Sales of the Palm (PALM) Pre smartphone may be creeping up to 30,000 a week this week versus a prior trend of 25,000, writes Pali Capital analyst Walter Piecyk in a blog post this morning. (Free registration required to view the post.) Piecyk observes the Pre was available for $99 briefly this week through online orders, but that Sprint (S), which has the exclusive on the Pre, also stepped up a print campaign targeting AT&T (T) customers who may be interested in moving from the Apple (AAPL) iPhone at the end of their contract.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Since Palm (PALM) to date has refused to give any hard data on sales of the much-ballyhooed Pre smartphone, the Street has resorted to some alternative methods to get a read on how sales are going. While the company still has plenty of fans, the sharp run-up in the stock combined with the lack of information has created a large pool of skeptics. The bears on the stock contend the evidence suggests demand has slowed considerably since the launch in early June–and that the stock is due for a fall.

Palm could clear up the speculation and rumor-mongering by simply providing hard numbers. But they haven’t done that. So as a public service, I’m passing some of the more cautious chatter about Palm now making the rounds on the Street:

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The cell phone market right now is awash in buzz, with the debut of the Palm (PALM) Pre, updated Apple (AAPL) iPhones on the way and new models coming from Research In Motion (RIMM) and others.

But has the chatter obscured softening fundamentals?

Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek thinks so. Yesterday, he cut his ratings on 3 major players.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

The cellphone is the world’s most ubiquitous computer. The four billion cellphones in use around the globe carry personal information, provide access to the Web and are being used more and more to navigate the real world. And as cellphones change how we live, computer scientists say, they are also changing how we think about information.

It has been 25 years since the desktop, with its files and folders, was introduced as a way to think about what went on inside a personal computer. The World Wide Web brought other ways of imagining the flow of data. With the dominance of the cellphone, a new metaphor is emerging for how we organize, find and use information. New in one sense, that is. It is also as ancient as humanity itself. That metaphor is the map.

Read the rest of this post

The bears on Palm (PALM) continue to cave after a furious rally in the stock following the company’s announcement of its “new newness,” the Palm Web OS and the Palm Pre handset.

Yesterday, the stock was upgraded by former Palm bears at Citigroup and Deutsche Bank. This morning, UBS analyst Maynard Um made a similar move, raising his rating to Neutral from Sell, and upping his price target to $6.50 from $1.35. “The Palm Pre generated significant buzz at CES, surprised us to the upside and breathed new life into Palm’s stagnant portfolio,” he wrote in a research note. “Though the company still has challenges ahead, it’s clear the winds now appear to have shifted in its favor.”

Um raised his EPS estimate for the May 2010 fiscal year to positive 48 cents from a loss of 52 cents. His revenue forecast for the year jumps to $1.68 billion, from $1 billion.

Um also set a short-term Buy rating on the stock ahead of the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona in February; he thinks the company will announced a 3G version of the phone, as well as potentially a carrier.

Read the rest of this post