It’s been more than a year since a dispute between singer Chubby Checker and Hewlitt-Packard over a penis-measuring app plunged this country into darkness, dividing households, pitting brother against brother, leaving deep scars from which we may never heal — but which will always stand as a reminder of an era we’d all like to forget. Finally, the two parties have put aside their differences for the sake of generations to come, and reached a settlement. [More]
palm
![Palm Pixi Survives 45 Minutes Inside 450 Degree Oven](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/ovenlight.jpg?w=240&h=161&crop=1)
Palm Pixi Survives 45 Minutes Inside 450 Degree Oven
It’s not just iPhones, Palm Pixis are perfectly capable of surviving harrowing exploits as well, writes reader Jim. In the interest of fair and balanced coverage, we must give the Pixi’s story its due. [More]
![Palm Holds Fire Sale, Almost All Apps Half Off](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/062110-006-palm-app-store.jpg?w=300&h=202&crop=1)
Palm Holds Fire Sale, Almost All Apps Half Off
Palm, which is a smartphone company that is not Apple, has halved the prices of almost all apps in its U.S. app store until July 9th. Although I called it a fire sale, mocoNews thinks maybe it’s a way for HP to “say that Palm devices are here to stay.” Either way, if your phone uses Palm’s webOS then this is a great time to pick up some apps at a big discount. [More]
![Hewlett-Packard To Buy Palm For $1.2 Billion](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hpbabes.jpg?w=240&h=179&crop=1)
Hewlett-Packard To Buy Palm For $1.2 Billion
After months of rumor and speculation, Hewlett-Packard announced today that it will indeed purchase Palm Inc. for a grand total of $1.2 billion. [More]
![Chart Compares Total Cost Of Ownership For Popular Smartphones](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/103009-004-smartphone-tco-chart.jpg?w=160&h=160&crop=1)
Chart Compares Total Cost Of Ownership For Popular Smartphones
You may think that buying an iPhone with AT&T service is an expensive commitment, and you’d be right. But as this chart from BillShrink shows, your total cost of ownership (TCO) for any of the latest smartphones is going to exceed 2 grand over a 24-month period. In fact, the highly-praised new Motorola Droid on Verizon works out to exactly the same TCO as the latest iPhone.
![No Palm Pre For Verizon Wireless?](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/092509-002-palmpre.jpg?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
No Palm Pre For Verizon Wireless?
If you’ve been holding out on a phone upgrade or carrier switch until the Palm Pre comes to Verizon, you may need to give up the dream. The carrier has “reportedly ditched plans to offer the Palm Pre early next year,” says PC World. Apparently poor sales of the device at Sprint, combined with Verizon’s interest in upcoming Blackberry devices, killed any enthusiasm the carrier once had. Update: The no-Pre rumor may be false, according to these two analysts.
![Get A Palm Pre For Only $99 At Best Buy…No, Wait, Never Mind](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/thumb160x_c255c2b95a27dc2f9b3738fd25a0afae.png?w=158&h=225&crop=1)
Get A Palm Pre For Only $99 At Best Buy…No, Wait, Never Mind
For a brief, shining moment, in-store ads at Best Buy stores advertised a Palm Pre for $99 with a new two-year Sprint contract. Potential Pre customers were stoked. Recent Pre purchasers were incensed. And today, Best Buy was scrambling to fix the situation, since the price drop was really due to an error in the system. Oops.
![Verizon Limits Handset Exclusivity To 6 Months](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/goingsteady.jpg?w=158&h=213&crop=1)
Verizon Limits Handset Exclusivity To 6 Months
Verizon announced it will limit handset exclusivity deals to 6 months, a bow to pleas by small wireless carriers, and in advance of possible Department of Justice action on its inquiries on the one-carrier deals for the iPhone, Pre and LG Voyager. In its announcement, Verizon noted 24 rural carriers had asked it to limit these anti-competitive deals. Yes, apparently there are that many small carriers still left.
iPhone/Palm Pre Shootout At The Smartphone Corral
Watch Consumer Reports Electronics pit the iPhone and Pre against each other. Two phones enter. Only one can emerge victorious.
![Palm Treo 600/Treo 650 Owners Can Claim Class Action Benefits](../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/treo600.jpg?w=178&h=134&crop=1)
Palm Treo 600/Treo 650 Owners Can Claim Class Action Benefits
If you had experienced two or more repairs on your Treo 600 or Treo 650, Palm has just settled a class action lawsuit under which you might be able to claim benefits. You can either get a $50 or $75 rebate good for purchase of a new Palm smartphone, or you can get your device repaired even if the original warranty has expired. The deadline for filing is July 28, 2008. More information is available at palzasettlement.com. Inside, The full text of the email Palm sent out. Out of curiosity, are there ever any class action lawsuits that don’t settle out of court?
Best Unlocked Phones
The recent Copyright Office ruling on unlocking GSM phones puts some much-needed power back in the hands of you, the wireless consumer. This means you can now bring your Cingular phone over to T-Mobile, or vice-versa. You also have the right to switch between prepaid and postpaid service on the same phone. And when you travel abroad, you can pop an international SIM card into your phone for much lower rates.
Morning Deals Round-Up
• Buy a man’s poverty on eBay for a buck. And if it just takes a buck to get him out of poverty, you might be able to complain that you didn’t buy as much poverty as you were led to believe.
Morning Deals Round-Up: Palm Magic Jacket Gyro
• Doing last minute shopping for the anal retentive is fun—just waiting until the last minute will irk them. Encourage them to document the ways they hate you with a new Palm PDA and get free overnight shipping. Those new $100 Z22 color PDAs are pretty swell.