Sprint Palm Pre Roadmap Leaked

Bryce,

iPhone specs 24 hours of audio playback.

iPhone specs 5 hours of 3G internet.

Audio playback uses less battery power than connecting to internet.

24 hours is more time than any Palm audio playback, afaik.

@Bill, since you're such a wiseguy, I'll weigh in and tell you that until the latest release of the OS, my iPod Touch had Safari cause reboots on more than one occasion. Now, you can't blame 3rd party products for that, can you? Also there was a known issue updating apps from the App Store on the device, which wasn't fixed until the last release of the OS. Granted, these problems are gone now but don't be so smug about iPhone never rebooting.

@comment 22

"22by Bill | Mar 22, 2009 2:29:09 AM

Hey oops.... How many times a day do people need to reboot their Treos?? iPhones don't require a reboot."

true, the iphone of my college doesnt reebt simpli crash lots of times lol

Better stay shut then speak trash comments...

@26

Funny, my colleges chargs their iphones every 6-8 hours... and they do a regular use... strange isn't it?

@pxg,

Interesting that your colleagues are charging their IPHONES, and not PALMS.

For those talking about reboots, you have to look at several factors.

The iPhone uses a much newer operating system than the PalmOS based devices. A new phone comes out, it will generally come with a newer OS, and Palm IS guilty of not updating the OS before the Pre. In much the same way that Windows 3.1 needed a reboot far more often than Windows 98, which needed a reboot far more often than Windows XP, PalmOS needs to be rebooted more often due to some design issues.

Now, in addition to issues with PalmOS, you also have an issue involving what features you use. Those who leave Bluetooth off and do not use the data services will avoid many issues that can show up. Third party software that is designed for older versions can cause some issues. Again, this is an issue with PalmOS, so since we are looking at the Palm Pre which has an all new operating system, rebooting, and other issues will hopefully be a thing of the past.

With the speed we see technology advancing, PalmOS is ANCIENT, and did not get a significant overhaul, so things like how to properly shut down an app, or to force an application to close(to free up memory) just are not there without third party products. PalmOS based Treo devices do not have certain features because of the ancient OS. Again, you can blame Palm for not releasing a new OS before now, but that is the only thing you can say, without really checking out how well WebOS works.

If the Palm Pre works even half as well as the initial reviews/reports, Apple has a lot to be worried about. The iPhone may seem like a great device, but that is because there have been almost no real competitors to the iPhone in the USA/Canada, and European markets. Just throwing features at a Phone for a check-list comparison does not mean that phone is easy to use or is a real competitor.

So, for all your Apple fanatics out there, nothing anyone says will change your opinion about the iPhone. When there is true competition though, people will move to the better device. I see the iPhone as a nice toy, but for the primary use, being a phone, there are many things about the iPhone to dislike.

Don't know how anyone can say Palm will produce a reliable 1.0 operating system, when it hasn't been capable of maintaining its six-year-old operating system.

Love the iPhone but it still is ATT and that is why I can't wait for the Pre

OS,
Palm split off their OS, which eventually ended up being owned/controlled by Access. Once that happened, Palm was not even in a position to "maintain" it since it was no longer their code.

Now, some designs are a lot easier to maintain as well, so if WebOS is well designed "under the hood", it may be very easy to maintain. Individual applications are a different story, because the OS and the applications really are two different things.

Bryce, what about people who bring movies along with long waits at a doctors office, or a plane rides etc.? What about people who use memory cards to swap files (MS word, Excel, PDF etc.) from the palm to a computer when no internet access is available (ie no internet) or from phone to phone? You going to carry a palm cable in your pocket 24/7? Sorry, my pockets already have too much stuff already. The PRE looks incredible, and I was DYING to get a hold of one. Sorry palm, no Micro SD slot will be the death of the company. Sales will be high at first, but something tells me they will die down FAST when people see no SD. Expandable media is a necessity these days, not an option, especially when the device is marketed as basically a mini computer in your pocket that doubles as a cell.

Sorry ahead of time for my rant.

Why do Palm fans continue to compare a phone that hasn't been released yet (Palm Pre) to a phone that's been out for almost 2 years (iPhone)? Nobody knows what the battery life or other performance factors will be on the Pre so stop touting background applications and such.

Even Andrew wrote about features on a non-existent phone (Palm Pre) and compared it to the already existing iPhone. The gave his "unbiased" winning nod to the Pre. This is getting ridiculous.

Until Palm actually releases the Pre and a true comparison and review can be done, all of this yelling back and forth between Pre Fan Boys and Apple Fan Boys is worthless.

My Treo has served me well for some time. I use it as a Phone, PDA, not as my MP3 player. Communication is my need, and I'll not waste my battery on music or video which chew up every device's battery in a hurry. I'll continue to use an iPod for that.

To you Apple worshippers, I reboot my Treo about once per month, but then again, I reboot my iPod about once per month too. You Apple zealots or too blind for my taste to be of value in evaluating anything.

I see three major problems with the Pre, two of which make it a complete non-starter for me, and will probably force me to the new Apple iPhone by the end of the year. I have a self imposed deadline to move to 3G by December for necessary improved phone performance.

1. Sprint: While Sprint has come a long way in useful voice and data coverage, it's still CDMA/EVDO like Verizon. While that makes for pretty good service in the US, it's worthless in most of the rest of the world. As a business traveler, I will only use a GSM/3G device at this point as I can use it from almost everywhere in the world.

2. Lack of Memory: Oops mentioned the lack of microSDHC slot. That's a real problem. I use the extra memory for photos of rental cars to foil unscrupulous agents who try to claim "new damage" and other business uses. I also use the memory for stored documents for Dataviz retrieval. By the way, it is yet unknown whether or not there will be software for the Pre which will enable business documents to be stored, retrieved, viewed, edited and sync'd back.

3. Cloud/Internet syncing exclusively: This is the real downfall of the Pre for business users; high end or low. The problem has to do with confidentiality. More often than not, business people have considerable confidential information in their contact list, including even some contacts and their info. In addition, business people take confidential documents in their phone/device. With the complete lack of direct computer to device syncing, that means the confidential information needs to be put on the web to get into the Pre, something that is completely unacceptable for the high end business users I know.

The cloud/Internet syncing makes this phone worthless for many, if not the majority of high end business users. In my opinion, either Palm hasn't a clue about the typical high end business user or thinks those same users are idiots, and don't understand the implications of the shortcomings of the Pre. Either way, those shortcomings are going to send a lot of business people Apple's and Blackberry's way, once the Pre is released and we finally are sure of its features and specifications.

The hope that Palm will remove the cloud from its brain, and somehow between the Pre "pre-introduction" and when it is finally released in about 2 months, and will have fixed the Pre's shortcomings. I believe that is the only thing holding back millions of longtime Palm users from dumping the company forever. That certainly describes me.

Oh, and don't even think about suggesting the Treo Pro. Windows mobile continues to be a lousy mobile OS.

Battery life may be a minor concern, depending on access to a charger(car or otherwise).

Debbie,
The key is not why they would want their entire music collection on their phones, but why they would want their entire music collection on their MP3 player(iPod for example).

Once you have people who have a mp3 player with a lot of music on it, people will want to consolidate their electronics down into a single device, rather than multiple devices. There may be times when you have several dedicated devices that are good enough to make people keep them, but if a single device is a GOOD MP3 player, GPS, Phone, and PDA all in one, the vast majority of people would stick to using that one device, unless there is a really good reason not to.

So, phone and PDA....the Treo line of phones has been good in this area, with a Blackberry being better in some ways, and the Palm devices better in others.

GPS...I doubt that any phone will have a GPS that can compete with Magellan or Tomtom, but it WOULD be possible that one will come out.

When it comes to music, if the internal speakers are decent, or if there is an FM transmitter in the phone, it would be great when on longer trips. A car charger would take care of the need to hunt for a decent radio station along the way. Or if you have to wait 20 minutes, being able to listen to your music without having the battery die is something many people would use.

As far as OS stability goes, I have a Treo 680, and while it works decently most of the time, I find I need to pop the battery out once every few weeks to avoid certain headaches, and that is without third party apps. Bluetooth may be the reason for the problem.

silly palm fanboys attacking a phone that hasn't even shipped.
Why don't you go hack on Android until June.

is this the same exact post I have seen 4 times now? Is there something new to say, or are we just rehashing the same "old" news?

I think that this is the same post I looked at last week.

I guess there is not much going on with Palm news right now. They must be busy assembling their new phones...or job hunting.

The treo 650 was light years ahead of it's time and the iPhone still can't do everything it did/does (though it does do other things the 650 could not).

I bought an iPhone 3G last summer and I can't wait to dump it - the virtual keyboard has slowed my typing down by half (even with auto-correct) and the inability for applications to dynamically interact (e.g. perform updates) with contacts and the calendar is what killed it for me.

I suffered the dropped calls every day for 4 months but it was fixed. I got used to the 13-17 screen presses required to input a new appointment with a reminder (which for some unknown reason is limited to a 2 day max). I even sucked up the horrible UI experience that is me.com (slow, random refreshes, contact info not saving properly, birthdates off by 24 hours, inability to set reminders).

I even had to accept the bloatware known as iTunes. The real killer is the limited ability to create apps that are really business oriented. Why can't you design an app that inputs a historical reference into your contact info whenever a client calls? Why can't you automatically sync all birthdays/events from your contacts into your calendar?

This phone is a toy - media oriented. I suffer it and it's zealous users (like Mark) because I am waiting for the Palm pre. It's good for a laugh or two but I miss the versatility of my old Treo 650.

Sorry if I'm a bit rantish, just tired of hearing the apple fanatics rave about this phone that had a horrible launch (but recovered eventually) - is lacking features that have been standard in other phones for 4 years and is not good for business users (no way to open/edit excel/word docs).

Apple should definitely be given kudos for their app store, the UI, the accelerometer and the sexy look of their phone. By far, the best thing they did for mobile development was the creation of the app store.

@Lapse in judgement

Good point.

Palm needs to bring back the Treo 650!!!

Palm OS was ahead of its time. Better than the Iphone v1

But now Windows, Apple and Android have exceeded the capabilities of the now antiquated Palm OS

Im afraid as a long time Palm user, I cant wait any longer

For the past 5 years I had the Samsung I500 with the Palm in it. It was a great phone but I had to get something newer. So I bought the Treo 800w. What a piece of s***t. How can they put such garbage on the market? After two months of having the worst phone ever, Sprint felt sorry for me and gave me a brand new HTC Touch Pro. Well that's it, I'm done with Palm forever. The HTC Touch Pro is not the perfect phone, however it has everything that the Treo had in it plus a bunch of other stuff too and it looks a hundred times better. The only down side is the battery life which was a problem on the Treo as well. I think the HTC Touch Pro2 will be the best phone ever. Anyhow Palm Inc. sucks. Their main concern is pumping up the stock. I don't think they deserve any attention from the general public. The Pre might be their salvation but I doubt it. I don't think I'll be tempted to even look at it.