Palm Pre Launch Date - May 16?

What worries me about the Pre is that whenever I see it being used the keyboard is out. Like in this situation it would be nice not to have to open the phone to use it, having it open seems to make it akward to hold. Your thoughts

Are you sure that photo's not faked? The keyboard looks much tinier than even the centro keyboard. Perhaps about half the size of the 700ps? It's hard to tell though.

My 700p is almost dead. I'm trying to hold out for iPhone 3.0 this summer. But if the Pre makes a good showing and it's app store is well stocked, it may sway me. However, Palm's history of support (both for broken devices and for firmware upgrades) has been so lacking in the past that it makes me nervous.

Also, even though there will be emulators available to run PalmOS apps, will they be usable w/o a stylus? Many of the on-screen controls are really small.

Reddot, you stole my thunder! Except for nursing a 650 instead of a 700p, I'm in exactly the same place as you with the same fears/issues about the Pre and waiting for the new iPhone. The one thing that was keeping the Pre an option for me was the keyboard. But seeing how tiny that keyboard is, it does not seem too useful for me.

I'm in the same boat Reddot. Sporting around my 700P with that hideous antenna...

I'm pretty sure Apple is going to launch a significant new phone this summer. Think about it, they've had years of development effort with the current iPhone's and so I'm sure they know what they're doing. If you look at the evolution of the iPod it's pretty amazing how they manage to keep improving on the previous generation (though the latest shuffle is a step back).

My biggest concern is getting a Pre that is of low build quality or basically being a beta tester for Palm. There will certainly be some bugs on the first release, the question is just how many and can Palm keep the support level adequate?

The pre is not coming out any earlier that June according to Best Buy and Sprint

Has there been any discussions as to why Palm has chosen Sprint to be their carrier? I have been with Verizon for MANY years and am not sold in the least on the reliability of Sprint network. I may be wrong (I don't study this), but every review I have read rates Sprint to be poor on reliability especially vs. Verizon.

I hear all the doubts, but in regards to the iphone 3.0, what significant improvements are there? Copy and paste? And in terms of keyboards, is it really plausible that the iphone keyboard is any better than a slightly smaller Palm keyboard. I don't think so. I've tried to IM with my touch and always get clowned for responding too slow. Tethering? I've been doing that with my Centro for like the past year, without having to pay extra. I've seen all the iphone 3.0 stuff I just don't see why its such a huge improvement, the kind of improvement that trumps anything Palm Pre is offering. To each his own, Palm will be getting money.

Reddot and Dave I am in a similar situation plus the malediction of working on Mac OS - you must try the coming Nokia N97 - a full wonder - large keybord, a 16/9 tv screen and full touch -like an I phone -- fully equiped wifi - bluetooth- gps and geo position of pictures - Maxi video and 5 megs photos camera - lots of apps _ 85 Gig inner Memory _ 16 gig micro SD card: the best of the 2 worlds. After having waited 6 years now something Smart from Palm I bought last year a Nokia N91 perfect but not touch... so as Palm is mocking Apple, I will rush back to the new Nokia N97

Reddot and Dave I am in a similar situation plus the malediction of working on Mac OS - you must try the coming Nokia N97 - a full wonder - large keybord, a 16/9 tv screen and full touch -like an I phone -- fully equiped wifi - bluetooth- gps and geo position of pictures - Maxi video and 5 megs photos camera - lots of apps _ 85 Gig inner Memory _ 16 gig micro SD card: the best of the 2 worlds. After having waited 6 years now something Smart from Palm I bought last year a Nokia N91 perfect but not touch... so as Palm is mocking Apple, I will rush back to the new Nokia N97

still buggy and half-baked

Pre will be joining Foleo very soon

I've been holding on to my Treo 680 while all my iphone owning friends around me show off their phone's speed and dexterity on the internet. Just when I think that Palm has answered the iphone challenge, what carrier is chosen for the Pre? Sprint! I'm in Europe quite frequently, so I guess that Palm wants me to go to the iphone. Thanks a lot Palm.

"by no way", do have a pre? If not, what are your comments based on?

I'm down with the Pre. It's got the nice hardware accelerated display like the iPhone without requiring me to give up common things I've been using for years (like a real keyboard, cheap Sprint data plan, tethering, Exchange sync, multitasking, etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRnlzbuLRwM

great video to check out. keyboard is not necessary for taking pictures. Also, get to see how phone calls come in, which I have not seen in any other vids. Enjoy

Will the palm pre have the beaming capabilities?

does anyone know if the pre will have the stylus? I'll need to capture signatures for one of my business programs.

No stylus !

Let's hope that this mystery about the date will help Palm and not disappoint the customers...

If the Pre doesn't launch with Direct Connect STANDARD, then Sprint will have missed one of its biggest opportunities to differentiate the Pre apart from also offering Wi-Max on it...

I believe Apple is hiding some iPhone 3.0 improvements until the last minute -- more along the lines of productivity and UI stuff, based on their patent filings, just the same way they haven't shown everything yet for Mac OS X 10.6...

I spoke with a Sprint help desk person two days ago about my bill.

During the conversation he pointed out I was eligible for $150 off a phone upgrade (from my Treo 650.) I asked if that pertained to the Pre and he said yes. I said I didn't want to prepay for a phone that wouldn't be coming out until July. He then said the Pre would be available in June.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

So Pre can't sync with stand alone outlook? Decisoins like this to wipe out half the target market prior to launch shows palm is still focused on self destruction

At this point, I don't think anyone knows how the sync process will work. The idea of cloud computing and connecting to data through the net is a nice idea, but when it comes to how you sync, who knows what will happen. The idea of being able to charge without physically plugging in a cable is great, and that will be very popular.

If there is an application on our computers that we can use to sync "through the cloud", that would do the job as well, though I would prefer a direct Pre to computer method, just for security reasons.

When it comes to Outlook, has ANYONE seen any details on how we can/will sync?

I have found that Google calendar syncs my office Outlook relatively painlessly; I then sync it with my iCal on my personal MacBook, where I use my sync cable to sync with my Verizon 755p. (I know it's a 'round about way, but it works!)

The only drawback is that your tasks do not seem to come over to your device(at least not yet). The best thing is that it's FREE!!

Grat video there...ı like it.

The idea of cloud computing and connecting to data through the net is a nice idea