On Friday, it was reported by AllThingsD that Ex-Apple executive Jon Rubinstein, who also worked for and left Palm is now leaving his latest position at HP. Jon Rubinstein is best known for his work on the iPod, Apple’s intro to the portable music player market, better known to some as Apple’s “gateway drug”, that has now led to the successful adoption of the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

After Rubinstein left Apple, he moved over to venture firm, Elevation Partners and eventually made his way to Palm where he replaced Ed Colligan as CEO in 2009. Rubinstein assisted in the transition from Palm’s PalmOS to WebOS. WebOS went on to appear in the Pre, Pixi, and Veer smart phones.

Jon Rubinstein later moved back to an executive position after Palm was acquired by HP and oversaw the mobile division of HP. After numerous failed attempts of HP’s mobile strategies, Rubinstein was given a “product innovation role” to help lessen the blow to the company following Rubinstein’s departure.

Rubinstein has not yet announced what he plans to do next, although it is very likely going to be another excutive role at another tech company. However, if Rubinstein has learned anything, attempting to rush great software on sketchy hardware is not the best way to go, especially from his transition from Apple, who is currently leading the mobile devices market to HP who is at the bottom of the barrel.

{via TUAW}

Android 3.0 codenamed Honeycomb is a tablet-only operating system (OS) and a recent report by DigiTimes suggests that according to “sources from upstream touch panel players” its unstable performance may benefit Apple’s iPad 2 and other tablet PC vendors.

Due to Android 3.0 currently still having several issues that are unable to be resolved immediately and which are causing unstable performance in terms of operation, HP, which is ready to launch its TouchPad tablet PC with its own OS, webOS, in the second quarter, and RIM, which will soon launch its PlayBook with BlackBerry OS in the middle of April, as well as Apple, are expected to gain benefit from the mischief of Android 3.0, the sources pointed out.

Apple products are known for tight integration between hardware and software. iOS for iPhone and iPad provides a consistent and stable user experience which has proved to be one of Apple’s biggest strengths in marketing new products.

When Apple comes out with a new product customers already know how to use them. Millions of iPhone users already knew how to use iPod touch even before it was launched and the same concept worked when iPad was introduced. This is because Apple has worked very diligently to unify the OS for their tablet and smartphones.

Google has however taken another route where they have to now focus on developing and supporting two operating systems which might end up taking more time to bring together. Android chief Andy Rubin recently in a blog post said, “the Android team is still hard at work to bring all the new Honeycomb features to phones.”

Apple’s second gen tablet has seen a successful launch and is expected to sell 30 Million iPads by the end of 2011. While on the other hand DigiTimes reports that iPad competitors like Motorola “shipped around 700,000 Xoom tablet PCs before the end of March”. Further the report speculates that Motorola might be preparing to launch its next-generation tablet and therefore not planning orders past June.

{AppleInsider, DigiTimes}

Now that Apple’s iOS has some major competition when it comes to smartphone operating systems, what would we like to see the company to do to ensure that iOS 5 features stay ahead of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, HP’s webOS, and Google’s Android? Well, we’ve put together a list of 5 things we think Apple could change, improve, or introduce to iOS 5.

See what you think of our thoughts on iOS 5 and leave us a comment to let us know yours!

Notifications

Firstly, we think the way in which our iOS devices currently handle notifications should be a lot different. The current system, although not terrible, could be a much better. My biggest issue with notifications at the moment is a simple but frustrating one: if I receive a notification on my iPhone and I didn’t notice it pop up, when I next unlock my iPhone that notification disappears. 9 times out of 10 I unlock my device too quickly to even notice there was a notification, and once it’s gone, it can be nightmare to figure out what be iPhone was trying to tell me.

A system in which my notifications remain on my screen until I tap to remove them would be nice, or maybe another page to the left of my home screen – where the search function currently lives – that displays a list of my ‘unread’ notifications. That way I can’t remove them accidentally before I’ve even read them.

This isn’t the only problem with the iOS notification system, however. Many have criticized the way in which devices handle notifications altogether, claiming that they are intrusive, ineffective, and abstruse. They currently pop up and disrupt whatever you might be doing on your device, with very little information, and no function other than taking you to the app they are alerting you to.

Customizing the way in which we receive our notifications would be a nice addition to iOS 5. I’d like to decide whether I get a big message pop up on my screen when I receive an SMS, or whether I just get a subtle little icon appear in my task bar next to my clock. And then I’d like to do something with that notification. If I click on it, I’d like to be able to read my SMS and then quickly reply to it without leaving the application I’m already in.

Wireless Syncing

Steve Jobs has already said that wireless syncing will come to iOS, however, we’re still yet to see it. If you jailbreak your device, you can install an application that allows you to sync with iTunes over Wi-Fi, but we think this feature should be a standard part of iOS. If the hackers can make it work, why can’t a multi-billion dollar technology company?

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could sync our iOS devices at the touch of a button from our living room, with our Mac or PC located in another room?

Voice Commands

There are already some basic voice commands built-in to iOS 4, but there could be a lot more. I’d like to be able to have a lot more control over my device using my voice. Third-party applications already allow us to compose text using our voice, but it would be great if this was a standard feature of Apple’s iOS. I’d like to be able to reply to emails or text messages safely while I’m driving, or doing other tasks; and I’d like to be able to have some control over my applications by talking to them. Basic functions are already achievable by voice in the iPod application, so why can’t they be used elsewhere?

Multitasking

Now, multitasking on iOS isn’t all that bad. It does the job we want it to do, and previous mobile operating systems have proved that it could be a whole lot worse. However, there’s certainly room for improvement. At present, multitasking allows us to switch quickly between applications, and… well… that’s it. You might argue that that’s what multitasking is for, but we could do more with it.

Instead of having to switch to an application when we want to use it, it would be nice if we could hold down on the application’s icon and get a pop up of different options that allow us to control that app without leaving our current one. For example, if you’re on a Mac and you have iTunes running in the background while you’re reading this article, by simply right-clicking on the iTunes icon in your dock, you can play a track, skip back and forth between songs, and even shuffle your playlist – all without having to leave your web browser.

By having the same kind of feature in iOS we could write tweets, emails, text messages, and more, without leaving the game we’re in; we could quickly sign in and out of applications like Facebook or AIM instant messenger, and we could add a note to the Notes application without having to actually open it. The possibilities are endless, and would make life with an iOS device much more productive.

Lock Screen Widgets

Many other mobile operating systems and have these, and we think it’s about time they came to iOS. Lock screen widgets would allow us to see things like our Facebook or Twitter feeds, our RSS headlines, our to-do list for the day, and what the weather will be like tomorrow, without ever having to unlock our devices. At the moment we have big, beautiful touch screen that are useless and empty while our devices are locked, and they could be put to such great use.

Sometimes it’s a little too much effort to load up an application to quickly see a tiny piece of information. For example, I currently have to open up an app to see my favorite soccer team’s score when I can’t watch the game, I have to open up an app to see if the item I’ve been outbid on an item I want on eBay, and I have to open up an app to see if my friend has replied to my tweet. All of these little bits of information could be displayed on my lock screen for me to quickly glance at whenever I need to.

What Are Your Thoughts?

So those are my thoughts on what Apple can do to ensure iOS 5 stays a cut above the rest. Of course, some of these things may not apply to you, and there may be other things you’d like to see on your iOS device. Leave us a comment with your thoughts!

With HP’s ‘Something big, something small, something beyond’ event coming up on February 9th, rumours have been rife as to what we will be seeing coming out of the computer giant. What we expected was something using Palm’s WebOS – probably a tablet. Turns out we could well be seeing not one, but two!

Engadget’s Nilay Patel wrote recently that the gadget blog has received a tip, along with internal renders of a device. The anonymous (aren’t they always?) secret-wielder claims that we will see two tablets, one a 7inch model named Opal, and the other a 9inch version called Topaz. Whether these are internal names or if this is what the final shipping products will be called is unclear.

So what about specs? Looking at the renders and reading Patel’s blog post it looks fairly clear that the device will resemble a large Palm Pre in that we’ll see a slab of black plastic with minimal buttons. In fact, we see no buttons at all on the leaked render. Will the whole device be gesture-driven? Perhaps.

On top of that we have what appears to be a front-facing camera and a micro USB port for charing and syncing. Patel also suggests a 3 speaker system will be in place. The idea behind 3 speakers is that a device can offer stereo sound in both landscape and portrait orientations. It’s an interesting idea that Vizio will also be using in its tablets.

The CPU behind the glass is expected to be a 1.2GHz chip, which should ensure WebOS blazes along nicely, with plenty of multitasking goodness to boot.

Engadget also speculates that, based on internal marketing info the site has received that three models of the Opal tablet will be available: a WiFi only model and one each for AT&T and Verizon with a release date of September 2011.

Information beyond that is hart to come by – HP’s event is just weeks away and I’m sure they’ll have something suitably exciting to show us.

If info does keep leaking out though, will we already know everything before then? Keep an eye on Touch Reviews for more info when we have it.

In the last few weeks, after HP snapped up Palm, we’ve seen some worrying signs from the company.

Last month Matias Duarte left Palm. Apparently to go and work for Google. Who are not just a rival handset maker. Apart from Apple, Google with its Android smartphone ecosystem is the other major smartphone player in the world. Period. Not only that, but he went to work as a lead in their Android User Experience Department. Not an insignificant role!

HP’s reaction? They didn’t even issue a statement about the reasons behind the main architect of Palm’s webOS operating system apparently fleeing the company.

One can only read into that turn of events that HP didn’t see it coming, or that even if they did they perhaps either didn’t care or couldn’t spin it in any positive way. So said nothing.

In the first couple of days of this month, HP’s CEO issued the rather worrying and myopic statement that his company “didn’t buy Palm to be in the smartphone business”. He went on to try and qualify this sound-byte. But his explanation didn’t make things much better either.

A few scant hours later a rather rushed PR statement from HP tried to further clarify the CEO’s original statement, and to smooth ruffled features of HP’s shareholders.

Today we are hearing news that Rich Dellinger, another key webOS engineer, and a former Apple employee has also left Palm to return to Apple.

HP will obviously have the technology of webOS, as it stands, frozen in time to use as they see fit moving forward. And they’ll also reap the benefit of Palm’s patent portfolio.

But other than that it seems that Palm is still slowly disintegrating. Even after being bought out in what seemed at first like a rescue bid. It really would have been much better for Palm if they had been snapped up by Lenovo or HTC, other rumored suitors.

It seems that we are witnessing a rather sad end to a once truly innovative company.

Do you think its all over for Palm? Will we ever see any fruit from HP’s acquisition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The first to throw their proverbial hat in the ring was Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft. The giant of yesteryear didn’t even bother to try to test the tablet computing market. Perhaps they were hesitant to go another round in the tablet computing fight. Microsoft very famously tried to lead tablet computing early in the 2000’s. At the time technology, and the market as a whole, was not ready for what Microsoft had to offer. This time around Microsoft’s offering was the much rumored Courier device. The Courier prototypes featured a twin touchscreen interface that opened and closed like a hard shelled book. Running an inventive user interface on a specialized version of the Windows CE/Zune operating system, the Courier device actually generated a lot of buzz and interest. It might have actually been competitive with the iPad. Only time will tell why Microsoft put one of its most revolutionary products in 10 years on the shelf.

The second to bow out of the race was HP. Their Slate device ran Windows 7 on a 9 inch touchscreen tablet interface. It was reported to include a 3 megapixel camera, SD card support, GPS, and 1080p playback. Another interesting project, it would seem HP just wasn’t willing to go into the tablet market when it wasn’t assured success against the iPad. It’s unfortunate they weren’t willing even make a limited run at the market and provide Windows users a modestly viable alternative to the iPad. Given the run away success of the iPad, it is understandable. It’s also understandable seen through the lense of the Palm acquisition. Perhaps HP’s plan is to move forward with WebOS instead of Windows. Or to move more into the smartphone space. Either way, its another iPad competitor that bowed out without even trying.

So what does that leave? Undoubtedly Google will bring either a company-branded tablet or one developed in conjunction with a hardware manufacturer like they did with HTC and the Nexus One. At this point, Android seems to be the only willing and viable competition to Apple and their iPhone OS powered device. The fractured nature of Android may cause some missteps along the way but it will be interesting to see if Google’s operating system (and let’s be honest it is Google’s operating system) becomes any sort of threat to the iPad.

What do you think? Will any company provide competition to the iPad? Did Apple start out so far ahead that no one will catch up? Leave us your comments and let us know.

Before the advent of the iPhone I was a confirmed Palm Treo user. Nothing that Nokia or Microsoft could produce came even close to Palm’s already horribly out of date mobile phone OS. It seemed back then we were all waiting for either Palm to get it’s act together, or Apple to launch their rumoured iPhone.

Unfortunately when Palm finally produced something close to what we had all been hoping for in webOS and the Palm Pre, it was far too long after Apple and Google had staked their claim on the market place with Android, the iPhone and their App Stores.

I have mentioned a few times in the last 12 months or so that Palm needed to get a decent SDK out to developers. I was most vocal about this when I was first accepted into the Beta program for developers when Palm first launched webOS. At the time I was stunned as I leafed through the documents for their SDK, and fired up the development software, that I had absolutely no access to a real graphics API, or the ability to write high performance code for the ARM CPU & the GPU in these phones. I emailed friends in the dev community asking if I had missed something, or downloaded the wrong package. At the time I penned a letter to Palm telling them that this would be the death of their smart phone business. Which is their entire business after all.

When reporting on the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this month, I mentioned I was excited that Palm had finally got an OpenGL ES SDK (they call it their PDK) out to developers. This meant that finally all developers (not just select partners) could write or port high performance games and more to Palm’s mobile phone eco-system.

At the time I wrote that I was “sceptical if this will cause a massive boost in the Pre’s popularity. But it is a step in the right direction, finally. And means that frustrated Palm gamers can look forward to some more fun with their devices.”

It appears that I may have been too optimistic in that article. Even though elsewhere I had already questioned whether Palm would really ever make it back. Somewhere deep in side I still wanted them to succeed I guess.

As Palm’s stock price tumbles, and more and more details of their finances emerge, it seems ever more clear to me, and other tech writers, that Palm are already a “dead man walking” in the tech business. As of today, on paper, even though they boast a $500 Million war-chest, their combined cash, assets and debts potentially add up to $0. That’s right. Nothing.

An article I read earlier today by Jean-Louis GassŽe brought this home ever more clearly to me : [mondaynote.com]

Many writers are putting forward their thoughts on why Palm’s re-launch and webOS have failed.

Undoubtedly webOS is great. But ultimately Palm chose the wrong things to focus on, and got very unlucky with their choice of launch dates and initial partners. Their hardware was not quite up to scratch out of the door either. Some believe foolish headline grabbing stunts like the cat and mouse game they played with Apple and iTunes synching all factored into their lack of focus and ultimate slide.

But for me it comes down in big part to the fact that they messed up with their own version of an App Store, and took far far far too long to get a descent fully featured SDK into the hands of developers.

ars technica have quite an interesting piece on it here : [arstechnica.com]

In short, paraphrasing Jean-Louis GassŽe, “Who will buy Palm?”. My bet is the same as his. No-one!

A long shot might be one of the newer Asian tech companies, who may buy it up for the webOS technology for pennies on the dollar.

What do you think? Will you miss Palm?

The biggest barrier for good quality high-performance 3D games on Palm Smart-phones has finally been removed.

Palm (PALM) have finally officially confirmed that they have added a component to their webOS Software Development Kit which will allow developers to target high-performance 3D graphics and native ARM code. This is in the form of a webOS plugin that Palm plans to release at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week. It was first announced in January at CES.

What this means effectively is that the OpenGL ES API as well as the ability to compile C/C++ in gcc should now be available to all developers. OpenGL ES and C/C++ are the most commonly used API and language for game development on most other mobile platforms. It’s almost unbelievable that it has taken this long for Palm to do this. In my opinion this delay is one of the contributing factors to Palm’s slow decline and the lack of success they are seeing in their own App Store.

The great opportunity here for Palm (and games developers) is that any game written for OpenGL ES (1.1 or 2.0) can now be relatively easily ported to Palm’s smart phones which run webOS. i.e. The Pre and Pixi. That means the majority of iPhone, iPod and Android games catalog could be brought to their devices by developers in short turn around times. What it doesn’t mean is that any of the successful iPhone OS and Android OS UI based apps and utilities will be ay easier to port. So this doesn’t really spur popular utilities developers already seeing success with iPhones, iPods and Android devices to rush to the webOS platform; as they would still have to rework their user interface code considerably.

It’s taken Palm far too long to open this aspect of their device up to developers. It’s also frustrating to smaller game developers that the big players have had access to this since January. These small developers are now going to have to play catch up to the big names who will fill the store very quickly with their own IP, backed by strong marketing campaigns. This is somewhat dissimilar to Apple and Google, who have by and large let developers big and small work with their SDKs in parallel from the day they have been announced.

I am sceptical if this will cause a massive boost in the Pre’s popularity. But it is a step in the right direction, finally. And means that frustrated Palm gamers can look forward to some more fun with their devices.

Details for developers here

Some eye-candy on Palm’s site with games from some big partners such as EA, Gameloft and so forth, who have been working with Palm using this plugin since it’s announcement at CES in January: here

Is this too little to late for Palm? Are you a Palm user and are you excited by this? As a Developer have you been asking for this for a while, and are you frustrated that Palm have made you wait this long? I know I have, and I am.

By: Stephen Northcott