2nd UPDATE: ALL THINGS D: Palm Shows Off New Pre Features
May 28 2009 - 3:58PM
Dow Jones News
Palm Inc. (PALM) unveiled some new features for its Pre
smartphone on Thursday, including one that could draw the ire of
its rival Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The most significant of the new wrinkles is a media manager that
can download music directly from Apple's iTunes online music and
video bazaar, Palm executives said. Another newly disclosed feature
is an Internet-based store, like Apple's iPhone App Store, that
will distribute software for the Pre.
Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein said he "wasn't worried"
about any potential repercussions from Apple, which has been known
to retaliate against moves like this in the past.
Roger McNamee, co-founder of Elevation Partners, which is a
significant Palm investor, added, "We're confirming (Apple's)
dominance. I find it hard to believe they will get bent out of
shape."
An Apple spokesman had no immediate comment.
Also Thursday, Palm's Rubinstein said that like a growing number
of other smartphone software makers, including Google Inc. (GOOG),
Palm also has designs on using its Pre operating system software as
the basis for larger devices.
"We have designed it to work across variety of products,"
Rubinstein said.
Palm executives were speaking at the All Things Digital
conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The conference is sponsored by the
All Things Digital Web site, owned by Dow Jones, publisher of this
newswire and a unit of News Corp. (NWSA).
Also Thursday, Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Lowell McAdam
said the company intends to sell the Pre in about six months. The
comments suggest that Sprint Nextel Corp.'s (S) exclusive deal to
sell the Pre was only for about six months.
Rubinstein had no comment on the prospects of Verizon selling
the phone.
Sprint and Palm will begin selling their heavily anticipated Pre
smart phone on June 6 as both companies look for a hit device to
reverse customer defections.
The touch-screen model was introduced by Palm to great fanfare
in January. Billed as a competitor to Apple iPhone and the latest
BlackBerrys, the Pre will cost $199 after a $100 mail-in rebate
with a two-year Sprint contract.
Sprint, which has lost more than six million subscribers in the
last six quarters, hopes the Pre will act as a strong retention
tool for its wireless customers. Palm, of Sunnyvale, Calif., is
hoping the device's new webOS software will help it regain market
share.
The Pre, which has a slide-out keyboard, includes features new
to mobile devices such as the ability to open several screens or
programs simultaneously. It will initially work only on Sprint's
network.
But the Pre faces stiff competition. Some analysts say Apple's
next iPhone could surface as soon as a June 8 event the company is
hosting for developers.
Palm shares closed Thursday up 93 cents, or 8.8%, to $11.46 and
are unchanged in recent late trading.
-By Ben Charny and Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires;
415-765-8230; ben.charny@dowjones.com