After unveiling Palm Pre at CES in January, we wanted to give you the opportunity to get to know a
few of the people behind the product. Over the past few months, we’ve introduced you to people who
have helped to:
1.Turn Pre from concept to reality
2.complement Pre with breakthrough accessories like the Touchstone inductive charger
3.develop the webOS that powers Pre
4.ensure that the Pre user interface was intuitive and engaging
5.effectively convey the Pre story on palm.com
6.convey the Pre message to everyone through break-the-mold advertising
7.coordinate every facet of launching Pre.
Today, Palm’s first webOS-powered phone -- Palm Pre -- is available on the Sprint Now Network. We
thought this would be a good occasion to give you the chance to “meet” the rest of the team at
Palm. From all of us at Palm, we truly appreciate your enthusiasm -- and your patience -- since
January. We couldn’t have gotten to today without you!
[Originally Posted at blog.palm.com]
[Originally Posted at blog.palm.com]
Showing posts with label Release Date. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Release Date. Show all posts
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Palm Pre Will be available at 8:00 AM
At last the wait is over and the most anticipated Palm Pre will be available in the stores at 8 AM.So guys are you already in the queue ;).
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sprint setting up 'war rooms' for Pre launch
Anticipating a huge response to the barely-advertised Palm Pre launch, Sprint and Palm are setting up tech support “war rooms” to expedite any tech issues customers. As reported by Forbes, Sprint is bringing in extra employees to help manage the crowds and Palm is dispatching more than 100 representatives (that’s a tenth of Palm’s 1,050 person work force) to Sprint stores, and they’ll be hanging out for two months.
Also on tap will be so-called tech support “situation rooms” for store reps to hit up with live chat should they encounter issues during launch. AT&T took similarly strong steps leading up to the iPhone 3G launch, though Sprint and Palm seem to be going a step further in their hopes to have a successful launch.
Training of Sprint employees will be the key, however, to the success of the Pre launch. While many of our readers are already well-versed in how to work their Pre phones (despite not having even touched one yet), Sprint is planning for everybody else to use the Pre launch as the first full-blown test of their “Ready Now” program. While Ready Now has been online since the fall of last year, this will be the first true large-scale test of the one-on-one training orientation designed to make sure that customers are adequately educated on their new devices. Of course, the end goal of Ready Now is to ensure that customers encounter less uneducated frustration with their new phones and don’t return them, but there's one problem if they're planning for long lines: one-on-one training takes time. Probably lots of time with something as new as the Pre and webOS.
That said, Sprint still has customer service reputation issues to overcome. In just over a week we’ll be able to tell you whether the war rooms and time-consuming Ready Now program are as effective as Sprint intends for them to be. One. Week.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Also on tap will be so-called tech support “situation rooms” for store reps to hit up with live chat should they encounter issues during launch. AT&T took similarly strong steps leading up to the iPhone 3G launch, though Sprint and Palm seem to be going a step further in their hopes to have a successful launch.
Training of Sprint employees will be the key, however, to the success of the Pre launch. While many of our readers are already well-versed in how to work their Pre phones (despite not having even touched one yet), Sprint is planning for everybody else to use the Pre launch as the first full-blown test of their “Ready Now” program. While Ready Now has been online since the fall of last year, this will be the first true large-scale test of the one-on-one training orientation designed to make sure that customers are adequately educated on their new devices. Of course, the end goal of Ready Now is to ensure that customers encounter less uneducated frustration with their new phones and don’t return them, but there's one problem if they're planning for long lines: one-on-one training takes time. Probably lots of time with something as new as the Pre and webOS.
That said, Sprint still has customer service reputation issues to overcome. In just over a week we’ll be able to tell you whether the war rooms and time-consuming Ready Now program are as effective as Sprint intends for them to be. One. Week.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sprint To Offer Palm Pre Smartphone On June 6
Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Palm Inc. (PALM) are poised to rumble in early June.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Palm confirmed that their eagerly anticipated smartphone, Pre, will hit stores on June 6. That's just a few days before Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone, which is sold exclusively through AT&T Inc. (T).
The stakes are high for Sprint and Palm. Palm badly needs a hit device to turn its fortunes around, while Sprint continues to see an exodus of subscribers. Both view the smartphone as the key to their turnarounds. The Pre, meanwhile, has a lot to prove as it seeks to capture some of the success that the iPhone has had over the past two years.
Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse stoked the hype early Tuesday, saying he expects high demand.
"We'll have shortages for a while," Hesse told analysts during an industry conference on Tuesday.
The Pre will cost $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar said earlier this month the Pre could be a huge flop if Sprint wasn't able to match or price below the $199 price tag on the iPhone.
Kevin Packingham, who runs product and technology development for Sprint, said the Pre is "extremely competitively priced."
Of course, the next iPhone could come out at a lower price, which would effectively halt any consumers looking to jump carriers for the Pre. Apple and AT&T slashed the price of the device by $200 a year ago. There's also the risk that the phone's launch could get drowned out by the hype surrounding the iPhone.
A spokesman for Apple couldn't be reached for comment.
Sprint shares recently rose 8 cents to $5.40.
Palm shares fell nearly 5.1% to $11.45, partly on concern that the Pre could face quick competition from the iPhone, but also on fears that the early shortage Hesse hinted at suggests lower unit sales.
Palm marketing head Brodie Keast declined to comment on the stock movement.
Both Palm and Sprint said the iPhone didn't factor into the timing of the launch.
"We really didn't look for any outside influence," Packingham said.
On the iPhone, he said: "We want customers to compare each device."
Palm's Keast said, "Ultimately, it was Sprint's call.... We just wanted to ship this thing when it was ready."
Macquarie Securities analyst Philip Cusick estimates that Palm could sell 100, 000 units in its fiscal fourth quarter ending this month, up from a prior estimate of 50,000. He was a bit less optimistic about the Palm's early success after Hesse's comments.
Sprint said Tuesday the phone would be sold at Best Buy Co. (BBY), RadioShack Corp. (RSH) and some Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stores. It will also be available through Sprint's Web site.
Sprint hopes the Pre will act as a strong retention tool for the company. The carrier has lost more than 6 million subscribers in the last six quarters.
The Pre should blunt some of the losses, according to Cusick. He estimated that Sprint would lose 1.1 million contract customers in the second quarter, narrower than the loss of 1.25 million in the first quarter.
[Originally posted by Kerry Grace at money.cnn.com]
Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and Palm confirmed that their eagerly anticipated smartphone, Pre, will hit stores on June 6. That's just a few days before Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone, which is sold exclusively through AT&T Inc. (T).
The stakes are high for Sprint and Palm. Palm badly needs a hit device to turn its fortunes around, while Sprint continues to see an exodus of subscribers. Both view the smartphone as the key to their turnarounds. The Pre, meanwhile, has a lot to prove as it seeks to capture some of the success that the iPhone has had over the past two years.
Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse stoked the hype early Tuesday, saying he expects high demand.
"We'll have shortages for a while," Hesse told analysts during an industry conference on Tuesday.
The Pre will cost $199.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate. Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar said earlier this month the Pre could be a huge flop if Sprint wasn't able to match or price below the $199 price tag on the iPhone.
Kevin Packingham, who runs product and technology development for Sprint, said the Pre is "extremely competitively priced."
Of course, the next iPhone could come out at a lower price, which would effectively halt any consumers looking to jump carriers for the Pre. Apple and AT&T slashed the price of the device by $200 a year ago. There's also the risk that the phone's launch could get drowned out by the hype surrounding the iPhone.
A spokesman for Apple couldn't be reached for comment.
Sprint shares recently rose 8 cents to $5.40.
Palm shares fell nearly 5.1% to $11.45, partly on concern that the Pre could face quick competition from the iPhone, but also on fears that the early shortage Hesse hinted at suggests lower unit sales.
Palm marketing head Brodie Keast declined to comment on the stock movement.
Both Palm and Sprint said the iPhone didn't factor into the timing of the launch.
"We really didn't look for any outside influence," Packingham said.
On the iPhone, he said: "We want customers to compare each device."
Palm's Keast said, "Ultimately, it was Sprint's call.... We just wanted to ship this thing when it was ready."
Macquarie Securities analyst Philip Cusick estimates that Palm could sell 100, 000 units in its fiscal fourth quarter ending this month, up from a prior estimate of 50,000. He was a bit less optimistic about the Palm's early success after Hesse's comments.
Sprint said Tuesday the phone would be sold at Best Buy Co. (BBY), RadioShack Corp. (RSH) and some Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) stores. It will also be available through Sprint's Web site.
Sprint hopes the Pre will act as a strong retention tool for the company. The carrier has lost more than 6 million subscribers in the last six quarters.
The Pre should blunt some of the losses, according to Cusick. He estimated that Sprint would lose 1.1 million contract customers in the second quarter, narrower than the loss of 1.25 million in the first quarter.
[Originally posted by Kerry Grace at money.cnn.com]
Monday, May 18, 2009
The summer of the smartphone; Release Date First Week of June?
A new piece in the New York Times is out to lay the foundation of what they say “could be potentially the most exciting time in [the mobile phone] market.” This summer is indeed shaping up to be an interesting one in the smartphone market, with at the very least a new iPhone, a handful of Android phones, probably a few new BlackBerries, and of course, the Palm Pre, set to land in the hands of users between Memorial Day (next Monday) and Labor Day (September 7).
While much of the article goes over things that we already know (Palm’s losing buckets of money every quarter, Sprint’s not in a great position either, the smartphone market is ripe for expansion, etc), they did lend some credence to the current strongest release date rumor:
As in June 5th or 7th, the two dates we've been hearing fairly consistently lately. Hopefully we’ll be getting some sort of confirmation from Sprint and Palm on that very soon...
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
While much of the article goes over things that we already know (Palm’s losing buckets of money every quarter, Sprint’s not in a great position either, the smartphone market is ripe for expansion, etc), they did lend some credence to the current strongest release date rumor:
"But the season’s most compelling phone drama will start the first week in June, when Sprint will begin selling the Palm Pre, people briefed on the company’s plans said."
As in June 5th or 7th, the two dates we've been hearing fairly consistently lately. Hopefully we’ll be getting some sort of confirmation from Sprint and Palm on that very soon...
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
