The IT Nerd

If you’ve read my blog over the last few months, I’ve been kind of critical of the Palm Pre. One of the reasons that I haven’t shown it any love is the fact that it wasn’t a GSM phone:

The Pre uses EVDO and not HSDPA. Palm must have missed the memo that HSDPA is what most of the planet uses for wireless data and they would have been better served to use that standard on the Pre. But I suspect Palm’s desire to get a carrier that would bend over and take it like a prison bitch play ball with them supersedes the need to make a smartphone that not only could be used outside North America, but would be available to a wide variety of carriers world wide. At least it has WiFi so Pre users who buy it from Sprint can go to Europe and still get their e-mail.

Is that harsh? Yes. But it’s true. That changed slightly today. Palm has announced a GSM version of the Pre. The problem is, it’s been announced for Europe:

Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today announced that the Palm^(R) Pre(TM) phone is scheduled to be available initially in the UK, Ireland and Germany exclusively on the O2 network, and in Spain exclusively on the Movistar network, in time for the holidays. Palm Pre, the first phone based on the new Palm webOS(TM) mobile platform, brings your information from the many places it resides – on your phone, at work or on the web – into one simple, integrated view.⁽¹⁾

Well, that’s craptasitc. I guess as far as Palm is concerned, North Americans on GSM carriers like Rogers/Fido, AT&T Wireless, and T-Mobile don’t need a GSM version of this phone. They’d be wrong of course. Just look at their competitors who either put phones out on both GSM and non-GSM versions, or stick with GSM only. Sadly, I think that they’ll figure this out the hard way when their North American sales don’t meet with their expectations.

Hot on the heels of the release of the Palm Pre, comes the news that there’s been a change at the top of the Palm food chain:

Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) today announced that its board of directors has appointed Jon Rubinstein to lead the company as Chairman and CEO upon the departure of Ed Colligan, who is stepping down after sixteen years of leadership at the company. Rubinstein, who joined Palm as Executive Chairman in October 2007 to help bring innovation back to the company, assumes his role as CEO on June 12. Colligan plans to take some time off, then join Elevation Partners.

You have to wonder why this is happening now. Is Colligan leaving for personal reasons? Is the Elevation Partners (who are major investors in Palm) opportunity a much better one than being CEO at Palm? Did the board want a change? It’s hard to tell from a three paragraph press release.

Any guesses?

In any case, ex-Apple employee Rubinstein is widely credited with delivering the iMac and then the iPod and both were helped along by the return to Apple of the holy one Steve Jobs which helped bring Apple back from the dead. So perhaps Palm has a CEO who can take them to the next level. If so, then the Palm Pre will be his first litmus test.

Ending the rumor mill once and for all, Sprint dropped this press release on the universe to announce that the much hyped Palm Pre will be hitting stores on June 6th. Oh, there are some more details:

Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced pricing and nationwide availability for the highly anticipated Palm^® Pre™ phone, offered exclusively from Sprint. Palm Pre will be available nationwide on June 6 in Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, select Wal-Mart stores and online at Sprint.com for $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Running on the new Palm webOS™ mobile platform, Pre brings together your important information from where it resides – on your phone, at your work or on the web – into one logical view.⁽¹⁾

One wonders if they hype will be short lived. Apple has the World Wide Developers Conference just two days after this where they are expected by many to release the iPhone/iPod Touch 3.0 software to the hordes of Apple fanbois, as well as possibly announce a new iPhone. This goes back to what I’ve been saying for a while now. This is a hail Mary moment for Palm. One I suspect will not end with a touchdown.

For those of you waiting with anticipation for the arrival of the Palm Pre, the New York Times says that the much hyped smart phone will hit the streets in early June. Plus they state this:

Palm, a once-iconic device maker that has fallen on hard times, has been hyping the Pre for months as an iPhone killer, but the company has given few peeks to analysts and reviewers. Analysts say the stakes are high for Sprint Nextel, which has exclusive rights to the phone in the United States, but even higher for Palm, which is based in Silicon Valley.

“This is make or break for Palm,” said Mr. Wolf, noting that Palm, also the maker of Treo and Centro phones, lost about $98 million in the last quarter, consistent with losses in other recent quarters. “It’s not make or break for Sprint, but clearly Sprint is in trouble, too, and needs a hit.”

I guess that validates my thought that this is a hail Mary for Palm. Although Palm denies it:

Lynn Fox, a spokeswoman for Palm, played down the importance of the Pre itself, saying it was the first “in a long line” of devices that will use Palm’s new mobile operating system. “The Pre isn’t a bet-the-company device,” Ms. Fox said.

Sure. Right. I’m calling it now. If this flops, Palm is screwed. This is an all in moement for them whether they want to admit it or not. In any case, We’ll see in a few weeks if Palm survives to play another hand, or they go bust.