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Palm investors have had reason to be confident lately, as the company reported Q4 results with a smaller net loss than expected, on top of a gross margin of 23.1 percent, reports BusinessWeek. Wall Street saw shares of the smartphone maker rise to the highest levels since October 2007, before the Pre was announced; closing at $16.22 today, up $2.20 (15.69%). The quarter ended May 29, and included early shipments of the Pre, estimated to be up to 150,000 units sold and 351,000 shipped.

In the Palm quarterly conference call, CEO Jon Rubinstein stated that he believes Palm has "pioneered the mobile platform for the next 10 years and beyond". But when asked when the elusive Mojo SDK would be released to developers, he stated that they are:

“…eager to widen the SDK access, but will do so in a controlled and methodical fashion."

This is along the lines of what Palm Community Developer Manager Chuq Von Rospach posted earlier; that the Mojo SDK Early Access Program would be expanded to thousands of developers "as quickly as resources allow". Thankfully, it seems Palm is keeping to plan - The first batch of invites were sent out yesterday according to the PDN Blog, effectively doubling the program since the day before. And the growth will continue. Von Rospach writes:

This is just the first set of new members — our plan is to double the size of the program again in the next week, and then continue the growth as fast as we can until everyone who wants the SDK has access to it.  If you didn’t get an invite today, please be patient — we’re working on it and will continue to work to get as many of you into the program as fast as we can.

Preliminary numbers for Palm Pre sales have come in, as well as download estimates for the new webOS App Catalog. In spite of backordered stock at many Best Buy locations, an estimated 150,000 units have already been sold, reports RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky. We could also see as many as 550,000 units ship by the end of the quarter.

In addition, demand is rising for Palm handhelds, and although still trailing far behind Apple's iPhone, in a recent poll about 8% of consumers plan to purchase a Palm smartphone within the next 90 days. This is up from just 1% in late 2008, before the Pre was announced, reports CNN.

Despite the Palm Mojo SDK being pushed to the end of summer and only 30 apps currently available, the App Catalog has also been progressing, reaching the million mark in downloads. Also, easily-installed homebrew apps are beginning to surface, which should allow a wide range of users to add apps to their device before the App Catalog picks up steam. More after the break.

For those who hoped to take advantage of Best Buy's $100 instant rebate on the Palm Pre, only to find store shelves cleaned out due to low stock, now is your chance to get back in line. Precentral reports that in exchange for purchasing a $50 gift card, you too can get into the preorder queue. This is similar to previous models used for iPhone waitlists. The gift card can then be used for the Pre, a touchstone, or anything else you want. From the Best Buy forums:

I guess we at Best Buy are having such a hard time with getting more Pre's in stock, that they've decided to do pre-orders for another wave of inventory that is supposed to be in by July 8. Stores will take pre-orders up until June 30, and if they get inventory in before that, they are to call the customers when inventory comes in, according to who's first on the pre-order list.

Still not a bad deal, a gift card sure sounds a lot better than having to fill out a form, cut up your Pre box, then wait 10-12 weeks for a mail-in rebate to (hopefully) arrive. Some stores still have stock, so it's best to call ahead and check. Just make sure you're ready to pick up a plan as well, as the Big Blue is still selling the phone for a whopping $849 off-contract.

For those still waiting to get into the Mojo SDK early access program, why not have some fun with the built-in camera in the meantime? One Pre owner found that his new webOS device can make some interesting stop motion video, by taking photos in a virtual "burst mode" of about one shot per second. When stitched together, the effect makes for an eye-catching production. Now you can show your iPhone 3GS buddies that the Pre camera has some punch, while you wait for real video recording to arrive (hopefully). Hold down the space bar to start snapping.

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

 

via Precentral

While the sparring between Palm and Apple over multitouch functionality may have passed over without incident, issues over iTunes compatibility with the Pre has come to the forefront of discussion between the two companies. Apple recently released an advisory warning, claiming that future versions of the software may break functionality with third-party devices that currently sync with iTunes (i.e. the Pre).

"Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple’s iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players."

Palm webOS has "ten-plus years of innovation" ahead of it, states the newest CEO of Palm, former chairman (and Apple executive) Jon Rubinstein. He succeeds Ed Colligan (left), who has been at the company's helm for 16 years.

From the press release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM - News) 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.

“I am very excited about taking on this expanded role at Palm,” said Rubinstein. “Ed and I have worked very hard together the past two years, and I’m grateful to him for everything he’s done to help set the company up for success. With Palm webOS we have ten-plus years of innovation ahead of us, and the Palm Pre is already one of the year’s hottest new products. Due in no small part to Ed’s courageous leadership, we’re in great shape to get Palm back to continuous growth, and we plan to keep the trajectory going upward.”

Colligan responded by stating he was proud of what Palm has accomplished and pioneered over the years, and believes that they will help define the mobile web standard into the future. It is unclear as to what role he will continue to have with Palm, or of his future commitments on the board of directors. We are looking forward to Rubinstein continuing on with the success of webOS, the Pre and other devices to follow.

via ZDNet

Update: Salary numbers have come in, and with Palm still recovering from poor revenue last quarter, will the move pay off for them? Colligan's base salary was $757k in 2008, while new CEO Rubinstein will be making up to $1.7M a year, including $850k base, reports mocoNews. In turn, Colligan will receive $1.2M in separation payments over the next year.

Palm reports that the agreement will result in a non-cash charge to the company of about $5M next quarter, and $2M over the next 12 months.

Since the launch of the Pre, Verizon released an anti-Pre chart, the device was disassembled and priced for all to see, and the Touchstone is in short supply in stores around the country. More news has come in, from sales numbers, to numerous hardware and software problems (and solutions), new webOS apps, and of course the new iPhone hardware announced at the Apple WWDC. Read on the for the latest.

Over 50,000 Palm Pre phones sold, over 150,000 Apps Downloaded; supply running low?

A new Sprint record was set this past weekend with the Pre, breaking first day and first weekend sales records, reports Yahoo. The new webOS device is touted as a defining wireless crossover device for businesses and consumers for Sprint's Now Network; and although lines may have been shorter than for the first iPhone, there was still a decent turnout. An estimated 50 - 100,000 units were sold in the first weekend, and over 150,000 apps were downloaded by early adopters, notes Gizmodo and IntoMobile. This number could easily rise to over a million by the end of the year, more if a GSM version is introduced, estimates iSupply.

Many Sprint stores sold out of the Pre in just one day, while CNET reports that many Best Buy locations sold out almost immediately (due to low initial stock and a $100 instant rebate). By comparison, Sprint's flagship store in NYC received nearly 200 phones, while the nearest Best Buy received only 40-48 phones for launch. Also, while the device is currently available only in retail stores, the Touchstone and other accessories can be found online with free shipping, if you couldn't grab one on Saturday.

Palm shares are similarly being sold off, with news of the new iPhone and other factors driving the stock price down 6.5% today, reports Barrons. More news after the break.

No sooner than working Pre phones finally went on sale to the public this morning, leave it to someone to take them apart. Rapid Repair took it unto themselves to carefully dissect Palm's new webOS handset and create a repair guide; although if your handset is having trouble we wouldn't recommend it for would-be home mechanics, as it would surely void the warranty (plus the phone is exchange-only according to the launch guide, so you would likely get a new one anyway).

After 10 steps of disassembly, all the parts were out on the table. The company estimated the hardware cost to be about $170, which lines up pretty well to previous estimates by iSupply, that pegged the build cost of the Pre at $138, or about $170 after licensing fees. Not bad for $199 after rebates to the end user. Just remember to send out for your $100 rebate before it expires on July 11th.

via Engadget

UPDATE: The Touchstone was next on the cutting board, and iFixit priced the raw materials at just $5, including the plastic, metal and electrical components. Seems like a pretty high markup, but doesn't include any of the other costs, such as development or marketing. The technology itself is unique to a cellphone, so as long as you enjoy it as much as your Nike shoes, or use it as much as your electric toothbrush for that matter, who's to complain? Although you would think they would have more than a few per store available at launch.

via InformationWeek