Palm Pre to be assembled by Chi Mei Communication Systems, fairies

Information about Palm's hotly anticipated Pre just keeps slowly trickling out... today, we hear that Taiwanese OEM Chi Mei Communication Systems will have the honor of assembling the smartphones. The company's not one of the largest out there, but it also manufactures phones for Motorola. This info comes to us courtesy of DigiTimes, so make of it what you will, but they also say that production could begin as early as March. Considering that it's March now, well... we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

[Via Brighthand]

[PhoenixFox Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:38PM]

This hotness can't come too soon for me!

[crsd36 Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:45PM]

I love the OS, but the form factor is too round for my taste. Here's hoping they release the platform on other hardware after a while.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:49PM]

they had to make it round, if they didn't apple fanboys would call it an iphone rip-off

[i Eye Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:01PM]

"i" am calling it a rip-off........

[Tohe Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:02PM]

I digg the organic form, how it curbs etc, I think it is genius.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:08PM]

@ Craig S

you haven't touched the OS how can you say how great it is--- your a TOOL!
you were probably one of those guys who bought Vista because it was the best OS Microsoft ever created...

[i Eye Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:09PM]

@ Tohe...

"Genius`` is an Apple trademark. Please refrain from using it to describe other products... Thank you.

And while we are on the topic of Apple, I am quite satisfied with my 3- 1st gen iPhones... I have enough to get me through the decade...

[PhoenixFox Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:19PM]

@murmererer

The OS looks incredible, is brilliant in the (PRE BETA (lolol pun)) demos, and is incredibly well featured. While yes, it may turn out to be a disappointment, all the signs so far have been brilliant.

[ruby Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:37PM]

@ murmermer
you can just tell by the pictures that the OS was designed in a smart way with function and ease in mind.. All the flashiness aside, I can already see how it works and how simple it's supposed to be. Anyone who has owned a palm for years like myself knows that they are a breeze to use and the PHONE function is always a top priority (since this is a phone and all). With all that said though, I am a picky person so I'll honestly let you guys know if it doesn't meet my expectations.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:45PM]

G, as an Apple fanboy with my pocketbook apparently, this is at least not a rip-off. That said, I waited to develop apps for the iPhone until the SDK was ready, so how far Palm gets with a WebKit implementation is beyond me. Everybody, including me, was b*tching about web applications… I look forward to seeing the thing.

This thing isn’t arriving until late summer if they begin the production processes in April. If. Ouch.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:02PM]

I was thinking about getting a pre and dropping my iphone. But after the sneak peek of 3.0 yesterday I wouldn't even consider it.

But I thank PALM as though I feel that they gave APPLE the incentive to make 3.0 kick ass

[PhoenixFox Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:09PM]

3.0 isn't the be all and end all. it's good, but I still want multitasking and a physical keyboard. and the ability to install whatever I want.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:16PM]

Well i'm jailbroken so I pretty much have best of both worlds, and really don't need anything else. IMO I have the perfect device as of this point.

I have grown to love the virtual keyboard it's accurate and can honestly compose an e-mail and text much quicker than with a physical.

But to each it's own! and I have to give it up to PALM they created a kick ass device as well.
A little competition never hurt anybody.

[PhoenixFox Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:26PM]

I type about as fast on my Kaiser as I do on my laptop. I actually started typing the punctuation wrongly on my laptop after I got my kaiser, since I was hitting where I would on my Kaiser. You can't do that with a soft keyboard, since it's set up totally differently.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 8:29PM]

I have mixed thoughts about the OS:

What's good:

- Universal search
- Synergy
- It's FAST.

What's missing:

- Android's desktop shortcuts and widgets
- Potential (how many high-end apps can you develop with web tools)
- HD playback (I know Palm's never had a media powerhouse in mind, but WM & Android have both Tegra and Snapdragon)
- Higher res screen

The selling point:

- Its gorgeous form factor. Single-hand qwerty slider. PERFECTION.

[Dubb Posted Mar 18th 2009 9:16PM]

@TareX

Look up the processor some time, it's capable of the some nice things. The Pandora uses the same one.

Eh, I did some leg work for you

http://www.dspdesignline.com/products/197005880

[yokken Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:38PM]

Starting manufacturing in March means sales in June.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:59PM]

So why do you think the release date will be in June? I'm just curious.

On a side note, this phone couldn't come sooner. My Verizon contract is over come the end of this month. ^_^ yay!

[iLoveApple Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:38PM]

My Lai who?

[Sea Urchin Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:40PM]

Nice too see a NON Apple product getting a cult like following.

[yokken Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:43PM]

The Pre can't come soon enough, like he said. I'm unbelievably excited for the Pre. Way, WAY more than I was for my first 2G iPhone.

[mondaymorning Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:38PM]

Don't get me wrong, I am definitely buying a Pre, but since when was a cult-like following EVER good?

[VanillaSpice Posted Mar 18th 2009 11:12PM]

Yeah, cause the Pre fanboys are just soooo different to the iPhone fanboys, who were soooo different to the Zune fanboys, who were soooo different to the iPod fanboys ...

Oh no, wait, I remember now, they're all trolls and just as trollish as each other.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 8:36AM]

Cult-like followers became valid as soon as the iCult waged war against every good product to ever exist.

[CaptSaltyJack Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:43PM]

I'd like to see more gadgets manufactured in Taiwan.

[spin cycle Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:48PM]

This will be made in China, like virtually all of Chi Mei's stuff.

[scorpeo Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:29PM]

@why not the LS2LS7?

It is not being manufactured in China, CMCS is in Taiwan.

[spin cycle Posted Mar 18th 2009 7:59PM]

I couldn't say about any particular subsidiary, but Chi Mei makes a ton of products in China. I would be shocked if this were not also made in China.

[scorpeo Posted Mar 19th 2009 1:58PM]

You're confusing Chi Mei Corporation (the mother company) with Chi Mei Communications Systems. Chi Mei Communications Systems was est in 2001, they're based in Taiwan where they manufacturer wireless communication devices. Chi Mei Corporation is HQ in Taiwan as well, however, they have many subsidiaries around parts of Asia.

[shogunmaster Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:43PM]

I guess they have time to work on the Pre as the need to manufacture Motorola is no longer necessary...

[Ethyriel Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:54PM]

Not that I don't agree with you, but expect that to change as Motorola starts releasing Android phones. The hardware has never been a problem, so Android is going to save them from their crappy OS.

I'm really excited for Palm, seeing that they've been a company that's been on the brink, not being able to compete in a market they created. Similarly, I can't wait to see Motorola turn things around. They're a company far too rich in communications history to be struggling like they are.

[Wobbly Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:12PM]

@ msalivar:

Chi Mei's Moto hardware was very problematic. Remember the MPx220 or it's successor that was never released (MPx300)? Those POS's were Chi Mei's handiwork.

I hope they do better for Palm than they did for Moto.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:45PM]

Anyone know if the Pre's coming to Europe at the same time as America?

[PhoenixFox Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:49PM]

I hope it's here for the summer...

[Titanium Man Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:45PM]

I bet the pre will sell out at launch due to shortages and Sprint will make an anouncement : "We sold out due to unprecedented demand! This is our best-selling smartphone!" while not releasing any sales numbers. I like the pre btw. It's just how the game is played. Look at the wii.

[Chefgon Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:49PM]

Uh, except that Nintendo DID release numbers for the Wii and they consistently sold significantly more units than both of their competitors combined. There was never a time when Nintendo was shipping an artificially lowered number of systems just to say that they sold out.

[spin cycle Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:57PM]

Nintendo has continually been purposely failing to meet demand in order to keep it selling out.

Within 9 months, you can increase production to virtually unlimited levels. Nintendo chose to not increase production to levels that would satisfy demand.

So yeah, it sold more than the other consoles, but the reason it kept selling out was because Nintendo wanted it that way.

[Titanium Man Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:42PM]

exactly!
It's just a nice way to get free press, and make people perceive your product as "hot", and "get it while you can".

[qst4 Posted Mar 22nd 2009 2:35PM]

Palm needs all the sales it can get, so I don't quite buy this idea of purposely lowering production, especially with iphone 3.0 on the market. I'm sure they have some good operations research guys who can get supply and demand right.

[shabbis Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:46PM]

That lip on the keyboard looks seriously annoying. And such tiny buttons!!!

[Chefgon Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:50PM]

I'm pretty certain that you'll never notice the little ridge on the keyboard. People bitched about that chin on the side of the G1 and now that I have one I never notice that it's there while I'm typing. It's easy to overestimate how annoying the shape of something will be from a picture.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:53PM]

thats why i have the iPhone!!!

[Ethyriel Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:56PM]

Don't worry about the buttons too much. I haven't tried it, of course, but it's like the Sony and Apple keyboards. With so much space between the buttons, even with them being smaller, the pitch is the same as a larger model with bigger buttons and no spacing. It should make it easier to keep track of where you are, too.

[ruby Posted Mar 18th 2009 4:56PM]

getting so pumped for this release! selling my treo 755 this week!! activating the sanyo katana until the day this baby comes out.. I hope this thing doesn't get delayed, that would be a failure and make me depressed. Get your tents ready!

[phobic99 Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:00PM]

While there is a definite buzz about this phone (and I'd love to get one), I highly doubt there will be people camping out for it. There has to be some reason Sprint lost so many customers.

[yokken Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:02PM]

I disagree... the Pre is pretty hot. A lot of people want it.

[ruby Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:08PM]

haha.. I would never pitch a tent anywhere. But if it's sold out when I go to get it, then I'll wish I did. I think I'm watching this phone closer than anyone else in my town though, so I probably have nothing to worry about.

[phobic99 Posted Mar 18th 2009 5:19PM]

It *looks* hot, yes. Whether or not it delivers is the question.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 18th 2009 6:01PM]

"rube @ Mar 18th 2009 5:08PM - haha.. I would never pitch a tent anywhere"

Really? Each time I see a photo of the Pre I pitch a tent.

[jerbear Posted Mar 18th 2009 7:09PM]

@phobic: Mainly because they haven't had a killer smartphone while everyone has moved to them over the past couple of years. They used to be the first carrier to go to for smart phones when your choices were only WM and Palm. Now with iPhone, G1, and a slew of Blackberrys they have been left behind. In addition their advertising is terrible and it has not helped that until a few years ago their customer service fairly blew.

Regardless, they have always had by far the cheapest data plans ($15 unlimited) and coverage in most places is excellent these days so I have no problem using them as a carrier. Maybe with this release they can afford a better advertising team.