Palm

Palm said Thursday it expects revenues will fall well below the company's previously forecast range of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion for the current business year. The smartphone maker attributed the anticipated decline to slower than expected consumer adoption of the company's products, which has led to lower order volumes from carriers as well as the deferral of future orders to later periods.

Palm reported a drop in earnings for its fiscal 2010 second quarter, but the handset maker hopes news about an updated webOS will encourage the market. Total revenues for Palm's second quarter were $78.1 million, with gross profits of $5.5 million. The company's stock slid 10 percent as the company's new operating system and phone lineup failed to perform as well as expected.

Having a device that enables users to take pictures, e-mail colleagues, browse the web, and send text messages is no longer a nice-to-have device but a need-to-have device. That mentality is creating a recession-proof smartphone market.

Apple's App Store has reached two billion downloads. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has been promoting both its iPhone and its App Store as rivals have launched new smartphones and online app stores.

With more than 85,000 apps available to 50 million plus iPhone and iPod touch customers and 125,000 developers, Apple said its store continues to be a success.

The Palm Pre will make its debut in Europe next month. U.K.-based carrier O2 has the exclusive rights to sell the webOS-powered smartphone in Europe.

Palm said Thursday that O2 will be the exclusive wireless provider in the U.K., Ireland and Germany for an undisclosed amount of time. O2 has confirmed the deal.

The Palm Pre, which has a slide-out keyboard, Web browsing, music, photos and videos, launched with exclusive rights in the U.S. through Sprint, and in Canada through Bell Mobility.

Palm on Tuesday opened its application store to developers. The handset maker is inviting developers who want to charge for their webOS applications to submit them for consideration in the Palm App Catalog beta program that begins in mid-September.

Palm will hand-pick developers to participate in the beta program and give them the opportunity to feature their applications -- both free and paid -- in the catalog before it opens the door to all developers. The chosen developers would become the first to make money from webOS applications.

Apple Inc. has shut down one of the most compelling features on Palm Inc.'s rival Pre smart phone, crippling the Pre's ability to act like an iPod.

Users of the recently released Pre had been able to put music on it by using Apple's free iTunes software -- a unique twist for a device not made by Apple. But Apple updated iTunes on Wednesday to block this feature.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said the update "disables devices falsely pretending to be iPods, including the Palm Pre."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, just back from a medical leave of absence, wasted no time trumpeting the success of the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. The store has had 1.5 billion downloads since its launch a year ago.

Jobs' announcement may be an attempt by Apple to put a lid on recent questions about the App Store's success and revenue. Apple hasn't revealed if it is making huge profits on the store or if the money spent to maintain the venture is more than the revenue from purchased apps.

Palm on Thursday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss, but the smartphone maker's shares rose sharply Friday morning on news of lower-than-expected deficits.

Palm's revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2009, ended May 29, were $86.8 million. Gross profit was $20.1 million. Palm posted a loss of $105 million on the quarter, or 78 cents per share. That compares with a loss of $43.4 million, or 40 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

It certainly didn't take long for a few storm clouds to appear over the otherwise glittering launch of the Palm Pre. At a press conference Friday, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse took issue with media suggestions that the much-anticipated smartphone would be available from Verizon Wireless in six months or so.

"They need to check their facts," Hesse said. "That just is not the case. Both Palm and Sprint have agreed not to discuss the length of the exclusivity deal. But I can tell you it's not six months."