Palm CEO Edward T. Colligan spoke at the Thomas Weisel Technology, Telecom and Internet Conference in San Francisco today, tackling a number of issues on everyone's mind including patent disputes, webOS and PalmOS, profit margins and more. To summarize his most important points:
- Palm does not expect any disputes with Apple over multi-touch technology patents for the Pre, according to Electronista, and Colligan believes that Palm is "very respectful" of intellectual property. Palm has some 1500 patents that provide them a good base, should there be any issues. However, Apple has previously said they would not stand for any perceived theft of intellectual property, discussed in numerous articles.
- PalmOS is history, webOS is full steam ahead; PalmOS devices will no longer be made after the Centro. Windows Mobile will still continue for enterprise-class smartphones. In regards to the webOS-enabled Pre, Colligan said "..we're really just focused on getting the product out the door."
- Sprint will be exclusive for the Pre launch, but international launches won't be precluded. All Things Digital reports that Pre partnerships are being arranged with Canada, Latin America and Europe. Just recently, Bell Canada has been rumored to get the Pre by Q3. Other US carriers are expected to offer the device by early 2010.
- The application store (or "App Catalog" according to Palm's developer network) is also confirmed, but unlike the iPhone, it won't be locked to Palm's store completely; rather, users will also be able to load applications from the PC or from other online software providers.
- cnet also reported on the conference, with Colligan saying that Palm wants to return to gross margins of at least 30 percent. He also implied that Sprint will heavily subsize the launch, stating Sprint plans to make a "significant investment" into the price of the Pre. Regardless, he vowed to keep the Pre at "the right price level for the marketplace".
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