Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Welcome to this week’s installment of Who’s on Crack.  This week we’ll be looking at moves in the tech world that appear to be inspired by illicit drugs—and there were quite a few this week.  Here’s the line up:

• Palm takes guessing games too far.
• Google Chrome OS - Free gone too far?
• Sprint requires awesome features on new PDAs?
• Archos battles Goldilocks Syndrome

Palm, vagueness just isn’t that fun anymore.

Is it me or does vague launch dates annoy the heck out of you?  Sure it was fun guessing when the Palm Pre would launch since January.  Trying to decipher, “in the first half of 09” gave more than a couple writers an almost full time job.  But to turn around and hit us with “in time for the holidays” for the UK launch is less than fun.  Let’s be just a little more specific, huh?

I reasoned that Palm is waiting until the typical 18 month iPhone contracts are up over in the UK, just as they launched in the US and subsequent advertising focused on converting iPhone owners whose contracts were expiring.  I firmly believe we’ll see the phone December 11.  So why not just come out and say December?  Why the Cloak and Dagger routine?  Let’s get some juevos and pick a date.

Can you imagine the Palm team:
Planning birthdays? The invite: Please come to a party for JG to take place within one year from day after his real birthday at you-know-where. 
Delivering bad medical news: We have news that might surprise you.  Our tests indicate an abnormal response and your life expectancy could be impacted in a positive or negative way.
Piloting our flight: “This could be the Captain speaking, I want to stress everything is OK, but if you are a doctor, pilot, librarian, or computer salesperson, could you please ring your flight attendant?”

Google’s folly in Free, Free, Free?

Has Google run into the old adage, “You get what you pay for”?  With the announcement of their new open-source Chrome OS for netbooks, not only are they kicking over Microsoft’s bee’s nest, but are pushing just how far they can take free.  Sure Linux has been around for a bit, but save for a niche of geeks, the user experience has been sub par for many mainstream users.  So the answer for them is to go to Windows

As we’ve seen with Android, without a payment incentive Google is not provided a compelling user experience.  Recently, HTC has picked up the torch and created something that looks amazing using Android.  Will we see the same, “make it what you want” experience with Chrome OS?  Will Asus and company pick that up?

It is like the ketchup on a restaurant table: it is free and seems to be red and taste somewhat tangy of tomatoes.  Computer makers and now Intel don’t care what ketchup you use or even if you like ketchup.  It is there and it is free, why not take some?  It will never be the best tasting ketchup you eat cause no one cares.

Now I feel bad for restaurant ketchups.  Awwww.

Sprint hugs WiFi

Kudos to Sprint for saying,  “yes” to smartphones.  Our Robert Nelson reported that the mobile carrier has said they will only carry devices with WiFi features.  Yeah, one for our side!  Here’s the quotes from Jeff Clemow, the carrier’s director of business product marketing:
“Sprint is embracing WiFi in all its major devices going forward,”  “Several quarters ago we made a conscious decision to require all of our PDA suppliers to support WiFi.”

And here is the reason I suspect crack is involved.  PDAs?  Is this 2002?  Are you dabbling in Window Mobile PCs?  Found a container of Palm Pilots (by 3Comm) and thinking of a give-a-way with the MiFi?  Do tell, as those of us outside Sprint’s walls call these things smartphones (as Robert chose for his post’s title).  PDAs?  Hee hee.  Next Sprint will be talking about Web Portals and Netscape plug ins.

Archos battles Goldilocks Syndrome

I would so love Archos to hit one of out of the park but it just isn’t going to happen any time soon.  While their Archos Android-on-board PMP is slick and pretty to look at, it is in the nether-zone: not much bigger than a smartphone but not big enough to replace a netbook.  So it becomes the Jan Brady of devices, always left out of the hot action.

Is 5 inches enough to get excited about?  Depends on who you ask, but my research among quasi-attractive ladies is no.  Even with Android as the “motion in the ocean”  it is too small to satisfy long-surfing desires and is unwieldy in a pants pocket.  So who gets excited about 5”?  Apparently the French.  Archos is a French company, blame them.

That is my list for this week of the cast headed into rehab.  Did you see anything I missed?  Let us know in the comments.