Pre emerges on Palm's UK website... in a CDMA skin
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 20th 2009 12:51PM
posted Feb 20th 2009 12:51PM
[Via phoneArena]
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Pffft, nobody buys Palm devices in the UK. This hunk of junk is destined for major FAIL.
Yes, because everyone has bought iphones...
"Pffft, nobody buys Palm devices in the UK [Citation Needed]"
I'm in the UK, and I'm defiantly going to be ditching my iPhone for a Pre when it comes out
Well, Phil my boy, you're obviously a 'nobody'.
And you are obviously a twat.
Obviously Palm wouldn't have been doing so bad if people in the US where buying them either. Just because they WEREN'T buying them doesn't mean they WON'T.
As somebody in the UK with iPhone 3G, i can tell you that I will be getting this phone! Yes, I'll be raped with the existing 18month contract, but unless Apple and o2 come up with something decent, I'm switching..
Phone problems aside, o2 3G coverage is next to none existent where I live (lake district) and orange and Vodafone have far far better coverage.
Nobody will buy the GSM Pre in the UK? OK...more for us T-Mo and AT&T users over here in the States. Yay.
iLoveApple might not have phrased it in the politest of terms but he's correct. Palm has historically done very poorly in Europe. Palm's brand simply has no value over here.
Why? Partly because Palm hasn't had the marketing muscle to compete outside of North America.
The other reason is that it's been up against far superior European competition. The original Palm PDAs had to compete with the superior Psion offerings and the Treo 600/650 had to compete with the superior Sony Ericsson P900/P910. Foreign + inferior = failure.
Will the Pre be the phone to break the European market? I think it's going to face a very hard time. Without any brand awareness, it's going to have to survive through word-of-mouth. Judging by what I've heard form Palm's top brass, Europe wasn't even considered when the Pre was developed. It's not designed to appeal to European buyers.
I'm in the UK and I'm getting one :)
But you have a point... Palm has to be one of the least well-known phone brands, at least among people I know.
Well, destined for major fail or not, the Pre is going to be getting a wide European & Asian release, so Palm must think they've got something going on. Palm has updated many different "country" websites to show the Pre now. Interestingly enough - they all show the CDMA Pre. The list of sites is here http://palmprefix.com/2009/02/21/palm-pre-goes-global-wide-european-asian-release/
Pre's slogan: PREpare to be imPREssed =).
Seems like an awesome phone from the demo videos they have shown so far.
why bother with CDMA. It is another stupid North American standard that the rest of the world ignores. I think the manufacturers should start ignoring this standard first so that evrybody can move on. Telus tried to buy Fido when it was up for sale, it would have been great for the consumer so that the biggest provider in Canada would have the GSM option and woudl evenutlaly let go of CDMA. Now htye are planning for a few years alter to have both and slowly let CDMA die.
Agree CDMA is BS. Why do you think Verizon is going LTE? It pisses off Vodaphone to no end that their customer cannot roam in the US on their own network. Around the world CDMA is deployed as a low cost alternative to GSM. Here ridiculously it has been promoted by Verizon as a premium service. As for Sprint, that is a low cost service (or lack thereof) which is the right venue for CDMA.
CDMA may be non-standard to the world, but it is a superior technology. GSM calls on all the US carriers sound like tinny garbage (you can tell the person's using a cell phone) and phones drop calls all the time. With CDMA, the coverage is better, and data speeds are much better. Just because GSM is a standard, it doesn't mean it's better.
Calls are placed through the 1X band (which isn't even completely 3G) and are better than AT&T's "3G" network. Not to mention that we've had this functionality for what... 7 years now? My Moto T720 from 2002 used 1X and we've had EVDO since 2004 and yet the GSM carriers are just rolling out their 3G phones?
And whose fault is that we don't have those phone here earlier? 3G was almost a 1,5 years old when we started trials in North America. As long as we have CDMA, we are destant to follow the world not to lead which is never a good thing. If it is meant for business it MUST be supported world-wide. Since the world is not going to start using CDMA, we know it will eventually die.
Simply watch Europe for this kind of advancements people, they lead the pack in every which way, we just need to suck it up and elarn from them. It was one of the thigns made me upset about moving to North America from Europe.
That is why we are seeing some 'world phones' coming out that support both CDMA and GSM. The blackberry Storm and 8800 series are off the top of my head. Yes it costs more to manufacturer for now, but it at least gives people the choice to use their phones between networks..
"There are trillions of possible frequency-sequencing codes; this enhances privacy and makes cloning difficult" (http://www.mouthshut.com/review/GSM_Mobile_Technology_Vs_CDMA_Mobile_Technology-34598-1.html)
I would not DARE bring a GSM provider's SIM+Handset to a foreign country (like Mexico). There's too many risks of the handset/SIM getting cloned and I'd rather not have to wait on hold for 9 hours waiting to speak to a rep at Fido/Rogers to reverse the charges (yes, I've heard countless complaints on how long it takes to get through). I'm in Canada by the way.
PS: I HATE being around people with gsm phones when I'm on my computer with my speakers turned on. I used to work in a call center environment and know first hand how f'ing annoying it is when you here the GSM 'beep beep beep' when a text or call comes in. Also, I've noticed in discussions that CDMA radiate less power than GSM. I don't want to get into a discussion about cdma vs gsm radiation, but those radiation bulbs that people put on their phones light up a LOT less with cdma than with GSM..
@Shadow08
I wouldn't be very happy if I was still using the HSDPA (GSM) I'm using now in 7 years. Maybe your post was sarcasm?
Sure I'm getting really fast data on my HSDPA (GSM) iPhone.
In Canada, both Bell and Telus are switching to LTE (GSM) in the next 20 months.
Which I think would leave the US and S.Korea as the only other places CDMA would be available. No wonder you're using the same tech after 7 years. There's too small a market to pay for innovation.
Unless the GSM carriers can get more voice signal (much less data) to rural areas like non-Atlanta Georgia, I'll need CDMA phones.
Does anyone know where I can get the Pre's wallpapers? They're very beautiful. I especially like the Coral one. I guess maybe I just have to wait until the device arrives.
It better have US 3G bands. I'll be getting one pronto.
It doesn't.
It might, afterall Palm has a history of releasing unbranded, unlocked devices on their website. The Palm Treo Pro has no US carrier, but they still released one with US 3G bands.
I know I'll more than likely be ditching my winmo HTC Touch Cruise for this as long as US 3G is supported. I honestly can't wait, WebOS is the only OS that seems as capable as winmo.
Dude, you have to be a little more optimistic than that.
do want
Has anyone realized this has been on the rotation of the front page since CES?
CDMA I agree is a waning technology, but it has been ahead of GSM in the states as a data technology. I was using EVDO 3g data years ago while people were still on EDGE via GSM, and now I can find EVDO Rev.A in most major cities (I also deploy EVDO data routers across the country).
CDMA will and should die off, but you have to realize the appeal when the cell industry was starting off, and it'd lived up to its promises from a technology standpoint.
Good to see Palm is headed in the right direction by releasing a GSM version sooner than later, and we can only hope that it will be available to U.S. customers unlocked. Now we have to pray Palm doesn't blow it like almost every other company seems to and conveniently not include US 3G bands...is it that hard to use a quadband chip with 850/900/1900/2100? I think it's utter BS that companies fail to do this after we saw HTC release the TyTn II with quadband 3G in 2007...
Showed up on Palm's Canada site too.
"even though the image is definitely not of a GSM Pre."
Whats the difference? Are they both different designs?
Well, it's almost certain that the GSM Pre won't have the little "EV" status icon in the top right.
If you look on the actual interface it says 'Ev' in the corner.
It'll be GSM in the UK for sure.
Nobody in the UK? Wonder what I'm posting this with then, the Palm logo had me completely fooled
It has been there since the day they launched the Pre...
Come on guys, what a non-news story.
The Pre also appears on every other European Palm site. It's also on the Canadian, Australian, Venezuelan, Indian, Hong Kong, Indonesian, Malaysian, New Zealand, Philippines, and Signapore Palm site.
Check it our here: http://www.palm.com/intl/
Perhaps the Pre features a Gobi radio (CDMA+ GSM/UMTS) just like the BlackBerry Storm?
You do realize that UMTS uses W-CDMA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS) ....pretty much all 3G is some blend of CDMA.
4G will be going to MIMO and OFDM....LTE like what sr said above.
Is anyone else feeling less impressed with the Pre as time goes on? I have Sprint and was very excited for the Pre when it was announced, but the more time that passes the more I find myself feeling really "over" touchscreen phones and wanting the BB Niagara or Jupiter instead.
Not really...Pre has a physical keypad, which means you get dual advantage, whereas you're looking forward to phones that haven't even been released yet...
I agree.....After having my Touch for over a year and a half ive almost gotten bored with the Touch Screen only Idea. Its nice to have yes....but ive realized a nice keyboard is a must have....Especially once my mom got her touch Pro
I like the OS on the pre. but Palm Keyboards just feel horrible to me. Theyre cramped and the Buttons Feel too Gelish.
So ill most likely get a New Curve Or Bold when Sprint Gets one...or Maybe an Android phone that Slides...either way my contract is up in August so if theres nuthin theyre gonna offer other than the Pre by then ill be month to Month..n ill just pay full price for sumthin else
I agree that Palm's new keyboards haven't really gotten it right, and this seems more of the same.
I just need to hold it and try it out. I have big hands, so a really tall phone (when the keyboard is slid out) with a small keyboard width-wise could be very awkward. As awkward as that sentence was, lol.
It could also be annoying to have to slide out the keyboard all the time, I like the keyboard to just be there. I want and hope I enjoy using the Pre, but I need to try it out.
Which would you guys recommend for my new phone? The Nokia n97 or this one? Thanks for any suggestions. My main uses will just be web browsing (wifi), GPS, and occasional phone use. Most of other smart phone features I won't be using.
n97 as it has a bigger screen. out of the current lot, as much as i hate to say this, iphone is the best phone for browsing though. you seem to a basic user with no smartphone features required, iphone should be the one...
I wonder what the actual end-user experience will be once this phone comes out.
Like I have sad on other forums and websites: Here is a crazy idea for most of the companies and phones at MWC Barcl this week, "Stop trying to copy the iphone!" All I have read about and seen for the following five days is nokia copies iphone, htc makes phone like iphone, etc. It just proves how bad the market is and the people making phones. Get some new ideas people, innovate....because that is the only way you'll ever beat the iphone. It is amazing to me how these multi-million and multi-billion $$$$ companies can't come up with some device or hire some smart people to make some device that will honestly compete with the iphone. Either create or get in line..........and i see a line forming.
Only thing I agree with is apple must get rid of its contract based model, it is killing people.
There already is, and has been, a better device than the iphone. The original HTC Touch, and the other iterations are better at everything than the iphone is. Also, with the iphone there are so many proprietary issues with the software, aka very little choice in what to use, that you are boxed in the instant you have the phone. I know that there are some software developments to open the iphone up, but overall both the iphone and all the Blackberries have the same problem. Very little in the way of configuration via software. This is the problem that Apple has always had (just try to find Apple software anywhere normal people shop). The other problem the iphone and all the Blackberries have is same problem the original palm had-an OS that doesn't natively integrate with the major PC OS-Windows. This limits things to conduits and such. I have been a palm user for MANY years, and still have a T/X as well as a Treo 755P, and I love the simplicity of the interface as well as the availability of a cornucopia of available software (both retail and open source), but the problem remains. The lack of a native interface with the PC OS is, I believe, one contributing factor to the near demise of Palm as a brand and an OS. My fear is that Palm has made the same error in thinking with the Pre. The WebOS looks so cool, and very user friendly, but is the interface with the PC OS as native as it should be? Anyway, I digress. In my opinion, as long as Microsoft holds such control over the PC OS market, the only native solution is WinMo. And, again, the HTC Touch(es) out perform or out 'iphone' the iphone, and are so customizable, that they do more and do it better. I know WinMo is not perfect, but it does not have the limitaions of those listed above.
There is no CDMA in the UK