they definitely deserve a pat on the back for pulling it off, i cant agree more that they should be focusing more on this opportunity to take things to the next level and starting to shed more light on what they've been claming is coming for many years.
although there are a couple things i dont agree with chris on... i dont see where Colligan did any thumbing of the nose and there most certainly was not any trash talk. more or less he pretty much said apple did a great job but there are some things the iphone does well and some things it doesnt. thats pretty much my position on the iphone too. any phone in the world for that matter. including the centro. so whats next, palm?
Wait...the Centro is 3G? On...Sprint or Verizon? Because it's EDGE on AT&T.
it's 3G on both Sprint and Verizon
Those on Sprint believe the Sun revolves around the (flat) Earth.
"3G on sprint and verizon" since when do they call it 3G? Oh wait, since about July...what a coincidence. It was EV-DO for the last several years, nobody internally ever called it 3G until the iphone launched.
Isn't it quaint that Colligan [and resident cronies] rave about the Centro's "success", yet cannot define what that success means? How many millions more does Palm need to produce ...at a loss... before their "success" has any material market worth? Yep! That's what I thought! Viagra on cocaine couldn't give that impotent company a lift.
So Palm sells a bunch of Centro, their CEO says "AWESOME!", and you criticize them because they have competitors?
Palm needs serious help -- no one will deny that. But even with the best of news coming from the company in years, you guys still can't help but bash them again.
By the way, let me point out that this substantial story (whether you hate Palm or not, 2 million units is nothing to scoff at) didn't make Engadget proper, but the story about the Samsung Instinct getting a near-useless new firmware was posted on both Engadget Mobile and Engadget proper.
"(2 million units is nothing to scoff at)"
Sure it is, where business is concerned. Throwing a last-ditch effort to flood the market, without profitability, is a Fool's Last Stand. If, however, you're simply referring to the right to celebrate such financial idiocy, have at it.
Colligan looks like he's describing a huge rack in that photo. "Out to HERE I tell you - you wouldn't believe it!"
hahaha, great comment! I scrolled up saw the pic and just laughed!
yeah why is this news not making the main engadget blog? no good news allowed for Palm out there? Come on guys, lets give them some props and put this news in the main blog.