Palm are set to take on the iPhone with the imminent release of the Palm Pre smartphone. Once giants in the smartphone arena, Palm’s popularity has recently waned as more and more high-powered devices enter the market. The Palm Pre may be just the device to give Palm a fighting chance against its rivals.

The Palm Pre is Palm’s latest attempt to reinstate their status as a leading smartphone manufacturer. Featuring sleek black lines alongside a clean interface, touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard inputs, Palm’s latest offering weighs in at only 4.8 ounces, making it a real contender in the consumer market.

The Palm Pre promises enhanced useability and features a new user interface, which integrates a touchscreen on the main display area and a new touch-sensitive ‘gesture zone’ at the bottom of the phone for enhanced interaction with the device.

Palm have also developed the new Palm Web OS platform for the Palm Pre, which is built on industry standard web tools such as HTML, CSS and Javascript and should open the floodgates for mobile developers to release applications for the device. Just as the iPhone has enjoyed huge success with its ‘Apps’ store, the Palm Pre shows similar potential.

Due for launch this July, the Palm Pre will be available on the O2 network. Pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed.

In celebration of The Simpsons historic 20th anniversary, TomTom has joined forces with Locutio Voice Technologies and Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising (Fox L&M), to bring the original voice of Homer Simpson to TomTom sat nav devices for the very first time.

With Homer quite literally in the driving seat, you can navigate to Homer’s food-fueled instructions for an unforgettable navigation experience. With voice commands such as, “Take the third right. We might find an ice cream truck! Mmm…ice cream.”, the instantly recognisable voice of Homer brings a hilarious new dimension to in-car navigation - for a trip the whole family can enjoy.

Damian Woodward, sales and marketing manager, TomTom UK & Ireland, said, “Celebrity voices are the most popular downloads that we offer our customers to enable them to personalise their driving experience. With Homer Simpson’s voice helping them to navigate during their trip, TomTom users will not only travel safely and with less stress, but they will also be highly entertained along the way.”

Homer’s voice is available for immediate download for only £7.95 (€9.95 in Ireland). For more information and to hear voice samples, please visit www.tomtom.com/simpsons. Current TomTom users can simply log into their TomTom HOME account to purchase the voice online.

TomTom recently demonstrated their new navigation software in combination with a specially designed car kit for the iPhone at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 8th, 2009.

The TomTom navigation application for iPhone is an Apple version of TomTom’s award-winning turn-by-turn navigation software, and includes IQ Routes and the latest maps from Tele Atlas, whilst the specially developed TomTom car kit for iPhone provides secure docking, enhanced GPS performance, clear voice instructions, hands-free calling and in-car charging.

Available via the Apple iTunes App Store, the TomTom navigation application for iPhone will be available following the release of Apple’s OS 3.0 operating system. Details regarding pricing and availability for both the application and the TomTom car kit for iPhone will be released later this summer.

Previous research has highlighted that the use of an in car sat nav can be of benefit both to the environment, and to the safety and wellbeing of the driver.

A recent study conducted by Navteq illustrated that drivers using a sat nav device had a 12% increase in fuel economy. Similarly, TomTom and Dutch research agency TNO produced a report which showed a 16% decrease in the number of kilometres driven in an unfamiliar area, as well as benefits to driver stress levels, perceived workload, driver alertness, and driver performance.

These benefits also translate to greater financial savings for the driver. With an increase in fuel economy, and a decrease in distance travelled, drivers can save on petrol costs as well as having a positive impact on the environment.

Indeed, TomTom have devised a savings calculator, which provides an estimate of the money you can save, as well the reduction in journey time and driver CO2 emissions, by using a TomTom navigation device.

For example, with a basic navigation device such as the TomTom ONE v3, you can save approximately £73, 22 hours of travelling and 178kg of CO2 emmissions over an estimated annual mileage of 18,000 miles. Considering you can buy a refurbished TomTom ONE v3 for only £68.99 inc. VAT, the fuel saving alone would pay for the device within 1-2 years - not to mention the reduction in wear and tear to your car.

With more advanced TomTom devices which include IQ Routes and/or LIVE services (see for example, the TomTom GO 730 and TomTom GO 740, respectively), these savings multiply. IQ Routes, for example, can further reduce journey times by providing a faster and more accurate route, whilst TomTom LIVE services can guide you to the cheapest petrol stations and help you to avoid delays due to traffic issues.

In addition to saving money on petrol, some insurance companies, such as the RAC, offer discounted insurance premiums for motorists who use GPS devices in their day to day travels. According to the RAC, using a sat nav device makes you less likely to crash, by reducing driver distractions, therefore lowering your insurance risk.

With the increasing costs of car ownership, as well as growing fuel prices, navigating via sat nav will end up saving you money in the long term, making even a basic sat nav device a worthy investment.

The long awaited Palm Pre handset was unveiled at this year’s annual CES 2009. Sporting a brand new, modern form factor and Palm’s all new webOS platform, the Palm Pre - already being touted as an ‘iPhone killer’ - promises to be a serious contender in the Smartphone sector.

One of the highlights of the new device is the new user interface and OS. Featuring a gesture driven touchscreen along the same lines of HTC’s TouchFlo and the iPhone interface, the Palm Pre is controlled via various swiping motions allowing seamless control of applications and documents via simple finger movements.

Designed with multitasking in mind, the Palm Pre includes the new ‘Deck of Cards’ feature for scrolling and toggling between various running applications without the need to open and close windows. Positive early reports of this gesture driven functionality indicate that Palm’s fresh approach to touchscreen interactivity is simple, synergistic, and above all, easy to use.
continue reading "Palm Debuts New Palm Pre Handset"

Straight from the mouth of TomTom themselves I have a full compatibility list of devices that will work with the TomTom Navigator 6. Not a very interesting post I know, but thought some people out there would appreciate it. They haven’t given me an answer yet on whether one license key will activate your phone and PDA, but say they will get back to me. There are some incompatibilities that I can’t explain, so if anyone knows of others to add, let me know and I’ll post them here. Anyway, here we go:

continue reading "TomTom Navigator 6 - Compatible devices"

The much anticipated Palm Treo 500 has just been released, sporting the perfect blend of features and functionality. Along with Palm’s renowned build quality and reputation for top notch handsets, the Palm Treo 500 comes with Windows Mobile 6 Operating System as standard.

A controversial move by Palm, the adoption of a Windows platform is sure to upset a few hard core Palm enthusiasts. However, the move is one of necessity in an increasingly Windows driven world, and should open up a whole host of opportunities in terms of software availability and compatibility for the next generation of Palm users.
continue reading "Palm Treo 500 – The Latest Palm Smartphone"

Between 1st and 30th September Palm will be launching a Back To Work/School promotion, entitling customers to receive up to £80 cash back on select Palm devices!

continue reading "Massive Savings with Palm’s Back to School Cash Back Promotion"

The page starts with:

Can you code? Enter and win!

Palm is inviting programmers to develop applications for the Treo™ Windows Mobile® Challenge Contest — entrants can either develop a brand new application or port an existing application to the Treo Windows Mobile platform.

Entries Will be Judged on

• Concept originality
• General usability of the application
• Specific utility to mobile phone users
• Reliability and compatibility
• “Wow” factor of graphical look and feel

Entrants must be part of the Palm Developer Network to register their competition entries.

Via Brighthand.

My predecessor Jill blogged about the Treo 680, remarking that it didn’t have Wi-Fi, a real downer. An inventive person posting on Canuck PDA has Wi-Fi enabled his 680.

It’s a bit of an ugly hack, but I applaud his (or her) determination to get Wi-Fi on a Treo 680.