Jon Rubinstein Joins Board of Qualcomm, as Mobile Chipmaker Ups Its Silicon Valley Cred

The longtime mobile exec is a high-profile appointment.

History Repeats Itself at Hewlett-Packard webOS Unit

Leaked internal memos elucidate Hewlett-Packard’s plans for the future — such as it is — for the different pieces of its webOS business.

Apple Tops J.D. Power’s Smartphone Survey for Fifth Time

The iPhone has again topped J.D. Power and Associates’ semi-annual smartphone customer satisfaction survey. For the fifth time in a row.

What’s In Store for Technology in 2011

Walt looks at the products and competitive positions of key contenders as they enter a new year.

Myte, Gyst and Veer: Who’s Doing Palm’s Branding, Chaucer?

Companies often file trademarks on brands that they never end up using, so this trio of USPTO filings, made by Hewlett-Packard on December 10 isn’t exactly remarkable. But it is interesting in that the marks for which the company has applied–“Gyst,” “Myte,” and “Veer”–sound suspiciously like the names of Palm products.

Palm Boss Jon Rubinstein: We Still Have a Chance to be a Major Player

When Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein last appeared on the D stage in 2009 he was bringing the Pre to market in a bet-the-company move to recover the handset maker’s long-lost glory. Palm’s new operating system webOS had been well received at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier in the year and the company’s share price had ascended from $3 to $10 on its promise. Two years later Palm no longer has a share price, having been acquired by Hewlett-Packard, and Rubinstein, no longer its CEO, runs HP’s new mobile devices unit. But with the iconic Silicon Valley company backing it and “doubling down on webOS” and a new tablet based on the OS headed to market, its future is perhaps equally as promising, if not more so.

Palm Handsets Priced to Pwn

Remarking on slowing sales of the Pre in August 2009, Pali Research analyst Walter Piecyk suggested that Palm and Sprint, its sole carrier partner at the time, would be wise to drop the price of the device to 99 cents and put it in the hands of as many customers as possible before it lost the little differentiated advantage it had. Piecyk’s advice went unheeded–until the past few weeks.

Palm’s Pixi: Soon to be a Great Happy-Meal Prize

Here’s one way for Palm to get rid of the 197 days of inventory it reportedly hasn’t been able to move off the shelves: a free-with-2-year-contract deal. That’s what Sprint’s done with the Pixi, the Palm Pre’s underpowered sibling.

RadioShack Dumping Palm? [UPDATED]

For Palm, April is indeed proving to be the cruelest month. It began with reports that the company has put itself up for sale and continued with news of the departure of software chief Michael Abbott. Now comes another ugly development: RadioShack appears to be dumping the company’s smartphone line.

Verizon’s Palm Pre and Pixi Prices Officially INSAAAAAAANE!

Verizon has a solution to Palm’s daunting inventory problems: Dramatic price cuts on the company’s webOS smartphones. The carrier is now selling the Pre Plus for $49.99 and the Pixi Plus for $29.99.

Desert Palm

Palm Running Out of Time–Again