Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein reportedly released a memo on Tuesday that seemed to announce a shift from the webOS platform to Android. The memo was supposed to be up on Wikileaks at midnight, which it never was. The important part of the memo reads, “While Palm is incredibly proud of our engineers who spent timeless work and effort to bring us this advanced operating system,consumers simply have not caught on. To provide a better future for ourselves and customers, the only logical choice is to transition our hardware and software to the Android platform.” According to Wired’s Gadget Lab and Engadget, a source inside Palm says that there is no plan to switch to Android and that the company is committed to webOS.

There is no question that Android is hot at the moment. Even Rubinstein said that the DROID’s launch at Verizon before the Pre Plus was one of the reasons why his phone is selling poorly at Big Red. But there are things that Palm can do with its OS. Considering that many analysts who hated the hardware of the two phones love the OS, Palm could license webOS to another company who can make superior handsets. Whatever move Palm makes-and time is running out-dumping their home grown OS for the same software everyone else is using seems unlikely.
source: Slashdot via GadgetLab and Engadget

If you have been thinking about getting the Motorola DROID but wanted to test out the Google Maps and Navigation, you can “kick the tires” on one of the biggest stages in the U.S.-Times Square. For 20 straight hours today, anyone who calls 888-376-4336 will get a chance to do a Google Search by voice and the results will show up on either the giant NASDAQ sign or on the mammoth Reuters display. So if you were to call and say, “McDonalds”, the display would show a giant Google Map, pointing out to you the closest Micky D’s with signs showing you how to navigate to the location. For the last couple of weeks, this promotion has been running in 90 minute time slots in the afternoon and night. With the heavy parade traffic, the 20 hour promotion today should bring plenty of attention to the Android powered DROID. Just try to keep your search “clean”. After all, Times Square has been Disneyfied for a few years now.
source: TechCrunch