Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Yesterday, Palm (PALM) issued a warning that their sales fell far from the rosy estimate analysts were expecting.  Citing the usual slumping economy, increased competition and the alignment of Jupiter and Mars, Palm is finding themselves in financial quicksand and their wriggling is pulling them downward quickly.  Palm’s warning: “we are off 41%.“  Ouch.

Can the new OS turn this around?  Follow to find out.

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This is where we call out the tech moves that seem odd, out of touch or just plain straight up smokin’ crack.  This week sees posturing, positioning and flat out insanity. 

Here’s what caught my eye this week:

• Zune Phone inbound?
• Kindle 2 sucking life out of holiday sales?
• 7-11’s new video section
• HDTVs for pennies?

Follow me into the madness.

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Ever since Microsoft acquired Danger, it was always rumored that Microsoft might, one day, come out with a phone based off of the Zune.  What makes this rumor different than previous ones is that CNBC claims that a good Microsoft source is reporting that their newest project, named the Pink, is actually a Zune phone. 

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The Pantech Duo 2 has recently made its FCC appearance and despite not having an official announcement we can tell you that (when released) it is expected to be available with AT&T.  The Pantech Duo 2, which is also known as the C820, will be the successor to—you guessed it, the Pantech Duo.  The C820 is a dual slider handset with a numeric keypad as well as a full QWERTY keyboard.  The handset will feature dual-band 850/1900 GSM/EDGE/WCDMA radios, a 2-megapixel camera with video recording, Bluetooth and a microSD card slot for additional storage.  It will also be running Windows Mobile 6.1.  Currently there is no info on when this phone will ship, nor is there any price data.  When we find out, we’ll let you know.

Read [FCC]  Via [PhoneScoop]

• Sony preparing a WWAN-equiped VAIO? The FCC says yes
• Can a Hail Mary save Palm?  Warning issued
• Sprint’s Cyber Monday deals: free Centro and 5 others

You’ve waited.  You’ve fretted.  You lamented at the news a cargo ship was rerouted back to Asia thanks to paint chipping.  But now, dry the tears from your eyes and head to T-Mobile to pick up the latest phone, in the hottest color: white!  Heck yeah, no longer just representative of the iPod of 2002, no; white is the new black.

Or is it?  Basic black and bronze (ugh) must be selling well, as Peter Chou, HTC CEO says they are ramping up the numbers and expect to move 1 million of this gadgets by year’s end.  Did they pick white just to compete with that other phone?  Or is there something more?

Find out what my source says about white.

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Earlier this week we heard the news of Jerry Yang resigning as CEO of Yahoo, the result of a painfully disappointing year for the company that saw failure after failure.  They have watched their grip on Internet search slip through their fingers and they are in danger of slipping into the worlds of anonymity and the pages of history.  However, things are looking good for Yahoo fans with two positive pieces of news.

One Search

They are both an attempt to fight back at Google’s search domination, both in the mobile phone and PC sectors.  The first is a deal sealed with T-Mobile with the “One Search” button.  Yahoo have been poor at closing deals recently; however, this catch is definitely one that should help them in the future.  T-Mobile has agreed to put the One Search button on their phones, thus allowing users to quickly get to a search engine and helping Yahoo by making it theirs.

Find out what else is in Yahoo’s plans to fight the Google empire after the break.

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Sections: Communications, Cellphones, Web, Websites, Google

It looks like AT&T will soon be getting the S60-powered Nokia E71, of course there will be a slight re-branding—it has been dubbed the Nokia E71x.  Based on the decent reputation that the E71 already has, we can only hope that any changes, and AT&T bloatware will be kept to a minimum.  Currently, as an official announcement has not yet been made, this is still in the rumor stage. That said, these images (above and below) appear to be pretty accurate.  So far the release date is still unknown.  As for the pricing, rumor has it that the E71x will be priced around $150 on a 2-year agreement.

Keep reading to check out another shot of the AT&T branded Nokia E71x…

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BlackBerry Storm (front)

Executive Editor Adam Berger got his hands on the BlackBerry Storm.  So here are some real, in the wild, shots of the BlackBerry Storm.  We’re testing out the phone and will be back with some first impressions of the long delayed BlackBerry Storm.  Plenty of pictures after the break.

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In a very interesting move, the Peek e-mail device added some features last night that make it more of a compelling product in my mind.  In addition to picking this up now for the reduced price of $79.99 from folks like Target, the device can now send text messages to phones.  I am now considering getting this for my tween.

Users can simply input a phone number in the To: field of the device to send a text message.  Also added is the ability to see images like .JPG, .GIF .PNG and BMP.  Not a big deal, but more functionality is a plus.

I’ve been debating this cell phone but can’t believe how much they want to charge for just basic service or the beginning of a family plan.  This device and $20 reoccurring fee for connectivity seems like a pretty good deal.  Since my wife and I are uber-connected at all times, this could work.  Probably not the device’s target market, but hey, a sale’s a sale.

The Peek device comes in Aqua, Grey and Cherry and is now $20 off from $99.

Source [jkOnTheRun]  Purchase [Target]

• RIM announces re-launch of Mobile BlackBerry website
• Can a Hail Mary save Palm?  Warning issued
• Who’s On Crack in tech: Black Friday ‘08 edition

Check out this one: LG’s Incite.  The 3G world phone has some impressive features as well as an interesting price tag: $199.  The lineup of $199 touchscreen phones in the AT&T stable is getting crowded.  So how is this one different?

The Incite features Windows Mobile 6.1, so it plays well with the MS Office docs, Outlook and the like.  It’s camera is a 3mp jobber and the 3” display has 240x480 QVGA going for it.  A bonus stylus tells you fingers may or may not be the best input device.  As a note, the Samsung Epix also offered a stylus and I found most tasks (save for clicking the close box in the upper left) were easily done with fat fingers.

Interestingly the screen is haptic (a buzzing is made so you can feel when pressing keys) and the onscreen keyboard comes in two varieties: a basic QWERTY keyboard in landscape or a 20 key keyboard in portait.  The switching between the two is automatic based on the devices orientation.

Other bonus features include aGPS, WiFi and Bluetooth; staples for any business user.  Also in there is AT&T’s video share, “the first-ever service in the U.S. that allows users to share live video over wireless devices while participating in a voice call.“  The unit has an SD memory slot that is 16GB card compatible according to the press release but the AT&T site disagrees, saying it can handle 32GB. 

Product page [AT&T]

• RIM announces re-launch of Mobile BlackBerry website
• As the mouse reaches 40, what’s for the future?
• Verizon lowers Samsung Omnia pricing, now at $199.99