1SRC Editorial: Editorial Potpourri

Editorial Potpourri the latest 1SRC Editorial has been posted. This week I discuss the Palm/Elevation partnership and the Treo 700p maintenance release.

Palm’s Strategic Recapitalization

Earlier this week Palm and Elevation Partners announced that would bring an additional $325 million dollars to Palm. Elevation will have three associates named to Palm’s Board of Directors. Palm shareholders will receive a $9 per share dividend. The board room shuffle will see the departure of former Palm CEO Eric Benhamou, and the addition of former Apple VP in charge of hardware engineering and head of the iPod division, Jon Rubinstein.

The Elevation recapitalization should be seen as a good thing as it is the best of both worlds. First off, Palm wasn’t sold. The $325 million did get Elevation a 25% stake in Palm, and the senior Palm management team will remain in place. Shareholders should be happy because they are getting a payout. And Palm enthusiasts and customers should be happy because Elevation has the ability to attract new talent to Palm.

Treo 700p MR

This has been an incredibly frustrating experience for Palm and their customers. Palm has been listening the Treo 700p customer base, of which I’m a member, and have tried to put together a solid maintenance release. I did download the 700p MR before it was pulled. I installed it via the SD card method. (You can read my upgrade notes here.) I only had minor issues after the update had been installed. Since the update has been installed, my Treo 700p no longer spontaneously resets and the time to launch Blazer has gone from 20+ seconds down to 3-4 seconds. Lastly, Bluetooth connectivity to my headset is good.

Read the full editorial...