After waiting impatiently for the arrival of the HP Slate (powered by Windows 7), it looks like my dreams of a fully functional tablet PC was shattered after watching this video demo by CrunchGear.

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After Cupertino’s CEO publicly dissed Blackberry’s during his anti-Android speech (the latter which he focused mostly upon), RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie decided to post a response rebutting Steve Jobs claims regarding the folly of 7 inch tablets.

For those of us who live outside of Apple’s distortion field, we know that 7” tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple’s attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. (Inside Blackberry)

Jim Balsille also refuted Apple’s claims of RIM’s declining sales regarding Blackberry devices by pointing out that Apple was comparing its summer quarter to Apple’s fall quarter (as more gadgets sell during the fall than the summer).

As far as the tablet is concerned, whether RIM’s Playbook will be able to challenge the iPad in the future has yet to be seen, although RIM may have difficulty dethroning Apple as other rivals (like the PalmPad and the Chrome Tablet) appearing on the scene in the not so distant future.

With the smartphone wars heating up between iOS and Android (with RIM limping along via Blackberry), it looks like HP is going to enter the fight with the unveiling of Palm Pre 2.

New ways to get in touch, stay connected, juggle life, and accomplish more. Available in the coming months.

Start an email, create a message, update your status, search your favorite websites—all without having to launch an app.¹ With webOS 2.0, whenever you want to do something on your phone, whether it’s emailing, texting, searching, or almost anything, just type. (Palm.com)

Note: Emphasis mine.

According to rumors HP will be launching Palm Pre 2 upon Verizon in the US in January, although if you’re in France you should be able to snag the device this week.

Unlike the iDevice, Palm Pre 2 will support Flash, which should help the HP remain competitive against not only Apple but Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 (the latter which will also support Flash).

Although HP has yet to reveal any extra juicy details regarding its “iPad killer” (i.e. PalmPad), its good to see HP resurrecting Palm from the dead, although hopefully the company will be able to convince developers that webOS is worth their energy (let alone time).

(via Daring Fireball)

Cupertino’s super hero made a rare appearance on Apple’s conference call yesterday, giving the world his opinion about rumors and rivals, the former which centered around why iPad Nano will never see the light of day.

While Steve Jobs was correct about highlighting RIM’s failure in the mobile space (which truth be told isn’t surprising to anyone unless you’re AT&T or RIM), he did go off on a rant regarding Android’s “fragmented mess.” More →

With all of the rumors swirling about the Verizon iPhone, it looks like the grape vine (which is Yankee slang for rumor mill) is now saying that Verizon’s “white knight” will be arriving around March instead of January.

“In our opinion, it is looking less likely that the Verizon iPhone will be a first-quarter launch based on the lack of supply-chain movements, but we still expect it during 2011,” says Tavis McCourt, an analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co. in Memphis.

Verizon and Apple declined to comment.

There has been tremendous anticipation and debate about when the iPhone might be available at Verizon, the nation’s largest cell-phone carrier. Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall says he thinks the iPhone is still on track for a March launch at Verizon. (Chicago Business)

While iPhone’s appearance would help delay the inevitable exodus of many iLovers, it may also seal Apple’s doom as Android is already activating more than 200,000 new units a day (with reports as high as 250,000).

Although not as large as Verizon, Steve Jobs could consider releasing the iPhone upon T-Mobile which is not only GSM friendly (so altering the chips wouldn’t be that hard) but also help accelerate demand for the iDevice.

Ironically Apple’s belated appearance upon Verizon may also help out Microsoft, whose Windows Phone 7 would have plenty of time to build up market share before the inevitable iWave once again sweeps over America.

After exiting Verizon’s walled garden earlier on Android (to the celebration of millions everywhere), the VoIP king has announced that a strategic partnership with KDDI, which may not please many Japanese Android fans.

Following the announcement of our partnership with Verizon Wireless earlier this year, we’ve just announced a strategic alliance with KDDI to integrate Skype software across KDDI’s services, starting with its mobile network –au.

au customers will be able to benefit from Skype-to-Skype voice calls which don’t count against their monthly minute allowance*, IM, as well as great value calls to international numbers at Skype’s low rates.

The Skype app for au phones will be ‘always on’ so customers can see their friends’ online status at any time, as well as be able to receive Skype calls and Instant Messages whenever they’re connected. (Official Skype Blog)

Until recently Skype was not available to Japanese and Chinese Android users, an omission that was puzzling until this announcement was made.

While this agreement probably puts some extra cash in Skype’s pocket in the short term, it’s hard to see deals like this will benefit Skype over the long term (despite the fact that KDDI is releasing new Android phones this December).

Fortunately for Skype, Google Voice has yet to focus upon the land of the rising sun. Although if the search engine giant ever decides to expand east, Skype may find its deal with KDDI to be a burden rather than a benefit.

As any geek worth their page rank knows, Skype and Facebook have joined forces in an attempt to make it easier for friends and family to connect with each other via status updates or VoIP.

We’ve integrated the Facebook News Feed and Phonebook into Skype, making it easier to stay connected with the people and communities you care about. We’ve revitalised the look and feel, making voice and video calling, instant messaging, screen sharing and file sharing intuitive and easy to navigate. And you can now bring even more of your family and friends together with the new group video calling feature available in open beta. (Official Skype Blog)

While this geek is extremely happy for the two tech titans finally working together (as it makes it easier to call my friends half way around the world), the alliance seems to be more of a defensive move against their common foe (hint: Google). More →

Not content with thrashing Apple in the mobileverse, there are now rumors that Google is preparing to launch Gingerbread next week.

According to the source, we won’t have to wonder what exactly Gingerbread, the next Android OS, is going to bring to the table for too long because the Gingerbread SDK is going to go public next week. [...]

Getting access to the latest revision of the Android SDK means we’ll find out all the new API calls showing new OS functionality and, more importantly, will have access to the latest emulator showing exactly what the stock Android Gbread will look like. (Android Police)

Note: Emphasis theirs.

While Froyo (aka Android 2.2) helped make flash a reality for mobile devices, Gingerbread could help Android compete against the iPad without “super sizing” the overall layout.

Gingerbread’s appearance could also coincide with the launch of the rumored DroidPad, which will probably be Motorola’s answer to Apple’s iPad (the latter which has become the media darling as of late).

Although we still have to place Gingerbread’s launch in the “take with heavy doses of salt” category (translation: we’ll believe it when we see it), Gingerbread’s appearance could be Google’s backup plan just in case the Chrome tablet fails.

It’s official! Today Windows 7 Phone has made its debut with Steve Baller appearing on the Today’s Show expressing giddyness about the device (despite skepticism from NBC).

Unfortunately for Microsoft, the smartphone space is a little crowed with Apple and Google dominating the space (mind share wise at least), not to mention RIM’s Blackberry Torch (which one of my friends chose instead of an iPhone–go figure).

Despite being an iPhone geek, I do like what Microsoft has done with their latest and greatest smartphone, and while I have yet to leave Steve Jobs flock, here are 4 reasons why you should choose Windows 7 phone over the competition. More →

Unless you live outside of the geek-o-sphere, you probably did not realize that Mozilla recently added Bing! as a search option to Firefox.

Today Bing and Firefox announced that Bing will be included as one of the search engine choices within Firefox on both the Mac and PC.

We’re very excited to be included in the search engine choices in the upcoming version of Firefox.  Having Bing in the “out of the box” list makes it easier than ever for the Firefox community to experience the benefits of Bing.

We expect the Bing option to show up in an upcoming build of Firefox 4. (Bing! Community Blog) More →