Palm Inc. ended its quiet period, in place since its public offering, by announcing that every existing Palm device will be able to wirelessly connect to the Internet by the end of the year.
Palm said it plans to release a series of snap-on modules that can connect any Palm device to a cellular phone via IR, cable or Bluetooth. The company, at a New York press conference, demonstrated a prototype Bluetooth module and said Bluetooth modules should be available at the same time that Bluetooth cellular phones begin shipping. The first module will be for the Palm V.
Palm said the its chief “vision and strategy” is to “unwire the Palm,” according to CEO Carl Yankowski. He noted that the number of developers for the Palm has increased from 29,000 last December to 65,000 at present. In addition, Barry Cottle, COO of Wireless Internet Solutions said that the Palm VII has been very successful and that the daily click rate for Palm VII users will reach half a billion clicks per day by the end of the year.
Palm also announced it will be launching a comprehensive, TV, billboard, radio and print campaign this year and that it has “lined up over 3,000 endcaps at retail stores across the U.S. as part of the marketing blitz, according to chief marketing officer, Satjiv, S. Chahil.
