CNBC has posted a thoroughly interesting new article in their Tech Check with Jim Goldman column. In this installment, Mr. Goldman takes to task the naysayers, critics and certain members of the press who have been calling for Ed Colligan to resign as CEO of Palm, Inc. Mr. Goldman goes on to reveal his longtime association with Colligan that dates back all the way to the pre-Palm and Handspring days at Radius (1986-1993), lending this article a bit more insight into the credentials and capabilities of Colligan than most "insider"-type pieces.

Goldman goes on to say that the new entry-level Palm Centro smartphone may represent the future killer app for Palm in that it offers "smart phone status at dumb handset prices". Subsidized, post-2-year-contract price aside, the Centro still sells for a staggering $400, with its older Treo brethren commanding even higher full retail or unlocked prices. No comments are made in regards to Palm's upcoming Linux-based Palm OS successor or the fact that Palm's recent released and rumored upcoming Treo releases appears to be almost entirely Windows Mobile-based.

SanDisk announced today that is has increased both capacities and speeds in its SanDisk Ultra II line with the introduction of 32 and 16-gigabyte GB SDHC cards and an 8GB SDHC Plus card. Aimed primarily at high end camera users, the cards can record both video and still images, and offer faster read and write speeds of 15 megabytes per second (15MB/sec), up from previous speeds of 10MB/sec read and 9MB/sec write in the SanDisk Ultra II line.

Palm has just released a new ROM update for the Sprint Treo 755p. Palm's support page for this update, referenced as ROM version 1.07, is surprisingly short on details, even by Palm standards. The entire list of improvements in this version states:

"This software update is a tune-up that improves audio, stability, software quality and device usability."

After several months with announcement of a higher-capacity Centro battery on the horizon, Palm has stepped to the plate and finally offered up spare standard capacity Centro batteries on their webstore.

Carrying the same 1150mAh rating as the stock battery, this replacement is nevertheless a wise (albeit pricey) investment for Centro fans. The battery is available now for $49.99 and will presumably fit the rumored upcoming GSM Centro variant as well as the current Sprint CDMA version.

Mytreo.net recently posted a short write-up and YouTube video of Seagate's DAVE technology. DAVE is an intriguing new portable hard drive with integrated wireless connectivity. Despite looking like a fantastic piece of technology tantalizingly close to being ready for prime time, the DAVE concept received surprisingly little buzz from the various online media outlets in their CES coverage.

The current Seagate D.A.V.E. prototype measures 2.71 x 3.54 x .63 inches (65 x 90 x 16 mm) and weighs 3.7 ounces (106 grams). It is equipped with built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology. Seagate has not yet commented on the possibility of different drive capacities for the DAVE other than the 60gig device shown at CES.

Digitimes is citing internal Microsoft data that says Palm currently has a 10% market share of all Windows Mobile based "PDA phones." This data would place Palm second in worldwide sales behind the market leader HTC. The PDA phone figure cited represents the percentage of devices using the Pocket PC edition (which excludes non-touchscreen devices such as the Treo 500), and not the entire Windows Mobile category. Still it remains a respectable figure given Palm's relatively short history of releasing products utilizing a Microsoft operating system.

The article mainly focuses on HTC's overall declining Windows Mobile based smartphone market share given fierce competition with Motorola and Samsung. According to the article, Motorola holds a slight lead in that category with 30% share, with Samsung and HTC not far behind.

Windows Mobile Treo owners certainly are spoiled for choice when it comes to browsers nowadays, what with Pocket IE and Deepfish and Opera (plus Mini), not to mention the soon-to-come mobile Firefox. That's not going to stop tech newcomer Skyfire from wading into the crowded waters, though, with Monday's announcement of their new web browser that's designed to give a desktop-like experience on the small screen and put paid to the iPhone.

The self-titled Skyfire browser uses a proxy rendering technology similar to that of the aforementioned Deepfish and Opera Mini, transcoding pages into a proprietary format that is then squirted to your device. Unlike those browsers, however, Skyfire brings full Flash support along with AJAX and Java.

Reacting swiftly to some users' concerns with compatibility with the new and improved YouTube Mobile site that we covered here last week, Kinoma has released another update for its superb Kinoma Player EX media player.

With this release, the Kinoma player is now up to version 4.4.1, up from October's 4.4 revision. This release is primarily a bugfix release to address the myriad of issues surrounding YouTube and Google Video playback, especially on Palm TX and LifeDrive handhelds.

The CombiFlip case is a new case for the Palm Centro from SPE. The CombiFlip is made of premium leather and is specially designed for the Centro. The case has a unique design that lets you snap off the front flip cover to transform it into a slim open face case with full access to the screen and keyboard. The cover also has a magnetic fastening system at the top, which allows the cover to be flipped open with a flick of the thumb and enabling you to quickly answer the phone. It is available in a number of colors and also features a 360 degree swivel belt-clip, device port openings, a pocket for business or credit cards, and a slot for memory cards.

The SPE CombiFlip Case for Centro is available now for $24.95 from the PalmInfocenter accessory store. Shipping to most locations starts at $5.95.

PictureID is a new full screen photo caller ID application for Palm OS smartphones from Toysoft. With PictureID you can assign any JPG or GIF picture as a caller ID from your internal memory or from the external SD Card. When a recognized call comes in the software will display the callers picture in full color with optional custom color fonts. The app also supports groups of callers, supports third party ringtone managers and as a bonus includes a area code & city database to display incoming call locations.

PictureID v1.0 for Palm OS is available now for $9.95. A free trial period is included.

On Sale VoiceDialIt 2.0 FakeCall 2.3 PalmaryClock Wireless for Treo 1.2 Premium 639 + Ringtones + 65 Wallpapers Palm OS 1.0 PalmaryClock 3.4 Personal Audio Recorder PRO 3.3 PalmaryClock for Treo 3.4 PhoneLog 1.02 PalmaryClock Wireless 1.2 SayIt 1.1

New Software Duden-Oxford English-German dictionary 6.09 PhoneFavs 1.2 i-Bar plugin 1.04 Psico 1.0 Body 1.3 HandDex 1.0 Warn 1.0 Chain 1.0 HandGo 1.0 Resco IDGuard for Palm OS 1.10.2

Updated Software Kinoma Player 4 EX for Palm OS 5 - English 4.4.1 Sortout 1.03 DVD Catalyst 3.3.1 Mobiola Video Studio 2.1.17 Mobiola Video Studio Pro 2.1.17 FolderMirror 2.0.5 NeatFreak Pack Plus 4.06 NeatFreak Pack Ultimate 4.06 WintecTool 2.12 OnGuard Backup 1.14