Palm Needs A Palm Desktop for WebOS

Is something afoot with Palm's latest WebOS release?

In the past, each release from Palm fixes the link between Pre and Apple's iTunes.  It has been an ongoing battle between Apple and Palm, similar to the war between Apple and the innovative Apple community that unlocks/jailbreaks the iPhone and iPod Touch.  But with the latest update, the iTunes link with Pre was not restored.

Perhaps this has to do with the fact that Palm lost to Apple when they both went in front of the USB Implementers Forum earlier in the fall.  Personally, why Palm did this was just stupid and out of character.  Well, perhaps, it did something that Palm needed but may no longer.

Palm knew it was never going to be allowed by Apple to hook the Pre into iTunes indefinitely and while these battles are cute, it could undercut WebOS with customers in the long-run.

So, Palm will need its own solution.  And it needs it badly.  Ask my fellow Android users and developers and they'll tell you they wish Google has some sort of solution to Apple's iTunes for synching and delivery of contents.  So, don't be surprised to see the Palm Desktop resurrection for the WebOS.  And there's what they can do to really stick it to Apple:

• Bring a bit of WebOS to PD (Palm Desktop).  
• Integration with Amazon's store to challenge iTunes.  Maybe Amazon will even give Palm a piece of the action.  
• Offer tie-ins for other devices like Android, not just WebOS.  This isn't as insane as it seems.  Palm and Google have a tight relationship with the Pre.  Plus, it'll make other folks thinking about WebOS and it's superior interface to Android.
• Offer Google apps via a built-in browser.  Well, Palm can base PD off Webkit if it wants just as WebOS' browser is based on.
• Offer desktop access to Palm's app store.  More than just buy apps, let folks use PD to use the apps. Last I checked, Apple isn't doing this at all or even thinking about it.
• Facebook, Twitter, Myspace - let folks access updates into PD as well.  
• Open it even to iPhone and iPod Touch users.  Seriously open it up.

Essentially, make PD the one-stop access to for Palm,  Android, WM, Symbian, and Blackberry users to access their contacts and social updates.  With what I'm thinking, Palm can just ahead of the game and really give Apple a run for the money.

Google's Chrome on Android

That was quick.  And inevitable.  So, Google's Webkit browser, Chrome, will be coming to Android.  Just not right away.  Cnet News reported that although Google developed Chrome and Android separately, so the two projects were not tied together, Chrome or Chrome-like features will be gracing Android at some time in the future.

So far, what I've seen does not sway me one way or another.  It is still rough and, if this follows the footsteps of other Google projects, it'll be in beta for a while.

Furthermore, Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, does not seem sure when it'll happen and how different the current Android browser, also Webkit-based, is going to be from mobile Chrome.

So, why is this important?  Webkit.  That is why.

Google is a big supporter of Firefox and likely will continue to be a sponsor despite having their own browser now.  However, potential increases in popularity of Webkit-based browsers, including Apple's Safari, may come at the expense of Firefox's rate of adoption.

At the present time, we can't say how mobile warriors may be affected by Chrome.  Google Gears for Safari was just released and certainly with Chrome, the ability to access data offline is a boon for mobile workers and growth may accelerate.  But it remains to be seen if Firefox will continue to receive the same attention as Chrome from Google.

And the ultimate browser to be affected by Webkit browsers is Internet Explorer.  Any loss in market-share by IE is going to come from Firefox and, maybe, Safari until Chrome is out of beta and ready for users.  Nevertheless, those who are looking to make a break from Microsoft even if they're on a Windows machine will not have another choice.

Who would have guessed there would still be a browser war today. Isn't competition grand?