Palm Pre Reviewed 144
mlingojones writes "The Palm Pre doesn't come out until June 6th, but the Boy Genius Report not only got their hands on one but also posted a review of it. They liked webOS, but not the hardware (especially the keyboard). Overall, they feel that 'once people are able to play a real unit themselves, there will be more than a lot of happy Palm Pre customers.'" On the downside, this review says the keyboard is lousy.
vs iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
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0:38: "It's got Linux at the heart of it's operating system"
I don't know whether to be confused or happy, help!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebOS [wikipedia.org]
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Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Funny)
Autocorrection can be disabled, you know.
iPhone OS is Mac OS X core. I does multitask, right now.
There's this random application crashing sometimes, certainly. I wonder how you get to know it's about lack of memory and not badly written code.
Anyways, if you're going to throw away your iPhone, just let me know where.
Re:vs iPhone (Score:4, Informative)
Apple also used to be really strict about testing for this during the app approval process, but it looks like they relaxed the standards. Hmm, I wonder why... I've recently seen apps which crash after 3-4 minutes of use.
By the way, check out my first app - for the cricket lovers around the world: Virtual Cricket for iPhone [virtualcricket.mobi]
Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Informative)
> Autocorrection can't be disabled by default.
Settings --> General --> Keyboard:
Auto-Correction: OFF
Auto-Capitalization: OFF
> I would but I can't copy and paste the name of the place.
Upgrade to 3.0 and you'll be able to.
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You know you can change the input language, even on the fly.
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It was impossible to write messages in different languages before that without everything being "corrected" to English.
Go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> International Keyboards, and select all the languages that you use regularly. When you have more than one language selected, the pop-up keyboards will have a little "globe" icon to the left of the space bar, that lets you switch languages as you type. I use this to switch between English and Dutch and I find it's pretty convenient.
(I use a 2nd generation iPod touch, but I'd expect the 1st gen, and the iPhones, to have the keyboard settings in the same plac
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Are you tapping to explicitly ignore the suggestions? The iPhone should be learning words where you ignore suggestions, so it should be less of a problem the more you type.
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I have to wonder how stable it is with multiple apps open.
My understanding is that the applications (initially anyway) are all CSS, HTML, and Javascript. The Pre isn't multi-tasking several apps, but running webkit in multiple threads. Stability shouldn't be a problem.
Native... (Score:3, Interesting)
My understanding is that the applications (initially anyway) are all CSS, HTML, and Javascript.
Most of them, but not all.
Several developers have had special VIP access to build native applications.
That includes Classic [motionapps.com] a compatibility layer to run old PalmOS 5 applications on Palm Pre.
What isn't know if only a select few developers will be authorised to produce native apps, or if opensource developers will get to write native applications when needed (this will be interesting for a couple of resource intensive applications such as media players and emulators).
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Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
... the iPhone's keyboard isn't perfect and even less so when the iPhone assumes you're a moron that can't type and "corrects" what you meant to type with a completely different word...
Well, maybe your phone is right about you being a moron, because you can go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard and turn off auto-correction.
Owning a BlackBerry (work) and an iPhone (mine) I infinitely prefer the iPhone's keyboard. (And before my iPhone I had two Nokias with physical QWERTY keyboards so I'm not just preferring the iPhone's because it was my first exposure to a full keyboard on a phone.) You can type faster and with a lighter touch since you don't have to physically press each key, and holding the phone with one hand and typing with that thumb is a whole lot easier. And whoever thought of putting keys in anything but a straight line (BlackBerry Curve 8830, Palm Pre, and the number pads on my old Nokias) should be shot.
That said, I really hope Apple allows background apps soon, if for nothing other than Undercover. [orbicule.com] The Pre looks nice and they're doing some cool things but I won't be getting one since a) I don't have any worthwhile contacts in social sites that I need my phone to automagically gather and b) I don't need to carry around a calendar. Mainly, I'm happy that the Pre is out to give Apple some much-needed competition and force issues like MMS, video recording, background apps, etc.
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Well, maybe your phone is right about you being a moron, because you can go to Settings -> General -> Keyboard and turn off auto-correction.
Ah, so it is default now? You used to have to jailbreak it and use an app from Cydia to do it. See. [google.co.nz]
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Mainly, I'm happy that the Pre is out to give Apple some much-needed competition and force issues like MMS, video recording, background apps, etc.
Pre "force issues"? Those are all features that are widely reported to be part of the 3.0 release coming at the annual WWDC. I'm sure Apple is tracking the Pre closely, but the Pre is mostly winning on pre-announcement of features so far. In terms of what you can actually buy today, obviously the iPhone wins since the Pre doesn't actually exist yet. And when it's released, we'll have to compare it against the iPhone that will also be released about the same time.
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>> MMS, video recording, background apps, ...and they're standard features on almost all current phones, most notably Series40 and S60 which is the most ubiquitous phone OS at the moment.
> Pre "force issues"? Those are all features that are widely reported to be part of the 3.0 release coming at the annual WWDC
I can't see Apple ever admitting they're wrong about anything, but they very often do an about turn if the feel it necessary. I still feel like they think they know better than me, so I won't
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Bad Palm.
Good Apple.
Can you smell your bias?
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I'm sure for some apps, having to re-open it is a real pain. But most of the apps I use most of the time are very fast. I'm glad Apple have gone the "no multitasking" route, as it has forced developers to make their applications load quickly. Yeah, for some apps, either due to poor developers or the nature of the app, no multitasking is a serious problem. But I hear there is a solution in the works, and I hope the solution is done in such a way that most apps will still load fast and only the apps that real
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But you do have a computer and the internet. So unless you're sending smoke signals to the town at the base of the mountain to transcribe your /. post, how disconnected are you?
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i don't even own a cellphone
I do: a £10 Nokia. The features it has? Phone calls and text messages. And I can type a message on it much faster than anyone on an iPhone.
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Application? Any geek worth their salt has properly calibrated fingertips and can count their words per minute them self.
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Many Nokias are free with contract - even some of the best ones. Yes, they can send MMSes and record video, and have decent cameras - and with some you can (legally) download all the music you want for no extra charge, eg the hugely popular 5800 :
"The Orange version also changes the price strategy and will be available for free as long as it's attached to a two-year Comes With Music cellular plan; these range from roughly 25 pounds ($37) per month"
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/05/13/nokia.5800.cwm [electronista.com]
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Free with contract? As in, not really free at all?
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Correct, just like pretty much anything else.
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> I believe he was taking the pound as a unit of weight, not cost.
Oh. People still use that measure? Wow. :p
> Also quite a lot of phones are free or cheap when signing your digital soul away for 2 years.
Yes, I think I mentioned that - it's the most usual way of obtaining a phone in the US, iinm, and pretty common in the UK too.
I wonder if one these 'free with contract' phone is produced by Apple, or if the Palm Pre is free with contract?
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I can see your disconnect --- there's nowhere I know of in the US or Europe where the iPhone costs $800.
iPhone 3G 16Gb costs ~$800 in Russia.
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Maybe if I move to the UK, I'd consider an iPhone. Here in the US... the service costs closer to $100/month than $50/month.
Interestingly, Boost Mobile (a prepaid division of Sprint Nextel operating mainly on the Nextel iDEN network) has recently started offering a $50/month unlimited everything plan here in the US. This is a shockingly low price point, especially given that pay as you go typically offers far inferior service:dollar. The point is, that if they can actually profit on $50/month for unlimited s
Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Interesting)
Wow. Clearly your qualified to comment, having never touched the device you are disparaging.
I've got an iPhone. I love the thing. Lots of people own them because they are "the thing", but many of us actually made an informed choice. It works well, does what I need (occasional texting, works as a phone), syncs with my Mac, and has a fantastic UI. It's the first phone I've used that feels like the UI was actually designed instead of accumulated. The app store and all the great games and apps are just huge icing on the cake (I realize that exists to a small part in the WM space).
For the $800 comment, do you have any idea what a top of the line blackberry costs without contract? It's about the same. Rumors have the Pre around that price too.
As for the Pre, it's interesting. Multitasking seems like the killer 'app' for it, but I seriously worry about battery life and responsiveness. It seems like just trying to push computer conventions onto a phone. The iPhone idea makes more sense to me (although more memory for faster launching would certainly help).
It's unfortunate that the thing feels cheap, especially considering how much you'll have to pay.
The keyboard sounds like a killer bit. If you don't care about a physical keyboard, an iPhone seems like the way to go. If you want a physical keyboard, Blackberrys are clearly the gold standard. The G1 is worse than that, but it's not bad. The Pre sounds very unfortunate. If the keyboard is as bas as they say, it could be a major problem for sales. That is if the supposedly limited supply doesn't kill them.
I know some people who might get one. I can't wait to play with one. It will be interesting to see how it does.
I'm also surprised that the Javascript based applications (except for some "exclusive partners" who pay big $$$) isn't getting ragged on more. It was clear how much of a difference it made on the iPhone to get out of that. Even though they'll have all the features exposed through special JS stuff, I doubt it will work well for games.
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Note that the reviewer is looking at a pre-production version of the phone. Some people have pointed out that the real production versions of the phone have a better keyboard and smoother sliding action. Note that people *are* saying that the keyboard is a lesser keyboard than the Treo's.
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Careful. I'm not sure exactly how, but I'm pretty sure you can get in trouble for walking in a different direction than the herd like that.
My feelings on this: I have a Palm TX. I've had it since they were released, early 2006. it works perfectly, original battery last for 6+ hours of constant use. If Palm had released a version with a built in Cellular phone, iPhone's would have made no where near such a splash.
Even today, a Palm TX with an integrated phone would have a better feature set that 99% of the c
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Looking forward to all the hate I'll be getting for this, but:
I own a Sony Ericsson Xperia. It does almost everything you'd get in an iPhone (calling, messaging, browsing the web, Google Maps, listening to music, watching movies, ...), a Pre (multitasking, slide-out keyboard, facebook integration), a "classic" Palm (all the PIM you'll ever need, bluetooth keyboards) or a G1 (running lots of apps from unsigned sources, if you tell it to) and more.
It runs Windows mobile.
Devices similar to it have been around
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Flamebait? really? Apparently you are dead-on about the fanboys.
OK. if you are talking about the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, it came out in Oct. 2008; Palm TX was early 2006.
The screen is bigger. well, it's over 2 years newer. Score +1 Xperia after it was released, but before that, score +infinity palm.
it's got more RAM. But it runs windows, so how much of that can you actually use? score: indefinite
It doesn't have a infrared port. this is not really a big deal. Score +0.1 palm
It DOES have a decent camera; thi
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Predictable as a swiss clockwork, that's how I likes me my fanboys.
Anyhow, back to the topic at hand:
The Xperia is newer than the TX, but there have been a few others similar to it before. Think HTC TyTn (II); the 8000 series Blackberries. Most of them lacked something or another, but they will at least predate the iPhone.
The hardware is, in my opinion, great. I got mine a few days after release and, spending my time in the local army ever since, gave it constant abuse from day one. It hasn't complained.
Per
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For the $800 comment, do you have any idea what a top of the line blackberry costs without contract? It's about the same.
Actually it is about $500 or 40% less. In my world, that's a big difference dude.
stupid fanboi (Score:2)
I'm sure it can't be got cheaper elsewhere. I mean, they call themselves "best buy" for a reason, right?
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But not having a real keyboard was a dealbreaker for me and the iPhone.
I have fat fingers and I can "feel" my way around the Treo keyboard, where my thumb does cover 4-5 buttons if I'm not careful. You can't "feel" your way around an on-the-screen k
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The lack of multitasking is what nearly killed Palm and gave way to Windows Mobile in first place. And it is the reason why so many people stay with Windows Mobile and shun iPhone - which pretty much works the same way as PalmOS used to work, just with more glitter and glamour (so much for apple innovation).
The keyboard on that particular Palm device seems to be the same as the Treo keyboard.
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the iphone doesn't win on features, it wins on status symbolism ($800, really?), flashy advertising, and eye candy.
disclaimer: i don't even own a cellphone (or a tv, yes sometimes you need to be disconnected) but i notice that this is definitely true with people i see around me all the time, and i can give specific examples if need be. there's a lot of keeping up the joneses involved here.
Seriously, i hear a *lot* of people mention that the iphone is supposed to be some status symbol, but is that even really true? It certainly sounds good to say, but I have *never* met anyone with an iPhone that I thought had it because of some status thing - people certainly drink the kool-aid and think it's the best thing out there, but that still means they bought it because they thought it was genuinely good, even if they were uninformed.
Maybe it's because I live in silicon valley, one freeway exit from
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I used an HP Jornada 680 for a while. I was sitting at my desk at the campus when some guy passed me and indirectly muttered something to me about it being a such status symbol (in the negative way). My mind did a backflip. All along I thought I was just a geek with an interest in electronic gadgets. But in reality, I must have subconsciously bought this obscure device (how can it be a status symbol if nobody knows what it is?) to tell everyone how much better I am than they are.
Of course, after a several m
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Over here in London I'd say that a top-of-the-line Blackberry is more of a status symbol than the iPhone.
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There's always some people who think they're superior and claim people who buy Apple gadgets are rich, air-headed idiots who only want to look good. And then they call Apple users elitist snobs!
I've never personally come across anyone who's bought a Mac or iPod/iPhone because of the supposed "cool" factor.
People like waspleg seem to be unable to accept that the iPhone does have its upsides and its advantages over other devices. I'm perfectly happy to accept that the iPhone doesn't suit everyone and other ph
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I certainly wouldn't expect people who buy stuff for the cool factor would either admit it or even are aware of it. But I bet if you spent some time talking to them about why they bought an iPhone, or any hot gadget for that matter, you could discern whether they bought the device for primarily practical reasons. I'd even go so far as to say in my unqualifed opinion, the most of the people wh
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It's One Explanation... (Score:2)
Does it really seem like a status symbol somewhere?
To some extent, yeah; they turn heads and elicit curiosity and attention. They certainly don't confer anything resembling actual status outside of certain circles, though, and I think it's really interesting that thousands regular slashdot readers suddenly think they're experts on things that confer status.
My observation? This explanation comes from the kind of person who doesn't understand the iPhone's appeal. They've gone over and over the featureset of t
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I use my smartphone for everywhere else. My laptop works great for when I go from home to work, but when I'm anywhere else, I'd rather not carry, or buy, a smaller laptop AND a cellphone. I prefer to use a smartphone for that exact purpose.
The thing is, I agree with you. iPhones are purely for show. I can do a whole lot of the same thi
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Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)
Speaking as someone who has used and evaluated most Smartphones released in the past three years, whilst the iPhone is most definitely not perfect - it does a lot of things right, far more than the three points you quote above.
In fact, it sounds like you haven't actually used an iPhone to be able to accurately comment about it.
I rest my case. Why you got a +5 for guessing about something you freely admit you've never used and hence have no authority to comment on is beyond me.
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The iPhone is a very solid and well supported product.
But it's by no means perfect, and it got a lot of stuff wrong. (As already pointed out, the app limit is annoying)
And saying the iPhone is better than ____ isn't that impressive. Vista is better than Windows ME, but let me tell you, that comparison means nothing at all. :P The iPhone can still be bad at a specific thing while beating almost every other phone, because the other phones are absolutely atrocious at it.
Hey, ever use a Nokia N95? That sure was
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I've never owned an aircraft carrier or even a battleship, but I know a fair bit about naval warfare.
I guess quite a lot of experts on European history in the late 18th/early 19th century weren't Napoleon.
Re:vs iPhone (Score:5, Funny)
disclaimer: i don't even own a cellphone (or a tv, yes sometimes you need to be disconnected)
Mr Charles Pitts [slashdot.org], is that you?
Actually it does win on features (Score:5, Insightful)
the iphone doesn't win on features
It wins on features hands down - the features people actually use.
Just the other day I was asking to see someone's Storm, and asked where the browser was- they didn't even know! And after using it for a few minutes I could see why, there was hardly any point.
The iPhone makes things usable that a lot of people would otherwise never use - and the same goes for apps, I think Apple probably has surpassed the old Palm V installed and use app count at this point.
You can decry the iPhone as a creature of marketing all you like, but you're only deluding yourself and will never understand the real reason why anything succeeds or fails.
That said the Pre looks like an excellent phone and I think will do very well. This is because they understand the iPhone is about building a great phone and not about marketing, and the Pre looks to go into the same space with a different take on it that I think can carry a large bit of the market.
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You can decry the iPhone as a creature of marketing all you like, but you're only deluding yourself and will never understand the real reason why anything succeeds or fails.
The subtext usually is: people who disagree with me are stupid, in this case because they're marketing led sheep.
People can be stupid about certain things. In my experience people are very bad at expressing what it is that they want. But they are very good at recognizing once it's in their hands. It's quite possible that Apple nefariously incites technological lust in potential buyers, but if somebody loves their iPhone (as many users I know do), it's probably because Apple did something right in its de
Re:Actually it does win on features (Score:4, Insightful)
Features like accessing your email
Yes, because it's so easy to transfer in existing email accounts more people do so.
There may be other mobile devices with better email support (Blackberry) but that does not mean they are more generally useful.
keeping a usable calendar
Yes, again better than most other platforms because integration with your computer calendar is good and mostly automatic when you first start using it...
decent battery life
Around as good as other smartphones.
I think not.
No, you didn't - the common Apple Hater condition. You didn't think beyond that narrow set of categories (those alone would obviously make Blackberry into an overall winner) into the many other ways the device is used.
I say that larger feature lists do not mean more usability, so you come back with a narrow cherry-picked feature list and ignore all others. Again, it's the totality of the features that are used, not just one or two features, that make it the most useful device.
Just the other day, I watched someone spend four minutes trying to finger browse to a web site in a manner that would have taken seconds with access to a decent keyboard and a trackball (read blackberry bold).
What's amusing is that I read that other part and knew you were a blackberry person just from the tailored list you had picked. Again, it's the totality...
And from personal use of the Storm I can say with absolute certainly that what you are saying about web browsing being any way better on the Bold is an absolute lie and you will go to the deepest level of whatever the equivalent of Hell is in your belief system if you manage to convince one poor soul to buy a Blackberry for browsing over an iPhone because of your words.
Yes I disliked browsing on the Storm that much.
What on earth were they trying to do with a browser that would take more than four SECONDS, much less four minutes? Between quick zooming and panning and input there's no way a trackball is faster at anything than using the Touch controls.
Don't get me wrong. The iPhone is a decent option, but claiming it wins in options hand down is straight out fanboism.
So is being selective about the feature set you are comparing.
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Someone dissing people about status symbols, but can't stop mentioning he doesn't have a tv. And of course, sitting at your computer all day certainly proves you are disconnected??
Your point about the iPhone, I agree 100%, until I actually went out and used one. They are great machines, worthy of praise. They have a lot of power, and it is very easy to get to that power, unlike phones like N95 which have a lot of power, but hide it under a dodgy menu system. What is the point of being able to do everything,
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At $199/$299 the iphone is the same price as other cell phones with similar features. cheaper than a few and a bit more expensive than others. cell phone, ipod, email are all old features that everyone expects in a phone at that price.
the killer features are the app store. there is literally an app for everything. if you're lost and need to find a gas station, the iphone will do it. there are even kids games and flash card apps on it to teach your kids to read. and it will work with Exchange Server to get y
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uhm, yes, this feature is called "points of interest" and is available on every navigation software for a decade already. navigation software was available for palm and windows mobile since 2002 at the very least.
same goes for all other "killer apps" you mentioned.
just how iphone is special now?
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At $199/$299 the iphone is the same price as other cell phones with similar features. cheaper than a few and a bit more expensive than others.
Can you show me where can I buy those for that price, I would buy 5 of them.
How does the subscription plan count in?
Yeah, thought so.
It is fucking pathetic how people can say with a straight face that the $phone costs $199/$299 and at the same time *completely* disregarding the fact about huge monthly payment which binds you for two fucking years.
Where is the link? (Score:2)
I want to see where I can buy those things for the price you are saying....
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I couldn't care less about the brand, which I hate, nor the advertising, which I don't watch. The reason I got my iPhone was the intuitive web browsing interface and the fact that it was the only goddamn web-enabled phone that wouldn't cost me $120 a month for something ridiculous like 5mb-50mb of data a month (this one's ~$52 a month for 500MB). Lousy country.
And looking at the competition, I made the right choice. My dad's got a blackberry storm. How does it go? Looks like a fish,
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If I had paid the ~$220 iPhone cost up front it'd only be about $39 a month, too.
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Why not? Steve Jobs did.
summary... (Score:3, Informative)
The hardware is bad. The keyboard doubly so.
Re:summary... (Score:5, Interesting)
I didn't understand the review. They figure everyone is going to love the Pre but the device feels badly put together and cheap, the keyboard is crap, the screen (the best feature) is "almost as good" as an iPhone, the zoom (a pretty critical feature in a small screen browser) doesn't work well and there are no apps. The only positive thing they really had to say seemed to be that it's small. But then, that means the screen is small too.
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Don't forget overpriced..
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Keyboards? (Score:1)
On another note, the Palm Pre has been very hyped up, especially by Engadget. It will be interesting to see how it'll hold up.
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What do you mean "at least there's a physical keyboard"? Are you talking about the iPhone? Because that's pretty much the only phone with a non-physical keyboard. Yeah the iPhone sucks but most people use better phones like Nokia N63 (and friends) or Blackberry.
Prepare to be blinded (Score:5, Funny)
Palm Pre on Sprint [sprint.com]
It's just... it's unspeakably horrific.
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> Actually it's a pretty useless website that doesn't do anything but mumble some useless facts.
Um, welcome to Marketing 101.
And, apparently, the number one use for Flash on websites. It seems that [generally] the more Flash a site or page has, the more useless the content is likely to be to the user.
For *useful* information about the Palm Pre, I suggest going to http://www.precentral.net/ [precentral.net] They are a little hyper to post just about everything known to man about the Pre, but there is no lack of useful
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Looks like the information overload is deliberate. Probably a bad message since the trend nowadays is towards making your life simpler, but it's not just a matter of amateur hour design.
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I am not enamored with that website, but the whole point of it is multitasking. That's how they're trying to sell the Pre and distinguish it from competition. I doubt anyone actually expects you to follow any of the little widgets, just to be impressed by their sheer number.
The keyboard (Score:5, Interesting)
Yup. I got that from the first time they mentioned it in the summary. But anyway. So I clicked on the link actually. And the review isn't really worth anything since they couldn't actually use the phone as, well, a phone. Looking at the picture of the keyboard, I have to agree that it would probably suck to use. And in my opinion that's a deal breaker. the buttons are really close together [boygeniusreport.com], but that's expected for such a narrow a phone. It probably should have had the keyboard come out to the side and use the phone in a landscape position. It's also quite apparent this guy is biased towards the Blackberry.
Re:The keyboard (Score:4, Interesting)
I suspect the keyboard is going to be extremely similar to the Treo line (it certainly looks like it).
My long experience with Treo's is- yes, the keys are close together, but the keyboard really does work OK for thumb-entry. The Pre's version is nearly identical, just sunken (which might be a problem for some people). That said, I agree with you that it probably would have been better had it slid out the long side (landscape).
There are plenty of reviews of the Pre. The one sited by Slashdot is probably one of the least useful.
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Pitty they don't actually compare it to another Palm keyboard. I know what the Treo 600 is like. If I hadn't decided to go with the iPhone, I'd be looking at the Pre and comparing it to the 600.
Pre pre (Score:5, Funny)
So this is a Pre-Palm Pre review.
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By that time I will probably have bought a cheap Samsung android phone.
Not useful review (Score:2)
Second, the snipe a Palm at the end was not professional. Palm has produced serious hardware, the Palm V for instance. But to produce serious hardware someone needs to pay serious prices. One issue is that Palm is not longer a leader in innovation, and no longer goes after the market that will pay those prices. So, it is now down to commodity hardware, a tought fight to win.
Third, who knows what the applicati
No GSM, no SIM (Score:3, Informative)
First, why no phone test. Did they not have a SIM card?
They may have but the phone is not a GSM phone. You cannot use a SIM with it.
Second, the snipe a Palm at the end was not professional. Palm has produced serious hardware, the Palm V for instance. But to produce serious hardware someone needs to pay serious prices. One issue is that Palm is not longer a leader in innovation, and no longer goes after the market that will pay those prices. So, it is now down to commodity hardware, a tought fight to win.
I
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Being CDMA only (for the time being) there are no SIM cards to swap. To activate the phone on Sprint's network (or any other CDMA network for that matter) they would have to take it into a store. That's probably why there wasn't a phone test yet.
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>To activate the phone on Sprint's network (or any other CDMA network for that matter) they would have to take it into a store.
I don't believe that is correct at all. Sprint can and will activate their phones via the phone. You don't have to take it into a store.... they just need to know the ESN you read to them and then they give you a code. Done.
Granted, I much prefer the GSM/SIM type concept, but Sprint and Verizon don't do that. In any case, it is probably a good betn there will be a GSM version
Bad keyboard? (Score:1)
Carrier Exclusivity Might Kill It (Score:2)
A 6-month exclusivity on Sprint means many people won't purchase one right away. That's a shame since I think it fits the definition of a "smart phone" much closer than anything else out there right now, including the iPhone, which I happen to own. I don't have a problem with subsidized hardware in exchange for extending your contract, but why limit it to a single CDMA carrier?
Palm needs to get the pre adopted in large numbers and at a quick pace, otherwise it might be left behind as a promising also-ran to
Re:Carrier Exclusivity Might Kill It (Score:4, Insightful)
> A 6-month exclusivity on Sprint means many people won't purchase one right away.
> why limit it to a single CDMA carrier?
Um... think about what you just said for a few minutes. The iPhone is *STILL* exclusive to AT&T. Didn't seem to kill the iPhone. The G1/Android is effectively exclusive to T-Mobile. There are lots of phones that are introduced to a single carrier for a while after launch. I am not saying I like this behavior- I think phones should be completely decoupled from carriers, completely (and without subsidies and contracts). But this is certainly nothing new or unusual. Sprint has always been Palm's greatest champion, so it is only logical they would work out a deal for exclusivity for a while (most people think it will be less than a year).
Sprint needs Palm just as much as Palm needs Sprint- they are both "gambling" on each other. Hopefully they will both do well for taking the chance.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think it was the decision of being exclusive to a single carrier that troubled the GP about the Pre. I believe it was the carrier they decided to be exclusive with.
Sprint is the Chrysler of wireless...
Re: (Score:2)
In most ways, Sprint is no worse than any other wireless carrier. They have a fast and reliable network with excellent coverage, great roaming agreements, and reasonable rates. But pretty bad customer service. But, then, I hear complaints about customer service from people using EVERY cell provider.
Re: (Score:2)
Unless I am mistaken, you just listed carriers that are not in the US.
Whether by design or not, the G1 and Android is still single carrier in the USA (I admit that my postings are USA-centric).
I suspect that by the time any other carrier in the USA has either the iphone or android, the Pre will also be available on other carriers.
Re: (Score:2)
I do not agree that the Palm will "almost certainly have to remain a single carrier device". Palm smartphones have been available from several carriers for many years. From what I read on PreCentral.net, Verizon has already expressed interest in carrying the Pre.
But Android does, indeed, have a wider possible appeal. It isn't tied to any particular hardware company (like Palm and Iphone are).
In any case, it is nice having all these new, functional, flashy, Linux based phones surfacing, finally :)
Re: (Score:2)
You said it yourself. There are other people outside the US, you know.
Heh... people outside the US... yeah, sure, like where? Texas?
As for Pre, Palm will almost certainly have to remain a single-carrier device, as it'll be the only way they'll get enough support from the carrier to push the device.
On a serious note, does this work the same internationally as it does with the US carriers? (Phones with exclusivity deals, that work for one carrier but are disabled for other carriers?) This has always mystified me in the US; I'm wondering if it's the same in other places.
IMAP and XMPP? (Score:2)
I still haven't heard anything about IMAP/SSL and XMPP/SSL support. How does the calendar sync? Please be iCal or CalDAV. I'm going to wait for an emulator to be released before buying this phone so I can at least verify they have adequate software for email and chat.