Palm Pre / webOS launch roundup
By Jacob Schulman 
posted January 9th 2009 8:46PM
posted January 9th 2009 8:46PM
The liveblog
Live from Palm's CES press conference
Impressions / hands-on coverage
Palm Pre first hands-on with live updates!
Palm Pre in-depth impressions, video, and huge hands-on gallery
Palm Pre interface tour
Product announcements
The Palm Pre
Palm announces webOS platform
Palm Pre's wireless charger, the Touchstone
In depth / details
There will be a GSM-friendly 3G Palm Pre
Palm stock on a rocket to recovery
Palm's Pre gets its own spot on Sprint's website
Palm Pre website now live with official images, video
Palm's the master of its own domain, the king of its own Castle
Palm's Pre boxed
Palm Pre's "New-ness" event video now viewable
Palm Pre ads appear on Engadget
What is the definition of the "iphonekiller"?is it selling 1 million in 72 hours in USA .?is it being a revolutionary all touchscreen cell that some manufacturers still can't match 2 years later,? Is it a phone that has set the standard by which all touchphones are measured?is it a cell that sent all major cell manufacturers into a crazy frenzy to quickly go back to drawing board n create their own iPhone clone? Is it a phone that has created more buzz worldwide than any other cell in history,? Ask yourself in order to earn the coveted title, will pre do all these, if so then yes it can be called that.,unfortunately we won't know the answer till 72 hours after palm launch,.
When morons hail it as the greatest thing that Humanity has achieved, or ever will achieve. THAT's when something becomes an iPhone killer.
Seems to me that title isn't actually being coveted anymore, so instead of working on making their userbase gibbering fanboys, companies like Palm and Nokia are working on, oh I don't know, MAKING THEIR PRODUCTS GOOD.
I like the idea that I could actually own a Palm Pre unlike the iPhone where I pay a lot of money but have little control over how I can use my purchase!
Palm is the 'new' Apple
Apple is the 'new' Microsoft
Microsoft is the 'old' Palm (i.e. lacking in innovation and selling sad old products)
This is the first smartphone that seems to be the first real alternative to the iphone for the more serious/power user. This thing has everything I need in terms of hardware (Upgradeable storage, replaceable battery, hard keyboard, GPS, 3G, cap TS, generic headphone jack, integrated speaker, camera) and a really interesting new approach to a mobile OS, especially with regard to the management of contacts.
Clearly their approach has been to shoot for what the iphone does poorly/doesn't do and also to aim for the business/serious side of the market. They seem to have filled all the hardware gaps that the iphone has as well as taking a different to, yet derivative of Apple approach to the design of their OS.
This is the first contender; I don't think the G1 came close to that title.
P.S. Why does it always have to be an iphone killer? Why not an iphone alternative, or iphone competitor?
Without an on-screen keyboard, how is someone supposed to type anything into the Palm Pre when it's in landscape mode? I guess you just have to flip it back to portrait mode, then back to landscape mode, then back to portrait mode, then back to landscape mode, then back to portrait mode, then back to landscape mode... Doh!
There's a lot of disagreement around here, but we can certainly agree on these things:
1. The Iphone is king. It has been king for a while. It's success is unmatched by any competitor.
2. The Iphone needs competition. Competition improves the breed.
3. The Pre presents a stunning combination of hardware and user interface.
4. The Pre isn't out yet. It won't be out for a while. A lot can change between now and then.
I was a Window user for most of my life, but jumped ship to Macs 2 years ago out of repeated disappointments with PC's and the entire Microsoft ecosystem. I love my mac. I used, and loved, a Treo 600 and a Treo 700wx but when it was time to upgrade, the Iphone was really a no brainer. I love my Iphone.
But I work hard for my money, and Apple is just a publicly traded international corporation ran by a brilliant douche of a man. There's a lot of things worth swearing your allegiance to, but Apple is NOT one of them. When I'm ready for another phone, I'll consider my needs, consider what's available, and make a decision. You may choose however you want.
*If* I needed a new phone now, and *if* the Pre was available today, and *if* it didn't have any show stopping disappointments, and *if* it was priced competitively... you better believe there's a good chance of one finding a home in my pocket. But guys... that's a whole lot of *ifs*.
I really hope that I won't have to stand in line to get this phone on release day. I'm too old and too proud for such shenanigans.
Ya gotta laugh your ass off at all the web coverage here though. It's like screaming at your 2-Month old child ... "WALK, DAMNIT ... WAAAAALK!!".
This new toy changes nothing for the outlooks of Palm/Sprint. Hopefully this helps usher in a new parent company for both who has a global clue of how to provide desirable solutions from every aspect.
It's always disturbing to watch someone die. You'll get over it.
This Pre is quite a whole lot of new-ness! Very refreshing to see a company looking for a new lifeline and risking their future on this device! I do think it's going to be successful, might not be as successful as the iphone not because it's not better than the iphone (because it is) but because Palm doesn't have the cash nor the know-how how to market this product like Apple does.
I am a Nokia E71 user and very satisfied with it, actually I might even go as far and say that to this date there is no other phone that can beat it in size and usability. Not the iphone, htc hd, g1.. none of them can bring together the size and features that the E71 brings harmonically and well designed together. Enough said about the E71 since I do believe that its going to be beaten soon, might even be by the Pre since its very close in size and similar features or maybe even by Nokia itself with the E81 or something. Though, with Nokia's constant innovation (every month they release a phone that challenges the Pre or any other cometitor, f.e.: N78, N81, N96, Tube and soon N97!!!) and the current consumer crises it'll be hard to beat Nokia because the cover the market from A-Z in every segment and they have unchallenged services like Nokia Maps, Ovi, free push email. Apple has only one phone, there is only one G1, htc is winmo enough said and Palm only has the Pre the rest is just junk, so where does that leave us.. right, Nokia!
I'd like to see some competion here for Nokia, real competition not these single phones that come out and are locked to one carrier, they are shooting themselves in the foot!
At the end of the day, the Pre might sell enough to let Palm keep its doors open for a bit longer and i might even get one just to play with it cuz it does excite me but i also will get an N97, which phone will end up conquering my pocket will come down to which phone offers more.. and looking at the specs the Pre doest even come close but we'll see.
HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE. THE ONLY WAY... AND THE ONLY WAY.... FOR A PHONE MANUFACTURER TO BE COMPARED TO APPLE'S IPHONE OR TO BE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS IPHONE IS TO JUST COPY IT. THE OTHER NEW PHONES THAT HAVE BEEN MARKETED SO FAR ARE FABULOUS! IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD THING TO HAVE OPTIONS. OF COURSE THERE WILL BE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GADGETS AS FAR AS AMENITIES AND CAPABILITIES... BUT ONE THING TO PONDER.... WOULDN'T YOU AGREE THAT IT'S EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO LURE PEOPLE AWAY FROM A DESIGN SO SIMPLE AND ACCEPTED AND LOVED BY THE MASSES..... A RECTANGLE! NO MOVING PARTS... JUST ONE, SOLID, ERGONOMIC RECTANGLE!!
IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE WINNING, RECTANGLE DESIGN THEN THERE WOULDN'T BE MUCH FUSS BECAUSE THE OTHER PHONES ALL OFFER THE SAME SERVICES AS FAR AS BLUETOOTH, WIFI OR WIRELESS NETWORK FOR THE WEB, DUAL-FUNCTION CAMERA, GPS, 3RD PARTY APPS, AUDIO AND VIDEO PLAYER, ETC...
Well, it is true a lot can change in between now and launch day. We'll just crossed our fingers. Why so much bad blood against Apple? Its like people hate them as much as they hated Microsoft a while back. I mean don't get me wrong their products are expensive to say the list, but at least they seem to be one of the few companies that are at least trying something new. Remember the sorry state of mp3 players before the ipod? Look at Microsoft and their windows 7 mobile, you would expect them to be the first one to come out and compete with Blackberry or Apple. But, hell no!!! Instead of a better version of windows, we get Vista or a zune instead of ipod touch. We need more companies to push innovation into the market and just for that I'm happy with I'd seen in webOS. I hope webOS gathers as much support as Apple's mobile OS.
can you dial using the keyboard? or just using the screen
It is a good phone. Looks cute. The article is also good. I saw another article with many more videos and other description. Take a look at it if you want to know more:-
http://www.kanbal.com/index.php?/Electronics/palm-pre-the-iphone-rival.html