HP's PCs: The handwriting was in Léo Apotheker's resumé

• Palm CEO puts his cards on the table

  Former Apple exec Jon Rubinstein remains committed to Palm's success, even as takeover rumors swirl.

  But sales disappointed, first with Sprint, then with Verizon, which offered customers Motorola's Droid – which runs Google's Android operating system – before Palm's Pre and Pixi. Palm's holiday sales were weak, and its financial guidance has been cautious, sending its stock below $4. With investors and industry pundits doubting Palm'sability to survive, Rubinstein sat MORE

  Adam Lashinsky, Sr. Editor at Large - Apr 8, 2010 3:00 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry, Droid, Google, iPhone, Jon Rubinstein, Palm, Pre, Research in Motion, Smartphones, Sprint, Verizon

• Survey: Android surges, iPhone stalls

  While demand for BlackBerries and Palm Pres is drying up, according to ChangeWave

  Take this with the usual grain of salt, based, as it is, on a survey of early adopters who have already decided to buy a smartphone in the next three months.

  But in a ChangeWave report released Wednesday, 30% of respondents said they would prefer to have a phone running Google's (GOOG) Android operating system -- a five-fold increase MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 31, 2010 11:53 AM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, ChangeWave, Droid, Google, HTC, iPhone, Motorola, Nexus One, Palm, Pre

• Exit Apple: The man who made the iPod

  Tony Fadell leaves Apple nearly 17 months after losing the iPod/iPhone division

  He came to Apple (AAPL) in 2001 with plans for building what would become the iPod. By 2006 he had replaced Jon Rubinstein -- who went on to build the Palm (PALM) Pre -- as head of Apple's iPod division, in charge of both what was then the company's biggest cash cow and the project that would become the MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 30, 2010 7:14 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, iPhone, iPod, Jon Rubinstein, Palm, Pre, Steve Jobs, Tony Fadell

• Apple talks tough to handset makers

  The HTC lawsuit capped blunt talks that have reportedly shaken their faith in Google

  Oppenheimer's Yair Reiner issued a behind-the-scenes report Tuesday that sheds a lot of light on the patent suits Apple (AAPL) filed last week against HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker.

  Citing "industry checks," Reiner writes that:

  "Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 9, 2010 7:26 AM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, Google, HTC, iPhone, LG, Nokia, Oppenheimer, Palm, Patents, Pre, Samsong, Tim Cook, Yair Reiner

• How callers rate the carriers

  Verizon leads the pack. AT&T is No. 2. T-Mobile and Sprint bring up the rear

  There's bad news for Apple (AAPL) and not such great news for Palm (PALM) in a BrandIndex consumer survey published Tuesday by YouGov. Both firms originally tied their cellphones to exclusive U.S. carriers -- AT&T and Sprint, respectively -- neither of which scored particularly well in terms of quality, value and customer satisfaction. (Palm has since MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 9, 2010 7:00 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, AT&T, BrandIndex, iPhone, Palm, Pre, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, YouGov

• Google phone vs. Apple iPhone

  At the end of two years, the Nexus One will have cost you $500 less than the iPhone

  On the heels of Google's (GOOG) release of the HTC Nexus One -- popularly known as the Google phone -- the folks at BillShrink have done us all a favor.

  They've put out one of their handy charts comparing the specs and total cost of ownership of four popular smartphones:

  Apple's (AAPL) iPhone on AT&T MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Jan 6, 2010 5:25 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Droid, Google phone, HTC, iPhone, Motorola, Nexus One, Palm, Pre

• iPhone in "striking distance" of BlackBerry

  Apple gains, RIM drifts, Palm holds steady in the latest ChangeWave survey

  Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry, with a 40% share, is still the most popular smartphone among the 4,255 owners who responded to a ChangeWave survey in September. But Apple's (AAPL) iPhone is gaining fast, according to research director Paul Carton.

  "Apple (30%) has seen a huge market share jump since the previous survey," he writes in a release issued Tuesday. MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 27, 2009 2:43 PM ET
  Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry, ChangeWave, iPhone, Palm, Pre, RIM

• Palm's Next Act: Pixi

  The clearest indication at whom Palm is aiming its newest smartphone, dubbed Pixi, is the new Facebook application that debuts in the younger, smaller sibling to the Palm Pre. If that is your thing, then perhaps your gadget has arrived.

  Michael V. Copeland, Senior Writer - Sep 9, 2009 12:19 AM ET
  Posted in: Palm, Pixi, Pre, Smartphones

• Steve Jobs to Ed Colligan: Dear sir, let's collude

  "We must do whatever we can to stop this."

  That's how Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs is reported to have asked then Palm (PALM) CEO Ed Colligan to enter into a possibly illegal agreement to stop trying to hire away each others' top engineering talent.

  If accurate, it may be one of the most stilted attempts to collude ever recorded.

  Colligan's answer, according to Bloomberg's Connie Guglielmo, who says she has reviewed the MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Aug 20, 2009 7:47 AM ET
  Posted in: Antitrust, Apple, DOJ, Ed Colligan, iPhone, Jon Rubinstein, Palm, Pre, Steve Jobs