The new hardware will come with a new OS, said Lawrence Harris, an analyst for CL King & Associates. “It’s quite likely, actually close to a certainty, that they will show a new OS, new user interface and probably new hardware,” Harris said in an interview with Wired. “This is Palm’s last shot to prove it has what it takes to survive in a very competitive market.”

The new Linux-based OS is code-named Nova, which Palm had previously said would debut sometime in early 2009. The new interface and hardware should help Palm better compete with devices like the iPhone 3G, BlackBerry and the G1, thanks to expected support for HSDPA networks (which it currently lacks). In fact, the new devices will have to do that, since Palm’s financials have underperformed this year, to say the least.

“The good news for Palm is that folks are still talking about them and those making the trek to CES will likely pay attention to what they’re saying,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president at research firm Jupitermedia. “If this event disappoints it’s going to be hard for them to muster attention in the future.” [Wired]

Jobs compared the split favourably to game development companies, saying that Apple was going to “provide distribution and marketing.”

Somehow we don’t think arrangement of apps on a virtual iTunes shelf with a few web banners on Fark and Digg can compare with, say, the Grand Theft Auto IV ad blitz. [NYT]

The cheapest plan, $35/month, includes just 5MB of data and $25 of calls. It’s not until $119/month that the data allowances hit more than 200MB. On that plan you get 1GB of data, but still just $25 of calls. The telco also slogs you $279 upfront for the 8GB handset and $399 for the 16GB unit.

There’s no fine print, and I suppose the pricing could become competitive if calls are 1c/minute. Telstra’s telling journos full pricing won’t be available until tomorrow.

Here’s hoping the information’s false – though that hasn’t worked for us recently.

When they posted pretty poor plans for a short while yesterday, we hoped it was a mistake.

We’re sorely disappointed. The plans have been resurrected today and consumers aren’t the winner: Optus is.
The only improvement from yesterday’s short-lived leak is the option to buy handsets over 24 months for about the same price as an upfront payment. Otherwise their pricing has us camping outside Optus World at midnight.

Assuming call rates are similar to Voda’s existing cap plans (40c per 30 secs plus 30c flagfall on a mid-range cap), Optus’s offering kills them. For $59/month, Optus gives $350 of credit and 500MB of data. For ten bucks a month more, Vodafone offers half the data and $310 of credit. Optus’s flagfall is 10c more expensive than Voda’s, but otherwise it’s like-for-like.

On those plans over 24 months, Optus will stings you $2/month for the 8GB handset versus $7.88/month on Voda.

Optus also wins on more expensive plans. If you’re after $1200 of credit and 1GB of data, Optus charges $149/month versus Voda’s $169. Optus will give you the 16GB handset if you sign up to 24 months, while Vodafone asks for another $89.

Can anyone see any redeeming features in Voda’s offering? Here’s hoping Telstra bring us something better … if they ever release the fine print.

Thanks Garth!

The only real problem with today’s portable electronics is battery life. The gear gets more powerful but sadly battery technology really hasn’t kept up, that’s why we write about things like solar power. But there are also nifty things called dynamos, devices you pump or crank to juice up your batteries. O2, a large mobile carrier in the UK, will be installing bicycle-powered dynamos around a festival it’s sponsoring this coming weekend to charge up music fans’ mobiles. Sure, they could have run power cables and created power stations, but where’s the fun in that? And as anyone who’s been to a large outdoor festival in the last few years knows, you’re going to want to power up at least once a day or else you’re cut off. And if you’ve got our luck, it’d be right before Winehouse takes the stage, so you’d have no bawdy SMS session to distract you. [Pocket Picks]

The big steps Adobe is going to take to make this work are:

- Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
– Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
– Publishing the Adobe Flash® Cast™ protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services
– Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free

Adobe’s also throwing in the AIR platform as well, which is “the next-generation RIA runtime for the desktop, supporting HTML, Ajax, Adobe Flash technology and PDF.” [Adobe]

The 103 has a 2.8-inch touchscreen with 640×480 resolution, Wi-Fi, AGPS, and no keyboard. The 111 has a front-facing keyboard, which cuts the resolution down to 320×240 on a 2.46-inch screen. This also has Wi-Fi and AGPS. Both phones have a 2-megapixel back camera and a 0.3-megapixel front video camera for conferencing. [Velocity Mobile]

A typo error, perhaps. But it does claim to have a “16800 mAh super-long standby” lithium battery, giving a three to five day talk time. It also packs in Bluetooth 2.0, e-book reading, MP3 and MP4 playing, four speakers, PDA functions and a 3.5-inch 240 x 320 pixel screen into one package. It even has dual 0.3 megapixel cameras and a transflash slot for memory expansion, including a 256MB one for free in the package. Though it looks fairly small, it’s going to feel pretty large in your pocket: it’s 0.79 inches deep.

It is apparently available for US$145. Sounds unlikely? Most probably. What do you think? [Solomobi]