Palm Pre lands at Amazon
Up until two years ago, I was a pretty hardcore Palm user for many years (as well as co-author with my colleague Jeff Carlson on the final edition of the Palm Visual Quickstart Guide), but then my head was turned to the iPhone and there just really isn't any going back for me. That said, the Pre is heads and shoulders above the rest of the I'm-a-touchscreen-too smartphone pack thanks to its gorgeous, multi-tasking webOS user interface. Here's a quick look at the UI highlights, courtesy of PhoneScoop:
Here's CNet's description of the "deck of cards" approach to the WebOS UI:
(T)he Pre's "Deck of Cards" multitasking functionality and notification system are what make it special and they are areas where the Pre beats the iPhone or any smartphone on the market right now. In addition, personal-information management is completely changed (in a good way) with the Synergy feature.
[...]
If you're wondering why the feature is called Deck of Cards, it's because each application is presented in a card window and you can then shuffle through the open cards. You can drag and drop cards (or rearrange the order of apps in the Launcher) by pressing and holding the item until you see a halo around the card and then you're free to move it, but it's not like with the T-Mobile G1, where you can drag and drop icons onto the main home screen. When you're done, you can flick the card upward and that will close out the program.
Speaking of Synergy--the piece of the webOS that brings together your various and sundry email addresses, contact lists and messaging venues--here's Gizmodo's take from its review:
Syncing to Facebook and Google Contacts via Synergy works flawlessly, and merges contacts from both services together so you don't have duplicates of contacts floating around. A manual merge or a manual split can solve any quirks from this function quite easily. Synergy also combines your SMS and IM conversations into one window, so you can seamlessly text someone and then switch over to IM when he reaches his desk. Synergy's basically just an easy way to make sure services like Google have your data (Contacts and Calendar) pulled down into your phone automatically.For even more comprehensive reviews of the Pre, check out Pre Central, The Boy Genius Report, and Engadget.
Now, if you're and old-school Palm user like myself, you've probably still got loads of old applications that you just can't give up (such as Splash ID or Dope Wars), Motion Apps offers its Classic software that emulates the old Palm OS and can run those older programs.
--Agen G.N. Schmitz
Jason Cochran on August 01, 2009 at 05:26 PM
Excellent review!! When the App Catalog is open to all developers, you will see the pre take off. The Verizon will get their hands on it. Sprint is holding the Pre back. I created a brief introduction of WebOS development in a short video. Check it how on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um0DvnwQAlo.
Dean Peters on August 02, 2009 at 05:56 PM
If anything makes the Pre an iPhone killer it is the fact that AT&T is not the telco providing it service.
Buster Blocker on August 02, 2009 at 06:31 PM
@Jason : Unfortunately, that is not accurate. The developers have got their hands on it, and the word is starting to get out exactly how inferior the Pre is compared to the iPhone. One developer review I read commented on the motion sensor not being up to the task of controlling a game on the Pre. I don't recall specifics, but the feedback from the sensor was way lower in hertz than for the iPhone; so low as to make it practically unusable.
And another shortcoming the developers report is the Pre SDK doesn't allow access to OpenGL graphics. So, the reality is the Pre will never be a gaming platform. And if Pre isn't a gaming platform then a big chunk of revenue is never going to land in Palm's pocket. For a company teetering on the ragged edge of bankrupcty, not making the Pre game-friendly was a quite foolish decision to make.
arminius on August 02, 2009 at 09:05 PM
No matter what it does and how well it does it, it will never be an iPhone killer simply because it isn't an Apple product. Is Dell a Macbook killer? Is Creative Zen an iPod killer? No way. Try giving your kid a MuVo for Christmas instead of an iPod. It could have 20 TB flash memory and be operated by thought waves, and it would still be a disappointment.
There will always be a religious devotion to the Apple products among a certain demographic, and for most everyone else they carry a status that can't be shrugged off lightly. They are expensive and cool looking. Nothing else matters to 80%+ of Apple-product buyers.
The poster above is correct: completely disregarding any benefits or detriments of any phone product, the only iPhone killer is the tie to AT&T. When (and if) that is broken, competitors may as well pack it in.
Jeremy Wa on August 02, 2009 at 09:38 PM
"...the biggest smartphone launch of the summer came in early June with the release of the Palm Pre."
I do not think so.
The iPhone 3GS sold more handsets in the first weekend than the Pre did in a month.
Zach on August 02, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Uh, Jeremy, you missed the first part of that sentence:
"For those who aren't Apple fans..." That is, other than the iPhone 3GS, the biggest smartphone launch was the Pre.
drtaxsacto on August 02, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Even with the qualifier about the Pre the conclusion in the first sentence is wrong. Although Agen tries to modify his statement with "For those who aren't Apple fans (or who haven't been assimilated into its Borg-ian society for fanboys/fangirls)" - the simple truth is that Apple is converting a lot of users of smart phones from the old model to the iPhone. Two interesting statistics from Piper Jaffray - 12% of the early buyers of the 3GS ditched their Blackberrys. About half of the buyers had another kind of phone. Only 13% of the new buyers were making the switch because of the expiration of their plan - thus 88% were buying it on the features. The numbers offered by Jeremy are still true - one weekend of sales for the iPhone exceeded one month's of sales for the Pre.
Mark on August 14, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Fanboys?? Fanbois surely
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