Gadgets Blog » Palm

Count this as the most recent development in the smartphone wars. With the world taking on Apple’s beloved iPhone, other phone manufacturers are faced with a steep challenge. Ever since its release, the iPhone has been the definitive smartphone, bringing a wide variety of features not previously known to casual phone users.

Recently, however, the battle has intensified. Apple, who for so long seemed invincible, appears to have stumbled during the course of this iPhone antenna debacle. The iPhone, it seems, is no longer perfect as we once thought.

Therefore, today’s news story is perhaps no surprise. According to an article at BBC News, shipments of Android-equipped phones shot through the roof in the 2nd quarter of 2010. The numbers, compared to the same period of 2008, show a staggering 886 percent increase in shipments. The number can be attributed to a number of factors.

First and foremost, Google’s operating system has resonated with developers. Companies from HTC to Samsung have been developing phones with Android, providing a solid opportunity for an operating system that isn’t Apple’s. Google’s reputation as a computing giant is perhaps exactly the type of name-recognition needed to combat Apple.

Today’s top gadget news story is a fairly surprising instance of two for the price of one. As other developers attempt to get products into the market inspired by the Apple iPad, Hewlett Packard seemed to be the best bet for consumers holding out for a PC-oriented tablet computer.

The HP Slate in particular was an impressive model, boasting Windows 7 and offering a series of features that could even make it a solid improvement on the iPad. I was surprised by the announcement that HP canceled the Slate, a serious blow to companies chasing down Apple.

This is the second tablet device that HP has dropped this year, meaning they’ve backed off from both a Windows 7-based model as well as an Android model. So the fact that the second half of our story was the announcement of an HP-copyrighted device known as the PalmPad makes things even more interesting.

With a name that sounds like some sort of mash-up between iPad and Palm Pilot, the device churned up Internet rumors that HP had decided to go with Palm’s Web OS as a tablet operating system instead. This news, undoubtedly, would be fantastic for Palm if it were true.