When it comes to choosing a smartphone, there’s one feature in particular that can trump all others: Cost.
According to BillShrink, a start-up which offers free analysis of consumers’ cellphone bills and recommends cheaper plans based on calling patterns, that’s where the Palm Pre could have a leg up on the competition.
The company calculated the monthly bills for the Palm Pre (Sprint), iPhone 3G (AT&T), the Android-powered G1 (T-Mobile) and the BlackBerry Storm (Verizon).
Of the four, the Palm Pre incurred the lowest monthly cost. Assuming the handsets were operating under two-year contracts with unlimited data and voice plans, the Palm Pre cost just $100 each month. The G1 trailed the Pre with a monthly usage bill of $135 per month, but the BlackBerry Storm and iPhone were the biggest drains on the bank account, with each plan costing $150 per month.
In addition, BillShrink has set up a dedicated Web page to allow the Pre-curious to compare Sprint’s plan to AT&T’s for the iPhone.
The site asks users to type in usage habits — such as number of text messages sent each month and voice minutes used each month — before spitting out an estimation of cost savings. My own calculation came out to a savings of $30 per month, or close to the equivalent of my electric bill.
It remains to be seen whether the Pre is worth the hassles of swapping handsets, carriers and losing my current high score on Flight Control (78!), but it certainly raises an interesting question: In a down economy, how much does monthly cost factor in the decision-making of smartphone owners?
[Originally posted at gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com]
Friday, June 5, 2009
Palm Pre review: To Pre or not to Pre?
Fortune senior writers Michael V. Copeland - a BlackBerry fan - and Jon Fortt - an iPhone devotee - share their reactions to Palm's new smart phone.
Here's how we are going to break this review down. I am Michael Copeland -- I'm a BlackBerry user. I have the Bold. It's a silly name, but I never reference it in public ("Where's my bold?" See -- silly). My colleague Jon Fortt is an iPhone user/lover. The reason I point this out, is that BlackBerry users and iPhone users are likely to have different reactions to Palm's shiny new Pre.
I think it's pretty slick, and spoke with more than a few BlackBerry users who would swap out their BBs for the Pre. The iPhone users, (ahem, lovers), they don't seem ready to break up with their phones yet over the newest lovely in the gadget world. (See more Pre reviews)
The view from the BlackBerry contingent? I want to say that the Pre and I only had a short time together, about a week, and for part of that time it was useless as I was camping alongside a fetid creek, surrounded by raccoons and didn't have a signal. So, there wasn't enough time to develop a real relationship with Pre, to find out all of its hidden strengths and annoyances, but enough time to form an opinion.
Interface. It's a great device. Setup is easy, and it integrates well with standard services like Facebook, chat and web-based email. A smart approach the Palm (PALM) team took is how the Pre circles around contacts rather than applications. A person is associated with their Facebook page, their email and phone number, and you can have a continuing conversation with them using whatever mode is most convenient at the moment. So you might use email when you are in a WiFi zone (the phone has WiFi and Bluetooth built in), switching to SMS or voice if you choose. You don't have to think about what form of communication to use,just the person you want to contact. The Pre has some battery issues, especially with AOL instant messenger running, but those are being addressed according to the Palm folks.
Operating system. What I liked most about the Pre was the much hyped WebOS, which lets you launch and shuffle so many applications like cards. It worked well, and while a little sluggish, didn't bog me down. WebOS is by far the coolest thing about the Pre, and the reason for taking a hard look at it. If you find your interaction with the BlackBerry too boring, or the iPhone just too commonplace these days, the Pre is a good alternative. It has all the touch screen gestures -- sweeping, tapping, etc. -- if you like that sort of thing. The screen itself is bright, and video looked spectacular, even though the screen is a bit smaller than Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone.
What it also has is a keyboard. That's right, with actual keys you can push.
I like that, a lot. I like my BlackBerry because it has a keyboard. The Pre keyboard is much smaller than on the Bold. The keys themselves are a bit squishy and sticky. Some described them to me as "plasticky," but the stickiness sort of guides your fingers home and makes texting or composing an email easier. I use two hands on the Pre keyboard, but I do on my BlackBerry as well, so that's a non-issue for me.
Design. As a piece of hardware the design of the Pre is good, but not drop-dead gorgeous. Think Lexus, not Ferarri --nice but you don't hurt your neck looking at it as it speeds by. In San Francisco I made a point of taking the Pre out and displaying it strategically at as many places as I could -- bars, lunch counters, my desktop. No-one batted an eye until I told them what it was. Maybe it is gadget-jaded Silicon Valley, but that was disappointing to me. You want the newest, shiniest gadget on the block to elicit at least an appreciative "Oooh," but I got nothing. Babe magnet, the Pre is not.
On our subway system here in San Francisco the other day, I settled myself and my bicycle in a crowded car and took the Pre out yet again. Finally, an iPhone user started eying it. I handed it over, proclaiming the gadget Palm's best hope for salvation. Mr. iPhone peeped at it a bit, slid the keyboard open, and then handed it back. He then asked me about my bicycle. I changed the subject back to the Pre. "Would you trade in your iPhone for it?" I asked. He looked at my bicycle, and responded. "I would trade my bike for yours, but I wouldn't trade my iPhone for your Pre." I am not sure what that means for Pre sales, but maybe Palm should consider the bike business.
So will I trade in my BlackBerry? Not yet. If I can get a Pre running on AT&T's (T, Fortune 500) network I would be much more tempted. As of now, Sprint (S, Fortune 500) is the only option, and given the poor experience I had with Sprint years ago, it's not much of an option for me. In six months, however, that could change as Sprint's exclusive rights to Pre expire. Does Palm have that much time? I would say yes. The Pre is good enough to attract enough buyers to give struggling Palm the breathing room it needs to last out the year. If you like a keyboard, or just want something different than an iPhone, you are part of the customer base that will keep Palm alive.
Is the Pre the second coming of the iPhone? I will let Mr. Fortt answer that.
Fortt: What the iPhone guy has to say
The Palm Pre is the second-best smartphone I've used. Its black plastic physical casing is attractive and feels well crafted. Its screen is bright and sharp. Its keyboard, though too cramped for comfortable one-handed typing, feels good and works well when attacked with two thumbs. And the software -- the true test of any modern phone -- is smooth and intuitive enough to challenge Apple's iPhone.
Before I share details of my take on the Palm Pre, a little context: I was an avid Palm Treo user (and Sprint customer) for four years. It was a tough decision to leave the Treo, because we'd become friends. I knew its keyboard and its quirks. But after months of frustration with Sprint's coverage and customer service, I got an iPhone three months ago.
After spending a few hours with the Pre, I wasn't tempted to give up my iPhone. While the Pre is a very good device that matches the iPhone in many ways and even surpasses it in a few, the iPhone is still a better handset in the ways that matter to me -- and in ways that I think will matter to a lot of potential buyers. Here's how the two phones stacked up against each other:
Design. iPhone has the advantage. When it's closed, the Pre looks like a smooth stone, fits easily into a pocket, and does so without extraneous buttons -- there's an on/off switch on top and a navigation button in front, and that's it. Open it and there's a small keyboard. Compared to the iPhone, the Pre feels lighter, more plastic and less luxurious. But it also feels durable enough that you might throw it into a pocket or purse without worrying about it getting scratched up. The Pre's camera is better than the iPhone's too, through many expect Apple to address that with new hardware and a software upgrade.
The Pre gets points for having a removable battery (which the iPhone lacks), and for its keyboard (a must for some heavy e-mailers). It falls short, though, in usability. The Pre is a little too slim and small to use comfortably with one hand, and the keyboard is so small and squat that one-handed typing is a painful affair. And the battery, while accessible, doesn't last long -- with WiFi on it seemed to drain more quickly than the iPhone.
Interface. It's a tie. Palm deserves huge credit for giving the iPhone a run for its money in the usability department. It's pretty easy to find what you're looking for on the Pre, whether it's e-mail, instant messaging, the web browser or the camera. The touch screen navigation is smooth, including a method of managing tasks that's like working through a deck of cards - flick to the side to show a new window, flick up to discard it.
There are a couple of areas where the Pre outshines the iPhone. Its ability to run multiple programs at once -- a talent the iPhone lacks -- is probably the most hyped, but there are others. The way the Pre's address book pulls down contacts from online sources like Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook is nifty, though it can cause duplicate entries for the same person; it similarly pulls info from online calendars. And its universal search function is a nice one-stop way to find information both on the device and the web.
But there are other aspects of the Pre's interface that aren't so great. The screen is too small to easily navigate through calendar information. And the screen size also becomes a problem on the web, where text is often too small to read without first zooming in.
Applications. Here the iPhone has the advantage. Apple has a store with tens of thousands of applications that iPhone and iPod users can download. Palm doesn't. The availability of so many applications makes the iPhone a more useful tool. Whether you're looking for a game, a database, or a Twitter client, you'll have a better chance of getting a great one that works on the iPhone rather than the Pre.
It's a bit early to criticize Palm too much for this, since the Pre is brand new. But the disparity in applications isn't likely to even out anytime soon.
Why? Third-party software developers want to make back the money it costs to create their product, and to do that they need volume. When they're deciding whether to make an app for the Pre versus. the iPhone, the BlackBerry or Android, they'll want to see which is most likely to pay off. The iPhone and BlackBerry have sold millions of units already, so they're in the lead. Android, which is backed by Google, hasn't done nearly as well -- but word is that more than a dozen Android phones will be out by the end of the year, expanding the potential market.
One ambitious mobile developer I spoke with last week said that even if developing for the Pre is easy, he's focusing on the iPhone and Android for the foreseeable future -- the Pre just isn't worth it yet.
That means even if you're one of the folks who likes the Pre's features a bit better than the iPhone's, you might have to do without some of the cooler mobile apps for a while. If that's OK with you, the Pre is a very good choice.
[Originally posted at money.cnn.com]
Here's how we are going to break this review down. I am Michael Copeland -- I'm a BlackBerry user. I have the Bold. It's a silly name, but I never reference it in public ("Where's my bold?" See -- silly). My colleague Jon Fortt is an iPhone user/lover. The reason I point this out, is that BlackBerry users and iPhone users are likely to have different reactions to Palm's shiny new Pre.
I think it's pretty slick, and spoke with more than a few BlackBerry users who would swap out their BBs for the Pre. The iPhone users, (ahem, lovers), they don't seem ready to break up with their phones yet over the newest lovely in the gadget world. (See more Pre reviews)
The view from the BlackBerry contingent? I want to say that the Pre and I only had a short time together, about a week, and for part of that time it was useless as I was camping alongside a fetid creek, surrounded by raccoons and didn't have a signal. So, there wasn't enough time to develop a real relationship with Pre, to find out all of its hidden strengths and annoyances, but enough time to form an opinion.
Interface. It's a great device. Setup is easy, and it integrates well with standard services like Facebook, chat and web-based email. A smart approach the Palm (PALM) team took is how the Pre circles around contacts rather than applications. A person is associated with their Facebook page, their email and phone number, and you can have a continuing conversation with them using whatever mode is most convenient at the moment. So you might use email when you are in a WiFi zone (the phone has WiFi and Bluetooth built in), switching to SMS or voice if you choose. You don't have to think about what form of communication to use,just the person you want to contact. The Pre has some battery issues, especially with AOL instant messenger running, but those are being addressed according to the Palm folks.
Operating system. What I liked most about the Pre was the much hyped WebOS, which lets you launch and shuffle so many applications like cards. It worked well, and while a little sluggish, didn't bog me down. WebOS is by far the coolest thing about the Pre, and the reason for taking a hard look at it. If you find your interaction with the BlackBerry too boring, or the iPhone just too commonplace these days, the Pre is a good alternative. It has all the touch screen gestures -- sweeping, tapping, etc. -- if you like that sort of thing. The screen itself is bright, and video looked spectacular, even though the screen is a bit smaller than Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone.
What it also has is a keyboard. That's right, with actual keys you can push.
I like that, a lot. I like my BlackBerry because it has a keyboard. The Pre keyboard is much smaller than on the Bold. The keys themselves are a bit squishy and sticky. Some described them to me as "plasticky," but the stickiness sort of guides your fingers home and makes texting or composing an email easier. I use two hands on the Pre keyboard, but I do on my BlackBerry as well, so that's a non-issue for me.
Design. As a piece of hardware the design of the Pre is good, but not drop-dead gorgeous. Think Lexus, not Ferarri --nice but you don't hurt your neck looking at it as it speeds by. In San Francisco I made a point of taking the Pre out and displaying it strategically at as many places as I could -- bars, lunch counters, my desktop. No-one batted an eye until I told them what it was. Maybe it is gadget-jaded Silicon Valley, but that was disappointing to me. You want the newest, shiniest gadget on the block to elicit at least an appreciative "Oooh," but I got nothing. Babe magnet, the Pre is not.
On our subway system here in San Francisco the other day, I settled myself and my bicycle in a crowded car and took the Pre out yet again. Finally, an iPhone user started eying it. I handed it over, proclaiming the gadget Palm's best hope for salvation. Mr. iPhone peeped at it a bit, slid the keyboard open, and then handed it back. He then asked me about my bicycle. I changed the subject back to the Pre. "Would you trade in your iPhone for it?" I asked. He looked at my bicycle, and responded. "I would trade my bike for yours, but I wouldn't trade my iPhone for your Pre." I am not sure what that means for Pre sales, but maybe Palm should consider the bike business.
So will I trade in my BlackBerry? Not yet. If I can get a Pre running on AT&T's (T, Fortune 500) network I would be much more tempted. As of now, Sprint (S, Fortune 500) is the only option, and given the poor experience I had with Sprint years ago, it's not much of an option for me. In six months, however, that could change as Sprint's exclusive rights to Pre expire. Does Palm have that much time? I would say yes. The Pre is good enough to attract enough buyers to give struggling Palm the breathing room it needs to last out the year. If you like a keyboard, or just want something different than an iPhone, you are part of the customer base that will keep Palm alive.
Is the Pre the second coming of the iPhone? I will let Mr. Fortt answer that.
Fortt: What the iPhone guy has to say
The Palm Pre is the second-best smartphone I've used. Its black plastic physical casing is attractive and feels well crafted. Its screen is bright and sharp. Its keyboard, though too cramped for comfortable one-handed typing, feels good and works well when attacked with two thumbs. And the software -- the true test of any modern phone -- is smooth and intuitive enough to challenge Apple's iPhone.
Before I share details of my take on the Palm Pre, a little context: I was an avid Palm Treo user (and Sprint customer) for four years. It was a tough decision to leave the Treo, because we'd become friends. I knew its keyboard and its quirks. But after months of frustration with Sprint's coverage and customer service, I got an iPhone three months ago.
After spending a few hours with the Pre, I wasn't tempted to give up my iPhone. While the Pre is a very good device that matches the iPhone in many ways and even surpasses it in a few, the iPhone is still a better handset in the ways that matter to me -- and in ways that I think will matter to a lot of potential buyers. Here's how the two phones stacked up against each other:
Design. iPhone has the advantage. When it's closed, the Pre looks like a smooth stone, fits easily into a pocket, and does so without extraneous buttons -- there's an on/off switch on top and a navigation button in front, and that's it. Open it and there's a small keyboard. Compared to the iPhone, the Pre feels lighter, more plastic and less luxurious. But it also feels durable enough that you might throw it into a pocket or purse without worrying about it getting scratched up. The Pre's camera is better than the iPhone's too, through many expect Apple to address that with new hardware and a software upgrade.
The Pre gets points for having a removable battery (which the iPhone lacks), and for its keyboard (a must for some heavy e-mailers). It falls short, though, in usability. The Pre is a little too slim and small to use comfortably with one hand, and the keyboard is so small and squat that one-handed typing is a painful affair. And the battery, while accessible, doesn't last long -- with WiFi on it seemed to drain more quickly than the iPhone.
Interface. It's a tie. Palm deserves huge credit for giving the iPhone a run for its money in the usability department. It's pretty easy to find what you're looking for on the Pre, whether it's e-mail, instant messaging, the web browser or the camera. The touch screen navigation is smooth, including a method of managing tasks that's like working through a deck of cards - flick to the side to show a new window, flick up to discard it.
There are a couple of areas where the Pre outshines the iPhone. Its ability to run multiple programs at once -- a talent the iPhone lacks -- is probably the most hyped, but there are others. The way the Pre's address book pulls down contacts from online sources like Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook is nifty, though it can cause duplicate entries for the same person; it similarly pulls info from online calendars. And its universal search function is a nice one-stop way to find information both on the device and the web.
But there are other aspects of the Pre's interface that aren't so great. The screen is too small to easily navigate through calendar information. And the screen size also becomes a problem on the web, where text is often too small to read without first zooming in.
Applications. Here the iPhone has the advantage. Apple has a store with tens of thousands of applications that iPhone and iPod users can download. Palm doesn't. The availability of so many applications makes the iPhone a more useful tool. Whether you're looking for a game, a database, or a Twitter client, you'll have a better chance of getting a great one that works on the iPhone rather than the Pre.
It's a bit early to criticize Palm too much for this, since the Pre is brand new. But the disparity in applications isn't likely to even out anytime soon.
Why? Third-party software developers want to make back the money it costs to create their product, and to do that they need volume. When they're deciding whether to make an app for the Pre versus. the iPhone, the BlackBerry or Android, they'll want to see which is most likely to pay off. The iPhone and BlackBerry have sold millions of units already, so they're in the lead. Android, which is backed by Google, hasn't done nearly as well -- but word is that more than a dozen Android phones will be out by the end of the year, expanding the potential market.
One ambitious mobile developer I spoke with last week said that even if developing for the Pre is easy, he's focusing on the iPhone and Android for the foreseeable future -- the Pre just isn't worth it yet.
That means even if you're one of the folks who likes the Pre's features a bit better than the iPhone's, you might have to do without some of the cooler mobile apps for a while. If that's OK with you, the Pre is a very good choice.
[Originally posted at money.cnn.com]
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Palm Pre Review by Engadgets
Well, that happened earlier than we anticipated, but whatever. Starting with David Pogue’s early leaked review, the other reviews began pouring in, starting with Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and followed soon after by Engadget and Gizmodo and everybody else that had a Pre. We’re not quite sure what happened, but we’ll roll with it anyway. The general consensus is that the webOS software is fantastic and as good as if not better than the iPhone, the multi-tasking cards metaphor is fantastically functional and the notifications bar is a beautiful way to manage your notifications, and the hardware is good, but not necessarily great.
Please find the review here
Please find the review here
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Dueling opinions: five reasons why the Pre will succeed, or was that fail?
Pre week is here, so that means its time for all the tech pundits to strap on their thinking caps can come up with provocative things to write about the Palm Pre. There are two camps that these writers can jump into that will be sure to rile the masses: the Pre will succeed and prove a worthy challenge to Apple and RIM, or the Pre will fail and Palm will see its last days. Over at ZDNet they’re expecting a homerun, and PC World doesn’t anticipate much success for Palm.
We’ll try our best to play the reasonable devil’s advocate along the way, and we’ll start with the bad: PC World. To boil it down, their five points are as follow...
5. Despite successes of the past, Palm of today is not the same Palm that brought us the Palm Pilot or even the Treo. PC World says, “Palm is effectively, a start-up.” Things can go wrong, despite all the fresh blood. Of course, the fresh blood is what has brought us a device as revolutionary as the Pre (and it was fresh blood that brought us the Palm Pilot and the Treo), so despite the missteps that fresh blood can bring, it was needed.
4. Users today won’t think much of multi-tasking on their phones. While everybody but the iPhone supports multi-tasking, without having been able to truly leverage its full capabilities people just won’t be able to fully comprehend what to do with it. This assumes that users are not smart enough to fully leverage the capabilities of webOS, and with how dead simple Palm has made it, it’s hard do believe that would be the case.
3. On a similar note to #5, the new blood in Palm does not have the same experience with developers that Old Palm or even Apple today has. Without a strong developer base there won’t be enough applications to justify getting the Pre over something like an iPhone of Blackberry.
2. In a stretch, the slide-out keyboard was a bad call. Apparently people don’t want a compact device with the best of both the iPhone and BlackBerry/Treo hardware worlds. Whodathunk?
1. The biggest and most relevant point of all: Palm just doesn’t have the cash to compete. The assumption is that even if Palm makes all the Pre phones they possibly can, but still can’t meet demand (that’s bad?) and can’t capture market share to gain third-party developers.
So, that’s PC World’s take. Ready for ZDNet’s positive spin?
5. Palm has experience building the ecosystem of software. Much more so than any other mobile platform, Palm has worked with third-party developers until the cows came home. Only problem is, we’re working with a whole new platform right now and the SDK hasn’t even been made public.
4. The Pre is not the iPhone, and carriers like that. We all know that AT&T has (at least for now) the exclusive in the states on the iPhone, and everybody else is looking for a phone to compete. Moreso than any phone in the last two years, the Pre has been hailed by the media as that phone, and Sprint is pleased as punch to be the exclusive launch partner. So excited is the mobile industry by the Pre that even Verizon (despite the BlackBerry Storm) and AT&T (despite the iPhone) both want the Pre and other webOS devices on their networks.
3. webOS development is easy as pie, and developers like pie. With the SDK application development environment centered around HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, developing for the Pre will not only be easy, but it will be easy for the tens of thousands of experience web developers already out there. Unlike the iPhone (Objective C) and Android (Java), very little specialized experience will be needed to develop a lean and powerful application. There are, of course, two problems. The first is that there’s only so much you can do with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Developers are going to want deeper native access so they can code more powerful applications. Second is the limited deployment of the Mojo SDK. Eventually it will go public, but for now only approved developers are getting it, which means there will be fewer applications in the App Catalog.
2. Standing in stark contrast to PC World’s #2, ZDNet thinks that the combination slide-out QWERTY keypad and the full touchscreen is 100% win. The full screen is great for reading and web browsing, whereas the physical keyboard is great for entering text with ease. While the sliding design is a compromise between the two, all compromises come with parts that people are bound to not like: it makes the device thicker and generally results in a smaller screen and keyboard (or a relatively large device, like the G1).
1. Multi-tasking. Sure, all of the Pre’s competitors (iPhone excluded) support multi-tasking out of the box, but none have found so elegant a solution to managing multiple applications. The cards metaphor utilized so effectively by webOS combined with the unobtrusive notifications are so reminiscent of desktop applications that users will feel right at home.
There you have it, five points against and five points for the Palm Pre. Give it a few months and we’ll have an idea of which side was right. But you know who we’re pulling for.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
We’ll try our best to play the reasonable devil’s advocate along the way, and we’ll start with the bad: PC World. To boil it down, their five points are as follow...
5. Despite successes of the past, Palm of today is not the same Palm that brought us the Palm Pilot or even the Treo. PC World says, “Palm is effectively, a start-up.” Things can go wrong, despite all the fresh blood. Of course, the fresh blood is what has brought us a device as revolutionary as the Pre (and it was fresh blood that brought us the Palm Pilot and the Treo), so despite the missteps that fresh blood can bring, it was needed.
4. Users today won’t think much of multi-tasking on their phones. While everybody but the iPhone supports multi-tasking, without having been able to truly leverage its full capabilities people just won’t be able to fully comprehend what to do with it. This assumes that users are not smart enough to fully leverage the capabilities of webOS, and with how dead simple Palm has made it, it’s hard do believe that would be the case.
3. On a similar note to #5, the new blood in Palm does not have the same experience with developers that Old Palm or even Apple today has. Without a strong developer base there won’t be enough applications to justify getting the Pre over something like an iPhone of Blackberry.
2. In a stretch, the slide-out keyboard was a bad call. Apparently people don’t want a compact device with the best of both the iPhone and BlackBerry/Treo hardware worlds. Whodathunk?
1. The biggest and most relevant point of all: Palm just doesn’t have the cash to compete. The assumption is that even if Palm makes all the Pre phones they possibly can, but still can’t meet demand (that’s bad?) and can’t capture market share to gain third-party developers.
So, that’s PC World’s take. Ready for ZDNet’s positive spin?
5. Palm has experience building the ecosystem of software. Much more so than any other mobile platform, Palm has worked with third-party developers until the cows came home. Only problem is, we’re working with a whole new platform right now and the SDK hasn’t even been made public.
4. The Pre is not the iPhone, and carriers like that. We all know that AT&T has (at least for now) the exclusive in the states on the iPhone, and everybody else is looking for a phone to compete. Moreso than any phone in the last two years, the Pre has been hailed by the media as that phone, and Sprint is pleased as punch to be the exclusive launch partner. So excited is the mobile industry by the Pre that even Verizon (despite the BlackBerry Storm) and AT&T (despite the iPhone) both want the Pre and other webOS devices on their networks.
3. webOS development is easy as pie, and developers like pie. With the SDK application development environment centered around HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, developing for the Pre will not only be easy, but it will be easy for the tens of thousands of experience web developers already out there. Unlike the iPhone (Objective C) and Android (Java), very little specialized experience will be needed to develop a lean and powerful application. There are, of course, two problems. The first is that there’s only so much you can do with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Developers are going to want deeper native access so they can code more powerful applications. Second is the limited deployment of the Mojo SDK. Eventually it will go public, but for now only approved developers are getting it, which means there will be fewer applications in the App Catalog.
2. Standing in stark contrast to PC World’s #2, ZDNet thinks that the combination slide-out QWERTY keypad and the full touchscreen is 100% win. The full screen is great for reading and web browsing, whereas the physical keyboard is great for entering text with ease. While the sliding design is a compromise between the two, all compromises come with parts that people are bound to not like: it makes the device thicker and generally results in a smaller screen and keyboard (or a relatively large device, like the G1).
1. Multi-tasking. Sure, all of the Pre’s competitors (iPhone excluded) support multi-tasking out of the box, but none have found so elegant a solution to managing multiple applications. The cards metaphor utilized so effectively by webOS combined with the unobtrusive notifications are so reminiscent of desktop applications that users will feel right at home.
There you have it, five points against and five points for the Palm Pre. Give it a few months and we’ll have an idea of which side was right. But you know who we’re pulling for.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Palm Pre firmware 1.0.2, Sudoku, alarm clock
Thanks to Darth Pooh on our forums for the awesome tip: the Palm Pre’s firmware has been updated from version 1.0.1 to 1.0.2. Number changes like that indicate that it’s a maintenance release of some sort to improve stability, speed, and whatnot on the device, and as Pooh noted, the Pre is running notably faster than it did back at CES, though there is still some lag.
But wait, there’s more! Darth Pooh got the chance to check out a new Sudoku application, noting that it was “somewhat playable,” but not up to par with what we’d expect from companies like professional game developer Astraware. He also caught sight of ‘another Twitter program,’ so rest assured all ye Tweeters, your options will be many.
Buyrihn, also in our forums, got some of his own hands on time with the Pre. When he got it, the manager had something like 10-15 applications running at the time and claimed that they caused little lag. Pooh meanwhile has discovered that, as one would expect, running processor intensive applications like Pandora or playing music will cause a slowdown in application launches, but once they're up they run just fine.
Oh, and buyrihn also caught a picture of something that we know many of you have been clamoring for: a third-party an alarm clock application (pictured in blurry cam vision up top). The app supports multiple and repeating alarms and can display both an analog or HTC-style digital clock. Like Palm said, they decided to leave alarm clocks up to third parties and the third parties delivered.
Correction: We have confirmed that the Clock application is actually the work of Palm, not a third party. Sorry for any confusion there.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
But wait, there’s more! Darth Pooh got the chance to check out a new Sudoku application, noting that it was “somewhat playable,” but not up to par with what we’d expect from companies like professional game developer Astraware. He also caught sight of ‘another Twitter program,’ so rest assured all ye Tweeters, your options will be many.
Buyrihn, also in our forums, got some of his own hands on time with the Pre. When he got it, the manager had something like 10-15 applications running at the time and claimed that they caused little lag. Pooh meanwhile has discovered that, as one would expect, running processor intensive applications like Pandora or playing music will cause a slowdown in application launches, but once they're up they run just fine.
Oh, and buyrihn also caught a picture of something that we know many of you have been clamoring for: a third-party an alarm clock application (pictured in blurry cam vision up top). The app supports multiple and repeating alarms and can display both an analog or HTC-style digital clock. Like Palm said, they decided to leave alarm clocks up to third parties and the third parties delivered.
Correction: We have confirmed that the Clock application is actually the work of Palm, not a third party. Sorry for any confusion there.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Touchstone is For Sale Now?
The Pre isn't even for sale yet, but it seems that the Touchstone can be bought right now at some Sprint stores.
artap99, an everythingpre forum member, is on the waiting list for the Pre at his local Sprint store. He got a call from the store today letting him know that everything will be on a first come, first serve basis. Plus, they are already selling the Pre accessories.
So naturally artap99 drove over to his Sprint store to check things out, and he was able to buy a Touchstone and the back cover for $49.99. The price is supposed to be $70 for both items, but artap99 was told by more than one sales person that the price was $49.99, so that's what he ended up paying.
If you're planning on buying a Pre, why not call up your local Sprint store and see if they're already carrying the Pre accessories? It sure wouldn't hurt to pick up a Touchstone ahead of time and be ready for your new baby when you bring it home.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
artap99, an everythingpre forum member, is on the waiting list for the Pre at his local Sprint store. He got a call from the store today letting him know that everything will be on a first come, first serve basis. Plus, they are already selling the Pre accessories.
So naturally artap99 drove over to his Sprint store to check things out, and he was able to buy a Touchstone and the back cover for $49.99. The price is supposed to be $70 for both items, but artap99 was told by more than one sales person that the price was $49.99, so that's what he ended up paying.
If you're planning on buying a Pre, why not call up your local Sprint store and see if they're already carrying the Pre accessories? It sure wouldn't hurt to pick up a Touchstone ahead of time and be ready for your new baby when you bring it home.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Best Buy Palm Pre Inventory Leaked
We told you about Best Buy's June Buyer's Guide having a large Palm Pre ad in it. Plus, we let you know that the Pre is already on display in a Best Buy in Puerto Rico.
Well, looks like some Best Buy inventory sheets for the Palm Pre were leaked and popped up in the everythingpre forums. So you might want to check out those inventory sheets and see if you spot your nearest Best Buy, or at least one within driving distance.
Seems that the largest amount of Pres on order is 42 Pres for Alamo Ranch, Texas. HooWee, those of you living in that area will surely want to check out that Best Buy location! Also: *gulp*, I'm sure you see that $849.99 full price is still in effect.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
Well, looks like some Best Buy inventory sheets for the Palm Pre were leaked and popped up in the everythingpre forums. So you might want to check out those inventory sheets and see if you spot your nearest Best Buy, or at least one within driving distance.
Seems that the largest amount of Pres on order is 42 Pres for Alamo Ranch, Texas. HooWee, those of you living in that area will surely want to check out that Best Buy location! Also: *gulp*, I'm sure you see that $849.99 full price is still in effect.
[Originally posted at precentral.net]
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