Palm Pre Smartphone

Don't get me wrong - I am a Palm enthusiast at heart, however I have seen and held the Blackberry Storm (and it is very SLICK)!!

Andrew, how does the Pre compare with the Storm?

Thanks

I really like the look and potential of the Pre. But why oh why does it have to be only Sprint? I think they are going to miss any sales due to this launch with only Sprint.

JD, I don't think it would have been possible to launch a new significant platform on any other carrier. Verizon has Storm, ATT has Iphone, T-Mobile has G1, now Sprint has Pre. I'm sure there are some exclusivity agreements in place, plus each carrier probably has to subsidize these phones so I don't think it would make sense to carry two competing phones. Think about it. Go to Pizza Hut you get Coke. Go to Dominos you get Pepsi.

Loving what I'm seeing so far. But I'll temper my excitement until Palm actually manages a successful full scale launch. Too many things can yet go wrong and Palm simply does not have the deep pockets of most of its competitors.

Re Sprint: it'll be on other carriers at some point too (most exclusives last 3-6 months). And if you want an unlocked GSM one, you can get that as soon as it's available and use it on any GSM network in your area. (Just be careful on T-Mobile USA, as they use a frequency for 3G that no other carrier does, so you most likely will be limited to EDGE.)

The other plus about an unlocked GSM model is that the GPS is much less likely to require a cellular signal (compare the Treo 800w, which requires a Sprint signal, with the Treo Pro, which does not require one, though it gets a faster satellite lock if there is a cell signal). Here's hoping the Pre's GPS is more like the Treo Pro's.

Let me start off by saying I'm very impressed by the Pre. I agree with almost everything Andrew said here--the hardware looks great, the software well thought-out and full of potential...

That said, there are a few negatives.

The biggest, in my opinion, is not having a memory card slot. Yes, I realize that Palm's market research showed there weren't that many users who made use of it. Those who did, though, used it extensively. After all, Apple has made 16 and 32 GB devices standard, between the iPhone and iPod Touch; other competitors are following that approach. A fixed 8 GB is not the best place to start here for Palm; 8 GB + microSD would have been much stronger (both IMO and according to a lot of the sites I've read in the last several days).

And while I definitely understand and support Palm's rationale of starting fresh with the OS rather than having built-in backwards compatibility, I think it was a mistake to just shrug off the question of a Garnet emulator, especially after they paid big bucks to ACCESS for a perpetual license. Whether it was something to be developed in-house or collaborated on with a developer like StyleTap, I feel that it should be in development already and be available at/around launch time.

Last, I think there should be a local sync option for the data that people don't want "in the cloud" yet do want available when they need it--e.g. password management apps, confidential client data, or just PIM info that's stored on a local desktop. I've used every Palm device I've owned, going back over 10 years, in large part as an alternative to paper--rather than print something, I sync it. I don't want to add the step of putting that data online somewhere just to get it to my smartphone. That's unnecessary complication.

I was hanging on in the days leading up to CES, thinking "I don't want to switch to a new platform"--partly because I knew Palm had something in the works and I didn't want to put time and money into one switch when I expected to turn around and make another soon. And despite the negatives above--at least some of which can be readily fixed now--I plan to get an unlocked GSM Pre as soon as it's available.

FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PALM PRÉ
1) Which firewall will protects your private life -- if everything is OPEN ONLINE… ? lICQ informs you about who is opening his computer ? Did you imagne that the Palm Pré-wmight a fragile target to SPM and smartphone viruses. They will flourish !
2) In the multitasking process offered by the the Palm webOS, if you can switch so easily from Facebook to your emails and from your emails to Google, hos Works the protection of your intimate life, your personal notes, address book and valuable private datas. Are they accessible to any one on the WEB ? Is Palm pré cutting bridges each time you switch apps ?
3) Reading the notice I wonder why all these smart apps of the Palm pré are only accessible through SPRINT. Why do they stops when you are on a free WiFi ! I wish to know what can you really do with WI-FI only ( without the pre-paid service of Sprint ).
4) Does Palm intend to deliver ( at least to Europe ) an Unblocked Palm pré ( in France by law you cannot attach a device to only one telephone company – you must have free choice of your carrier)
5) I remember the holy times when the Mac OS was delivered with the Palm OS included. This is how you got me, with High fidelity during 10 years… Since Palm seams to dévote his destiny to Windows how do you explain this betrayal ? How can you have abandon the Mac OS platform ? What should I do now with all my Palm datas and addresses if the Palm pré is giving no way to save them and use them. Do you consider this a smart and pleasant?
6) As the Palm pré borrowed so much ideas from Apple don’t you think that it would have been correct to keep a platfom of software compatibility ? I feel betrayed deeply.
7) Dear Andrew , I compationate with your anthousiasm for the dardware aspect and esthetic of the Palm pré, but can you look one moment at the human life behind it ?

FEW QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PALM PRÉ
1) Which firewall will protects your private life -- if everything is OPEN ONLINE… ? lICQ informs you about who is opening his computer ? Did you imagne that the Palm Pré-wmight a fragile target to SPM and smartphone viruses. They will flourish !
2) In the multitasking process offered by the the Palm webOS, if you can switch so easily from Facebook to your emails and from your emails to Google, hos Works the protection of your intimate life, your personal notes, address book and valuable private datas. Are they accessible to any one on the WEB ? Is Palm pré cutting bridges each time you switch apps ?
3) Reading the notice I wonder why all these smart apps of the Palm pré are only accessible through SPRINT. Why do they stops when you are on a free WiFi ! I wish to know what can you really do with WI-FI only ( without the pre-paid service of Sprint ).
4) Does Palm intend to deliver ( at least to Europe ) an Unblocked Palm pré ( in France by law you cannot attach a device to only one telephone company – you must have free choice of your carrier)
5) I remember the holy times when the Mac OS was delivered with the Palm OS included. This is how you got me, with High fidelity during 10 years… Since Palm seams to dévote his destiny to Windows how do you explain this betrayal ? How can you have abandon the Mac OS platform ? What should I do now with all my Palm datas and addresses if the Palm pré is giving no way to save them and use them. Do you consider this a smart and pleasant?
6) As the Palm pré borrowed so much ideas from Apple don’t you think that it would have been correct to keep a platfom of software compatibility ? I feel betrayed deeply.
7) Dear Andrew , I compationate with your anthousiasm for the dardware aspect and esthetic of the Palm pré, but can you look one moment at the human life behind it ?

If it lives up to its PR, This is going to be a great phone. I have supported Palm for a really long time and am wondering if Palm will still support my need to be able to interface with my Apple computer. The other Palm benefit is the amount of useful reasonably priced programs for it. Here's hoping there is great support for developers and for us Apple OS users. If anyone knows anything about this please let me know.

Will it run Javascript?

Will Flash run on it?

Any one talking about an unlocked phone for those of us who cannot even say Sprint without shuddering? And what form does the USB Mass Storage take and how does it connect. A USB port for a flash drive?

Andrew,
Looks great! Can't wait 'til it comes to Verizon! Maybe I missed it, but please let us know asap:
-copy/paste?
-video capture?
-java?
-battery life?
-infrared? (mostly just curious, but it would be handy)
-Mac compatibility improvements?
-multitouch, gestures?
-haptic feedback?

Some of these are necessities, please let us know. Thanks!

Hey guys, does anybody know if Palm is gonna license the WebOS to 3rd party manufacturers (like they did before with the PalmOS, too) ?

IR port or not????????

This is huge for real estate applications.

Anyone know Infared Port or No. Beaming is always cool as well.

Andrew,

The new phone looks great! I became a Palm fan when the Lifedrive came out. I loved the big screen and the Office capability. I have a Centro right now and love it to death... Will the environment support user program development?

I love my 2+ year old AT&T Treo 680 - it still works great but the body is shot - the case finally fatally cracked just this week and is taped and epoxyed together. Our group will be staying with AT&T for a variety of reasons, but I need the Pre now! Can I do everything I am doing with a Centro? How long will I have to wait for the Newness at AT&T?

It has no IR port. No haptic feedback. It has copy/paste across applications. It runs Javascript in the browser. It does not currently run Flash, but word is that the release version will.

Lots more in-depth info and development info at http://wwwebos.com

I'm impressed. I have been with AT&T and iPhone 3G for some time now, and in my mind, really miss true PDA functionality, with the iPhone, IMHO, seriously lacks. Tried MobileMe and it was two months of frustration. Wishing for better integration with G-apps. This holds real promise and EVDO is a plus. As anxious as I am to get this in my hands and try it, I hope Palm really takes their time with it and releases a good product out of the door. As Apple did learn, beta testing should occur PRIOR to release.

Why all the negatives with Sprint? I've had Sprint service for four years here in Lincoln, NE...have never had a dropped call...get great tech support when I need it...and Sprint's plans offer the biggest bang for the buck. The only thing Sprint lacks is a Great Smartphone! With the Pre...we'll finally have the complete package.

Colin,

Sprint may have good coverage in Lincoln; in too many areas, though, its coverage is... less than stellar, to put it mildly. (In some, Sprint roams onto Verizon, too.)

And plenty of people have had issues with customer service--with all of the US carriers. (Some of this is what I've read online; some is people I've actually talked to/worked with.)

So Sprint, between their history with Palm and the fact that they haven't had a smartphone to claim as "theirs," does stand to gain significantly from being the first US carrier to offer the Pre. And Palm stands to gain significantly from Sprint's marketing muscle. That's what kicked off the Centro's popularity, after all. However, Sprint won't be keeping the Pre as a "long-term exclusive"--while no one's disclosing the timeframe, they have said that other carriers will get it. Plenty of sites have reported that that will include other US carriers, though obviously no one's jumping the gun and talking details yet.

I gotta say, I am waiting for Palm's explanation for what people are to do as an alternative to

BACKUP to an SD CARD
I dropped my Treo 680 last year, and the screen cracked. I bought another Treo 680 GSM unlocked off Craigslist, popped my SD card into the new PDA, hit a button in RescoBackup and not only my data, but the entire system environment (including preferences, etc..), was restored.

With a Pre, if the hardware broke, and I got a new PDA, how would I restore my entire system?

The lack of mention of desktop syncing is also a little disconcerting. It's a Palm thing, or is Palm no longer that thing anymore.

I'm also a little nonplussed by this oddball notion that smaller is better. The bigger screen is an appreciated effort, but the consumer market already has a small form factor in the Centro. The prosumer does more and wants more screen real estate, or am I alone in this?

I'm not motivated by whether my phone is "cute", I'm looking for performance, and the size of the screen makes a difference. It's still smaller than the iPhone, and not as wide as the Blackberry.

I hope this Pre is just the first of a few experiments in the segment. The Centro and Pre provide plenty of choice for those who do like a small form factor - now give the heavy prosumer user something, with expansion and local hotsync.

I hate to sound like I'm "never happy", but is it really that hard for Palm to understand what makes us tick? Why not just ask us? Or, am I really holding on to a tired set up and need to let go and move on?

I may just have buy up all the unlocked 680s I can find and use them until whenever.

One of the main questions: How about that COPY and PASTE??

I am one of the those x-faithful Treonauts that had Palm V, Treo 650 and 680, but then jumped to iPhone first generation. Actually quite happy with iPhone, but there some drawbacks that drive me mad using it:

-no Copy/Paste - especially after users have been asking for it since the very beginning
-slow and bulky iTunes under Windows environment
-hard to operate while driving, no physical buttons
-absence of a single program to manage media AND personal information (calendar, contacts, notes, etc)

If Palm Pre manages to answer these drawbacks, other functions being similar to iPhone - I will seriously consider it for my next smartphone.

Each review by Andrew makes me a little more optimistic about the Pre and the future of Palm.

As a Palm, Treo, and Verizon user, I am at a crossroads. I have a 700p that is aging, no replacement options, and no Treo/Palm upgrade options for at least Fall 2009. I've been a loyal Palm/Treo user for over 3 years now and seriously want to upgrade.

I want the 3G network, better web functionality, a larger screen, and the like.

The Blackberry Storm looks great, though I found it to be slower than expected (not bad, but no quicker tham the current Palm OS). The HTC phone has a great screen, good reviews mostly, but does look bland. No thanks to the iPhone, plus it's not an option for me (Verizon).

I guess if I drop my Treo or it gets damaged or fails completely, I'll have to go with a non-Palm non-Treo phone after all.

I find it odd that all the photo's on Palms site don't show the Pre closed and it's thickness. So, Andrew - how thick is it? I have a Treo 680 - is it thicker? What are the true dimensions? Thanks!

I think they messed up here a bit,....
One of their biggest following is Realtors.
They need the IR aka Infrered beam to open lock boxes.
The whole country switched to them and along the way palm has had a steady stream of realtors.
They better bring back the infrared in a heck of a hurry or realtors will go willy nelly on new phones real soon and lose a very large following.
I do know that in the works are a bluetooth conversion to infrared was done for the black berry.
Perhaps that is what will happen.
One more freaken thing to carry around.

Attn all people who want to make the end all be all of Phones.
Give us every thing we want
we want a
1. phone
2 calendar
3 email
4 texting
5 camera
6 infrared for realtors and
7 infrared strong enough to replace tv and stereo remote controls
8 we want it to be a garage door opener
9 we want to be able to control our lighting with it
10 we want to be able to tether our laptops to it for internet.
11 we want enough memory so we dont have to worry bout it ever
12 we want it to turn on our car
13 we want it to be an alarm clock
14 we want it to open our house
15 we want it to get tv reception when we are bored
15 we want it to get music not just mp3 but radio as well
16 we want a usb port on it so we can adapt along the way
17 we want it to transmit our credit card info at the store, gas tation etc so we can stop carrying wallets

we want it all and we are tired of waiting. So get on it and and by the way if you do happen to get all of the above in a phone
I want you to call it the MATE.
...because it will identify with us and we will need it werever we go
if i missed anything add it.
and make the apps either free or very inexpensive.