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	Editorial Potpourri

Last update: 06-07-2007	Submitted by Alan Grassia



Editorial Potpourri This week I cover two topics that I have been thinking about on all week. Palm’s Strategic Recapitalization Earlier this week Palm and Elevation Partners announced that would bring an additional $325 million dollars to Palm. Elevation will have three associates named to Palm’s Board of Directors. Palm shareholders will receive a $9 per share dividend. The board room shuffle will see the departure of former Palm CEO Eric Benhamou, and the addition of former Apple VP in charge of hardware engineering and head of the iPod division, Jon Rubinstein. The Elevation recapitalization should be seen as a good thing as it is the best of both worlds. First off, Palm wasn’t sold. The $325 million did get Elevation a 25% stake in Palm, and the senior Palm management team will remain in place. Shareholders should be happy because they are getting a payout. And Palm enthusiasts and customers should be happy because Elevation has the ability to attract new talent to Palm. I think that this move also signals a new direction for Palm. Let’s set aside what Palm might be working on based on the job postings that we have seen over the last year. I’d like to focus on what we do know. Palm is working on Palm OS II, a new Linux-based multitasking mobile operating system. We know that Palm is researching new Treo form factors. We know at least one hardware platform will be a “very low cost” solution. We also know that Palm has added the talents of Marc Blanc and Paul Mercer to the staff and acquired their companies (ChatterMail and iVentor). With Jon Rubinstein joining the team, Palm could be moving to deliver a product that will look cool, is ease to use, and be focused on the mass consumer market. Treo 700p Maintenance Release Palm finally made good on their promise to release the Treo 700p maintenance release this week. Sort of. On Monday, the update was released. By Tuesday, Palm had pulled the update off their website. It turns out that Palm was receiving reports that the updater was failing to launch correctly on some Sprint branded Treo 700p devices. Verizon customers are still waiting for Verizon to clear their update. This has been an incredibly frustrating experience for Palm and their customers. Palm has been listening the Treo 700p customer base, of which I’m a member, and have tried to put together a solid maintenance release. I did download the 700p MR before it was pulled. I installed it via the SD card method. (You can read my upgrade notes here .) I only had minor issues after the update had been installed. Since the update has been installed, my Treo 700p no longer spontaneously resets and the time to launch Blazer has gone from 20+ seconds down to 3-4 seconds. Lastly, Bluetooth connectivity to my headset is good. In the future, I am not sure how to streamline this process and get update out to customers more quickly. Palm, once they realized they had a problem should have been more open with their customers and tell them what was going on. It is all about managing expectations. A year ago Palm had no centralized communication vehicle. Yes Palm could have used their main web page, sure. But how many of you really read what was in the news links near the bottom of the screen? Palm’s open letter to the community and launch of the Palm Company Blog are good first steps. In the future, more direct communication with their customers will go a long way to helping Palm manage their customer’s expectations. Let us know what you think about these topics. Post your feedback in the 1SRC forums.